Frankie Owen came in late, swaggered over and sat on a chair at the end of the row. Frankie was the top boy at Second Chance, and he knew it. He oozed confidence. He had the looks, the clothes; everything about him was smooth. He met the eyes of the headteacher and nodded his head slightly. Frankie had been coming here since he was thirteen years old. He lived in Collyhurst with his mother Mary and her husband, Gary. His stepdad was a control freak and he hated the sight of him. Donny had been to see Frankie’s stepfather once and whatever they’d discussed seemed to stop the hostilities, but even though things at home had cooled down a bit over the years, Frankie still never gave Gary the time of the day. He wasn’t his dad and he owed him nothing.

Frankie had been a lost cause when he first set foot through the doors of the school – always angry, always disrespectful, a total pain in the arse. He’d throw chairs at teachers, spit at them, was forever hurling abuse. Donny was at his wits’ end with the kid, but somewhere along the line he sorted him out. Nobody knew quite what went on, but Frankie was a changed lad – still a handful, but nowhere near as bad as he used to be.

As Stormzy’s lyrics faded away, Donny addressed his students, coughing to clear his throat before he spoke. ‘Right, everybody, can I have your attention please…’ Hardly anyone took any notice. The time for niceties was over. ‘Just shut up talking and listen!’ he roared in a tone which brooked no argument. The students zipped their mouths and looked straight towards him. ‘Alf is on the warpath again. He’s complained about some kids from this school throwing crap in his garden. How many times do I have to tell you lot about respecting the residents round here? How would you like it if somebody was throwing rubbish in your garden?’

Liam cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out. ‘That wouldn’t happen, because I would snap their jaw.’

Donny raised his eyebrows. ‘Liam, are you on steroids or something because the last time I looked at you, you were only five foot nothing, so stop gassing and listen to what I have to say.’ All the kids started laughing. Donny had a great sense of humour and he got the laughs he was searching for.

‘Knob head,’ Liam hissed back at him.