‘I did, but I was playing on the Xbox til late. It’s all I have to do when I get home from school. I just lose track of time sometimes.’

Donny scratched the end of his chin and carried on talking. ‘Do you have any mates that you hang out with?’

Ged sat thinking. ‘Not really, I talk to a few local kids when I’m online playing the game, but I don’t really go out that much. You see my mam’s working all the time and she’s not home until late. Her new bar job is a late finish and she doesn’t get in sometimes until after midnight.’ Donny rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. The kid was a minor and his mother shouldn’t be leaving him to fend for himself. He made a mental note and carried on talking. ‘That’s crap, isn’t it? We run a youth club here three times a week, why don’t you start coming here, find some friends?’

Ged screwed his face up. ‘No way, the kids who come here are special needs. I can find my own mates thanks.’

That was the thing about Donny. Even though Ged had just had a complete meltdown, he was still sat here with him, no screaming, no shouting, just calm. Donny sat in silence for a few seconds. There was no rush to get Ged out of here, he was no danger to anyone anymore. ‘You can come and sit in my office if you want or stay here for a bit to clear your head. In fact, you need to clean this room up, first don’t you?’

Ged looked at him. ‘Yeah, no worries. I’ll clean it up. Sorry for losing it too.’

Donny reached his hand out. ‘Here’s my hand, here’s my heart. Let’s move on and put this behind us.’ They shook hands and Donny stood up. ‘You do know that you will go on report for this, don’t you?’ Ged nodded and exhaled loudly before he got back on his feet. ‘I’ll start cleaning it now, sir.’

Donny headed back to his office. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a laboured sigh. Frankie was in the corridor and called to him as Donny got closer. ‘That Ged kid is alright, sir, it was Paul winding him up. The guy’s a prick, I’ll knock him out if he carries on.’

Donny had no time to talk, he was due at a meeting. ‘Just look out for him, Frankie, take him under your wing. And, don’t you be knocking anybody about, keep your nose clean. Do you hear me, don’t get involved?’ Donny rushed down the corridor and disappeared into his office.

Chapter Five