‘No flies on that Nancy. I didn’t have her down as being that forward.’ Frankie handed the phone back and chuckled. ‘The girls these days are dirtbags. Trust me mate, stay single and play the field. Having a girlfriend is nothing but stress, I know.’

Ged pocketed the phone, sticking to the role of cool guy. He’d always been quiet because he didn’t know what to say. Now he realised he could make silence powerful. Better to be a man of few words than say the wrong thing and risking letting Frankie see the nerves and questions he felt inside.

‘Yeah, I’ll text her later, no rush is there?’

Frankie’s phone rang again, and he barked out another message to go to the bridge. Then silence for a few seconds before he spoke again. ‘So, who do you live with?’

‘Just my mam, my dad’s in the nick, but he’s home soon. I can’t wait. We’ve got loads of things planned. He said he might get me a motorbike. He rings me when my mam’s at work, she doesn’t even know I speak to him, she would shit a brick if she knew.’

Frankie raised an eyebrow, intrigued. ‘What’s your old man in the slammer for?’

‘Armed robbery, assault, some other stuff.’

‘Fuck me, so your dad had a shooter. I want a gun. You need one when you’re in this game.’

‘He’s said he’s sorting his head out and going on the straight and narrow. My mam won’t have him near us though, she said he’ll never change.’

Frankie stroked his chin. ‘It’s hard to change when you’ve been involved in that kind of a world, mate. Who’s going to get a job paying two and half hundred quid a week when they can earn grands doing a few grafts?’

Ged was wishing this conversation over; he hated talking about his dad, how his life had turned out. Things could have been so different if he’d only kept his head down, got some decent work. But it was always one shit job after another with his dad, one last chance to get enough money to support his family, so they wouldn’t want for anything in their life again.

Frankie scraped the last bit of food from the white tray. He opened the can of Coke and downed nearly all of it in one go. A massive burp. Ged grinned, glad to be off the topic of his dad. And he could see why Frankie ruled the roost at school – he had confidence, certainty and, yes, this kid was funny. A good friend to have onside.

‘Who’s in your gaff now, Ged, is your mam in?’

Ged shook his head. ‘Nah, she won’t get home till midnight. She works in a bar until late, so I won’t see her until the morning.’