infestation ourselves. Compo turn to one of the uniforms and mutter
Like father, like son
. Uniform nod his head in agreement.
Shouldn’t you all be in school?
asks overcoat cop, all cool like he thinkin’ he Inspector Morse.
Sis give him her big smile.
Permanent exclusion, yeah?
I fold my arms.
Temporary suspension, yeah?
Mustaph just stand there and grin like a idiot.
Compo take a step forward.
I say we take ’em in
.
Uniform cop got his hand on his utilities, like he just itchin’ for some baton action. Man in charge look less certain. Suppose that’s why he in charge. Imagine if a fool like Compo make all the big decisions. You have riotin’ breakin’ out on every street corner.
Inspector Morse say
I hear you young people were among the last to be seen with the … deceased
.
Sis roll her eyes.
That’s right
Compo urges.
Let’s nick ’em
.
Inspector Morse squintin’ at our faces, inspectin’ our eyeballs, seein’ if we on drugs or not. Problem with Muskrat is he got them sort of eyes always look blissed out anyways. But Sis step up.
We heard about them little kids. We ain’t been doin’ nothin’ but tryin’ to find out what goin’ on ourselves
.
She straighten her face so she got the look of a good-standin’ citizen, type that collect sponsors for charity runs for the aged.
Anyway we can help?
Mus jut his lower jaw out, which is what he do the two times a year he tryin’ to show enthusiasm. It make him look like he needin’ the loo.
As it happens
says Comp, steppin’ forward.
Leave them be
says Morse.
They’re just kids. If we need to, we can ask them questions later
.
OK
say Comp.
Come on, I’ll lead you to the victims’ places of abode
.
Places of abode. If only Comp knew what a jerk he sounded.
But Inspector Morse lingerin’, givin’ us the once over.
Listen
he say.
You kids discover anything useful, you let us know. Anything that might help
. He offers a smile and starts to turn, but stops and adds
Take care of yourselves
.
Come
say Sis,
let us take our evidence to Big Auntie. She got first dabs on this
.
As we make our way further down, we hear footsteps clompin’ behind us. We stop and turn. Nex’ moment, Compo dash down round the corner, on his own. He step up to us, lookin’ straight at me, as if he jus’ remembered he had somethin’ to tell.
He gone and changed his face, try and relax out the bully-frowns. Open his mouth, but don’ quite know what to say. I get it. He so determined to get results, impress his hero Inspector Morse, that he prepared to change tactic.
We could all work to resolve this together, you know
.
I snort.
He lookin’ at me like he … pity me. He put his hands in his pockets, tryin’ hard as he can to relax his body language, like he been taught on some Community Relations seminar. Look of pity on his face deepens. I’m feelin’ my fists clenchin’ up. Don’t you look at me like that.
Kids…
He tries a smile.
We know you love your community…
Man is a joke.
We know you are loyal to your neighbours…
Maybe I oughta give Sabretooth the nod. Give Compo’s ankles a bit of a nip.
But some of these neighbours of yours, well, we’ve seen the result of their work up close, haven’t we? Not very neighbourly at all. Deadly concoctions being peddled on the corner. Marshall…
He give me his softest look.
I know you’re close to these people. You have loyalty—
Yeah, I do
. Findin’ myself squarin’ up to him.
He says
I was talking to your mother last night—
Don’t
I say, my arm reachin’ roun’ behind my back.
She’s worried about you
.
Don’t you dare
.
He places his hand on my shoulder.
I’m—
I jerk my arm out from behind my back, bug proboscis gripped in my fist. I jab the razor point towards his big fat gut.
You don’t talk to my mother!
I wave the schnozzle beneath his piggie chin.
We can sort out our own problems, yeah? And see this, this is our proof, all we need. When my mum sees this…
Compo
Like father, like son
. Uniform nod his head in agreement.
Shouldn’t you all be in school?
asks overcoat cop, all cool like he thinkin’ he Inspector Morse.
Sis give him her big smile.
Permanent exclusion, yeah?
I fold my arms.
Temporary suspension, yeah?
Mustaph just stand there and grin like a idiot.
Compo take a step forward.
I say we take ’em in
.
Uniform cop got his hand on his utilities, like he just itchin’ for some baton action. Man in charge look less certain. Suppose that’s why he in charge. Imagine if a fool like Compo make all the big decisions. You have riotin’ breakin’ out on every street corner.
Inspector Morse say
I hear you young people were among the last to be seen with the … deceased
.
Sis roll her eyes.
That’s right
Compo urges.
Let’s nick ’em
.
Inspector Morse squintin’ at our faces, inspectin’ our eyeballs, seein’ if we on drugs or not. Problem with Muskrat is he got them sort of eyes always look blissed out anyways. But Sis step up.
We heard about them little kids. We ain’t been doin’ nothin’ but tryin’ to find out what goin’ on ourselves
.
She straighten her face so she got the look of a good-standin’ citizen, type that collect sponsors for charity runs for the aged.
Anyway we can help?
Mus jut his lower jaw out, which is what he do the two times a year he tryin’ to show enthusiasm. It make him look like he needin’ the loo.
As it happens
says Comp, steppin’ forward.
Leave them be
says Morse.
They’re just kids. If we need to, we can ask them questions later
.
OK
say Comp.
Come on, I’ll lead you to the victims’ places of abode
.
Places of abode. If only Comp knew what a jerk he sounded.
But Inspector Morse lingerin’, givin’ us the once over.
Listen
he say.
You kids discover anything useful, you let us know. Anything that might help
. He offers a smile and starts to turn, but stops and adds
Take care of yourselves
.
Come
say Sis,
let us take our evidence to Big Auntie. She got first dabs on this
.
As we make our way further down, we hear footsteps clompin’ behind us. We stop and turn. Nex’ moment, Compo dash down round the corner, on his own. He step up to us, lookin’ straight at me, as if he jus’ remembered he had somethin’ to tell.
He gone and changed his face, try and relax out the bully-frowns. Open his mouth, but don’ quite know what to say. I get it. He so determined to get results, impress his hero Inspector Morse, that he prepared to change tactic.
We could all work to resolve this together, you know
.
I snort.
He lookin’ at me like he … pity me. He put his hands in his pockets, tryin’ hard as he can to relax his body language, like he been taught on some Community Relations seminar. Look of pity on his face deepens. I’m feelin’ my fists clenchin’ up. Don’t you look at me like that.
Kids…
He tries a smile.
We know you love your community…
Man is a joke.
We know you are loyal to your neighbours…
Maybe I oughta give Sabretooth the nod. Give Compo’s ankles a bit of a nip.
But some of these neighbours of yours, well, we’ve seen the result of their work up close, haven’t we? Not very neighbourly at all. Deadly concoctions being peddled on the corner. Marshall…
He give me his softest look.
I know you’re close to these people. You have loyalty—
Yeah, I do
. Findin’ myself squarin’ up to him.
He says
I was talking to your mother last night—
Don’t
I say, my arm reachin’ roun’ behind my back.
She’s worried about you
.
Don’t you dare
.
He places his hand on my shoulder.
I’m—
I jerk my arm out from behind my back, bug proboscis gripped in my fist. I jab the razor point towards his big fat gut.
You don’t talk to my mother!
I wave the schnozzle beneath his piggie chin.
We can sort out our own problems, yeah? And see this, this is our proof, all we need. When my mum sees this…
Compo
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