what I said?’
My arms were really hurting now. I nodded.
‘Repeat it. Repeat what I said.’
I tried to think back, though my stomach was growling and I could actually smell it now, I could smell that burger. She kept asking me to say what she’d said and so words came rising up in my mind like chips in a deep fat fryer, police and Dad and blood and got what he deserved .
‘There are some things you’re too young to understand,’ she said, her voice growing softer, and I took a big breath because finally she’d let go of my arms. And then she raised a hand to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
‘Oh, Alex,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry.’
I looked down and where she’d held me on each arm was a big red mark in the shape of her hand. She tried to rub the mark with her palms but it didn’t go away. So she pulled me close to her and my head was between her jaw and her shoulder and she was rubbing my back. I could smell cigarettes in her hair and also sweat and then Mum’s smell which is quite nice. After a long time she leaned back and looked at me and there was a big smile on her face, which didn’t happen very often.
‘If you could have anything in the whole world, what would it be?’
‘A burger with a slice of bacon and cheese.’
‘No, really, Alex. What would it be?’
I looked at the picture I’d drawn in the window, which was starting to look like it was melting. For Dad to come back , I thought, but I didn’t say that because I knew it would only upset her.
‘What would you have?’ I asked. She looked shocked and blinked three times.
‘No one’s ever asked me, I don’t think,’ she said. She stood up and stared at the windowsill.
‘A new house,’ she said then. ‘Yeah. A brand new house. With a garden. And three … no, four bedrooms, with a guest bedroom and everything. Maybe a gym.’
She started pacing up and down, describing every single room in microscopic detail, right down to the fact that we’d have no crappy attic with mould and no dead person’s things all over the place and no mice and no drug-dealing neighbours either.
Later that day I told Ruen that the sort of house we’d like would have a garden at the back that gets some sun during the daytime, a kitchen big enough for two people to move in with an oven that works and hopefully a tap that doesn’t drip, a toilet that flushes and walls that don’t look like the last person living there took a pickaxe to them.
‘Consider it arranged.’
‘What?’
He narrowed his eyes at me in his Alex Is Stupid look. ‘I’ll sort it out, Alex.’
‘How will you sort it out?’ I asked. ‘Do you have lots of money?’
He smiled and winked. ‘I have powers of which you are unaware. A mere house is a trifle, my boy. If you’d asked me for a planet, it might have taken some time. But I could accommodate.’
I just laughed. A planet , I thought. What would I need a planet for? He’s like that, Ruen. A bit of a snob, at least when he’s the Old Man. He rolls his eyes when I play football and tells me my drawings of skeletons are inept , which means they’re crap. According to Ruen, I should be reading something called Chekhov and am very uncultured for not learning the piano.
But then he tries to do what I see all the other demons doing: he suggests I do something mean, like drop the light in the Opera House on Katie’s mum’s head. I was too scared to do that. He told me later I was dumb for not doing it because really it would have been Terry dropping the thing and because Katie’s mum hits her because she’s a drunk and is jealous of Katie. How can a mum be jealous of her own kid ? I asked him and he gave me The Look again, like I’m stupid.
And then last night Katie only came to rehearsals to tell Jojo she couldn’t stay and when I saw her at the door she had a big black bruise on her cheek and her face was swollen and Jojo put her arms around her. She gave me a wave and ran off and I looked up
My arms were really hurting now. I nodded.
‘Repeat it. Repeat what I said.’
I tried to think back, though my stomach was growling and I could actually smell it now, I could smell that burger. She kept asking me to say what she’d said and so words came rising up in my mind like chips in a deep fat fryer, police and Dad and blood and got what he deserved .
‘There are some things you’re too young to understand,’ she said, her voice growing softer, and I took a big breath because finally she’d let go of my arms. And then she raised a hand to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
‘Oh, Alex,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry.’
I looked down and where she’d held me on each arm was a big red mark in the shape of her hand. She tried to rub the mark with her palms but it didn’t go away. So she pulled me close to her and my head was between her jaw and her shoulder and she was rubbing my back. I could smell cigarettes in her hair and also sweat and then Mum’s smell which is quite nice. After a long time she leaned back and looked at me and there was a big smile on her face, which didn’t happen very often.
‘If you could have anything in the whole world, what would it be?’
‘A burger with a slice of bacon and cheese.’
‘No, really, Alex. What would it be?’
I looked at the picture I’d drawn in the window, which was starting to look like it was melting. For Dad to come back , I thought, but I didn’t say that because I knew it would only upset her.
‘What would you have?’ I asked. She looked shocked and blinked three times.
‘No one’s ever asked me, I don’t think,’ she said. She stood up and stared at the windowsill.
‘A new house,’ she said then. ‘Yeah. A brand new house. With a garden. And three … no, four bedrooms, with a guest bedroom and everything. Maybe a gym.’
She started pacing up and down, describing every single room in microscopic detail, right down to the fact that we’d have no crappy attic with mould and no dead person’s things all over the place and no mice and no drug-dealing neighbours either.
Later that day I told Ruen that the sort of house we’d like would have a garden at the back that gets some sun during the daytime, a kitchen big enough for two people to move in with an oven that works and hopefully a tap that doesn’t drip, a toilet that flushes and walls that don’t look like the last person living there took a pickaxe to them.
‘Consider it arranged.’
‘What?’
He narrowed his eyes at me in his Alex Is Stupid look. ‘I’ll sort it out, Alex.’
‘How will you sort it out?’ I asked. ‘Do you have lots of money?’
He smiled and winked. ‘I have powers of which you are unaware. A mere house is a trifle, my boy. If you’d asked me for a planet, it might have taken some time. But I could accommodate.’
I just laughed. A planet , I thought. What would I need a planet for? He’s like that, Ruen. A bit of a snob, at least when he’s the Old Man. He rolls his eyes when I play football and tells me my drawings of skeletons are inept , which means they’re crap. According to Ruen, I should be reading something called Chekhov and am very uncultured for not learning the piano.
But then he tries to do what I see all the other demons doing: he suggests I do something mean, like drop the light in the Opera House on Katie’s mum’s head. I was too scared to do that. He told me later I was dumb for not doing it because really it would have been Terry dropping the thing and because Katie’s mum hits her because she’s a drunk and is jealous of Katie. How can a mum be jealous of her own kid ? I asked him and he gave me The Look again, like I’m stupid.
And then last night Katie only came to rehearsals to tell Jojo she couldn’t stay and when I saw her at the door she had a big black bruise on her cheek and her face was swollen and Jojo put her arms around her. She gave me a wave and ran off and I looked up
Similar Books
