Too Much Trouble by Tom Avery Page A

‘Get in here,’ he commanded through gritted teeth. ‘You too, Prince.’ He beckoned them into the house’s large front room.
    The others began to disappear, each trying to get as far from Mr Green as possible. I didn’t move. What was Mr Green going to do to my brother?
    Terri touched me on the arm and whispered, ‘Come on, Em.’
    I shook my head in reply, then said, ‘You go.’ I heard her creep off behind me. I had to make sure Prince was OK.
    I moved as quietly as I could to the door through which Mr Green had taken Prince and Jamal. When I was a few steps away, I could hear Mr Green’s voice clearly.
    â€˜What do you mean, there was nothing you coulddo?’ He was still shouting. ‘You are meant to be looking after this bunch of idiots.’
    The door was open a crack, so I moved even closer and peered through. Mr Green stood in the middle of the room, towering over Jamal and Prince. They were seated on a sofa. Prince was looking at the floor and I could see that he was close to tears.
    Jamal was meeting Mr Green’s gaze. He looked defiant. ‘What d’you want me to do?’ Jamal said. ‘Like you say, they’re idiots. I can’t keep my eye on all of them.’
    Mr Green took a step forward and slapped Jamal across the face.
    Prince let out a yelp. Jamal looked even angrier but it was Mr Green who spoke first.
    â€˜Who do you think you’re talking to? I ain’t your mate, Jamal!’ With that, Mr Green reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. He levelled it at Jamal. ‘You’re gonna watch your tongue, Jamal, and remember who looks after you. Now get out, both of you. I’m staying here tonight.’
    For a moment I was rooted to the spot. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Then I ran.
    That evening in the house the gang was different. Less laughter, no games, fewer smiles. All we couldtalk about was whether Sastre would dob us in.
    And all I could think about was whether that would be a bad thing or a good thing.

Chapter 21
    Sometimes dreadful things happen and you can do nothing about them. Sometimes you can wish all you like but nothing changes. Sometimes you’re powerless. In the end I couldn’t change what happened.
    It took a surprisingly short time for things to return to normal. A few days, and we were acting like we’d never known a boy called Sastre. A boy who liked football and crisps and had dark, curly hair. We had moved house several times. Mr Green may have been worried. But on the outside he had returned to his normal self too.
    A week after I’d seen Mr Green pull a gun on Jamal,we were staying in a huge house in north London. Big enough for us all to squeeze into and still have room for ‘crockery catch’.
    Me and Terri were working our way through a new book. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was really sad. I do remember the main character’s name. He was called William, but people called him Willy. That kept making me laugh. He was a little boy in the war. He got sent to the country and an old man looked after him. Then his friend died and his sister. His mum was horrible too. I don’t know what happened at the end. We never got a chance to finish it.
    We had been at this house for a few days. We woke up one morning to the sound of Mr Green shouting up the stairs. ‘Come on you lot, get up!’ He didn’t sound happy.
    I jumped up from the chair I’d been sleeping on. Terri was lying at the top of the bed, the book open in her hand. Julia, who sometimes liked to hear Terri read, was curled up at the bottom of the bed. I stepped quickly across the room and shook Terri awake.
    â€˜What’s going on?’ I heard Julia murmur through a yawn.
    â€˜Mr Green’s here,’ I replied, and in a moment, Terri and Julia were on their feet, picking up jumpers and books and games and shoving them into bags.
    â€˜Come