Too Much Trouble by Tom Avery Page B

on, we’re moving, hurry up!’ Mr Green was shouting now and Jamal burst into the room.
    â€˜Hurry up,’ he growled through gritted teeth.
    We grabbed the last of our possessions and flooded down the stairs. It had only taken a few minutes and a bit of fear. All of us were in the hall pulling on shoes and coats.
    Mr Green was already at the door, holding it open a crack. He looked really angry. When we were all ready he just said, ‘Come on,’ and walked out of the door.
    Normally we’d have gone a few at a time, as we didn’t want the neighbours to get suspicious, but we could see what kind of mood Mr Green was in. I helped Terri put her rucksack on, as me and Prince exchanged looks. He was scared.
    I was one of the last through the door, with Terri on my heels. Mr Green was halfway down the street. We ran to catch up. Everyone was hurrying.
    Mr Green led us to the same high street where me and Prince had started our life of crime. It wasn’tvery busy. It was still quite early and most of the people were wearing suits and walking quickly. Not the kind of people you tried to pick-pocket.
    We gathered together around Mr Green. He wasn’t as confident as usual. He chewed his lip before he spoke.
    â€˜Right, you lot, make yourselves scarce. Don’t do anything stupid. I want to see you all here at four.’ As he said ‘here’ he pointed to the floor, then motioned with his head and said, ‘Jamal.’
    Jamal went white as he approached Mr Green. So did Prince, but he stood like a statue.
    As the others began to pair off, I walked over to Prince. Terri was waiting for me, but I wanted to talk to my brother.
    â€˜Are you OK?’ I said.
    â€˜Yeah. What?’ Prince had become more aggressive over the past few days. He had picked fights with Freddie and Ibby. Nearly all his time was spent with Jamal. I was worried about him but didn’t know how to talk to him. How could I tell him I’d been right outside the door and done nothing to help.
    â€˜Nothing, it’s just,’ I lowered my voice, ‘Mr Green seems a bit angry.’
    â€˜It’s fine, don’t worry, brother.’ And that was it.Prince still looked anxious but he wasn’t going to talk to me about it.
    Me and Terri didn’t do much stealing that morning. Enough, we hoped. We did not want to be in trouble with Mr Green. After we had done the minimum, we found a nearby park to sit in. We read a bit and talked a lot. We had begun talking more and more about what life could be like without Mr Green.
    â€˜You could be a writer,’ I told Terri. ‘You could carry on the story you started with Manon and write lots of them and be really rich.’
    She laughed. ‘Only if you would read all of my books and tell me what was rubbish and what was good.’
    I agreed to that, it sounded like a fair deal.
    Around lunchtime, when we ventured out of the park, we saw Prince and Jamal. They were standing by a fast-food restaurant, laughing as they watched Kieran hold Ibby in a head-lock. Jamal saw us, tapped Prince on the shoulder and pointed us out.
    Prince smiled and ran towards us. ‘Huh!’ Prince faked a punch to my face. I flinched and Prince laughed. I could see Jamal smirking at me, just over Prince’s shoulder.
    â€˜You were right, Em,’ Prince began. ‘Mr Green isreally angry. His friend’s been arrested. The one that gets us all the houses. That’s why we had to move quick this morning. He thinks Sastre must have squealed and told them about the houses.’
    I glanced at Terri. She looked worried. I knew that Prince made her nervous but it was more than that.
    â€˜Are you sure?’ I asked my brother.
    â€˜Yeah, Jamal told me,’ he replied.
    â€˜What are we going to do then, I mean tonight?’
    Prince shrugged. ‘We’ll see later, I guess. In a bit, yeah?’ With that he turned and walked back to Jamal.
    The rest