and a few.’
‘Limited edition?’
Andy looked round the kitchen again. There were rows of orange-coloured iron casseroles and saucepans on top of the units. Theydidn’t look as if anyone ever took them down to cook with.
‘Is that all?’
‘There’s other stuff. I trade a bit.’
Andy looked at him.
‘No. I never done drugs, never will.’
‘So it’s all clean.’
‘Well, it ain’t robbin’ banks.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I’m always looking for people. You’ll need a leg-up.’
Andy stood up. ‘I gotta get back. There buses round here?’
‘As if. Listen, you don’t want to live withMichelle for ever, do you? Like your own place, wouldn’t you?’ Lee gestured round.
‘What I get I’ll work for.’
‘It was work I was talking about.’
‘I’ll find my own.’
‘What, mowing lawns? You can do that here, give you a tenner an hour. That’s what gardening pays. Come on, Andy.’
‘Who said anything about gardening?’
‘I know what you’ve been doing inside. There’s plenty I know. I’ve stillgot stuff on you.’
‘OK, so there isn’t a bus, I’ll walk down to the main road, hitch a lift.’
Lee swept the car keys off the table into his hand.
‘There’s a lot of funny people about, Andy,’ he said. ‘Difficult for an ex-con to get work.’
Andy spun round. Lee raised a finger. He was grinning.
‘And here was I thinking you’d changed,’ he said.
Lee Carter had a baby face. Curly hair. Everymother’s favourite son. Never trust a baby face. Stick Martin had told him that.
It’ll never be any different, Andy thought, it’d be Carter or one of the others, or else his prison record like a weight round his neck and a brand on his forehead. You couldn’t get away. Not ever. He thought of the sleek little probation officer trotting out her jargon. Whatever he did or didn’t do for the restof his life he’d never get away.
Ten
He’d made the football pitch himself out of the top of a cardboard box. He had painted it green and marked out the lines with black marker pen and the goalposts were cut out of wood from the shed. The nets had been a problem until he’d found two of the little white bags for putting washing tablets in and attached them carefully with thread. It was good. He was pleased with it. Now he was goingto think about how he could construct the stands.
‘David! It’s twenty to.’
David Angus stood looking down at the box for as long as he dared, trying to visualise it, trying to work it out. He half closed his eyes.
‘And it’s Giggs, Giggs has it, Giggs has passed it across …’
The crowd was roaring.
‘David!’
He sighed and picked up his school bag. He’d come back to it tonight.
‘You’ve gotham and cucumber in your sandwiches, don’t forget to eat those and the banana before you eat the cake.’
‘Did you cut the fat off?’
‘I cut the fat off. Do you need money for anything today?’
He thought. Tuesday?
‘No, but I need to take the note back about the history outing.’
‘On the table in front of you.’
His mother was pulling on her jacket. His sister Lucy had already gone, met by twofriends to walk together down to the school bus at the corner of Dunferry Road. She now went to Abbey Grange. David was still at St Francis.
‘I’m in court all day but I’ll be out in time to pick you up. We need to get you some shoes.’
‘Can we go for a milk shake at Tilly’s after?’
‘Afterwards. We’ll see.’
Why did they always say we’ll see first, even when they knew whether it was yes or no?We’ll see, we’ll see … they couldn’t seem to help saying it.
‘Come on, Doodlebug.’
David picked up his bag.
It wasn’t raining, that was all he noticed. Not raining, not freezing cold. Otherwise morning was morning. His mother got into the car and held open the door. David went forward and bent in. He didn’t mind kissing her here at home, especially when she was actually inside the car. He wouldn’thave done
‘Limited edition?’
Andy looked round the kitchen again. There were rows of orange-coloured iron casseroles and saucepans on top of the units. Theydidn’t look as if anyone ever took them down to cook with.
‘Is that all?’
‘There’s other stuff. I trade a bit.’
Andy looked at him.
‘No. I never done drugs, never will.’
‘So it’s all clean.’
‘Well, it ain’t robbin’ banks.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I’m always looking for people. You’ll need a leg-up.’
Andy stood up. ‘I gotta get back. There buses round here?’
‘As if. Listen, you don’t want to live withMichelle for ever, do you? Like your own place, wouldn’t you?’ Lee gestured round.
‘What I get I’ll work for.’
‘It was work I was talking about.’
‘I’ll find my own.’
‘What, mowing lawns? You can do that here, give you a tenner an hour. That’s what gardening pays. Come on, Andy.’
‘Who said anything about gardening?’
‘I know what you’ve been doing inside. There’s plenty I know. I’ve stillgot stuff on you.’
‘OK, so there isn’t a bus, I’ll walk down to the main road, hitch a lift.’
Lee swept the car keys off the table into his hand.
‘There’s a lot of funny people about, Andy,’ he said. ‘Difficult for an ex-con to get work.’
Andy spun round. Lee raised a finger. He was grinning.
‘And here was I thinking you’d changed,’ he said.
Lee Carter had a baby face. Curly hair. Everymother’s favourite son. Never trust a baby face. Stick Martin had told him that.
It’ll never be any different, Andy thought, it’d be Carter or one of the others, or else his prison record like a weight round his neck and a brand on his forehead. You couldn’t get away. Not ever. He thought of the sleek little probation officer trotting out her jargon. Whatever he did or didn’t do for the restof his life he’d never get away.
Ten
He’d made the football pitch himself out of the top of a cardboard box. He had painted it green and marked out the lines with black marker pen and the goalposts were cut out of wood from the shed. The nets had been a problem until he’d found two of the little white bags for putting washing tablets in and attached them carefully with thread. It was good. He was pleased with it. Now he was goingto think about how he could construct the stands.
‘David! It’s twenty to.’
David Angus stood looking down at the box for as long as he dared, trying to visualise it, trying to work it out. He half closed his eyes.
‘And it’s Giggs, Giggs has it, Giggs has passed it across …’
The crowd was roaring.
‘David!’
He sighed and picked up his school bag. He’d come back to it tonight.
‘You’ve gotham and cucumber in your sandwiches, don’t forget to eat those and the banana before you eat the cake.’
‘Did you cut the fat off?’
‘I cut the fat off. Do you need money for anything today?’
He thought. Tuesday?
‘No, but I need to take the note back about the history outing.’
‘On the table in front of you.’
His mother was pulling on her jacket. His sister Lucy had already gone, met by twofriends to walk together down to the school bus at the corner of Dunferry Road. She now went to Abbey Grange. David was still at St Francis.
‘I’m in court all day but I’ll be out in time to pick you up. We need to get you some shoes.’
‘Can we go for a milk shake at Tilly’s after?’
‘Afterwards. We’ll see.’
Why did they always say we’ll see first, even when they knew whether it was yes or no?We’ll see, we’ll see … they couldn’t seem to help saying it.
‘Come on, Doodlebug.’
David picked up his bag.
It wasn’t raining, that was all he noticed. Not raining, not freezing cold. Otherwise morning was morning. His mother got into the car and held open the door. David went forward and bent in. He didn’t mind kissing her here at home, especially when she was actually inside the car. He wouldn’thave done
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