I was a little creeped-out at the feel of his smooth, yet wrinkled skin passing over mine but a job’s a job.
Robin said he’d be late for his school bus if he didn’t get a move on but he was worried about Justin not getting any food.
“I’ll nip across at dinner time,” I said. “We get ages and I can nip to the shop to grab some soup if you like?”
“That’d be good,” Justin said.
“But… I don’t have any money to get soup,” I said.
Robin looked at me and I saw suspicion in his expression. I glared back as though daring him to doubt me.
Robin leaned toward Justin, reached down behind him, fishing behind the cushion. He brought out a crumpled pound note.
“Soup and bread,” he said, handing the note over.
“Yep, got it.”
Robin locked the door behind us and gave me the key. “You’d better have this, I won’t be here when you come back to give him his soup.”
I walked away, tucking the key inside my coat pocket.
Robin caught up with me. He caught my arm and pulled me round to face him.
“This isn’t a game, you know,” he said.
I nodded.
“I mean it. The man’s dying, he looks weak now, but when you come back, he’ll be a lot stronger than he is now. You’ll be on your own. Make sure you keep that piss bucket between you and him.”
“What do you mean, he’s dying?”
“Don’t worry, you can’t catch it. He’s got some disease or something that’s passed down. His dad had it and he died young too. Just make sure he doesn’t get his hands on you because if he finds out I lied to him, neither of us will have a fucking job!”
I wasn’t late for school, but I did see my sister and she told me mum was upset with me cos she had to take her to school.
Something else I’d have to deal with later, I thought.
When the bell went at mid-day, I ran to the hall for dinner and bolted it all down, second-helpings and pudding and all. Then I had to find a way to get out of school. We weren’t allowed out unless we were going home. I ran up the playground, around the back of the ‘temporary’ classrooms that had been there for thirty years or more and hopped over the wall.
‘Hopped’ is a bit of a stretch, I had to jump as high as I could and scramble over the top.
I dropped down into an overgrown garden and walked as calm as I could down the path, across the front of the kitchen window and out of the front garden gate.
Then I ran across to the shop, bought soup and not-quite-out-of-date bread and legged it to Justin’s house.
I looked in the window as I passed and made sure he wasn’t asleep. I unlocked the door and called out so he’d know he wasn’t being robbed. “It’s only me, Mr Massey, Ash. I’ve come to bring your soup.”
“OK lad,” he said.
He did sound a lot more ‘with-it’ and I remembered Robin’s ominous warning from earlier.
“It’s stopped raining,” I called from the kitchen as I warmed up the soup.
“Why do I care if it’s fucking raining?” he snarled back.
I poured the steaming liquid into a bowl and took the soup to him on a tray.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” he snarled again.
“I’ll put it in a mug for you, shall I? Grumpy bastard,” I said, turning around and going back to the kitchen.
I put the mug on the table next to him, with a plate of bread next to that. I’d put a spoon with the bread, just in case he wanted that too.
“Gotta go,” I said. “The bell’s about to go.”
“Stick around if you like, kid,” he said, his bad mood dissipated.
“I can’t. Seeya later,” I called as I locked the door behind me.
The way back into school was a lot easier, I just walked through the gate with a couple of kids coming back from home.
That afternoon, I dodged my sister. I saw her looking for me, but there’s no way she’s coming to Justin’s with me.
Robin showed up about ten minutes after I got there. Justin had a cuppa at the side of him and I was washing the dishes from his meal.
“Hey,” Robin said. “Has he been any bother?”
“No, just a grumpy bastard earlier,” I said.
“I can fucking hear you!” Justin shouted from the living room.
“You can get off home now if you like, I’ll stick round and get him settled down,” Robin said.
I handed the key back to Robin and nodded. “See you tomorrow.”
As soon as I walked through the door at home, I was knocked across the hallway.
“Where’ve you been, you little shit?” Dad yelled.
“I’ve been at work,” I said, rubbing my ear and dodging out of his way as he came at me again.
Mum grabbed me by the arm and swiped at me with her free hand.
“I told you to take your sister to school this morning!”
“I didn’t hear you say that!” I shouted above the roar of noise from both of them. That’s the problem at home, no one talks, it’s all shouting.
I dodged another swipe from my dad ‘for being cheeky’, but mum caught me a good one across the top of my leg. It even stung through the jeans I had on.
I managed to escape my mum’s grip and kept out of my dad’s reach.
“She was in tears when she came home!” my mum yelled.
“Yeah? So what? She’s big enough to come home on her own. I was, at her age!” I shouted back.
My dad leaped forward and slapped me round the face for that. I could feel the shape of his hand burning and throbbing on my skin. Tears pricked at my eyes and I put my hand up to ward off another blow.
I was damned if I was going to cry, though!
Images from google