Page 30 of A Very Happy Halloween

He stormed off up the stairs.

Great.

That went well.

I looked at Eis, and he looked at me.

“Want me to…?” he asked, nodding towards the stairs.

“Could you just watch Alfie for a few minutes?”

“Sure.”

I found Harry spread-eagled on the bed, his face smushed into the pillow. He refused to look at me. I perched beside him, desperately trying to think of a way to make things better.

“Things have been bad at school again?”

No answer.

“How long has this been going on?”

Silence.

“Do you want me to speak with Mrs. Bailey?”

“No!” Then, more quietly, “I’m not a snitch.”

“Is Shawn involved in this?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? If I’d known what a bad influence he was, I’d never have suggested you go to his house.”

“You don’t get it.” Harry rolled over, and I saw he’d been crying. Shit. “Shawn was trying to help. He said his friends would let me hang out with them, but I had to prove myself first.”

“Prove yourself by vandalising someone’s property?”

“Prove I wasn’t a coward. Then I’d get, like, protection.”

“Did it work?”

“No, ’cos I got caught, and now they think I’m crap.”

“How did they even know you got caught?”

“Alfie told everyone at his school, so now everybody at my school knows too.”

Hell, Alfie was turning into the neighbourhood gossip. Why did young boys have to be so mean to each other? Harry had another five years at the comprehensive, and I couldn’t let him spend that whole time miserable. I thought back to Eisen’s words.

“What do you need?”

Harry looked puzzled. “Huh?”

“What do you need to help make this better?”

“I need for us to move back to Bristol.”

Well, shit. I’d walked head first into that one.

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