Page 31 of When We Were Young

She paused. ‘Reu doesn’t live here anymore.’ Then she hung up with a click.

Will walked towards the car but turned back and buzzed again.

‘What?’

‘Sorry to bother you again. Do you know where he moved—’

‘How should I know? Fuck off!’

As Will got in the car, he hoped it wasn’t Reu’s mum he’d been talking to.

Will had been worried about Reu all week. A night out with Izzy had been the only distraction. Their date began with irresponsible drinking and ended with enthusiastic fucking. When Sunday rolled around again, Will was relieved to see Reu sitting in his usual spot outside the rehearsal unit.

‘Sorry about last week, guys,’ Reu said as they got out of the car. ‘I couldn’t make it at the last minute.’

He helped bring the gear inside, and when Will switched on the lights, he was shocked at the state of Reu. He was dirty, his long, curly hair matted at the back, and he was skinnier, if that was even possible.

Matty shot Will a look as Reu assembled the drum kit.

‘What’s going on, Reu?’ asked Will.

‘I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise.’

‘It’s not that, mate,’ said Will. ‘We’re worried about you. We went to your flat. They said you moved out.’

Reu’s face crumpled. A fat tear ran down his cheek and he swiped it away.

Will put a hand on his shoulder. ‘What happened?’

‘It’s nothing… I can still play… Let me play.’

‘Course you can play, mate.’ Matty perched on his amp. ‘Just tell us what happened. We’re here for you, man.’

Reu took a deep breath and sank onto the drum stool. ‘My stepdad kicked me out.’

‘Shit, Reu. When was this? Where have you been staying?’ asked Will.

‘A week ago. I stayed at my friend’s house the first night. He lent me some school uniform till I could sneak home and get some stuff when my stepdad was out.’

‘Christ, what about the rest of the week?’ asked Matty.

‘I’ve been sleeping rough. I even stayed here one night. I told the band that was leaving I was the cleaner.’

‘And they didn’t find that suspicious? This shithole’s never been cleaned,’ laughed Matty, bringing a smile to Reu’s face.

‘Listen, you can stay at mine for a bit. We’ll get this sorted,’ said Will.

‘Nah. I’ll be all right. I can manage.’

‘Have you been going to school?’

‘I went all week except Friday. I stank.’ They laughed; the laughing seemed to help.

‘We need to keep you in school, otherwise they’ll get social services involved, if they haven’t already.’ Will was thinking out loud. ‘When was the last time you ate anything?’

‘Yesterday? The day before maybe?’

‘Right, that’s it,’ said Will. ‘Come on, let’s go to my house. Bloody hell, my mum will love feeding you up!’