He picked up some of the shoe boxes scattered around the floor and tucked them under his arm.
“Take a seat. I’ll check if we’ve got them in stock,” he said. He took a radio out of his back pocket and spoke into it.
“Keiron? Keiron! Wake up!”
There was a crackle as Keiron grunted.
“Mate. We got any XT50s left? Black. Size seven? Not TWs. I repeat, customers are not TWs.”
Dad nudged me.
“Did you hear that?” he whispered. “Not TWs. Not time-wasters!” He laughed and I found myself laughing as well. I undid my laces, and then remembered I was wearing some really old socks with holes in the heels.
“Dad? Can I get some socks as well?”
Dad nodded and went over to a revolving stand. He checked the price of a white pair and his eyes widened slightly, before he came back with them. If he thought the socks were expensive, I dreaded to see his reaction to the XT50s.
“Here, put a pair of these on,” he said, pulling the white socks from a pack of three. Will stepped forward.
“It’s all right,” said Dad to him. “We’re going to pay for them.”
I quickly took off my old socks and put the new pair on. They felt soft and springy underneath. I’d never worn socks like that before: all my pairs were thin and scratchy.
Will’s radio crackled again and he went off to a doorway and came back with a shiny black box that he passed to Dad.
“These are the last pair in stock. Even if they don’t fit you can probably sell them for more money on eBay or something…” There was a crash as someone knocked a load of toddler trainers off a stand and Will went over to sort it out.
Dad opened the box.
“They look … different,” he said. I peered in and saw the black trainers nestled in white tissue paper. They didn’t look different, they looked incredible. I picked one up and studied it closely. It was so light! The large plastic soles had a transparent part near the heel. Inside you could see three silver spheres which squished down when you walked. I quickly put my foot into the shoe and stood up. It felt like I was standing on a cloud.
“Oh wow, they’re so comfortable!” I said, grinning at Dad. He passed me the other shoe and when I put that one on as well it felt like I was actually floating. I walked up and down and then stood in front of a mirror. They looked amazing from the ankle down, but they didn’t really go very well with my too-short trousers or scruffy top.
“What do you think, Cole? Are they keepers?” said Dad.
I sat down beside him.
“I don’t know,” I said. “They’re really expensive, Dad.” I wanted them but it felt so weird, having something that cost so much money on my feet.
“Cole, if it wasn’t for you then we wouldn’t be able to get all these things for the house. I think you deserve a treat and if you really want them then you should … oh.”
Dad looked at the price on the side of the box.
“Excuse me? Will?” he called to the assistant. “I think there’s been a mix-up on your pricing here?”
“Sshhh, Dad,” I said, between gritted teeth.
“I think a zero has been added on by mistake,” he continued.
Will looked at him, blankly, and then began to laugh.
“Ha! Yeah … an extra zero! That’s funny!” He chuckled to himself then turned back to his customer.
“Dad! That’s how much they cost!” I said.
“Crikey, Cole. These cost more than our TV!” said Dad.
I looked at the trainers and then loosened the laces and slipped them off. What on earth was I thinking? Of course we wouldn’t be buying them. My family didn’t wear shoes that cost three figures. That was money that could probably feed us for the next month. I put the trainers back in the box and covered them with the tissue. It had been nice to try them on, anyway. I put my old shoes on again. They felt hard and heavy.
I took a long breath.
“Don’t worry about it, Dad,” I said. “I’ll just get the socks if that’s OK?”
Dad picked up the socks in the ripped packet.
“Right, I’ll go and queue up,” he said. “I’ll meet you downstairs by the door.”
I headed to the escalator and stepped on. Around me were hundreds of families carrying shiny, silver bags.
I sighed. It was fine. This world full of expensive labels and walking-on-cloud trainers just wasn’t mine. It never had been. We had far more important things to spend the money on. Anyway, I didn’t have anything nice enough to wear with the XT50s, so what was the point of owning them?
I stepped off the escalator and stood by the door, waiting for Dad.
“Cole! COLE!”
I looked up. Leyton and Niall from school were coming down the escalator towards me. I gave them both a weak smile. Just my luck.
“Dad said you were on the news today!” shouted Leyton, jumping off the moving stair and coming over. “You here to spend your money, are you, Poor Kid Cole? Getting some decent gear at last?”
They laughed and I laughed back.
“Yeah, something like that,” I said, trying to sound like I wasn’t bothered by his comment.
“At least your dad won’t ever need to get a job now, eh?” jeered Niall. “He can just stay on the dole for ever!” I thought about saying, for the thousandth time, that Dad wasn’t actually on the dole, he was a stay-at-home father, when I saw him getting off the escalator behind them.
“Here you go, son,” he said, passing me a silver bag. I looked at the bag. Inside were the white socks, and a shiny black shoebox.
“You got them?!” I said. “You actually got them?”
“Of course I did!” said Dad, then turned to Leyton and Niall. “Oh, hello. Are you friends of Cole’s?”
They nodded silently, their eyes fixed on the shoebox as I took it out of the bag. I opened it up.
“Whoa … are they XT50s?” said Niall, unable to keep the astonishment out of his voice.
I nodded.
“Can I wear them now?” I asked.
“’Course you can,” said Dad.
I quickly took off my shoes and stuffed them into the carrier bag and put the trainers on. They made me nearly three inches taller.
“They are sooo cool,” said Leyton, his voice trembling.
“They’re the last pair they had,” I said, twisting my feet this way and that. “They are so comfortable.”
“My mum would never buy me shoes that expensive,” said Niall. “You are so lucky.”
I grinned at them both.
“Come on then, Cole,” said Dad. “If we’re quick we can get you some new clothes before we have lunch.”
“I’d better get going,” I said, as if I was annoyed that I couldn’t stay and chat to them for longer. “See you tomorrow!”
I walked away as Leyton and Niall stood with their jaws hanging open, their eyes fixed on my brand-new trainers.
Being rich was going to be a lot of fun.
Live TV
The next day there was a crowd of people waiting for me in the playground.
“Have you brought your XT50s in? Can I see them?”
“My dad reckons your next painting might sell for half a million! Do you think it will?”
“Cole! Is it true you’re getting a Ferrari?”
I looked around at everyone and grinned.
“I can’t comment, I’m afraid,” I said, smiling. “Maybe.”
Niall slung his arm around my shoulders.
“Do you fancy coming round mine later? Mum said she’d do us some burgers.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t. I’ve got a TV crew coming round tonight,” I said, sniffing. “They want to do a live interview with me.”
A few people gasped.
“Are you going on the telly?!” said Kiki. “What time?”
“During the five o’clock news, I think,” I said. “I’ll have to ask Declan. I mean, Marika’s PA.”
“H
ey, Cole. Do you wanna come go-karting on Saturday?” asked Leyton.
Niall took his arm off my shoulders and scowled at Leyton as they both waited to hear what I’d say.
“Sure,” I said casually. “Sounds good.” Leyton fist-punched the air and I carried on walking through the crowd. I spotted Mason and Isla sitting on a bench, watching, and I went over to join them.
“You all right?” I said.
“Yep,” said Mason. “What was that about?” I turned around and everyone was still staring at me.
“Oh, you know. Everyone is just a bit overexcited I guess,” I said, sitting down. “I’m sure I’ll be old news tomorrow!”
Isla smiled but Mason didn’t look so happy.
“Now the auction is out of the way we can get back to solving ‘An Enigma in Oil’,” said Isla. “You know the clue about listening to the river? Well, I think it means that…”
I held my hand up to stop her.
“I’m sorry, Isla, but I don’t really need to solve the riddle any more,” I said.
“What?” said Isla. “But we’ve come so far!”
I saw Mason check the time on his watch. I made a mental note to have a look at some new watches for myself when I got the chance. Maybe a smart watch so it was different to his. Better than his.
“There probably isn’t any treasure anyway. It’s probably just a big joke. Besides, I’m too busy now, what with all the press and interest in my art,” I said.
The bell went for registration and Mason and Isla stood up and walked off. As I followed they whispered something to each other and Mason shook his head. I guessed they were talking about me. I felt like somehow I was letting them down. But I just didn’t have time to run around a museum looking for treasure that probably didn’t exist. What was the point in that?
When I got home from school there was a huge TV truck parked outside our house. A few of our neighbours were standing out on the street, pointing and chatting to each other. I waved at them, then went indoors.
Cables came out of the truck, along our path and hallway and snaked into our lounge. I could hear Dad talking to the engineers about his old job as a music roadie.
“Hi, Cole,” said a young woman, coming out of our kitchen and holding a cup of tea. “I’m Tasmin and I’ll be doing your interview today. Congratulations on your big sale! You must be incredibly excited.”
“Hi,” I said. “Yes, it’s been amazing.”
She was wearing a lot of make-up and her eyelashes were so long they touched her eyebrows.
“I’ve just been explaining to your parents how this is going to work. We’d like to have the four of you sitting on the sofa, with you in the middle and then—”
“The four of us?” I interrupted. The woman nodded. “Yes. You, your mum and dad and your little sister is going to sit on your mum’s lap.”
“Mabel?” I said. “Why does she have to be there?”
“Our viewers will want to see all of you!” said Tasmin brightly. “We’re going to link up with Romesh in the studio just after five-fifteen. I’ll ask you a few questions and you just answer them as best you can.”
“OK,” I said. Tasmin went into the lounge and I headed to the kitchen.
Mum was at the table with Mabel sat beside her who was scribbling her crayons over a picture of a zebra in her new colouring book. She hadn’t mentioned her painting since I got angry with her in the furniture shop. With any luck, she’d forgotten all about it.
“Are you all right, Cole?” said Mum.
“Yep!” I said brightly. Although I was suddenly feeling incredibly nervous. “I’ll just go and get changed.” I ran upstairs and put on a pair of jeans and a soft hoodie that I’d bought at the retail park yesterday. I slipped my feet into my new XT50s and took a look in my mirror. I swallowed. Was that really me? Wearing designer clothes and looking … wealthy? I smiled at my reflection, but my mouth didn’t look quite right. I shrugged, then headed back downstairs to the kitchen.
“Your dad is getting Mabel changed,” said Mum, sipping at her tea. She was quiet for a moment and then she looked up.
“It’s quite overwhelming, isn’t it? All this attention,” she said. She got up from the table and closed the kitchen door, then sat back down, her hands curled around the cup. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s really exciting and a wonderful thing to happen to us, but … it feels … it feels a bit like we’re trapped in one of those snow globes. And that we’ve been shaken and everyone is looking in on us.”
I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant. The kitchen door opened and a head popped around the side.
“Are we all good to go?”
It was Tasmin. Mum got up.
“Ready?” she said to me with a smile. I smiled back.
“Ready,” I said.
The lounge was jammed full of people and equipment. Our TV was on in the corner, the sound muted. It looked like the news presenters were talking about the sport and they were showing the clip of a goal in a football match.
“If you want to sit there, Mrs Miller, that’s great,” said Tasmin. “And if you go in the middle, Cole.” I sat down. Dad appeared with Mabel. She stretched her arms towards Mum and Dad put her on her lap.
“Mr Miller, if you could sit on the end … and that’s great!” said Tasmin. It was a bit of a squash.
“It’s a shame we haven’t got our new sofa yet, eh, Cole?” said Dad, patting the arm of the chair and releasing another cloud of dust. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice.
“Right,” said Tasmin, checking her notes. “I’m going to start with a brief hello to Romesh in the studio, and then I’ll turn to you guys and we can have a chat. It’s all very relaxed, nothing to worry about.”
“Can we keep the TV on?” said Dad. “It’s nice to see what’s going on in the studio.”
The sports news had moved on to rugby now and they were showing a clip of Wales scoring a try. Tasmin thought about it for a moment.
“OK… But we’ll need to keep it muted. And please, please, don’t stare at it when we’re doing the interview.”
She flicked through her notes.
“When I talk to Romesh I can hear what he’s saying through my earpiece but you won’t be able to, OK?” She flashed her teeth at us and stared at her notes again. I noticed Mum was gripping on to Mabel. She looked utterly terrified. Tasmin pressed the earpiece into her ear. “They are just going to recap the news headlines and then it’s us. Get ready, team.”
On our TV I could see a different presenter at a desk, reading the headlines. The news went by in a flash and before we knew it we were live to the whole country. I glanced at our TV again and saw Romesh, the presenter, with us sitting on our sofa on a big screen behind him. I quickly looked at Tasmin. She was staring straight down the lens of the camera.
“Yes, hi, Romesh! I’m here this evening with the Miller family. They had rather an exciting evening on Saturday at a prestigious art gallery in London. Cole, would you like to tell me what happened?”
She pointed the black microphone towards my face. My instinct was to hold it but she moved it out of my reach.
“I … I sold a painting,” I said. I glanced at the TV behind her and saw that the whole country was now seeing the four of us in close up. It was surreal. Tasmin turned to the camera and laughed.
“But this wasn’t just any painting, Romesh; this was a painting discovered by one of the most iconic artists our country has ever known: Marika Loft. Would you like to tell us how much the painting went for, Cole?”
I looked beyond the microphone and saw a photograph of Mabel’s painting on the screen. I swallowed.
“It sold for one hundred thousand pounds.”
“That’s a remarkable sum of money, isn’t it?” she said. “For any artist, but especially one of your age!” I nodded. She hovered the microphone in front of me for a while, but I couldn’t get any more words out.
“So, Jenny,” she said, moving on to Mum. “How does it feel to have
such a talented son?”
“It has been very exciting,” said Mum quietly. Tasmin moved the microphone a little closer. “But he’ll always be just Cole to us.”
Tasmin grinned.
“Our Cole but with more expensive footwear!” laughed Dad. Tasmin laughed too.
“I see! So, you’ve already been spending some of the money, have you, Cole? What else are you planning on buying?”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Dad leant forwards.
“We’ve had quite a few tough years financially. Cole has kindly agreed that we should spend some of the money on essentials for the home. As well as the trainers, of course!”
“Yes, I understand you’ve been out of work for a while now, Mr Miller. You were a music roadie, is that right?”
I swallowed. Why was everyone so interested about Dad not having a job?
“I was! For all the big bands. I’m now a full-time father,” he said. “Although I am looking for work that fits around the children. You know what childcare costs can be like!”
Tasmin grinned at him, looking a bit blank. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable, when Mabel suddenly sat up from Mum’s lap. She pointed her hand towards our TV.
“Look!” she shouted.
On our TV was what everybody around the country was seeing. A photograph of ‘Catch’ on the wall in the gallery.
Tasmin laughed.
“I think the viewers at home can now see Cole’s painting that sold for the incredible sum of one hundred thousand pounds,” said Tasmin.
“MY painting!” Mabel said at the top of her voice. The TV cut back to us on the sofa.
“Ah, that’s so sweet!” said Tasmin, turning to my little sister. “Did you want to keep Cole’s painting for yourself, Mabel?”
“No,” said Mabel, shaking her head. “That’s Mabel’s painting. Cole and Mabel did painting! I got my hands all messy!” She wiggled her fingers towards Tasmin.
“Not this again, Mabel,” said Mum. “That’s Cole’s picture. We went to the auction where it sold for lots of money. Remember?”
Mabel shook her head.
“IT’S MABEL’S!” she said at the top of her lungs. “Mabel did ‘dot’ ‘dot’ ‘dot’ with her fingers and her hand went SPLODGE!”
The Boy Who Fooled the World Page 14
