Too Much Trouble

by Tom Avery

  She told me about her best friend, Manon. She told me more about Manon’s house and home than her own.

  Manon and Terri were writing a story together. It was for a school project but they carried it on after the project was finished. Terri did most of the writing and Manon did the pictures. Terri called the pictures illustrations.

  The story was about two friends who went to boarding school together. Terri told me it was like Mallory Towers, but I’d never heard of that.

  They used to do all of it at Manon’s house. When I asked why they couldn’t do it at Terri’s house, she mumbled something about her dad and then quickly changed the subject.

  A few weeks later, following days and days of playing the part of thieves and two more moves into new, empty houses, me and Terri finished Lord of the Flies. We decided that we didn’t really like it. It scared us, but we still finished it.

  As Terri closed the book for the last time she asked me, ‘Do you think our lives will change?’

  ‘What?’ I replied. I didn’t know what she meant.

  ‘Do you think we’ll always be with Mr Green?’

  ‘Erm, I don’t know. I guess not.’ I hadn’t thought about this. I was happy not to be in charge. I was happy that someone else was looking after Prince. I was happy to be away from my uncle and his friends. There weren’t many things that I’d been happy about before Mr Green found us. ‘Do you want things to be different?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know, I think I want a proper home, Em. Don’t you?’

  A proper home? For the first time in a long time I almost shed a tear. I thought about my mother and father. I remembered when Prince used to really smile. I could see our old home and smell the dust in the air.

  ‘I guess I do,’ I replied.

  Me and Terri were both lost in thought after this exchange. But we returned to the subject many times over the following weeks.

  A proper home.

  Chapter 17

  I guess there are some things you are wondering about. Here’s one thing I think you would like to know the answer to. How did Mr Green always find empty homes to house the gang? I didn’t find out the answer to this till much later.

  Mr Green had a friend who worked for an airline. I think it was one of those really cheap ones. You know, the ‘fly somewhere for £5’ ones. Mr Green’s friend did something with computers for them. He was able to go into all the files on their computers.

  Mr Green paid him money each time that he found what Mr Green needed. A big family, who were going on holiday, leaving an empty house. Mr Green would make a phone call, his friend would go on his computer, and as if by magic we had a house to sleep in.

  Here’s something else you might be wondering about. Didn’t the neighbours ever notice? I guess a lot of the neighbours weren’t that bothered about what went on next door. But sometimes they were. Sometimes we got into trouble. Once we nearly got caught.

  We were staying in this massive house. It was in the south half of the city, over the river. It was full of loads of interesting stuff. Including thousands of books.

  We had been there for a few hours. Jamal and his friends had found some stuffed animals and were charging round the house with them. Julia and her friends were playing in the enormous garden. Carla and Sofina were upstairs trying on the clothes that the house’s owners had left behind. Terri was rooting through the book shelves, trying to find something she’d like to read. I was sitting close by, watching my brother.

  Prince had a stuffed fox’s head. He was holding it up in front of his face and doing silly voices. Ibby was giggling. I was smiling too.

  Prince smiled over at me. ‘Hey, Em, do your impression of an old man,’ he shouted.

  But before I could respond we heard a sound that made us freeze. Police sirens. Lots of police sirens, getting nearer.

  Carla and Sofina came charging down the stairs and Carla shouted, ‘They’re coming this way!’

  By the time the pair had reached the bottom of the stairs we were all heading for the door. We pushed each other out of the way. Terri was left at the back.

  I grabbed Prince’s hand and ran. Through the kitchen. Out the back door. Across the garden. Over a back fence. Another garden. Down an alleyway at the side of a house. Following the person in front. Being followed by others.

  That was terrifying. Not knowing whether it was a policeman you could hear two steps behind, or a friend. I held on to Prince the whole time we ran. We stopped a few streets away, in front of a closed newsagent, and I finally let go of his wrist as he shook me off with a tut.

  ‘You didn’t need to drag me.’ I looked at him. He looked back at me angrily, then glanced over at Jamal. Jamal was leaning against the wall, staring at us.

  ‘Whoa!’ Ibby screamed, his face to the sky. ‘We made it.’

  Everyone else was still catching their breath. I watched Jamal straighten up and then look around. ‘Everyone all right?’ he panted.

  People gave nods or breathed out a yes. I looked around, scanning the faces. Julia, Kammy, Dwayne, Kieran, Carla supporting Sofina, Alex, Sastre, Ibby, Freddie, Jamal, Prince. Where was Terri?

  I thought this and then said it out loud. ‘Where’s Terri?’

  Jamal looked around too, and then echoed my question. ‘Where is Terri?’

  Everyone was looking round now. Terri definitely wasn’t there.

  Jamal looked down the street we’d come from, then said, ‘Mr Green is gonna be well pissed if she’s been arrested.’ Prince was looking at me. A worried expression crossed his face. ‘She’s such an idiot. He’s gonna kill us!’ Jamal continued.

  ‘Are we going back for her?’ I said.

  Ibby snorted a laugh but it was Jamal who replied. ‘Are you mad? Go back for her and get ourselves arrested too?’

  I glanced round the group. I couldn’t believe they would all agree with Jamal, but no one spoke up.

  ‘I’ve gotta call Mr Green. Where’s a phone box?’ Jamal said. Jamal was the only one in the group who had Mr Green’s phone number.

  ‘You’re serious?’ I said. ‘We’re not even going back to look for her?’ I could feel myself beginning to get angry. The kind of anger where you can’t stop yourself exploding. Even if you’re speaking to someone that you know you should be nice to.

  Jamal stared at me. He wasn’t used to people questioning him.

  ‘Shut up, Em,’ Kieran said, taking hold of my arm lightly.

  ‘But she could be in trouble!’ I said, brushing Kieran off and staring back at Jamal. I could feel most of the group backing away. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Prince, his gaze shared between me and Jamal.

  ‘Emmanuel, shut up.’ This time it was Prince who spoke.

  But before I could answer, Jamal spat, ‘You’re a fool, Emmanuel! I mean it, Mr Green is gonna be so pissed. But don’t worry, I’ll just tell him that it was your fault she got caught. Maybe he won’t take it out on the rest of us then.’

  I carried on staring at Jamal. I was seconds away from exploding. Then I heard a shout.

  ‘There she is!’ I turned round to see Terri trotting along the road towards us. She was almost smiling.

  I looked at Prince. He gave a big sigh of relief. Maybe he was relieved because Terri was safe, maybe because of what I might have done if she hadn’t turned up, but I think it was because he didn’t want to see an angry Mr Green. Prince had seen enough angry adults.

  ***

  When we first saw my uncle in England he was angry. He came out to the airport to get us. He didn’t hug us like he used to or even smile. Prince clung on to my hand. I clung on to Prince’s too.

  We got a train from the airport into town. My uncle didn’t speak to us much. He asked a few questions about our journey but he mostly stared out of the window.

  Then I remembered what my mother had told me. ‘My dadda says you were right, Uncle Victor.’ I spoke quietly, looking at the uncle who felt like a stranger.

  Uncle Victor took his gaze
from the window and fixed it on me. ‘It makes no difference,’ he said. ‘He is there in trouble and I am here in trouble.’ Then he resumed staring out of the window.

  When we arrived at my uncle’s house there were several men and women there. They were all as dark as my uncle and all looked as displeased to see us as he had.

  One woman shouted, ‘What are they doing here, Victor?’

  ‘What am I supposed to do with them?’ my uncle shouted back.

  ‘I don’t care, just get them out of here!’ The woman stormed out of the room and my uncle followed.

  We were left with strangers. Some stared at us, others carried on with what they had been doing before we disturbed them. Two men were playing cards whilst smoking long cigarettes, another was picking at some food.

  A woman who had been sitting on the lap of one of the card players got up and came over. ‘Don’t you worry, just go and sit yourselves down.’ She pointed us through to another room. We went and sat down.

  We stayed in that room all night. We didn’t know where my uncle had gone. Prince cried a lot. I didn’t. I’ve never really been one for crying.

  In the morning my uncle took us to the house with the plants. We never saw where he lived again.

  Chapter 18

  I used to love playing football with Prince. I mean just me and him. Before we met Jamal and everyone else, me and Prince were best friends. I guess he was my only real friend. He was the only person who knew all about me.

  Just me and Prince with a football, in a park or in our garden, before it got too overgrown. We didn’t even need goal-posts or anything. We just ran around chasing the ball, trying to tackle each other.

  Prince was much better than me, he could do all sorts of skills. He would watch different players and try to copy them, or watch the older kids at school. He was much more skilful but I was stronger, so it was quite an even match.

  I remember sunny days, days when most people would call it hot, playing in the park. A big open space in front of us. We could run and laugh and shout as much as we wanted. We didn’t need to be quiet or to be invisible. No one was watching us there. After a while I didn’t even notice anyone else. Just the ball and my brother.

  ‘Watch this!’ Prince would pant. Then he’d attempt some new trick that he’d learnt. Trying to thread the ball through my legs or through his own. Sometimes he’d get past me, laughing or shouting, ‘Come and get me, slow-coach!’ Sometimes I’d force him off the ball and I’d be the one laughing.

  It reminded me of home. Of running and laughing and playing with my father. Me and Prince and Dadda. Mum would often watch us running around outside. She would clap her hands together and call encouragement. ‘Go on, Emmy!’ or ‘Keep chasing, my little Prince!’

  Me and Prince were best friends then. But we weren’t best friends any more, after we joined the gang. We went our separate ways, Prince with Jamal and Ibby and Kieran, and me with Terri.

  Prince was ‘one of the boys’. When we were working, he usually worked with Jamal or Ibby, or sometimes Kieran. I thought I might write, ‘they were thick as thieves’, but they were thieves, so I couldn’t really.

  That’s not to say that me and Prince stopped being close. Well, not straight away. He was still my brother. So sometimes I would do my stealing with Prince, or with Prince and his friends. Other days I would work with Terri or Kammy or Sastre.

  I liked working with Prince or Terri the best. It was usually really fun with Prince. We laughed and played and it felt, well, it felt like we were brothers. Although along with the fun it was scary. As the days went by and Prince became more and more adapted to the gang life, he became more and more angry. Angry like my uncle. Sometimes when we were working, he’d screw his face up and he’d even look like my uncle. Then I knew someone could get hurt.

  A few weeks after we started stealing, I worked with Prince for the last time. He had stolen loads, as usual. He didn’t stop, but almost ran from one steal to the next.

  ‘Come on, Em,’ he hissed when I slowed him down. I had only stopped to tie my shoe-lace.

  We had lunch with Jamal and his friends. Prince always did, and when I was working with Prince I had to as well. We had burgers and chips, which made me think of our first day in London. I remembered a terrified, silent Prince, but he was long gone.

  As we were eating, an old man came over to us. He looked different from anyone I’d ever seen. He wore a spotty piece of material round his neck which billowed out of his shirt. He also had a wooden walking stick and a hat made of straw, perched on his head.

  ‘So why aren’t you lot in school then?’ he asked. His face was so wrinkled, I couldn’t tell whether he was kind or angry.

  Jamal was the first to reply. He said, ‘What the hell does it have to do with you?’

  ‘Pardon me, young man, but is that any way to talk to your elder?’ the old man replied, and I couldn’t help but agree.

  ‘My what? Someone do something about this guy,’ Jamal said.

  Just then Prince stood up. His face was a mask of anger and I was taken back to that day when we had left my uncle.

  ‘Get out of here!’ Prince shouted, kicking out at the old man’s cane.

  I leapt out of my seat and grabbed both my brother’s arms. ‘Prince!’ I said.

  He rounded on me, shaking his arms free. ‘Get the hell off me!’ he shouted. For a moment I thought he was going to hit me. I continued to stare at my brother, but he didn’t look like him. Then Jamal laughed, Ibby laughed, Kieran laughed and eventually Prince laughed.

  I didn’t. I finished that lunch in silence.

  It was not the same with Terri. We only did a bit of pick-pocketing because we had to. Mostly we just sat or walked or found a library or bookshop. We talked a lot. Terri loved reading and talking. She hated stealing. But like all of us, she needed safety and Mr Green kept us safe.

  The one time she did talk about her home it didn’t sound safe.

  I had asked her what her mum and dad were like.

  She didn’t say anything for a long time and I thought she must be really upset. Then she said quietly, ‘Mum wasn’t around.’

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything.

  ‘I tried to stay away from my dad as much as possible,’ she said. ‘If I did go near him I had to do exactly as he said. Exactly as he said, Emmanuel.’

  I think I knew what she meant. Like I said, it didn’t sound safe.

  Chapter 19

  If I had given titles to my chapters, the title to this one would be The Return of the Wallet Man. Or it could be How Stupid does Emmanuel Get? Or maybe Forgiveness.

  I only worked with Jamal once. He told me that he wanted to see how I was getting on, so he was gonna work with me the next day. I was pretty nervous. I knew I really wasn’t very good at stealing stuff, but I didn’t want Mr Green to know. I didn’t know what would happen if Mr Green decided that he wanted ‘to talk to me’.

  I hadn’t asked Freddie and Sastre what had happened to them when Mr Green had ‘talked’ to them. But they had seemed different the next day, quieter, and Freddie had a cut over his right eye.

  I woke up nervous. The sun was peeking in between the curtains. Me and Prince were sharing a room, and he woke up as I stirred.

  ‘I’m working with Jamal today,’ I told him.

  ‘Cool,’ Prince said, yawning.

  ‘Do you think he likes me?’

  ‘What? I don’t know.’ He stifled another yawn and stretched, the duvet cover dropping down his t-shirt as he sat up. ‘Jamal’s cool, you don’t need to worry,’ he said.

  I was still worried, but I wasn’t sure why.

  Mr Green took us to work in all sorts of places, high streets, big train stations, shopping centres. But that day we were at an airport. Just like a train station, but bigger and busier - and a lot more stuff to steal.

  When we arrived and Mr Green had talked to us all, Jamal put his arm round me and said, ‘Come on then, E
mmy, let’s see what you’ve got!’

  That didn’t help my nerves.

  We started out small. We took a few purses that people had left by the sides of chairs as they waited. Jamal lifted a phone from someone’s pocket. I got close to taking a wallet out of a man’s open bag. But I wasn’t fast enough though.

  I edged towards him slowly, through the crowd. I could see the leather just peeking out of an open pocket. The man with the bag was standing still, looking up at a screen that showed when planes were leaving.

  I took my time because I was still a bit nervous and shaky. Jamal was watching me carefully. I didn’t know what he was looking for, but I thought maybe he was looking to see me make a mistake. So, slowly, slowly I went.

  Just as I was about to dip my hand in and make the final move, the man swore and then set off running. Maybe he was missing his plane.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Jamal asked when I returned to where he was watching.

  ‘What?’

  ‘What were you doing?’

  ‘I was just a bit slow,’ I replied.

  I could tell he was not impressed. ‘A bit slow?’ he said. ‘That was more than ‘a bit slow’, that was rubbish. I thought you might be good at this, I can’t believe Flash is your brother. Come on.’

  Jamal turned and walked away.

  I felt sick. I was angry with Jamal. I didn’t want him to tell Mr Green or Prince about what had just happened but I felt he would be telling everyone.

  I was right. Over lunch he replayed the whole incident to Ibby, Kieran, Dwayne, Michael and Prince.

  They all laughed at me. Kieran said, ‘You’re almost as spazzy as Ibby.’ Ibby punched him on the arm.

  That made me feel a bit better. They did laugh at each other as well as me. But Jamal’s looks of disdain were only for me. I was determined that I was going to prove him wrong in the afternoon.

  Again, we started out slow. Just a few easy steals. But all the time I was looking out for something good. A steal that would impress Jamal.