CHAPTER 2
Breaths heaved as I arrived outside the school; my legs aching in an attempt to make up for lost time. Maple Ridge Primary.
Walking back to this place always felt like stepping into a cartoon from my past. The chairs looked like they were built for hamsters, and everything was colourful.
Aggressively colourful.
The walls were covered in finger-painted suns with smiley faces that said things like, “Be a Bucket Filler!” featuring cartoon blobs telling you not to be mean to one another.
There was an odd, lingering energy here.
Even after most of the kids had left the grounds, the corridors still buzzed with a sugar-fuelled high.
Outside, the playground looked like a mini theme park. There was that twisty slide I once threw up on, and the same hopscotch board that had been sun-faded into ghost mode.
My pace slowed as my shoulders slumped in relief when I saw Squeeks perched on the wall, her neon-green pigtails making her impossible to miss.
Although now, she was sporting a crown she’d made from tissue paper and tape.
She swung her legs back and forth while Mrs Harrison stood beside her, arms crossed, looking up and down the street.
“Squeeks!” I called out.
Her attention snapped to me, and a warm smile spread across her face. Mrs Harrison’s expression however, turned stern as I got closer. She looked me up and down, taking in my oversized T-shirt and baggy, ripped jeans.
Her curly, dirty-blonde hair cascaded on either side of her plump, animated face. All while sporting a pink-spotted dress, an outfit that instantly brought Miss Piggy to mind. Chuckling to myself at the thought, Mrs Harrison cut in.
“Tyler, this just isn’t acceptable. Pickup time is 3:20 p.m., not 4:00 p.m.”
I nodded, pressing my lips together as Squeeks jumped down from the wall, adjusting her crown as she stood by my side.
“Sorry Miss, I was washing my hair,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
She rolled her eyes and leaned onto one hip. She’s never liked me, and to be honest, the feeling was mutual. I was always the thorn in her side, doing whatever I could to get sent to the headteacher's office.
Mr Sharp never gave a shit what I’d been sent to him for. Just threw paper at me and told me to draw him something from one of the many comic books he’d shown me. But I would create my own monsters, believing that they could protect my sister and me from the shit happening at home.
“I’m going to have to write yet another letter to your mother regarding her hair colour,” she continued. “Bright neon green just isn’t acceptable for school.”
Squeeks looked up at me and swirled a pigtail between her fingers, awaiting the cocky comeback she knew was coming.
“I mean, you can try, but some guy is balls-deep in her ninety percent of the time. I’ll pass on your message though.”
I clutched Squeeks’ hand just as Mrs Harrison’s jaw dropped. A devilish smile crept onto my face as I turned, leaving her standing speechless at the school gates.
“You didn’t need to be that mean,” she said, yanking on my hand.
“I wasn’t mean. I was honest.” Flashing her a triumphant grin.
Her face fell into a sullen expression as she looked to the floor. “Did you forget about me again?”
I sighed as we made our way down the street. “No, Danny just had me doing his shit for him. Wouldn’t let me leave until I was done.”
She clung to my arm, looking up at me with pleading eyes.
“Did you bring me sweets?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I just told you, I’ve been busy.”
Her lips formed a pout, “Aww… Can we get some now?”
“With what money, Squeeks?” I asked, knowing full well I hadn’t paid for a single thing from that corner shop since we moved into the neighbourhood after Dad split. The owner was always too busy watching his phone and screaming at his favourite football team to notice anything.
Squeeks tilted her head and gave me doe eyes. “Pwetty pwease?”
I paused, knowing there was nothing at home to feed us apart from a tin of beans and a half-drunk bottle of wine.
“Fine. But you have to stay outside and keep watch.” She giggled in excitement and ran ahead, pulling me along with her.
I did everything for my sister; I was her constant. It wasn’t like I could depend on our mum to be a mother. She was never there, and when she was, well, she was either high as a kite or off her face on booze.
She wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, she held some warmth for us.
I remember walking out of my bedroom to see Mum slumped on the floor, crying, telling me repeatedly how it was our fault Dad left.
What the fuck did I do at five years old? Squeeks was just a baby, so doesn’t remember anything. But I lived through the rot; our world turned upside down from that point on.
Letting go of my hand, Squeeks rushed on ahead, her tattered school bag hitting the backs of her legs.
She spun back towards me holding up her hands, “Sweets!” reeling off a list of things she wanted. “And don’t forget the Milky Buttons, you must get the Milky Buttons.”
I rolled my eyes with a smirk and brought my hand to my forehead in a salute. “Yes Captain.”
I didn’t plan to take much. Just enough to shut Squeeks up for the night. Some sweets, a sausage roll if I was lucky.
The bell above the shop door wheezed when I pushed it open, like it was even tired. I slipped inside, head down, hands in my jean pockets like I wasn’t up to anything.
It was a small, dingy shop with too many hidden corners; the musty smell surrounded you the moment you entered. The shopkeeper sat behind the counter like a sack of old clothes, squinting at his phone—football, of course.
He barely noticed me, more concerned about whatever team was screwing up on his tiny screen, than a wiry kid lurking by the crisp aisle. I could’ve walked out with the whole freezer section by this point.
My movements were precise. Haribo tucked into my waistband, Twix in the back pocket. A sausage roll wrapped in a napkin and stuffed into my sleeve. This wasn’t my first rodeo.
When I was done, I turned the corner near the till, a cocky, accomplished smile on my face.
That was until I smacked straight into someone.
Everything dropped. Drinks, crisps, and the countless packets of Milky Buttons Squeeks had asked for.
They scattered across the grimy tiles like I was a pinata that had just been smacked open. I froze; my breath caught in my throat.
The guy I’d bumped into looked older, eighteen I would have guessed, with a battered leather jacket and a calm face that didn’t match the rest of him. He bent down, picked up a bag of cola bottles, and looked at them before turning to me.
“You dropped these?” he asked. The way his eyes flicked to my bulging pockets, the crumbs on my cuff. He knew exactly what I was doing. He lingered on my features a moment longer. I opened my mouth, my eyes widening, preparing myself to run for it, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Don’t worry,” he said, smirking at me. “I’ve got it.
” And just like that, he walked to the counter, pulled a crumpled note from his pocket, and handed it to the shopkeeper, who, true to form, didn’t even look up.
He just grunted something about offside and waved him off in annoyance.
I stood there, staring. All the food I’d meant to steal was now paid for, just like that.
He glanced back towards me, “Feeding someone else too?”
I gave a slight nod, not trusting myself to speak. He smiled, but not the smug kind—more understanding.
“Figured,” he said, gathering the items from the counter.
I furrowed my brow at him as I took the items from his hands. I should have thanked him, but I just stayed quiet, cautiously following him to the door of the shop. He held it open, allowing me to exit first.
“Name’s Chester,” he said. “And yours is?” I looked him up and down, trying to gauge him properly before I spoke.
Chester had a scruffy, lived-in look, as if he belonged to the city in the same way graffiti does, rough around the edges.
My eyes drifted over him, noticing the soles of his boots peeled slightly at the toes, as if they’d walked too far and he wasn’t planning to stop anytime soon.
His jeans sagged a bit, but not as if he was trying to look cool.
But it was his face that got me. A quiet stillness in his blue eyes, as if he’d been through something worse than being skint and hungry and had come out the other side… not smiling exactly but still standing.
He wasn’t big, but he had a presence about him as if he carried something invisible on his shoulders, yet still stood straight under it.
I hesitated as Squeeks rushed to my side, her eyes frantically searching the items in my hands. “I’m Screech, and this is Squeeks. My sister.”
Her face broke into a smile as she found and pulled open the bag of Milky Buttons. Chester gave her a sympathetic nod before he left. He looked back at us.
“It’s not charity. Just pay me back when you can,” he said, tucking his hands into his jacket as he set off down the street.
For fuck’s sake.
I hated knowing I was in someone’s debt. It was bad enough that I had to deal with Danny, and now this guy. I instantly regretted not bolting from the shop the moment I bumped into him. Let’s hope I don’t see him again, or I might have to pay him back with blood.