Chapter 1
My eyes drifted anxiously to the oven clock as Danny threw another handful of small plastic baggies across the table.
“You’re not going anywhere boy, until this is done. Ya hear me?”
I glared at him from under my brow, smoke spilling from the cigarette tucked within his lips.
Danny always looked like the type of man the world had tried to break down and failed. His bald head gleamed in every unforgiving beam of light wherever he stood. His nose, bent out of shape from past fights, was accompanied by a jagged scar slashed under his right eye. Patchy stubble clung to his jaw, casting a slight shadow over muscles that never quite loosened. He wore a vest top year-round, the uniform of someone who dealt more than just cards. Grease, cigarette burns, and sweat marked his clothing like badges. Scrubby bastard.
Letting out a sigh, I leaned forward and pulled the bags closer, avoiding the skillfully placed pills that decorated the kitchen table. A smirk appeared on his face as he watched me deposit three small pills into each bag, sealing them shut with my fingers.
My hatred for him burned inside me, strong and relentless. Fighting against the urge to pull a knife from the kitchen drawer and plunge it into his neck. I would joyfully stand back and watch the blood spill from this fucker as he attempted to cling to life. I could almost taste blood in the air and hear his desperatepleas fading away. Without realising it, a wicked grin spread across my face as I tossed each sealed bag toward him.
“Something funny?” His rusty voice pulled me from my murderous daydream.
My lip tightened as I hurled the last bag aside. “No. Can I go now? She’s going to be waiting for me.”
He grumbled, waving his hand in a gesture of dismissal. Annoyance struck his features even though I had been sitting there for most of the day doing his dirty work, all while he drank what I can only describe as goblin piss. As soon as this deadbeat showed up in my mum’s life, I ended up being his unwilling errand boy. Pulling me into his dodgy drug dealings, continuously dragging my ass out of bed in the early hours of the morning to make the fucking drop-offs.
Walking away, my eyes darted to the time once more.
Shit.
Late again.
Luckily, Squeeks knows not to wander from the school gates, but I could already imagine the earful I was going to get from that stuck-up teacher, Mrs Harrison.
As I opened the door to leave, Danny shouted from across the room.
“Oh, and if you see that whore on the corner, tell her I want her home now!”
As Danny turned back to the scattered pills, I flipped him off, slamming the door behind me. That slag he’s referring to, that’s my mum. Working the streets to put food on the table.
Nah, who am I kidding? It’s only ever to feed her own drink and drug habits, or to please that piece of shit at home. My sister and I are just background noise, barely noticed and never listened to. Lately though, things have gotten tighter. The air hung heavier in my chest, which only meant one thing.
Shit was about to get desperate.
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.”
