burst out laughing. ‘We’re twelve.’
‘Yeah,’ James said. ‘But we’re in Year Eight, she’s only a Year Seven.’
‘If you ask me,’ Junior said, ‘it’s none of your business what your stepsister is up to. But if it makes you feel better, Dinesh is a weed. Just go over there and slap him one.’
‘I’ve a good mind to,’ James said.
This was a total lie. Kerry would break him into fifty million pieces if he even thought about it.
‘Anyway,’ Junior said, ‘I’m not sitting here all night. Are you gonna ask April out or not?’
‘You go,’ James shrugged. ‘I’m not in the mood.’
April Moore was OK-looking and being friendly with her would be good for the mission, but James couldn’t get Kerry out of his head.
Junior pulled up a chair next to Nicole and started chatting her up. James sat by himself and kept glancing over to see what Kerry was up to with Dinesh. He realised he couldn’t sit on his own all night being jealous of Dinesh and decided to go across to April, but company arrived before he got a chance.
It was Kelvin and Marcus, the two coaches he’d seen at boxing club. They were both over six feet tall and solid muscle. They sat either side of James, squashing him even though there was plenty of room.
‘I’m Kelvin,’ the black one said. He pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket and stuck it on the table. ‘Del tells me you’re interested in doing deliveries.’
James nodded. ‘I could do with the cash.’
‘Del said you’re a solid kid,’ Kelvin continued. ‘What you gonna say if the cops pick you up holding drugs?’
‘Nothing, of course.’
Kelvin nodded. ‘That’s right. You don’t know us, you ain’t never seen us. Tell ’em you found the drugs in a bush and stick to that story no matter how they try to mess with you.
You know what happens if you grass us up?’
‘I get beaten up?’
‘Cut up, more likely,’ Kelvin said. ‘And that’s just for starters. They’ll send people round your house and start on your family. Smash the furniture, batter your mum and dad. Del said you had two sisters, they won’t look so pretty after we finish with them. So you better understand, James, even if there’s some massive cop threatening to lock you up and throw away the key, you better keep your trap shut.’
‘Don’t worry,’ James said. ‘I’m no grass.’
‘You got a good bike?’
‘It’s pretty crap actually.’
‘Good,’ Kelvin said. ‘You don’t want nothing fancy or you’ll get mugged. How cool are your parents about you being out late?’
‘It’s OK until about half-ten.’
‘Marcus, set the kid up with three bags. I think we’ll give him a trial run.’
Marcus got three bags of cocaine out of his tracksuit.
‘I want you on call school nights,’ Kelvin said. ‘Monday through Thursday. That means you keep your phone switched on and you’re always ready to go. We don’t want to hear that you’re grounded, or you’re busy doing something. Whenever they call, you jump to it.’
‘Can’t I do weekends?’ James asked. ‘Del reckons that’s when you make the real money.’
‘Everyone starts at the bottom with weekday deliveries and no regular customers. The powers that be will see how you do. If you’re reliable and you deliver fast, you get moved on to better paid work. Questions?’
‘I’ve only got three bags of coke, how do I get more?’ James asked.
‘There’s people at your school. We’ll arrange for you to meet up with them when you need to.’
‘What if someone tries to rob me or something?’ James asked.
‘If you lose the stuff or get mugged, that’s your problem and you owe us for what you lost. If the customer tries any funny business, don’t sweat it. Give the customer whatever they want and some of our muscle will show them the error of their ways.’
Kelvin and his silent pal got up from the table.
‘One last thing,’ Kelvin said. ‘If you’re out late, you’ll get hassled sooner or later. Never carry more coke than you need to. A lot of kids carry knives, but if you ask me, you’re safer throwing the stuff on the ground and legging it.’
11. KITCHEN
James ended up walking home from the youth club with Nicole. He didn’t feel too good: a mix of nerves about his delivery job and seeing Kerry with Dinesh. They ended up in the kitchen, drinking glasses of milk. Zara and Ewart were already in bed.
‘Did Kerry say anything to you about this Indian guy?’ James asked.
Nicole grinned. ‘Jealous, are we,