secure rooms,’ Gurbir explained. ‘Only five are currently occupied and you’re not allowed beyond that door, should you ever find it open.’
‘What did the kids in there do?’ Daniel asked, as he put his face up to a shatterproof pane in the locked door.
‘There’s nobody in there now,’ Gurbir explained. ‘Most of them are at school.’
‘So they can come and go?’ Leon asked.
Gurbir laughed. ‘The courts set different rules and curfews for our secure residents, but this isn’t a prison.’
They’d reached room twelve by this time. ‘Daniel, you’re directly across the hall. Toilets and showers are at the end. Showers are kept locked, so you have to get a key from the office and return it when you’re finished.’
‘Right,’ Daniel said.
He threw his stuff into a room with a small window, a fold-down desk and a metal locker. It looked modern, but there was an oniony tang from the previous occupant and the window only opened inwards by about four centimetres.
Leon stuck his head around the door. ‘Not exactly spacious,’ he said, then wrinkled his nose. ‘It stinks like BO in here.’
‘I noticed,’ Daniel said sourly.
Out in the hallway, the sobbing girl was being led into room nine. A female social worker spoke in a soothing voice.
‘Abigail, you’ll only be here for a night or two, until you get a foster placement in a proper house. OK?’
She sobbed, and gave a weak nod.
‘I’m just down the hall until seven, and I’ll introduce you to the night staff before I clock off.’
As the twins unpacked, a few other noises started to break out. The twins could see into each other’s rooms if they left their doors open and they saw kids coming past in school uniform. Most were fourteen to seventeen, but there were a couple of pre-teens.
Daniel was hunting for a socket to charge his phone when he saw Oliver shoot past. Their target used the toilet, dropped into room thirteen next to Leon and came out a minute later having swapped school gear for trackies and an Aston Villa shirt.
‘Hey, neighbour,’ Leon said.
‘Hey,’ Oliver replied, but didn’t break stride.
The twins had seen photos, but were still surprised by Oliver’s presence. He was average height for twelve, with a light brown complexion. But his build gave him the air of a little thug. Big neck, broad shoulders, thick arms, and legs stretching his Nike tracksuit bottoms to bursting.
‘I’m Leon,’ Leon said, as he trailed Oliver. ‘Do you know where I can get soap and a towel?’
‘Call me Oli,’ the twelve-year-old said, staring Leon up and down, seeing a well-muscled kid with a medium build and blond streaks in his hair. ‘Ask in the office,’ he said impatiently.
‘Right,’ Leon said.
At the end of the hallway, Oliver cut into the TV room. The only kid in there was on floor-cushions using an ancient Xbox 360, still in his school uniform. He looked older than Oliver, but was beanpole thin.
‘Wes the weasel,’ Oliver said fiercely. ‘You got my money?’
‘I don’t owe you money.’
‘You reckon?’ Oliver said, pounding a fist into his palm as he closed in. ‘Gimme a fiver.’
Skinny Wes dropped the Xbox controller and raised his arms over his face. ‘I haven’t got any money.’
Oliver shoved Wes off the cushions. Leon watched in mild horror as Oliver lunged, delivering three hard punches to the ribs and a kick in the thigh.
‘I’m on the Xbox,’ Oliver growled. ‘Get out before I give you real beats.’
Wes scrambled up and limped out the door past Leon. Oliver smiled until he saw that he was being watched.
‘You got a problem?’ Oliver asked.
Leon smiled like he was OK with what he’d seen. ‘What did he do to piss you off?’
‘Skinny weasel,’ Oliver explained, as he grabbed the controller off the floor. ‘I always give him beats. I don’t even wanna play. All the discs are scratched up so the games never work.’
‘I’ve got a PS4,’ Leon said. ‘Haven’t unpacked it yet, but it’ll only take half a minute to set it up.’
‘I had a PS4 and an Xbox One,’ Oliver said, putting a hand on his hip. ‘But I sold ’em. Needed the money for clothes and stuff.’
‘Really?’ Leon said, catching a whiff of bullshit stronger than the BO in Daniel’s room. ‘Got a bunch of games. You wanna play?’
‘Played most of ’em already, probably,’ Oliver said, shrugging. ‘But yeah, whatever. Got nothing else to do.’
Daniel was coming out of his room with some air freshener he’d blagged from the front office.
‘Gonna put the PS4 on,’ Leon