New Guard (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,16

told him.

‘That your brother?’ Oliver asked, as Daniel walked past. ‘Twins?’

‘Non-identical,’ Leon said. ‘I got the good looks.’

Daniel did a noisy false laugh. ‘Who are you kidding, bro? With your face like an ape’s backside.’

10. TALES

Leon set up the PS4. He played Call of Duty with Oli and Daniel before switching to FIFA16. An older teen called Wilfred joined in for a bit, and a girl called Rhea came in and started flirting with Leon. She looked about fifteen, with make-up trowelled on.

‘Smoking hot,’ Leon said, as his eyes followed her out of the room. ‘You think she was into me?’

Daniel was pissed off, because he reckoned he’d have got Rhea’s attention if he’d only chosen to sit by the door, rather than down on the floor in front of the PlayStation.

‘What room’s she in?’ Leon asked.

‘S-four,’ Oli said, then gasped as his shot on goal sailed over the bar. ‘Aww, come on, bitch!’

‘S?’ Leon asked.

Oli glanced at Leon like he was dumb. ‘S for psycho,’ he said.

‘What did she do?’

‘I heard Rhea and her brothers went around mugging people,’ Oli explained. ‘She’d lure some guy, then her brothers would mug them and beat the crap out of them. Brothers are in young offenders for cracking some guy’s skull.’

‘Really?’ Daniel asked, smiling. ‘Looks like you’ve hitched your wagon to another winner there, brother.’

Leon shrugged and smiled. ‘She’s got a great ass, so I can live with a few tiny imperfections.’

Daniel tutted.

‘Nooo,’ Oli shouted, as he overhit a corner. ‘This game is a pile of junk. It just does random bloody …’

Oli thumped the controller into a cushion then looked at Leon. ‘You wanna take this over? I’m 3–1 down.’

‘Give us,’ Leon said.

Oli was a clammy beast, and Leon found it gross taking a controller smeared in sweat.

‘Tackle!’ Leon said, as he took the ball off Daniel and passed out wide before starting a run on goal. ‘Come on, come on … Shit!’

‘So I never finished my story,’ Oli said.

Leon and Daniel both groaned internally. But Oli was their target so they had to listen.

‘So I go into this McDonald’s,’ Oli said. ‘And they’re giving away free breakfast vouchers. But they’re really busy and I can see the whole pile of vouchers. So I jumped across the counter and grabbed the book. And I had like, two hundred vouchers. And I was eating free Big Macs for like, two months.’

‘I thought they were breakfast vouchers,’ Leon pointed out.

‘Yeah …’ Oli said. ‘I mean, they were mixed. Four different ones. Some were for Big Macs and apple pies and stuff.’

‘Right,’ Daniel said. ‘Cool beans.’

Leon reckoned Oli was one of those guys who’ll top any story you tell, and decided to put his theory to the test.

‘Our older brother and his mate robbed a Burger King one time,’ Leon lied. ‘He got over eight hundred quid. Cops chased him and everything, but he got away with it.’

Oli nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ve been chased by cops so many times when I’m bunking school. One time me and this friend of mine took an iPad out of Selfridges at the Bullring. Sold it for four hundred.’

‘Nice,’ Daniel said. ‘You should show us how you did it.’

Leon nodded. ‘We could go robbing shops.’

Oli’s bluff had been called and his smile vanished. ‘I have to be so careful now though,’ he blurted. ‘Cos … Like, the store detectives all know me and shit. They’ve even got a special file on me.’

‘Special file,’ Daniel said, trying not to smirk as he caught his brother’s glance. ‘Wowee!’

‘But I’d like to hang with you guys, for sure.’

‘You seem cool,’ Leon said, which made a huge smile erupt across Oli’s face.

Leon was dominating at FIFA, but only got the score back to 3–2 before time ran out.

Daniel looked at Oli. ‘You wanna play Leon?’

But Oli was looking out the door down the hallway. Abigail – the girl who’d been sobbing when the twins arrived – had been to the office to get a shower key. Now she’d emerged from her room with a towel and a bundle of clothes under her arm.

‘I overheard Gurbir say that Abigail’s mum was in a big car smash,’ Daniel said. ‘Touch and go whether she’ll live.’

Leon nodded sympathetically, but Oli didn’t seem to care. ‘Boo-hoo,’ Oli said. ‘My mum died when I was three. What good’s sobbing her head off gonna do?’

Oli’s words made Leon and Daniel think about their mother dying of cancer. At the other end of the hallway, Abigail’s slender frame unlocked a