All This Could End Read Free Page A

temporary.
    She still makes an effort with schoolwork because once she finishes school, she can escape. Then she need never rob another bank, scare another person out of their mind, or steal anything ever again. She’s counting down, now. Only four hundred and fifty-four days until she’s eighteen. Only four hundred and fifty-four days until she can escape.
    Tomorrow, it’ll be only four hundred and fifty-three days until freedom. The fifth of July next year, she turns eighteen. In eighteen months. Not that long at all. It’ll be over in a blink.
    Nina sits on the couch, staring out the sliding door onto the balcony, watching the river slip past. The sky is darkening and the lights in the windows of distant skyscrapers sparkle like a million stars. She imagines the people working there, or living there, all with their own dreams and wishes and fears and struggles. There must be so many people whose lives are even more difficult, more complicated than hers. She should be grateful that she has food to eat and a family who loves her, even if they’re possibly psychotics and definitely criminals. Just like she is.
    Right now Nina feels as if happiness is just a story people tell, rather than something that actually happens. Because it’s not happening for her.
    ‘We’re going to the private school,’ Tom announces, as he and Paul arrive home from the supermarket. Paul goes to the kitchen with the box of groceries, while Tom slumps across the couch, thrusting his feet in Nina’s lap. She shoves them off.
    Sophia turns away from the TV—she’s been attempting to find stations, with no success. Her eyes light up and she smiles. ‘Private? Really?’
    ‘I saw some kids with the uniform on,’ says Tom. ‘It’s purple.’
    ‘You’re a fan of purple?’ asks Paul, not looking up from unpacking the vegetables. ‘Since when?’
    ‘What shade of purple?’ asks Nina.
    ‘It’s Cadbury-chocolate purple,’ says Tom. ‘And, Dad, purple is a lot better than the puke green the other school’s got.’
    ‘Well that’s that then. I’ll call them first thing tomorrow,’ says Sophia. ‘You happy, Nina?’
    How could she be happy? Why should she even care? What difference would it make?
    So she says, magically keeping the sarcasm out of her voice: ‘How could I not be? I’m going to have a Cadbury-purple uniform.’
    That night Nina lies awake in bed and listens to her parents’ hushed conversation in the living room. What are they talking about? In spite of how much time she spends with her parents, they still feel like a total mystery to her. Her father’s ordinary, law-abiding parents live on the west coast, and don’t have a clue about the robberies. Her mother’s parents are dead. What motivates them now? Does Sophia only think about robbing banks? Does her father only work as a teacher as a cover for their crime? Does he not enjoy teaching at all? Do they ever have doubts? She’s trying to work herself up to asking them one day—well, asking her father; Sophia is not someone who would ever admit to doubts.
    ‘I met this girl,’ whispers Tom from his bed three feet away from her. So he wasn’t asleep either.
    Nina turns on her side to face him. His hair is a mess and he’s staring at the ceiling. There’s a pause as they listen to the rumble of a plane overhead, impossibly loud, so close. Nina imagines herself on the plane, flying away from here. The sound fades. The thought leaves her mind with it.
    ‘Does she go to this private school?’ Nina asks.
    Tom looks over at her, frowning with surprise. ‘How did you know?’
    ‘Easy. You always hate going to school where Dad’s teaching,’ she says.
    ‘Ah,’ says Tom. ‘You’re smart.’
    ‘Pays to take notice,’ she says and then cringes because it’s something her mother would say. It’s something her mother would want her to do. Always look out for opportunities. As she gets older, is she transforming into her mother? This possibility is more