Animal Kingdom Read Free Page A

with it.
    None of them had much religion. J had been to church, to his grandfather’s funeral, and he knew a bit about God from TV, but that was all. Jesus was supposed to have saved the world by dying for its sins, but J didn’t have a clue what that meant. Someone had come to the door one time and tried to sign him up. He’d heard them out and taken their paper and then thrown it into the bin when they’d gone. It didn’t look like the sort of thing he’d be interested in.
    His mother used to say religious stuff to him. Be good. Don’t lie. That sort of thing. Don’t steal unless you have to. Didn’t stop her from blowing her brains out with one shot too many. He’d never prayed, but he had seen someone do it one time. Close their eyes and sort of hold their breath. J under stood that.
    Craig was driving. He’d done his business and now they were just hanging out, cruising along Marine Parade, not looking at anything in particular.
    â€˜What did you think of that?’ Craig asked.
    â€˜What?’ J replied, looking at his uncle.
    â€˜That guy Roache,’ Craig answered. ‘I can get whatever I like off him. Smack, coke—you name it, he’s got it. He’s got his own key.’
    â€˜Key?’ J asked.
    â€˜Key to the kingdom,’ Craig answered, looking away. ‘Key to the strongbox. He can get me whatever I want, by the truckload.’
    The water was slopping around out on the bay and the palm trees were soaking up the sun. It was summer; that was why everyone was in shorts and crop tops. There wasn’t much going on. It was a weekday, so most people were at work, which was what made the drive so sweet. To be out in the sun, hooking school, lazing around when nearly everyone else was hard at it—it just tasted like freedom at its best.
    â€˜You like this?’ Craig asked.
    â€˜Sure,’ J answered. ‘Who wouldn’t?’
    And he liked his uncle, too. A bit of a pirate.
    â€˜You’re okay,’ Craig said, smiling. ‘I think you’ve got a future here.’
    Reaching for his mobile, Craig started to dial. Maybe to organise a drop somewhere. J didn’t really know if he wanted a future as one of Craig’s drug soldiers, because that was obviously what Craig was getting at. But because of his mother’s habit, J wasn’t really sure he wanted to have anything to do with drugs.
    The traffic lights up ahead had turned red so they slowed to a stop, and J checked out some girls in bikinis sauntering past. They gave him a look and J felt that twinge in his guts that he got every time a girl looked at him; he never knew what to do.
    He tried to distract himself by looking at the sky. There were sort of hazy, filmy clouds streaked overhead and a plane really high up was leaving a white trail behind.
    A car pulled up beside them with a couple of hoons looking for a bit of aggro. ‘Hey, buddy, hey,’ the short-haired Leb on the passenger side yelled, and, slowly looking up from his mobile like something rising from the swamp, Craig squinted, skewering the bogan with his gaze.
    â€˜The light’s green, you idiot,’ the guy persisted, unable to read the deathly stillness behind Craig’s eyes.
    But Craig just let him hang there, not saying anything.
    â€˜You got a staring problem, mate?’ the Leb taunted, a nasty sneer smeared across his lips. ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’
    Craig just smiled that mean, hungry, predatory smile of his. The kind of smile you save for tasty tidbits.
    â€˜Ya fuckin’ gimmick,’ the Leb snarled incomprehensibly as the car raced off.
    Reaching under the seat, Craig pulled out a black 9mm and handed it to J, and, putting the car into gear, took off after them.
    J had never held a gun before or even to his knowledge been in a room where there was one. So to have it sitting there in his lap like a cold, hard fact, with his hand wrapped