Another Life Read Free Page A

buggy and takes her for a walk to try and get her to sleep.
    Grandpa and Danny just sit there in silence, until Danny bursts out with, ‘It really isn’t fair! She just blocks me out as much as she can! And the system lets her get away with
it.’
    ‘It’s difficult for you, I understand,’ says Grandpa.
    ‘I’m trying to be there for him. I’m doing my best. I even cancelled a shoot with Cheryl Cole to be here today. . .’
    Grandpa’s silent. I bet he’s wondering who Cheryl Cole is. Then he heaves a big sigh and says, ‘Patience is the most important part of parenthood; that’s what I’ve
learnt over the last forty-odd years.’
    This is all a bit heavy, and it doesn’t seem to have cheered up Danny at all, so I interrupt.
    ‘What are we going to do to celebrate when it’s over?’
    ‘Maybe a curry,’ Danny says vaguely, but Grandpa snaps, ‘I think we’ll need to get Ty out of London as quickly as possible. It’s not exactly the safest place for
him,’ and quite soon afterwards Danny goes outside to have a cigarette.
    How long can it take to decide what to do with someone for carrying a knife? This is mad. In some places (the Australian outback, for example, or bits of America) it’s totally normal to
have a knife on you, just in case you need to skin a rabbit or something. I’ve seen it on films. Why should London be any different? There are loads of squirrels and foxes and pigeons.
Actually, in America it’s your right to arm yourself all the time. If I were American I’d probably carry a pistol, just in case. Why is England so stupid?
    ‘They’re taking ages. What are they doing?’
    ‘They’ll be considering the factors that the judge has to take into account when sentencing,’ says Grandpa. ‘I should think there will be a report by a social worker.
Heaven knows, there are plenty of mitigating factors. He was only fourteen, for a start. I’m sure we’ve got nothing to worry about.’
    ‘Oh right.’
    Then we just sit there and pretend not to be worrying together. It’s really boring.
    Danny comes back and so does Ty’s gran and they start talking about the baby (thank God she is asleep) and how funny and clever and amazing she is, just because she’s learned to clap
her hands or something equally basic.
    I can’t believe that all the excitement is happening behind closed doors, when I’m stuck out here. Plus I can’t help feeling that if I were there, I could somehow help Ty. . .
I’m not sure how, but I feel like I’ve failed him, abandoned him, let him down. . .
    A door opens. Nicki comes striding out of the courtroom, followed by the lawyer. Her face is pink. Her mouth is slightly open. Danny leaps to his feet.
    ‘What happened? Where’s Ty?’
    Her mouth opens and closes, like a goldfish. No sound comes out.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ says the lawyer.
    ‘What . . . you mean—’
    Danny’s looking frantically about him. ‘They can’t have, not for that – not right away—’
    ‘Nicki!’ says Ty’s gran. ‘Tell us! What happened?’
    Nicki’s mouth is moving, but the words still don’t come. Then she makes a noise like she’s going to be sick and covers her mouth with both hands. The words are muffled as they
flood out.
    ‘They said . . . she said, the judge . . . she said he was very young . . . and he hadn’t been in trouble before. And he hadn’t . . . he was a good boy. Tell them, Mum, he was
always a good boy. . . But then, then she . . . she said three times was a lot . . . like a habit . . . and she said . . . too many kids were carrying knives. . .’
    ‘How long?’ said Grandpa, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound so grim. That’s when I realise what everyone else seems to know.
    ‘Twelve weeks,’ says Nicki. ‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye.’

CHAPTER 3
Losers
    ‘H ow was he?’ asks Grandpa, and Nicki gulps a bit and says, ‘Just blank. He was in shock – never even looked at
me.’
    The lawyer coughs, and Nicki