My Name Is Leon Read Free Page A

still perfectly black, like a drop of ink in the sea. Leon and Jake like to just look at each other for a while and then Leon sings a baby song or whispers something.
    â€œAre you all right, Jake? Sleepy time, sleepy time. Close your eyes. You’re all right, Jakey. It’s all right. Sleepy time, Jakey.”
    It’s peaceful and cozy in the bedroom with Jake and Wobbly Bobby and the heavy weight of the coats. He watches the smear of light on the wall, listens to the babies breathing, hears the sizzling tires on the wet road outside.
    The next day Carol comes to collect them from Tina’s. She sounds excited and happy and stays for ages in Tina’s kitchen, so Leon creeps into the hall.
    â€œI found him. Yeah, I went to his mate’s house and I just kept knocking. I knew someone was in and I shouted through the letter box that I just wanted to give him a message. I kept on knocking and then he answered the door. Tony did. Just like that. I was really surprised. So was he. I told you he wasn’t avoiding me. He just didn’t realize I was due. I mean, I told him but he forgot. He said he was working away. And anyway, he’s not very good with dates.”
    Tina isn’t asking questions like she usually does. So Carol just carries on.
    â€œHe said he couldn’t talk for long because he had to get home. He’s still living with that cow but I don’t know why he’s still with her. Neither does he. I told him he could move in with us. I know he wants to see Jake but he’s got to be careful cuz if she finds out she’ll stop him seeing his little girl and he dotes on her. She’s done it before, she just uses his daughter to keep him. I’d never do that.”
    Tina offers Carol a biscuit. Tina’s biscuit tin is always crammed full. Sometimes if there are lots of broken ones, she lets Leon pick them all out and eat them.
    â€œNo, thanks. Anyway, he said he’s moving out. She doesn’t know and he’s not letting on until he’s got everything in place. At his age, he wants to settle down for good.”
    â€œHis age?”
    â€œHe’s thirty-nine. You’d never know it, though. He’s not old or anything.”
    â€œHe’s nearly forty.”
    â€œThirty-nine. Honest, he doesn’t look it. He looks our age.”
    â€œTwenty-five?”
    â€œWell, you know, early thirties, but anyway, yeah, he said it hasn’t been right for years between them. You know me, Tina. I never meant to hurt anyone but he wasn’t happy even before he met me. If he was, he wouldn’t have given me a second look, would he? He told me once he’s got family in Bristol and Wolver­hampton, so he’s not sure where he’s going but when he gets there, it’s gonna be just me and him.”
    â€œAnd the kids,” says Tina.
    â€œYeah, of course. That’s what he means. Me, him, and the kids.”
    â€œWhat about his daughter?”
    â€œShe’ll come as well.”
    â€œRight,” says Tina after a while. “And he told you that?”
    â€œWe only had a few minutes but yeah.”
    Leon goes back into the living room to check on Jake in his basket. He’s nearly four months old and he’s getting too big for his basket. He keeps hitting himself on the side and trying to get out and then he gets angry and makes noises like a cat. Leon got told off for trying to help him stand up, so Leon just watches now and tells Jake about different things he thinks he should know, like who is the best soccer player. But he doesn’t feel like telling Jake about living with a girl and a cow in Bristol because Jake would probably start to cry.

4
    Leon eats his toast sitting on the carpet by the patio doors. It’s supposed to be summertime but the sky is the same color as the garden slabs—dull and gray—like the road to school, the cut-through to the precinct, or the dirty lane between the tower