You Against Me Read Free Page B

took a step in and tapped Mikey on the shoulder. ‘You’ll do.’
    Mikey shook his head at her. ‘I’m about to make a flan.’
    ‘It’s a pub, not a Gordon bloody Ramsay restaurant. You’re here to pot-wash, and you’re here to clean the toilets if that’s what I want you to do. Come on, we open in twenty minutes.’
    He took the plastic apron she offered and tied it over his jeans. He followed her through the bar to the cleaning cupboard. She handed him a mop, a bucket, a bottle of bleach, then led him to the toilets. ‘And make sure you wash your hands after.’
    As he threw buckets of hot water and bleach into the bogs, Mikey felt a heaviness settle over him. It was all right if he was in the kitchen, or out with Jacko. Even with a girl it went away a bit. But these last two weeks, whenever he was at home or just by himself, it crashed back. As he washed down the walls with a mop, he thought about where he’d be in a year, two, five. He counted out ages. In five years Karyn would be twenty. Holly would be thirteen. His mum would be forty-two. He’d be twenty-three. He shrugged the numbers away in irritation. It was the kind of calculation kids did. Go too far with numbers like that and you ended up dead.
    He tried not to breathe in the stink as he swilled the mop under the tap. He tried to remember that one day he’d be worth more than this. He’d live in London, maybe get a place in Tottenham, where his mum grew up. He’d have a chef’s job and earn tons of cash. He’d get season tickets for Spurs and invite Holly to all the home games. He tried to believe it as he put everything back in the cleaning cupboard and washed his hands with soap from the dispenser.
    He needed a fag. Surely Sue wouldn’t moan at him for that? The bogs were sparkling. Outside, it was raining hard, a sudden rush dumping from the sky. He liked it. It matched his mood.
    He stared at the cars parked by the harbour wall, their windows steamed up, the people inside waiting for the pub to get its act together and serve them lunch.
    The door swung open and Jacko came and lit up a fag next to him. Together they watched a girl walk past, hands in her pockets, shoulders shrugged against the rain. Jacko sucked his teeth. ‘I love the way every single one of them is different.’
    He was always coming out with mad stuff. It was comforting. With your oldest friend you should be free to say what was on your mind.
    ‘Bail today,’ Mikey said.
    Jacko nodded. ‘I saw your mum in the pub last night. She reckoned he’ll definitely get it this time.’
    ‘The cops made some deal with his lawyer, that’s why. Soon he’ll be running about like he did nothing wrong.’
    ‘What’re you going to do?’
    ‘Dunno. Got to do something though. Karyn says she’s never leaving the flat again.’
    Jacko looked at Mikey long and hard. ‘You serious?’
    ‘I told her he wouldn’t be allowed near her, but it made no difference.’
    ‘Bastard!’
    Mikey nodded, knew Jacko would understand. ‘I went by his house again. I wanted to get him, but he wasn’t there.’
    ‘You went solo?’
    ‘I got mad. I had to do something.’ Mikey threw his fag end into a puddle, listened to it hiss. ‘Anyway, you were at work.’
    ‘I’d drop everything.’ Jacko slapped Mikey’s back with the flat of his hand. ‘You should know that.’
    Mikey told him the whole story then – the spanner, the journey to the house, the party to celebrate getting bail. It was good standing there talking about it. It warmed Mikey up.
    ‘They’ve got caterers and everything. I met his mum and sister and they thought I was a mate of his, even invited me to the fucking thing.’
    Jacko whistled. ‘Man, that’s mental!’
    ‘Imagine telling Karyn that. Imagine how that’ll make her feel.’
    ‘Don’t tell her, it’s too harsh.’ Jacko chucked his rollie stub into the puddle at their feet. Two soggy cigarette butts floating together like a couple of boats.
    A plan began