‘No muffler,’ Mike mumbled.
‘Well, why do you not attach one, then?’ said Matron. ‘Do you know how sick we all are of hearing that thing tearing through the grounds?’
‘I like it loud,’ said Mad Mike. ‘That way, none of these here delinquents is gonna be able to steal it out from under me, are they?’
He grinned.
Luke wished like hell he hadn’t. Mad Mike had maybe three teeth left and Luke didn’t think those would be hanging around too much longer either. There looked to be even more fungus on them than the last time Luke had been lucky enough to cop a viewing.
Matron actually shuddered.
‘Well, get on with it, Mike,’ she said. ‘You know you’re not supposed to bring that thing out the front here. What if we have a visitor? You make us all look like a pack of hillbillies.’
‘Orright, orright, Mavis. I just gotta pick something up for the laundry,’ said Mad Mike, making his way up the steps.
‘You are not to move one step further, Mike Archer,’ said Matron, standing. ‘Just look at the state of you. We do not need you to traipse half of the soccer oval into Admin. What are you here for? I’ll get it. You watch the inmates.’
The moment Matron cleared the doorway, Mad Mike dropped into her chair.
‘You been good, Black?’ he said.
‘Always, Mike,’ said Luke. ‘And you?’
‘Aw, I’m never good,’ said Mad Mike, grinning widely. Luke’s breakfast flip-flopped in his stomach with another spew-view of Mike’s teeth. ‘My pa always told me, “You may be well, son, but you’ll never be good!”’
Luke smiled weakly. Mad Mike always told the same joke.
‘And what about Narelle?’ Luke asked. ‘How are things going with you two?’
Mad Mike dropped the smile. ‘Ah, the silly cow kicked me out again last night.’ He leaned back in the chair, angled his face to catch a feeble glimmer of winter sunshine. ‘I don’t know, Lukey, whether Mike and Narelle are meant to be.’
Luke straightened on his knees in the mud.
‘Oh, come on now, Mike,’ he said. ‘That’s no way to talk. Narelle has your ring on her finger. You’re not going to break her heart like that.’
Mike sat forward and his eyes met Luke’s. He scratched at what was left of the hair on his scalp. ‘Aw, I don’t want to break her heart, but why’s she gotta kick me out all the time. It’s bloody cold out, these nights. It’s only when she’s on the turps that she gets the wind up her. Usually she’s a beautiful bird; best in show.’
‘Well, you keep working on it, Mike. Relationships are never easy, and there’s nothing like family,’ said Luke.
‘True, very true, Lukey. Now you get on with what you’re doin’ there. Matron’s another woman who likes to tear strips off me.’ He reclined again in the chair.
Luke turned back to the weeding. She’s definitely gonna do something to him if he gets his crud all over her chair, he thought.
‘Friend of yours?’ said Zac.
‘Mike’s all right. When you’re on his good side. Hey, you know what sounds worse than the swamp rat, Nguyen?’
‘What?’
‘Being chased by the swamp rat when you’re trying to escape.’
‘Have you tried to escape?’ Zac looked sideways up at him, his glossy fringe hanging in his eyes.
‘Nope,’ said Luke. ‘But I was in orientation when I saw this big kid from Dorm One trying to run.’ He shook his head with the memory. ‘Mad Mike here went feral – well, even more feral than he is now. You shoulda seen it. He was hammering the swamp rat through the paddock after this guy, one hand on the wheel, the rest of him leaning out the window holding a lasso and screaming. You could hear him over the car.’
‘You are so full of it,’ said Zac.
‘I swear,’ said Luke.
‘Did he catch him?’
‘Brought him down with the rope on the second shot.’
‘Oh my God. How scary would that have been?’ said Zac. ‘That guy’s a freak.’
‘It was pretty funny,’ said Luke.
Zac gave him another look and pulled out some more of the thin, sprout-like weeds standing like an army of spears in the rose bed. ‘They’re never gonna get rid of these things this way,’ he said.
‘Well, if they keep us down here on our knees long enough they will.’
‘They’re onion weed,’ said Zac. ‘They’ll regrow, faster and thicker. All these and more will be back next week.’
‘Onion weed. So you’re a ninja gardener who’s gifted in metalwork?’
‘I told you I like plants,’ said Zac. ‘But not these. You should use some of this, though.’ He reached forward, negotiating rose thorns, and snapped off a large piece of a cactus-looking plant that bordered the footings of the building. ‘Aloe,’ he said.
‘Um, hello?’ said Luke.
‘Not hello, idiot. Aloe. Just take it.’ He dropped the spongy branch into the mud in front of Luke. ‘See that juice coming out of it?’
Luke picked up the piece of plant.
‘Now, squeeze it and smear it over your eye and lips.’
Luke stared at him.
‘If you get it in your mouth it will taste like crap,’ said Zac. ‘But it’ll heal your face fast.’
Luke sniffed. Yeah, like I’m gonna rub some cactus snot all over my face.
‘Um, thanks,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it tonight.’
Zac dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘And I saw another plant when we were out running this morning that we could really put to good use around here.’
Luke raised an eyebrow.
‘It’s a species of mushroom,’ Zac said. ‘Agaricus xanthodermus. It’s also called Yellow Stainer.’
Okaaaay, thought Luke. What the hell is wrong with this guy?
‘Mushrooms? I, um, I don’t really like mushrooms, thanks, Nguyen,’ he said.
‘Well, you really wouldn’t like the Stainers,’ said Zac, smirking. ‘They cause stomach cramps and severe diarrhoea.’
Luke paused mid-pick and smiled. ‘Well… I could think of a few really good things to do with those. Yep, I definitely think we should collect some. How do you know all this stuff?’
Zac just shrugged.
JUNE 28, 5.26 P.M.
Luke stood with the other members of Dorm Four, waiting for the rest of the dorms to line up for head count before the march to dinner.
‘I can’t believe they make us march to every meal like this,’ said Zac, quietly.
‘Shut up, Nguyen,’ whispered Kitkat. ‘There’s no talking. Haven’t you got everyone in enough trouble since your skinny arse got here?’
‘Did you guys hear that we’ve got No Rules Basketball after tea tonight?’ murmured Jonas.
Luke groaned. Oh no. No Rules Basketball was Toad’s favourite game. He was pretty sure that had something to do with the fact that Toad kept ‘mistaking’ Luke’s head for the ball. No Rules Basketball was Holt-sanctioned crab bashing.
‘What’s No Rules Basketball?’ whispered Zac.
‘Your worst nightmare,’ said Luke. I’ve got to get out of playing tonight, he thought.
‘Shut up, you idiots,’ hissed Kitkat. ‘McNichol’s coming.’
Luke watched the least-hated screw in Dwight walking towards them, picking her way carefully through the mud. He wondered what was up – she was supposed to be on dining hall duty right now. He always knew where each of the supervisors was at any time. It was just something he’d always done, just as he guessed most of the kids in here would have. In the homes they grew up in, not knowing where ‘daddy’ or ‘mummy’ or ‘Uncle Dave’ was at any particular time could leave you in casualty for the rest of the night.
Ms McNichol fidgeted with the buttons on her trench coat as she walked. The jacket could not quite close over her belly. A couple of months back he’d just assumed she’d been eating too much lasagne for dinner, but now it was obvious to everyone that she was pregnant. As she entered the circl
e of light around Dorm Four she pulled the collar up on her coat and glanced around. She stopped in front of Luke.
‘Black,’ she said. ‘There’s no gym for you tonight. I need you over at Admin.’
Thank God, he thought. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Why?’
‘You just go where you’re told, Black. You don’t need to know why.’
‘Yes, Ms McNichol.’
‘I’ll need another Dorm Four boy,’ she said. ‘Nguyen, you’ll do. Wait at the front of the dining hall after you’re dismissed from your meal and I’ll escort you both over there.’
***
The sound of the others marching back from dinner to the halls faded into the night, leaving behind frozen silence. Luke shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his tracksuit pants and stamped his feet. Zac shuffled next to him. The cold made ghosts of their breath, and Luke blew it out in sinewy ribbons, watching them curl and vanish. The air felt wet, and the darkness outside the pool of light in front of the hall might as well have been an inky ocean for all they could see of it. With no housing for miles around, and the main buildings of the Dwight centre behind them, Luke and Zac could have been anywhere. Or nowhere.
‘We could just take off right now,’ said Zac. ‘Where is McNichol?’
‘I know,’ said Luke. ‘Too weird. They never leave us alone like this.’
‘What do you reckon she wants us for?’
Luke shrugged. ‘Something boring, no doubt.’ Whatever it is, it’s much better than being in the gym right now.
‘Do you reckon she feels sorry for you and is just trying to get you out of No Rules Basketball?’ said Zac, as if he’d read Luke’s mind.
‘Who knows? Maybe. I wish she’d hurry up, though. It’s friggin’ freezing out here.’
Zac blew smoke rings with his breath. ‘What if we did just run?’ he said.
From under the cowl of his hoodie, Luke gave Zac a sideways glance, paused a beat. ‘You just got here.’
‘Doesn’t mean I want to stay.’
‘You’d try to escape?’
‘Would you?’
Luke didn’t speak for a moment. He didn’t know how far he could trust Nguyen. Suddenly, he raised his head and squinted into the darkness.
‘Well, anyway,’ he said, ‘it looks like you’re not going to have to worry about being chased by the swamp rat tonight. Listen.’
They heard the engine of a car approaching before they saw the lights.
‘That’ll be McNichol.’
***
‘Will you be all right if I leave you boys to it for a while?’ said Ms McNichol, standing in the doorway to the biggest office in Admin. She put a hand against the doorframe for support. The skin around her eyes was pale and pouchy.
‘Are you okay, Ms McNichol?’ said Zac. ‘You look kinda wonky.’
‘I’m fine, thank you, Nguyen,’ she said, straightening. ‘Remember, I only need these boxes unpacked. You are not to touch anything else in here. Oh, and one each of the requisition notebooks in this box is to go into each of the pigeonholes over there.’
Gravel crunched at the front of the building and Luke looked up. Who could that be at this time? Ordinarily, the other officers would approach from behind the building, and he’d never heard of deliveries being made at night. Holt liked the place locked down tight; it was when he could make the most of his private disciplinary moments. God, I hope it’s not Holt come down to take us back to the gym, he thought.
‘All right, boys, that sounds like them,’ said Ms McNichol. ‘I do not want you to move from this room while I attend to this.’
The doorbell sounded.
‘Who is it?’ said Luke.
‘None of your business is who it is, Luke Black,’ said McNichol, fixing him with a stare. ‘Get on with your work. It’s just an intake.’
Luke thought he could hear the movements of several people at the door. McNichol turned and left the room. He stared after her. An intake? At night? That had never happened in the four months he’d been here. He wondered why she’d brought them down here without another officer. And why would she do an intake on her own? The screws usually worked in pairs. He felt Zac watching him.
‘Don’t admissions usually happen in the morning?’ asked Zac.
‘Yep,’ said Luke.
‘Huh,’ said Zac.
‘Mmm,’ said Luke.
‘You know, you never did tell me why you’re in here,’ said Zac, pulling hose-like wrapped cylinders from a huge box of disposable cups. The rolls were almost as long as him.
‘No, I never did,’ said Luke.
‘Here, catch.’ Zac speared a tube of plastic cups through the air towards Luke. The roll soared towards him, lost momentum and dropped, bouncing off his shoulder before sliding to the ground.
‘Oh really,’ said Luke. He picked the tube up from the floor and moved towards Zac, who had armed himself with another one. ‘You’re going down, ninja,’ he said, and swung.
Zac’s arm blocked the move instantly and Luke’s weapon slapped back into his face. He laughed and again raised the plastic roll. He swung and Zac’s arm shot out. The bag split and the cups continued their journey without it. An arc of plastic sprayed through the air as the cups rained down.
‘Damn,’ said Zac, smiling. ‘Good job, Black. How many do you reckon there are?’
Luke looked around. The floor was peppered with plastic; cups rested on every chair and desk. As he watched, one rolled from the top of a cupboard and fell.
‘Have to be a hundred,’ he said.
‘Looks like you’ve got some work to do, then,’ said Zac.
‘I have some work to do?’ said Luke. ‘You started it.’
‘Well, you lost.’
Luke grinned and began collecting cups.
‘What the hell is going on in here, Black, Nguyen?’ Ms McNichol stood in the doorway.
‘Everything’s cool, Ms McNichol,’ he said. ‘I just dropped a bag of cups.’
She scowled. ‘It looks more like something exploded. I do not have time for this, Black. You’d better have this mess cleaned up and the rest of those boxes unpacked within fifteen minutes.’
She stepped further into the room and for the first time Luke noticed that there was someone behind her. ‘Take a seat right there, Abrafo,’ she said. ‘And don’t move.’
Handcuffed and in ankle bracelets, Dwight Juvenile Justice Centre’s newest inmate shuffled into the office.
Luke blinked. And then the light left the room in stutters, darkening inwards from the edges of his vision. Luke reached out a hand to steady himself, the world now just a pinpoint of white. He found the back of a chair, which swivelled away from his grasp, and he was falling, blind.
Out.
‘Just stand back a little bit, Nguyen.’ He heard McNichol above him. ‘He’s just fainted. Can’t you see he’s not well? For heaven’s sake – look what that ogre did to his face. He should be in bloody sick bay, is where he should be. Not having the life beaten out of him playing No Rules Basketball.’
Luke breathed calmly, stayed down a while. Well, that was weird, he thought. He’d never hit the ground without someone giving him a helping hand first. Must still be punch-drunk from that fat Toad. I’ll get you back for that, Toad, he promised himself. He opened his eyes.
‘Hello, Lucifer,’ said the youth in handcuffs sitting in the chair above him.
Luke sucked in air and scuttled backwards.
‘Are you all right, Black?’ said Ms McNichol. ‘Don’t get up too fast. Just put your head between your knees for a bit. You fainted, that’s all. How are you feeling now?’
Luke shook his head. This new kid was superscary-looking. He had a broad nose and lips and tight wiry curls, but his skin was the colour of marble, his hair completely white, and his eyes… His eyes were ice-blue and too light, too bright; they seemed to glow like torches.
And what did he just call me? Luke wondered.
‘What did you call me?’ said Luk
e.
He became aware of Zac, standing just as he had in the rec hall when he took on Toad, almost humming with controlled energy, ready to spring. Ms McNichol turned to Abrafo with a small frown. The white-haired boy smiled, his mouth a shock of wet pink against his skin.
‘I said: hello, Lucifer,’ said Abrafo. ‘I’ve been very much looking forward to meeting you.’
‘I think you’ve got the wrong bloke,’ said Luke. ‘I don’t know you. Who are you?’
‘Who are you? is a better question,’ said Abrafo, his porcelain face angled downwards, his empty, glowing eyes locked on Luke’s.
Luke wasn’t certain whether he was more surprised by Abrafo’s answer or by Zac’s growl.
McNichol coughed.
‘All right, all right. That’s enough catch-up here. We have to get you processed, Abrafo. Seven p.m. is a ridiculous time to try to admit you, but you can’t stay overnight in an adult lockup.’
She bustled about the room, putting together an intake folder. ‘Might have done you some good, though, if you ask me – I don’t know what kind of a ruckus you caused up at the Thurston Centre that made them drive you through the night to us. Get up off the floor now, Black. Am I going to have to take you to sick bay and deal with you too?’
She rested a hand on her back, her belly just touching the edge of the desk in front of her.
Luke got to his feet carefully. Abrafo flicked the tip of his tongue once across his lips, lizard-like, grinning slightly. His eyes glittered, a shock of colour against the correction-fluid white of his hair.
‘I’m fine now, Ms McNichol,’ said Luke, unable to stop staring at Abrafo.
And he wasn’t the only one. He cut his eyes to Zac, who stood completely motionless, watching Abrafo; it seemed as though Zac wasn’t even breathing.
These two must have a history, he thought.
McNichol dropped her paperwork onto the desk and shuffled around it, unclipping her keychain from the belt around her waist.
‘Right, well, Abrafo, you’re going to learn how to behave in Dwight, I can assure you,’ she said.
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