by Jacky Gray
‘Well you know those plastic anti-theft devices they put round the CDs and videos to stop people nicking them? I found a load of them at the back of the den.’
‘No. You didn’t touch them did you?’ Archer had taken a liking to the many different detective shows on TV.
‘And get my fingerprints all over them? I’m not completely stupid. They were tucked away in a box under the workbench hidden by some old pictures. I don’t know how long they had been there. Not very long, there was no dust. I put it back exactly as I found it.’
‘Good thinking.’
‘I reckon they grabbed a load and set the alarm off. They were probably recognised or something.’
‘That’s why she’s stopped wearing the Mohican.’
‘Otherwise the next time she went into town people would remember her.’
‘Maybe they planned it like that. One group of kids looks pretty much the same as any other group.’
‘A goth or two, a couple of punks and lots of denim and shell suits.’ Peter was looking at the kids on a table across the room. ‘So a pink Mohican would catch people’s attention and they wouldn’t notice much else.’
‘Exactly. I bet the others all wore something unusual on that day and they just went for broke.’
‘Of course. Jack was in this foul green and black shell suit. I’d never seen it before, it was brand new but it was like he’d been rolling round in the mud in it. Next day I saw it in the dustbin. He said it got wrecked and he hated it anyway.’
‘So that’s no use as evidence. But very memorable.’
‘I think so. Then suddenly he’s got Final Fantasy on the Game Boy and Sonic the Hedgehog for the Mega Drive.’
‘It all fits. But what are we going to do about it?’
Peter never answered his question as two girls approached from the far table.
‘Pete, how are you?’ The goth girl did not address her question to Archer but her eyes devoured him.
Peter made an, “I’m over here,” gesture as his eyes flicked over to the other girl. ‘I’m fine thanks, Chanelle. Hi Becky.’
‘Aren’t you going to introduce us to your … friend.’
As she spoke, Archer watched Peter lose all composure before the girls. His speech took a disproportionate amount of effort.
‘Archer. I mean, Archer, meet Chanelle and Becky.’
Archer stood and Chanelle’s eyes travelled slowly up his body. When they reached his amused smile, they flicked down as she licked her lips, looking at his outstretched hand as though they didn’t shake hands where she came from.
With a blink, her clammy fingers met his as she drawled, ‘The pleasure’s all yours.’
Her grip was limp and he was relieved when she let go.
Becky was regarding him with a blend of curiosity and suppressed humour. Her handshake was firm and brief, a much more pleasant experience.
‘Dude, kids don’t shake hands in this country, only adults.’
Peter’s sassy look melted as Becky turned on a hundred-watt smile. ‘It’s actually rather cool. Kinda old-fashioned.’
Archer noticed the way her dark hair was framed by a blond fringe, triggering a distant memory.
Chanelle wasn’t going to give up the spotlight, shoving the other girl aside ‘So, Pete, is this your cousin or something? He seems way too old to be at school. I can’t imagine where else a dummy like you would meet such a hunk.’ She reached up to touch Archer’s forearms, but he deflected her hands.
‘Where I come from, that kind of behaviour is considered rude. But from the way you spoke to Pete, it seems you have perfected the art of rudeness.’
Her cheeky grin was unexpected. ‘Well that’s me good and told. Sorry, Pete. No offence meant.’
‘None taken. Not your fault if you don’t get how to behave. Probably because people are too busy staring at your boobs to notice what you’re saying and call you on it.’
She gasped. ‘Get you, Mr Worm-bites-back. You were right about him Becks. There’s more to him than geek unlimited.’
The penny dropped. As Peter’s full description of the girl he fancied dredged up from the depths of Archer’s memory, he ticked off all the points. Tall, fit, big brown eyes covered in too much make-up. But not lippy. At least not with Chanelle around – she had more than enough lip for both of them.
A more recent memory nudged in, playing back the shy glances Becky had directed at Peter. Archer grinned at the thought of the fun he was going to have on the way home.
27 The Scam
Rory found the evidence that confirmed the scam when she collected dirty mugs from the girls’ bedroom. She was reluctant at first. ‘They don’t like me going up there. I don’t want her shouting at me again.’
‘They won’t know it was you, they’re at their gran’s tonight.’ Penny sighed. ‘If Mandy asks, I’ll say I collected them. You will be doing me a big favour, it will take two or three trips, there must be twenty up there.’
‘All right. I’ll take a tray to help me to carry more.’
‘You might need two. Archer, will you give her a hand?’
‘Sure.’ He’d never been up in their domain before, and might find something incriminating. As they reached the landing, he realised this was the first time he’d been alone with Rory since Mandy’s image change. He felt he should say something, but didn’t know what. The sentences he was constructing in his head were forgotten as he was assaulted by the chaos of their room. Every surface was covered in an untidy mess of clothes, magazines, make-up, dirty mugs and plates. ‘How can they live like this?’
‘I don’t know. I’m surprised they don’t catch something. The place is probably teeming with mice.’
‘What a mess. How can they find anything?’ He picked up a couple of mugs that looked like they were growing something Todd could have used in his lab.
‘Watch out.’ Rory grabbed a handful of kitchen roll to mop up. ‘I just found a mug of cold tea. And lots of the glasses have still got water in them.’
‘We could empty them; that would help.’
‘No, I’ll wash them up. Aunt Penny’s busy enough.’
‘Good idea. I’ll wipe then. If there’s such a thing as a clean tea towel.’
‘It’s about the only thing in here that is clean. Probably never been used.’
Archer laughed. He had forgotten how witty she was. As he lifted a mug, a pile of precariously balanced books toppled to the floor. Picking them up, a cover caught his eye, showing a very suspicious-looking young woman in a clothes shop. The caption read, “She just couldn’t stop herself.” He read the words on the back and his eyes widened. It was a book about a girl who stole things from shops. A shoplifter. He opened it and started to read.
‘Good book, is it?’ Rory’s comment made him jump. ‘Why don’t you sit down and make yourself comfortable while I finish up here?’
‘Sorry, I was curious. I’ve never heard of a shoplifter.’
‘I wondered where that had got to. Mum gave it to me, but it’s a teen romance, far too slushy and I didn’t like the girl, she was weak and spoilt.’
‘So why did she steal things?’
‘To get attention. Her parents were splitting up and they were too wrapped up in their own problems to notice her.’
‘Sounds familiar.’
‘Well there’s no excuse for her taking it out of my room without asking. I would have lent it to her if she’d asked, but she’s no business being in my room.’
‘So she stole this book. Pretty ironic really.’
‘Because she stole a book about stealing.’
‘Exactly.’ Archer grinned.
‘She was probably going to give it back eventually.’
‘How can you be so nice about her when she’s been so horrible to you?’
‘Not lately she hasn’t. She’s been quite nice. Ever since you’ve been going out with her.’
‘I’m not going out with her. We went out once and had a cup of coffee-fl
avoured foam and a plate full of E numbers.’
Rory laughed. ‘But Tom says you’ve been out every Saturday for hours and so has she.’
‘I’ve been going to the cinema with my mate Pete. I’ve no idea where she’s been.’ He held up the book. ‘No that’s a lie. I have a pretty good idea where she’s been going and what she’s been doing.’
‘What, you mean she’s been stealing things?’
‘Take a look around. Did they have this much stuff when they came?’
Rory shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I wasn’t here. I have noticed them wearing lots of new clothes lately. You don’t think …?’ She pointed to the book. ‘There’s a bit in the book where it describes how the girl did it with her friend.’ The penny dropped. ‘But of course. Kellie.’
‘I don’t think it’s just clothes. Or that it was only the two of them. A couple of foster lads at Pete’s house have been coming home with brand new videos and computer games, even a new Game Boy.’
‘Her Discman was broken I bet it’s here somewhere.’ Rory started looking in cupboards and drawers.
‘Careful. Don’t move anything except mugs and stuff.’
‘Look at this.’ She pulled a plastic bag from the back of the wardrobe. Inside were a couple of cheap pastel-coloured shell suits and a short black wig.
‘So that’s how she’s doing it. She leaves here with a blonde wig and changes into this gear before they start stealing. I wonder where they go to change?’
‘Most of the shops have changing rooms or she could use the ladies toilets.’
‘Possibly. It would have to be somewhere they could leave all the gear though.’
‘Maybe a friend’s house. Does Pete live near town?’
‘Not really, but from what he’s saying there’s more than four of them.’
‘You could follow them one week and find out.’
It all worked out perfectly, the next week was half term, and the cinema was taken over with wall-to-wall Disney films. That meant Peter and Archer could give the impression they were going to the movies as normal and have a reasonable excuse for being at the shopping mall when the others got there. Peter walked into town with the other boys, then left to meet Archer by the bus station. Crossing the busy road, he saw the direction they took and followed at a safe distance on the other side of the street. They walked for five minutes, taking a left turn and he watched as they knocked on the door of a terraced house. The girl who opened the door was wearing a lilac shell suit and, from that distance, looked as though her head was completely shaved. As she turned he saw a stripe of hair down the back of her head; all that remained of the pink Mohican. The infamous Mandy.
There was a large building opposite the house with a notice giving a list of doctors and opening times. At the bottom in big black letters it said “SURGERY CLOSED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.” He slipped into the garden, crouched behind a hedge and waited. A few minutes later, Jack came out with Mandy, now wearing a short black wig. His denim jacket and jeans were replaced by a pale green shell suit. A goth girl was next, her long black skirt reaching almost to the floor. Kyle came out then with two others who Peter didn’t know. All wore jeans and bland jackets which would blend easily into any crowd. He watched until they were out of sight, then waited a few minutes more. Crossing the street, he made a note of the house number, then ran to meet Archer.
‘Sorry I’m late. I followed them to a house in Tower Street and that Mandy girl was there. She’s had the Mohican trimmed and she’s wearing a black wig. They went towards the mall.’
‘Was Kellie there?’
‘Is that the goth girl?’
‘Yeah.’ They started walking to the mall.
‘Is she much fatter than Mandy?’
Archer frowned. ‘No, they’re about the same size. Why?’
‘There was a goth girl but she looked twice the size of Mandy. It could just have been the layers of black scarves and things.’
‘Or it could be part of their scheme.’ Archer explained the trick used in Rory’s book. As they got to the mall they agreed to split up and check one floor each and meet ten minutes later in the bookshop near the entrance. They reasoned this was not the sort of shop the others would go to.
Archer got back first and pretended to look at the books in the big display of new titles. He picked one up and was reading the back cover when Peter arrived, out of breath as though he’d been running.
‘You’d better come quick, they’ve split up but Mandy and Jack are in the music shop. I think it’s about to kick off.’
28 Welcome to the Black Parade
By the time they reached the escalators, Jack and Mandy were going down; she had a large bag from the music store. After a hurried conversation, Peter followed Jack as he headed towards the men’s toilets. Archer watched as Mandy went into one of the largest clothing stores, picked up four items and headed for the back wall. She passed a boy sitting on a seat outside the changing rooms who looked vaguely familiar. After staring at him for a second, Archer realised it was Kyle, but he looked much fatter. It was a good disguise with spectacles, his hair gelled flat and the bulk from several extra jumpers under his jacket. He must have felt someone staring at him as he turned round. The guilty look on his face told Archer he was definitely involved in this thing.
‘Hi Kyle, nearly didn’t recognise you. How are you?’
His eyes darted round to see if anyone had overheard, but there were no customers close by and the assistant was busy counting Mandy’s items. ‘Fine thanks. How are you?’
‘I’m good. Are you still getting those blue slips?’
Kyle snorted in derision. ‘As if. It was great for the first week or so, we were being really good and trying hard like you said. The teachers were pleased and saying nice things about us. Jack even got a praise postcard sent home and Peter got a couple.’
‘That’s great.’
‘It didn’t last. Barston decided we were forging them and he made the teachers sign a sheet in his office every time they gave us a blue slip. The teachers don’t have time to do that, so they stopped bothering.’
‘That’s terrible. Don’t tell me you stopped working.’
‘Not straight away. The deputy head started showing up on our patch at break and lunch, looking for any excuse to give us a yellow slip. Jack got one for not wearing his tie because we were late back from PE and he went to get his lunch first.’
‘Doesn’t sound very fair.’
‘Too right it wasn’t very fair. It was like he wanted to prove that we were a pair of thugs.’
‘Not Pete then.’
‘No, he never seemed to get picked on and the teachers were still giving him blue slips. Oops, gotta go. See you around.’
Archer turned to see Kellie coming out of the changing room and watched the woman count her four items, then Mandy’s four. He only recognised Mandy because of the shell suit and the black wig. She was wearing a lot of make-up and looked as though she was a bit fatter, but nothing like as much as Kellie.
‘Mandy? Why are you dressed like that?’
She turned round and looked at him with faint curiosity as though she was wondering why he was talking to her, then grabbed Kellie’s arm and the pair of them walked toward the exit. When they were out of sight of the changing room attendant, they put all four hangers back on the nearest rail.
As they approached the door there was a boy wearing an expensive leather jacket and the three of them went out together setting off all the alarms. It was cleverly done, the security guard came up and the girls lifted their hands to show they weren’t carrying anything and the boy said sorry, he had just wanted to have a look at the colour of the jacket in daylight. As the man dealt with him, the other two walked off towards the ladies toilets. When they came out, Mandy looked her normal size and both girls had several carrier bags. Archer watched from a distance as Kyle had a quick word with them. They looked around uncertainly then disappeared towards the mall exit.
; Peter had agreed with Archer to return to Tower Street and hide in the surgery garden twenty minutes after they split up or if they lost sight of the people they were watching. The girls had obviously decided to go straight back and Archer tailed them on the other side of the street. He reached the surgery and Peter pulled him behind the hedge just as the door opened and Jack’s worried face appeared, looking up and down the street as they dived into the house.
‘What do we do now?’ Peter sounded concerned. ‘We should tell someone.’
Archer went through the options as he saw them, but he was no longer convinced about which one to take. He explained what Kyle had said about the blue slips.
‘That’s not fair!’ Peter was furious. ‘No wonder they’ve been acting all strange. I couldn’t think what I’d done to make them avoid me.’
‘I think there may be a fourth option.’ Archer explained his idea, but they would have to act fast.
Archer knocked on the door and heard voices in the hall. The door was flung open. ‘Where have you …? Archer. What are you doing here?’ Jack’s expression changed from annoyance to alarm as he scanned the street again.
‘Trying to stop you lot from getting into serious trouble. Aren’t you going to ask me in?’
‘But this is Brett’s house.’
‘Do his parents know what you get up to?’
‘They’re at work. Look, this is none of your business.’
‘It is my business when friends of mine have turned to crime.’
Just then Kyle came running in. ‘Bloody hell, that was close. I’m not doing this again.’ He chucked a bag on the floor and a brand new pair of trainers fell out.
‘You dork, they’re both for the left foot. What a waste of space.’
‘Don’t blame me, Brett nicked them. But one of the assistants saw him and started a chase. He chucked the bag in the bushes and I picked it up and started running. Isn’t he back yet?’
This was even better, they would be much more likely to listen to Archer’s suggestion if someone had nearly been caught. Mandy came out of a room off the hallway, complaining that the black wig was too itchy and she didn’t want to use it again. She went white when she saw him. ‘Archer. What are you doing here?’