by Jacky Gray
‘I’ve come to talk to you about this. You must know it’s wrong.’ He turned to Jack, the disappointment clear on his face. ‘I thought you were trying to change for the better.’
‘That’s easy for you to say Archer, but you don’t know what it’s like with Bar-stard and all the teachers getting at you all the time. They call you stupid and tell you you’re a waste of space.’ Jack was angry at the system that was failing him.
Archer was the voice of reason. ‘I spoke to Kyle. I don’t think all the teachers are trying to make out you’re bad, just the head.’
Jack looked away. ‘Yeah, I suppose you’re right.’
‘But if you don’t stop this now, you will all be caught and sent to some kind of juvenile detention centre.’
‘Says who?’ A solid, hard-faced boy came out of the room. He was one of the two Archer didn’t know.
‘Stiff, this is Archer, he’s a foster kid too.’ Jack seemed afraid of the older boy.
‘So why is he threatening to rat on his own kind then?’
Archer looked at his watch. ‘You have five minutes before the police get here. They will arrest all of you.’
‘What? You little bastard, I’m going to smash your face in. Hold him boys.’
Archer knew a moment’s doubt as Jack and Kyle both moved to grab his arms. Kellie screamed as Stiff pulled back his arm to deliver the first punch.
29 Low Life
Archer could not believe the two boys he thought of as friends were prepared to help this bully hurt him. Maybe he had completely misjudged them and they were as black-hearted as everyone made them out to be.
Help came from an unexpected ally. Mandy grabbed the boy’s arm and stepped in between them. ‘For God’s sake Stiff, think. If he’s right about the police, you don’t have time for this. And the little turd is a proper goody goody. He wouldn’t know how to lie. You need to get going.’
‘But this was a good little earner and that bastard’s ruined it all.’ Stiff glared at Archer with pure hatred.
‘No it wasn’t. Kyle nearly got caught and Brett probably has, he’s not back yet. If you make a mess of his face and the filth get you, it’ll be a GBH charge as well. This time they’ll just throw away the key. You need to get lost now.’
‘You’re right as always, Mand. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. And you…’ he poked his finger in Archer’s face, ‘I’ll be dealing with you later.’
There was a loud banging on the front door and everybody froze except Stiff who ran out the back.
‘Quick, everyone, give me the bags and I’ll get rid of them.’ They all jumped to follow Archer’s suggestion.
‘Right you lot sit down like you’re watching telly and I’ll stall them as long as I can.’ Mandy was in charge and as the thumping began again, she called out, ‘Hold on a minute, I’m coming.’
It couldn’t have worked out better. Archer ran out the back and down the alleyway between the back gardens, reaching the end just as Pete got there.
He stopped to catch his breath. ‘Did they see you?’
‘No. After the second time I scarpered, just like you said. My heart is thumping though. Did you get it all?’
‘I think so. It’s a good job Brett didn’t come back or it might not have worked so well. Are you sure you want to do this? There’s a big chance you might get caught.’
‘As long as we stick to the story we’ll be fine. If you’re not by the bus stop in half an hour I’ll just go home and call you later.’
They split the bags up between them. Peter took the clothes and Archer took the music store bag and the trainers. He had no problem in the music store, he just walked to the counter and left the bag on the end, the assistants were so busy they didn’t notice him. When he got to the sports shop, a male assistant was watching him closely, so he decided to use their alternative story. He approached the counter.
‘I found this bag in the bushes, I think someone might have dropped it.’
The female assistant opened the bag and took out the trainers as the man grabbed Archer’s arm. ‘Would you mind coming with me?’ He picked up the bag and trainers, leading him to the manager’s office where a grim-looking man was on the telephone.
‘Police please. We’ve caught one of the shoplifting gang. I’ll hold.’
30 Arrested
Rory was enjoying herself. Every fourth Saturday, Penny spent the afternoon making cartons for the home-made cookies she sold in various shops around the area. Lynette timed her visits for that day and the three of them sat around the big kitchen table bending and folding the cardboard cut-outs to produce a month’s supply of empty cartons.
There was always a cheerful atmosphere. Penny was a fan of musicals and they would join in with the songs as they worked. There was a constant supply of homemade lemonade and ginger biscuits or fresh fruit muffins. When they finished, Lynette and Penny caught up with the gossip as she baked and made dinner. Rory usually curled up with a good book or a video.
As Archer tackled the shoplifters, she fell asleep watching Sleeping Beauty, dreaming of him fighting a huge dragon with Mandy’s face and pink scales all the way down the spine.
When she woke up, it was dark outside. The TV had switched off when the video ended and she heard voices approaching. The girls walked past without noticing her in the dim glow from the kitchen.
‘What do you think happened to him?’ Kellie’s voice was low.
‘I don’t know. First Brett, then Archer. It could have been us.’ Mandy sounded worried.
‘If the police have got him, do you think he’ll tell?’
‘Brett? Probably.’
‘No, Archer.’
‘Dunno. It was his own fault for sticking his nose in.’
‘D’you think Stiff really would have smashed his face …’
Rory didn’t hear the rest of Kellie’s question as the door closed behind them, but she was worried. It was her idea for Peter and Archer to follow the others and it sounded like he was in danger of being beaten up or caught by the police. She needed to find out more. Sliding the door open quietly, she crept up the stairs, following them as they went up to their attic room. Holding her breath, she climbed the creaky staircase until she could hear Kellie’s voice.
‘… your fault. If Stiff hadn’t got such a thing for you it wouldn’t have happened. This is the first place we’ve really had a chance to do well and now it’s all ruined. I thought you liked Archer.’
‘I did Kell. I mean I do. Really like him. He’s so different to other boys, foster or not. But it was too late, we were already in way too deep before we met him.’
‘I know. You couldn’t say no to Stiff or he’d hurt you.’
‘I’m not afraid of that bully, but when I tried to tell him we weren’t going to do it any more, he said he’d hurt you Kell, and I can’t ’ave that. You’re my baby sis and the only one in this whole world I trust.’
‘Oh Mand, what are we gonna do?’ Kellie sounded as though she was close to tears.
‘What can we do? If Archer tells, we’ll be split up for sure. I’ll have to go back to the home and you’ll be sent to some really strict place where they hit you if you look the wrong way.’
‘I wish we’d never met that prat, he always ruins everything. What do you think Jack will do?’
Rory didn’t hear the answer as her mum called her name and she jumped so much she almost fell.
‘Shhhh. Did you hear that? Someone’s out there.’
‘Maybe he’s come back.’
Scrambling down the stairs, she ran into Lynette who laughed in surprise. Rory was close to tears herself. ‘Mum, Archer’s in trouble. He tried to catch a gang of shoplifters and he’s been caught instead. We need to do something.’
‘What? Slow down Rory, I don’t understand. Start from the beginning.’
But the telephone rang then and Penny answered it. Her tone made Lynette stop talking and they listened to the one-sided conversation. ‘Yes, this is she.
Police? What...? Yes, full name Don Archer. What, now? But my husband … All right, I’ll get there somehow. I’m sure there’s been a mistake. Goodbye.’
She turned with an expression of complete shock on her face. ‘That was the police. Archer’s been caught shoplifting. They want me to go down and answer some questions. Can you give me a lift?’
‘Sure. Rory must come, I can’t leave her on her own.’
‘Oh no. I forgot about the girls.’
‘They’ll be fine.’ Lynette was quick to reassure her friend. ‘When is Todd due back?’
‘Any minute now.’
‘Don’t worry then, they’re old enough to look after themselves for a few minutes.’
‘What if they run away?’
‘Don’t be silly, Rory. Why would they do that?’
‘Because …’ she wanted to tell everything, but she promised Archer to say nothing. ‘… they are bad girls.’
‘Oh Rory, I know they were a bit troublesome when they first came here, but they’ve really been trying hard lately. I’m sure they’ll be fine.’ Penny went up to tell them the news.
The police station was the scariest place Rory had ever been, with a stern-looking man behind a glass screen. She looked around the waiting room while Aunt Penny and her mum spoke to him. There were several faded posters shouting their messages at the tops of their voices: THINK, DON’T DRINK! and CLUNK CLICK EVERY TRIP! She was trying to read about a missing dog when the old man sitting in front of it leaned down and cackled in her face. ‘Spare me a pound young miss. I need to buy some medicine.’ He breathed all over her and there was a horrible stale smell that made her want to be sick.
‘Come here. Rory.’
She was happy to go when her mum called and escape his attention. Aunt Penny had to sign a form, and then she went round to a side door which opened with a loud buzzing noise.
Lynette sat down on one of the chairs, sighing as she picked up a magazine. ‘See if there’s something you can read, sweetheart, we’re going to be here for a while.’
Rory chose a glossy magazine with a picture of Lady Diana and her sons on the front. As she passed by the man, he stretched out his legs and she skipped around them so she didn’t trip, sure he had done it deliberately. She gave him a hard stare and sat as far away from him as possible, echoing her mum’s sigh. Opening the magazine, she searched for the story about Princes William and Harry.
31 Justice?
The burly policemen maintained a firm grip on Archer’s arm all the way out to the police car to stop him running away. When they got to the car, he put his hand on Archer’s head and pushed him onto the back seat, then got in beside him. The policewoman drove to the station where Archer had to fill out a form. They didn’t seem very happy about the fact that he was only sixteen, it meant they had to get a parent or legal guardian. When they found out he lived in a foster home, he watched their expressions reflect their opinions of foster kids.
At that point, he was brought to the small room and left on his own for an hour, apart from a brief interruption when a lady brought him a white foam cup with something lukewarm and sweet that she called tea. Archer looked around the dark room, assessing any potential escape options, should the need arise. His choices were limited, so he devoted his brain power to thinking about what he’d done and if it was right.
He worried if Peter had been caught and whether he would be strong enough to say nothing when they asked questions. This concern was interrupted by an image of the shop manager making him wonder why the man had lied to the police, saying that the shop assistant had caught Archer trying to take the trainers out of the shop.
Finally, he was escorted to a different room. A moment later, Penny came in with a grim expression which softened as she hugged him, asking if he was all right.
‘No physical contact. Please sit down. We have some questions so we can decide if you need to be formally charged.’ This man was not dressed in uniform like the other policemen and seemed very serious as he explained the procedure. ‘I will write down your answers and this will form part of your statement. Do you understand?’
Archer nodded. He answered the first few questions truthfully, saying that he usually met Pete on Saturdays to watch movies but they weren’t on this week so they went into town instead. The man wrote down Pete’s details and said he would be contacted to confirm Archer’s story.
Archer told him they’d hung out in town for a while. They spotted the bag in the bushes but Pete had to go home so he took it back to the shop.
‘What made you take it back?’
‘I thought if someone had lost it, they might expect it to be handed in at the shop.’
‘That’s honest. Do you know what was in the bag?’
‘Trainers.’
‘And you didn’t think of taking them for yourself?’
‘There wouldn’t be much point. They were both for the left foot.’
‘Really?’ He turned to the man in uniform by the door. ‘Can you bring them in here, please?’ He made a note on the sheet and Penny smiled encouragingly.
‘So you say you were taking them back. Can you tell me about that please?’
Archer described how the man had followed him to the counter and when the woman had taken out the trainers, he grabbed him and took him to the manager’s office.
‘You’re saying that a female assistant saw you bring them in. Can you describe her?’
‘She was about the same height as Penny, in her thirties, slim, short curly brown hair and brown eyes. Her name tag said Brenda.’
‘Whoa, hold on. Brown hair, brown eyes, Brenda. Well that’s a comprehensive description young man, we should be able to find her from that. If her statement agrees with yours, it puts a different slant on the matter. Now is there anything else you can tell me about this incident?’
‘Nothing. I don’t know why the man lied about me trying to take the trainers. I would never steal anything.’
The man stared hard and Archer held his gaze steady, knowing that apart from a few details, most of his tale was the truth and that his intention was pure.
‘I must say, you look like the sort of boy that has been brought up to be decent and honest. I hope when we get statements from the staff at the shop, this friend of yours,’ he looked at his notes, ‘Peter and your head teacher, you will be cleared and the matter closed.’
Penny couldn’t hold her silence any longer. ‘I’m sure he did not commit any crime. Archer is a good boy and he works hard. He’s an excellent influence on the other foster children.’
‘I’m sure he is Mrs Gardner. The constable will show you out and we’ll be in touch when we find out more.’
Rory hugged him when they walked into the waiting room and he whirled her round and put her down, breathless and laughing. She put her arm through his. ‘I knew they’d let you out. You couldn’t steal anything, you’re much too honest.’
They had to get back to the girls, so they hurried out to the car, everyone talking loudly with Rory and Lynette both asking questions at the same time. Penny finally had enough. ‘Let him get his breath back, I’m sure he’ll tell you the whole story when we get home.’
When they walked in, Todd was sitting in the kitchen reading the paper, totally unaware of any problems.
Penny’s concern took over. ‘Are the girls all right?’
‘I don’t know. I thought they were with you.’
‘Rory, would you be a dear and check they’re ok? Tell them dinner’s going to be late and ask if they would like a cup of tea while they’re waiting.’
They were on their way down and Rory relayed her Aunt’s question. Mandy was innocence itself. ‘We were wondering if Penny needed a hand with the dinner, it’s usually ready by now.’
Rory’s expression said she didn’t believe a word. Aunt Penny seemed pleased with their offer.
‘I’m sorry girls. I know we don’t usually do this, but it’s been an unusual day. I’m going to order a take-ou
t, is everyone happy with Chinese? I’ll get a mix of dishes and we can all share.’
She disappeared out to the other room with the leaflet as Lynette poured the tea. Everyone sat round the kitchen table as Archer retold his tale. When he talked about seeing the girls in the shop, Rory looked at him expectantly, as though she knew more than she should have. At the point when he described the policeman writing down Peter’s details, Kellie went even paler than normal, but Mandy was quite calm. ‘Did you give the police our details as well?’
‘Why would I do that? They already have this address.’
‘Didn’t you tell them you saw us in town?’ Mandy saw the curious looks Todd and Lynette were giving her and added, ‘I was just wondering whether the police might need to ask us to back up Archer’s story. Which we would do, of course.’
‘No, I don’t think I mentioned that I saw you in town.’
‘Nor Jack and Kyle?’
Archer knew exactly what she was worried about and looked at her for a couple of seconds before replying. ‘Now I come to think about it, I don’t think I said anything at all, just that I was hanging out with Pete. But you could be right, it might be worth telling them I saw you guys, maybe I should ring them now.’
The horror on her face was brief, however Rory looked pleased as Penny returned from phoning through the order. Mandy started to protest before she realised Archer was winding her up, but by then it was too late, Todd had picked up on it.
‘Actually, that’s not be a bad idea, what do you think, dear?’
‘I think I’ve had enough of police stations for one day.’
Archer was concerned by her weary sigh as she continued.
‘They’ll only make him go down again to write it all out and sign it. I’m sure he’ll be fine. When they get the statements from the shop assistants and the head teacher, they’ll realise he is innocent and it will all be over.’