Terror Kid

by Benjamin Zephaniah

  They came to a large road junction and went down a subway to pass underneath. At the centre of the subway system was a plot of grass with a water feature that wasn’t working. Speech stopped. Rico stopped.

  ‘So, what’s up?’ asked Rico.

  ‘Like I said, I need you to do some work for me.’

  ‘Repairs depend on the price of parts, but if you want me to write a programme for you it’s £100 a day, paid at the end of each day, in cash. For half days, £50 – anything over a half costs you full.’

  Speech nodded approvingly. ‘You could be a businessman.’

  ‘I am a businessman,’ said Rico.

  ‘Could you build a website for me?’

  ‘Of course I can.’

  ‘How long will it take you?’

  ‘It depends on how big you want it.’

  ‘Just an average-size website, but I want it custom built. Not one of these cheap off-the-shelf ones. I want good graphics, sharp photos, and it’s got to be user-friendly.’

  Rico thought for a while. He didn’t get jobs like these often, but when he did they earned him good money, and he needed some extra money for his future business plans.

  ‘An average-size, custom-built website, made from scratch, with you providing all the photos and links, will take me about two weeks. That will cost you £1400.’

  Rico thought it sounded expensive and Speech would start talking the price down. He waited for him to start bargaining, but he didn’t.

  ‘Cool. I’ll give you £2000.’

  ‘Are you listening to me, man? I said it would cost you £1400.’

  ‘I know,’ said Speech. ‘But I want to pay you two grand.’

  Rico was taken aback. ‘What the hell do you want to pay me two thousand for? I only asked for one thousand, four hundred. Are you crazy or what?’

  ‘I told you we had a friend in common.’

  ‘Yes. Who is it?’

  ‘Ana.’

  ‘Who? Ana that works in the shop?’

  ‘Yes, that Ana. You know what she does for a hobby?’

  ‘Yes, she designs and makes dresses.’

  ‘That’s right. I’m a good friend of hers. She did a big favour for me once, and I want to repay her by getting this website built for her. But you have to keep it a secret. It’s really important. This must be kept a secret until her birthday. Don’t mention it to her. I want this to be the best birthday present she’s ever had. Do you see what I’m trying to do?’

  ‘I see,’ said Rico. ‘So that’s why you can’t come into the shop?’

  ‘That’s right. And that’s why I’m paying you extra. This has to be between me and you.’

  Speech went into his inside jacket pocket and took out an envelope. He held it out as he spoke. ‘Here are two memory sticks with photos and text on them. I’m leaving it up to you to design it. You need to have a shop area so people can buy online; all the prices are there so you can build a checkout area and all that stuff. You’ll see the name of her company – you need to use that and buy her a domain name.’

  ‘In that case I’ll need a deposit,’ said Rico.

  ‘There’s also £2000 in this envelope. That’s all your money, and more, up front.’

  ‘You don’t need to do that,’ Rico said.

  ‘I know I don’t, but I want to. I want to leave you to it. I trust you, so I want you to use your initiative, do what you think is good.’

  ‘Shall I call you?’ asked Rico.

  ‘No, I don’t have a phone. I’ll find you, don’t worry about that, just go and do the job – but remember, not a word.’

  He handed Rico the envelope. Rico could feel the memory sticks and the thickness of the banknotes. ‘I’ll start straight away,’ he said.

  Speech said goodbye and walked away, leaving Rico still thinking about the unusual deal he had just done.

  Chapter 7

  Woodpecker Remembered

  Rico got to work on the website straight away. He didn’t tell anyone about his new job. He had built websites before, mainly for his friends’ bands, but he had never built one this big, and he’d never done one for this much money. He was determined to make a good job of it. On one of the memory sticks he found all the text that was promoting the business, and on the other he found photos of dresses with descriptions and prices. He had been paid well, and because he had been given creative freedom he planned to try out as many of his new ideas as possible.

  He still did a bit of work for people who needed small jobs done, but he used all the time he could to work on the website. After a week he had to go back to do his day in the computer shop, where he was very tempted to ask Ana questions. He wasn’t tempted to actually tell her about the website – he really liked the idea of surprising her on her birthday – but he was tempted to ask her what her favourite colour was, to make that the dominant colour on her home page, or what her favourite type of music was, so he could incorporate some on the site, or if she had a business logo in mind, but he didn’t, just in case she got suspicious. At the end of the day he left the shop and was making his way to the bus stop when Speech just appeared, walking alongside him. Rico was startled but tried not to show it and kept walking as if nothing had happened.

  ‘How’s it going?’ asked Speech.

  ‘It’s all good,’ replied Rico.

  ‘How’s the website?’

  ‘Like I said, it’s all good.’

  ‘That’s what I like to hear.’

  ‘Do you want to see it? You can if you like,’ said Rico.

  ‘No, I just wanted to see if there was anything you needed.’

  ‘I don’t need anything. I’m almost there.’

  Suddenly Speech stopped. Rico carried on talking.

  ‘There’s a couple of things I’d like to know from Ana, but they’re not that important, I can fix them later.’

  ‘So you haven’t said anything to her then?’ asked Speech.

  Rico came back quickly. ‘Of course not. I said I wouldn’t.’

  ‘She’s a good woman,’ said Speech. ‘She deserves the best. Don’t you think so?’

  ‘Of course, that’s why I’m going to make a wicked site for her,’ said Rico. ‘Keep walking. I got a bus to catch. Work to do.’

  ‘No. This is as far as I go. So everything’s all right then?’

  ‘Yes, everything’s all right,’ said Rico, now a little tired of the questions.

  ‘Great. I’ll see you soon.’

  Speech turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

  On the bus Rico sat comfortably at the back on the top deck. His phone rang. It was his mother asking if he was on his way home. Rico told her that he would be back soon. He folded his arms, leaned against the window and began to doze. He was very tired, but he wasn’t worried he would miss his stop: he had dozed many times on this route and because he knew the route so well he always woke up just before his stop. He started to think about Karima. He was upset with her behaviour in the riots, but he was missing her. He made up his mind that he would go to her house to find out where she was being held, and then visit her. Then he began to think about his sister, Lola. He was still able to hear the sound of the bus and the passengers around him, but he was relaxed enough to drift into a dreamlike state, recalling happy memories of his big sister playing with him in their garden or the local park. When she was small, Lola had liked to carve shapes into trees using sharp stones, so Rico had given her the nickname Woodpecker. He recalled the time she had spent teaching him how to ride his bicycle, and how when they were older Lola would tell him stories of how good overcomes evil.

  Rico was very close to his sister, but his parents didn’t talk to him about why she had left home so suddenly. He really missed her.

  Rico jumped up just before the bus reached his stop. He ran down the stairs, off the bus, and didn’t stop running until he reached his home, where his dinner was on the table. Rico wanted to take his plate and go up to his room, but his mother wasn’t having
it.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘We’ve hardly seen you lately, up there on your computers. They can wait. Sit down and eat.’

  ‘OK,’ said Rico.

  The atmosphere during the meal was upbeat and happy, with Lena doing most of the talking. She was always full of stories about characters that she encountered at the hospital. All was going well until Rico brought up the subject that was really on his mind.

  ‘Have you heard from Lola?’

  There was an awkward silence at the table. Stefan spoke first.

  ‘If she’d got in contact with us, we would have told you, wouldn’t we?’

  Lena continued. ‘We were wondering if she’d been in contact with you.’

  ‘I told you before,’ said Rico. ‘I haven’t got her number.’

  ‘And nor have we,’ said Lena. ‘She calls sometimes, but unless she contacts one of us, we can’t contact her. It’s as simple as that.’

  ‘Don’t you want to talk to her?’ asked Rico.

  Lena dropped her knife and fork onto her plate in anger.

  ‘Of course we want to talk to her. She left us, we didn’t kick her out. You still have this idea that we’re the bad people, but she’s the one who decided to go, and she’s the one who’s decided not to stay in contact. So don’t blame us, Rico.’

  ‘I’m not blaming you,’ said Rico softly.

  ‘Good,’ said Lena.

  ‘OK. Enjoy your meal,’ said Stefan.

  Rico continued to eat, but he didn’t enjoy his meal.

  Chapter 8

  Friends Reunited?

  Rico had been working late into the night, so when he was woken early in the morning by the noise his parents were making getting up, he tried to ignore them. They were leaving for their weekly shop at the supermarket. He listened as the car drove away and then he curled up to try to sleep some more. He tried, but he couldn’t. He was physically tired, but his mind began working overtime. He worked best at night, and he was planning to work hard that night too, so he needed the night more than he needed the day. He kept telling himself to go to sleep, but the more he told himself, the harder it was to sleep. He eventually began to drift off, but then his phone rang. He reached over, and picked it up, putting the phone to his ear without opening his eyes.

  ‘Hello. Who is it?’ he groaned.

  The voice on the phone was upbeat and wide awake.

  ‘What’s going on, brov? Long time.’

  It was Karima. Rico was surprised to hear her.

  ‘Where are you? he asked.

  ‘I’m out.’

  ‘You’re out already?’ Rico said. ‘I was thinking of coming to see you but I’ve been busy, and I didn’t know where you were.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. Just done a few weeks. Good behaviour, you know what I’m saying?’

  ‘I know what you’re saying, but I don’t believe you.’

  ‘What do you mean, you don’t believe me?’ asked Karima.

  ‘You can’t do good behaviour,’ Rico replied.

  Karima laughed. ‘I can, you know – well, I can make people believe I’m doing good behaviour. Anyway, I’m out now and I wanna see you. Important stuff, you get me?’

  ‘No problem,’ said Rico. ‘Give me a call tomorrow or something. Come round in the afternoon, maybe.’

  ‘Tomorrow! I’m talking about today, brov. What you doing now?’

  ‘I’m in bed.’

  ‘Get up. I’m coming now.’

  Rico groaned. ‘Oh, what? I wanted to lie in. I’m tired.’

  ‘What you been doing?’ asked Karima.

  ‘Nothing,’ replied Rico.

  ‘Well. Get up. Let’s talk about doing something. I’m coming over.’

  Rico reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, to the bathroom, to the kitchen and to the living room, where he waited for Karima. It wasn’t long before she turned up. She rang the bell and knocked on the door at the same time. Rico jumped up and ran to the door.

  ‘What’s your problem?’ he said.

  ‘Thought you might still be in bed. How you going?’

  ‘I was OK until someone got me out of bed.’

  ‘Be cool,’ said Karima. ‘It’s all good.’

  ‘What’s good?’ asked Rico.

  ‘It’s all good,’ said Karima. She saw that Rico wasn’t in the best of moods, so she tried another approach.

  ‘Hey, so you not pleased to see me?’

  ‘Yes. I just wanted to rest today,’ replied Rico.

  ‘You got anything to eat?’

  ‘Of course I haven’t got anything to eat. I told you, I just got out of bed.’ He paused, smiled, and said, ‘We got cake. Sit down.’

  They both sat down and they began to drink fruit juice and eat cake. Karima ate as if she was starving, but she didn’t let it stop her from speaking.

  ‘So, what did you get?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Rico.

  ‘What did you get at court?’

  ‘I didn’t get anything. I didn’t do anything, they didn’t see anything, so they let me go from the station.’

  ‘You’re lucky.’

  ‘No, I’m not lucky,’ said Rico. ‘I didn’t do anything – you mean I was unlucky for being arrested in the first place.’

  Karima wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and leaned back into the seat.

  ‘Were you still in the police station when it got firebombed?’ she asked.

  ‘I was out by then, but I saw it,’ replied Rico. ‘Do you know who did it?’

  ‘No,’ said Karima. ‘But whoever did it did a rubbish job. I hate the cops, I hate the whole system. They mess up our lives and when we react they lock us up.’

  ‘Well, you did go robbing shops,’ said Rico, reminding her of the fact that she had chosen to go ‘shopping’.

  ‘That’s not robbing,’ said Karima. ‘We were just reclaiming stuff. They got me and my crew locked away in a Young Offenders’ Unit, they messed with you – so here’s what we gonna do. Revenge. We got a plan. We got an amazing network of people on our phones, they’re angry, brov, so we’re gonna do August all over again. This time it’s gonna kick off here in Birmingham. We got north, south, east and west Birmingham covered, so when the city’s burning then the rest of the country will kick off. Yes, brov, the last riot is going to look like a street party. This time we’re gonna do real extreme shopping, you get me?’

  ‘I get you,’ Rico replied. ‘But you ain’t got me. What you doing that for? That ain’t going to do anything. You’ll end up where you just came from.’

  Karima became even more animated.

  ‘Look what they done to us, we can’t let them get away with it. If we hit them back we can inspire others, and all over the country people will rise up, rob the rich and start burning up cops. It just takes someone to start it and then others will follow. Let’s do this.’

  ‘I’m not doing this,’ said Rico. ‘Trust me, it don’t make sense.’

  ‘So what you going to do? Nothing?’

  Rico stayed silent, so Karima continued.

  ‘You can’t do nothing. These people have been provoking us, watching us and searching us for so long. Wake up, brov. Even you said you’re sick of being stopped all the time. The riots sent a message to them, but we got to keep the momentum up, we got to let them know what time it is.’

  ‘It’s time for me to go back to bed,’ said Rico quite seriously.

  ‘Is that all you have to say?’

  ‘That’s all I have to say. No – there’s something else I have to say. Don’t do it. Smashing a few shops and getting some new clothes is nothing, it’s not going to change the world, and, anyway, you can do better than that.’

  Rico was not interested in Karima’s plan. He never would have been interested in it. Rico hated violence and Karima knew this. The only reason Karima thought he might be interested was because she thought he would be as angry as she was. He was, but he believed in changing the world by non-violent means.
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br />   ‘Are you scared?’ asked Karima.

  ‘Of course not. I’m not scared of anything. It’s just a waste of time. You go on the streets, cause a few fires, break a few windows, nick a few jeans, and you think you’re bad. If you really wanna be bad you’d do something that really makes a difference, not just something that gets you locked up again.’

  The expression on Karima’s face went from intense concentration to a bright smile.

  ‘You really missed me, didn’t you? And you really care about me, don’t you?

  ‘Well …’

  Before Rico could continue Karima threw her arms open.

  ‘Come on. Give me a hug.’

  Rico stepped over and put his arms around her. As they hugged, Karima spoke in his ear.

  ‘Sometimes you make me think, you know. But, you know, I got my style, you got yours.’

  ‘That’s one way of looking at it,’ replied Rico.

  ‘Do you remember the last time I was here?’ asked Karima.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You got me when I wasn’t on form. I’m ready for you now.’

  Rico pulled away and went to a corner of the room where he connected a computer game console to the television. They played computer games for two hours. This time Karima was victorious. When the games were over she left, but before she did she checked up on Rico.

  ‘Are you good?’

  ‘I’m good,’ he replied.

  ‘No, I mean, you’re not going to say anything, are you?

  ‘What you saying, you can’t trust me? No,’ Rico said defensively. ‘I’m not going to say anything, but I still think you should just stay cool and be careful. They’re going to be watching you. You got a police record now, and I don’t want to see you back inside. That’s all I’m saying.’

  Chapter 9

  Like Father, Like Son?

  Thunder roared and echoed and lightning lit up the night, but neither the activities in the sky, nor the rain that was falling heavily outside disturbed Rico as he worked late into the night. He was now running all four of his computers, and he was getting close to completing the website job.