dimension. What do you bloody reckon?!” “Really?” says D. I’ve always liked D, but he can be a bit slow to catch on sometimes. Baz just laughed, patted him on the head and ignored him after that. “When’d you get out?” “Yesterday. Good behaviour. I knifed a bloke who was causing the screws a bulk of trouble. They liked that. And they couldn’t prove it. I think they put a word in at my parole hearing. So, I’m out.” It was always hard to tell if Baz was just having you on or not. I just kept my mouth shut. But I believed him. He’s got this kind of manic energy, that seems to buzz just under his skin, so that if he reaches to touch you, you back off quick. In his eyes too. Part Loki, part Thor. And now you know my reading preferences. “So, are ya?” “What?” “Plotting the downfall?” There are points in your life when every cell in your body screams at you to keep your mouth shut. Tells you to back away. Begs you to run. This was one of them. Another was when I decided to ask Katie Scha … um … K … to the school formal. Prettiest girl in the school by a mile. Had always been nice to me. Had just split from her ‘jock’ boyfriend and happened to be sitting on her own at the school bus stop. Every part of me, except the tiny bit of my tiny brain that held my ego, was counselling me to be very, very careful. I went with the minority. The very small, very stupid, minority. I can still remember the look on her face when I asked. She didn’t laugh. Actually, she was really kind. Polite. In the way that adults are to small children who announce they are going to build a rocket and fly to the moon. I didn’t end up taking her to the formal. 95
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI3ODI1