Raw by Scott Monk

scrubbing the oventrays was that Josh sat with the staff some of the time and with the inmates the rest. He didn’t go to class either, but got private tuition. He wondered how the jock had scored that deal. Probably through a lot of crawling. Seeing him there, laughing and joking, he knew Josh had to be Sam’s pet. He was too polite and friendly to be an inmate. The cops had probably arrested him for jaywalking. Brett hated him.
    Not that it mattered any more. When lights out was called that night and everyone was asleep Brett was leaving this hole once and for all. Escaping, right? He couldn’t stay here any longer because he wasn’t welcome. The inmates hated him. Sam hated him. And he’d never felt more alone.
    There was no chickening out. He’d made up his mind. His bag was packed and his escape plan simple: run and don’t stop. He could be in Sydney in a couple of days. Escaping unnoticed wasn’t going to be a problem. The only staff members still on the property were those sitting in the mess hall at that moment. And they’d be heading home soon. That only left Sam and Mary and they’d been up all day. Brett would be a hundred k’s from this place come the next morning. Easy.
    A kid walked into the kitchen and dropped his plate next to the sink. Brett didn’t look up. The timeshe had, the look from the other inmates had been less than friendly.
    â€˜Sam caught you, huh?’ Brett looked up. It was Frog.
    â€˜Yer, out behind the garage.’
    Frog glanced at the man. ‘He must’ve been really mad. I’ve never seen Sam lose his temper like that.’
    Brett winced a smile. Somehow that victory didn’t sound as comforting as he thought it might.
    â€˜You hungry?’
    â€˜Definitely.’ The only things Brett had eaten all night were the Violet Crumble and the gum he’d nicked.
    â€˜I can try and get you some fruit. For later, I mean. Matthew Hill’s got an orange and banana on his tray. He’ll give it to me for nothing.’
    â€˜Robbie!’ a deep voice boomed from the mess hall.
    Frog shrank. It was Sam.
    â€˜Give Brett your tray then go to your dorm, please. There’s still half an hour before lights out. You could use the time to finish your maths homework.’
    Frog nodded glumly then left, dragging his feet behind him. Sam and Brett watched the kid leave then looked at each other. Brett snarled. Sam turned away.
    When Sam finally let him go — not withoutanother lecture — Brett still had ten minutes before lights out. He grabbed his smokes and headed for the toilets. He couldn’t care less any more if Sam caught him. He was leaving.
    He locked the cubicle door behind him and took a seat. He lipped the cigarette then checked out how many he had left. Only fifteen. He’d have to save them until he could buy some more.
    Lighting up, he went over his plan one more time. He’d wait until everyone was asleep then grab some food from the kitchen and break out of here. Simple really.
    There was one problem, though. Where was he heading?
    At first, he assumed Sydney. But the more he thought about it, the more hesitant he became. The first place the cops would look for him would be home. Holing up with his mates was out of the question too, because, being the great friends that they were, they’d dob him in the minute he fell asleep. Normally, he’d stay with Rebecca but she was no help to him. She was shacked up with some cowboy a million miles away. So he’d have to give Sydney a miss and lie low in the country until all the trouble went away.
    That was a problem too. He didn’t know the localarea too well. Sure, he’d passed through plenty of small country towns on his way to Mungindi in the back of the paddy wagon, but he was barely conscious enough in the heat to see them, let alone remember their names. One town name he did know, however, was Moree. Josh had mentioned it