Too Much Trouble by Tom Avery

everyone.’ Mr Green addressed this to Kieran and Ibby. ‘What do you think, Jamal?’
    Jamal took a step back still looking at us. ‘I like ‘em, Mr Green, especially this one,’ he said, ruffling Prince’s hair. I think I knew who I needed to be extra nice to.
    Gradually the room filled up with more rowdy boys and a few girls. They were talking and calling to each other whilst they all had a good look at us. I tried to count them as they moved round the room and got to thirteen when Mr Green shouted, ‘Shut up and sit down!’ They all quietened down and found a place to sit, either on the floor or perched on a sofa or chair.
    Mr Green waited for them to be quiet before he carried on. ‘First of all, this is the last night here. We are moving tomorrow.’ A few of the boys cheered and Jamal grinned wickedly. ‘Make the most of it. Let’s not leave anything valuable lying around. And secondly, you’ve noticed the new faces. This is Emmanuel and Prince, say hello to them.’
    There was a range of replies, ‘hello’, ‘all right’, ‘yeah, yeah’ and other variations.
    One girl just smiled at me. She was a really little,white girl. She had dark hair and even darker eyes. She just smiled at me for a moment, and then looked up at Mr Green, who carried on speaking.
    â€˜Jamal, show them around. Everyone, be nice. I ‘ll see you tomorrow.’ Mr Green acknowledged with a wave the various goodbyes that the kids called to him, then walked out of the room. The others began to disperse.
    Jamal came and offered his hand again. He pulled us both to our feet and said, ‘Right, let’s make you feel at home.’
    ***
    I just about remember moving with my parents to our first home. Before that we had lived with my grandma. My mother and father, me, and a little, baby Prince. I don’t remember living there, but my parents told me that there wasn’t room for all of us. Grandma had helped us find our own home.
    It was tiny. Just one room. But I remember how happy my parents were. My father swung me around the room before we had any furniture.
    It was a great place to live. We could walk to school and get the little green bus into town along thedust road. That was before I was big enough to run with my dad. My father worked at a factory. He rode his bike there, early every morning. Until the last few months.
    The last few months we lived in Africa, we didn’t go to school and my father didn’t go to work. My parents didn’t tell us why. We thought at first it must be a holiday.
    After a while, though, we started to hear explosions and bangs in the night. Sometimes there was screaming. For the last few weeks we didn’t leave the house much.
    So I had been in a new house before, but not one like Mr Green had taken us to.
    ***
    Jamal introduced us around. Like Mr Green had asked, everyone was nice. Jamal introduced Prince as the fastest little catcher around. Prince loved that.
    We met everyone that night.
    Jamal was sort of in charge. I was right about being extra nice to him. When he entered a room I could see the same look in people’s eyes that I saw in Ryan’s friends’ eyes. Wary expectancy.
    His main friends were Ibby, real name Ibrahim, Kieran, and two Jamaican boys called Michael and Dwayne. I made a note to be as nice to these boys as I was to Jamal. They all loved Prince. Michael and Dwayne called him ‘the Little Prince’.
    There were two girls who were inseparable. Carla and Sofina. They both had big hair and wore matching, green scarfs. They had other matching accessories that I saw on other days. They giggled when they met us.
    There was also Alex, Sastre, Kammy, Julia and Freddie. I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but that was most of the gang. We met some of them playing football in the garden. Julia was a girl, but a bit of a boy too. I mean she was good at football and stuff.
    The