Too Much Trouble by Tom Avery Page A

little, dark-haired girl who had smiled at me was called Terri. She was younger than me, maybe nearer Prince’s age. She smiled at me again when Jamal introduced us. She didn’t smile at Jamal, she didn’t even look at him. She said hello quietly and then turned back to the book she had been reading.
    As we left the bedroom, Jamal said, ‘Terri’s quiet. I think she’s a bit messed up. You know?’
    I didn’t know, but I didn’t ask either. Terri seemed all right to me.

Chapter 12
    Do you remember your first day at school? I do. Not sure if you will get on with anyone. No idea where anything is. Trying to take everything in. And the utter exhaustion at the end.
    That first night, with Jamal and Terri and everyone, was like that. Prince fitted in straight away but I felt nervous. Not knowing anyone. Not knowing where we were. Not knowing if we would be allowed to stay. But everyone seemed. . . well, you’ll see.
    After Jamal had shown us round, I played football for a bit. Sastre was the best. He could get over five hundred in keepie-uppy. All those guys were OK. They passed the ball to me and asked me some questions.
    â€˜Where do you come from?’
    â€˜Where did Mr Green meet you?’
    â€˜Why have
you
run away?’
    I didn’t like to answer too much. Habit, I guess. I didn’t realise for a few days that all the kids shared similar stories. Trouble in their past. Runaways. Picked up by Mr Green. Brought to a house like this one.
    When I got tired of football I thought I would go and try to talk to Terri. I walked through the lounge where Prince was playing crockery catch with Jamal and his friends. I walked through the middle of the room. Jamal threw a plate and I flinched as it sailed inches over my head. They all laughed. Prince laughed as well. The plate smashed into the wall as Dwayne failed to catch it.
    Carla and Sofina were sitting on the stairs. ‘All right, Emmanuel?’ they chimed together, then giggled.
    â€˜I like your shoes,’ Carla said, smirking. I looked down at my feet. I was wearing school shoes that I had bought at a supermarket. They were a year old and showed it. One of the heels was falling off and the laces were frayed. The many scuffs were highlighted by the thirty minutes I had spent playing football.
    â€˜Erm, thanks,’ I said.
    The two girls burst into giggles as I struggled past them up the stairs.
    I knocked on the door to the bedroom Terri had been in. No answer. I pushed it open slowly. Terri was right where she had been lying on the bed. But she was no longer reading. Her eyes were closed and the book was still open in her hand, resting on the bed.
    She was fully clothed but I thought she looked cold. She was lying on top of the duvet. I carefully pulled it out. She moved a bit. I laid the duvet over her but not before I’d taken the book out of her hand.
    There was a chair in the corner of the room in front of some enormous wardrobes. I sat down and opened the book. It was called
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens. Do you know that one? I didn’t.
    I still don’t, really; it was way too difficult for me. For instance, the first sentence alone had one hundred and one words in it! I know, that’s mad, right? One hundred and one. 101. Here’s some of the words from the opening sentence: prudent, refrain, fictitious, inasmuch, prefixed. I promise I didn’t make any of them up.
    I guessed that Terri was really smart. I tried to read on, but before I’d finished a page my own eyes had closed.
    As I fell asleep I realised it had only been that morning that I found out about Lil’ Legacy and ran to stop Prince. It was just that afternoon that my uncle had decided we were more trouble than we were worth. And it was only a few short hours ago that we’d met Mr Green.
    I think that was the longest day of my life.
    I slept well.

Chapter 13
    With all this talk of trouble, I thought I should