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  Tina put her head round the door into the other room and asked the tutor to come and meet the students. They should have dressed her in body armour and given her a baseball bat. Did she even know what she was letting herself in for? Alison had short brown hair with copper highlights and sharp style. Black shoes with five silver buckles on each side of them, and a chain hung from the pocket of her black jeans. Her makeup was dark too, deep shades of eye shadow smudged on her lower eyelids. The lads looked at each other and you could hear them whispering – probably something sexual because they were sniggering behind their hands when they looked over at her.

  ‘Sir, what’s MMA?’

  ‘Mixed martial arts, Chelsea. It might be a bit rough for the girls, so maybe stick with the dancing for now.’ He’d picked the wrong person to try that on – Chelsea loved a debate.

  ‘That’s sexist, sir. We should have the same rights as these halfwits in here. What do you say girls, do you think we should be able to go to MMA too?’

  A few of her supporters joined in. ‘Yeah, you’re always going on about equal rights, sir, and how everyone should be treated the same, so sort it out!’ shouted Jennifer Williams.

  Frankie leant back, his chair balanced on its two back legs. He was the spokesman for the male students. He nudged Liam, tipped him the nod. ‘If you girls want touching up then just say the word. You don’t have to come to MMA just to get a roll with me.’ The lads roared laughing. Liam carried on. ‘You’d love being touched up, wouldn’t you, Chelsea? They’d have to tie a plank to my arse, so I didn’t fall in your fanny if we were fighting.’ A low blow. Anywhere else he’d have been escorted out of the room and put in exclusion for that last comment. But this was Second Chance, and it was nothing new.

  Donny had to keep a straight face, restore order. ‘Liam, that’s your first warning. Turn it in. And, if the girls want to try MMA, so be it. Come and see me after lessons this morning and I’ll sort it out. Anyway, learning time. Listen out for your name and make your way to your lesson as quickly as possible. Remember, no eating in the classroom as well as no phones. Oh, just before you go. We have a new girl called Nancy that I want everyone to meet.’

  Motormouth was at it again. ‘Sir, we’ve already met her on the minibus. I’ve told her she can chill with me if she wants so wind your neck in and let her get to class.’ Chelsea stood up, a cocky look on her face. Nothing changed. God help whoever was teaching her this morning, they would have their work cut out for them for sure.

  The teachers led the students to their various lessons. Even getting them to the classroom was a job in itself. Maths teacher Robert Sinclair had been teaching here for over a year and knew he had to be firm with his class. When he first started working here, he didn’t think he’d last the term. The kids were either bored or abusive – even the capable ones were hard to teach. Sometimes he yearned for the days when corporal punishment was acceptable.

  Sinclair waited until the students sat down; there were only four, but that was more than enough. He looked at them. Frankie was as cool as a cucumber; he knew how to keep his nose clean. It wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. Parents being dragged to school for meeting after meeting about your behaviour just wasn’t cool. Who else had bothered to turn up today? He scanned the class. Ged never really spoke to any of his classmates and most of the time he just put his head on the desk and fell asleep. Paul Tiebury was a bully, a loudmouth from the Harpurhey estate who intimidated a lot of the lads and tried to make them feel stupid. Paul kept flicking Ged’s ear from behind, stretching so he could curl his index finger up tightly ready to strike again. You could hear the flick land like an elastic band snapping. ‘Fuck off, you prick,’ Ged hissed as he felt the back of his ear start to burn.

  ‘Ged, you carry on using language like that and you’ll be out of here.’ Sinclair was off on one, already hating his job more than ever. Ged lifted his head, his cheeks on fire, his temper boiling, ready to snap. Frankie sat back and started to watch events unfold. This kid rarely said a word and here he was defending himself for a change. A right turn up for the books.

  Paul nudged his sidekick, Wayne Johnson. ‘Who’s this muppet telling to fuck off? I’ll twist him up in a minute. I’ll batter him and his dad both together.’ Ged put his head back down and didn’t reply. Paul bent his finger back and waited for a few more seconds to pass, Wayne egging him on.

  Sinclair had his back to the class, writing something on the whiteboard. Paul positioned his finger near Ged’s ear and flicked the skin with all his might. Ged bolted up from his chair, knocking the table over, screaming at the top of his voice. ‘Come on then, you prick, let’s have it.’

  Wayne needed no encouragement to join the fray. He jumped out of his seat as Paul and Frankie stood up too. Frankie gripped Wayne by the throat, pulled him forward until they were nose to nose. ‘Nothing to do with you, let them sort it out themselves. You get involved, that means I do too. What’s it going to be?’ Wayne held his hands up and backed off. Frankie continued to eyeball him every now and then to make sure he didn’t move a muscle, just stayed stood against the wall. Ged was losing the plot, throwing books about, kicking chairs over. That was enough.

  ‘Out!’ Sinclair screamed at the top of his voice. ‘All of you, out!’ Within seconds the code red team were on the scene.

  Tommy Jones was thick-set and used to stuff like this and worse. Used to working as a bouncer on the doors in Manchester’s city centre nightclubs, this was child’s play to him. If the kid wanted a fight, he was out of luck; he’d have him restrained in seconds. Tommy edged into the room, which looked more like a war zone than a maths lesson. He stood facing Ged. ‘Calm it down, lad, deep breaths. Just take your time, deep breaths. Don’t be doing anything daft.’

  Ged was breathing like a racehorse who’d just run the Grand National, sweat pouring down his face, hair wet at the front. ‘I told him to leave me alone, but he kept on doing it. I warned him. I told the prick, but he never listened, and he was disrespecting my dad. Nobody disrespects my dad, fucking nobody.’

  Donny was here now. He clocked the state of the room, the broken furniture. ‘Ged, come on, son, come into my office and get a cold drink. We can talk about this after you’ve calmed down.’ But Ged was still in the zone, his nostrils flaring as his feet bounced about the room. He rammed a single finger towards Donny. ‘Don’t call me your fucking son. I have my own dad. He might be in the nick, but I still have one. Fuck off and leave me alone.’

  Donny looked over at Tommy and shrugged. He knew all the problems the kid was facing, had been through the risk assessment sheets enough times, knew his story. He took a deep breath and walked a little further into the room. ‘Tommy, go on, you go and help Mr Sinclair get the others back into the lesson. They can use another room. I’ll stay with Ged for a bit and sort him out. He’s calm now, aren’t you, mate?’

  Ged’s legs buckled as he walked towards the open window. The icy breeze was just what he needed to help slow his heartbeat down. He closed his eyes and pressed his head on the cold metal bars across the window. Why couldn’t he control his temper, why did he just flip out like that, was he ill? Did he need medication?

  Donny waited until Ged slumped down onto the floor then sat down next to him. He’d been through this scenario so many times, watched even the biggest lads in the school break down at one time or another. He reached over and patted the top of Ged’s knee. ‘It’s alright to lose it sometimes, pal. It’s hard not having your dad about, especially at your age.’

  Ged lifted his head up slowly, clearly upset. ‘My mam won’t even speak about him, it’s like he never existed. But, he does. I want to see him. Why’s nobody listening to me? It’s my choice not hers.’

  This was progress, at least he was talking. Some of them never spoke about what was going on in their heads and it took months, even years to get to the bottom of it. ‘Have you told your mam how you feel? Maybe, if
you sit down with her, stay calm and tell her how hurt you are it might help.’

  Ged sniffed and twisted his knuckle into the corner of his eye to try and get rid of the tears. He sucked on the side of his cheek, looking anywhere except at Donny. ‘It’s pointless. She won’t talk to me about him. She said he’s a dirty no-good bastard and we are better off without him. What can I say to that?’

  Donny felt for him. ‘I can have a word with her if you want? Us grown-ups are stubborn sometimes and we can be dickheads. When the advice comes from somebody else who’s not involved, we seem to listen better.’

  Ged shook his head. ‘Nah, don’t be giving my mam any more stress. She’ll go sick if she knows I’ve been discussing our private stuff. Keep it to yourself. I’m OK now. It just gets to me sometimes and that wanker flicking at my ear when I’m tired doesn’t help.’

  ‘Did you not sleep properly, Ged?’

  ‘I did, but I was playing on the Xbox til late. It’s all I have to do when I get home from school. I just lose track of time sometimes.’

  Donny scratched the end of his chin and carried on talking. ‘Do you have any mates that you hang out with?’

  Ged sat thinking. ‘Not really, I talk to a few local kids when I’m online playing the game, but I don’t really go out that much. You see my mam’s working all the time and she’s not home until late. Her new bar job is a late finish and she doesn’t get in sometimes until after midnight.’ Donny rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. The kid was a minor and his mother shouldn’t be leaving him to fend for himself. He made a mental note and carried on talking. ‘That’s crap, isn’t it? We run a youth club here three times a week, why don’t you start coming here, find some friends?’

  Ged screwed his face up. ‘No way, the kids who come here are special needs. I can find my own mates thanks.’

  That was the thing about Donny. Even though Ged had just had a complete meltdown, he was still sat here with him, no screaming, no shouting, just calm. Donny sat in silence for a few seconds. There was no rush to get Ged out of here, he was no danger to anyone anymore. ‘You can come and sit in my office if you want or stay here for a bit to clear your head. In fact, you need to clean this room up, first don’t you?’

  Ged looked at him. ‘Yeah, no worries. I’ll clean it up. Sorry for losing it too.’

  Donny reached his hand out. ‘Here’s my hand, here’s my heart. Let’s move on and put this behind us.’ They shook hands and Donny stood up. ‘You do know that you will go on report for this, don’t you?’ Ged nodded and exhaled loudly before he got back on his feet. ‘I’ll start cleaning it now, sir.’

  Donny headed back to his office. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a laboured sigh. Frankie was in the corridor and called to him as Donny got closer. ‘That Ged kid is alright, sir, it was Paul winding him up. The guy’s a prick, I’ll knock him out if he carries on.’

  Donny had no time to talk, he was due at a meeting. ‘Just look out for him, Frankie, take him under your wing. And, don’t you be knocking anybody about, keep your nose clean. Do you hear me, don’t get involved?’ Donny rushed down the corridor and disappeared into his office.

  Chapter Five

  The end of the school day. Ged was one of the first to get on the minibus and park his arse. He just wanted to get away from this place, go home. Frankie came and sat in front of him before the rest of the rabble boarded. He twisted round to look at Ged.

  ‘Never thought you had it in you. Paul shit himself today, he’s not so loud now is he, now you put him in his place? And quite right too, you shouldn’t let no muppet bully you in this place. You have to stand up for yourself, show the fuckers.’ Ged was taken aback; Frankie was the main man in this school and since he’d been there, in the last two months, he’d never said a single word to him, nothing. Frankie was like the alpha male of Second Chance, sitting on the top of the hill watching his tribe and making sure there was no messing. If any of these lads wanted to challenge his reign, then he’d soon rip their heads off and sort them out. Ged wasn’t going to ignore the guy; he’d seen his chance to make a friend and replied without hesitation. ‘He’s a dickhead, Frankie. I’ve watched him for weeks now harassing some of the others, the guy is a windup.’ Frankie looked around the bus. He pulled his iPhone out of his jacket pocket and looked at the screen. ‘Here, get my digits typed in your phone. You can one ring me, and I’ll save your number. You’re an OK kid, Ged, and I’m gonna look after you.’

  Ged’s hands were shaking as he pressed his number into his phone as quickly as he could. Here he was, a nobody, chatting, swapping numbers with the top boy. Maybe now Ged had a someone, someone who would have his back if he was ever in trouble.

  Frankie rammed his phone back in his pocket and patted it down. ‘I’ll give you a bell later, mate, if you’re not doing owt. You can come on the estate with me and meet the crew.’ Ged’s eyes were wide open, and his mouth was dry. Was this a windup or what? He’d never had a friend like this – nobody had ever really taken the time to get to know him. Frankie sat back in his seat now, watched the rest of the pupils board the bus. Nancy made her way towards Ged and plonked herself down next to him. She smiled softly. ‘It’s not that bad here, is it?’

  Ged swallowed hard, two proper conversations in one day – what was going on? He chewed his lips and tried to remain cool. He was one of Frankie’s boys now and if he wanted to impress him, he needed to be confident, show he was game for anything, even talking to girls. He could always fall back on his acting skills. The drama teacher had always told him that from the minute he stepped onto the stage he was no longer Ged Grey, he could be whoever he wanted to be – confident, gobby and fearless, whatever. Ged took a deep breath. ‘Is what it is, Nancy. I just keep my head down and I do my rip here.’ He had his words on point, no longer the shy kid, he was Ged, mate of Frankie.

  ‘Do you want to hook up tonight? We can go for something to eat if you want, some KFC?’

  Not what Ged had been expecting. He went bright red – not so cool now. Nancy was hitting on him; what was going on? No one had ever given him the time of the day before. Ged fidgeted, nervously cracking his knuckles. ‘I can’t tonight, but give me your number and I’ll text you when I can?’ There, Ged had asked a girl for her number, whoop, whoop, go on lad, get in there, he told himself.

  Chelsea and her mob were on board now and she was eager to make an announcement. ‘I’m having a party at the weekend, you lot can come if you want but you need to bring booze. Jack Daniels is my favourite so make sure you bring some. A few glasses of that down your hole and you’ll be steaming. What do you say, Frankie, you having it or what?’

  Frankie nodded, no words. If he turned up, then he turned up, if he didn’t then so what?

  Nancy was staring at Ged; he could feel her eyes burning into him. Speak lad, start a conversation, anything, but just don’t sit there like a big numpty.

  ‘So, what’s your story, why did you get chucked out of normal school?’ See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? He started to relax. Somehow he was starting to feel comfortable with this girl; even though they’d just met, he didn’t know her, he could feel a connection.

  Nancy hunched her shoulders, pulled her jacket tighter around herself. There was a sadness in her eyes, an emptiness. ‘I’m “not engaging”, they said. I keep running away too. My mam is at her wits’ end with me. This place is my last chance. God knows what will happen if I mess up here.’

  Ged nodded. ‘Yep, we’re all in the same boat. Everyone’s story ends with that line. It’s do or die time, isn’t it?’

  Nancy edged closer, which put Ged on the back foot. It was too soon for all this, he should back off, play it cool. She laid her head on Ged’s shoulder and he panicked, embarrassed, as he caught Chelsea’s eye. She’d clocked it, she was nudging the girl to the left of her. She was going to make sure everyone else noticed too. Bloody mot
ormouth at it again. ‘So what’s going on with you two? Ged, first day and you’re putting your mark on her. Never had you down as a player.’

  That was too much for Nancy, who bolted upright. ‘It’s not like that,’ she hissed. ‘We’re just friends, so piss off.’ On any other day Chelsea would have scratched her eyes out for speaking to her like that; in fact she was lucky she wasn’t lying on the floor having ten tons of shit kicked out of her. Chelsea noted that Nancy could stand up for herself and let the comment pass – the new girl was very lucky, very lucky indeed.

  Ged walked into his front room and read the message scribbled on the piece of paper on the table. His mother always left him a note before she left for work. He screwed his eyes together slightly as he tried to decipher her handwriting.

  Ged, there’s a microwave meal in the fridge. Just put it in for three minutes and let it stand for one minute.

  See you later,

  Love Mam X

  Nothing new. He tossed the note back onto the table and whipped off his coat. Bloody hell, it was cold in here today. His mam was always turning the central heating off trying to save money, tight arse she was. Ged walked over to the thermostat on the wall and turned it back on. The house would be warm soon, boiling hot, just like he liked it. Tonight, he had planned a Xbox night with his online mates. He wasn’t holding his breath that Frankie would be in touch and he settled down on the sofa ready for hours of non-stop FIFA.

  The living room was neat and tidy, brown leather sofa, cream walls, basic really. Switching on the telly he suddenly thought that there’d been post on the mat. He should have a look in case there was anything he didn’t want his mam to see. He walked slowly into the hallway. As he got closer he could see that among the pizza and takeaway flyers was just one letter. A plain white envelope with his name on the front. He picked it up and slowly made his way back to the front room, unsure yet whether he wanted to open it or not. Maybe later.