Sure Fire

“Don’t patronise me,” she told him.

“I was agreeing with you.”

“Well, don’t.”

“You’d rather I disagreed with you?” he asked.

“I’d rather you stopped pretending,” Jade replied.

They lapsed into silence.

Jade stared out of the window and Rich turned his head to whisper to her over his shoulder.

“It’ll be OK,” he told her. “We’ll get through this; it won’t be so bad. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? Apart from boarding school?”

“I just want Mum back,” Jade said, her eyes filling with tears once again.

Chance was fumbling in his pockets as he drove fast and confident down the outside lane. He pulled something out and Jade’s expression changed at once – first to surprise and then anger.

Chance was trying to shake a cigarette out of a packet. He caught a glimpse of Jade’s face in the rearview mirror.

“I’m gasping,” he told her.

Jade wiped her eyes and glared at him.

Chance put the packet back into his pocket.

2 (#uce0d6ac3-0244-5c0c-ab32-ac2fda8807cb)

It was dark by the time they reached Chance’s flat. It was on the second floor of a Victorian terraced house. The outside looked grim and dilapidated. Paint was peeling from the window frames by the door, and the stone steps were chipped and stained.

But once inside it was very different. There was a small lift at the end of a wide hallway and a staircase wound up round the lift shaft. Chance heaved open the heavy metal grille door across the lift.

“Leave that open and the lift won’t move,” he explained. “Gives us time to put all your luggage inside.”

They piled the boxes and bags inside, almost filling the floor space in the small lift. Chance reached in through the door to press the button for the second floor, then he heaved the grill across again – leaving the three of them outside. The lift started to move.

“We could have squeezed inside,” Rich protested.

“But Jade wants us to keep fit,” Chance said. “Come on – we have to get there before the lift.” He took the stairs two at a time with practised ease.

“He’ll be wheezing before he gets there,” Jade said, running up the stairs. Rich sighed and followed at a more leisurely pace.

They dumped the last load of stuff into the hallway of Chance’s flat. Chance himself had disappeared inside already. “Was he wheezing?” Rich asked.

“Expect so,” Jade said. “Didn’t notice.”

“That’s a ‘no’ then,” Rich said.

There were three doors from the hallway. The first door led into the kitchen, the next into a living room. At the end of the hall was a toilet. Chance appeared from the kitchen and led the twins through to the living room. It looked like a show home – hardly any furniture, just a sofa and a low coffee table. A television and DVD player stood against one wall, beside an old fireplace, but there were no magazines or books or ornaments. The room was painted a uniform white that made it seem even more impersonal. The only sign of life was the ashtray on the coffee table – full of butt ends of smoked cigarettes. It gave the room a stale, unpleasant smell. A single picture hung on the wall opposite the door. It showed a steam train speeding through the countryside – a sleek, blue engine with a sloping front. In the foreground was a pond with ducks swimming on it.

“That’s clever,” Rich told Jade, pointing at the picture.

“Why?”

“Because the engine is called Mallard.”

She shook her head, none the wiser.

“Mallard is a sort of duck,” Chance said, joining them.

“Where’s my room?” Jade asked.

He pointed. “Through there, on the right.”

“And mine?” Rich asked.

“Same place. Same room.”

“You’re kidding,” Jade said.

“We don’t share. We’re fifteen,” Rich added.

“There are only two bedrooms,” Chance told him.

“Why can’t Rich share with you?” Jade asked. “Boys together?”

Chance shook his head. “Because I’m sleeping on the sofa in here and there’s only room on it for one. There are a couple of single beds in there.”

“You said there were two bedrooms,” Rich reminded him.

“I’m using the other one as a study. I have to work. You get a bedroom and beds; I get a study and the sofa. That’s the best deal I can give you.”

“That’s no deal,” Jade said.

“A deal is something that’s agreed between two or more parties,” Rich said.

“And do you know what a pedant is?” Chance asked.

“Yes, I do actually. It’s—”

“I know what it is,” Chance told him.

“Then why did you ask?” Rich asked.

“Dad’s little joke,” Jade told him. She shot a glance at Chance. “Very little joke. Come on.” She led Rich through to the bedroom.

The room was bare apart from two single beds, two bedside cabinets and a mirror on one wall.