I Predict a Riot. Catherine Bruton
are so dead!’
We both turned round and there was Little Pea, scrambling out from behind a load of wheelie bins and skipping towards us across the concrete. He had a brand-new black eye, but he was grinning widely. When he reached us, he did a little ballet hop then jumped to a standstill in front of our bench.
‘Seriously, you pair is already in body bags, innit!’ he squeaked with a flick of his head like he was performing a girl-band dance routine.
‘Right,’ said Tokes as Pea jiggled on the spot in front of us. ‘And there’s me thinking you’d come to thank me for saving your skin yesterday! How did you even find us?’
Pea giggled and flicked his head again, but didn’t answer Tokes’s question. ‘Like I’m gonna thank you for jumpin’ off a cliff an’ takin’ me wit’ you,’ he said, talking in his too-loud, too-fast, little-kid voice.
I looked at his black eye and wondered if any of the things I’d heard about him were true – the stuff about the jungle magic and juju and his mum trying to beat the devil out of him in church.
‘Your girlfrien’ tell you who you mess wit’ yesterday, man?’ Pea was saying, nodding and winking in my direction.
‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ said Tokes, shooting me a quick look.
‘If you say so!’ Little Pea just winked at me again and said, ‘Anyways, she probably already tell you that you nearly got me killed wit’ your meddlin’.’
‘Way I remember it, I rescued you from Shiv,’ said Tokes. He spoke differently when he was talking to Pea. He sounded more, I dunno, like a kid from the streets rather than a guy who read piles of books in a library.
‘I had it all under control!’ said Pea breezily.
‘Sure you did, kid,’ said Tokes.
‘Hey! Who you callin’ kid?’ Pea was still grinning like a maniac, and pretending to punch the air like a boxer. He seemed to be totally enjoying this. ‘Don’t you know to judge a man by his shoe size, an’ these takkies tell you I twelve years old, man. Nearly a teenager me, innit.’
Tokes raised an eyebrow in surprise as Pea waggled his fake Nikes in the air, but he said nothing.
‘How old is you anyway, alien boy?’ demanded Little Pea.
‘I’m fifteen,’ said Tokes. ‘And I’m no alien.’
‘Well, you like an alien in this hood, bruv!’ said Pea. ‘Anyone can see that. An’ you gonna get yourself killed too if you keep takin’ on da locals. Which hood you from anyway?’
‘None of your business,’ said Tokes quickly. Too quickly, just like he’d jumped down my throat earlier when I’d asked the same question.
‘Hey, don’t go chewin’ my head off, space boy!’
‘Tokes,’ I said quietly.
‘You what?’ said Pea, turning to me again with a funny little head movement. Honestly, I’d never seen a kid as fidgety as he was. Like a toddler, or a dog with fleas. ‘You say summat, posh girl?’
‘His name is Tokes,’ I said. ‘And I’m Maggie.’
Little Pea gave us each a look then folded up with giggles. His laugh was high-pitched, like a little girl’s. ‘An’ I’m Little Pea, es-quire, at your ser-vice,’ he said with a low bow, followed by a bit of a moonwalk. ‘What kind of stupid name is Tokes anyway?’
‘No more stupid than Little Pea!’ Tokes retorted.
‘Hey! Pea is short for Paris!’ Pea went on. ‘My mamma, she wanted to name me after Michael Jackson’s kid. Only she got da girl’s name by mistake.’
‘Really?’ I said.
‘You think I gonna lie to you ’bout my own name?’ he said, with a hint of a challenge in his voice. ‘It ain’t every twelve-year-old midget can carry off a girl’s name an’ still stay mega-dope cool like me! Be-lieve!’
‘Pea’s good,’ said Tokes with a shrug. ‘It’s . . . enigmatic.’
For some reason the long word didn’t sound odd coming out of his mouth. He made it sound like a jewel, multicoloured and shiny and perfect. But Pea was looking at him suspiciously. I guessed not many people used big words around Pea. Or said nice things to him for that matter.
‘You swallow a dictionary or summat?’ he said.
‘He likes books,’ I said quietly.
‘Oh yeah!’ said Pea, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree suddenly. ‘An’ you like movies, innit.’
‘What?’ I said, flushing hotly.
‘Yeah, I see you, all lights, camera, action! in da park yesterday!’ Pea lurched back into another moonwalk with a massive grin. ‘Hey! How cool was Shiv’s face when Mr T-bone here had him against da wall?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘You think nobody clocked your little filmin’ stunt?’ said Little Pea. ‘Cos these eyes see everyt’ing, I tell you! Figure you don’t want me to tell Shiv ’bout it, am I right?’
‘No, she doesn’t,’ said Tokes.
‘Cos you know you gonna get yourself a ticket to da morgue if you keep filmin’ da Starfish boys, right?’ said Pea, looking straight at me with his eyes that flickered and danced as much as his crazy feet.
‘That’s what I told her,’ said Tokes quietly.
‘If Shiv find out you got footage of da T-man disrespectin’ him, he ain’t gonna be best pleased. Mr Shiv value his hard-man rep-u-ta-tion! An’ you, boy, you already got a price on your head for dissin’ da Shiv-man on his turf,’ said Pea, grinning at Tokes like he’d forgotten it was all his fault Tokes was in trouble in the first place. ‘So, if Shiv find out ’bout Spielberg’s little film, she good as dead, innit.’
‘Nobody better tell him then, had they?’ said Tokes.
‘Ex-act-ly!’ whispered Little Pea loudly. ‘Bes’ keep it on the down-low. All hush-hush an’ that, right?’
‘Right,’ said Tokes. He gave Little Pea a look, and Pea met it with a grin that didn’t promise anything.
‘Hey! I real good at keepin’ secrets!’ Pea insisted. ‘You see me in da park – even when I got a knife in my face I don’t spill.’
‘Spill what?’ I said.
‘Wouldn’t you like to know!’ said Pea, with a shimmying shrug. ‘If I got intel, I ain’t gonna reveal till it worth my while. That’s all I’m sayin’.’
‘So what’s it gonna take for you to keep quiet about this then?’ said Tokes.
Pea ignored him and turned to me. ‘Way I see it, you wanna buy my silence you gonna have to let me star in your film, innit.’
Tokes looked at him suspiciously. ‘How do you even know she’s making a film?’
‘Ain’t nuttin’ happen in Coronation Road wi’out Little Pea got his eyes on it,’ Little Pea said, his face gleaming.
‘So you were spying on us? Listening into our conversation?’
‘I can’t reveal my sources!’ said Pea with a big grin.
Tokes shook his head and Little Pea went on excitedly, ‘But I wanna be one of them reality TV stars. Only Way is the Starfish, Made in Coronation Road – that sorta thing!’ He looked at me and I couldn’t help thinking that people would totally want to watch him. It was hard to take your eyes off his weird twitchy body and his crazy, mad-as-the-moon little baby face.
‘Seriously?’