Dumped! (4 page)

Lily
             Get in here and look around.

Becca
         The TV’s gone.

Will
            It’s in Granny’s room.

Kevin
          Granny came home and found us watching it.

Will
            Before she found us listening to the radio!

Max
            From now on there’s no TV on a school night.

Will
            And we can’t even watch TV over dinner.

Kevin
          She’s making us sit at the table.

Lily
            And do what?

Max
            Talk about how our day was.

Becca
         How long does it take to say ‘boring’?

Kevin
          It’s half past nine! And I’m in bed! With the light out!

Max
            We’re
all
in bed.

Kevin
          But I’m the oldest. I never go to bed before eleven.

Will
            You do now. Granny’s house. Granny’s rules.

Kevin
          Not for much longer.

Max
            Why, what are you planning?

Kevin
          From now on, it’s going to be
my
house,
my
rules.

Lily
             Kevin! What are you doing here? You said you’d be at basketball practice.

Kevin
          I couldn’t go. There was no way to get home.

Will
            Same for me and football.

Max
            And for me and Scouts.

Lily
            Ever heard of a bus?

Becca
         Or train?

Will
            Granny won’t let us.

Lily
            You’re joking, right?

Max
            No. She’s worried about us getting mugged.

Becca
         Couldn’t you get a lift?

Will
            No one from school lives around here.

Kevin
         Anyway. Back to me. What am I going to do about training?

Will
           Just go. We’ll take turns to cover for each other.

Lily
             That won’t work. Granny’s home when we are.

Kevin
          She really spoils our fun, doesn’t she?

Lily
             A bit, but I like her being here when I get home.

Will
           I don’t. I like being home alone. You get away with stuff.

Max
           Dad never got back before meal time. I never used to start my homework until eight.

Will
           And Dad never told me to get my muddy boots off the bed.

Kevin
          And he let me chill out and do nothing.

Max
            Granny doesn’t believe in chilling out.

Kevin
          Tell me about it. She always finds something for us to do.

Will
            Like putting out the rubbish.

Lily
             You three are unreal. Stop and think about Granny.

Becca
         She had this place to herself. Now she has five kids to look after.

Will
            We look after ourselves at home.

Becca
         No you don’t. Your dad juggles work with looking after you.

Max
            How do you know?

Lily
             I’ve heard my mum and your dad talking.

Will
            So go on then, what does he say?

Lily
            That you three are selfish, lazy and messy.

Kevin
          What? No way!

Lily
             Kevin, who always picked you up from basketball?

Kevin
          Dad.

Becca
         Will, who picked you up from football?

Will
            Dad.

Lily
             Max, who picked you up from Scouts?

Max
            Dad.

Kevin
          I see where you’re going with this.

Kevin
          You think Granny should drive us.

Lily
             No! I’m saying that you should look after yourself more.

Will
            We’re okay with meeting up and coming home together.

Max
            It’s Granny who’s scared for us.

Kevin
          Will you help us?

Becca
         To do what?

Kevin
          Get Granny to pick me up from basketball.

Will
            And me from football.

Max
            And me from Scouts.

Becca
         What’s in it for us?

Kevin
          You get rid of us every Thursday afternoon.

Becca
         Anything that keeps you out of the house sounds good.

Lily
             We’ll tell Granny you miss your dad and you’d like her to watch you train.

Becca
         Quick! Before Granny gets back, let’s spread our homework out on the table.

Lily
             Hey! Whose black leather goggles are these?

Becca
         No idea. I’ll turn off the music.

Lily
            What’s up with her?

Max
            Granny was mugged!

Lily
and
Becca
(
together
)
 Mugged?!

Kevin
          Her bag was snatched, but she wasn’t hurt.

Becca
         What happened?

Max
           Granny picked me and Will up. Then we went to get Kevin.

Will
           But he was still training, so we watched and …

Kevin
          I was awesome if you’re wondering.

Lily
and
Becca
(
together
)
 We’re not!

Will
            These kids ran into us …

Max
            … and grabbed Granny’s purse.

Will
            Granny pulled out a spanner …

Lily
            What spanner?

Will
            The one in her bag.