The Killing (9 page)

James, Dana, Bethany and Lauren were all familiar with the sense of complete doom you get when Mr Large nails you for no reason other than the sadistic pleasure it gives him. But Jake hadn’t been through basic training and didn’t know that answering back only made things worse.

The youngster violently hurled his helmet at the ground. ‘I’m not doing any run,’ Jake yelled furiously. ‘This is a total stitch-up.’

Mr Large swooped forward and grabbed Jake by his damp red T-shirt. He plucked the boy off the ground with one arm and screamed directly into his face. ‘DO – YOU – WANT – TO – PICK – A – FIGHT – WITH – ME – JAKE –
 
PARKER
?’

Jake looked so scared, James thought the poor kid was either going to faint or piss himself.

‘When are you eligible for basic training?’ Large snarled.

‘May next year, sir.’

‘Ten months shy of basic training. Not a good time to make an enemy of me then, is it?’

‘No, sir,’ Jake quaked.

‘I make the rules here,’ Mr Large shouted, as he dropped Jake from two metres up. ‘Don’t any of you forget that.’

Jake crashed into the ground and tried his hardest not to sniffle, as Bethany bent forward to help her little brother find his feet.

‘Four valid eggs for Team D,’ Large repeated. ‘Team D gets the punishment run.’

James looked at Jake and Lauren’s miserable faces and struggled to control his anger as Mr Pike stepped into the fray.

‘Come on, Norman,’ Pike said gently. ‘You can’t expect these kids to work hard and stay motivated if you pick out the loser before you even start.’

James was shocked. He’d worked with Pike on a couple of training exercises. Unlike Mr Large he always played fair, but this was the first time James had ever seen one of the junior instructors dare to question
Large’s
authority.

Large turned furiously towards his colleague. ‘Mr Pike,
when
you
 
are the senior instructor,
 
you
 
can count the eggs.’

James felt emboldened by Pike’s interference. ‘He’s right,’ he said, hardly able to believe that he was daring to backchat Mr Large. ‘I’m not going on any run until I’ve spoken to the Chairman about this. You can’t keep on having a go at Lauren. She’s already served her punishment for hitting you.’

‘I’m giving you a direct order,’ Large screamed.

‘And I’ll obey the direct order as long as the Chairman confirms it,’ James screamed back.

‘I’m right with you, James,’ Dana said, stepping up beside him. ‘Let’s see the Chairman. We can make a formal complaint about Lauren being bullied.’

Lauren and Bethany both murmured in agreement and a noise went up from some of the kids in the other teams as well.

‘If you go and see the Chairman, you will all fail this exercise,’ Large shouted.

James shrugged. ‘So what? It’s only an exercise. I’ve already passed basic training and you don’t have the authority to suspend us from missions.’

‘Drop it, Norman,’ Mr Pike said. ‘You’re not going to win this one.’

Mr Large turned around and looked at Kerry. ‘All right,’ he sighed, ‘Team C, ten kilometres. Grab your packs.’

James turned to Dana and nodded. ‘Cheers for backing me up.’

‘I’m going to see the Chairman,’ Dana said. ‘I know training’s supposed to be tough, but the way he’s bullying Lauren is totally out of order.’

Lauren looked at Dana and smiled guiltily. ‘I’m sorry I called you Cheesy earlier.’

It was two o’clock that afternoon when James woke up and decided to go check on Kerry. He listened at her door for a second to make sure she wasn’t sleeping, but he could hear her TV.

‘
Yo
,’ James grinned as he poked his head inside the door. ‘How was the punishment run?’

Kerry was sitting on her bed in a dressing gown. She paused her DVD recorder and shrugged. ‘Oh it was great fun. You can imagine what sort of mood Large was in after you’d all upset him.’

‘Me and Dana went and spoke to the Chairman about the way he’s bullying Lauren. He said he’s gonna speak to Mr Pike and Mr Large about what happened.’

Kerry smiled. ‘I’ve heard that Mr Large has got to watch his step. He’s already had a couple of written warnings about his conduct.’

‘Imagine if he got sacked,’ James grinned, as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a sheet of turquoise paper. ‘It would
be
soooo
 
beautiful.’

Kerry laughed, ‘Yeah, he’d probably have to take a job as a nightclub doorman, or a security guard.’

‘I don’t care what job he gets,’ James said, grinning like an idiot and fanning the piece of paper in front of his face. ‘Just so long as he’s out of my life.’

‘OK, I get the hint,’ Kerry sighed. ‘What’s on the piece of paper?’

James flicked the sheet across to Kerry and slumped theatrically across her bed. ‘I’m a sick little boy,’ he giggled.

Kerry raised a hand to slap him. ‘Get your boots off my bed,’ she said sharply. ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’

James rolled on to his back and started pulling off his boots as Kerry read the note aloud.

‘
James Adams, ten days excused from all physical activity due to dehydration and exhaustion
 
… How did you pull that little scam?’

‘It’s not a scam. I went to the medical unit to get the wound on my back cleaned up. The nurse touched me and asked why I was all hot and clammy. I told her how I felt weak during the exercise. She reckons I’m dehydrated and probably still under the weather from that stomach bug last week.’

Kerry shook her head. ‘I still reckon you’re faking.’

‘The nurse also said that lots of
snogging
would help me recuperate.’

‘Oh I’m
 
sure
 
she did, James. I’m not going anywhere near you if you’re hot and clammy. I don’t want your germs.’

James’ head was flat against the double bed, while Kerry was propped up so she could see the TV. He moved forward a few centimetres and delicately kissed Kerry’s wrist.

‘You’ve got cute little hands,’ James said.

Kerry smiled as she lifted her hand off the bed and stroked James’ cheek. ‘What are you after, Adams?’

‘Nothing, I was just thinking. It’s a nice day out. Maybe we could make sandwiches and go up to the lake. It’s usually packed when it’s sunny, but all the other kids are in lessons today so we’d have it to ourselves. Maybe we could splash around, chill out, lie in the sun for a while.’

Kerry looked out the window. ‘It is nice out, but I’m halfway through
 
EastEnders
.’

James scowled at the screen. ‘You and your dopey soap operas. Violet’s varicose veins and Sammy stealing the Christmas club money to pay for his sex change. I don’t know how you sit through that rubbish every day.’

‘Well I
 
happen
 
to like them,’ Kerry said. ‘So you can either sit with me quietly until it finishes, or you can bog off.’

‘Can we go for a picnic after?’

Kerry shook her head. ‘I’ve got
 
Neighbours
 
to watch after this.’

James tutted. ‘God Kerry, you’re so boring sometimes.’

‘Haven’t you got about fifty lots of homework piled up on your desk?’ Kerry said bitterly. ‘Why don’t you actually do it for a change, instead of ripping off me or Kyle?’

‘Fine, I’ll go if you don’t want me,’ James said as he got off the bed. ‘I just thought a picnic would be fun.’

‘Let’s face it,’ Kerry said, ‘you don’t want a picnic. You want a quick swim, then you want to spend the rest of the afternoon
snogging
and trying to get your hands on my boobs.’

‘Well, you
 
are
 
supposed to be my girlfriend. I waited for you for six months while you were in Japan. You come back and you never want to do
 
anything
. I don’t know why you even want a boyfriend.’

Kerry jumped off the bed and put on a look of mock astonishment. ‘Do you know what, James?’ she snapped. ‘That’s the most sensible thing you’ve said all day. Why
 
do
 
I want a boyfriend? All you do is moan on and on about school. I’m sick of lending you money and bailing you out with homework that you left until the last minute. I’m sick of not being able to chill out, or go where I want with the girls because you’re always around.

‘In fact,’ Kerry spat, ‘I’m sick of everything about you.’

‘Are you dumping me?’ James asked dumbly.

‘Bingo,’ Kerry nodded. ‘Consider yourself dumped. Now if you’d be so kind as to get your worthless rump out of my room.’

‘But…’

Kerry barged past James and opened her door. ‘Out.’

‘Kerry, come on. Don’t you think you’re over-reacting?’

‘
Geeeeeeet
 
out,’ she screamed.

James did as he was told because Kerry had one of her
 
I’m about to shatter your arms and legs
 
looks about her. He stepped out of the room and a gale rushed through his hair as the door slammed behind his head.

The only other person sharing the long corridor with James was a newly recruited cherub called Andy Lagan. The eleven-year-old blue shirt was at a loose end until the next basic training session started in two months.

James looked at him and shrugged. ‘You know what, kid? Girls are all bloody loonies.’

Andy looked baffled by James’ comment. Kerry reopened her door and screamed out, ‘And you can take your stinking boots with you.’

The first boot crashed harmlessly against the wall, but the second hit James square in the back of the head. James turned to have a go back, but the door slammed in his face before he got a chance.

James pounded on the door. ‘You know what? I’m better off without you … Moody cow.’

James realised Andy was grinning. He charged forward and faced the kid off.

‘Do you reckon this is funny?’

‘No,’ Andy smirked, trying to keep a straight face.

James grabbed Andy by his shoulders and wiped his grin off by pushing him against the wall.

‘You
wanna
try laughing at me again?’ James snarled.

‘I’m sorry,’ the kid grovelled, as he looked up at his significantly larger adversary. ‘I just couldn’t help laughing when she threw the boot at your head.’

Apology or not, James was deeply upset by what Kerry had just done and he couldn’t take someone laughing at him. He raised a hand and smacked Andy across the face, before giving him a powerful shove. The kid bounced off the wall before stumbling backwards into a heap on the floor.

James stood over him with his fists bunched. ‘Still think this is funny? Laugh some more and see what you get.’

Andy gasped tearfully as he crawled back across the carpet. ‘Leave me alone,’ he sniffed.

James watched a tear streak down Andy’s face. He looked nervously over his shoulder to check that nobody else was around, before reaching forward to pick the kid up.

‘I’m really sorry,’ he muttered as his anger deflated. ‘I don’t know what came over me. My girlfriend just dumped me and I went kind of mad …’

Andy screamed out, ‘Don’t come
 
near
 
me, you moron.’

James’ handler, Meryl Spencer, had an office down the hallway and she came out to investigate the noise. James saw Meryl storming towards the scene, as Kerry emerged from her room and barged him out of the way.

Kerry crouched down and handed Andy a clean tissue to dab his face. She cast a furious backwards glance.

‘For god’s sake, James. What is the
 
matter
 
with you?’

Meryl spent the best part of an hour shouting at James, while James spent the best part of an hour wondering how one idiotic flash of anger had landed him in such deep trouble. When he finally got out of Meryl’s office, he headed down to the canteen for dinner.

He got a creepy feeling that people were talking behind his back while he was in the queue and none of the gang looked happy when he set his tray down.

James’ crowd was gathered around the two pushed-together tables where they always sat:
Shak
, Connor, Gabrielle, Kerry and Kyle. The only absentees were Bruce, who was on a mission, and
Callum
, who was on the toilet. James made a point of sitting as far away from Kerry as possible, in a seat opposite Kyle, who had a foam collar around his neck.

James knew they weren’t exactly going to be falling over themselves to congratulate him on thumping an eleven-year-old, but he thought he’d be OK if he apologised and laid the severity of his punishment on thick.

‘I’m not allowed to go on holiday to the hostel this summer,’ he said solemnly. ‘I’m suspended from missions for a month and I’ve got to clean up the mission preparation building every night for three months … Oh, and I’ve got to start anger management sessions with a counsellor.’