Dinner was the Saturday usual. Chicken, rice and baked beans. It was fine with me. Even my knee didn't hurt much. Neo ate his dinner in our bedroom as usual. He didn't like eating with Mum and Dad and I. Beneath my bed was bag full of Blackjacks, Fruit Salads, and lollipops. Neo came out of our bedroom carrying his empty dinner tray, announcing that he was going out again.
‘Where to?’ queried Mum as she hung up her tea towel.
‘Only over to Morpheus’s.’ Neo squeezed past Dad who was reading the paper at the table.
‘Then take Jaegar with you.’ Mum ordered.
‘What? I took him out this morning. He’s just a kid.’
‘Yes, and so are you.’ said Mum. Neo looked to Dad for support. Dad’s eyes betrayed him
‘Do as your Mother says.’
‘All right. C'mon Jaegar.’ Neo grabbed his jacket and left. I raced after him and caught him up in the sitting room.
‘What’re we going to do, Neo?’
‘We’ll get Morpheus and then we’re going out.’
‘Where’s that? Where, Neo?’
‘Look, Jaegar. I don’t want you with us. If you don’t keep quiet I'll smash your head open
and you’ll bleed to death and then where will you be?’ I didn’t know where I would be and I didn´t want to find out. I knew that if I kept on he’d certainly punch me.
Morpheus lived a couple of streets away and we could see him swinging on the gate to his house. Neo and Morpheus were in the same class at school and were best mates. If Neo ever got into any trouble then Morpheus was usually there.
‘Alright, Morpheus.’ Neo said.
‘Alright, Neo.’ Morpheus replied, ‘What’s he doing here? We don’t need no wimps.’ Morpheus was referring to me.
‘Mum made me bring him.’
‘Oh!! Great!!!’
Morpheus and Neo started up the road. I walked behind them, alone and unsure where we were going. I began to suspect that this trip might end in trouble. Morpheus was that sort. Trouble followed him and he happily made the most of it. Morpheus’s mum and ours were friends and worked together at the supermarket up the road, which was why our Mum didn´t mind Morpheus being friends with Neo. Mum tolerated Morpheus’s behaviour and said that Neo was a good influence on him and that he’d eventually work it out of him. I knew about their smoking and bunking school and the younger kids who were “jacked” of their dinner money.
I wandered through the narrow streets with Neo and Morpheus in front, whispering and laughing. I tagged along behind, unable to hear what they were saying. I was simply an extra to them.
We reached the High Street, and I decided to see this thing through. Besides, Neo might get in trouble if Mum and Dad thought he’d left me to walk home. I thought I should try to keep in Neo’s good books and then perhaps he’d like me a bit more. I saw that we were heading towards the Broadway. Sometimes, Dad would take us on an outing somewhere and we’d catch the Tube from here. Neo and Morpheus turned to look at me for the first time since we’d left, grinned, and then they ran off. I started after them as they sped ahead of me towards the wider streets.
I reached the wall and stopped, resting my forehead against the bricks as I tried to breathe normally and fight the lonely panic rising within me. Why had my brother deserted me? What were he and Morpheus doing? Why hadn’t they waited for me? Then obvious realisation came. They didn´t want me. Droplets of sweat dripped from my cheeks onto the pavement between my feet.
Eventually, I began to think more clearly and I looked at my watch. It was a quarter past three: I must have been here fifteen minutes already. I sat on the ground with my back resting against the wall, my feet stretched out. If I weren’t here then Neo would probably go nuts. I just couldn’t move. I stood up and shouted Neo’s name. No answer. I shouted for Morpheus. No answer. Of course, there were two of them; one could have given the other a bunk-up and then be helped up from the top. I looked around for something to help me up but the road was bare, just a few odd stones lying here and there. I had to face it, there was no way over for me and I'd just have to wait until Neo returned.
I sat down again and hugged my knees to my chest. How long would Neo be? What were they doing in that big factory? What could I do? I stood up again and started kicking a few stones around. I checked the time again. Ten to four. How much longer? I really began to worry now. What if Neo and Morpheus were hurt? Perhaps they were lying under a girder that had fallen from the roof. Perhaps they were dead and then I'd be in trouble with Mum and Dad for not telling them where Neo was. I'd been here nearly an hour now, and I was getting thirsty and Mum would be getting tea ready. I'd be late and I'd be in big trouble and Neo would be dead and I'd have to go to his funeral and kiss his cheek as he lay in his coffin the same way Aunt Lilly had done to Uncle Sam when he’d had his car crash. My worst fears were coming true.
A noise from above suddenly made me jump. I looked up to see two pairs of legs dangling over the wall.
‘Alright, Jaegar.’ said Neo with a grin, ‘Been waiting long?’
He and Morpheus laughed. I tried to regain my composure but Neo knew me too well. It was obvious that I was upset and I was just glad that I hadn’t started crying.
‘You all right, Jaegar?’ Morpheus said, not caring at all.
‘Where’ve you two been? I´ve been waiting for ages. What´ve you been doing?’
‘In there.’ said Neo, nodding behind him. ‘Having a look around.’
‘Yeah, we´ve been having a great time.’ said Morpheus. ‘Just looking about. You know.’
‘I´ve been waiting here for ages.’ I repeated. ‘I was just going to climb over and come and get you. We´ll be late for tea.’
‘Yeah sure. I bet. Who cares what you were going to do anyway?’ Neo looked at me uncertainly.
‘Let´s have a look.’ I said.
‘Push off, wimp.’ said Morpheus, replacing the bag, and he swaggered off down the road. Neo ran after him, turning and beckoning me to come too.
Great. All that time waiting and I still didn´t know what was going on. All that worry for nothing. I hated Neo. At least they could have shown me what they´d got. Didn´t they understand what they´d put me through? I might never have seen Mum and Dad again.
He didn´t know what he´d done to me. All the way home I kept quiet, walking behind my brother and his rotten friend. If I´d said any more then Neo, or most likely Morpheus, would say something clever and put me down. My face felt hot and my heart was racing. This was worse than being left at that stupid wall. All I wanted to do is just get home.
The next morning, being the first Sunday in the month, there was a Parade and I got to carry the flag which, in the mood I was in, wasn´t any big deal. After church came Sunday dinner which, today, was roast chicken. I ate mine quickly, and went into my room to change out of my uniform. As I entered, Neo was standing by the open window with a boiled potato in his hand.
‘What´re you doing?’ I asked.
‘Chucking potatoes out the window, idiot.’
‘What for?’
‘Because I hate them.’
I went to the window and looked down the five storeys to the back yard. Below, in the back garden was most of Neo’s dinner.
‘Neo, what was in Morpheus’s bag?’
‘Just stuff.’
‘What stuff?’
‘Stuff we found, nothing important.’
Neo closed the window and left. I was dying to know what they´d got from the factory but I knew neither of them would tell me.
I usually went to the Church youth club on Sunday afternoons so Mum wouldn´t miss me and nobody at the club would notice I wasn´t there. What I was going to do would be interesting and dangerous too.
I´d decided to go back to that factory, and find what Neo and Morpheus had got and show them that I, too, could do what they could. They wouldn´t be able to ignore me then.
It didn´t take long to get back to the trading estate and there, at the entrance, was the map I´d seen. I quickly located Jackson´s and drew a sketch of the route in a notebook I´d brought with me. This was going to be my big chance. I took a deep breath and headed towards the factory. I´d also brought some chalk along and at each corner; I marked a big arrow on the pavement so that if I had to leave in a hurry I wouldn´t get lost.
I arrived at the factory and there was the huge wall in front of me again. This was my big problem and I had to solve it or I was finished. If there was a wall, then surely there had to be a door or gate somewhere so people could get in. Perhaps I could climb over that, but where was it? I turned to my left and walked along the street with the wall to my right. I followed the wall until it suddenly turned right and there, about fifty yards in front of me, was the main gate. I ran up to it and held the iron bars. It was higher than the wall with no foot holds on the way up. At the top were spikes put there to stop people like me. This time I didn´t care if I got hurt. I was being driven to prove myself by too many previous humiliations and I knew I had to get over somehow.
Then I saw how to do it. I looked around to make sure I was alone and hauled myself up. It was hard going and my feet kept slipping on the vertical bars but I got to the top and squeezed through the gap in the spikes. Being small had its advantages, after all. I looked about and saw that the place was deserted. I was in and the hard part was done. I didn´t consider that breaking into the factory itself might be difficult. If Neo had done it then so could I. There had to be a toilet or kitchen somewhere and I scanned the walls for drainpipes. Sure enough, there was one with exactly the right type of window next to it, just like the one at the Church Hall. I retrieved Neo’s borrowed penknife from my satchel and set to work on the catch. A little pressure here, a wiggle there, the catch sprang up and I pulled the window open. This was getting too easy and my confidence soared: Jaegar the Burglar. I hauled myself through the window into what was a toilet and went out the main floor of the factory.
What could Neo and Morpheus have found so interesting? I wandered around looking at the strange equipment. At one end of the shop-floor, I came across a long table surrounded with swivel chairs. This must be where the pistols were put together and there was a palette stacked with boxes of finished items. I examined the side of a box. ‘Qty: Four dozen.´ I opened the box and there they were, individually wrapped in cellophane bags. These were what I wanted. I grabbed quite a few and stashed them in my bag. Nobody would miss them. I headed for the toilet and climbed out of the window, carefully closing it. Back to the gate and over. No trouble. I´d done it. Now we´d see what Neo and Morpheus had to say.
I´d only been out an hour or so and there was still time to get to the youth club. With any luck, that´s where my brother would be. A bus that would take me to the church was just arriving. I got on and paid my fare, feeling very pleased with myself. I felt elated; at last I´d done something which would make Jaz proud of me. I was following in his footsteps.
The bus stopped and I got off and ran to the hall. There was Neo playing snooker with Morpheus. Neo saw me come in and said,
‘Where´ve you been? Why are you looking so pleased? What´s in that bag?’
‘Just stuff.’
‘What stuff?’
‘Stuff I found, nothing important.’
Morpheus and Neo exchanged worried glances.
‘In the kitchen, now.’ Neo ordered.
Some kids were washing up cups in the kitchen and Morpheus pushed them out.
‘Open the bag.’ Morpheus demanded.
I threw it to him. ‘Open it yourself.’
Morpheus emptied the contents onto the draining-board. The water pistols slid out into the sink. All two dozen, cellophane-wrapped.
‘Where did you buy these?’
‘Didn´t buy them.’
‘Where did you get them then?’
‘Where did you get yours?’
‘How did you know…?’ Morpheus was speechless.
‘Look, Jaegar,’ Neo continued, ‘yeah, we got some from that factory yesterday but they weren´t like these. Ours were second hand. The ones they throw away because they don´t work properly. We found them in a skip at the back of the factory.’
I sat down on a chair. I´d outdone my brother big-time.
‘Did you break in?’ Neo asked.
‘Yes.’
‘What about the security guard?’
‘Wasn´t one.’
‘And his dog?’
‘Didn´t see it.’
I felt ill.
‘How´d you get in?’
‘Gate. Climbed. Window. Penknife. Easy.’
‘Burglar alarm?’
‘What burglar alarm?’
‘Jaegar! You could have been caught. Morpheus and me had a good look round before yesterday. We made sure the guard was inside doing his round. Didn´t you see the alarm boxes on the wall? We only went in the yard. You could go to prison!’
Morpheus was looking at me in a very strange way.
‘Stupid kid. Your brother´s really dumb, Neo.’
‘Yeah, you idiot, Jaegar. You could have really messed up. What would Mum and Dad say?’ I couldn´t speak. I stood up, grabbed my satchel and staggered out of the kitchen. Jaz looked at Lenny and shook his head.
‘What am I going to do with that kid?’
I went to the park and sat on a bench. How could I have been so stupid? Sure, I´d got what I wanted. I´d been like Neo for a day but I hadn´t thought like him. He was right: I was dumb. I´d risked everything I´d gained so far in my short life. I´d been humiliated yet again and I´d never be good for anything in Neo’s eyes. I stood up, threw the bag, and went home for tea.
