He stood by the door and watched his big brother struggle downstairs with his suitcase. Brian was getting to disappear from the shit hole where they lived and he was leaving Cole behind.
Staring up at Brian through narrowed eyes, he wished he could climb into that case and go with him. But Brian only had enough money for one ticket. Not only that. Cole was sure that his twenty-three-year-old brother wouldn’t want his younger sibling following him to a job.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Cole. If I could take you with me, I would. You know I would, mate. But you’re only fifteen.’
‘Why can’t you take me? I don’t get it,’ Cole whined. ‘You could be my responsible adult.’
‘You know what Mum’s like. There’s no way she’s gonna let you out her sight after you smashed that shop window last week. You ain’t even allowed out the door, never mind out the country.’
Cole smiled at the memory of putting the brick through the old cow’s shop window. That’s what she got for accusing him of stealing from her stupid shop.
‘You’re lucky the police haven’t come and taken you away,’ Brian said as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
‘The old bill ain’t gonna touch me. I’m just a kid,’ Cole laughed.
‘Yeah, well if you go through life with that attitude, you ain’t gonna get very far.’
Brian ruffled Cole’s hair and Cole tried to pretend that it wasn’t killing him that his brother was leaving. He wanted to be just like him. He was handsome, always had a girl on the go and always said that one day, he’d own his own building company. He’d promised that when Cole was old enough, he’d train him up and get him off the streets of London. Being part of a gang wasn’t what Cole should strive for in life.
‘How long you gonna be gone?’ Cole asked, pulling away from Brian’s hand and fixing his hair.
‘Dunno, mate. But I’ll phone you every night, make sure you’re behaving yourself. And as soon as you’re old enough, I’ll take you with me on every job. I promise.’
Cole nodded, but was sulking. He was annoyed there was such an age gap between him and Brian but there was nothing he could do about it.
‘Now,’ Brian said as he opened the front door. ‘Say bye to Mum for me. And don’t go trying to steal my girl when I’m gone.’
Cole laughed. ‘She probably fancies me more than you anyway.’
Brian playfully punched Cole before dragging the case out to the street and climbing into the taxi. He waved his hand out of the window and Cole waved back until he couldn’t see him anymore.