5.25 p.m.
The Neilson brothers are in good spirits, testing the family centre’s play equipment to the maximum.
Lloyd has already broken a plastic penguin slide and is now kicking the swings. He is full of energy, having been given a three-litre bottle of Coca Cola by Leanne before he arrived.
Lloyd innocently shared this news with joy and gratitude: ‘We were lucky, Kate. We got big Coke for lunch. My favourite!’
I suppose when you’re used to missing meals, the larger the bottle of coke the better.
‘Stop it,’ I shout, as Lloyd kicks the heavy swing high in the air. ‘Lloyd!’ Joey, half asleep on my lap, gives a start.
‘What?’ Lloyd turns with feigned innocence.
‘Stop doing that.’
‘When’s Dad getting here?’ Lloyd asks.
I glance at the clock. The boys arrived at 5 p.m..
It’s now 5.25 p.m. and their father still hasn’t arrived. Probably he’s forgotten. Or can’t be bothered. If a parent doesn’t turn up within fifteen minutes we’re supposed to cancel the appointment, but we’ve learned to give James Neilson more leeway. He does sometimes arrive within half an hour.
‘Your dad might not make it this time,’ I admit.
Lloyd slams the swing with all his might, hitting Pauly.
‘Lloyd!’ Pauly shouts. ‘Watch it.’
Lloyd pushes the swing again, whacking Pauly in the chest.
Furious, Pauly runs around the swing, trying to grab his brother. He’s smaller than Lloyd, but rage gives him superhuman strength.
Lloyd easily sidesteps Pauly, sneering and holding up two fingers.
‘Boys!’ I shout, causing Joey to flinch again.
‘I’ll tell on you,’ yells Pauly.
‘You wouldn’t dare,’ Lloyd shouts back.
Now it’s Pauly’s turn to run. ‘I will tell. I will!’ He darts around play equipment, shouting, ‘Kate! Kate! Mr Cockface lets Lloyd take drugs from school!’
‘Shut up!’ Lloyd bellows, chasing after him.
Pauly comes to hide behind me. I seat Joey on his own chair, then grab Lloyd to stop him killing anyone.
‘Stop it. Stop it! Sit down!’
‘He’s lying,’ Lloyd shouts.
‘Just calm down.’
Lloyd looks furiously at his new Nike trainers, which are almost certainly stolen.
‘What’s Pauly talking about?’ I ask. ‘Drugs? Does he mean medicine?’
I expect Lloyd to issue red-faced denials, but he doesn’t. Instead he sits on a plastic seat and starts crying.
I realise my mouth is hanging open and close it.
‘I’m the honest one,’ Lloyd shouts, tears falling. ‘But no one ever believes me.’
‘I already said,’ Lloyd wails. ‘I already told you. About the medicine.’
Joey puts a small hand on Lloyd’s knee. ‘It’s all right, mate.’
I sift through memories. ‘You said Mr Cockface … I mean, Mr Cockrun let you steal medicine from school. And I said that didn’t sound very likely. Is that what you mean?’
‘You see?’ says Lloyd. ‘Even you don’t believe me and you’re one of the nice ones.’
‘So Mr Cockrun lets you steal medicine?’ I ask, not sure where this is going. ‘From the medicine cabinet? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘It wasn’t stealing. Cockface let me do it. He left his office open and everything unlocked.’
‘Why would Mr Cockrun do that?’
‘He was setting me up, wasn’t he? So now I’m on camera stealing medicine. If Cockface tells, I go to prison. And who’ll look after Pauly and Joey then?’
‘I can look after Joey,’ says Pauly, chest all puffed out. ‘I made him scrambled egg yesterday, and—’
‘Shut up, Pauly,’ says Lloyd, giving him a shove.
‘So … when the police came the other day,’ I say, ‘had you taken tablets from the school medicine cabinet?’
‘No.’ Lloyd bangs his fist on the cushioned chair. ‘Not that time.’
‘I’m confused.’
‘I got those tablets from another kid. I told you. The headmaster never wanted me arrested that time. It was the caretaker who phoned the police. Cockface was furious with him.’
‘I’m still confused.’
Lloyd’s forehead bunches in frustration. ‘And they say I’m the thick one. Listen – Cockface left his office open for me so I could take medicine. You with me so far?’
‘Yes. But when?’
‘Ages ago. This was way before the school inspectors came. Cockface set me up. He wanted to get me on camera stealing medicine. So now he has something over me. If I do the wrong thing, he’ll give the video to the police and I’ll go to prison.’
‘You wouldn’t go to prison for that, Lloyd.’
‘Yes, I would,’ Lloyd insists. ‘Because it’s drugs, isn’t it? That’s what Mum went to prison for. I’d get at least two years.’
‘Is that what Mr Cockrun told you?’
Lloyd nods.
‘So the headmaster is blackmailing you?’ I ask, horrified. ‘Is that what you’re saying? He has camera footage and he’s using it to make you behave?’
‘Behave and keep quiet.’
‘Keep quiet about what?’
Lloyd shuffles in his seat.
‘Lloyd, you can tell me,’ I say. ‘You won’t go to prison. Mr Cockrun isn’t telling you the truth. If he’s making you keep secrets … well, that’s not okay.’
Lloyd sighs. ‘All right. Fine. Cockface does things to make the school look good.’
‘Like what?’
‘When the school inspectors come,’ says Lloyd, ‘Cockface opens the holes in the fence and lets us out. All the special needs kids. We go to the park. If anyone asks what we’re doing there, we say it’s a nature project.’
‘We run for it,’ Joey pipes up. ‘Prison break!’
‘So we don’t make the school look bad,’ Lloyd explains. ‘By being thick and that. Cockface cheats on the exams. Gets us in his office and tells us the answers on exam day. If the inspectors met kids like us at the school, they’d wonder how Cockface’s exam results are so good. Because some of us can only just write our own names.’
‘How many children does he let out of the school?’
‘Hundreds,’ says Joey.
‘Us three and maybe twenty others,’ says Lloyd.
‘Why have none of these children told?’
‘You’re not getting it.’ Lloyd let’s out another very adult sigh. ‘Cockface finds out stuff about us. He gets us in his office. All friendly at first. Pretending to listen. But he’s finding out our secrets. Working out how he can scare us. Then he sets it up so we have to behave. And keep quiet. Like with me and the medicine cabinet. But he does different things with different kids.’
‘Good God.’ I put a hand to my mouth.
‘God is bollocks, Miss,’ says Joey.
‘You’ve got to give Cockface credit,’ says Lloyd, with surprising maturity. ‘It does work. Everyone says the school is good.’
‘A good school cares about the children, not results. Lloyd, thank you for telling me this. I promise, the headmaster will be the one in trouble, not you. My word, this is absolutely shocking.’
I sound like Tessa.
‘So what will happen to Cockface?’ asks Lloyd.
‘I imagine your headmaster will be suspended from school, pending a full investigation.’ I’m mentally reeling at the days of paperwork ahead. ‘I knew something wasn’t right at that place.’ ‘Cockface in prison!’ says Pauly, rubbing his hands together. ‘What about the other kids?’ I hesitate, knowing I’m crossing a professional line. ‘What about Tom Kinnock? Does the headmaster see him in his office too?’
‘He does,’ says Pauly. ‘Tom gets called there sometimes.’
‘If Tom is being blackmailed by the headmaster, it would explain a lot,’ I say. ‘A lot.’
But not everything.