I spend two hours
scrubbing graffiti from a kids’ climbing frame,
then meet Nicu by the park gates.
We seem to be doing this a lot,
and I can’t remember how it happened,
how we paired off from the others,
and I stopped smoking cheeky fags
with Fiona and Rick,
started sharing a bag of
Maltesers with Nicu instead.
‘You want I walking you home?’ he asks.
‘I protect you from bears.’
He growls and flexes his muscles,
kisses both fists.
I laugh. ‘Ain’t no bears in Wood Green, mate,
and you know it.’
He laughs too. ‘I protect you from
bad boy robbers instead,’ he says.
‘How about I walk you home
to protect you from bad boy robbers,’ I say.
‘Sounds like first class deal to me,’ he says,
and tries to take my hand,
like,
actually hold my hand
as though we’re going out together
or something.
I pull away.
I don’t need anyone touching me.
‘Unless you plan on walking out in
front of a car,
I don’t think
we need to hold hands,
do you?’ I ask.
He smirks. ‘Worth trying, Jess,’ he says.
‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘It was worth a try.’