Adam sat at his desk, rubbing the bruise on his shoulder and staring out the window. He could see the soccer pitch and half of the playground. Down on the tarmac, there were seagulls swooping and flapping as they fought over the crusts, broken biscuits and mashed crisps that, as always, littered the playground when the children had gone in. Beside Adam’s window there were what seemed like hundreds of small brown birds, pecking at the grass. Chirps and tweeting sounds made their way through the dusty glass and into the silent classroom. They reminded Adam of Birdy, in the home with Grandad.
Adam was gazing idly at the birds, wondering why the seagulls never came up this close to the window, when he realised that these birds were the same as his bird – the one he’d seen on his way to school. They seemed a bit bigger and smoother-looking, but they were definitely the same kind.
‘Excuse me, Miss,’ began Adam. He could have kicked himself. Why on earth had he started this?
Miss Hill turned, smiling. ‘Yes, Adam?’
It was very quiet in the classroom. Miss Hill waited for him to continue.
‘Um, I was just wondering …’ He paused, hating the silence in the room.
‘Yes?’
‘Wondering what you c-call those birds …’ Adam trailed off lamely. By now, everyone was looking at him and then at each other, sniggering. A sudden flush of heat came to his face and neck. He looked down at his copybook. ‘Nothing,’ he muttered.
‘It’s all right, Adam,’ said Miss Hill, coming over to his desk. She stood behind him and gave his head a quick pat as she leaned over to look out the window. ‘You were asking about those birds? Those are starlings. They’re very common, and they probably have nests in the eaves of the school building.’
‘What are they eating?’ asked Niamh.
‘Well, does anyone think they could answer that?’ Miss Hill asked.
‘Yeah, I know, Teacher,’ interrupted Rory. ‘They’re looking for nuts and Adam’s the biggest nut they could find.’ There was a general laugh from the back of the classroom.
‘That’s enough, Rory!’ snapped Miss Hill sharply. ‘They’re eating grass seed, probably, as some new grass was put down a few days ago. Now, perhaps we could all get on with our work, please. Especially you, Rory!’ She turned on her heel and walked back to her desk. Rory Brennan was an awful pain at times. Sometimes Miss Hill wished she could answer for Adam and tell Rory to shut up.
‘STARLING,’ Adam wrote on his copy. Then again, ‘starling,’ in joined writing. It’s a nice word, he thought – a nice name for a bird.
He remembered how Grandad, before he was sick, had loved feeding the birds in the park near where he lived. He and Adam would take a big bag of bread and dole it out at the side of the river – some for the ducks and the timid moorhens, some flung into the air for the greedy seagulls to catch in mid-flight, some crumbled onto the dusty path near the bushes for the thrushes, blue-tits and blackbirds. Nana would be furious when they got back – Granddad was meant to use only stale bread, but he usually took whatever he could find. ‘Lord Bountiful!’ she’d snort, before adding more gently, ‘Well, at least you’ve a good heart.’
Adam decided that the next time he visited the hospital, he’d tell Grandad about the starling. Maybe Birdy knew how to make starling noises …
Suddenly he felt the jab of a pointy elbow in his ribs. ‘Get on with your work,’ hissed Niamh urgently. ‘Miss Hill’s watching you!’
‘Okay. Thanks,’ whispered Adam, going back to the question he’d been on.
At second break, when most of the boys were playing football, Adam made his way down onto the tarmac and sat on a low bench, facing the school building. He could see the eaves, where the wall and roof of the school met. A strip of wood ran right along there and when he looked closely, Adam could see smallish holes here and there in the wood. As he watched, a starling flew right into one of the holes and disappeared. A few moments later, another darted out from a hole further along.
All through break, Adam sat watching the comings and goings of the little birds. He’d never noticed them before. He couldn’t believe how quickly they darted in and out of the eaves.
When the bell rang, the children lined up with all the usual shoving, jostling and pushing. Even before they had left the yard, some of the braver seagulls were swooping to snatch crusts left lying on the tarmac.
Adam moved in the line, heading towards the back door of the school, still watching the starlings. As he passed the eaves, a small movement caught his eye. The little scruffy starling was back, perched on the edge of the gutter, looking down at Adam. Something about the angle of his tiny head made it look as though he was asking a question.
Adam put his hand in his pocket and brought out the remains of a biscuit. He quickly crumbled it and dropped the gritty pieces on the ground. He kept on walking with the others, but just before the line turned the corner he looked back. The starling had flown down and was pecking daintily at the unexpected feast. Adam grinned and went inside.
At home-time, Danny had come right up to the school gates; he was leaning there with his head back, enjoying a weak ray of winter sunshine. He caught Adam’s eye and smiled.
‘Yo! Adam!’ he called. ‘I thought I’d come up to the gate today and see your pals.’ He strode over to Adam. ‘See if the kids are friendly round here,’ he continued. ‘I wouldn’t want anyone giving my cuz a hard time …’ He scanned the faces of the kids as they raced out of the gates. ‘Where are the ones that threw the milk at you? Do you want me to talk to them?’
Adam panicked. That would only make things worse. ‘No! I’m fine!’ he hissed, looking at the ground. ‘Leave it.’
‘No prob,’ said Danny. ‘But if you change your mind, or if they’re annoying you again, you just tell me. I’ll sort it.’ He punched Adam’s shoulder playfully. ‘Danny the Terminator, that’s me!’
‘Thanks,’ said Adam. It was tempting, but only in a fairy-story sort of way: your big cousin comes along and scares the living daylights out of the bullies, they go running off and never come back … Adam knew things didn’t happen like that. He didn’t want Danny to do anything. He knew that Rory would just get him later, when Danny wasn’t around. Which was all day in school.
‘Thanks,’ Adam repeated, ‘but no thanks.’ He decided to change the subject. ‘I’m starving. Can we go up to the diner?’
Most evenings Danny worked in an American-style diner with red plastic-covered booths and a mini-jukebox at each table. He and Adam often called in there in the afternoon, to scrounge some food. They headed up there now.
As the boys went in the door, a smiling girl with short blond hair looked up from the table she’d been wiping.
Danny struck his chest and dropped to his knees on the black-and-white-chequered floor. ‘What a vision of loveliness! What beauty!’ He turned to Adam. ‘Did you ever spy such a maiden fair?’
The lovely maiden flung the wet dishcloth at her beloved. ‘Shut up, you big eejit!’ She grinned at Adam. ‘Hiya.’
‘Hi,’ Adam replied, sitting down on one of the plastic seats.
‘We are here to dine, lovely Linda,’ continued Danny, getting up off the floor and hopping in behind the tall counter. He peered through the hatch that connected the service area to the kitchen. ‘Is your man around?’
Linda shook her head. The boss was a nice enough guy, but he wouldn’t want Danny and Adam hanging around clogging up the diner.
‘Brill!’ exclaimed Danny, licking his lips. ‘Any chance of some grub, then, my lovely? Please?’
Linda sighed. Danny decided on a different tack.
‘Ah, come on, Linda!’ he whined. ‘D’ya mean to tell me there isn’t a scrap of burger, or even the thinnest little slivers of a few chips, left for my poor starving little cousin?’ He jerked his thumb in Adam’s direction. ‘Look at the state of the little fella! At school all day on his own. And no mammy there to mind him when he comes home.’ He grabbed Linda by the waist and swung her round to face Adam. ‘Go on!’ he hissed at Adam. ‘Look cute and hungry!’
Adam rolled his eyes and clutched his stomach.
‘Ah, for Pete’s sake!’ Linda burst out laughing. ‘Okay, okay! I’ll give you a burger. Just don’t roll your eyes like that, Adam! You look sick, not hungry!’
Linda handed the boys two burgers and shoved them out the door. ‘What time are you in later?’ she asked Danny, as they headed out.
‘Seven o’clock, dearest!’ he replied, blowing her an elaborate kiss. ‘See you then.’
It was too cold to hang around outside. Music and warm air wafted invitingly from the shopping centre, so Adam and Danny strolled inside, contentedly munching their burgers as they walked.
‘Well? Do you like her?’ asked Danny.
‘Like who?’
‘Linda, the lovely Linda who gave us the burgers!’ laughed Danny.
Adam nodded. ‘She’s really nice. Is she your girlfriend?’
‘Absolutely! Well, kind of. She’s a great girl. She’s fun to work with – we have lots of laughs.’
They stopped outside the window of a women’s fashion shop, still eating. Danny looked in at the window display of tall, pale shop-dummies arranged in various poses. They were dressed in the latest clothes and stood like beautiful, stern creatures from another planet. They gazed into the distance. Sad, gorgeous, frozen.
‘Hey, Adam!’ said Danny suddenly. ‘Look at the state of these girls! Don’t they look like they’re starving?’
He pointed at the nearest one, blond with dark-red lips, wearing a grey skirt and jacket. ‘Missus! Hey, Missus!’ he shouted at the model. ‘Does nobody feed you? Here – would you like a bite of my burger?’ Adam laughed at the sight of Danny pressing his burger up against the shop window, talking all the while to the dummy. ‘Maybe one of your friends would like a bite. Forget the diet, girls, Danny’s here!’
Adam was laughing helplessly, doubled over. People were beginning to look and one little girl stopped, dragging her mother by the hand.
‘Why’s that man talking to the moggles?’ she asked, pointing over at Danny.
‘He’s just having a joke,’ said her mum. ‘Now, come on!’ They carried on, though Adam could see that the mother was chuckling to herself.
‘Well, I don’t know what’s wrong with you,’ went on Danny to his blond model. ‘I’m a chef – why don’t you come over to my place later and I’ll fix you a delicious meal? You’re way too skinny!’
‘Danny, you’ve really lost it this time,’ said Adam, shaking his head and trying to look serious. ‘We’d better get you to a doctor. Maybe Grandad’s fella would look after you. You’re worse than him!’ Then, as he spotted a security guard coming over, Adam’s smile vanished and he hissed urgently, ‘Danny! Come on!’
The security guard had broken into a run – well, more of a shuffling, panting trot – and was trying to talk to someone on his walkie-talkie at the same time. Danny turned and popped the last bit of burger into his mouth just as the red-faced guard reached them.
‘What’s going on here?’ blustered the guard. ‘Stop that carry-on or I’ll have you thrown out!’
‘Commander, I’m very sorry,’ said Danny seriously. ‘We didn’t mean to cause any problems.’ He sounded so believable, Adam was nearly convinced. ‘My colleague and I’ – he pointed at Adam, who was biting his lip, trying not to laugh – ‘we are terribly concerned about the state of those poor women. Look at them!’ Almost involuntarily, the guard looked in the shop window at the display. ‘Dangerously thin, they are!’ went on Danny. ‘And probably exhausted from standing all day. Do they not have a union? They should think about joining the union –’
‘Very funny!’ said the guard dryly. ‘Ha-blooming-ha! Now, you and your little colleague better get going before I happen to notice the bits of food on that window!’ He glanced over at the greasy-looking glass.
‘Oops! Better go!’ grinned Danny quickly, grabbing Adam’s arm and running towards the nearest exit. Adam ran to keep up, though it’s not easy to run when you’re laughing your legs off.