Acid Rain by R.D Rhodes (ebook reader txt) 📕

Two guys and a girl, about fifteen or sixteen. They looked over at us. One of the guys was carrying a bottle.

“Hey guys, yous want a drink?”

I looked at Harry and he looked at me. “Nah, we’re alright, thanks.” I said.

But still they came closer, until they were ten yards away. “Aw c’mon, come and join us if you want,” one of the boys said, “We got plenty booze.”

“Where you guys from?” The girl asked.

We both hesitated. “Scotland.” Harry said at last. “We’re here for a holiday.”

“Aw, Scotland! C’mon, come and join us, just go around mate.” They said it friendly enough. They seemed friendly enough. Then they turned and headed out of the park and down the cycle track.

“You wanna go?” Harry asked.

“Not really. What about you?”

“Nah. Just stay here. When those kids have gone, we can maybe find somewhere to sleep for the night. You want another sandwich?”

I picked out the beef and mustard.

He took the tuna one for himself. “So we’ll get the three-thirty train tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Are you gonna tell me how you’re planning to get us on with no money?”

He smirked, chewed his sandwich, and swallowed. “Just wing it. You can usually sneak in the gates behind the person in front of you. You get about three seconds time limit at the barrier from when they put their ticket in the slot. If you go quickly straight in behind them, it should be fine. Remember though, you have to act natural. Always act natural. They only get suspicious if you act suspicious.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t look to the side. Don’t check the guards. Don’t look anywhere but straight ahead. Or look at the ground like everyone else.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time. What about when we get on? Just hide in the toilet?”

“Yeah, or take separate seats in different places and pretend you’re asleep.”

“It’s a gamble.”

“I know, but what other choice do we have? It’ll be fine. Try not to worry.”

“HEY! YOU’RE STILL HERE?”

The same kids were walking back towards us, with an extra bag in one of their hands.

“C’mon, we’ll introduce you guys. What’r your names?” One of the boys persisted. Maybe they were just being kind, I could never tell. I looked at Harry and shrugged my shoulders. “They’re just kids.” I said. We got up and all walked together around the lake. Through the gaps in the trees on our right I could make out the long, flat manicured surface of a golf course.

“Hey, guys!” one of the boys addressed the crowd when we reached the shelter. He looked back at us and winked, “These are my pals, Sally and Bob.”

Chapter 28

T here was about ten kids sitting on the bench and they looked at us all at once. At least half of the eyes widened when they saw Harry.

“Woah! What happened to your face?” one of them said.

Harry’s hand went up to his swollen mouth. Every gaze was on him in the dim half-light. “I was in a fight.” he smiled his yellow-toothed smile.

“That guy is one ugly bastard.” I thought I heard one of the kids comment to his mate next to him, a little too loudly, on the far side of the bench.

A couple of others said “Hi!” to us, and they all quickly lost interest and fell back into their discussions. One guy in the middle brought out a boom box and turned up Rihanna. There was plenty space on the bench between the two concrete walls and I sat down between two girls. A bottle of vodka was passed down the line. When it reached the girl on my right, she held it over a plastic bottle of what looked like orange juice and poured the vodka in till the orange juice reached the cap. She turned to me and held out the vodka bottle. Her eyes were already glassy. “You want a drink, mate?”

“I’m alright, thanks.” I said.

“Here, Megan, you want a drink?”

“Yeah, gimmie a drink!”

The girl leaned across me and handed Megan the bottle.

Harry sat a couple of places further up, talking to someone.  A girl and a guy stood up and walked hand in hand into the darkness beyond the golf course.

“FUCKIN YESSS!” someone shouted. A guy got up in front of the group, tipped a beer to his lips and downed it in one. All the kids cheered.

“LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED!”

“FUCKING RIGHT!”

“YEEAHH!”

“THAT’S GOOD SHIT.”

The music got turned up and some got up and danced to the dubstep, pumping their arms in the air. All around me they were downing shots, shaking their heads and screwing up their faces in disgust. I watched a nervy-looking girl dart her eyes about her, then throw back her head and down the remainder of her bottle.

A bunch of new guys appeared, each with massive white bags that drooped from each hand. They stood in front of the crowd and shouted and roared and parted the handles to unveil a vibrant selection of beer, alcopops, soors and wine. They started to hand them out.

“WOOO! LET’S GET FUCK-IN SMASHED! ” One of them shouted.

Another guy stood up with his trousers around his ankles and his tight arse on show in pink boxers. He waddled forward, shuffling his feet from side to side, until he reached the pond and with his back to us, relieved himself in the water.

What am I doing here? I thought. At first I had felt better being amongst the group, it had taken my mind away from everything. But I quickly got bored by it all and my thoughts returned to what might happen tomorrow. I looked out over the pond. The reeds came high above the guy pissing in it. The thought hit me that the police might come for under-age drinkers,