Read CHERUB: The Recruit for Free Online Page A

James said. ‘I suppose your mum saw me when she cleaned our toilets.’
    The group of kids laughed. Lloyd looked angry for a second, then he laughed too. ‘Like your tie, sister,’ he said.
    James had had enough with the tie. He pulled it off and looked. Then he looked at Lloyd’s tie. It wasn’t the same colour. Nor was anyone else’s.
    ‘What is this tie?’ James asked.
    ‘The good news, orphan,’ Lloyd said, ‘is that you have a West Road tie. The bad news is, it’s from West Road Girls School.’
    James laughed with the others. These kids seemed OK. He was angry Kyle had tricked him, though.
    *
     
    James left at lunchtime to see the counsellor. Her office was on the second floor of Nebraska. It had spider plants branching off everywhere. The counsellor, Jennifer Mitchum, was a rake, barely taller than James. She had veins poking out of her hands that James didn’t want to look at and she sounded really posh.
    ‘Would you feel more comfortable in the chair or on the couch?’
    James had seen all the psychiatrist scenes on TV and felt he had to lie on the couch to get the full effect.
    ‘Cool,’ he said, settling himself down. ‘I could sleep all night on this.’
    Jennifer walked slowly around the room, lowering the blinds so it was almost dark. She sat down.
    ‘I want you to be relaxed around me, James. Everything you say stays between us. When you talk, don’t try and say the correct thing; say what you really think, and remember I’m here to help you.’
    ‘OK,’ James said.
    ‘You said you could fall asleep on the couch. Have you been sleeping properly at night?’
    ‘Not really. I have too much to think about.’
    ‘What do you think about most?’
    ‘I wonder if my little sister is OK.’
    ‘It says in the file you’re concerned about Ron’s ability to look after Lauren.’
    ‘He’s a retard,’ James said. ‘He couldn’t look after a hamster. I don’t even understand why he wanted her.’
    ‘Perhaps he loves Lauren, but found it difficult to express that while your mother was alive.’
    James laughed. ‘That’s total rubbish. You’d have to meet him to understand.’
    ‘If you see Lauren regularly that should help both of you feel better.’
    ‘Yeah, but it won’t happen.’
    ‘I’ll talk to Ron and see if we can set up a schedule of meetings. Perhaps you and Lauren can spend every Saturday together.’
    ‘You can try, but Ron hates my guts. I don’t think he’ll let me see her.’
    ‘What about your mother? How do you feel about her?’
    James shrugged. ‘She’s gone. What can I do? I wish I’d been better when she was alive.’
    ‘In what way?’
    ‘I was always in trouble. Getting in fights and stuff.’
    ‘What made you get in trouble?’
    James had to think hard.
    ‘I don’t know. I always do stupid stuff without meaning it. I’m a bad person, I guess.’
    ‘The first question I asked you was what you thought about most. You said you were worried about your sister. Wouldn’t a bad person always think about himself first?’
    ‘I love Lauren … Can I tell you something I did?’
    ‘Of course, James.’
    ‘Last year at school. I got in this row with a teacher, so I stormed out to the toilets. This kid in the year below me was in there. I just laid into him. He didn’t say one word. I just started beating him.’
    ‘Did you know that what you were doing was bad at the time you were doing it?’
    ‘Of course I knew beating someone up was bad.’
    ‘So why did you do it?’
    ‘Because …’ James couldn’t bring himself to be honest.
    ‘When you were hitting that boy, how did you feel?’
    James blurted it out, ‘It was the best feeling. He was crying his eyes out and I felt fantastic.’
    James looked at Jennifer to see if she was shocked, but her face was calm.
    ‘Why do you think you enjoyed it?’
    ‘I told you already. I’m sick in the head. Someone rubs me the wrong way and I go psycho.’
    ‘Try and describe how you felt about the