Read Respect (Mandasue Heller) for Free Online Page B

what told?’
    ‘I promise. But please just tell me.’
    ‘He was down by the canal when I left him.’
    ‘On his own?’ Chantelle was horrified. ‘Oh, God, it’s really dark out there. What if he’s fallen in? How could you be so stupid?’
    ‘He’s not on his own.’ Kermit flicked a nervous glance at his mother. ‘He’s with some lads.’
    ‘Who?’ Chantelle demanded.
    Kermit swallowed loudly and shrugged. ‘Just some lads from my school.’
    ‘Older lads?’ Chantelle asked, frowning down at him. ‘Is that where you got the weed?’
    ‘Yes.’ Kermit’s voice was little more than a whisper.
    ‘And you’ve been drinking as well, haven’t you?’ Chantelle persisted, picking up the bitter scent of alcohol on his breath.
    When Kermit nodded, Linda barked, ‘Oh, you’ve had it now, boy! You told me you was sick, but you never said nowt about drugs and drinking. You just wait till your dad finds out, he’ll—’
    Chantelle didn’t hang around to hear the rest. Her brother was out there in the dark with some older boys, doing God only knew what. He thought he was streetwise, but it was one thing acting the big man in front of his mates and quite a different matter doing it in front of strangers who had already plied him with drugs and booze. What was to say they hadn’t made him sniff glue, or smoke crack, or something, as well? That was the kind of thing teenage lads seemed to get a kick out of doing to younger kids round here lately.
    Terrified that she was going to find her brother floating face down in the filthy canal water, Chantelle ran through the estate and down the steps to the towpath. The moon was shrouded in clouds so it was pitch dark, and the sound of the water lapping close to the edge of the path as she made her way slowly along filled her with dread.
    As she rounded the wide bend where the canal turned towards the locks, she heard the faint sound of laughter up ahead and quickened her pace. The clouds momentarily shifted and she caught a glimpse of several silhouetted figures in the near-distance. They were laughing and jeering, and her heart leapt into her throat when she got closer and saw that a safety barrier had been untethered from the locks’ mechanism and pushed out over the water. Leon, with his arms outstretched at the sides, was walking slowly along it, urged on by prods from the big stick that one of the lads was jabbing into his back.
    ‘Oh my God !’ she gasped, pushing her way through the boys. ‘Get him down before he falls, you idiots!’
    ‘Yo! What the fuck …?’ the lad with the stick protested, scrabbling to keep his footing when Chantelle nearly sent him flying. Righting himself, he turned and glared at her. ‘See if these garms get wet …’ He sucked his teeth, before adding in a Jamaican accent, ‘Man, me haf’ fe shoot yuh, t’ raas!’
    Unimpressed, Chantelle glared at him. He only looked to be about fifteen, judging by the fluff on his upper lip, and he was white, so the bad-boy posturing left her cold. ‘Get … him …  down ,’ she ordered. ‘He’s only a kid; you should be ashamed of yourself.’
    ‘He’s having fun,’ the lad informed her, with a grin. ‘You wanna chill out, sis.’
    ‘I am not your sis,’ she spat through gritted teeth. ‘I’m his !’ She pointed at Leon. ‘And if you don’t get him down right now, I’m going to call the police and tell them you’ve been giving him drugs.’
    The grin was gone in a flash, and the lad stepped right up to her. ‘Wouldn’t do that if I was you, darlin’.’
    Chantelle’s stomach was churning, but she forced herself to hold the boy’s gaze and pulled her phone out of her pocket. ‘One …’ she said, pressing her thumb down on the 9 button.
    ‘Leave it, man,’ one of the others said, tugging on his friend’s arm. ‘Let’s chip, yeah?’
    But the aggressive one hadn’t finished with Chantelle yet. ‘Nice phone,’ he drawled, a nasty glint in his eye.