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‘As much as I would love to have you,’ he whispered.
    ‘I want Mama. I want my mama.’
    There was quiet in the car and outside the car, but suddenly inside Elijah’s head was the biggest noise of all. Ricardo looked out of the window, away from Elijah, but Elijah could see his eyes were wet too. ‘We’ll get you moved into somewhere more permanent as soon as we can. And we’ll get you some help, Elijah.’ He pulled the car into the side of the road and stopped it. The other cars whooshed past but their car wasperfectly still. Ricardo turned off the engine and turned around. He held Elijah’s arms tightly between his and looked straight at his face.
    ‘You are a good boy, Elijah. You are a good boy and none of this is your fault.’
    ‘I’m not a good boy,’ Elijah cried. ‘I’m a bad boy. I’m filled with badness.’
    Ricardo held on to Elijah’s arms even tighter. ‘I’m so sorry you feel like that, Elijah. You’re a good boy. There’s no badness inside you at all. Just hurt.’ Then he kissed Elijah’s head and turned the key to start the car. His hand was shaking. Elijah cried and cried louder than the radio. Even Ricardo cried a little bit and nobody bothered pretending that they weren’t. Elijah tried to use his powers to time-travel backwards to before the fire but his powers were blocked. The wizard was only letting him use the evil ones.
    Eventually they turned down a road that had lots of small houses, which looked the same, in a row. Ricardo pulled up outside one house and stopped the car. ‘This is it,’ he said. ‘Nargis’s house. And the other boy she’s caring for is about your age. Maybe a little bit older. He’s called Darren.’ Ricardo sniffed. Just then the front door opened and there was shouting. Then a head poked out the front. ‘Hello!’
    An old lady came walking towards them, even older than Sue. She had brown skin the colour of a toffee, almost the same colour as Ricardo’s. She wore a red draped dress and sandals over socks. ‘Elijah, hello!’ She waited until Elijah had come out of the car and stood on the pavement in front of her. ‘Where’s your bag?’ Her face had a cold look that Elijah didn’t like. He started crying again and thinking about Sue’s warm face. He hated the wizard. He hated himself for letting the wizard be in charge. ‘Now come on, Elijah. You’ll be fine.’She took his arm and led him in. Elijah looked back to the car but Ricardo was busy lifting his case out of the back. It was getting dark but inside the lights were still not on. Sue would have had her lights on. The house smelt funny. They walked through a hallway which had red carpet and no photos on the walls. There was a long, thin kitchen with a fruit bowl containing no fruit and there were lots of cups in the sink. ‘Now, follow me outside and you can meet Darren.’
    The woman led Elijah outside and she pointed to the back of a messy garden. There were no toys and the grass needed cutting. Elijah thought of Sue’s garden with rose bushes that Gary watered every day. There was a sudden coughing noise. At the back of the garden were a few trees with something moving in them. Rustling. Elijah felt his legs wobble underneath him but he walked forwards to where Nargis pointed. As he turned around, he saw Nargis going back into the house, her red dress the exact colour of Sue’s favourite roses. He watched the red disappear. At the back of the garden was a boy with white skin and grazed knees, sitting on a swing. He looked at Elijah and spat on the ground. It was only then that Elijah noticed what was in his hand. A cigarette! He was only a bit older than Elijah and smoking a cigarette. Elijah looked back at the house but Nargis wasn’t there.
    ‘Are you allowed to smoke?’ Elijah asked.
    ‘I do whatever I like,’ said Darren. ‘I’m in charge here. I’ve been here the longest, so I run things.’ He spat again and that time it landed on Elijah’s shoe. Then he stood up