Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield

Author:Vikki Wakefield [Wakefield, Vikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat, Fiction young adult
ISBN: 9781921921469
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2012-07-24T23:00:00+00:00

I woke too soon, yanked out of a deep sleep by the sound of pounding feet on floorboards. Carrie bolted upright at the same time. We looked at each other, still groggy, trying to make sense of what was going on.

‘What the…?’

Silence tore into the room. He headed straight for the corner and slumped against the wall, bleak-eyed, staring. His skin was grey, his breathing rapid. There were bits of grass and leaves in his hair. His mouth was wide open—he looked like he was screaming but there was no sound.

I gathered my wits enough to go to him but he pushed me away.

‘He needs his inhaler,’ Carrie said. ‘Where is it?’ She rummaged through his things, scattering underwear and toiletries all over the floor.

I reached under his pillow and pulled out his notebook. I offered it to him.

‘Tell us what happened,’ I said. ‘What’s wrong? Are you hurt?’

I handed him his pen but he dropped it. He was shaking too much to write.

Joe shambled in, rubbing his eye with a fist. ‘What’s going on?’

Carrie tossed me the inhaler. I slipped the nozzle between Silence’s lips and cupped the back of his neck, the same way I’d seen Bree do it. It took four blasts before he took some in.

‘Talk to us,’ Carrie whispered. ‘Where’s Arden?’ Louder. ‘Say something!’ She reached out and shook him.

At her touch, or on hearing Arden’s name, Silence stared at the doorway.

As if she’d been conjured, Arden appeared wearing her commando-style garb, black beanie bulging with her dreads stuffed underneath. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but still so direct they burned.

Her voice didn’t waver. ‘Get some sleep,’ she said to Silence. ‘The rest of you—pack your things. Get something to eat. Keep the noise down. I’ll tell you what’s going on later.’

‘What about him?’ Joe said, pointing to Silence.

He looked semi-catatonic, but when Arden strode over and hauled him up by the front of his hoodie, he struggled.

‘Get it together!’ she hissed. She shook him, hard. ‘Stop it!’ Then—slap—across his face.

Silence crumpled. Not because of the slap—it wasn’t that hard—but because his legs wouldn’t hold him up.

Arden turned to me. ‘Keep an eye on him. Stay with him until the rest of us get some things sorted out.’

‘Why me?’ It wasn’t the looking after Silence part I objected to—it was the way she kept barking orders.

‘Because there’s nothing else you can do.’

‘But…’ Silence grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I opened my mouth to say more but the pressure increased.

Carrie nudged me. ‘I’ll go get him a drink of water.’

Arden pulled off her beanie and shook her hair free. For a few seconds it resisted, a knotted halo of snakes, then it unwound and fell down her back. ‘It’ll be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.’

I wondered who she was trying to convince.

In the kitchen, AiAi sat in a corner on a crate, looking lost.

‘It’s all right, mate,’ I reassured him, not because I knew what was going on but because he needed to hear it from somebody.

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