The Locked-Away Life: A totally gripping, emotional and heartwarming page-turner by Drew Davies

The Locked-Away Life: A totally gripping, emotional and heartwarming page-turner by Drew Davies

Author:Drew Davies [Davies, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838886653
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-08-03T16:00:00+00:00


SEVEN

BRUNO (20 JUNE)

He was woken by a banging.

Sitting up groggily, Bruno struggled to remember where he was, but as soon as he did, he panicked there was a fire. Springing to his door, he found it unlocked, Mitch walking past in the hallway with his toothbrush in his mouth, a towel over his shoulder.

‘Nice dinosaur PJs,’ he commented sardonically, making Bruno quickly shut the door again. After changing into last night’s clothes, he used the bathroom (he hadn’t been able to bring himself to use the pot), showered, changed into a fresh outfit, and made his way to breakfast – he was starving.

The other boys were sitting in their individual sections again – one new addition, a scruffy-looking freckled kid bringing their numbers to eight – but slightly closer this time. Mitch and the long-haired boy, Elliot, were even quietly talking.

Fetching himself a massive bowl of cornflakes, milk and heaped sugar (even by his standards), Bruno sat down on a free table corner. His mind was full of Esther – the revelation about Genevieve seemed important in the harsh light of day, but it was impossible to know if this information about her past would help or be harmful. He remembered Esther saying: ‘I’m the reason this happened. I did this to myself’, but he wasn’t even sure what ‘this’ was. If anything, he’d been too loyal. Bruno’s mind went to the stack of newspapers in his closet – even in peak anger, he still hadn’t read them. Talk about being nice to a fault.

He overheard two of the other boys talking quietly about ‘Dr Allan’, which snapped him back to his surroundings.

‘Is Allan the doctor’s first name or his last?’ Bruno asked. No one answered, everyone chewing and staring sheepishly into their bowls. ‘Maybe it’s both,’ Bruno continued, ‘Dr Allan Allan? Or Allan Squared?’ The smallest boy Philip sniggered, caught himself and shovelled more cereal into his mouth. ‘Or maybe it’s Al last name Lan?’ They were dumb dad jokes, Bruno knew, but he pushed on with his barely mediocre stand-up routine. ‘I’m going to call him Dr Al.’

‘I wouldn’t,’ Mitch mumbled gravely.

The youngest boy squeaked another laugh.

‘What’s your name?’ Bruno asked him, even though he already knew it.

‘Pip,’ the boy replied. ‘Well, Philip. You should probably call me Philip. My mum calls me Pip.’ He looked at his lap for a moment, and Bruno was afraid Pip might start crying.

‘What’s this Dr Allan like?’

‘He’s a genius,’ Pip said reverently, and Bruno scrutinised the other boys for a reaction, but they were extremely careful not to show anything except powerful poker faces.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a genius before,’ admitted Bruno, truthfully.

‘He changed me,’ offered Pip brightly, but there was something about the way he said this, as if he’d been told to say it, coached, that brought back Esther’s phrase, brainwashing.

‘How?’ Bruno asked.

Mitch and the long-haired boy exchanged looks.

‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ whispered Mitch, under his breath.



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