The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

Author:Deborah Crombie
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Crystal Palace was cursed by bad luck and financial crisis. In 1861 the Palace was damaged by strong winds and on Sunday 30th December 1866 a fire broke out destroying the North End of the building along with many natural history exhibits.

—www.bbc.co.uk

He gave up going to the park to practice. Now that the boys knew where he lived, they seemed to appear like shadows wherever he went.

Just bullies, he told himself. He knew enough like them at school, and he’d learned that the best way to deal with their sort was to pretend they were invisible. But it had taken the joy out of playing his guitar on the steps by the Sphinx, and he felt threatened by their presence in a way he didn’t quite understand.

What did they want with him? Why, when they had money and things and the freedom to go where they pleased, did they care about a poor kid from Crystal Palace?

He’d never told them his name, but one day when he’d walked his mum to the pub for her shift and she’d given him an unexpectedly affectionate hug, he turned and found them watching from outside the shop next door.

“Your mum’s a bit of a slag, eh, Andy,” said Shaun, and Joe snickered. “You didn’t tell us she worked in a shit hole of a bar.”

Andy had had enough. He was on them in an instant, grabbing Shaun by the front of his T-shirt. “You just leave me the fuck alone. And you leave my mum the fuck alone.”

“Oh, look, it can swear,” mocked Joe, his voice high with excitement. “What are you going to do about it? Tell your mum? Fat lot she could do.”

Andy had let go of Shaun’s T-shirt when he turned to Joe, and the boys fell against each other, laughing.

“You—”

“Or you could hit us with your guitar,” said Shaun. “Unless something happened to it.”

“Ooh, wouldn’t that be a shame.” Joe giggled. “Bet you couldn’t afford to buy a new one.”

Andy was breathing so hard his vision blurred. “Don’t you dare—”

Shaun leaned closer, leering, daring him. “Or maybe you could get your neighbor to protect you. She’s totally hot.”

“You bastards.” Andy took an ineffectual swing at Shaun, who was inches taller and a stone heavier. “You leave her—”

The shop door opened and the Pakistani owner came out. “What’s this going on in front of my shop? You trying to ruin my business, you little hoodlums?” He grabbed Shaun and Joe, who were closest, by their collars. “And you, Andy Monahan, you should be ashamed of yourself. Go on now, the lot of you, or I’ll call the police.” He let Joe and Shaun go with a shove and they stumbled away, then turned and gave Andy and the shop owner a two-fingered salute before running off.

Burning with shame, Andy said, “Mr. Patel, I didn’t—”

“I know you didn’t start it, Andy. But you should keep away from those boys. They are bad news.” Clucking in disapproval, he went back into his shop.

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