Wild Ground by Emily Usher

Author:Emily Usher [Usher, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2024-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

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I could tell, by the way Danny was with me, that he didn’t know about what I’d done with those boys, where I’d taken them. He was like medicine, an alternative therapy, replacing all the shit I’d been taking to make me forget the weight and the heat and the stench of strangers’ bodies.

Jody carried on hounding me, skulking around the pub waiting for me to show my face, but I didn’t care, not even when he threatened to tell Barry I’d been skipping school. I’d laughed in his face then. Reckon I could tell him one or two things about you too, mate.

He quietened down after that and I made an effort to stay out of his way, steering clear of the pub as much as I could. It cleaned me up, being away from Chrissy, from them. To some extent, anyway. Danny had got pally with the younger brother of one of Denz’s mates while he’d been staying over in Leeds. Turned out this lad dealt weed to most of the kids in the neighborhood. He’d set Danny up with an account on tick, which meant we no longer had to rely on Denz for our supply. But it also meant we were both smoking plenty.

D’you wanna see summat? he said to me as we lay on our bellies in the garden one morning, passing a jay back and forth. I looked at him curiously, watched as he got to his feet. Come with me.

The pair of us floated through the little garden and into the greenhouse, right toward the back where the herbs grew. Danny grinned at me over his shoulder, then parted the plants gently, exposing the slender-fingered leaves, rich and green, their sweet perfume mingled in among basil, lavender, peppermint neighbors.

It’s just a start. He beamed, fiddling with the angle of the lamp. I’m only learnin but…reckon I’ve got the touch fer it, just about.

Why didn’t you tell me?

Danny shrugged. You been busy, innit.

I swallowed, leaning forward to inspect the plants so that he couldn’t see how his words had stung. You done it all by yerself?

Course I have, man. Got a few tips here and there, but mostly I figured it out. You think anyone could do this better’n me?

Despite myself I laughed, reaching a hand out to stroke the leaves. Danny stood behind me, chattering on about the scent, the effervescence. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Light schedules and pH levels and humidity optimization; how best to avoid stale air in the greenhouse, how to manage pests and mold and bud rot. Look at the crystals on it, man. Look, he urged, tilting the bud toward me, squeezing it gently so the stickiness came away between his fingers.

You’re clever, you are, Danny Campbell. I grinned.

Danny had spent all that time when he was supposed to be at school nurturing those buds, turning the tiny space in the roof above his bedroom into a makeshift drying room, the branches hanging upside down from a coathanger strung up on the ceiling beams.

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