“No. No. Just Go.”
“Are you gonna steal?” I added.
“Well,” he patted his pockets and held up his palms, “We only have a tenner left between us, so I’m gonna hafta.”
“Just be careful.”
“When have I not been?” he smiled.
His calmness reassured me. I smiled back. And it was true. All the worrying before, or at least most of it, had been for nothing.
“Do you want me to get anything for you?”
“A bar of dark chocolate would be nice.”
He reached out his fist in a pretend punch, leaving it just short of my face. He laughed, opened his door, jumped out, snapped it shut and went away with Alex.
I waited, fidgeting about nervously. Then I got out the car and stood next to it, my hand resting on the bonnet, and looked over the many other roofs to the entrance. The rain fell down quicker.
I got back in, into the driver’s seat and flicked on the radio. But there was nothing good, just endless cheesy Christmas songs. I put on a Red Hot Chili Peppers CD and played Californication. It was the only song of theirs I liked.
I listened to it once then switched it off again, watching the rain instead.
Five minutes later I spotted Harry, coming back through the car park, with a bag in each hand. He smirked slyly when he saw me. He opened the side door and threw in his bags and climbed in the back alongside them.
“Did you steal all that?” I said.
“No.” he lied.
“What did you get?”
“More porridge. Rice. Powdered eggs. Long-life milk. Some more dried fruit. Here’s your chocolate bar. You want it now?”
“I’ll keep it for later.” I said. “Thanks.”
“Sure. How ye feelin?”
“A wee bit better.”
“Good.”
I watched two fat parents and their even fatter kids waddle out of the store with two full trolleys. Ten minutes passed. The rain tinkled down on the glass. It went off, then on again in a short spurt, then off once more. People pushed their trolleys in front of the car and loaded up their boots. Cars pulled out and drove away. Others filled their places.
“What is he doing?” I said.
“I don’t know. It’s mental in there…”
It went quiet again.
“..Hey, wanna hear a good pizza joke?”
“Go on.”
“Okay. Ach, never mind. It’s too cheesy.”
I sniggered. “That’s not bad.”
“Yeah I- Oh, here he is.”
“What?”
“He’s coming.” Harry nodded.
Alex was coming out the store, like a giant stepping through a crowd of elves. We could see his dark bushy beard even from where we were. He went left and headed down our lane, holding three shopping bags in his arms. But then he stopped and looked around, confused, his eyes scanning the row of cars on our side and then the other. He couldn’t remember where he’d parked. Finally he glanced our way, and smiled shyly. Harry and I laughed, and as he came closer he laughed as well, when I glanced beyond him, at the store, and saw a fat man in a black blazer running out. His bald head snapped urgently around then locked in on our lane. He ran across and stared down on Alex’s back.
He shouted something.
He looked angry.
Alex’s face froze. His smile dropped. He spun round towards the security guard then spun quickly again towards us with wild, frenzied eyes. The guard started running,
“HEY! YOU!”
Alex pretended he hadn’t heard but it was obvious he had. He stepped quickly towards the car, and the guy was getting closer, surprisingly fast.
“Sshhit!” Harry threw open the side door from his back seat “GIVE ME YOUR BAGS!”
I turned the ignition and the car started and I jumped across to the passenger’s side. Alex launched his stuff into Harry’s arms and leapt in at the wheel.
“OI! YOU!” the man screamed again. You could hear him right across the car park.
“Drive! DRIVE!” Harry ordered.
The car suddenly jerked forward, and right, and sped up towards the security guard. His huge girth went rigid, his eyes on us widened, and I was sure Alex was about to mow him down. “STOP!” I screamed, but Alex’s face was determined, when at the last second, he swerved. The wheels screeched loud and as we flew down the road I looked through the back window- the guy was livid, furiously screaming into his radio.
Alex turned towards the exit, behind two other cars before the motorway. His burning brown eyes suddenly widened in realization, “SHIT! SHIT! I CAN’T GET CAUGHT!” He gripped the wheel tight as we waited desperately. “WHAT HAVE I DONE? NO MORE WORKING WITH KIDS. NO MORE TRAVELLING. FUCK. FUCK!”
“Just keep going. Don’t panic.” As nervous as I was myself, I put my hand on his shoulder and I tried to calm him down. My mind was racing faster than ever. I couldn’t cope with the thought of getting caught and tried to freeze it out. Breathe. Breathe, I told myself, as we got onto the motorway and the speedometer fired up to 80 and Alex cut into the third lane.
“I can’t get caught. I can’t get caught.” He rapped.
“Us neither.” Harry snapped back. “We escaped from an institution. We-
“You what?”
“Just keep going.” I butted in. “And SLOW DOWN. You’ll draw attention.”
We crossed the bridge and passed McDonalds and went through the roundabout. The road was choked with the rush hour traffic- cars on our three lanes and the lanes on the other side. We passed the factories on our left and the retail stores and Dave’s Sports and Outdoors.
“Oh no.” Alex shivered. A police van appeared on the other side. We watched with bated breath as they kept on going.
“Maybe they didn’t
