‘How do you understand? Did you
do it? Could you ever do what I did? I deserve this, Easton.’
So he does believe it’s me, or
see it on some level.
‘Yates, I…of course I couldn’t.
Because what I went through in my life was an ounce of what you went through.
But we dealt with him, remember? In the flat, you me and Elle. An eye for an
eye.’
‘And Graham,’ he spits. ‘I know
you don’t want to mention him. Don’t want to tip the loser over the edge do we?
Remind him that his stupid boyfriend abandoned him too.’
‘Well I’m not abandoning you!’ I
call back. I feel a bubble of anger rise, anger at Graham angry at Yates’s
stepfather, at this place, at everyone. It’s not fair and I don’t know how to
fix it. And how I want to fix it.
‘Yates,’ Upson steps forward.
His voice is firm but kind, confident. Like the weight of this place just
bounces off of him. I hear a hum, a thumping like this place has a heart. It
threatens to tempt us all down, over the edge and spinning through the black. ‘I
don’t know what happened to you, but I’m here. I don’t know you from Adam and I
know you don’t deserve any of this.’
I see the tears glisten on the
boy’s face and I see the man he once was, cracks and wrinkles shining through,
threatening to take over.
‘But you’ve got to rely on
people, son. And some of them will hurt you. Some of them will leave you in the
dust and forget you. But some of them stick by you. And they’re the ones I want
to find again too. So we could go back, away from the edge, and find the people
who stand taller. That could be you and me Yates. You me, Easton and everyone
else. So come on.’ He holds out his big, dark hand.
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