Like This, for Ever

boys and reached over them to unlock the door.
    ‘Afternoon, Mr Joesbury,’ she said to Huck’s dad, who apologized for being late. ‘Good afternoon, Huck. Good afternoon, Barney, I hope you’re going straight home now.’
    Barney agreed that he was and followed Huck and his dad across the yard.
    ‘So we’ll spend an hour at the public library, then drop by the salad bar on the way home,’ Huck’s dad was saying. His right arm was slung around his son’s shoulders, his left was carrying Huck’s school bag, overnight bag and guitar case.
    ‘Rec, then movie, then Trev’s,’ replied Huck.
    Barney dropped back. Obvious affection between parents and children always made him feel uncomfortable. At the gate, Huck’s dad turned round.
    ‘Is someone meeting you, mate?’ he asked Barney, before glancing up and down the street.
    Barney shook his head. ‘I’m going to a friend’s house,’ he said. ‘It’s only five minutes away.’ He stopped and let his skates drop to the ground.
    ‘Barney’s the best blader in the school,’ said Huck. ‘He’s faster than everyone.’
    ‘All the same, it’ll be dark soon,’ said Mr Joesbury. ‘Can we drop you off, Barney?’
    Barney smiled and said he was fine, thank you, it really was just around the corner. Even then, Huck’s dad seemed reluctant to let him go. Barney pulled his skates on, hoisted his bag on to his shoulders and set off. Just before he turned the corner he looked back. Huck and his dad were getting into a green Audi convertible. Barney recognized the registration number immediately. Huck Joesbury’s dad was the bloke who knocked on Lacey’s door late at night, and who sat in the car for ages waiting for her to come home.
    Barney watched as Huck and his dad drove away, Huck waving at Barney as the car disappeared. Most boring job in the world? Lacey had told him she and the man in the green Audi worked together and that would make him a police officer. Somebody was lying. Barney didn’t like lies. There was something untidy about them.
    ‘Barney, great. Catch this. Oh, nice catch.’
    In the doorway of the Soar family kitchen, Barney looked down at the plastic sword he’d just caught. Jorge, striding towards him, was holding a matching weapon. There was a thin film of moisture on his fair skin and his cheeks were bright pink. The green dye had been washed from his hair. ‘I just need to practise a couple of moves,’ he said, taking a defensive, swordsman’s pose directly in front of Barney. ‘Harvey was helping me but he’s not much good at fencing.’
    On a stool at the counter sat Harvey, holding a freezer bag of ice to his forehead. Like his brother, he was pink in the face. He was also a little red around the eyes and his bottom lip looked swollen, the way it did when he was cross or upset. The boys’ mother, Abbie, was stirring a casserole dish on the worktop.
    ‘Your brother was doing fine till you stabbed him in the eye,’ she said. ‘Can you put the swords down now, please?’
    Jorge barely acknowledged her. ‘Five minutes. I just need to get this move right. OK, Barney, I come at you like this, you lift your sword up to meet mine and then we hold them together while we—’
    ‘Jorge, there is no room in here.’
    Barney had a choice: defend himself against the sword sweepingdown towards him or be slashed across the face. With an apologetic look at Abbie, he blocked Jorge’s move. Jorge danced back, feinted left, then struck at him hard from the right.
    ‘There’s as much room in here as on the stage – oh, nice. How did you know I was going to do that?’
    ‘Saw it in your eyes,’ said Barney.
    Jorge froze, the sword hovering just in front of Barney’s chest. ‘Straight up?’ he asked, his blue eyes looking searchingly into Barney’s. Over Jorge’s shoulder, Barney could see both Abbie and Harvey watching them.
    Barney shrugged. ‘Probably just a lucky guess,’ he said.
    Abbie left the counter. With an effort, she wrenched Jorge’s sword off him. ‘Before someone gets hurt,’ she said, holding her hand out for Barney’s sword but continuing to talk to her oldest son. ‘Now I’m going to check on Nan. Tea in ten minutes.’
    The boys waited until the door was closed. Then, without looking, Jorge gave a massive leap backwards and landed on the kitchen counter. ‘So what’s the plan tomorrow night then, Barney?’ he asked.
    Since when had it been his plan?
    ‘It’s not my plan,’ he said. ‘I’m