Mind Games Read Online Free PDF Page B

treachery .
    Sally and the doctor talk in low voices by the door; some of their words penetrate. Psychotic episodes. Delusional. Safety…
    Sally and I help Nanna to bed.
    ‘She’s getting worse,’ Sally says.
    ‘I know.’
    She doesn’t say anything else, but it is all there on her face. Nanna should be in an institution where they can look after her: that’s what the doctor said at her last review. Calling him today will raise that all over again.
    She touches my shoulder. ‘Don’t forget your friend.’
    Melrose: she’s been with Jason all this time. They’re both silent and pretending to watch a vid when I get myself together enough to go back downstairs. I sit next to Jason, and he slips a cold hand in mine.
    ‘Thanks,’ I say to Melrose. ‘I’ll take over now. I think the shopping trip is off.’
    ‘No worries. I’ll lend you something.’
    ‘Sure. Whatever.’ She gets up to go. ‘Don’t tell anyone about Nanna. Promise?’
    She looks shocked. ‘You don’t need to ask. Of course I won’t. Do you want a lift tomorrow?’
    ‘Are you sure that’s OK?’
    ‘Of course. We’ll come at four.’
    ‘Thanks. See you then.’
    Later, I watch Nanna as she sleeps. Is she really psychotic and delusional? Away with the fairies – that was the expression I liked. When I was little she used to whisper that she believed in fairies, that they lived in sunlight and shadows. That they told her the secret numbers of the sun, the moon and the stars: that mine was the most magical of them all. But numerology is totally dys, isn’t it?
    Jason doesn’t really remember her as she was. He’s just afraid of her. This time, I lock her door when I leave.

6
    ‘Come on . Before she changes her mind,’ I say, and hold out Jason’s bicycle helmet. Sally’s get out of jail free card could be pulled if she thinks about it too much; she’s only let me go despite being grounded because she’s still happy about my appointment, and that Dad is coming for lunch.
    Jason yawns. ‘Can’t we go later? It’s practically the middle of the night.’
    ‘The sun streaming through the door says otherwise, lazybones. And, no, we can’t go later. I’m going away for the whole week, leaving this afternoon. Remember?’
    He relents, finally takes his bike helmet, puts it on and starts to follow me out the door. There used to be a time when Jason would plead with me to go on safari every weekend: our bicycles were our 4x4 jeeps, Richmond Park our game reserve, and squirrels and deer our lions and elephants. But now that they’ve lowered the age of consent for Implants from twelve to ten he’s been plugged in every chance he gets since his birthday. Park adventures have been left behind.
    Just as I’m about to pull the door shut behind us, Sally appears in the hall. ‘Stick to the Els,’ is all she says.
    We have a way to go before we reach the closest El. The streets are quiet. There are no Sunday morning ball games in front gardens, even though the sun is shining and no April showers are in sight.
    We pass a local primary school, and I’m surprised to see a chain across the fence, a closed sign. I slow down to let Jason catch up.
    I gesture behind us. ‘Didn’t some of your friends go to that school? When did it close?’ I ask him.
    He shrugs. ‘I dunno, a few months ago.’
    ‘Do you know why?’
    ‘They said it was surplus. All the students from there are going to my school now.’
    A surplus school? I frown. ‘They all fit into your school?’
    He nods. ‘Classes fuller now, can get away with more.’ He grins.
    ‘Excellent. Come on.’
    We reach our branch of the Richmond El. Safe Cycle Elevation is emblazoned on gates that swing open when our registered bicycles are detected. Our wheels link securely to the moving track, and I sigh. I can get why Sally wants us to take the Els: it’s safer. No cars or collisions or falling off possible. I can also get why Jason likes it. Less effort, good views as it soars over