Respect (Mandasue Heller) Read Online Free PDF

in Moss Side to pick up a few cheap bits for dinner. But if her mum thought she was going to walk in later in the day and find a plateful waiting for her in the oven, she had another think coming. And God help her if she’d spent the rest of the benefit money on booze and whatever else she’d necked with Tracey last night, because then Chantelle would have her guts for garters.
    Kermit was on the other side of the Princess Parkway when he spotted Chantelle heading into the market. His mum had made plans to take the younger kids to the carnival in Alexandra Park, but she was skint, so she’d sent Kermit to borrow twenty quid off his nan. He’d begged her to send their Jimmy instead, but she’d said Jimmy was too young to cross the road on his own. And, anyway, Kermit was his nan’s favourite so he had the best chance of making the old girl cough up.
    Kermit didn’t like his nan. She had see-through skin, a sloppy, toothless mouth, and her room in the sheltered housing unit stank of cat piss even though there were no cats living there. She herself stank of human piss and talc, and she always made him sit next to her so she could stroke him and kiss him.
    The feel of her flesh touching his made him gag, so he’d been in and out of there as fast as was humanly possible today – the £20 note for his mum in one pocket, the half-bottle of whisky he’d swiped off the dresser when his nan turned her back to get her purse in the other. His mum would go ape-shit if she found out, but he considered it payment for the disgusting trail of slime his nan had left on his cheek when she’d kissed him goodbye. Anyway, the old cow was so batty that she’d probably think she’d lost the whisky – if she even remembered she’d had it in the first place.
    When Kermit saw Chantelle now, he grinned to himself. She was one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen, but she had a way of looking at him that made him wonder if she could read his thoughts and see the dirty things he sometimes thought about her when he was in the bath. He always avoided going round to their place if he knew there was a chance of bumping into her, but it was safe right now so he darted through the morning traffic and ran all the way home.
    ‘Where are you going?’ his mum asked when he barrelled through the door and chucked the money at her. ‘Aren’t you coming to the carny?’
    ‘Nah,’ he called back over his shoulder. ‘I’m going to see if Leon wants to come round and play on my game.’
    ‘Well, don’t make a mess,’ his mum yelled after him. ‘I’ve got that woman coming round from the council on Monday, and I don’t want to have to spend all day Sunday cleaning up after you.’
    Kermit waved over his shoulder and slammed the door.
    Leon was woken by the sound of someone knocking insistently on the front door. Too cosy to move, he pulled his quilt over his head and waited for his sister to answer it. When she didn’t, and the knocking continued, he reluctantly got up and stomped out into the hall in his underpants, all set to give the unwelcome caller a piece of his mind.
    ‘What you doing here so early?’ he complained, rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he saw Kermit on the step. ‘I was having a boss dream, and you’ve ruined it.’
    ‘Soz,’ Kermit apologised. ‘Me ma’s taking the brats to the carny, and I’ve just seen your Channy going in the market, so I thought you might wanna come round and get back on the game. I got to level four after you took off last night. It was well hard, but I proper smashed it.’
    ‘Why didn’t you wait for me?’ Leon protested, gesturing for his friend to come inside. ‘I’m gonna have loads of catching up to do now.’
    ‘Yeah, well, hurry up and get dressed,’ said Kermit, following him into his room. ‘I’ve got a surprise for ya.’
    ‘What?’ Leon pulled on a pair of jeans.
    Kermit reached into his pocket and brought out the stolen bottle.
    ‘Where’d you get that?’