The Amazing Mind of Alice Makin Read Online Free PDF Page B

look more suspicious if he tried. Gary kind of sidles off, as if he’s nothing to do with Denis. Which, considering they’re twins, is a bit stupid. Gary looks over. Makes a rude sign. I make one back.
    â€˜What gets me is that they always get away with things.’
    â€˜Kn-know what you mean.’
    â€˜If we do the slightest thing wrong we get into trouble. They seem to get away with everything.’
    â€˜It’s n-not fair. Come on, best leave them to it.’
    I stare at them, thinking all kinds of nasty thoughts. Wishing something would happen. Imagining how good it would be if they got caught, or ended up with more gum than they knew what to do with.
    A big lorry roars by; blocks our view for a second, shakes the pavement. When I next look, somethingamazing happens. The bubble gum machine starts to sway slowly backwards and forwards. Then it tips right over and hits the floor, shooting out bubble gum in a torrent of colours.
    The Spicers look amazed. I wouldn’t have believed it could have held so many. Scattering out. Pouring out. A sea of bubble gum balls. The twins check no one’s watching, then start scooping it up. Handfuls of it. Stuffing it into their mouths, and, when their mouths are stuffed, stuffing their pockets. Seems the more they stuff, the more it comes. They’ve got enough gum to last them until they get their pensions!
    Still it comes. Building up in waves around their feet. They start to tread on it – I can hear the thin sugar shells cracking. Gum meets shoes. Gum sticks to shoes. Spicers stick to pavement. It’s hilarious. Looks like someone has poured glue all over the floor. The look in their eyes changes from glee to confusion. Bubble gum pulls out in long tacky strands as the Spicers try to lift their shoes. They’re both well and truly stuck now. Denis reaches down and tries to take off his shoe, but his fingers stick to it. He’s tied up in bubble gum. The more the twins struggle, the more they get caught. It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages.
    Me and Reggie get the giggles. They both look across at us. Don’t look very happy. The Spicers don’t like being laughed at. If they knew what the word ‘revenge’ meant, it would be burning in their heads, branding their brains.Instead, the words ‘Knock their blocks off’ are probably doing the burning. Whatever, we need to get going quick before they get unstuck.
    â€˜Better leave the fireworks for today. We’ll get them tomorrow.’
    â€˜G-good idea.’
    I can’t resist another look. The gum is still pouring out. How much can one of those machines hold?
    â€˜That was great. Wonder what made that gum machine fall over like that?’
    â€˜Yes, I w-wonder.’ Reggie’s voice sounds strange. Almost like he’s teasing me.
    I glance across at the Spicers. Denis gives me a filthy look. It’s time we were gone.
    â€˜T-tactical withdrawal?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜That’s what N-Norman would say.’
    â€˜No, he’d say leg it.’
    We head out of the street as fast as we can, and around the corner.
    â€˜Know what?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Those Spicers are d-dangerous.’
    â€˜Dodgy.’
    â€˜Dastardly.’
    â€˜Dastardly?’
    â€˜It’s a real w-word.’
    â€˜Desperate.’
    â€˜Desperate?’
    â€˜Fancy seeing that film?’
    â€˜Stop cheating.’
    And so on. Down the road we go.

7
. . . bad feelings
    I t’s bonfire night. The sky drizzles. Overhead, dumpling clouds dish themselves up in a school-dinner-gravy sky. And I’ve got indigestion in my heart. Me and Reggie have had a row. Well, not really a row. It was more me being horrible to him. I’m like that sometimes. ‘Cut your own throat one day with that tongue of yours,’ my mum says.
    I’m standing under an oak tree in Victoria Park. Vicky Park, we call it. I’ve