The Runners Read Online Free PDF Page B

you the jeans.’
    When they did go into the shops in town, they would be followed by security, or not let in. Bobby knew it was because they were inner-city boys. Some shops were more security conscious than others. Jay decided he wanted to buy a new pair of jeans with the money they were getting from Anto. And if Jay wanted a pair, then Bobby had to have a pair too.
    The two of them went in and didn’t get followed. The jeans were on the second floor of Dunnes. An escalator took them up. They walked past the shoes and jumpers and there they were. About ten different types of jeans to choose from.
    Bobby picked up a pair of light blue jeans that had a dark blue line running down the side. It was barely visible.
    ‘What do you think of these, Jay?’
    ‘Not bad, try them on.’
    ‘No, this is my size. I don’t need to try them on.’
    ‘Don’t be stupid, try them on, I’m going to try on this black pair.’
    ‘They are twenty pounds.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘You haven’t got twenty pounds.’
    ‘I’m only trying them on.’
    Bobby’s jeans were so tight at the bottom that he nearly lost his balance and fell through the curtain trying to get them off. The new jeans slipped on easily. He looked in the mirror and thought the jeans looked good. He pulled back the curtain to show Jay.
    ‘What do you think?’
    ‘You’re gorgeous, Angela will be chasing you later.’
    ‘Yeah, right.’
    ‘She’ll knock you out with her basketballs.’
    ‘Are you getting the black ones?’
    ‘Nope, I just wanted to see what they look like. Hurry up.’
    Bobby could hear Jay laughing at him trying to get the tight jeans back on.
    ‘Have those jeans got holes to put your feet through?’
    Bobby came out, jeans in hand.
    ‘Leave them there, we have to go.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Questions later.’
    Jay started walking more briskly than normal.
    ‘What’s the story?’
    ‘I’ll tell you in a minute.’
    ‘I wanted to buy those jeans.’
    ‘I bought the black ones.’
    ‘What?’
    Jay pulled out the waist of his tracksuit bottoms. Bobby could see the black jeans underneath.
    ‘You’re a fucking lunatic. Why didn’t you tell me you were going to do that?’
    ‘Because you would have tried to stop me.’
    ‘You have the money to buy a pair.’
    ‘Not these ones. The buzz is in robbing them. Do you think you could do it?’
    ‘Why would I do it when I can buy them? My ma would kill me if she found out.’
    ‘That’s because you’re a poshie.’
    ‘Piss off, how am I a poshie?’
    ‘Your ma is posh and your brother goes to school in Clontarf.’
    ‘She’s not posh. And my dad is on the social welfare.’
    ‘Yeah, right.’
    ‘I bet your ma makes more money than my dad ever will.’
    They walked in silence until they got to Barney’s amusement arcade. Bobby thought it would be better to be called a piss-in-the-bed than a poshie. All he wanted was to be the same as Jay. He robbed orchards and bonked in to Croker. They had squirted each other with red sauce. They had been in every derelict house in Ballybough snaring pigeons with their bare hands. Jay’s flat was biggerthan Bobby’s house. Jay was his best friend. He had never slagged Jay about his da being in prison. Bobby felt betrayed. Maybe he
was
different. He couldn’t concentrate on playing Mario Brothers.
    ‘I’m going to the bookies. Are you coming?’
    ‘No, poshie.’
    Bobby walked out of the amusement arcade with his head feeling fuzzy. He never fought with Jay and it made him feel sick. He thought about going back to Dunnes to rob a pair of jeans. He thought about what would happen if Jay didn’t want to be friends with him. He was the best friend Bobby could ever have. He walked into Ladbrokes and stared at the S
porting Life
. The early afternoon always had loads of greyhound races on. The voice came over the tannoy to announce the starting prices for the 1.33 at Catford. The man wrote them onto a board with his black marker. Trap two was 2–1 favourite.