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Silently she cleans him up. When she’s satisfied he’s as fixed up as she can get him, she drops the bloody cotton wool into the bin, screws that cap back onto the iodine and folds her hands in her lap.
“What happened?” she asks as I perch on the edge of the desk beside her.
“I snuck out of the children’s home after curfew. Went to meet my mate Camden at the park. He’s having a hard time with his mum and her new bloke, so we just hung out. I detoured on the way back…”
“Detoured?”
Ford nods, lifting his gaze to meet hers. “I just wanted to check how she was doing, I guess.”
“Your mum?”
“Yeah. Except Trevor caught me standing outside the house and thought he’dteach me a lesson. He goes to the pub Saturday nights and comes home at about eleven. I forgot. He was raging drunk, and he’s always been a mean drunk.”
“Is that right?” I say, feeling my own blood boil for this kid who I barely know but has somehow worked his way beneath my skin.
He shrugs. “Should’ve known better.”
“So you decided to come here?” Kate asks.
“Like I said, didn’t have anywhere else to go. One of the other kids at the home must’ve realised I snuck out and locked the window I climbed out of so I couldn’t get back into my room—the fucking dick. I would have slept under the arches by the river for the night but it was a bit sketchy, so I came here. Sorry about that. I’ll just go.” Ford moves to stand, but Kate grabs his hand.
He flinches at her touch and she quickly lets him go. “Sit down,” she says gently. “It’s all good.”
Kate falls quiet for a moment as she tries to work out what to do. I can see her chewing on her cheek as she stares at Ford, a curious expression on her face.
“You hungry, kid? I can order some pizza,” I offer, filling in the silence as I pull out my mobile phone.
“I ain’t got no money,” he says exactly at the same moment his stomach decides to rumble.
“Well you’re in luck because I’ve got plenty,” I reply with a grin. “Anything you like in particular? Got to say that Marco’s pepperoni pizza is banging.”
“Yeah, I could eat that,” he replies, a small smile playing on his lips.
“Done,” I reply, hitting the speed dial for the local pizza delivery.
Half an hour later we’re sitting around Kate’s desk tucking into pizza and watching Malakai fight Noah on the CCTV cameras. To be fair, they’ve both lasted longer than I’d anticipated and despite my doubts about the man, Malakai is definitely the better fighter, finally finishing off Noah with a lethal punch to the temple, knocking him out cold.
“He’s really good,” Ford remarks, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth, then wincing when he catches his split lip.
“Yeah, he’s alright,” I remark, chucking a piece of crust back into the box. “Though not as good as you could be with the right training.”
“You think?”
“I know so,” I reply, giving him a wink.
“Beast’s right, you could be really good one day,” Kate agrees, wiping her hand on a napkin.
“So you’ve changed your mind, and I can have a permanent membership here?” Ford asks, his eyes lighting up like it’s Christmas morning.
Kate frowns. “Our deal still stands. Train with us for two weeks and then we’ll talk. After that, I’ll decide how we move forward.”
“Two weeks, yeah?” I ask, looking between them.
“Yes. Ford trains with us every morning for two weeks, and at the end of that he tells us the real reason why he sought me out. If he doesn’t, the deal’s off.”
“I already told you the reason. I want to learn how to fight,” Ford mumbles, avoiding eye contact with the both of us.
Kate doesn’t bother to argue with him. We all know the kid is keeping secrets, but he ain’t about to tell us what that might be now. Maybe ever. Thing is, he’ll learn soon enough that Kate is a woman of her word and will follow through on their deal no matter what. She might have a soft spot for the lad, but she won’t tolerate lies or secrets. If he wants to remain a member of the club, he’s going to have to fess up.
