Kit de Waal - My Name Is Leon

He waits until Tufty isn’t looking, then wheels his bike quickly to the halfway house. He tucks it out of sight, crouches down, heaves the door open, and places the tins and the blanket and the sugar on the floor. He will have to make it tidy another day.

Sylvia has everything ready when hegets back. There are sandwiches on the table and little sausage rolls and mini cakes.

“It’s not too late to change your mind. We can ask that boy from up the road if you like. He’s about your age.”

“No,” says Leon. “I don’t know him.”

“I’m sure the boys from your class would have come if you’d asked. What about your friends from the park?”

Leon says nothing.

“It’s just going to be me and you and a couple of my friends, Leon. It’s not much of a party, kid. You sure?”

“Can I go out on my bike later?”

“Again? After tea you can have another hour. What’s at the park anyway?”

“Swings and slides. Some kids have got skateboards. I can go down the ramp on my bike.”

“You can bring one of your friends back here sometime if you like, you know. You should have friends, Leon.”

“Can I put the TV on?”

“They’ll be here soon. Go and wash your hands. Put your bag away.”

Leon gets more presents when Sylvia’s friends come. Felt pens, a car, three pound notes, and a soccer ball. And more cards as well. The sideboard is full up. He has chocolate cake and sweets and Pepsi Cola and an enormous bag of Revels all to himself.

Sylvia’s friends talk about riots in another city and the Irishmen who are dying on a hunger strike.

“I wouldn’t mind a bit of that,” says Sue with a piece of cake on her plate. “Don’t remember the last time I was hungry.”

The others laugh and say she’s terrible. Rose stands by the door and shakes her head.

“He’s got to be strong to go through with it. He’s a believer. Imagine believing in something so much that you kill yourself.”

“They don’t just kill themselves though, do they?” says Sue through half a sandwich and then they all start arguing about the IRA and the bombs and why people fight each other and where it’s all going to end. While the argument is going on, he hears Sylvia talking in a whisper.

“Not one single word from his mother. No, not a card, nothing. I had a hard time getting bloody Social Services to play ball. They promised him a photo from his brother, you know, the one that got adopted. Getting on for six months now. Would they get it done? No. Jerks, the lot of them. Anyway, me and Mo decided on a pincer movement. Her from her hospital bed, screaming blue murder, me from here, and eventually that Judy with the hair got it sorted. Yeah, got it this morning, thank God. Just in time. Cheered him up it has, little soldier.”

Leon can feel their eyes on his back. He knows what their faces look like and how they feel sorry for him and how much they hate his mom. Why can’t they be quiet so he can watch the TV or play with his toys? Why can’t they all go to their own houses and feel sorry for him from there? He wishes that when he turned around he would be in his own house with his own toys. His mom would be sitting on the sofa with her furry frog slippers. Jake’s on her lap and she’s singing to him. Jake is wriggling because he always wants to be with Leon but his mom is saying, “Sssh, little monkey. Sssh.” And every time Leon moves his mom says something like, “Don’t, Leon. You know he won’t sleep if he can see you.” So Leon has to turn the TV down with no sound and lie on the carpet so Jake thinks he’s not there, keep as quiet as a mouse, playing with his toys until Jake is asleep, but always his mom falls asleep as well. Everything goes quiet and Leon sits down next to Jake and looks at his perfect lips and his perfect face.

Leon gets into bed and keeps the light on until Sylvia comes to find him.

“You still up?” she says, pushing the door open.

“Where’s Dovedale Road?”

“Dovedale? Across town. Main road, lots of shops and houses. Why?”

“I heard it on the TV.”

“Had a nice day? Look at him, eh?”

She picks up the photograph of Jake and then holds it away from her face.

“You can see the resemblance. You really can.”

Leon says nothing. He reaches out for the photo and puts it back beside his bed.

“Can I buy a map?”

“A map of where?”

“Just a map of the streets.”

“You can buy what you like, love, it’s your money. I’m turning this light out now.”

“Can I buy a compass?”

“Whatever you like. Sleep time now.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Too excited, I bet. And too full of sugar.”

“Can I have a story?”

Sylvia switches off the light and sits on the edge of his bed.

“Where were we?” she asks.

“The rabbit was with the bear.”

Sylvia laughs.

“Yeah, I remember. All right, well now. The rabbit is covered in poo, isn’t he? The bear takes off because bears are like that. They don’t stay around when they’re needed. No. Bears think they’re the only ones who’ve ever had their hearts broken or had the stuffing knocked out of them. The rabbit might have needed a friend, but no, bears just think of themselves. You can’t reason with a bear. Not on your life. Bears are selfish and when they’ve had their fun, they barge their way back into the woods and disappear.”

She stops like she’s trying to remember the rest of the story. She takes a very deep breath and starts again.

“Anyway, the rabbit hops all over the wood, smelling bloody awful. He can smell himself, the other animals can smell him, the birds can smell him, and he’s desperate for a wash. Every time he goes up to an animal to ask where the river is, they hold their noses and run off. Eventually, after a long, long time, he stumbles across the river, flowing all lovely and blue through the woods. He runs up to it but there is a pig standing on the bank. The rabbit thinks the pig is going to run away but when he looks carefully, he sees the pig has a wooden leg. ‘Hello, pig,’ says the rabbit. ‘Oh, hello, rabbit,’ says the pig with the wooden leg. The pig sniffs the rabbit and says, ‘Oh dear, you better get in the river and get clean,’ so the rabbit does, but all the time he’s thinking to himself, why has that pig got a wooden leg? In the end, his curiosity gets the better of him and he asks the pig, ‘What happened to your leg, pig?’ ‘Well, I’ll tell you,’ said the pig. ‘My master lives on a farm and one night I noticed that the stables were on fire. So I shouted as loud as I could and woke the farmer, who rescued all the horses.’ The rabbit was amazed. ‘So did you get burned in the fire and lose your leg?’ ‘No,’ said the pig, ‘the fire spread to the chicken coop and I had to run into the stables and get the master.’ ‘So did something fall on your leg?’ said the rabbit. ‘Oh no, because then the fire spread to the farmhouse and I had to run in and wake the mistress and get all the children out. I ran to all the bedrooms and pulled them out one by one. I let the youngest one ride on my back until we were out in the garden and we were safe.’ ‘Wow,’ said the rabbit. ‘You must have got injured bringing them downstairs,’ said the rabbit. ‘No,’ replied the pig, ‘but the farmer said I was a very special pig and when you have a pig like that, you don’t eat it all at once.’”

Leon decides he won’t ask Sylvia for any more stories and he turns over.

“Night, love,” she says and closes the door.

The next day, Leon doesn’t get to his plot until after teatime. First of all, Sylvia takes him and another boy to the pictures to see Raiders of the Lost Ark . The boy is called Timmy and he is special. Timmy’s mom works at the supermarket with Sylvia and whenever they meet they keep saying how good Timmy is and saying “Bless him” and “Good as gold.” But Leon has to sit next to him in the cinema and he talks all through the film, turning around and jumping in his seat. And he spits. Everyone looks at Leon all the time and tells Timmy to be quiet. Then Sylvia gets angry and says that they should shut up and mind their own business. All the kids laugh and swear and Leon wants to go and sit on his own because people might think that Timmy is his brother.