Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks Read Free Book Online

his way to the den. But what was he doing here with Campbell?
    ‘All right?’ he said chirpily, grinning from me to Raymond. ‘How’s it going?’
    I nodded at him and spoke calmly. ‘Hi, Pauly.’
    He smiled at Raymond. ‘Y’all right, Rabbit?’
    Raymond stiffened slightly at the name, but he didn’t say anything. He’d got used to the names a long time ago – Rabbit, Bunny Boy, Mental Ray – but he’d never forgiven Pauly for starting it all. And neither had I. Raymond had always been known as a slightly weird kid, but a few years ago, when he’dconfided in Pauly about Black Rabbit, and Pauly had gone round telling everyone else… well, from that moment on, Raymond had never been known as anything but weird.
    ‘Yeah, good one, Pauly,’ I muttered.
    He grinned hesitantly at me. ‘Say what?’
    ‘Have you seen Eric and Nic yet?’ I asked him.
    ‘I’m just on my way,’ he said, his eyes flicking furtively at Campbell.
    ‘Where you going?’ Campbell said to him.
    Pauly grinned at him. ‘What?’
    Campbell just stared at him for a moment, then he looked over at me. ‘Where you going, Boland?’ he said.
    I shook my head. ‘Nowhere, really…’
    ‘Nowhere?’
    ‘The fair.’
    Campbell said nothing, just carried on staring at me. He had the kind of eyes that drill right through you and make you go cold inside. I watched, guiltily relieved, as he turned his attention to Raymond.
    ‘Yeah?’ he said to him. ‘What are you looking at?’
    Raymond just stood there, unable to speak.
    Campbell stared at him. ‘What’s the matter with you? You got something wrong with your head or something?’
    Pauly sniggered.
    Campbell turned his stare on him. ‘What?’
    ‘Nothing,’ Pauly said, grinning nervously. ‘I was just –’
    ‘The fucker’s sick, Gilpin. It’s not funny. ’
    Pauly hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking around, trying to work out if Campbell was joking or not. When he realized that no one else was smiling, he looked back at Campbell and grinned again. ‘What?’ he said innocently, shrugging his shoulders.‘I didn’t mean anything. I was just, you know… I mean, Raymond’s all right. I was only…’
    His voice trailed off as Campbell turned away from him and looked at me. ‘What do you think, Boland?’ he said, tilting his chin at Raymond. ‘You think he’s all right?’
    ‘What’s it to you?’ I heard myself say.
    Campbell smiled then, which surprised me. It was a genuine smile, no menace intended, and just for a second I saw a completely different Wes Campbell – harmless, friendly… charismatic even.
    ‘You like him, do you?’ he said to me.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Bunny Boy there… you like him?’
    I didn’t know what to say. Like him? Did I like him? I mean, what kind of question was that?
    Campbell looked at Pauly. ‘He likes him.’
    Pauly grinned awkwardly. His mouth twitched as he looked for something to say, but nothing came out. He glanced over at me, then quickly turned back to Campbell again. Campbell’s smile had disappeared now. He was staring dead-eyed at Pauly.
    ‘Friends,’ he said quietly.
    Pauly frowned. ‘What?’
    ‘You know what a friend is, Gilpin?’
    Pauly didn’t know whether to laugh or not. He glanced anxiously around again, looking for clues as to what he should do, but the Greenwell kids were just as blank-faced as before, and there was no way he was getting any help from Raymond or me. He blinked quickly a couple of times, nervously licked his lips, then turned back to Campbell.
    ‘I don’t get it,’ he said. ‘Is this some kind of joke or something?’
    ‘No joke,’ Campbell said coldly. ‘Just a simple question – do you know what a friend is?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Pauly snorted, pretending to be offended, ‘of course I know what a friend is. Why shouldn’t I?’
    For a moment or two, Campbell just carried on staring at him, then all at once his eyes lost their coldness, his face broke into that smile again, and he stepped