Chapter 50

“I know, what are the chances?” Cliff said.

“We’ve lived in or around York all our lives,” Tom added. “We met each other at school.”

“Simon and I bumped into each other in the street, became friends and then finally got together last Christmas,” Mark said, sticking to the story we’d agreed some time ago. No one needed to know the exact details of Mark having to work the streets to survive.

“Like Tom said, we met at school.” Cliff’s eyes dropped and he began to pick at the hem of his shorts. “A group of kids were starting to bother me…”

Tom snorted. “It was a bit more than that.”

“Yeah, well, and this new kid, huge he was,” Cliff smiled up at Tom, “came to my rescue. And he’s been my knight in shining armour ever since.”

Tom blushed and shook his head. Looking over at us, he said, “Cliff’s the real hero. You see, I’m not the brightest bulb on the shelf—”

It was Cliff’s turn to shake his head.