Page 84 of Crocodile Tears

“You can start by impressing me with your hard work and dedication – then we’ll see,” Noah said firmly.

“I’ll do my best,” Alex said, swallowing his pride.

His father smiled approvingly. “I believe you will, son. You’ve stayed on the straight and narrow these past few years: you’ve kept off drugs, and you haven’t pissed away your monthly allowance. I’m proud of you.”

Alex bowed his head, feeling guilty. He quietly resolved that he’d do his best to be worthy of his father’s faith in him. “So, welcome to Lytton AV. Let this be a new beginning for us both. Now – off to the factory floor with you and get working.”

He was given a locker and a pair of Lytton AV overalls to wear and then took his place on the factory floor. Some of the work was done by robots, but labour was cheap after the Rising, and Lytton AV was always behind the times when it came to tech, so there was still plenty of work for humans to do.

The other workers shot him surreptitious glances all day, but nobody struck up a conversation with him; they just gave short, polite responses to his questions that went nowhere. The majority of them were wearing Lytton AV ID tags, and he knew those that weren’t would be forced to take them before long if they wanted to keep their jobs. The morning passed slowly and miserably.

At lunchtime, when he returned to the changing rooms to retrieve his nanopad, he overheard voices from behind a row of lockers.

“Typical – the hero brother visits for one day, but we get landed with the loser brother forever.”

“Forever? What do you mean?”

“Well, Charles is a celebrity, isn’t he? He already has a career, but the croc-head doesn’t. I’ve a feeling old man Lytton is grooming him to be our new boss one day.”

“You’re shitting me! That little fucker – in charge here?”

“Yeah, makes you puke, doesn’t it? They should’ve locked him up for years for what he did, but instead he’s swanning around here like he owns the place – and I bet he will, one day.”

They shut their lockers noisily and left without noticing he was there, but Alex could feel the heat in his cheeks as he closed his lockerdoor. It was as if he was back at school again, being bullied for not fitting in.

He made his way to the canteen and more faces turned to look at him as he entered, none of them friendly. He would even have sat with Neil in the circumstances, but there was no sign of him.

He was about to walk straight out again when he saw Spencer, sitting with a little group of people. Spencer saw his predicament and waved, and Alex heaved a sigh of relief and joined them. Although Spencer’s friends soon made their excuses to leave, the young man was a kindly soul and stayed until Alex had finished his meal, making small talk.

Several mind-numbing hours later, Alex changed out of his overalls and grabbed his suit jacket from his locker, feeling like an idiot for wearing an expensive suit in the first place.

The usual throng of people were outside the factory gates, begging for a job. Lytton AV’s security team did a good job of keeping them off the premises, but there were always pleading faces pressed up against the railings.

Lytton AV was well known for being a good houder – people actually clamoured to wear its livery and ID tag. Alex suspected that most of them lived in the Quarterlands and slunk back there at night before returning to beg for jobs, food, and money again in the morning. Some were clearly croc-heads, with red eyes and vacant expressions, while others were on harder drugs, like sable, their acned skin and pinched faces giving them away.

He remembered Isaiah and knew his father wouldn’t have any difficulty replacing him. Putting his head down, he shoved past them. After the day he’d had, the last thing he wanted was to spend the evening in the flat with Neil. Then he caught sight of a thatch of blond hair ahead and remembered that he had at least made one friend here today.

“Hey – Spencer – wanna go for a drink?”

Spencer turned around, startled. “Um… I don’t know…”

“As a thank you – for rescuing me in the canteen earlier. That was kind of you. Let me buy you a couple of beers in return.”

Spencer shot him an adorably shy smile and nodded. They went to a nearby pub and spent the next few hours chatting over drinks.

“So, tell me – what’s it like being my father’s assistant?” Alex asked.

“Mr Lytton is a great boss.” Spencer beamed. “He was so happy about Charles winning at the Paralympics that he gave us all the day off and laid on a party for the entire village. It was fantastic.”

“He doesn’t seem too happy now. Clearly the golden glow didn’t last for long.”

“Oh, he’s incredibly proud of Charles, but now the Games are over he has the company to run, and I don’t think business is going well.” Drink seemed to have loosened Spencer’s tongue.

“In what way?” Alex asked quietly.

“It’s like you heard earlier – Lytton AV faces strong competition these days, and your father has had to make some cuts in the factory.”

“He should be investing in new designs rather than making cuts.”

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