Page 36 of Mercury Rising
“Twenty-eight.”
“Same. I can’t imagine living with my parents again.”
Nick looked embarrassed when he realised he’d spoken that out loud.
“Sorry,” Nick continued. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sure you haven’t caused your mother half the worry I have.”
He’d hinted at this shady past one too many times. Mercury’s interest was piqued.
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”
“I guess I owe that to you now,” Nick replied. “It’s not all that original. When I was fifteen, I got recruited to a gang. The usual story—they threatened my family if I didn’t do what they said.”
Mercury went cold. He’d heard of gangs using children to do their bidding. “What did they have you doing?”
“Delivering packages. I knew better than to question what was in them.”
Mercury had never gone near drugs. Yet, in the circles he moved in, they were freely available. None of the rich partygoers ever stopped to think of the real human cost further down the chain. All that mattered was that the night went off with a bang.
“Go on,” he said.
Nick looked down at his hands. “Me and Mum were fighting like cat and dog. I’d given up on school. Everything revolved around the gang. In the end, me and a couple of mates got a flat together. After growing up in a high-rise, a new-build down by the river seemed like a palace. Honestly, I was seventeen and thought I’d made it.”
The kids were eagerly discussing something in the other room. Mercury saw through this different light how fragile their innocence was as they neared adulthood.
“To cut a long story short, the gang owned the flat, of course. They offered us the chance to buy it if we took on extra duties. No one in my family has ever owned their own place. I had it inmy head if I managed it, my parents would stop nagging at me to get a different job.”
“What duties?”
“Security. Guys further up the pecking order would go and collect cash. I had to make sure no one bothered them. They gave me a gun.”
Mercury’s blood ran cold. “A gun?”
“I know. So fucking stupid. Six months in and I got stopped. The cops searched my car and found it in the glove compartment. Go directly to jail, do not pass Go and do not collect two hundred pounds.”
“Shit,” Mercury said. “How long did you get?”
“Two years and I served a year. To be honest, it was the best thing that happened. Don’t get me wrong, it was hell inside. When I got out, I made it clear I was done with that life. They put up a fight, of course. In the end they let me go. I’d been decent to them and they understood that if my heart wasn’t in it, I’d be more of a liability than a help.”
Mercury desperately wanted to take hold of Nick’s hand. It must have cost him a lot to admit this. It made throwing a glass of red onto a canvas pretty pathetic. No matter who’d done it.
“How did you get here?”
“My parole officer helped me sign up for a correspondence degree in Social Care. I moved back in with my parents and worked my arse off.”
Mercury was confused. “What about your record?”
“Bodhi House is a private charity. Of course, I had to register as a social worker. That was touch and go and you wouldn’t believe the amount of red tape. Luckily, my tutors and parole officer vouched for me. If there’s any trouble, I’ll be out on my arse though. They watch me very closely.”
Mercury sat back in his chair. “That’s quite a story. You’re amazing, you know that? Absolutely fucking amazing.”
Nick blushed. “Hardly. I do get paid and a roof over my head.”
“A roof?”
“I live next door.”
That explained the identical gardens.
