“I think it’s quite funny,” said Jodie. “And he calls him ‘John the Baptist’.” She said, pointing at John.
“I was wearing a cross the first time I met him,” John explained. “But most importantly, he’s a regular at The Lion and his stuff’s always good.”
“Are you cool with going to The Lion for me in future, Jimmy the Coat?” Andy made a point of using Jimmy’s new mobster handle.
“It all seems quite harmless,” Jimmy confessed. “But I’ll only pick you some up if I’m going there anyway. I won’t be making any special journeys for a fiver.”
“But it won’t just be a fiver though, will it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know loads of people at school who smoke dope. But nobody knows where to buy it.”
“I’m not getting involved with supplying people at the school. It’s too risky. I just got you some this evening as a favour.”
“Okay. Suit yourself.”
“Right! Who fancies some of this?” John had been busy building another joint whilst the others were discussing the events at The Lion.
Jimmy cooked pizza for the four of them when the munchies kicked in, but apart from regular beer and toilet breaks, they did not venture back into the house until nearly midnight. John had to get home before twelve and so Jodie agreed to drive him back.
“What about you?” Jimmy asked Andy. “Are you heading back now?”
“I live in the opposite direction,” Andy said. “I was planning to crash here again. Is that okay?”
“Sure thing. There’s still plenty to drink.”
“Don’t you have class in the morning?”
“Yes, but it’s French and Mme. Carré and I have an understanding.”
“What sort of understanding?”
“Well, all my teachers know that my parents got divorced last year and Mme. Carré is one of my victims. I’m abusing the sympathy vote.”
“How is she a victim?”
“I have told her I am seeing a counsellor during her lessons and neither the school, nor my father know anything about it. She can’t tell anyone in case it gets back to my dad. She understands that I want him to think I am being strong and handling everything very well.”
“That’s hilarious. And she believes you?”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter if she believes me or not. It’s a little too touchy a subject for her to take any chances with. Besides, I cried a lot and hugged her when I told her. And I do still go to French sometimes.”
“Don’t you feel bad about taking advantage of her good nature?”
“Yes, I feel quite guilty for lying to her. But not guilty enough to ignore the fact that there’s still beer in the kitchen and I have the option of staying in bed in the morning if I want.”
“What do you have in periods three and four?”
“AS-level Maths. But it’s okay, Mrs. Cotton thinks I am seeing a counsellor during her lessons, too.”
§
“How many people?” Asked Jimmy after a couple more beers and the conversation had gone quiet.
“Sorry?” Andy was nodding off.
“How many people at the school smoke dope?”
“I don’t know. About one-third, maybe half, in my year.”
“And nobody knows where to buy it?”
“No, there’s no-one dealing in the school, I’m sure. Sometimes the guys in the house have some after they come back from holiday, but that soon disappears.”
“Do you think it would be safe? Selling to other people at school?”
“I’m not really the person to ask, am I? I got caught selling it at my last school. But I was careless. I took too many risks.”
“Do you trust the people in your house? I mean, if they get caught, will they say anything about where they get it?
“None of them would ever grass. Why? Are you considering the idea now? I can let people know in the house if you want.”
“I would be happier if you introduced the ones you trust, rather than giving out my name. I want to know who I am dealing with.”
“Okay, I can do that. But you mustn’t say a word about any of this to Mike, alright?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to say a word about this to anyone. It’s my future at Bankside at risk if it gets out.”
§
Jimmy didn’t see Andy again until Tuesday lunchbreak, in the quad.
“Jimmy, this is Salvatore.” Andy was with a guy from his year most people knew as ‘Sal’. “He wants to be introduced.”
“Hi Jimmy,” Salvatore shook Jimmy’s hand. “I was just going for a walk by the tennis courts. Thought you might want to walk with me?”
“Any friend of Andy’s...” Jimmy left his sentence hanging in midair and gestured that they walk.
“Okay, after you. You can call me Sal.”
“So, what can I do for you?” Jimmy enquired.
“Andy says you can get hold of some smoke for me.”
“That’s right. It’s twenty quid for an eighth.”
“What if I want more than that?”
“Then you would need to multiply the number of twenty quids by the number of eighths you want.”
“What if I want a half ounce or an ounce?”
“Then it’s eighty or one-hundred and sixty quid. Do you know your twenty times table? The maths is quite simple.”
“Don’t get funny with me. If I’m buying more, it should be cheaper.”
“But the more I buy, the higher my risk, I should charge extra danger money for larger amounts. If I get caught with an eighth, the police will just confiscate it. If I get caught with an ounce, I could be arrested and expelled from school.”
“Okay. So how does this work if I just want an eighth?”
“You give me twenty quid, I will get your smoke for you after school and deliver it to your house this evening. Which house are you in?”
“Oak House. Same place as Andy.” Sal gave Jimmy twenty quid.
“I’ll meet you at the gate at nine o’clock. If there’s a problem, I’ll call the house phone.”
“Right, I’ll see you later. Cheers, Jimmy.”
Jimmy got changed out of his uniform after school, but remembered to wear the coat over his jeans and sweater. He cycled to Kington and got to The Lion at half past six. The place was pretty quiet, but Mappa was already in the beer garden.
“Hi, Mappa.”
“Jimmy the Coat. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“Well, I’m here.”
“Are you wanting to speak to Roly, later?”
“Yes, please. Just the one.”
“Okay. Fifteen quid. Go and wait in the conservatory.”
Jimmy gave Mappa the money and went and ordered a beer from one of the infamous accompanying adults.
Selling one eighth would only make Jimmy a fiver, but he was not there to make money, he was there to buy some illegal drugs to deliver to Sal.
Salvatore Rizzuti was among the super cool elite in the Bankside quad. He was a real ladies’ man and always wore the latest designer suits. His father was a major shareholder in an Italian car company. Not one of the famous sports car manufacturers, like Ferrari or Lamborghini, but one of the mainstream producers of family vehicles.
Needless to say, the family was very wealthy.
Salvatore didn’t need to add anything to his name to sound like a mobster. Italian names just have that kind of ring to them anyway. But Jimmy still wondered what Roly might call him if he met him.
Italian Sal?
Sal the Salami?
He smiled to himself at the idea of changing Salvatore Rizzuti’s nickname at Bankside to Salami. There would not be much he could do about it if the name stuck. Sal was a great guy but he was tiny.
But that did not stop all the girls from wanting to shag him and all the boys from wanting to be his friend. Hell, some of the boys probably wanted to shag him, too. He never said a bad word about anyone and you never heard a bad word said about him. He did not excel at sport, music, or anything apart from being Sal. But that was enough.
Jimmy felt honoured to be the guy picking up Sal’s smoke. He did not want it to become known to the school that he was selling drugs, but if there was some way he could become known as Jimmy the Coat, supplier of fine cannabis resin to the super cool elite, he could live with that.
Roly arrived almost dead on seven and Mappa popped his head into the conservatory to let Jimmy know that it was okay for him to pick up his gear. Jimmy finished his pint and went outside.
“Jimmy the Coat.” Roly said, gesturing to the opposite bench at the table. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“Hi Roly. Are those the lyrics to a song?” Jimmy asked, sitting down. “That’s the second time I’ve heard them tonight.”
“You’ve lost me.” Roly said, extending his hand, slightly raised from the table for Jimmy to take what he had in his fist.
“Never mind,” Jimmy said, taking the clingfilm-wrapped lump. “It’s just something Mappa said earlier, too.”
“Am I going to be seeing you on a daily basis?” Roly asked.
“I don’t know,” Jimmy shrugged.
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow then, Coat.”
“Maybe.”
Jimmy had almost two hours until he was due at Oak House. He decided to cycle back from Kington and have a pint in The Crown. He wanted to see if Jodie was working.
It was half past seven when Jimmy got to The Crown. No sign of Jodie. He made himself comfortable at the bar and ordered a pint – his second of the evening. The beer expenses to get Sal’s smoke were going to exceed the fiver profit if he had any more. But Jimmy would have spent the same money on beer anyway on a normal evening. Picking up the smoke would cover three of the evening’s beers and he was enjoying the buzz of supplying the drugs.
Moses would be staying on exeat the next weekend, which would bring in one-hundred pounds, and he had a couple of evening shifts at the restaurant, too, so he did not need to worry about money for the time being. But Jimmy could not stop thinking about making more money and the conversation he’d had with Andy. If half the senior year smoked pot, and he was their supplier, he could make a fortune. He would not be doing anything bad. It was not the same as being a drug pusher, giving hard drugs to little kids so they became addicted. He would just be a middle man, providing a much-needed service to his schoolmates. In Jimmy’s opinion, this was perfectly morally defensible.
Jimmy polished off a third, and a fourth, pint before he hopped back on the bike and cycled out to Oak House. It was three miles outside of town on a busy main road, but it was not peak traffic time and Jimmy’s bike had halogen lights to rival those on any any motorcycle.
Jimmy arrived there ahead of time. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his system because he was excited about the drop. Or maybe it was the four pints he’d drunk already that evening.
It was quite cold waiting outside Oak House and Jimmy wondered if he had time for another drink in The Ship before nine o’clock. He had twenty minutes until the arranged delivery time. He could see the boarding house gate from the bar window. It was a no-brainer.
He was back outside the gate of Oak House just before nine o’ clock. Sal was there exactly on the hour and Jimmy just slipped him the lump of hash through the bars of the gate.
“Cheers, Jimmy.”
“No problem.”
Mission accomplished.
Easy.
Jimmy went back into The Ship, feeling very pleased with himself.
§
“Jimmy Knight?”
A familiar-sounding voice interrupted the fantasy that was going on inside Jimmy’s head. The yacht, the bikini-clad babes and the spot on the airfield with the Coat Hangar, where he kept his plane, all disappeared.
“Hello, Sir.” Jimmy’s other French teacher, Mr. Park, was standing next to him with a big smile on his face and a pint in his hand. “Fancy seeing you in here.”
“Did you want to speak to me?” Mr. Park enquired.
“No, Sir.” Jimmy was confused. “Why would you think that?”
“It’s a little out of town for you. You usually drink in The Crown. And this is my local. I thought that you might want someone to talk to.”
“How do you know I drink in The Crown?”
“I’m the assistant houseparent here at Oak House. All the houseparents and assistant houseparents know who drinks where among the day pupils. Some of the duty teachers might be a little wet behind the ears on Saturdays, but the houseparents have to know what’s what because our boys sometimes take exeats with friends who are day pupils. Andy and Mike stayed at your place this weekend. Am I right?”
“Yes, they were at my house.”
“I understand your dad was away for the weekend.”
“Yes, but...”
“Mike told me. He said you guys had a great time. You’d invited some local girls and you drank and partied all night. Where was my invite?”
Mr. Park was still in his twenties. After graduating he had worked as an investment banker for a few years before deciding he wanted to do something more emotionally rewarding. Fluent in French, German and Spanish, with a passion for teaching games and a willingness to take on the role of assistant houseparent, he had landed a job easily at Bankside.
“I’ll be sure to invite you next time, Sir.”
“I’m only kidding you, Knight. But what brings you out here? Mme. Carré told me that you are seeing a counsellor and you have been missing some lessons. I thought maybe you wanted someone to talk to.”
“That’s supposed to be confidential.”
“Don’t worry. It hasn’t gone any further. She was just worried about your grades.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my grades. If I thought it was causing a problem, I would do something about it.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“What? You told her not to worry?”
“Yes.”
“Why? What does it have to do with you?”
“Look, Knight, you’ve been through a tough time with your parents and no-one expects you to just carry on as though nothing has happened, but you can’t neglect your studying. If you ever feel that your school work is suffering, or if you need someone to talk to, who isn’t a counsellor, it might help to talk to one of your teachers.”
“I appreciate your concern, Sir, but I just came here to get away from The Crown. A change of scene. Time to think. You know?”
“Okay, Knight. But try not to do all your philosophising in the pub. I’m sure your father needs a friend now, too.”
“Yes, Sir. I know he does.”
“And if you ever need to schedule a meeting with the counsellor during one of my lessons instead of Mme. Carré’s, just let me know.”
Result.
And no need for hugs or tears.
“Thank you, Sir. That means a lot. I appreciate it.”
Jimmy was pleased to have Mr. Park on board for his truancy scam, but he had been very stupid.
Perhaps it was the excitement of his first drop.
Perhaps it was because of who the drugs were for.
Perhaps it was because he had drunk several pints.
It did not matter.
He had been very stupid.
He needed to be more aware of the consequences of his actions.
Being seen in The Ship could start tongues wagging and it wouldn’t take Mike long to figure out what was going on if it came to light that Jimmy had been spotted by Oak House, at around nine o’clock at night, just after Andy had been smoking drugs at Jimmy’s house.
No more drinking before dropping off.
No more frequenting pubs next to boarding houses.
It was time to wake up and smell the cannabis... and the associated risks that went with it.
