Broken English (Broken Lives Book 1) (16 page)

“It’s more extreme at Wera.”

“Report ’em to the principal or punish ’em
with detention. They’ll soon learn that it’s not appropriate behaviour. After
all, that’s why you’re there: to educate the kids.”

“In literature.”

He shook his head. “You also need to teach
’em how to behave.”

Markus was a gym teacher as well as the
swimming coach at a prestigious boys’ school in London. Or
had
been,
since he was now here.

I exhaled loudly. “I don’t think some of
these kids even know what
behave
means. I really feel like I’m wasting
my time there,”
which was partially true, since the kids at Wera were a
handful.

“If you’re wasting your time, then why did
that girl ace that test you emailed me?” he replied.

I had gushed about Lindy, finding her a
dream to teach. She was like a sponge, soaking up everything I said, unlike the
rest of the class, who looked like they were biding their time until the bell
rang.

He continued, “She got every question
right, not only that, she went into depth with her answers. She obviously loves
your class; otherwise she wouldn’t ’ave done so well.”

A small smile broke through my upset.

“Now,
that’s
what I want to see,”
he said, brushing a kiss over my smile. He pulled back a fraction, his blue
eyes staring into mine. “It’s those kinds of kids that will get ya through the
day, making the hard times worthwhile. Also, it’s even more rewarding when you manage
to capture the attention of the wayward ones. Don’t you wanna make ’em fall in
love with literature like you did?”

“Yes, more than anything.”

“Then work for it, ’cause with children
like that it’ll require
a lot
of work. And if you manage to succeed, it
could be the difference between ’em ending up in jail or going on to higher
education.”

“I guess so,” I answered, his
pronunciation of
them
,
or in particular
’em
, sounding like
he was saying
him
. It made me think he was referring to Dante, the real subject
of the conversation.

“I
know
so,” he replied. “You ’ave
the chance to change lives in Wera, be a real inspiration for those kids. I can
just imagine the type of lives some of ’em lead. You see it on the telly all
the time: kids tagging, stealing, being sent to borstals, getting abused by
their loved ones, going hungry, dying...”

He continued talking, making me think
about what Dante had experienced. A different kind of guilt wormed its way into
my mind, opening my eyes to what I’d been neglecting. I’d been so caught up
with his looks that I’d ignored the fact I was meant to teach him. I needed to quash
my disturbing thoughts and concentrate on the job I was paid for, which was to
instil a passion for literature inside of Dante, to the point that he could
progress to the next year, learning more and more, giving him a chance for a
better life or a means of escape from his current one.

“So, do ya still wanna quit?” Markus
asked.

I shook my head, determined to make things
right.

15

DANTE

I stopped to unlock my gate as Jasper
headed across the road, bouncing the basketball we’d been playing with after
school. I slipped inside my property, quickly locking it before my dogs could
escape. Bob and Marley came bounding over, trying to get me to pick them up,
their excited barks filling the air. I went to my knees to give them a cuddle,
almost getting knocked down.

“Easy, guys,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around
the excited dogs. “You’re acting like you haven’t seen me in weeks.”

Bob barked while Marley gave me a big lick
up the side of my face.

I laughed again and wiped my cheek. “You’re
a way better kisser than Phelia, Marley. You should give her lessons.”

Marley barked and sprinted for the door,
probably hoping I’d let her inside, while Bob ran after his mate. I followed
them, pushing past the two dogs. “Back up,” I said in a stern voice.

They did what they were told, giving me
room to unlock the door. I went to do just that, but it swung open before I
could get my key in. I jumped, not having expected anyone home, since my dad’s motorbike
wasn’t in the driveway.

“Hello, Dante,” Jasper’s auntie said,
smiling at me from inside the house. Ngaire had her long, thick brown hair tied
back into a ponytail. She was dressed in Daisy Dukes and a black crop top,
giving me an eyeful of skin I’d much rather not have seen. Although she was okay
looking, she still creeped me out. Prior to my growth spurt, I’d thought she
was nice. But now her smiles were more lewd than friendly. She was just lucky
my dad was too stupid to notice, because she wouldn’t have any teeth left to
smile at me with if he had.

“How’d you get in ’ere?” I asked, the bird
ruining my mood. “Is my dad home?”

“No. He gave me a key.”

“What for?” I said, hoping like hell he
didn’t rent out the spare room to her.

“He’s payin’ me to clean your house.
You’re a really messy boy, Dante. Your room wuz a pigsty.”

I pushed past her. “You’re not allowed in
my room,” I said, heading for it. “And my dad won’t be payin’ you shit; he has
no money.”

She followed me down the passage. “I know,
he pays me in booze. He’s givin’ me a bottle of vodka today, while the day you
passed out drunk I got some gin in exchange for washing and ironing your
clothes.”

I spun around. “You did that?”

She nodded, her eyes twinkling at me. “You
look so beautiful when you sleep.”

My eyes widened. “You fuckin’ creeper!”

She scowled at me. “That’s not anyway to
talk to your auntie.”

“You’re not my auntie, your Jasper’s, so
fuck off.” I entered my room, the place spotless, even my bed was made. “And
let the door hit your arse on the way out.” I slammed it in her face, both
grossed out and pissed off. I just hoped she hadn’t found my stash of drugs
under the floorboards. I went to check, but stopped as my door creaked opened.

“Fuck off!” I yelled, furious she wouldn’t
leave.

She stepped inside my room. “I would if I
didn’t want sumpthin’ from you.” She glanced at my bed, making it crystal clear
what she was after.

I screwed up my face in disgust. “You have
gotta be kidding me? You’re even older than my dad.”

“But in good nick.”

“Only according to you, and I’m underage.
You could go to jail for fucking me.”

“So could your clients, but I don’t think
you’ll tell anyone ’bout them, will you?”

I froze. “My clients?”

She dug my phone out of her pocket.

Shit!

I snatched it out of her hand. “What the
fuck are you doin’ with my phone?!”

“I found it in the pocket of your dirty
school pants, so I had a looksie.” Her smile widened. “You
really
shouldn’t
make your password so easy to crack. I got it on the fourth go. Sixteen for
your birthday and eleven for the month you were born.”

Realising she’d checked my messages, I
quickly turned on my phone. My heart pounded as I read Mason’s texts, Ngaire obviously
having opened them. They were all about Mason wanting to buy coke and weed, leaving
no doubt that I was his dealer.

“You have some
very
interesting text
messages,” she said. “But none of them could compare to your voicemail. Who’s Sierra?”

My hands started to shake. Praying Sierra
hadn’t left anything incriminating, I opened up my voicemail, listening to the
first message.

Sierra’s voice came over the line:
“I
know you’re upset that I paid you for sex, but you shouldn’t be. You made me
and Camie very happy. You were worth every cent, cutie pie, if not more. How
about you shelve those morals of yours and meet up with me on Friday night;
same place, same time. I’m a very rich woman, gorgeous. It would be silly to
turn me down. I could make your life a whole lot better. So, call me.”

I deleted the message, along with Mason’s
texts. “This isn’t what it sounds like,” I said, looking back up, scared she was
going to tell my dad. “Sierra got the wrong end of the stick.”

Ngaire snorted out a laugh. “Or more
likely she got the right end of your dick.”

“I didn’t fuck her for money; I
wanted
to
fuck her and her friend. It’s not my fault the morons assumed I wuz a whore.”

“You can deny it all you want, baby boy,
but as far as I see it, you took money for sex, not to mention you’re selling
drugs. And I’d bet it’s Hunter who’s supplying you. I wonder what your father
would say if he knew. Hmmm...” She stroked her chin, making out like she was
thinking, although I knew she wasn’t. The bitch obviously had this whole
scenario planned out.

“You have no proof,” I snapped, knowing my
dad would beat Hunter to a pulp.

“Your messages are enough proof.”

“I deleted them, so take your skank-ho
arse the fuck outta my house and don’t come back.”

She smiled. “I took photos of your texts
and recorded the voice message on your home phone
as well
as mine.”

I rushed past her, running to the landline
in the lounge. I grabbed the phone off the shelf and pressed for the messages.
I gripped the receiver as Sierra’s voice came over the line faint, but still
clear enough to hear every word. I quickly deleted it, then rushed back into my
room, where Jasper’s auntie was sitting on my bed, minus her top, the woman not
wearing a bra.

I swiped her top off the floor and threw
it at her face. “Delete the message off your phone.
Now!
”

“It can wait.”

“No, it can’t! Your brother could hear
it.”

“Stop stressing. It’s on my personal phone,
which is in my bedroom. He won’t listen to it
unless
I play it for him.”

“You can’t do that; he’ll tell my dad!”

“I won’t tell him.”

I breathed out.

“But...”

I sucked in another breath.

“...my silence comes with a price.”

“How much?” I asked, upset that the first
time I had money I was going to lose it. Although I’d bought food and paid for
the power, I’d planned on using the remaining cash for some upcoming bills. My dad
didn’t earn enough to cover everything, which was partially due to the fact he didn’t
always turn up to work.

Her smile widened. “I don’t want your
money, darling,” she said, dropping her gaze to my crotch.

 “Hell, no!” I backed up. “I’m not fucking
you.”

“You already whored yourself at least once.”
She pushed up off the bed and took a step closer to me. “What’s one more time?”

I took another step back. “No!”

“O-
kay
. Let’s see what your dad
says when he finds out you’re dealing and whoring.”

I raked a hand through my hair, not
knowing what to do. “
Please
, you can’t do this to me.”

“I won’t as long as you...” She reached
out, cupping my crotch.

I smacked her hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

Her expression darkened, her brown eyes
blazing. “You let those women touch you.”

“Cos I liked them.”

Her expression darkened further. “Well,
start liking me fast before I go home and play that message for my brother.”

She yanked her top on and went for the
door. I reached past her, slamming it shut before she could get through. She
spun around, looking startled over what I’d done. Knowing I had to intimidate her
into silence, I hit the door next to her head, causing her to jump.

Putting on a vicious expression, I lowered
my face to hers. “You say one word and I’ll see it’s
you
who’ll end up in
the hospital,” I lied, “
not
my cousin.”

“Is that so?” she said, not looking the
least bit intimidated.

“Yes,” I gritted out, moving my hand to
her throat.

A shudder went through her body, but not from
fear, her expression turned on. Grossed out, I let go of her and stepped back.

She smiled at me. “I’ve had much bigger and
rougher men than you put their hands around my neck, gripping so tight I
couldn’t breathe. They wanted to hurt me, but you, sweet pea, are all pretence.
What you did might intimidate a young girl, but not me. And I highly doubt
you’d harm me, especially knowing what it would do to Jasper. You saw how he
reacted when you were rude to me. He’s protective of me, boy, which means if
you truly wanna hurt me, be prepared to lose your best friend, once you’ve lost
your teeth, that is.”

“You’re a bitch.”

“True, but I’m one who knows what she
wants, and that’s you. So, what will it be, Dante?” Her eyebrows rose. “Your
father finding out what you’ve been up to or you doin’ this one small favour
for me?”

I didn’t reply, knowing she had me by the
balls.

“Don’t look so scared, sweet pea. You’ll
love what I’ve got planned for you.” She grabbed my waistband and yanked me to
her.