Chapter Four

"I'm bored," Greg said, lounging on his sofa. Dave had grown to loathe that phrase; so far every time Greg had been bored, it had ended in beating up some poor kid. Dave was beginning to lose count of the number of teens Greg had taken out his boredom on.

"Aren't we all," the skinhead - Paul - laughed.

"Why don't we do something a bit more fun?" Greg suddenly said, sitting up.

"Like what?" Dave asked cautiously.

"Let's go shoplifting," Greg grinned, and jumped off the sofa.

"Have you done it before?" Paul and Rob - Greg's other friend - both snorted. Greg gave them an evil look.

"Sure, I've done shoplifting before. There's a little shop down the road, we could get something alcoholic."

"I'm in." Paul eagerly jumped up. "What about it, newbie?"

"Ok," Dave said warily. "Are we going this evening?"

"Nope," Greg said. "Now." He walked out of the room and started to tug his boots on. The three boys followed him quickly.

"Why?" Dave asked him. "Are you insane or something? It's going to be obvious as soon as we go in that we're up to no good, because we're supposed to be at school right now. At least wait until school finishes."

"Scared?" Paul asked, getting in Dave's face.

"I would prefer not to get arrested, if that's what you mean." He didn't want to back down from Paul, but he was wondering whether he could really win this argument.

"Dave does have a point," Greg said grudgingly. "Wait until four and then we'll go looting."

The four boys had all put on hoodies and sunglasses. It made them look very suspicious, but hopefully it would be good enough to avoid being recognised.

"So, got any fancy tricks?" Dave asked Greg.

"What do you think we should take?" Paul asked.

"I reckon we should get twelve cans of beer," Rob said. "Divide it evenly between us."

They walked into the small off-licence. There was a short weedy cashier, and five younger girls from Dave's school. The cashier seemed fully occupied trying to stop the girls from slipping packets of gum into the pockets of their jeans. Greg quickly pulled two six packs of the shelves and stuffed them into his rucksacks, just as the store's second employee walked out. Unlike his fellow cashier, this man was tall and burly. He stormed towards the boys and grabbed the back of Greg's rucksack.

"Come back here!" Dave lashed out, kicking the man in the kidneys. He grunted and released his hold on Greg. Greg immediately ran for it. Paul couldn't resist running forwards and punching the man in the head. Unfortunately for Paul, the man grabbed his wrist as he lunged forwards, and sent Paul sprawling on the floor.

"Run you idiot!" Rob hissed, and shoved Dave in the back. The two boys ran out of the shop, diving past the shorter cashier who was staring dumbstruck at them. The girls he had been trying to stop from stealing the gum took the opportunity to stuff as many packets as they could down their trousers and then slipped out, giggling. Dave and Rob ran back to Greg's, not caring if anyone noticed them. Rob hammered at Greg's door, looking anxiously behind him. Dave could hear a siren in the distance and hoped nobody had recognised them. Greg opened the front door and the two boys piled in, panting.

"That was mad," Greg grinned. "Nice kick, Dave. Where did you learn that?"

"Dad's a karate instructor." Dave used the standard CHERUB excuse. "Will Paul spill? I'm sure he got nicked."

"Nah, he won't," Greg said confidently. "Beer anyone?" Rob nodded, and Greg passed him a beer.

"Are you sure you've gone shoplifting before?" Dave asked.

"Only once or twice. First time I've ever got anything decent though." Greg laughed.

"I seem to recall a somewhat more botched occasion, when you completely chickened out of grabbing anything off the shelves," Rob muttered. "Idiot."

"Makes a difference when you have competent people working with you," Greg continued, ignoring Rob. "Beer?" Dave took a beer, and took a swig. He needed to be careful how much he had, as he was slightly worried about what Greg might do if he got drunk.

Paul met the three at the park in the evening. They were all slightly drunk, Dave having failed miserably in his attempts to watch how much he was drinking.

"Save any for me?" Paul said moodily.

"Nope," Greg said.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope," Greg repeated.

"Can you say anything other than nope?"

"Nope," Greg said, beginning to laugh. Paul punched him in the face.

"Can you stop being such an-" Paul never finished his sentence, as Greg lunged forwards, and the two boys went rolling on the ground, fists flying. Greg was taller and had an advantage of weight, but Paul clearly was winning, being sober. Dave and Rob tried to pull the two apart, but after Dave got kicked painfully in the knee by a stray boot, the two stayed out of it. Kids began to gather around them, discussing gleefully who would win: Greg was feared by many, and had very few proper friends.

The two broke apart, gasping for breath. Paul was holding his side, and Greg was clutching his wrist, his eyes squeezed tightly shut in pain. Dave darted between them, and shoved them backwards.

"Cut it out," he said angrily. He turned to Paul. "Do you want to get arrested again?" Paul spat at the ground. Greg stumbled out of the ring of watching teens, and threw up behind a bush, to general delight.

"Do you want some?" he screamed at the crowd. There were a few jeers, but they very quickly dispersed, all slightly scared of what might happen in the near future if they didn't. Paul walked up to him.

"I'm done with you," he sneered. "You're pathetic." He stumbled backwards as Greg went for him again, but Rob ran over and shoved Greg away from him.

"Lay off."

"Help me get him, or maybe I can beat you up as well the next time I see you." Rob looked at him for a long moment, and then turned away.

"Come on, Paul, let's go."

"What?" Greg mumbled, shocked. He turned and retched into the bush again.

"Let's head off," Dave said quietly. He took Greg's arm and began to lead him away, hoping the boy wouldn't turn on him as well.

"You'll help me get them, right?"

"Yeah, course," Dave muttered, wanting to get Greg out of the park as soon as possible. By now, he was convinced that Greg wasn't involved in Gwen's shoplifting ring. He hoped that Amy could get her part of the mission finished as quickly as possible; he didn't like the direction things were taking.