‘Don’t talk to me like that.’
‘Don’t talk to me at all.’
He headed for the door.
‘Where are you going?’ Dad shouted after him.
‘To see the others.’
‘Which others?’
‘The band, of course.’
‘Will you be back?’
‘At some point.’
And Dad shouted something else then, and Mum too, but Dougie didn’t stop.
#
He ran through the streets with an urgency the likes of which he’d not felt before. Dougie felt totally alone, which struck him as strange because he could see people just about everywhere. He paid no attention to any of them, completely disconnected, completely focused on getting across town.
He found that some of the larger open spaces were virtually empty. The usually busy Paradise Square was desolate. There was more wildlife here than anything. Crows, magpies, pigeons and seagull
