Numbers

There are places where kids like me go. Sad kids, bad kids, bored kids and lonely kids, kids that are different. Any day of the week, if you know where to look, you’ll find us:
behind the shops, in back lanes, under bridges by canals and rivers, round garages, in sheds, on allotments. There are thousands of us. If you choose to find us, that is – most people don’t. If they do see us, they look away, pretend we’re not there. It’s easier that way. Don’t believe all that crap about giving everyone a chance – when they see us, they’re glad we’re not in school with their kids, disrupting their lessons, making their lives a misery. The teachers, too. Do you think they’re disappointed when we don’t turn up for registration? Do me a favour, they’re laughing – they don’t want kids like us in their classrooms, and we don’t want to be there.
Most hang about in small groups, twos or threes, whiling away the hours. Me, I like to be on my own.