Dave Cousins - 15 Days Without a Head

Woodbury, Minnesota

For Jane, Ptolemy, Hockey,
and Dylan, with love.

Copyright Information

15 Days Without a Head 2013 by Dave Cousins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Flux, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Cover models used for illustrative purposes only and may not endorse or represent the books subject.

First e-book edition 2013

E-book ISBN: 9780738737379

Originally published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2012

Book design by Bob Gaul
Cover design by Lisa Novak

Cover images: Telephone booth iStockphoto.com/Lucia Chacon

Boy Image Source/PunchStock

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Acknowledgments

Writing a book can take a long time and is, for the most part, a solitary venture. But I would like to acknowledge the help and support I have received from a number of people, without whom 15 Days Without a Head would never have been published.

My greatest debt is owed to my family (Cousins and Raven) and friends, for their tolerance, encouragement, and patience. My wife Jane read each draft many times and never held back from giving an honest opinion. Other early readers, my mum Pam Cousins and Tony and Viv Martin, gave me valuable feedback, while Helen Corner at Cornerstones told me I should keep going. A special thank you to EDMTC for her never-ending faith, and for buying me a computer to write this on. Love and thanks to Ptol, Hock, and Dylan for inspiration, and for reminding me of whats really important.

Gratitude to Patti Wright-Goss for putting me in touch with Eilis Woodlock, whose experience as a Childrens Social Worker was invaluable. Thumbs-up to Mike Bouvier and Nick Harper for setting me straight on the workings of a local radio phone-in, and many thanks to my dad, Mike Cousins, for sharing his inside knowledge of the day-to-day operation of secondary schools and for checking my Shakespeare.

Natascha Biebow, Sara Grant, and Sara OConnor at SCBWI in the UK will eternally be my fairy godmothers for organizing the inspired Undiscovered Voices anthology and changing my life forever. Ann Tobias was generous with her time and advice, and I am privileged to work with Sarah Manson, probably the best agent in the world, and to benefit from her insight, belief, and enthusiasm. Sarah, alongside my wonderful editor Jasmine Richards, and everyone at Oxford University Press must take the credit for making a dream come true when they published this story in the UK.

The book you are holding today would not exist if Brian Farrey-Latz had not brought Laurence, Jay, and Mina to the United States. I am hugely grateful to everyone at Flux, especially Brian, Sandy, Bob, Lisa, Courtney, and Mallory for all their hard work in making sure my book would become better traveled than I am!

Finally, thanks to you, the reader, for picking up a copy. I hope you enjoy the story.

Dave Cousins
Hertfordshire, England

February 2013

Tuesday

The front door slams. Mums back.

It sounds like a dead body hitting the ground as she dumps her stuff in the hall and goes straight to the kitchen. I hear the thud of a bottle on the table, the crack of the cap, then the slow glug as liquid spills into a glass.

Mum coughs, drags a chair across the floor, and sits down.

The smell of cigarette smoke drifts into the front room, where me and Jay are being quiet. Keeping out of the way until Happy Hourwhen the first drink has worked its magic and made her smile again.

Where are my beautiful boys? Where are they hiding?

Thats the signal, the all clear; its safe to go out there. Happy Hour has begun.

We go into the kitchen. Jay runs into her arms and shes all smiles and kisses. I hang back by the door until she waves me over and pulls me into the hug. The smell of chip fat and cigarettes is suffocating.

Jay tells her about his day at school. She listens and smiles and refills the glass. The liquid inside is thick and red.

Slowly she stops listening. Her eyes glaze over and the smile sags. Jays still talking, his high, six-year-old voice too loud. Theres a knife on the table and hes spinning it while he talks. And then at playtime, Matt said swish but we didnt want to play that swish, clink so I said we should play clink, swish, tink as it clips the bottle and Mums eye starts to twitch.

I put my hand over the knife and tell Jay its time for bed.

He scowls at me. Not going to bed.

Yes you are, its bedtime.

Not!

Come on, Jay.

Its not up to you anyway. He looks at Mum.

Her eyes stumble back into focus. Whats that, sweetheart?

I dont have to go to bed, do I?

Of course not, darling. Come and give Mummy a cuddle.

My little brother gives me a triumphant look and clambers into her lap. I shrug and leave them to it. But I stay within earshot.

Happy Hour lasts for approximately one hour. Sometimes less. Its worse when she doesnt drink, when weve run out of money. No drink equals no Happy Hour. Mum storming round the flat, shouting at me and Jay because everythings in a mess. Either that or she stays in bed all day, or locks herself in the bathroom and you can hear her crying through the door. Sometimes shes in there for hours, so I have to take Jay outside to wee behind the bins.

I get Jay into his pajamas by eight oclock. He shuffles along the hall to the bathroom on all fours, then looks back at me and barks. This is perfectly normal behaviorat least, its not unusual for Jay. I dont remember when his thing with dogs began, but he only started pretending he was one just after we moved here. He doesnt do it all the time, just when he knows its going to wind me uplike now.

Come on, Jay, do your teeth.

I squirt some toothpaste onto his toothbrush and offer it to him.

He shakes his head.

If you dont do your teeth theyll fall out.

Jay woofs and grins up at me.