Mr Dibbs Fixes Bikes

8

The rain had poured down since the moment Frederick had woken up. It bounced and battered off his bedroom window, like a drummer that had suddenly started playing at a million beats per minute. Condensation had formed at the bottom of the window, but he could still look upward to the clouds that blanketed the sky from one side to the other. There was no way he'd be able to go out exploring the area now.

He had something to feel grateful for, though. After the low point of the day before, his mum appeared to have found her bounce once again, rushing around, making breakfast and drinking coffee as she checked her e-mails. For the better part of the day before, and the night, she had sat upon the sofa doing nothing. No, that was wrong, she had done something. She had got changed into her comfy clothes, in the middle of the day, and that was about it, save for ordering in a Chinese takeaway, the remains now sat in the fridge awaiting reheating, or throwing away.

When his mum was like this, Frederick could imagine her taking on the entire world and winning. Like this, she would never struggle at work. She would rise to the top and earn enough money to live somewhere really nice. Like this, she could have made Dad stay with them and fix whatever problems they had. Only, days like this happened less often than Frederick would like, and days like yesterday happened more often than he felt comfortable with.

In a few days, her new job would start and that was when things could switch at any moment. His mum loved working but, sometimes, she worked too hard and it tired her a lot more than she would admit and, with this being a new job, Mum would have to put even more effort in to impress her new bosses. That would mean she would have even less time for him and he would have to spend even more time alone.

He was too old for a babysitter, Summer holidays had only just started and he wouldn't have school for weeks, and he had no friends up here. The reasoning Mum had put forward was that he could get to know the local kids before school started and he'd have less of a hard time on his first day. It was a good idea, he supposed, if it wasn't for the fact that the only kids he had seen so far were all arseholes.

Right now, though, it was raining, he was bored, it was raining, there was nothing on tv, it was raining, none of the streamers had anything new on them, or, at least, nothing that interested him and, oh, yeah, it was raining like someone had switched on the world's biggest shower and forgot to turn it off. Raining. In Summer. He hated the north!

Back home, he could have found a dozen places near to the flats where he could have hung out with his bruvs. Even in the block itself, sat on the steps, pretending they could rap battle against each other but pausing too much while they tried to spit rhymes. There was always something to do, somewhere to go, someone to hang out with. Here, there was nothing. Literally nothing. Nothing, nowhere and no-one. The three 'N's' that could describe the whole of everywhere north of London.

He couldn't even play his games! But, he had to admit, that was his fault. What with everything happening yesterday, he hadn't got around to unpacking his stuff and the console and games were right at the bottom of the bottom of the boxes that still sat, piled up against a wall in his room. He could unpack everything, but that was boring and he hated being bored! So, he slumped down into the corner of the sofa, removed his feet from the coffee table at a stone-faced glare from Mum, and scowled to himself.

Watching his mum, it was as though she hadn't been like she was the day before. She'd brushed her hair and it cascaded down her back, beautiful black curls bouncing every time she moved her head. And she had put on make-up, too. Painted her nails. Dressed nice, but casual. This is how he liked to see her and he could watch her all day, but that wouldn't make him any less bored. Nor could it keep him still. He shifted on the sofa, trying different positions, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get comfortable.