Free Teeth by Michael Robertson

The Tooth Fairy

    Looking over his shoulder at their burning house, Josh turned to his brother. “Do you think they’re coming back?”
    Archie, at seventeen, was three years older than Josh. “I don’t know. Maybe, but it’s been three days, and we can’t wait in a house that’s on fire.”
    “So what shall we do?”
    “We’ve got to go to Nana’s. If any of our family are still in London, that’s where they’ll be.”
    “I think we should stay here.”
    “And wait where, Josh? In case you hadn’t notice, they set fire to our fucking house!”
    A lump rose into Josh’s throat, and he stared at the floor through blurry eyes. “I dunno. I just want to make sure we’re here when Mum and Dad come back.”
    Archie’s words stabbed at his heart. “And what if they don’t come back?”
    Before Josh could reply, Archie put a hand on his shoulder. “Get down!”
    Hunching with his brother behind a low wall, Josh listened to the sound of the approaching voices. A couple of them were deep like men’s voices, but most of them had the prepubescent squeak of children. Shivering in the cold, Josh looked at his brother, who placed a finger over his closed lips. The accompanying frown told Josh to shut the fuck up.
    It was hard to stay quiet with both the cold and adrenaline trying to wobble his body. Stuttered breaths shot out of him and turned to condensation as the voices got closer. He could suddenly hear their conversation.
    “Where are we going now, Sam?”
    “Back to the shop.”
    “But we don’t have any food.”
    “I know.”
    “Well, what are we going to do about food?”
    “Unless you want to fight someone for it, then fuck all. I’m not against having a scrap, but I don’t fancy our chances against fully grown men. We’ll find something tomorrow.”
    “But the supermarkets have been picked clean.”
    A slapping sound made Josh flinch. The second voice then said, “Ow! What was that for?”
    “For you being a cunt. Stop giving me problems. If you have some solutions, then share them with the group. Otherwise, shut the fuck up!”
    The voices were getting closer. Josh and Archie had picked the wrong place to hide. Forcing his eyes shut, Josh listened to the collection of footsteps scuffing over the road surface.
    “Well, well, what have we here?”
    Opening his eyes, Josh saw a group of about twelve boys—half of them were from his school.
    Looking down at the pair, the boy who seemed to be leading the group smiled. “Archie McCartney, how are you doing, mate?”
    Turning to his brother, Josh watched Archie stand up and shake the boy’s hand. “How you doing, Sam?” He then nodded at several others in the group, and a series of head nods and flicks returned his gesture. Pointing down at Josh, Archie then helped him to his feet. “This is my brother—Josh.”
    When Sam held his hand out, Josh shook it but remained silent. There was something in the way his brother held himself that told Josh this boy wasn’t to be trusted.
    Throwing, Archie said, “So what’s happening around here?”
    Sam leant forwards as if he hadn’t heard him correctly. “Huh?”
    Looking around, buildings burning, shops smashed, Archie waved a hand over the devastation. “What’s happening here?”
    “Where have you been for the last two weeks?” When Sam looked at the collection of boys, and a couple of them sniggered.
    “We’ve been at home, haven’t we, Josh?”
    Josh nodded.
    “Mum and Dad told us not to go out, so we stayed in. They said there was trouble on the streets.”
    “There’s more than fucking trouble, Archie. London’s fucked! After the economic crash, everything went to shit.”

    Josh stood in the almost empty space and looked around. The dolls in the abandoned shop looked weird naked and with some of their limbs missing. The store had been picked clean save for a few dirty items of clothing on the floor. All that remained was the long checkout desk. Most of the tills that should