Free Terror Kid by Benjamin Zephaniah Page B

going on?’
    â€˜It gets all technical; they can twist things using jargon. All I’m saying is that something that makes sense to you might not make sense to the law, or vice versa.’
    â€˜Vice versa, vice versa!’ Rico said angrily. ‘Who cares about vice versa; I’m telling the truth. That should be good enough.’
    â€˜I’m just telling you what it’s like,’ said Lola, now raising her voice. ‘So don’t get angry with me.’
    â€˜Calm down, both of you,’ said Kim. ‘Let’s be constructive.’
    The room went silent as they all began thinking. Soon the silence was broken by Rico.
    â€˜I know. I can hack into the police computers again and send them a message, or I could just send them an email telling them everything that happened.’
    â€˜That’s mad,’ said Lola.
    â€˜What’s the point of that?’ asked Kim.
    â€˜Well, they would know the real story,’ replied Rico. ‘And once they knew the real story, they’d let me go.’
    â€˜You know that’s not going to work,’ said Lola. ‘As soon as you contacted them they would find out where you were and then they’d raid us.’
    â€˜OK, you’re right,’ said Rico. Then he had another idea. ‘Lola. Why don’t you go home and see what‘s happening? See how Mum and Dad are, and see if they know I’m innocent.’
    â€˜Rico, you’re not exactly innocent,’ replied Lola.
    â€˜I am.’
    â€˜You’re not. You hacked into police systems. It doesn’t matter how you did it and why you did it, it’s illegal. You even told me before I left home that you’d hacked into other stuff, and I did warn you. But you didn’t listen to me.’
    â€˜I did listen to you,’ said Rico. ‘I know it’s illegal, but I thought it was a bit of fun. I’ve been hacking for ages and never hurt anyone. I just wanted to see things. I just wanted to test my skills. I wouldn’t have hacked into the police if I knew what was really happening. I know that doesn’t make it right.’
    â€˜It doesn’t make it right,’ said Lola. ‘And it’s no excuse. The point is, you’re not innocent.’
    â€˜So what are we going to do?’ asked Kim impatiently.
    â€˜What about my idea of you going home, Lola?’ asked Rico.
    â€˜No. That’s not happening,’ replied Lola. ‘Anyway, it would look strange if I suddenly turned up.’
    â€˜Phone them then,’ Rico said sharply.
    â€˜No,’ said Lola. ‘What are we going to talk about? I’d have to tell a pack of lies about not seeing you, and if the police are watching then they’d trace the phone call and …’
    â€˜But,’ Rico interrupted, ‘it probably looks strange that I’m all over the TV and you haven’t made contact to ask what’s going on.’
    â€˜They’ll just think I don’t care.’
    â€˜You don’t, do you?’ shouted Rico.
    Lola lost her temper and really shouted.
    â€˜If I didn’t care I wouldn’t have taken the day off to be with you. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t have been up all night worrying about you. If I didn’t care …’
    â€˜OK,’ said Kim. ‘Let’s all calm down.’
    The sound of a cheap computerised version of Mozart’s
Allegro
filled the room. It was Lola’s phone. She answered.
    â€˜Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot – we both forgot – can we go next week?’
    She put her hand over the phone and whispered over to Kim, ‘It’s Hutch – it’s about tonight.’
    She continued the call.
    â€˜There’s stuff I need to do so I just can’t make it tonight. No, it’s not really convenient for you to come over here – we’re really busy. Look, let’s talk in a couple of days – I’ll call you – maybe