Espen Dekko

Minus 14

Enough is enough.

I know I should have got my own back a long time ago. I should have hit back. But I kind of just thought that it would all blow over – by itself. But it doesn’t help to close your eyes – I know that now. Closing your eyes doesn’t make anything disappear. Everything’s still there when you open them again.

And one more thing I’m sure of – the day I turn eighteen I’m getting out of here. Away from this crappy place that’s no more than a shopping centre, a petrol station and a gigantic sports hall. Because if you’re interested in anything other than football and shopping out here, then you’re out of luck. Out in the winter cold. Like me.

Tobias, fourteen years old, walking home from school. Battered and bruised.