ROUGH - Niam AU

Chapter 1 - Westly Estate

"Mum, this place sucks." Liam moaned, dropping his heavy suitcase on the floor.

"I know hun," She replied solemnly, "But i'm afraid we're just going to have to make do for now..."

"I know.." Liam sighed, walking off to explore the new home.

Before his dad lost his job, Liam's life had been great. They had a modest home in Wolverhampton, he had good friends, was mildly popular at school and had good grades! Then everything changed. Liam's dad got laid off and his mum's income wasn't enough to support the family, so they had to move. 

Westly Estate. One of the poorest, most deprived, roughest places in the UK. It was at least a 4 hour drive from Wolverhampton and it was nowhere near as big. The estate was also notorious for being incredibly rough. Kids as young as 12 were known to be doing drugs, smashing windows, stealing cars. Everything from vandalism to murder and there were even cases of rape.

It was rough, to say the least.

Liam understood why they had to move. Wolverhampton was expensive and supporting a family of 5 was hard and even before his dad lost his job they sometimes struggled to make ends meet.

"Liam have you chosen your room yet?" Liam's dad Geoff called from the bottom of the stairs.

Liam didn't reply. Him and his dad wern't particularly close and even though Liam knew it wasn't his fault his dad lost his job, he still resented him slightly. 

"Liam, i asked you a question." His dad came up behind him.

"This one." Liam mumbled, gesturing to the room his dad had followed him in. It was the smallest bedroom of the two in the house. Liam didn't need much and he knew his sisters would need the bigger one to share. His parents would have to save up to by a sofa bed, but for know they were going to have to make do with a mattress on the lounge floor.

"Liam..." His dad sighed, "I know this situation isn't ideal but..."

"It's okay dad," Liam interrupted and faked a smile. "I understand."

"Okay mate, just, don't shut us out okay? We're a family and we're all in this together. This won't be forever, it's just temporary." 

"I know." Liam nodded and smiled to try and make his dad feel reassured that he was fine and happy, even though he was anything but.

___________________________________________

"Mum can i have ten pound?" Liam asked nervously... money was extremely tight, but its not like he wanted it to buy stuff for himself."

"What for?" His mum asked doubtfully.

"We need bread and milk, i was gonna go to the corner shop and get some... maybe explore the area a little as well."

"Okay." His mum said, handing him a scrunched up ten pound note. "Be careful please Liam, you know this place can be rough, i don't want my baby boy hurt okay?..."

"I'm not a baby anymore mum." Liam growled, grabbing his jacket and forcing the crooked front door behind him.

Even though it was only four-thirty in the afternoon, it was already getting dark and the sky was thick with clouds. The jacket Liam had on provided little protection from the cold, so he tucked the five pound note safely in his pocket and thrust his hands into his jacket pockets and kept his head down, occasionally glancing up at the various kids and teenagers scattered about the streets, either aimlessly kicking a half deflated football around, or smoking.

The whole scene was rather depressing.

There was only one proper supermarket in Westley Estate and that was in the centre of town which was too far to walk, so i ended up finding myself outside a shitty corner shop a few roads away from mine. A single, dim streetlight gave the littered area outside the shop an orange glow. The fact that there was a group of six teenagers around my age hanging outside the shop, just made the whole situation so typically British. In all honesty, what are a group of 16/17 year olds going to do in a shit hole like this other than steal booze, get pissed and smash shit up? 

Liam was feeling on edge, he had never been good with people, especially others of the same age. The very potent smell of alcohol surrounding the group of teens was also making him feel sick. 

Quitely, but quickly so as to minimize the chance of being noticed, Liam entered the run down shop and got the cheapest bread he could find. All the milk they had was past its sell by date so there was no point in buying it, instead, Liam bought a large carton of apple juice.

Liam made his way to the front where the checkout was located. In front of him was blonde boy, attempting to bribe the shop keeper into letting him buy cigarettes, even though he was clearly not 18. 

"Come on!" The blonde begged in a thick Irish accent.

"How many times do i need to say no?!" The shop keeper exclaimed in frustration. "You must be eighteen!"

The blonde teen smashed his fist down on the counter in anger and stormed out the shop in anger. The shop keeper sighed and gestured for Liam to move forward and pay for the two items.

Without thinking, Liam reached into his jean back pocket and pulled out his older sisters ID card. She sometimes gave it to him so he could go get his medicines from the doctor without the need  of an adult. [I dunno about anywhere else but in the UK if your under 18 you have to have an adult collect any prescribed medication] Occasionally she forgets to ask for it back.

"Can i have a pack of those?" Liam asked, pointing to the cheapest pack of cigarettes he could see and handing the shop keeper the ID card.

"Your name is Ruth?" The man asked skeptically. 

"Short for Ruthus," Liam replied his well rehearsed lie for if someone questioned the ID card. 

The shop keeper shrugged, sighed, and scanned the packet of cigs.

"That'll be seven pounds sixty."

Liam hands him the money and quickly exits the shop.

'Why did i just do that?' - Liam thought to himself.

Liam didn't need to look around much for the same group of teens, which the blonde boy had now joined. They were walking in the opposite direction he needed to go, but Liam figured if he bought the cigarettes for them, he might as well give them to them.

"Hey!" He called after them, jogging to catch them up.

"Who are you?" The blonde, Irish accented boy who had been in front of him in the shop, turned round and asked aggressively.

"I - I'm Liam," he stuttered, "I got these for you." Liam handed him the cigarettes. The blonde looked at him doubtfully.

"Why?" He asked skeptically.

"You wanted them."

"How did you get them?" Another guy with jet black hair and the cheekbones of a god asked, stepping forward.

"My sisters ID.." Liam explained simply.

"Seriously? That fag fell for that?" The god like guy laughed, causing a small uproar in the group.

"What do you want?" The Irish boy asked, glaring art Liam, still skeptic.

"Nothing.. i just, i dunno why i bought them, just take them okay?" Liam was beginning to feel panicky, he had been a while and his mum was bound to be unnecessarily worrying about him.

The blonde book took the packet of cigarettes, relaxing a little. 

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Liam." Liam replied.

"Liam... your alright, wanna hang with us?" The black haired, god tween butted in, looking at his mates to make sure that that was okay with them. They all just shrugged and began to walk off, each taking out a lighter and gesturing towards the blonde to hand them each a cigarette.

"I can't tonight... maybe another time." Liam replied slightly regretfully. If his mum wasn't such a worrier then he probably wouldn't have said yes, but these guys also seemed like the exact kind of people his mum told him to stay away from.

"Whatever." The amazingly cheek-boned guy walked away without another word, leaving Liam to wonder if he had either just made friends, or done the most stupid thing in his life.

Now he just had to explain to his mum why bread and juice cost seven pounds sixty....