Prologue
A 9-year-old boy, David, is walking through Greenwich Park in south London on his way home from school. He's alone, with a schoolbag on his back and in his hand a book: The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fitzgerald.
A group of girls, 14, see him and run up to him. One girl, Sarah, who is known as the Tormentor, asks him: "any spare change?"
David ignores them and tries to keep walking. But Sarah nods at another girl, Violet, who pulls at his bag.
"I was speaking to you," Sarah says to him. "What's this?" she asks as she takes his book and ruffles through the pages.
Violet pulls his bag off him and opens it to look for money.
"Hey it's mine," David calls out and tries to grab it back. But Violet opens it and pours the contents onto the grass. She drops the bag and David bends down to pick his things up. Violet notices a few pound coins and takes them first.
"Why do you read this nerdy shit?" Sarah asks, reading a passage aloud in her most mocking tone: "Children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the sun."
"Feast on this," says another girl, Grace. Grace is black, with fancy braided hair and a mouth full of chewing gum. She spits out her gum right onto David's lips.
"What shall we spend this on?" Violet says, as they laugh at David.
"More chewing gum for Grace," Sarah replies and the girls walk off chatting amongst themselves. David puts the chewing gum on the grass, cleans himself with a tissue, and wonders if he should tell anyone or whether that would just make him a target for more bullies.
Chapter 1 - Twelve Years Later
I step out of the Leicester Square Odeon. I've attended a premiere for my birthday of the new Wonder Woman film. Myself and a bunch of girls from work went. As I leave the cinema I see a call from my mum. I say goodbye to my friends as my mum likes to call for long chats. I wait outside an entrance to Leicester Square underground station, while my mum talks about her successful farm since she moved back to Zambia.
I stayed here, finished a maths degree and got a job in the City at an investment bank. I just turned 26, heading into my late twenties I feel satisfied with my career but lonely. As I listen to mum, a young man who I think came from the cinema stops and states at me. I feel a little creeped, so I tell mum my battery is going to die and promise to call back tomorrow. As I'm about to go down to the station, the man walks up to me.
"Sorry but do I know you?"
"Er, I don't think so?"
"Like I knew you from school or something. I went to St. Paul's Academy."
"I went to St. Mary Magdalene. I don't think we've met."
The man's face turns pale, like he's seen the devil, and he grits his teeth. "I remember you. The bully, with the chewing gum. I was 9."
"Oh my God." I turn around and walk to the station entrance. It's true, I got into the wrong crowd in school, we did some horrible things I'm truly ashamed of, but honest-to-God back then it was be in a gang or be beaten up by a gang.
"You stole from me and spat in my face," he shouts as I reach the steps. He pulls on my arm, trying to get me to turn to him. "Why?"
I'm scared now, and don't want to face him. But he pulls harder, my handbag falls off. Why didn't I zip it better? Lipstick falls out, my Oyster card falls out, and my phone falls out - it bounces down the steps before hitting the floor at the bottom. I watch bits of broken glass scatter everywhere.
"Hey what are you doing?" shouts a man nearby. The young guy who pulled me runs off, and I'm left to pick up my things. The phone is so battered it's not worth trying to repair.
The next morning I get to the office. There's an early meeting to discuss strategy. I arrive just on time, and our department head, Christine, notices that in my bag is one of those ancient Nokia brick phones.
"Nice phone Grace."
"Yeah, um, I dropped my iPhone down the toilet." I can't admit what happened because noone can ever know about the worst thing I've ever done.
"See this is why I say phones are as bad as heroin. When you can't be without them on the toilet, it's like that scene in Trainspotting where he-"
A knock on the door. It's the frontdesk receptionist. "Hi sorry to disturb you, David's just finished setting up his IT. He'll be here in a minute."
"New starter today," Christine tells us.
"Here he is," says the receptionist. She opens the door and I see him. The young man from last night. He notices me, we both shake slightly. But I can't say anything. Christine points to a spare seat and he sits down.
"Now, David is a new grad and just starting out. So let's make him feel welcome. You're starting at the deep end David, we're going through our sprint goals for the next few weeks."
I try to listen and respond appropriately but I feel frozen like I have suddenly heard all my family's been in a car crash. The boy I bullied once, who attacked me last night, we're now work colleagues? Maybe I'll need to join my mum in Zambia pretty fast.
The meeting is over and I'm the first one out to get coffee. I select a cappuccino, then an extra shot of espresso. If only they did alcohol here.
"Hi." I turn around. It's David.
