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Trouble
SOMETIMES A NIGHT CAN CHANGE YOUR Carl knows this, because it happened to him. And he's decided to start again. Soon he's free from his gang, free from the violence and theft, free to make a new start.But it's not that easy. As he heads towards the date of the London riots, Carl discovers that it's just not that easy to stay out of trouble. It's not easy to do what's right.A gripping and compelling short story - only available online - featuring characters from John Lucas's critically-acclaimed debut novel TURF.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2012
2 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
John Lucas
4 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 17, 2015
And maybe that was it: maybe down on the streets they weren’t meant to reach any higher. Maybe that had been Carl’s mistake: trying. Maybe he had to stick with what he had, who he was, who he really was. Like he used to be. Street level. Street-level ambition, street-level hopes, street-level dreams. Street-level trouble.
What cause are you going to fight for when everything, when even just living, is a fight in itself?
The short story Trouble gives a lot of insight, not just into the kind of situation (in this case, the riots) that got people who had never committed a crime, or people who were clean - more or less - smashing up shops and stealing things with the best of them, but also into how hard it might be to get and stay out of trouble, especially when you have very few prospects. Even things like the endless forms, job applications, and rejections are described very well and Lucas doesn't shy away from the difficult questions.
A kid asks the newly reformed Carl "Why’s your life so much better now, then?" and he finds it hard to answer.
On his walk home that evening, Carl realized he hadn’t thought it through. He hadn’t thought it through because he didn’t want to know the answer himself. Of course, it was obvious that risking your life, risking someone else’s, risking a life banged up, these were bad. But what was the alternative? What did it look like? Carl was finding it hard to tell. It had all seemed so simple that November night, so clear. But where did it all go now? Where did it fit?
Is it going to be easy to stay out of trouble when what life is offering doesn't seem all that much better? Belittled by job centre staff? Living on very little money? Hundreds of job applications for shitty jobs that you can't even get? Having to keep on the DL in case you get trouble from the gang you left? No real hope for improvement?
Isn't this a bit like locking an alcoholic in a wine cellar and expecting them to stay clean? People need hope. They need opportunities and prospects. There's lessons to be learnt here.
He would’ve set light to it all if he could, send it all up, burn it all up, rip it all up and start again. Maybe next time they’d get it right. Wasn’t this proof, wasn’t it all proof that the world didn’t work?
What cause are you going to fight for when everything, when even just living, is a fight in itself?
The short story Trouble gives a lot of insight, not just into the kind of situation (in this case, the riots) that got people who had never committed a crime, or people who were clean - more or less - smashing up shops and stealing things with the best of them, but also into how hard it might be to get and stay out of trouble, especially when you have very few prospects. Even things like the endless forms, job applications, and rejections are described very well and Lucas doesn't shy away from the difficult questions.
A kid asks the newly reformed Carl "Why’s your life so much better now, then?" and he finds it hard to answer.
On his walk home that evening, Carl realized he hadn’t thought it through. He hadn’t thought it through because he didn’t want to know the answer himself. Of course, it was obvious that risking your life, risking someone else’s, risking a life banged up, these were bad. But what was the alternative? What did it look like? Carl was finding it hard to tell. It had all seemed so simple that November night, so clear. But where did it all go now? Where did it fit?
Is it going to be easy to stay out of trouble when what life is offering doesn't seem all that much better? Belittled by job centre staff? Living on very little money? Hundreds of job applications for shitty jobs that you can't even get? Having to keep on the DL in case you get trouble from the gang you left? No real hope for improvement?
Isn't this a bit like locking an alcoholic in a wine cellar and expecting them to stay clean? People need hope. They need opportunities and prospects. There's lessons to be learnt here.
He would’ve set light to it all if he could, send it all up, burn it all up, rip it all up and start again. Maybe next time they’d get it right. Wasn’t this proof, wasn’t it all proof that the world didn’t work?
September 12, 2013
I felt this gave me a glimpse of what the London riots were like. I was waiting for a little more story, maybe a little more intensity to get a bigger picture. But I understand not every story has to show the bigger picture. This was a good short story. 3.5* if I could...
February 11, 2013
An interesting short story set around the London riots.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews