Pauly Gilpin was born a coward. But the snitching, the sneaking and the skulking, that came later.

From four he was blackmailing the juniors, at ten he was taking protection money from the nursery kids and by 12… Well, by then, no one liked him. He was lucky to have Pete and Eric and Nicole and Raymond, and even they weren’t sure about him. Pauly himself wasn’t sure why they were his friends.

He had always looked up to the bigger fish, the leaders of the pack, the real sharks. Like Wes Campbell. They’d grown up on the same street, in pretty similar dire family circumstances, yet whilst Pauly was always sucking up to guys like Wes, Wes was the toughest guy in the school, and he got heaps of “respect” out of the deal.

Pauly had always looked up to Eric too. Pete and Raymond, not so much. And as for Nicole, well, Nicole was off the tables. Although none of them had ever spoken of it, she belonged to Pete, and Pete to her, A sort of unwritten law.

Pauly wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think he’d ever been interested in Nicole anyway. Sure, she was pretty. But that kind of girl-next-door pretty, cute button nose, freckles- the wholesome look. But Stella Ross, well, she was exotic. She was other-wordly. Ethereal. And Pauly revered her, But then, so did the thousands of other guys who’d seen her “tasteful” pictures, schoolboys and pervy old men alike.

So, needless to say, when Stella Ross turned up looking for a favour, Pauly Gilpin was only too happy to help…