"Adrian, you better get down here. Your uncle called."

Why couldn't she just leave him alone? Whenever he had even a little time to himself, she always found him something to do.

"You can't spend all day playing games," she shouted at him using that high pitched tone, which meant he had better get downstairs.

"I'm coming," he shouted back and paused the game. He would have to pick it up later. This would be another Saturday wasted in his uncle's shop. It was the first time he had got this far playing Yuxia, his favourite character. He had defeated Bo Sim and crossed the River of Perpetual Darkness with the aid of the old boat man.

"Adrian!" She was at the bottom of the stairs.

He hit save and switched off the console. "I'm going," he told her as he ran down the stairs.

She blocked his path, forcing him to stop dead in his tracks. "You know your uncle always needs your help. Why do you waste all you time playing those silly games in your bedroom?"

She brushed a hand through his jet black hair. "Be nice to you uncle and the customers."

"What customers?"

She frowned.

"He never has any customers."

"Yes, yes, of course he does. That's why he needs your help."

He didn't want to tell here that most of the time the shop was empty. That no one, or hardly anyone came in. His uncle needed him because he disappeared and Adrian had no idea where he went, but that was the only reason he had to waste his Saturdays in that stupid shop.

Here, she handed him a plastic box. "I made you some rolls."

She always made him some rolls for lunch. He thought she must have known his uncle was out all day and left him alone in the shop. Anyway he didn't raise the question. He took the box, said goodbye and allowed his mother to give him a peck on the cheek, then he was out the front door. She watched him grab his bicycle and pedal off down the street.

The shop was on the high street, sandwiched between the bakery and the book seller. He pushed his bike down the little alleyway and chained it to the pipe next to the bins. Returning he entered the shop to the familiar sound of the ding-dong from the little bell that announced his arrival. The smell of incense wafted through the air giving a hint of Jasmine to mingle with the accumulated dust. His Uncle Chang insisted it added atmosphere and people liked it. What people? He wondered. There was usually only himself and an occasional visitor, more likely than not someone who had mistaken the door for the bookshop entrance. Both doors were next to each other.

"Adrian, at last you're here," his uncle emerged from somewhere in the back of the shop.

How any customer would find anything amongst all the junk Adrian couldn't imagine. Curios and antiques, his uncle would say, certainly oriental, there was no mistaking that.

"I'm expecting a delivery today," his uncle told him. "It's from my cousin in Chou Wan, shipped all the way from China."

Of course, it was shipped from China, Adrian thought to himself.

"You make sure it is undamaged and put it in the store room until I get back."

Adrian nodded, "No problem."

His uncle gave him an odd look before weaving his way past all the curios to the door. "I'll be back by the end of the afternoon."

Adrian listened to the bell ringing as the door opened and closed. The brief sounds from the street growing momentarily loud before being cut off. He settled himself into the old chair behind the leather topped desk near the rear of the shop. If only he could afford a laptop, he thought, then it wouldn't be so bad. He could return to his adventure instead of being bored all day. Seeing that his mother was struggling to keep up with the repayments on their house, that was never going to happen. He gave his wage from Uncle Chang to help out.

Opening the drawer of the old desk Adrian retrieved the leather bound copy of Niulang and Zhinu, a well known Chinese legend about the love affair between a goddess and a mortal. It was one of a series of such leather bound books, each one being a different well known story. Well known in China. Adrian found himself inexorably drawn to the world of his ancestors, he seemed unable to escape it, whether in books or games. The game he had paused at home took place in a fantastical realm of gods and mortals, which was very much based upon those same legends. There was a certain magic.

A whole hour had ticked by on the large black metallic wall clock, a curio which had nothing to do with antiques or China. The bell rang and Adrian stood up to see who had entered. He expected the delivery or perhaps another lost person, he was not happy to discover Joel Roman.

"You hiding, dick head?" Joel address the piles of junk as he moved into the shop. "I know you're here. You're here every Saturday. And I saw your uncle catching a tram this morning."

There was no escape. "What do want?" Adrian spoke in the dirdction of the front door.

He was surprised when the reply came from next to him. "I want..." Joel ground out the words through his teeth. "What you owe me."

Adrian turned to face the boy. Joel was large, broad shouldered, big muscles, and tall. He almost dwarfed the skinny delicate frame of Adrian. Something Adrian was only too aware of. A conflict with Joel could only end in one way, and it was not a reassuring thought.

Joel grabbed a hold of Adrian and virtually lifted him off the ground. Their faces were inches apart. The hot breath of the larger boy was in his face.

"I haven't got it," Adrian stammered.

"I gave you until the weekend. You pay up, or I lay you up."

Spittle hit Adrian in the face and he blinked. The threat was not very original, but Joel probably thought it was a clever line.

"It's Saturday," Adrian reminded him, which served only to make him pull Adrian higher and closer. They were now pressed together with Adrian standing on tip toes.

The bell rang at the entrance door. Joel dropped his prey and span around.

"Delivery!" A voice announced.

"Later, arsehole," Joel said, leaving Adrian to follow him to the front of the shop and deal with the delivery.

"I need a signature. Just here," the young man smiled, profering a touch pad. "With your finger."

Adrian was looking at the delivery guy. "Oh yeah, sure." He signed and returned the pad with his own smile.

It was a box about the size of a shoe box. He picked it up, the bell rang as the guy exited. Placing the box on the desk he considered what the contents might be. His uncle didn't normally receive parcels from cousins in China.

He would ask him when he got back, but for now he took it into the little back room and left it on the shelf. Once more he occupied himself with his book, but in the back of his mind he kept thinking about Joel.

Last Friday, Saint Ignatius College.

"Roman... D," Father Jacobs slapped the paper down on the desk in front of Joel. "See me after class."

He moved on down the neat rows of desks.

"Henan... B." He stopped in front of Adrian, waiting silently. "Detention, one hour. It was easy to see who copied whom. I was generous and gave you a B. I want an explanation from you explaining why you gave your work to mister Roman."

Father Jacobs turned back towards Joel, before moving on.

"That was your fault." Joel was waiting outside the classroom. "I've got a letter home and you made me waste an hour waiting for you. What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I said I didn't know how you could have copied from me, but maybe we used the same reference books."

"Yeah. As if he's gonna believe that."

"I told you to change it."

"Fuck You!" Joel pushed Adrian back into the wall. "When my parents get this." He pushed the letter into Adrian's face. "They'll ground me for the weekend. That means no money, because no business. Get it?"

He pressed hard on Adrian's shoulders, pinning him against the wall. "That's forty dollars I'm out of pocket, and all the rest. Parents on my back."

Joel slapped Adrian across the face. "That's forty dollars. No let's make it fifty dollars, with compensation. You owe me fifty dollars. You got to next week to pay up."

Adrian watched Joel storm off down the corridor.