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you.”
    “Col, you’re my brother, I want to look after you.”
    “Well, why don’t you then? You just leave me, Simon. Every day, you just leave me.”
    Colin was close to tears. I was overcome with guilt and thought I might start blubbing too. I knew he had a very valid point. I tried to justify my behaviour.
    “I thought I was doing you a favour, Col. I thought you liked going off on your own.”
    Colin wiped his nose and his eyes on his smoky sleeve.
    “I did at first, but not any more. I want to hang round with you.”
    “Ok, look, from now on I won’t leave you, Colin. From now on, I promise, I’ll look after you.”
    Colin’s little eyes lit up excitedly.
    “Great! Starting next weekend?”
    “Yes, from next week, you can stick with me and my mates.”
    “Thanks Simon.”
    “It’s OK. You’re my brother, we should stick together. From now on, the two of us are going to stick together like glue.”
    “Like glue and what?”
    “It’s just a saying ‘stick together like glue’, it means we will remain close at all times.”
    Colin smiled a big, gappy smile.
    “I love you, Simon!”
    Colin playfully came over, puckering his lips and stretching out his arms, requesting a hug. I was not comfortable with tactility.
    “Keep away from me, you little poofter!”
    Colin took no notice. H e wrapped his little arms around my chest and clung on tightly.
    “No, I won’t. You’re the best brother in the world, Simon Strong. I mean it, the best brother in the world.”

SIMON–August 1986
    We were round at Joey’s. Joey and I were sitting on his Mum and Dad’s posh, flowery padded sunbeds, sipping lemonade with ice through bendy straws that twisted this way and that like rollercoasters. At the bottom of Joey’s garden was an overgrown vegetable patch and as we enjoyed our lemonades, whilst basking in the warmth of the summer sun, my brother Colin was stood in T-shirt and shorts, in the middle of the vegetable patch, chopping heads off huge nettles with a plastic sword.
    “Your brother’s crazy, isn’t he?” Joey said as he slurped the remains of his lemonade from the bottom of his glass.
    “Not crazy, just hyper,” I replied, sipping my lemonade and feeling pleased that I still had over half a glass to enjoy.
    “He constantly needs to be doing something,” I added, “every morning, I wake up with his little face peering down at me, three inches from my nose, urging me to get up so we can go out to play. My Mum and Dad get really mad with him because he won’t stay still for a minute. Hang on....”
    I was always on the look out for danger when Colin was with me.
    “Col,” I shouted over, “watch out for the sunflowers at the back, Joey’s Dad will have a fit if you chop their heads off!”
    “I’m nowhere near the bloody sunflowers!” Colin shouted back.
    “Language, Col!”
    “Sorry!”
    “Dreading going back to school?” Joey asked, moving the conversation away from Colin, who had been a constant in both our lives throughout the summer holidays. Joey was now at Bolton Grammar, a private school, whilst I was at Parklands, one of the local Comprehensives.
    “Not really. In a strange sort of way I’m looking forward to it. I need a break from him.”
    I pointed discreetly at Colin who was now high kicking the weeds as well as beheading the nettles.
    “I’m not surprised. I love your Colin, he makes me laugh, but I’m sick of him after a few weeks, so I know what you mean. ...How do you think you’ll do this season without Lineker?”
    Joey was a Manchester United fan, I was an Evertonian.
    “Well, if we couldn’t win the title with Lineker last season, it’s going to be tough to win it this year now he’s gone to Barcelona.”
    Joey was doing it again. Moving the conversation away from Colin, I could tell he was bored with everything we did having to incorporate Colin, but that had to be the way that summer holiday. I had made a promise to Colin that he could stick with me and