Chasing Innocence by John Potter

She yawned and stretched as the cool breeze foraged beneath her shirt, busy rejuvenating her senses. Sea air, it occurred to her.
    It was an area not unlike the one she had grown up in, maybe a little bleaker here, more worn down and ominously slick in the night rain. The square was set around an expanse of grass half the size of a football pitch. At one end were swings, a roundabout and slide. No Ball Games hung on a post leaning almost horizontal. The row of shops included a launderette, newsagents and bookmakers, a Chinese takeaway. A corner store with a man silhouetted, waiting on shutters slowly rattling down. Three dark shapes detached from the swings and headed towards her.
    Sarah popped the boot and tugged free Adam’s fleece, giving it a shake over the pavement then pulling it on. It was impossibly large over her body but she wanted to wear something Simon had not already seen. She folded her coat into the boot as the three shapes ambled to a stop a few steps away, two boys and a girl. The boys were in their early teens, wearing baggy trousers and tops, the girl younger and taller on the right.
    ‘We’ll look after your car for a bag of prawn crackers,’ said the boy in the middle. An accent like Simon’s but harsher.
    Sarah was in no mood for light conversation. ‘I’m not here for food, I’m also very busy.’
    The boys fidgeted and Sarah made a show of closing the boot. She locked the car and turned as if to walk away.
    ‘What’re you doing here then?’
    ‘None of your business.’
    ‘Why is your top so big?’ The one on the end spoke this time, the girl remaining impassive.
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘Your top, it’s way too big.’
    ‘Look, I’ve got to get going.’
    ‘It looks like a man’s top, you a boy?’
    The girl momentarily came to life. ‘Jay, shut up!’ She was slender and pretty, her hands pushed into a short anorak with a fur-lined hood.
    ‘You look like a boy.’ The boy at the end again.
    ‘I’m not, and I don’t have the time for this.’
    The middle boy asked. ‘I bet you’re looking at them houses for sale?’ He nodded over Sarah’s shoulder.
    She followed his gaze to the cul-de-sac and looked back at him, quickly reappraising. ‘You’re very clever, how’d you guess?’
    ‘You look the sort,’ he said, pleased with himself. ‘You know, too much money. My dad says anyone’d be fucking crazy to. Buy one that is.’
    ‘So you live here then?’ She looked at the girl but it was the middle boy who answered.
    ‘In Eve Hill, at the end. They’re all out down the pub.’
    ‘All who?’
    ‘Mums and dads, down the pub.’ He nodded slyly at the girl. ‘We’re going back for a bit of spit roast, ain’t that right Cat?’ He skipped backwards, dodging a punch from the girl.
    ‘Mattie! You’re gross!’
    The boy laughed and bounced back, pushing into the girl.
    ‘Look I really have to get going, lots of houses to see and all that.’
    ‘Show us your tits then, before you go.’ The boy at the end this time. The girl groaned.
    Sarah reacted instinctively, angrily stepping towards him, almost nose to nose. ‘How about you go home before I really lose my temper.’ It was a gamble at best. He was slightly taller than her but took a step back, glancing at the other boy for support. The middle boy stepped between them.
    ‘Can’t wait for you to move in,’ he said, directing the other boy away. ‘Be nice to pretty up the neighbourhood.’ The last was thrown over his shoulder as they walked towards the cul-de-sac.
    The girl offered a hushed, ‘We’re going to watch a movie.’ She jogged to catch up with the boys, casting a glance back as they disappeared into the street.
    Sarah caught her breath, checked she had her keys and walked across the road to the Chinese takeaway. Two men and a woman stood outside, idly watching as they blew smoke into the night air. She offered them a friendly smile and looked up at the printed menu, sliding her hands into her jeans and