Truestory
Page 21
I let out a sigh that sounded louder in the silence than I’d realised it would.
‘You okay?’ Duncan said, at the same time as Larry asked: ‘You all right?’
‘Yep, yep, I’m fine,’ I said. I closed the laptop and went to the bathroom because for the moment I wanted to get away from everyone.
A couple of hours later I was sitting at the kitchen table with my feet in Larry’s lap. Larry squeezed and rubbed my toes and I closed my eyes. He was supposed to be re-fastening the polytunnel down with paving slabs but somehow he hadn’t got any further than this.
He slipped his hand up the leg of my jeans and stroked my calf. What I’d give for an evening on our own, but Duncan wouldn’t clear off to the pub tonight. Not unless Larry went with him at any rate. He certainly wasn’t going to leave us on our own.
I gave a little groan.
‘That good?’ asked Larry.
I opened my eyes. ‘Yep.’
I watched him bending over my foot; his stubbly chin, his long eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks.
‘What about the polytunnel,’ I said. ‘Doesn’t it need fastening?’
‘Nah, he’s panicking. It’ll take no harm.’
‘Good. Stay here.’ I put my head back and enjoyed his thumbs pressing hard against the sole of my foot. I hadn’t told Larry about the confrontation with Duncan; perhaps now was the time.
‘Last night Duncan asked if there was something going on between us.’
Larry’s head snapped up.
‘What did you say?’
‘I told him he was being stupid. And I said you were good for Sam.’
‘And then what did he say?’
‘Well, he’d like you to be gone but I probably stopped him going on about it for a bit. He definitely believed there was nothing going on.’
Larry looked distracted and I wiggled my toes to remind him of the job in hand.
‘You sure?’
‘Yeah, well the only evidence he had was that we were always laughing and joking. Oh, and that we looked at each other.’
Larry laughed, and said: ‘Okay, well no looking then.’ And he leant over and kissed me hard on the lips. He opened his eyes and caught me watching. ‘I said no looking.’
‘He wants you to go, but you’re not leaving, are you?’ I said.
‘No.’
‘Where were you this time last year?’
Larry thought about it. ‘Norfolk, on a big arable farm. Nothing like here. Not a family farm or anything.’
‘I know you said you grew up in the countryside, and your dad was a labourer, but what are they like, your family.’
He looked like he didn’t want to tell me but I was curious so I waited and after a minute he started talking.
‘My dad was useless. He drank too much. Sometimes he was around, usually he wasn’t – and it was better when he wasn’t. My mam was a bitter woman. Her life had been shit and she took it out on everybody else. I escaped soon as I could. I was sixteen. Left my wee sister to fend for herself.’
He stopped stroking my feet and held them between his warm hands. ‘I feel bad about that. That was twenty-five years ago, I’ve never been back. Been on the road ever since. It suits me, no ties, no plans, just seeing what crops up.’
‘Do you phone them?’
‘I’ve not spoken to any of them since – at first it was in case Julie begged me to go back. I felt bad about leaving her. She was only fourteen. After a bit, well, I dunno, you feel you’ve missed the opportunity.’
‘That’s a shame.’
‘Aye, but it’s better being away than back there fighting with my dad and hating my mum. If they’re still alive, that is.’
‘You could contact your sister.’
‘Why should she forgive me for leaving her? I haven’t forgiven myself.’
‘Do you never want to belong anywhere? To feel somewhere’s home?’
‘Having a home was nothing but trouble. I was glad to be done with it.’ He touched my face. ‘Until I came here. I feel closer to you and Sam than I have to anyone since my wee sister.’
I squeezed his arm.
‘He’s a great kid is Sam,’ he said.
‘He is a great kid,’ I said. ‘I know he is, but I don’t think many other folk would see it.’ I put my feet on the floor, leant forward and rested my forehead against his shoulder, pushing my face into his neck.
‘I can’t remember not knowing you,’ said Larry, stroking my hair. ‘Perhaps I was meant to come here to find you. That’s why I’ve been on my own travelling for so long. I’ve been searching for you and Sam.’
I slid my arms round his waist. I couldn’t let him leave; he made me feel safe. I relaxed against him.
That was a mistake because a second later the kitchen door crashed open, bashing against the wall with a great clatter-bang that made me shriek and Larry leap to his feet.
‘What the hell – ’
‘For fuck’s sake – ’
‘Sam!’
Sam dashed into the kitchen out of breath and wild-eyed.
‘Why aren’t you – ?’
‘You all right, son? What’s happened?’
‘Sam, where have you been?’
He gazed about the kitchen as though he’d never seen it before then ran across the room and pelted up the stairs.
‘I didn’t even know he was outside,’ I said. ‘I’ll go and find out – ’
As I bounded up the stairs I heard his door slam.
I knocked. ‘Sam, what’s happened?’
No reply.
‘Sam, I need to know. Answer me.’
Still no reply.
I was filled with a fury – some kind of hangover from this morning when he’d ignored me – and I flung the door open: ‘Sam, you will answer me! What’s going on?’
His computer was powering up and he was clinging to the edge of his desk for grim death. His eyes were shut and he was counting to himself: ‘Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven . . .’
‘What’s happened, for God’s sake? Tell me!’
‘Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one . . .’
‘TALK TO ME! FOR GOD’S SAKE, TALK TO ME!’ The fury had swelled and taken hold of me and I swiped at his desk sending a pile of maps skidding and fluttering to the floor. ‘You’ve got to talk to me. You’re driving me mad.’
‘I . . .’ Sam stared at the maps settling on the floor, then up at me and back at the desk. ‘I . . . I . . . It was supposed to be lucky.’
‘What was? Where have you been?’
‘It was the strongest on the internet. It was supposed to be lucky.’
I took a deep breath. I had to calm down; shouting and storming about might feel good for a few seconds – although this didn’t feel that good – but there was always a price to pay.
‘Okay, Sam. Sorry for shouting.’ I took another deep breath. ‘I will not shout. You are not in trouble. I just need to know.’
Sam gave a gasp then lunged over to the bed to grab his bobble hat. He plopped back in his seat, wrenching the hat over his head and pulling it past his eyes. ‘Sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-three . . .’
‘I am calm,’ I said, feeling a throb in my temple. ‘I am really calm. Now tell me.’
I sat on the bed to give him the message that I was prepared to wait all day if necessary.
‘Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine . . .’
Sam’s counting was going fainter; I think he was listening to see if I’d gone. I gave a little cough.
‘What happened, Sam?’
His counting ceased and there was silence.
‘Tell me.’
He was sitting bolt upright clutching the desk.
‘I killed it.’ The words were so faint I thought I’d heard him wrong.
‘You . . . what?’
‘I killed it.’
‘What?! What did you kill?’
There was a pause, followed by a sob.
‘A goose flying free down Hel
l Fire Pass. I killed it.’
It took me a second to make any sense of what he’d said.
‘No. What do you mean you killed it? How could you have killed a goose?’
‘It fell from the sky.’
‘Well, that’s not your fault, is it? You didn’t kill it.’
He was rigid and tense; the picture of unhappiness.
‘Come on, Sam. How can you have killed a goose? That doesn’t make sense; maybe it had a heart attack or something?’
Most of his face was covered by the hat and he rubbed his eyes through it.
‘Are you crying, Sam? Listen, don’t worry about this goose. It’s not your fault – you couldn’t harm a goose, honestly, not even if you tried. Were you off to Jeannie’s?’
Sam gave a great sob and slumped his head onto the desk banging it hard. Then he lifted it and banged it down harder. Fortunately the hat was taking some of the impact but I jumped up as he lifted his head for a third time.
‘Right, that’s it! I’ll call the doctor if you do that one more time.’
He brought his head down again, whacking it hard.
It was an empty threat; there was no way the doctor would drive out here because my son was bashing his head on his desk.
‘I’ll take your computer away if you do that ONE MORE TIME.’ I grabbed the lid of the laptop. He crashed his head onto the desk again then stayed slumped forward.
‘Is there anything else, Sam?’
He didn’t respond.
‘Can I do anything to make you feel better?’
He stayed stock still and silent.
‘If I can, you’ll tell me, won’t you?’ Fat chance, I thought. ‘Okay, I’ll go away now. And don’t you worry about that goose. There’s no way you could possibly have harmed a goose. I’m going now.’ As I backed out of the room I saw him push the hat up above his eyes and start tapping at his keyboard with a feverish look on his face. Christ Almighty, there was always something with that lad – but a dead goose was a new one. I pulled the door to and plodded downstairs. Larry was waiting for me.
‘What was it?’
I shrugged and raised my eyebrows. ‘He thinks he killed a goose. He says it fell out of the sky and that somehow it was his fault and he killed it.’
I slumped onto a kitchen chair. ‘Where he gets these ideas, God knows.’
‘A goose? He’ll have forgotten about that by teatime, won’t he?’
I looked at Larry. Forgotten? Perhaps he didn’t understand Sam as well as I thought. Forget? Sam? Never.
Chapter 42
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Is it possible to die because of a secret?
Truestory
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.00
I have a terrible secret. I am worried this secret is so bad it will kill me.
Re: Is it possible to die because of a secret?
FlyAwayBlackbird
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.05
There you go again, Truestory! Teasing us about your secrets!!! You know I love a secret. Tell me!!!!
Re: Is it possible to die because of a secret?
Boody Queen
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.08
No offence FlyAwayBlackbird but Truestory needs to find someone trustworthy to confide in.
Re: Is it possible to die because of a secret?
FlyAwayBlackbird
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.11
I am trustworthy!!!!! Perhaps he could post his secret on this great site I found especially for secrets. There are some fab ones. Mainly about sex!!!!
Re: Is it possible to die because of a secret?
JC
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.14
Truestory, there are no secrets. Remember the Collect prayer: Almighty God unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid. Remember John 8:32 ‘The truth will set you free’. Speak to God Almighty. He is listening.
Re: Is it possible to die because of a secret?
Root Toot
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 10.18
Don’t worry! If a secret’s that good it’ll always get out anyways.
U Chat
Private Message to My Name Is Magic
19 June 2014 Time: 10.15
* * *
Truestory
It has gone wrong. I used your Special Offer incantation to break free but now everything is much worse than it was before.
The magic got out of control. I do not know how, but it did.
I left the house at the luckiest hour of 9 o’clock and went to the elevated position. I emptied my mind and used the Special Offer incantation ten times as you instructed.
I heard a horrible sound which was a goose flying over the cow meadow.
I watched the goose and I repeated the incantation an eleventh time but then the goose crashed into some electricity wires and dropped into the field. It lay on the ground with its neck twisted the wrong way.
I ran to Jeannie’s because I wanted to tell her I had used strong magic – the strongest on the internet – and that it had gone wrong and I had killed a goose. But Jeannie could not help because my magic had ruined everything. I am cursed and must stay at Backwoods for ever and never plan to leave again.
Jeannie once promised she would help me leave Backwoods when the time was right, but I do not think the time will ever be right now.
Today was supposed to be a lucky day but it has not been lucky. Psychic Rabbit told me to take care because magic was not a bit of fun. Psychic Rabbit was right. Magic was no fun at all.
You may use the above words as a testimonial for your website.
With regards
Truestory
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Can a dead body be brought back to life?
Truestory
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.10
Can something dead be brought back to life?
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
NoShitSherlock
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.15
Soon medicine will be able to bring folk back from the dead. We’ll be able to cool bodies down, pump them with oxygen and revive them. Heart attacks will be curable. Good eh?
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
CallmePal
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.18
Depends on what you mean by ‘dead’. People who ‘drown’ can be revived using what we currently know. CPR in effect brings people back from the dead. This happens every day – as we know from ‘near death experiences’.
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
ChocolateMoustache
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.23
Actually it is not that easy to say when someone is dead. Death usually happens gradually. And, Call Me Pal, CPR keeps people alive whilst the defibrillator arrives.
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
Fizzy Mascara
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.26
Answer: nope
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
JC
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.32
Don’t think of them as dead. Their soul has gone on to eternity – be glad they are on their glorious way to God the Father. It is a great opportunity.
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
Fizzy Mascara
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.36
Oh
yeah, really great.
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
JC
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.44
There is no death only change
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
Truestory
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.53
Chocolate Moustache, thank you for telling me it is not obvious when death has happened. I did not know that.
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
ChocolateMoustache
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 14.56
Glad to be of help. In 19th century Germany they had death houses so people could keep an eye on dead bodies in case they ‘woke up’!!
Re: Can a dead body be brought back to life?
Truestory
Date: 19 June 2014
Time: 15.02
Thank you, I will Google ‘German death houses’ for more information.
Chapter 43
Larry hung over my shoulder as I chopped the onion for the salad.
‘Cut smaller bits not muckle big chunks.’
‘Muckle big chunks,’ I laughed. ‘That’s funny.’
‘Here,’ Larry put his hand over mine on the knife handle. ‘Like this.’ And he sliced the onion into slivers.