After a while the psychiatrist said, ‘Are you okay?’
Keira nodded, but didn’t speak.
‘D’you want to leave it there?’
This time Keira nodded her head and said, ‘I don’t think I can say the words out loud. If I keep them inside I can almost pretend to myself that it never happened.’
‘Have you ever discussed this with anyone else?’
‘No. There were only four of us – including myself – who knew what happened that night.’
‘What about the other three?’
‘They’re dead. There’s maybe a fifth,’ continued Keira, ‘a priest . . . but I’m not sure how much he knows.’
‘Maybe we should leave it there for now.’
‘I’ve tried everything else: drink, drugs, suicide. The only thing I haven’t tried is talking about it. But now that I’m sitting here, and it’s real . . . I don’t think I can.’
‘It’s okay . . . another time.’
‘This thing is hollowing me out. It’s time for me to take control of it. I need a different perspective.’
‘Do you think that by talking it through you’ll achieve solace or redemption? How do you see it changing your life?’
‘I see it filling the emptiness.’
About the Author
John Gordon Sinclair was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to London in the early Eighties and now lives in Surrey with his wife, Shauna, and their two children. Seventy Times Seven is his first novel.
First published in 2012
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2012
All rights reserved
© John Gordon Sinclair‚ 2012
The right of John Gordon Sinclair to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–28278–4
Seventy Times Seven Page 36