Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas

Author:Christos Tsiolkas [Tsiolkas, Christos]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, FIC000000, book
ISBN: 9781782394198
Google: WfkBAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Atlantic Books, Limited
Published: 2014-01-01T14:00:00+00:00

His first beer, that tasted of earth and light, the touch of the first summer sun on wet ground.

He pulled a bottle from the carton. �Mind if I have a beer, Dad?�

His father nodded and Dan sipped his beer as his mother placed the plate of chicken stirfry in front of him.

He ate slowly, knowing that if he let himself eat too quickly he would wolf it all down, and that would mean he�d overeat. He remembered Bennie�s sly remark about his belly, how it had got under his skin and made everyone laugh.

Dan put down his fork, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then drank from the bottle.

�Is that all you�re having?�

Dan and his father traded glances. Stop fussing, said his father�s look, just sit down and leave the kid alone. As if he had spoken it aloud, his mum grabbed the plate and threw what was left in the bin. It was Dan giving his father the money for board that had upset his mother. It always did. She and his father had argued about it for years. His father thought that at eighteen a youth should take on adult responsibilities, but his mother would shoot back, �No, I�m a wog and we don�t do that to our children�we look after them.�

His father would groan and respond, �That�s what I am doing. Teaching children about responsibility is looking after them�it�s preparing them for the real world.� His mother wouldn�t listen, saying she�d never allow it. �What about when they turn twenty-one?� his father would counter. �Can we ask it of them then?� and his mother would spit angry words back at him.

Then his father would lose his temper. �And what if he�s here when he�s forty-fucking-one? Are we still not allowed to ask for fucking board?�

�No!� his mother would scream. �Not even when he�s forty-fucking-one!�

It had all stopped the year before on his nineteenth birthday when Dan had come home from work and given his father three notes, a fifty, a twenty and a ten. �Will that do, Dad?� he�d asked. �Is eighty a week fair for board?�

His father had smiled, a real, full smile, and Dan could still remember the pleasure on his father�s face and the relief in his father�s words. �Yeah, Danny, thanks, mate. I reckon that�s fair.�

�Can I have another?� Dan pointed to his empty bottle.

His father nodded but he wasn�t looking at Dan, he was looking at his wife, who had her back to them at the sink. He began to sing, �Something told me it was over when I saw you and her talkin�.�

Dan could see that his mother�s stance had relaxed, her hands were no longer gripping the bench.

His dad�s voice was low and resonant, there was a croak to it, but it suddenly lifted. �Something deep in my soul said, Cry, girl, when I saw you and that girl walkin� by.�

� Dan�s mother had turned and was smiling, and singing along. His dad kicked away the chair,

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