Burning Your Own by Glenn Patterson

Author:Glenn Patterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstaff Press Ltd

Mal was in the kitchen helping his mother and aunt peel and chop vegetables for dinner when Uncle Simon came in from his meeting, much earlier than expected. He skipped down the hall and messed Mal’s hair in a jovial, pally way, then grabbed Aunt Pat by the waist and swung her around. She squealed and dropped the knife she had been using to dice carrots.

‘Simon!’ she yelled, but he took no notice and swung her again. ‘Simon!’

He set her on the tiled floor and she rested one hand on the countertop to steady herself, fending him off with the other.

‘I could have had your eye out with that knife, if I hadn’t thought to let go,’ she admonished in as stern a voice as she could muster.

‘Well, you may be thankful you didn’t,’ Uncle Simon said indignantly, drawing himself up to his full height, level with his sister. ‘Because’ – he pointed to his brow with a dramatic flourish – ‘these eyes foresee big money!’

Mal looked at his uncle’s eyes, pale and watery, dry skin flaking at the corners of the lids.

Aunt Pat’s own eyes widened and he gripped her arms to her sides, bracing her for what he was about to say.

‘That conman McCandless has been rumbled at last – the firm’s gone bankrupt. He was all set to roll on a Housing Trust contract and now they’ve had to award it to somebody else. And who do you think that somebody else is?’

‘Oh, Simon!’

Aunt Pat hugged him, but he pulled away excitedly.

‘They want us on site straight after the Twelfth Fortnight. Only four streets of twenty to start, but there’ll be more. So put all this food in the fridge – the bin, even – we’re eating out tonight.’

Aunt Pat made a discreet gesture towards Mal and his mother.

‘Actually, Simon, we’ve company this evening.’

Uncle Simon threw back his head and laughed.

‘Excellent,’ he said. The more the merrier. We’re in with the Housing Trust, now. We’re made.’

‘That’s marvellous, love.’ Mrs Martin kissed her brother.

‘Marvellous is bloody right,’ he told her and swung her once for good measure. ‘And you’ll never guess where it is? Right up by you in that bit of a wood.’

‘The woods?’ Mal was stunned into speech.

‘Yep,’ his uncle said. ‘Know it?’

‘That’s where we have our bonfire.’

(‘Bonfires? Orange parades?’ Uncle Simon would often scoff. ‘I’ve better things to do than be bothered with that carry on.’)

‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘How could I forget?’

But nothing was going to spoil this mood, if he could help it.

‘What do you say – maybe there’ll be a job in it for you. Someone who could show us around might come in useful.’

‘Up by us?’ Mrs Martin said haltingly. ‘A job?’

Uncle Simon’s banter dried up. A pained expression came over his face; the joke was going badly wrong. He jerked a thumb unconvincingly at Mal.

‘Aw, now, look, I was only having the wee fella on. It’s not that simple. I can’t just go giving out jobs to … There’s the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.