Glaston Town by Céline La Frenière

Author:Céline La Frenière [La Frenière, Céline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-07-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 42

Isak Bloomberg

Friday, November 6, 2009

The morning after Bonfire night, Glaston Town Village is strewn with fireworks debris, empty crisp bags, candy wrappers and discarded cans of beer and soft drinks. An enormous burnt scar leaves its footprint in the grass, which will take weeks to recover. It is up to Sam, the road sweeper, to do the clearing up. As much as the neighbourhood is unsightly this morning, things have improved. Not so long ago, the whole vicinity would have been littered with discarded drug paraphernalia, used condoms, broken liquor bottles and vomit.

A new problem, however, may be looming on the horizon. Looking up from his work, Sam notices the well-known troublemakers Skinny Looney and Johnny Galliger teasing a vicious-looking Staffordshire bull terrier. As teenagers, the two were members of the notorious Bullett Brothers gang. Now in their 20s, they are still at it, always looking for new ways to rob, cheat, steal or make money from some dubious enterprise. At the moment, they seem to be training the dog to attack a semi-mature tree by hanging onto its branches until they snap off. “Come on, Hitler. Kill! Kill! Kill!” Looney shouts.

Appalled by this senseless act of destruction, Sam leaves his broom and barrow and approaches them. “Oi, what are you doing?”

“Wwwat is it wwwith you?” stutters Johnny Galliger, his black face distorted with anger. Johnny has always been the nervous type. When confronted in any way, his speech impediment kicks in.

Skinny’s voice is more threatening. “Get on with your filthy job, you bastard. It’s none of your bloody business.”

“Preventing vandalism is my bloody business,” Sam retorts. “It’s part of my job description.”

Dragging his lame leg, Skinny approaches Sam and grabs his coat lapels. When he opens his mouth, his breath smells foul. “One more word from ya and I’ll set the beast on ya.”

Confronted by the Staffordshire’s growl, Sam decides to back off. Johnny and Skinny continue to provoke their dog, hitting it with a large stick. “What kind of cruel game is this?” the road sweeper wonders, shaking his head.

Once Sam has finished clearing up the aftermath of the fireworks, he makes his way to Glaston Town Village and parks his barrow in front of the ironmonger’s shop. Some of the screws on its wheels have become loose, and he can always count on its owner, Isak Bloomberg, or his employees, Bill O’Bryen and Roger Kennedey, to be of service in a situation like this. All three men are at the back of the shop, chatting. They don’t notice Sam.

“Isak, when are you going to marry your Maureen?” Roger Kennedey inquires.

“We don’t want to rush things,” Isak responds.

“You two have been in love with each other for seven years. I guess that’s rushing things, innit?” Bill O’Bryen adds to the teasing.

“She hasn’t even met my mother yet.”

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall when that happens,” says Roger.

“It’s not as if that is a long journey or anythin’. She lives only a short bus ride away,” Bill O’Bryen notes.

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.