The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd

Author:Sam Lloyd [Lloyd, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473568907
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2020-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Elijah

Day 5

I

I was going to leave it until tomorrow to show her what I’ve done, but I’m so excited I can’t wait.

All through dinner I sat on my secret. Watching me, Kyle soon suspected something was up. Usually, I’m pretty quiet at the table, but tonight I talked like a flibbertigibbet while Mama and Papa looked on, bemused. Eventually, Papa put down his cutlery and asked if I was OK. That’s when I knew I was in trouble, and that if I talked any longer my mouth would run away completely.

I haven’t committed a crime. Not exactly. But that doesn’t mean what I’m doing is OK.

After dinner, Papa goes outside for a roll-up. Mama sits in the living room with her sewing while I wash the dishes. Standing at the sink, I look through the window at Papa chugging his smoke into the night.

When I open the pantry door to fetch a tea towel, Kyle – appearing from nowhere – bundles me through it.

Inside, there’s no light, just unpainted wooden shelves filled with tinned goods. My brother talks so quietly not even Mama will hear. I could cry out, but his knife is pressed to my belly. His other hand grips my throat, forcing back my head.

‘You’re up to something, shithead,’ he hisses. His breath is awful, like he’s been chewing on roadkill. ‘You’re tryin’ to fuck us, and I ain’t gunna let it happen.’

My shirt has ridden up. The point of Kyle’s blade presses deeper. When I feel a slow spread of warmth, I think he must have punctured me, until I realize that fear has made me squirt out some pee.

I recall our stand-off yesterday, in the Memory Wood – how I bit down on the barrel of his .22. Why am I so much more frightened now?

‘You’ve got it all wrong,’ I mutter. ‘I’m not up to anything.’

‘Liar.’

The blade tip can’t press much harder without opening me up. I imagine it slicing through flesh, my guts spattering on to the tiled floor.

The back door rattles open: Papa, coming back inside. Serpent-quick, Kyle withdraws his knife and retreats.

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