The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain

Author:Matt Cain [Cain, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2022-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

But was that sacrifice worth it? Did Mam actually deserve it?

Since opening up her box of treasures and finding the notes and the photo of him and George, thoughts like these had haunted Albert. And they’d incited a wave of resentment within him.

A resentment I don’t want to feel.

A resentment I just want to clear out with the rubbish. now

He folded his arms and stood looking at the room he’d now divested of all signs of his mam.

He thought about the Gay Village that for so long had existed just a short distance away. And he thought about all the pictures he’d seen of so many gay men enjoying themselves.

Finally, he felt ready to join them.

* * *

For the next few days, Albert continued to search for George—and could think of little else. But he progressed no further. As the week drew on, he tried not to give up hope or let the disappointment get to him. But he became aware of the days passing by.

On Wednesday afternoon he arrived in the office to find Jack holding court with his two friends. As he drew nearer, he heard what they were discussing; Jack was updating them on his flirtation with the woman he called Annabella Anyfella.

“I mean, she were all over me, like,” he crowed. “But I wouldn’t go near her with a barge pole. I bet she’s got a fanny like an empty headlock.”

Albert could feel his anger rising.

“Yeah,” said the one friend, “I bet it’s like a ripped-out fireplace.”

“Too right,” said the other, “like a hippo’s yawn.”

The three men roared with laughter.

Albert remembered the same men trotting out similar insults at the Christmas party. He hadn’t intervened then. But he was struggling to stop himself now.

“Anyway, I won’t be going anywhere near her,” said Jack. “I bet she’s been rogered more times than a copper’s radio.”

There was another explosion of laughter. Albert tried to block it out, but all of a sudden he was back at school, waiting outside assembly and saying nothing as the other boys taunted George.

Well, this time I’m not going to stay silent.

“Oh, give it a rest, Jack,” he burst out. “You shouldn’t talk about Annabella like that!”

Jack looked as if he’d been slapped in the face. “Albert?”

“How can you judge the woman when you don’t have the slightest idea what’s going on in her life?”

The three men looked at each other in bewilderment.

“She’s a human being, Jack. You’d do well to remember that.”

Albert glanced around for support, but Sue wasn’t back from her walk and Smiler had already popped in and dashed out again to make the school run.

“Albert, what’s got into you?” Jack said. “We’re only having a laugh. It’s only a bit of fun.”

But Albert told himself that this was the first line of defense of every bully. “Do you think she’d find it funny? Do you think she’d think it was just a laugh?”

Jack threw his hands up in the air. “But she i’n’t here, is she? So she’ll never know.

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