The Time Gene by L.E. Lacaille
Author:L.E. Lacaille [Lacaille, L.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Louise Lacaille
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Mary Malone lay on the sofa, her face drowned in a gameshow. Two cartons of yellow gloop lay at her feet. Boiled sweet wrappers, a weekâs worth of stained cups, and mouldering apple cores covered the coffee table. Her younger daughter strutted in, slammed the door and flung her bag on the floor. Mary jerked her head. âYouâre early,â she croaked.
âGodâs sake, do you never go out?â Roxanne whined. âWhy are you readinâ that?â she growled. Mary frowned. What had she done now? She knew her daughter probably wanted her out of the way, so she could watch that dirty video the Darroch girl had lent her. But why the heck shouldnât she read a paper? It was a rather interesting article. Stew McLally had published an article outlining his bid to purge Scotland of âelitist and discriminatoryâ private schools. Heâd said at a council meeting that he would raze them all to the ground if he could get away with it. And Mary felt inclined to agree. Why should posh kids have what other kids couldnât? All right for rich folks, wasnât it? Like that Donachie woman, whoâd had the gall to accuse her daughter ofâ¦please God no! It couldnât be trueâ¦could it? Her eyes smarted. How different things could have been for their Dexter, if heâd had an opportunity like that. But just as Mary was engrossing herself in the article again, Roxanne snatched the paper away, and stamped it onto the remnants of her curry takeaway on the floor.
âHey â I was readinâ that.â
As Roxy stormed off in the direction of her bedroom, Mary called out to her hoarsely: âSpeakinâ oâ private schools, you havenae been bullyinâ that Donachie boy, have you?â
Roxy froze. âCourse not.â
Relief flooded Maryâs face. At least, with all that had gone wrong, her Roxy was not part of the Jayjay mob. Dexter was the prodigal child, Roxy the faithful. Yet she cast dubious side glances at her daughter. Her breaths zigzagged into the air, rough and raspy. Their Roxy was an angel. So good, so compassionate. Yet Mary was wrestling with her courage; she swallowed a few times before calling Roxy back a second time.
âDid you hear the Darroch boy got out today?â
Roxyâs limbs twitched.
âRoxy?â
âNoâ¦no I didnât.â
âYou knowâ¦the Darroch girlâs brother? Liam, innit?â
âOh, him? Donât really know him.â
âGood,â Mary moralised. âCos theyâre not our sort, see. Darrochsâve always been trouble, Roxy. Up to their eyeballs in shit. You donât want to get mixed up wiâ those scum.â
Roxy nodded, her heart hammering. She ran upstairs, but Mary called her back a third time, a hint of steel glinting in her watery eyes.
âMargaret Little came tae see me this morninâ,â she said, frost cracking her dull stupour.
Roxyâs legs jarred, like sheâd been hacking through thick ice.
âTold me her daughterâs scared half tae death oâ you,â Mary said, fear quaking through the steely façade. âI says: âwhy would anyone be scared oâ my Roxy? Sheâs the sweetest lamb.â But Margaret swears blind youâve been hurtinâ her girl; anâ wee Moraigâs scared stiff youâll kill her.
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