Whole Wide World by Paul J. McAuley

Author:Paul J. McAuley [McAuley, Paul J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 000651331X
Publisher: Voyager
Published: 2002-07-01T18:13:18+00:00

‘You’ve got more than enough in there to get a long way from London,’ I said. When he didn’t say anything, I added, ‘Roger Court told you about my visit, didn’t he? He told you that the police were looking for you, and you decided to make some quick money so you could get out of town.’

‘It isn’t like that.’

‘But you were on your way to Camden Market, weren’t you? Which is where you sell your stuff.’

‘I told you. It’s how I make my living.’

‘So you said. The trouble is, I don’t believe you. You move out of your room, and now you’re looking to make some quick money. Someone more suspicious than me might think that you have something to hide.’

‘I already talked to you lot. Why are you giving me a hard time?’

‘I want to clear up a few things,’ I said. ‘We can sit here and get our breath back and talk, Tim, or we can make it formal. I could charge you with obstructing a police officer. An interview-room, a tape recorder and a video camera, or a nice little chat here in the sunshine. Your call.’

‘I don’t need to talk to you, all right, because I haven’t done anything.’

‘Calm down, Tim, calm down. Do you want one of these?’

‘Jesus, don’t you have proper fags?’

I lit up, blew smoke. ‘Are you always this nervous?’

Tim Coveney said, with a feeble flicker of bravado, ‘You lot make me nervous.’

‘What have you got against the police, Tim?’

‘Look, I don’t want to talk about it any more, all right? That’s all it is. It does my head in.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Give me a fag, will you?’

I gave him the packet and my lighter. He lit up, trying to hide his trembling fingers.

‘Where are you staying at present, Tim?’ A pause. I said, ‘I think I told you that I know you moved out of your room.’

‘I’m staying with a mate, all right? You don’t have to bring him into this.’

‘I’ll need his address.’

Tim Coveney blew out smoke, and gave it.

‘Why did you move out of your room?’

‘Because I felt my head was coming apart.’

‘But you were still able to do your work at the glassblower’s.’

‘Roger isn’t a glassblower, all right? And I wasn’t hiding, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone back there.’

‘Come off it. You went back to get this stuff because you needed to raise some quick cash. You’re frightened of something. Why don’t you tell me about it?’ Silence. I said, ‘Let’s talk about Sophie’s work.

You helped her with her performances. With the little bits of theatrics she put out on her website.’

Tim Coveney shrugged, his eyes on the traffic moving along the road beyond the edge of the little park. The grass was dry and sunbleached. The cracked earth under the bushes twinkled with crushed cans and shards of glass. He said, ‘I wasn’t the only one helping her, and it was just messing about, that’s all. Having a laugh. Look, I already talked about this.

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