Family Business by Mark Eklid

Author:Mark Eklid [Eklid, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798648417045
Published: 2020-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

15

Graham made the call to the Rother Valley Transport depot, looking to set an appointment to see Doug Bentley, shortly after he arrived at work for the start of his shift. He was told the boss was not available but got the feeling he would not have been put through, as he had asked, whether Bentley was available right then or not. So he left his mobile number and asked to be rung back.

There was the sound of raucous laughter behind him as he hung up and he spun in his chair to see who the source of it was. It was Ray, the driver who had shown him around the cab of his lorry on the day Andreas gave him his first tour of the depot. He had nurtured a look that made it hard not to notice him and he had a laugh to match. Ray was attempting to wind Zoe up about her broken foot. She was threatening to kick him where he didn’t want to be kicked to prove she still had full mobility.

Ray was still laughing as he picked up his delivery note and set off to do his pre-trip vehicle checks. Graham snatched the high-viz jacket off the back of his chair and set off after him.

‘Ray!’

He stopped midway through pulling the door open on his way to the yard and held it open as Graham, scrambling to find the arm hole in his jacket, caught up.

‘Now then, Darth. How’s it going?’

Graham completed the challenge of pulling on the jacket.

‘Darth?’

‘That’s what the mechanics are calling you.’ Ray chuckled and stopped walking to face his puzzled co-worker.

‘You know, Darth Vader. As in Star Wars. As in...’

He cupped his hands over his mouth to muffle the sound of his voice and spoke an octave or two lower than usual.

‘...Luke, I am your real father.’

They set off walking again, Ray smiling to himself.

‘I see. That’s quite good. A damn sight more original than what I usually get, I must say.’

They turned the corner and headed towards the imposing flat front of the red and yellow tractor unit parked to their left.

‘I bet. You must have loved it when Baywatch was at its peak.’

Ray pressed the keypad as they got closer, opening the cab doors.

‘I had it before then as well. People used to think it was hilarious to put on a voice like that car computer and say things like: “May I suggest you engage the on/off switch, Graham?” It wore very thin after a while.’

‘Knight Rider! I used to love that!’

Graham shook his head. ‘I wasn’t a fan.’

Ray turned to face him.

‘You know, you should have done what my mate used to do. His name was Michael Jackson and everybody knew him as Mick, but whenever he met people for the first time he’d introduce himself as Michael Jackson. If they came back at him with something stupid like “give us a moonwalk, then” he’d know they were a twat and he shouldn’t have anything else to do with them.

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