Maggie's Boy by Beryl Kingston

Author:Beryl Kingston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2013-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

‘Good God!’ Brad said. ‘I should just think he did hit you. The rotten bugger!’

‘Yes, well,’ Alison said, throwing a warning glance at the children inside the house. ‘Not in front of the kids.’ She didn’t want to talk about it.

Brad was too angry to take the hint. ‘You should’ve called the police,’ she said fiercely. ‘You could have done him fer assault. Rotten bugger.’

‘Well I didn’t,’ Alison responded wearily. ‘Anyway, it’s over now. I’d rather not talk about it. I didn’t mean to drag you out here, you know. That’s why I rang.’

‘You didn’t drag me,’ Brad said. ‘The old dears are all fed and watered. This is my break.’

Alison was aware of a neighbour peering from behind the curtains in the house opposite and a new unreasonable fear scratched in her chest. She could do without Brad’s concern, but she certainly didn’t want to provide her neighbours with ground for more gossip than they already had. ‘Come in and have a cup of coffee,’ she said. ‘The kettle’s boiling.’

‘I reported your phone,’ Brad told her, stepping through the door. ‘They said they’d be along some time this afternoon with a bit a’ luck. But that could mean anything. Blimey! It’s parky in here. Where’s the gale coming from? Oh, I see.’

‘Daddy threw the phone out the window,’ Jon told her.

‘Your Daddy’s a pig,’ Brad said. ‘’Lo Emma. Whatcher got there?’

‘Playdoh,’ Emma said. ‘Tha’s a eat.’

‘Do a hedgehog,’ Brad advised. ‘Your Mr Tiggywinkle’s still in my garden.’

‘Is he?’ Jon said, much impressed.

‘You’ll ’ave to come an’ see him,’ Brad said. ‘Tell you what, if your Mum wants a couple a’ days away from everything, you could come an’ see the hedgehog, couldn’t yer?’

‘We’ll be all right,’ Alison said, putting a cup of coffee in front of her friend. ‘Once we’ve got the phone fixed.’

‘What about the window?’ Brad asked. ‘D’you want me to tell your brother to come over?’

‘No. I can do it. I’ve got to be independent.’

‘Well you mind what you’re up to,’ Brad advised, drinking her coffee. ‘Glass is nasty stuff. And if the Great-I-Am comes back, don’t let him in.’

Alison’s answer sounded listless. ‘No. All right.’ She knew Brad was trying to help but she wished she’d go away.

‘I mean it,’ Brad said. ‘Put a chain on the door and if you hear a knock, look out of the window to see who it is, an’ if it’s him, don’t answer the door.’

‘We’ll be all right, Brad. Really. It won’t happen again.’

‘It won’t, if you fight back,’ Brad said, looking at her friend’s battered face. ‘Trouble is you been a doormat fer too long. You aint got the gumption.’

‘Don’t start, Brad,’ Alison begged, her voice weary. ‘I can’t take it. Not this morning.’

‘OK, mate,’ Brad said. ‘Only look after yourself, that’s all. You don’t want another basinful, do you?’ She was thinking: a pity that Welshman wasn’t here. He’d have stood up for you.

The Welshman had been too hard at work that day to get out of the office.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.