BooksBarbecue
Back A Terrible Kindness Save as PDF
Chapters (77)
  1. Landing Page
  2. A TERRIBLE KINDNESS
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. ABERFAN
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. CAMBRIDGE CHOIR
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. FAMILY BUSINESS
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. MIDNIGHT CHOIR
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. ABERFAN
  68. 59
  69. 60
  70. 61
  71. 62
  72. 63
  73. 64
  74. 65
  75. Acknowledgements
  76. About the Author
  77. Copyright

William moves closer to the table. Neither Ray nor Arthur has any idea just how familiar he is with Pack Her Cotton Dress Clean Today Please, nor what a salvation it was when he found himself back in Sutton Coldfield. In fact, in his mid-teens he used to worry sometimes about how much he loved the H and the C.

▪ ▪ ▪

If mourners commented on how their loved ones looked so peaceful, so themselves, Robert didn’t tell them it was the work of his fifteen-year-old nephew, but he always passed on the compliment.

‘That’s down to you. I may do a decent job, but they can’t see those bits. What means most to them is the part you played.’ And he’d touch William’s shoulder, or rest his hand briefly on his head, even though by now, William was taller than him.

Sometimes, as he finished up on the H and started on the C and found he instinctively knew what colour eyeshadow to put on, how much or how little blusher, what nail varnish, William wondered if he was a poofter after all – that’s what they were called at his new school. Sometimes he wished he was. He could be like his uncle and Howard. He could get Martin back – he need never have lost him.

But it was girls he liked. When the bus stopped at Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls and they streamed on, it was their faces, legs, and the imagined shape of their breasts under their uniforms that William thought about. Sometimes, when he couldn’t summon the will not to, he’d think of Imogen Mussey and those intense few days at their home. He always regretted that indulgence though, because it inevitably led to Martin. It seemed every good thought in his head had to lead to something bad. The thrill of the bed hop to the humiliation of a beating. The kindness of Martin to the cowardice of William’s betrayal of him. The beauty of the ‘Miserere’ to the shock of his mother’s spite.

Stop it. Forget it. All of it.

▪ ▪ ▪

‘So, first is Pack,’ William states now, looking briefly at Arthur and Ray before pincering a sizeable chunk of cotton wool with large metal tongs. ‘For pack the orifices.’ Lifting the man’s thin legs and bending them back towards his stomach, as if he’s a giant baby, William inserts the wad up his backside.

37

‘I’ve got a proposition for you, William.’