Bad Bones by Graham Marks Read Free Book Online
Authors: Graham Marks
On the off-chance it was Ant, Gabe picked up the call; the least he could do was apologize for the way he’d just been.
“Hi, Ant, that you?”
“Gabriel…”
“Stella? How the—?”
“Never mind how. You should forget Benny, you really should.”
Gabe took the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a second, like that would help him make more sense of what was going on. “What?”
“Like I told you, Gabriel, don’t have anything to do with that lowlife creep.”
“So, OK … like what makes you think you … like, why d’you think you can tell anyone what to do?”
Stella laughed, the reception so clear, her voice sounding as if she was standing right by him; Gabe couldn’t stop himself from looking. No sign.
“Just don’t do it. He’s stupid and he’s trouble.”
“Look—”
The call was cut and Gabe found himself listening to the sound of silence. He stared at the screen again, angry and confused. What right did this girl have to tell him how to run his life? Even if he couldn’t fault her on her character analysis of Benny, which was entirely spot on. And somehow that made him even madder, being second-guessed and outmanoeuvred by someone he hardly knew, who hardly knew him. He almost punched ‘call back’ so he could demand to know why she cared what he did. Instead he jammed the phone in his back pocket and rode off. He did not have the energy.
The car wasn’t parked outside when Gabe got home and he walked down the passage towards the kitchen,mentally crossing his fingers that he might get some time in the house on his own. It didn’t work. His dad was there at the table drinking a coffee, reading the paper. The funnies, not the Jobs Vacant pages, either. Typical.
The timing was less than perfect. On top of really needing to get himself cleaned up properly, for the last few weeks it had taken a major effort on Gabe’s part to have anything even approaching a civil conversation with his dad. His mom had called him out on his behaviour, told him he was being unreasonable. She said he had no idea how hard it was for someone who wanted to work not to be able to get a job. Gabe had wanted to say did she have
any
idea how hard it was to have a dad who didn’t look like he was trying very hard to get a job, but managed not to. That would have done nothing except hurt his mom.
“Anton came by earlier, looking for you.” Gabe’s dad put down the paper and sat back in his chair. “He find you?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Good.”
“Yeah…” Gabe made for the door.
“Everything OK with you?”
“Sure.” Only a couple of steps to go, nearly there.
His dad sighed and shook his head, a pained expression on his face. “You know the one thing we’ve
never
done in this family?”
There was no way Gabe could get away with not answering. “No, what?”
Vern looked his son straight in the eye. “We never lied to each other, is what.”
Gabe felt like he’d been caught between a rock and a hard place. His dad was right, he was lying, everything was not OK; but whose fault was that? He knew that if he let rip now it would be bad and he would regret it later, but why should he always be the one cutting slack and being understanding? Who was the grown-up here?
“I can’t make you talk to me, Gabe.” His dad stood up, pushing the chair back, and walked past his son. “But I’ll be here, when you want to,” he said as he left the room. “If you want to.”
Gabe stood in the empty, silent kitchen. With nothing to focus on, no target, his pent-up anger left a sour, metallic taste in his mouth. When life sucked it was a bitch, and it sure as hell sucked now.
Chapter Nine
This time the dreams were so much worse. Hyper-real, beyond hi-def, with every sense magnified to unimaginable extremes.
The colours of the costumes were even more clashing and vivid, the woven patterns more jagged. The sounds were needle-sharp and they hurt, the atmosphere so heavy and cloying he felt
“Hi, Ant, that you?”
“Gabriel…”
“Stella? How the—?”
“Never mind how. You should forget Benny, you really should.”
Gabe took the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a second, like that would help him make more sense of what was going on. “What?”
“Like I told you, Gabriel, don’t have anything to do with that lowlife creep.”
“So, OK … like what makes you think you … like, why d’you think you can tell anyone what to do?”
Stella laughed, the reception so clear, her voice sounding as if she was standing right by him; Gabe couldn’t stop himself from looking. No sign.
“Just don’t do it. He’s stupid and he’s trouble.”
“Look—”
The call was cut and Gabe found himself listening to the sound of silence. He stared at the screen again, angry and confused. What right did this girl have to tell him how to run his life? Even if he couldn’t fault her on her character analysis of Benny, which was entirely spot on. And somehow that made him even madder, being second-guessed and outmanoeuvred by someone he hardly knew, who hardly knew him. He almost punched ‘call back’ so he could demand to know why she cared what he did. Instead he jammed the phone in his back pocket and rode off. He did not have the energy.
The car wasn’t parked outside when Gabe got home and he walked down the passage towards the kitchen,mentally crossing his fingers that he might get some time in the house on his own. It didn’t work. His dad was there at the table drinking a coffee, reading the paper. The funnies, not the Jobs Vacant pages, either. Typical.
The timing was less than perfect. On top of really needing to get himself cleaned up properly, for the last few weeks it had taken a major effort on Gabe’s part to have anything even approaching a civil conversation with his dad. His mom had called him out on his behaviour, told him he was being unreasonable. She said he had no idea how hard it was for someone who wanted to work not to be able to get a job. Gabe had wanted to say did she have
any
idea how hard it was to have a dad who didn’t look like he was trying very hard to get a job, but managed not to. That would have done nothing except hurt his mom.
“Anton came by earlier, looking for you.” Gabe’s dad put down the paper and sat back in his chair. “He find you?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Good.”
“Yeah…” Gabe made for the door.
“Everything OK with you?”
“Sure.” Only a couple of steps to go, nearly there.
His dad sighed and shook his head, a pained expression on his face. “You know the one thing we’ve
never
done in this family?”
There was no way Gabe could get away with not answering. “No, what?”
Vern looked his son straight in the eye. “We never lied to each other, is what.”
Gabe felt like he’d been caught between a rock and a hard place. His dad was right, he was lying, everything was not OK; but whose fault was that? He knew that if he let rip now it would be bad and he would regret it later, but why should he always be the one cutting slack and being understanding? Who was the grown-up here?
“I can’t make you talk to me, Gabe.” His dad stood up, pushing the chair back, and walked past his son. “But I’ll be here, when you want to,” he said as he left the room. “If you want to.”
Gabe stood in the empty, silent kitchen. With nothing to focus on, no target, his pent-up anger left a sour, metallic taste in his mouth. When life sucked it was a bitch, and it sure as hell sucked now.
Chapter Nine
This time the dreams were so much worse. Hyper-real, beyond hi-def, with every sense magnified to unimaginable extremes.
The colours of the costumes were even more clashing and vivid, the woven patterns more jagged. The sounds were needle-sharp and they hurt, the atmosphere so heavy and cloying he felt