Bring it Back Home by Niall Griffiths Read Free Book Online Page A

then. Let's go and get my money back and then catch the first plane to the States. Goodbye, Lewis. Goodbye, William.'
    He nodded at Lewis and the Old Man and turned to go with Manon. At the door Manon turned back and mouthed 'I'll write' at the Old Man and then stared at Lewis.
    'You deserted me,' she said. 'You ran away when I needed you most. Don't you ever forget that. ’Cos I won't.'
    And then she closed the door behind her.
    The empty shell that was Lewis turned to face the Old Man. It looked like Lewis, it moved like Lewis, but it was just a shell. There were tears on its cheeks and a roaring in its head.
    'What can I say, son?' William said. 'Never trust anybody. Everything's connected, just look for the signs. And never leave a woman when she needs you most. Nobody loves a coward.'
    The Old Man rose and left. The world was rubble at Lewis's shoes.
    He stared at the tabletop. He looked at the words carved into its surface, but didn’t really read them. His heart went on beating and his lungs went on taking in air but he was no longer alive. He looked at his watch: 3 p.m. The hour of his death.
    A knock at the door. He got up and answered it. A man in a uniform holding a huge wedding cake.
    'Special delivery,' the man said. 'Congratulations. Where should I put it?'
    Without waiting for Lewis to answer he walked over to the table and put the cake down on it. Then he congratulated Lewis again and left.
    Such a big cake. A wedding cake. The tiny bride and groom on top of it held hands and had minuscule painted smiles on their tiny faces. The bride had long dark hair like Manon. The groom had short brown hair like Lewis. Maybe Manon had ordered this. Maybe she was coming back. Maybe this business of leaving with Cakes was just to teach Lewis a lesson. Maybe they were laughing outside the door and she was just about to come back in again and say she'd forgiven him really; that she wanted to marry him, yes, and she wanted to go to New York with him and not with Cakes and –
    Some life came back into Lewis. He turned to face the door. He would be smiling when Manon came back through that door which he knew she would, any second now. He'd be smiling and ready to hug her. Ready to begin their new life.
    He stood there smilingand waiting as the clock ticked on the wall. As the clock ticked many times.
    Footsteps outside. The door handle turned. Here she was. Coming back to him. Bringing it back home.
    The door swung inwards. Lewis smiled, holding his arms out wide.

Chapter Ten
    'Do you want to do it or shall I?'
    'I'll do it,' Manon said, holding the rucksack tightly to her stomach where it bulged like a pregnancy. 'My phone or yours?'
    'Neither,' Cakes said. 'The call can be traced. We'll have to use a phone box.'
    They drove down out of the hills and found a public phone box outside a chapel in a little village. Manon put the rucksack safely beneath the passenger seat and then she and Cakes got out of the van and crammed themselves into the phone box. She lifted the receiver and dialled 999. Asked for the police.
    'Miner's Arms,' she said to the voice on the other end of the line. 'The back room there. There's a man in there with a wedding cake. Look inside the cake. You'll find something very interesting.'
    'Miner's Arms?' the voice said. 'Whereabouts?'
    She named the village, the place where she was born, where she got pregnant and lost the baby, the place she once called home.
    'Thank you,' the voice said. 'I'll send someone round there right away. Can I ask who's calling? You could be in line for a Community Action Trust reward.'
    Manon hung up and she and Cakes ran back into the van, laughing. Inside, Cakes turned the key and the engine barked into life. He and Manon leaned and kissed each other deep and long and then he drove away out of Wales, heading east, in the direction of Heathrow airport.