The Beat by Simon Payne Read Free Book Online

they kept up to date with the The tea room wasn’t too full. He helped himself to coffee from the urn and picked up a couple of spare papers left lying around. He always sat on his own, or with some of the older women. All the men ignored him. He scanned the paper. He was in luck. Just an appeal to the gay community for information, an assurance of confidentiality, etc. The other paper carried a photograph of Mrs Schultz and an appeal to go with it. In one breath she disowned her son from anything to do with queers. In the next she appealed to them for help. She went on to say no one who knew Kevin could accuse him of being “like that”, he was a “man’s man”. What an inaccurate phrase, Gerry thought. Surely he was a man’s man himself? The article ended with a demand that the police clean up the parks to avoid this kind of mistake happening again. The problem was not to control the marauding adoles-cents but preventing the perverts from meeting there. That would solve the problem. In its own way it was logical. You can’t go poofter-bashing with no poofters there to bash. It also recommended the closing down of certain pubs and late-night clubs that attracted this undesirable type, hence opening the possibility to further violence in the area. Gerry was gazing hard at Mrs Schulz and wondering if her son had been as ugly as his mother in both body and mind, when Pauline plumped down beside him. Plumped down she did, big loose mounds of thigh dropping over the small chair. She still wore the short skirts of her youth. On anyone else it would lead to them sitting cautiously, legs together; with Pauline it didn’t matter. The giant thighs met in a pool of flesh and indiscretion was impossible.
    “How’s it going Gerry, love?” she asked. It was a bit how you might speak to your favourite puppy. He was an oddity to her eyes. He surreptitiously closed the paper and prepared for the description of the weekend which he knew was imminent. To begin, Pauline announced: “I think I’ll have to get married again, Gerry, I need the rest. Had a fantastic weekend.” Gerry remembered “fantastic” as a word from his own youth. Now everything was wonderful. Sue would have a wonderful dress and look wonderful on that wonderful special day.
    “Sorry Pauline,” he replied, “I’ve told you before I won’t marry you.” She looked hard at him, then slapped her thighs laughing. To Gerry she was all thigh. It wobbled as she walked, revealed itself as she bent over and came in for a pounding when she laughed. Yet she was no threat and they got along well. Connie joined them, fruit cake already in her mouth.
    “See in the paper about that pervert in the park.” The p’s made her spit fruit cake at everyone in general.
    “It says in the paper he wasn’t a pervert,” Gerry replied quietly. But Connie wasn’t interested.
    “Picture of his poor mother too. It must have broken her heart him turning out that way. If one of mine did …” She paused.
    “You could share his dresses,” Pauline joined in. And again the thighs were punished for her laughter.
    “Line them up and shoot them, that’s what I say.” Connie looked around for support. Pauline liked Gerry and had her own ideas about him. Must be hard for him to take it sitting there listening to Connie. Gerry who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’d been taking it for years.
    “I think it’s alright when it’s just between boys, Connie. It’s just horseplay. I mean it’s not like it was anything real — like rape, I mean.”
    “Shoot them.” Connie was adamant. Pauline gave Gerry a raise of her eyebrow to show her own opinion and then prepared to tell them about her weekend of conquests. Pauline knew and didn’t know about Gerry. She and Gerry never openly discussed it but she knew what the other men said behind his back. Why he was stuck in the rut of what they called “women’s work”. His promotion prospects were like her own or Connie’s, not like those