The Beat by Simon Payne Read Free Book Online Page B

bravado that he envied. Gerry thought that next time Robert phoned, he too should publicly indulge in all those terms of endearment that had only been whispered in the privacy of their home. But it was time to blot it out with work as he had done for years. Work killed injustice, for the moment at least.
    “Steve’s coming up so we can go to lunch early. You don’t mind if I go now, do you?” He wondered why she had asked.
    “No, no, I don’t mind.” Love wasn’t only for the young, it was only for the straight.
     
    Steve sat on the corner of Sue’s desk and looked slightly awkward. She had gone to wash her hands, her euphem-ism for going to the toilet. Gerry thought Steve felt awkward at being left with him. He cleared his throat,
    “I haven’t congratulated you on your engagement yet,” he said. Steve looked across at him swinging his leg nervously.
    “Yeah,” he said and looked down.
    “Should I?” asked Gerry.
    “What?”
    “Congratulate you.” Steve laughed, “Yeah.” Gerry leaned back and looked at him. Steve shifted uncomfortably under the attention. Gerry continued to watch him. He had known Steve for ages on speaking terms, but he didn’t really know the kid well — just the kid from the mail room. He must be shorter than Sue, he thought. A nice kid but such easy prey, so unsure of himself. Steve said, “It’s what she wanted and you know Sue.” He followed his own line of thought and lapsed into silence. Gerry let the silence grow. He wondered if Steve too could behave like the boy in the park. He was so ordinary but so had this Kevin been. He was just an office boy too, just someone like Steve. Somehow Gerry couldn’t quite see Steve as a poofter basher. He smiled to himself. Who would see him as a killer either? Yet he was more proud of that than any other single action in his life. He was sure for once he had been right and that their action had been justified.
    “You’re not married, are you?” Steve knew he wasn’t. “You wouldn’t believe what it’s like. All the organizing and that.” It seemed to Gerry that the kid couldn’t unravel what he wanted to say.
    “But it’s worth it, isn’t it?” Gerry helped him.
    “I don’t know.” Steve scratched his head comically and gazed at the floor. “Everyone says it is. Everyone goes through it.” Then he looked at Gerry and added, “’Cept you.”
    “’Cept me,” Gerry repeated. And suddenly Sue was back with them and bristling to go. Her mother had packed them both sandwiches for lunch. They were saving now and buying lunch was a luxury. Gerry felt he ought to say something, so repeated to Sue, “I was just congratulating Steve.” He gave Steve a conspiratorial look. Steve smiled gratefully back. They were about to go when Steve turned back for a moment and said awkwardly, “Some of the guys are taking me for a drink tonight, do you want to come?” Gerry paused. He never drank with the boys.
    “It would be good if you could come,” Steve urged.
    “For once, why not,” Gerry replied. It was time the boys coped with him. He would phone Robert and let him know he was going to be late that evening. He would do it as soon as Sue and Steve cleared off. He looked around. With all the work he wasn’t sure he would get to lunch himself.
     
    He worked right through lunchtime and got the quotas under control. Having cleared the work from Sue’s desk, they would both be ready for a clean break. Probably he had been a bit hard on her. Naturally she would be excited. He had just been edgy all day. Now at least they’d have nothing unpleasant to answer for at the next departmental meeting and could relax a little more. At one-thirty, when he was just seeing his way clear to a break for coffee and the dizzy heights of the tea room, he was called into the office. The door was shut. It was obviously something major.
    “Sit down Gerry,” Wilson said, as he circled around to his own seat. Once seated, he fingered at a piece