The Red House by Mark Haddon Read Free Book Online Page A

eagle of sweat on his back. Deltoids, teres major, rotator cuff . He still thought of himself as a sportsman, cross-country at school, the four hundred meter at college, but in the last year he’d done nothing more than play a few games of squash with Gerhardt and cycle to work for a fortnight after the car was stolen. Alex stood up. Wondering if I should have a go myself .
    Alex put a foot on the bench to unlace his trainer. It’s a big hill .

    Daisy had very nearly done it with her friend Jack. She was never quite sure whether they were going out or not. He had three earrings and a pet snake and some invisible barrier that only Daisy was allowed to cross. They’d drunk two large glasses of some poisonous green liqueur his dad had bought in Italy. He put a hand under the hem of her knickers and she was suddenly aware of how angular he was, all bones and corners, and she was going to let him do it because she couldn’t think of an alternative, because this was the door everyone had to pass through. But with this thought came a scrabbling panic. She didn’t want to go through that door, she didn’t want to be like everyone else and she was having real trouble breathing. She pushed him away, and he seemed relieved mostly, but the near miss had scared them both, so they finished the bottle and the embarrassment was obscured by the memory of a hangover so bad that its retelling became a party piece. For six months they were best friends, then Daisy joined the church and he called her a fucking traitor and vanished from her life.
    Alex wasn’t trying to put Richard down. It was a stab at friendliness he failed to pitch quite right. He had always rather admired his uncle and felt that Mum’s complaints were unjustified. Or perhaps admiration was the wrong word, more a kind of genetic bond. He recognized nothing of himself in Mum and Dad, her distractedness, the lack of care she took in herself, his father sitting around the house feeling sorry for himself, doing the cleaning and the shopping and Benjy’s school pickups like it was the most natural thing in the world. When friends visited he felt embarrassed by the air of defeat which hung around him and part of the attraction of mountains and lakes was their distance from both of his parents. But the way Richard carried himself, his air of efficiency and self-possession …

    Why did you do that last night? asked Angela.
    Do what?
    You know exactly what I’m talking about. Saying grace. Making everyone feel uncomfortable .
    I think we all should be more grateful for the things we have .
    I think we should also be more considerate of other people’s feelings .
    Oh, like you’re considerate of my feelings?
    Don’t answer me back .
    So, what? Just be quiet and do what you say?
    You were showing off, and you were patronizing people. I don’t care what you believe in private …
    That’s rubbish. You hate what I believe in private .
    I don’t care what you believe in private but I don’t think you should force it down other people’s throats .
    You’re just jealous because I’m happy .
    I’m not jealous, Daisy. And you’re not happy .
    Well, maybe you’re not the expert when it comes to what I’m actually feeling .
    We’ll buy some secondhand books , said Richard. Get some lunch. Stop for a walk on the way back .
    That sounds like the most excellent fun , said Melissa.
    Then it’s your lucky day . He remained poker-faced. We can only fit seven in the car .
    Good .
    Will you be all right on your own? asked Louisa.
    Melissa flopped her head to one side and rolled her eyes.
    Can we walk up Lord Hereford’s Knob? asked Benjy.
    He’ll stop finding it funny eventually .
    I’ll duck out, too , said Dominic. If that’s OK .
    Angela briefly wondered if he had arranged some kind of liaison with Melissa and came close to making a joke about it before realizing how tasteless and bizarre it would have been.

    Melissa was coming up the stairs when Alex emerged from the