Read Online Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan - Free Book Online Page B

looked down, just for a second, which was enough to make Thorpey and Jack laugh. Lewis went for me, but the others held him back. “You fat —”
    “Easy, Lewis, easy,” Jack said. “It’s just a bit of banter. Nothing wrong with a bit of banter. He’s all right.”
    Jack turned to me. “What’s your name, mate?” he said.
    “Dan,” I said.
    “Nasty scrape you’ve got there,” he said, pointing at my leg.
    “It’s nothing,” I said.
    They sat down on the other loungers, Thorpey and Lewis on one side, Jack on the other. “Was that your dad causing a riot yesterday, grabbing you, by the pool?”
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “He’s funny, mate. Your dad. The way he flipped out the other day. Crazy.”
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “Our folks are playing bingo all afternoon,” Thorpey said.
    “Is bingo a sport?” I said. They laughed.
    “You wouldn’t get them two’s mums playing real sports,” Thorpey said, pointing to Jack and Lewis. “Eighty-eight. Two fat ladies.”
    They laughed again.
    The adrenaline charge of my anger was starting to fade. Goose bumps rose from my skin, along with the smell of chlorine and sweat. This wasn’t the sort of atmosphere in which I thrived. All of the school counselors would have agreed on that.
Doesn’t do well in groups. Easily intimidated.
But I was doing OK so far. Maybe I wasn’t such a freak, after all. Maybe I didn’t need to hang out with people like Lexi.
    “So, Dan. You like this place?” asked Jack. “Leisure World, I mean.”
    “Bit boring,” I said.
    “Yeah,” he said. “It was better the other day. There was some tarts here. Nice bodies.”
    “The one I did was amazing,” Thorpey said.
    I stared at the bright-blue water as Thorpey went on. “She was filthy,” he said. “She’d do anything. You could do anything to her.”
    “Yeah, she was disgusting,” said Lewis. “They all were. Proper slags. They’ve gone home now, though.”
    I had seen those girls. They had looked fairly normal to me. But what did I know about girls?
    “Now that they’ve left, this place is dull,” Jack said. “I thought there was going to be loads of girls because of the school holidays, but they’re all dogs.”
    He took out a mobile phone from the pocket of his shorts, pressed a few buttons, and looked around secretively. Ryan was over at the other side of the pool, kneeling in front of a little girl who had bumped her head on the edge of the water slide.
    “Check this out, Dan,” Jack said.
    He showed me a video clip. It was pornography. I won’t describe it. And I won’t lie: I like to see a naked woman just as much as the next man, but this was different. Those women didn’t want to be there; it was like an attack. I felt mixed up. I wondered if these lads had sisters. Mothers. Well, their mothers were at bingo.
    If I saw that video now, I’d probably be sick. But I was numb then. All I could feel was the distant throb of how angry I had been with Lexi. I wanted to get back at her. “What do you think?” asked Jack. “Nasty, eh?”
    “Yeah,” I said. As if it was nothing. As if I saw that kind of video every day.
    “That’s the sort of thing that would liven up Leisure World,” Jack said.
    A darkness came over me. “I know where there’s a girl you might like the look of,” I said.
    “Oh, yeah?” Jack said.
    “Yeah. Well. I mean, you probably wouldn’t be bothered,” I said, instantly regretting what I’d said.
    “No, mate. I’m interested,” Jack said. “We’re interested, aren’t we, boys?”
    “Nah,” I said. “She probably wouldn’t be up for anything. She’s not really . . .”
    “There’s nothing wrong with asking, though, is there?” Jack said. “Come on, Dan, spill the beans. Don’t try and protect your lady friend, now. You’ve got to share. Mates share.”
    I leaned away from Jack, but the two other boys had closed in, too. They were alert, defiant. “You should introduce us,” Lewis said.
    I was scared and