Read Online Field Study by Rachel Seiffert - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rachel Seiffert
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smiles at him and then she’s off.
Kenny lies in the bath and can’t cry. He brings the candles in to the bathroom, dripping water through the flat. Hedrinks the rest of the wine, rolls a damp joint that is a job to smoke but is just the trick, and he can forget it all until the morning.
It’s Sunday and he goes to his mum’s for dinner. He eats a lot and helps his dad wash up, then he falls asleep on the sofa watching the sport. His mum asks if he wants to stay over, but he’s too old to be sleeping in bunk beds so he goes back to the flat. He buys lagers on the way and drinks a skinful so he can forget it all for a little bit longer.
Kenny spends a day in bed. He goes to sign on. He does a day’s work for his brother-in-law, who gives him a sofa and some paint. He repaints all the doors in the flat, and starts on the skirting boards. Then he phones Maria.
She sounds happy to hear from him and they chat for a while about this and that. She tells him her dad’s got work again and he says that’s really good news because it’s been about three years hasn’t it, and she says, over. Kenny can hear that Maria is smiling while she talks about how happy her mum is and how everything will be easier now. It makes him smile too and forget to listen properly, and so he nearly misses it when Maria says she’d like to come over tomorrow evening. He says fine, and then they say goodbye and Kenny’s back in the flat before he knows it. He sits in the kitchen and stares at the TV.
It’s late when he wakes up. He has a bath and cleans the windows. He doesn’t want to sit around waiting like the last time, so goes for a walk in a park which is somethinghe would never normally do. Then he gets a bus across the centre of the city, sitting on the top deck. On the way back, he gets off at the river and walks across one of the bridges. It’s late afternoon when he gets to the other side and he realises he has no money left to buy anything for dinner. He gets a bus to his mum’s to borrow a tenner till he gets his giro. She’s hurt because he’s in a hurry, so he promises to come for Sunday lunch.
When he gets back, Maria is sitting on the step outside the block, but she’s not annoyed. Tells him she was early, thought she’d wait a bit. She looks relieved.
They cook dinner together and eat in the kitchen, not saying very much, but feeling quite cosy. It gets dark and they wash up, and then Maria says she would really like some chocolate.
She is lying on the bed when he comes back from the shop. He throws the sweets on the mattress and sits down next to her. She has a sip of his lager and eats her chocolates and they watch a film together and she falls asleep. He stares at her belly and her breasts and her legs for a long time and then he covers her up and goes to sleep on the sofa. He hears her get up and go to the toilet, but she doesn’t come into the living room, so he doesn’t go back into the bedroom.
She stays for breakfast and helps him finish the skirting boards, but after lunch she goes home. Kenny washes up and then he has a bath and he thinks about Maria. Aboutall the times they slept together before, and how he doesn’t know if sleeping together now would be a good idea or not, but he wants to all the same and he hopes she does, too. He’s already been in the flat for a month.
It’s Saturday and he’s got no money, so he spends the day in bed half watching telly, mostly thinking about Maria. He needs to pay the rent soon. He needs some money for food and fags and bus fares. When the baby comes he’ll need ten times more. He does some maths on the back of an envelope and it all adds up to needing a job. Sunday lunch tomorrow: he’ll ask his brother-in-law.
His brother-in-law says he’ll ask his boss, but he can’t promise anything. His sister tells him to look in the paper like everyone else and his dad tells her to be quiet. She is for a minute or two and they all eat, but then she says that
Kenny lies in the bath and can’t cry. He brings the candles in to the bathroom, dripping water through the flat. Hedrinks the rest of the wine, rolls a damp joint that is a job to smoke but is just the trick, and he can forget it all until the morning.
It’s Sunday and he goes to his mum’s for dinner. He eats a lot and helps his dad wash up, then he falls asleep on the sofa watching the sport. His mum asks if he wants to stay over, but he’s too old to be sleeping in bunk beds so he goes back to the flat. He buys lagers on the way and drinks a skinful so he can forget it all for a little bit longer.
Kenny spends a day in bed. He goes to sign on. He does a day’s work for his brother-in-law, who gives him a sofa and some paint. He repaints all the doors in the flat, and starts on the skirting boards. Then he phones Maria.
She sounds happy to hear from him and they chat for a while about this and that. She tells him her dad’s got work again and he says that’s really good news because it’s been about three years hasn’t it, and she says, over. Kenny can hear that Maria is smiling while she talks about how happy her mum is and how everything will be easier now. It makes him smile too and forget to listen properly, and so he nearly misses it when Maria says she’d like to come over tomorrow evening. He says fine, and then they say goodbye and Kenny’s back in the flat before he knows it. He sits in the kitchen and stares at the TV.
It’s late when he wakes up. He has a bath and cleans the windows. He doesn’t want to sit around waiting like the last time, so goes for a walk in a park which is somethinghe would never normally do. Then he gets a bus across the centre of the city, sitting on the top deck. On the way back, he gets off at the river and walks across one of the bridges. It’s late afternoon when he gets to the other side and he realises he has no money left to buy anything for dinner. He gets a bus to his mum’s to borrow a tenner till he gets his giro. She’s hurt because he’s in a hurry, so he promises to come for Sunday lunch.
When he gets back, Maria is sitting on the step outside the block, but she’s not annoyed. Tells him she was early, thought she’d wait a bit. She looks relieved.
They cook dinner together and eat in the kitchen, not saying very much, but feeling quite cosy. It gets dark and they wash up, and then Maria says she would really like some chocolate.
She is lying on the bed when he comes back from the shop. He throws the sweets on the mattress and sits down next to her. She has a sip of his lager and eats her chocolates and they watch a film together and she falls asleep. He stares at her belly and her breasts and her legs for a long time and then he covers her up and goes to sleep on the sofa. He hears her get up and go to the toilet, but she doesn’t come into the living room, so he doesn’t go back into the bedroom.
She stays for breakfast and helps him finish the skirting boards, but after lunch she goes home. Kenny washes up and then he has a bath and he thinks about Maria. Aboutall the times they slept together before, and how he doesn’t know if sleeping together now would be a good idea or not, but he wants to all the same and he hopes she does, too. He’s already been in the flat for a month.
It’s Saturday and he’s got no money, so he spends the day in bed half watching telly, mostly thinking about Maria. He needs to pay the rent soon. He needs some money for food and fags and bus fares. When the baby comes he’ll need ten times more. He does some maths on the back of an envelope and it all adds up to needing a job. Sunday lunch tomorrow: he’ll ask his brother-in-law.
His brother-in-law says he’ll ask his boss, but he can’t promise anything. His sister tells him to look in the paper like everyone else and his dad tells her to be quiet. She is for a minute or two and they all eat, but then she says that
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