Read Online Make Room for the Jester by Stead Jones - Free Book Online
Authors: Stead Jones
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right?’
‘All right,’ I said.
‘So you’ve been warned off too,’ Gladstone said. ‘You know what, Lew – this town doesn’t hate the Vaughans, it’s just scared stiff of them.’
‘But why?’ I said.
‘Because they dare to be different,’ Gladstone replied.
We were in Ashton’s room. It was evening and Ashton was touring the pubs.
‘I wish I had this room,’ Gladstone said. ‘Just me and the children. We could really make something of it if we had a place like this. I could look after them properly. I’ll get a place one day too – nicer than this. You wait…’
‘Why did he come back?’ I broke in. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Why shouldn’t he be here? This is where he started. It’s where you started that counts, Lew.’ He flicked away some dust off the window sill. ‘I mean – imagine you having to leave Porthmawr. Where would you go?’
‘Plenty of places,’ I said. ‘Liverpool, London…’
Gladstone looked at me in wonder. ‘Would you go, though? Would you really go to all those places? Leave here? Leave Wales?’
‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘I don’t know.’
‘But you’d come back, though. You’d be glad to come back. I went on that Sunday-school trip to Rhyl, and I wasn’t happy all day. Not until I was back on Porthmawr station. This is the place that counts, see. That’s why Ashton came back…’
‘Maxie says he’s planning to kill his brother…’
Gladstone laughed scornfully. ‘Maxie’s just a child – mentally, I mean. Not sophisticated at all.’
Sophisticated was new to me: I stored it up for the dictionary.
‘Do you suppose the one on the Point knows he’s here?’
‘All Porthmawr knows it,’ Gladstone replied. ‘It’s a seven-day wonder.’
I sat on the edge of the bed and watched Gladstone tack an old piece of lace he’d found as a curtain. Outside, the narrow street was in shadow although it was not yet dark. Gladstone stepped back to look at his work.
‘That should stop the nosy ones – that lot across the way always looking in… God, it depresses me. It really does. All these people watching and waiting. Why can’t they leave him alone? I bet they’re glad enough of the drinks he buys them, but behind his back it’s talk, talk, talk…’
‘Where does the money come from?’ I asked.
Gladstone turned on me sharply. ‘You asking questions too?’
‘Just wondering,’ I said.
‘Well – what does it matter? He’s an allowance from what his mother left him, as a matter of fact…’
‘Is it a lot?’ I couldn’t help asking.
He went to the door. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’
I followed him uneasily, knowing that I’d offended him.
‘Why do people get like this?’ he was saying. ‘Always watching and asking questions, always waiting for something terrible to happen…’
‘I wasn’t…’ I began.
‘Why can’t they leave him alone?’ Gladstone went on. ‘Leave him alone and look to their own things. They’ve all got something to hide, but they spend all their lives searching for the dirt on other people.’ He stood with his back to the door. ‘All that chapel crowd with their smart rig-outs on Sunday morning, and their Sunday morning faces too. That’s all part of the same fraud.’ He gripped my arm tightly. ‘You know what, Lew? I once asked old Jenkins shoe-shop what you weresupposed to say when you walk into chapel first of all. You know – when you’re supposed to sit there after you’ve gone in and lower your head and that. What should you say – that’s what I asked him. And d’you know what he said? Count up to twenty, that’s what I do. That’s what he said – honest! A grown man like that! Count up to twenty – and if you feel very pious make it thirty, or even forty! Lew – what kind of thinking is that? It’s a fraud, isn’t it? You haven’t got a chance against thinking like that. Ashton hasn’t. None of us have…’
I’d started him off, brought that ring into his
‘All right,’ I said.
‘So you’ve been warned off too,’ Gladstone said. ‘You know what, Lew – this town doesn’t hate the Vaughans, it’s just scared stiff of them.’
‘But why?’ I said.
‘Because they dare to be different,’ Gladstone replied.
We were in Ashton’s room. It was evening and Ashton was touring the pubs.
‘I wish I had this room,’ Gladstone said. ‘Just me and the children. We could really make something of it if we had a place like this. I could look after them properly. I’ll get a place one day too – nicer than this. You wait…’
‘Why did he come back?’ I broke in. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Why shouldn’t he be here? This is where he started. It’s where you started that counts, Lew.’ He flicked away some dust off the window sill. ‘I mean – imagine you having to leave Porthmawr. Where would you go?’
‘Plenty of places,’ I said. ‘Liverpool, London…’
Gladstone looked at me in wonder. ‘Would you go, though? Would you really go to all those places? Leave here? Leave Wales?’
‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘I don’t know.’
‘But you’d come back, though. You’d be glad to come back. I went on that Sunday-school trip to Rhyl, and I wasn’t happy all day. Not until I was back on Porthmawr station. This is the place that counts, see. That’s why Ashton came back…’
‘Maxie says he’s planning to kill his brother…’
Gladstone laughed scornfully. ‘Maxie’s just a child – mentally, I mean. Not sophisticated at all.’
Sophisticated was new to me: I stored it up for the dictionary.
‘Do you suppose the one on the Point knows he’s here?’
‘All Porthmawr knows it,’ Gladstone replied. ‘It’s a seven-day wonder.’
I sat on the edge of the bed and watched Gladstone tack an old piece of lace he’d found as a curtain. Outside, the narrow street was in shadow although it was not yet dark. Gladstone stepped back to look at his work.
‘That should stop the nosy ones – that lot across the way always looking in… God, it depresses me. It really does. All these people watching and waiting. Why can’t they leave him alone? I bet they’re glad enough of the drinks he buys them, but behind his back it’s talk, talk, talk…’
‘Where does the money come from?’ I asked.
Gladstone turned on me sharply. ‘You asking questions too?’
‘Just wondering,’ I said.
‘Well – what does it matter? He’s an allowance from what his mother left him, as a matter of fact…’
‘Is it a lot?’ I couldn’t help asking.
He went to the door. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’
I followed him uneasily, knowing that I’d offended him.
‘Why do people get like this?’ he was saying. ‘Always watching and asking questions, always waiting for something terrible to happen…’
‘I wasn’t…’ I began.
‘Why can’t they leave him alone?’ Gladstone went on. ‘Leave him alone and look to their own things. They’ve all got something to hide, but they spend all their lives searching for the dirt on other people.’ He stood with his back to the door. ‘All that chapel crowd with their smart rig-outs on Sunday morning, and their Sunday morning faces too. That’s all part of the same fraud.’ He gripped my arm tightly. ‘You know what, Lew? I once asked old Jenkins shoe-shop what you weresupposed to say when you walk into chapel first of all. You know – when you’re supposed to sit there after you’ve gone in and lower your head and that. What should you say – that’s what I asked him. And d’you know what he said? Count up to twenty, that’s what I do. That’s what he said – honest! A grown man like that! Count up to twenty – and if you feel very pious make it thirty, or even forty! Lew – what kind of thinking is that? It’s a fraud, isn’t it? You haven’t got a chance against thinking like that. Ashton hasn’t. None of us have…’
I’d started him off, brought that ring into his
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