Read Online Nails In A Coffin (Demi Reynolds Book 1) by Luis Samways - Free Book Online Page A

down stairs. His footsteps sent shivers down the wood, creaking and cracking under his tremendous bulk. As he got to the bottom of the stairs, the smell of bacon and eggs brought a smile to his face. A big playful grin was etched on his face as he walked into the kitchen and saw his frail old mother cooking an English.
    “Hiya, Mum!” he said, steamrolling toward her and wrapping his big arms tightly around her back. She smiled and kissed his forearm as he released his grip and went to sit down on one of the three chairs that sat around a rounded table. In the middle of the table sat bottles of Heinz ketchup and Daddies sauce. He reached for his favorite brand and opened the top. The smell of brown sauce wafted up his nose. It made his eyes water a tad, but by God, did he like brown sauce!
    A minute or so of anticipation later, his mother placed a plate full of food in front of him. Six hash browns. Four black puddings. A handful of chips. Seven bacon rashers. Three fried eggs. Four slices of toast and two cans of Tesco Value beans. He liked the cheap cans for some reason.
    “Eat up now,” his mother said, walking toward the kettle on the counter and turning it to boil. “Cuppa?” she asked.
    Hamish nodded his head. The sight of him scoffing down on his meal brought a warm feeling to his mother. She watched him for a good while, until the kettle was boiled and the tea was made. Three spoons of sugar for him and one for her. Milk, of course, and two custard cream biscuits.
    By the time she plonked Hamish’s cup down, he had finished the plate of food. She took his plate away and joined him. She sat across from him. He sipped on his tea and broke into another cheerful smile.
    “I love you, Mum,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
    “I love you, too, my son,” she said, grabbing a cigarette from the packet placed on the radiator next to the table. Summer was winding down, so the heating hadn’t been turned on for six to seven months. In the winter she’d sometimes forget that the central heating would fire up, and her cigarette pack would be a little warm from the heat. She didn’t care all too much, though.
    “What’s the plan for today?” Hamish asked, sipping on his tea and watching his mum light up her cigarette.
    “Bingo with Alice from down the road. You know, the one with the eye?”
    Hamish nodded and said, “Crooked vision.”
    “That’s it. Her Michael was sent down last week. Armed robbery. Got ten years. You hear about that?”
    Hamish nodded again and took another sip on his drink.
    “Yeah, Donny told me.”
    His mother scowled a little and took a drag on her cigarette. “Donny is a no-good bastard,” she said, taking another pull on her Windsor Blue.
    “He has calmed down a lot, Mum.”
    She put out her cigarette in the ashtray, corkscrewing it slightly, and stood up.
    “Well, he’d better calm down, or I might do something about it,” she said, grabbing her mug and walking toward the sink. She ran the tap and rinsed out the mug, placing it upside down on the rack with the other washed dishes.
    “He didn’t mean to hurt me, Mum,” Hamish said, getting up to do the same thing.
    “I don’t care what he meant to do and what he didn’t. Nobody touches my boy and gets away with it.”
    Hamish rinsed his cup out and placed it on the rack the wrong way round. The cup was facing up, and his mother turned it down. She gave him a look, and he lowered his head a little in embarrassment. He didn’t like getting things wrong. He tried ever so much, but nine times out of ten, he’d mess something up. At school all those years ago, teachers called him slow. But these days, doctors would say he had a disability. Hamish didn’t quite know what it was, but his mother did. When he asked her for more information on his condition, she’d usually say he wouldn’t understand what it was, so there was no point in “wasting her breath.”
    “I have to go and change, Mum. I need to be at work for