Read Online The Last Winter of Dani Lancing: A Novel by P. D. Viner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: P. D. Viner
Ads: Link
wounds,” Jim had said. Fucking liar. The only thing that will ease the pain is to find the man who did this and …
“How do I do that?” she shouts. “How do I find him?”
The train rattles on.
Finally the river runs dry and she can clean herself up and leave the small cubicle. She sits in the first empty seat she finds where she can be alone. Then she closes down.
It’s dark when Jim looks about him. He must have fallen asleep, curled up in his chair. Again.
“Christ … arrgh.” His leg’s asleep. Pins and needles dance along the sole of his foot and march up his leg. He feels scrunched up, a tall man forced into a box and—the phone. It’s ringing and that’s what’s woken him. He launches himself out of the chair and limps into the hall.
“Hello?” he tries to keep the urgency out of his voice.
“Have you been watching it all? Dancing on the Berlin Wall, the crumbling ripped-down bloody Berlin Wall, who would have thought it? We won. We’re giving peace a chance.” It isn’t Patty but Ed, sounding a little boozy.
“It’s good to hear from you,” Jim replies. It really is good to hear from his oldest friend. Ed and Jacks have done so much over the last year.
“Well, I watched the moon landing with you, I think this is thenext big thing. And it was pretty obvious you’d be at home while the rest of the world celebrates the end of nuclear war. Greenham Pat must be wetting herself.”
Despite himself, Jim smiles at his wife’s old nickname.
“She isn’t here.” He thinks for a second. “I have no idea where she is. What’s the time?”
“It’s ten o’clock. If you’re on your own, get the fuck over here and get drunk with us and forget, just for one night, about this fucking awful year.”
New Year’s Eve, he’d forgotten. He cradles the phone between chin and ear and pulls his sleeve away from his watch. He squints in the near dark. It’s ten past ten. On the table the unopened chip packet has gone cold and soggy. There will be no new start with Patty tonight.
“So come. Jacks wants you to.” In the background there is a snort. “And there’s twenty or so people here that don’t know you’re the most miserable fuck in the world and—”
“I can’t. Patty might be back in time.”
“In time to do what? Give you a kiss to ring in 1990, say, ‘It’ll all be fine next year’? I love …” Ed pauses, thinking he might have gone too far. “Oh, Jim. I’ll come over and get you.”
Jim hears Jacks in the background saying that Ed’s too drunk to drive.
“Thanks, Ed, but I can’t,” Jim cuts in.
“Leave her a note and drive over. You can make it by midnight. Don’t be by yourself. Not tonight.”
“Thanks, Ed. Love to Jacks.”
“You fuc—”
Jim misses the rest as he puts the phone down. The silence in the room seems so profound all of a sudden. He appreciates Ed’stry at getting him over, but he can’t betray Patty. Betrayal? What a strange idea. He just needs to be there for when she needs him, that’s all. Isn’t that love?
He closes his eyes tight and indulges himself in a happy memory: the first time he saw Patricia.
She was looking down reading a story as he walked into the university newspaper offices. He was going there to see Connie Tunstall. She had kept telling him he ought to contribute and he always said he was too busy. But that night he and Connie had arranged to meet to go and see a film and he was half an hour early, so he decided to pick her up at the newspaper office.
So, he walked in. The editor’s office was at the back, overlooking everything, but at that exact moment Patricia was standing at a desk by the door looking over some boy’s shoulder, reading his text. As Jim walked in she looked up for a second and caught him full blast with these eyes. Kapow! “Come to bed eyes” is how he described them to Ed the next day. Hazel with flecks of gold, languid like they couldn’t be bothered to look at you, sexy as
“How do I do that?” she shouts. “How do I find him?”
The train rattles on.
Finally the river runs dry and she can clean herself up and leave the small cubicle. She sits in the first empty seat she finds where she can be alone. Then she closes down.
It’s dark when Jim looks about him. He must have fallen asleep, curled up in his chair. Again.
“Christ … arrgh.” His leg’s asleep. Pins and needles dance along the sole of his foot and march up his leg. He feels scrunched up, a tall man forced into a box and—the phone. It’s ringing and that’s what’s woken him. He launches himself out of the chair and limps into the hall.
“Hello?” he tries to keep the urgency out of his voice.
“Have you been watching it all? Dancing on the Berlin Wall, the crumbling ripped-down bloody Berlin Wall, who would have thought it? We won. We’re giving peace a chance.” It isn’t Patty but Ed, sounding a little boozy.
“It’s good to hear from you,” Jim replies. It really is good to hear from his oldest friend. Ed and Jacks have done so much over the last year.
“Well, I watched the moon landing with you, I think this is thenext big thing. And it was pretty obvious you’d be at home while the rest of the world celebrates the end of nuclear war. Greenham Pat must be wetting herself.”
Despite himself, Jim smiles at his wife’s old nickname.
“She isn’t here.” He thinks for a second. “I have no idea where she is. What’s the time?”
“It’s ten o’clock. If you’re on your own, get the fuck over here and get drunk with us and forget, just for one night, about this fucking awful year.”
New Year’s Eve, he’d forgotten. He cradles the phone between chin and ear and pulls his sleeve away from his watch. He squints in the near dark. It’s ten past ten. On the table the unopened chip packet has gone cold and soggy. There will be no new start with Patty tonight.
“So come. Jacks wants you to.” In the background there is a snort. “And there’s twenty or so people here that don’t know you’re the most miserable fuck in the world and—”
“I can’t. Patty might be back in time.”
“In time to do what? Give you a kiss to ring in 1990, say, ‘It’ll all be fine next year’? I love …” Ed pauses, thinking he might have gone too far. “Oh, Jim. I’ll come over and get you.”
Jim hears Jacks in the background saying that Ed’s too drunk to drive.
“Thanks, Ed, but I can’t,” Jim cuts in.
“Leave her a note and drive over. You can make it by midnight. Don’t be by yourself. Not tonight.”
“Thanks, Ed. Love to Jacks.”
“You fuc—”
Jim misses the rest as he puts the phone down. The silence in the room seems so profound all of a sudden. He appreciates Ed’stry at getting him over, but he can’t betray Patty. Betrayal? What a strange idea. He just needs to be there for when she needs him, that’s all. Isn’t that love?
He closes his eyes tight and indulges himself in a happy memory: the first time he saw Patricia.
She was looking down reading a story as he walked into the university newspaper offices. He was going there to see Connie Tunstall. She had kept telling him he ought to contribute and he always said he was too busy. But that night he and Connie had arranged to meet to go and see a film and he was half an hour early, so he decided to pick her up at the newspaper office.
So, he walked in. The editor’s office was at the back, overlooking everything, but at that exact moment Patricia was standing at a desk by the door looking over some boy’s shoulder, reading his text. As Jim walked in she looked up for a second and caught him full blast with these eyes. Kapow! “Come to bed eyes” is how he described them to Ed the next day. Hazel with flecks of gold, languid like they couldn’t be bothered to look at you, sexy as
Similar Books
