Page 27 of A Long Way Back
“I made you a sandwich. Want it in here or in the kitchen?”
“I’ll come to the kitchen.”
Ink considered asking him if he needed a hand to get to his feet, but instead, laid his crutches on the bed where he could reach them, then left. A few moments later, Tay came in.
“What would you like to drink?” Ink asked. “Coffee or something else?”
“Just water, please.”
Ink poured two glasses and sat at the table. Tay settled opposite.
“Headache gone?”
“More or less.”
“Do you have work to do this afternoon?”
“No.”
“Then we’ll go out.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“We’re still going out.”
Tay glared. “You go. I’m not.”
“Do you want me to ring your mum and tell her you’re being difficult?”
Tay widened his eyes. “You’re not going to ring my mother.”
“I have permission to smack your backside if you’re naughty.”
“She did not say that.”
“I promised to only use my hand because if I use a cane you might get splinters and then I’d have to pull them out with tweezers and I think I might enjoy that.”
Well, that brought colour to your cheeks.
“Fine. Okay. We’ll go out.”
“Great! Is the sandwich okay?”
“Passable.”
Ink rolled his eyes. “What did I do wrong? Not cut the crusts off? Lay the pastrami the wrong way round? Use too many slices?”
Tay huffed.
“Do you want anything else? Fruit?”
“No thanks.”
Ink moved the empty plates and glasses. “Are you good to go?”
“Give me a minute.”
As Tay left the kitchen, Ink put frozen peas and sweetcorn into a Ziplock bag. He was heading for his backpack when he realised that this time, he didn’t need to. The likelihood of losing his things wasn’t zero, but close to it. Though he grabbed a hoodie in case the temperature dropped, and pushed the packet of frozen veg into the front pocket.
