Page 40 of A Long Way Back
Today, his resolve was less firm.
Ink fed Dog, let him out into the garden, and sat on the steps watching as he sniffed around. He used a couple of sheets of kitchen towel to pick up Dog’s poop, and tucked it inside someone else’s bag of rubbish in the wheelie bin. Back inside the flat, Ink washed his hands and went into the kitchen. No sign of Tay.
Pretty soon, Tay would start to ask questions. How did Ink’s parents die? Where did he use to live? Why was he homeless? Ink’s history was now partly his own creation. It was a story he had to stick to at all costs because if he didn’t, the house he’d built would come tumbling down. Maybe it would anyway. It had once before. Deep inside, he had a feeling that the wolf who’d huff and puff was called Tay, and even a house of bricks wouldn’t save him.
Chapter Six
INK WAS MAKING HIMSELF A coffee and waiting for the kettle to come to the boil as Tay entered the kitchen on his crutches. He was wearing thin grey sleep pants with penguins all over them and a plain black T-shirt. His hair was messy, but he looked cute, even with the rolling pin tucked under his arm.
“Morning.” Ink smiled at him.
“I just had a text. The bed won’t be here until tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Ink tried to hide his disappointment. “You want a coffee?”
“Yep.”
Ink took another mug from the cupboard. Tay put the rolling pin back in the drawer.
“Were you all right last night?” Ink asked. “Did you wait until I’d gone to freak out?”Seriously? Do I think he’s going to confess what he did?
“I was so relaxed, I don’t think I even remembered I was supposed to freak out.”
Ink laughed. “Like some toast?”
Tay sat at the table. “One slice with Marmite, one with marmalade.”
Ink put four slices in the toaster. “And would you like me to cut them into triangles, young master Tay? And pre-chew them?”
“Yeah, my arms have fallen off.”
Ink put spreadable butter, Marmite and marmalade on the table, followed by plates and knives.
“So…swimming,” Ink said. “Feel up to it?”
“I have work to do this morning. I need some peace and quiet.”
You want me out.“But you’ll go swimming this afternoon?”
Tay hesitated then nodded.
“I need to buy a few things, specifically some swimming trunks. Is there anything you need me to get?”
“No.”
The toast popped up and Ink put two slices on each plate. Tay was being a bit odd now. Maybe he just wasn’t a morning person.
“Salmon and salad for dinner?” Ink asked.
“That’s fine. Whereabouts are you from?”
And so it starts.“I was born in Derbyshire, but my parents didn’t stay in the county for long. We moved around a lot with my father’s job. He was in sales.”Lies.Well, except for one part.
He’d been warned not to give out too much information, that people with secrets tended to say too little or blurt out everything at one go. More importantly, he needed to remember exactly what he’d said. Keep it simple—was good advice.
“When did they die?”
They were dead to him the day they’d not believed him. “When I was twelve.”
