offence.
The boy was obviously out of his tree.
Apparently, the Devil had a son named Mike, and he had recently become king of the West Belfast Hoods. Cathy was particularly taken by his description of Mike, which was carefully annotated by Mary during his last session. "He's a big fucker. And he talks to his right shoulder." He had been afraid to go into much more detail in case word got back to the Devil himself.
Cathy wanted to learn more about Jim. She enjoyed reading his file, but thought that a personal meeting with him could be so much more entertaining.
"I see you've taken an interest in young Mr McCracken."
Cathy just about managed not to jump out of her skin. She looked up into the soft, smiling face of Mary. Her wet hair hung in her face, tangled and matted, even more so than usual. The weather had not been kind to her during her lunch break. Water ran down the deeply lined skin of her brow and was absorbed by her bushy eyebrows. Her makeup had run, staining the white collar of her blouse. Her soaked-through woollen coat smelt awful. Mary's inside-out umbrella hung by her side, as useful as a sunroof in a submarine. Cathy smiled back at her weather-beaten boss.
"Hello, Mary. Yes, I had a wee peek at one of the files. I've been thinking about getting stuck into some of that volunteer work we talked about, now that I've got a good grasp of my secretarial duties."
Mary looked genuinely impressed by Cathy's enthusiasm. As she pulled off her saturated coat, her smile widened.
"Oh Cathy, you really are an angel, aren't you? Margaret and I were hoping that you'd bring that up, but we thought you would have left it another few months. Really this couldn't have come at a better time." She dragged curved fingers through the knotted mess on her head and managed to make it look worse. "There have been some very strange rumours floating around the community about what these young adults have been getting up to lately. Crime has increased as usual. But Devil worship seems to be a new craze or something."
"Yes, I can see that Mr McCracken here is concerned about it too," Cathy said.
"That poor boy is very confused by all of this business. One of his aunties is a nun, you know. Hearing about something like this would kill the poor dear."
"I notice that Mr McCracken also has a bit of a drug abuse history."
"Well, Cathy, that was my first reaction too. It's almost always my first reaction. Drugs are flooding those streets out there."
"But you don't believe that they're the cause, do you?"
"No dear, I don't. I think that some very sick people are at the centre of this, spreading a new method of self-destruction. The apathy and low self-esteem of the youths around here makes this place the perfect breeding ground to spread sacrilegious dogma. Most of these young people are already convinced that they are evil. Why not take another step and deal with the Devil?"
"What would anyone have to gain from this?"
"Sociopaths don't think about consequences or results. They thrive on the thrill of inflicting pain and chaos." Mary enjoyed dramatics. "Pushing young people to further degrade themselves and take them to new lows would give a sociopath a buzz like nothing else ever could. They want to feel superior and in control."
"So you believe that a charming sociopath woke up one day and decided to pose as the anti-Christ?"
"Yes, Cathy, and his name is Mike. There may be others involved in this nonsense, but this Mike character is at the centre of it."
"Mike, the anti-Christ?" That's not very exotic, is it?"
"Well, with education the way it is around here, this Mike fellow must have thought any biblical references would have been lost on his disciples."
"When do you think Jim will be back?" Cathy was even more curious now.
"He's started to come in every day now. The worry of all this nonsense has his head all inside-out. It's more than likely that he'll be in today."
"Could I sit in on his session?"
"You can take it if you
The boy was obviously out of his tree.
Apparently, the Devil had a son named Mike, and he had recently become king of the West Belfast Hoods. Cathy was particularly taken by his description of Mike, which was carefully annotated by Mary during his last session. "He's a big fucker. And he talks to his right shoulder." He had been afraid to go into much more detail in case word got back to the Devil himself.
Cathy wanted to learn more about Jim. She enjoyed reading his file, but thought that a personal meeting with him could be so much more entertaining.
"I see you've taken an interest in young Mr McCracken."
Cathy just about managed not to jump out of her skin. She looked up into the soft, smiling face of Mary. Her wet hair hung in her face, tangled and matted, even more so than usual. The weather had not been kind to her during her lunch break. Water ran down the deeply lined skin of her brow and was absorbed by her bushy eyebrows. Her makeup had run, staining the white collar of her blouse. Her soaked-through woollen coat smelt awful. Mary's inside-out umbrella hung by her side, as useful as a sunroof in a submarine. Cathy smiled back at her weather-beaten boss.
"Hello, Mary. Yes, I had a wee peek at one of the files. I've been thinking about getting stuck into some of that volunteer work we talked about, now that I've got a good grasp of my secretarial duties."
Mary looked genuinely impressed by Cathy's enthusiasm. As she pulled off her saturated coat, her smile widened.
"Oh Cathy, you really are an angel, aren't you? Margaret and I were hoping that you'd bring that up, but we thought you would have left it another few months. Really this couldn't have come at a better time." She dragged curved fingers through the knotted mess on her head and managed to make it look worse. "There have been some very strange rumours floating around the community about what these young adults have been getting up to lately. Crime has increased as usual. But Devil worship seems to be a new craze or something."
"Yes, I can see that Mr McCracken here is concerned about it too," Cathy said.
"That poor boy is very confused by all of this business. One of his aunties is a nun, you know. Hearing about something like this would kill the poor dear."
"I notice that Mr McCracken also has a bit of a drug abuse history."
"Well, Cathy, that was my first reaction too. It's almost always my first reaction. Drugs are flooding those streets out there."
"But you don't believe that they're the cause, do you?"
"No dear, I don't. I think that some very sick people are at the centre of this, spreading a new method of self-destruction. The apathy and low self-esteem of the youths around here makes this place the perfect breeding ground to spread sacrilegious dogma. Most of these young people are already convinced that they are evil. Why not take another step and deal with the Devil?"
"What would anyone have to gain from this?"
"Sociopaths don't think about consequences or results. They thrive on the thrill of inflicting pain and chaos." Mary enjoyed dramatics. "Pushing young people to further degrade themselves and take them to new lows would give a sociopath a buzz like nothing else ever could. They want to feel superior and in control."
"So you believe that a charming sociopath woke up one day and decided to pose as the anti-Christ?"
"Yes, Cathy, and his name is Mike. There may be others involved in this nonsense, but this Mike character is at the centre of it."
"Mike, the anti-Christ?" That's not very exotic, is it?"
"Well, with education the way it is around here, this Mike fellow must have thought any biblical references would have been lost on his disciples."
"When do you think Jim will be back?" Cathy was even more curious now.
"He's started to come in every day now. The worry of all this nonsense has his head all inside-out. It's more than likely that he'll be in today."
"Could I sit in on his session?"
"You can take it if you
Similar Books
