to be beaten down.”
“ Doubtless.”
“ Anyway,
that’s my point.”
“ I see.
Sorry…” Burke struggled to find his words and instead found himself
merely squinting as though an altered visual field would allow some
new light to shine on the situation as spelled out by his superior,
giving some kind of grasp of the situation.
Gray let out a long sigh.
“The divisional commander’s wife says we’re not allowed to pass
this on to the SCDEA so you’re stuck with it.”
********************
They sat round Davie’s
kitchen table draining cups of tea which were swiftly refilled from
a giant pot sitting on top of the Aga. Davie’s mum treated him well
it had to be said. Legend had it he didn’t know how to make tea and
didn’t even choose his own clothes in the morning; just turned up
at the Aga where they were waiting, folded over the rail, primed
for the boy wonder to fill them.
Andy stared
at the sugar bowl, trying to make out his reflection in the dull
tarnished concave surface of the teaspoon, anything really to avoid
eye contact with the other two. It had all happened before he'd
known about it. The toothless Polish guy had recognised him about
the time he had done the same. The fact that he was already hanging
out of the cab of the John Deere was the thing that really went
against him. The guy grabbed him by the lapels of his boiler suit
and in one smooth movement Andy was no longer in the cab. The giant
jerked back suddenly as he over did it and lost his footing. Andy
was thrown further out. He saw the gatepost heading towards him and
felt his heart jump, right before everything went black. Everything
after that was a bit hazy. He had pieces; some kind of flashback of
another voice in a foreign tongue, giving the first one a hard
time. He could remember being angry as they tried to move him. He
just wanted to be left alone.
He was back
in the John Deere when he came to what was left of his senses.
They'd filled the trailer with feed. He was on the road to the side
of the airstrip, neatly parked up. He was groggy and his head hurt.
He staggered down the steps of the tractor and threw up on the
grass. He sat for a while trying to muster the wherewithal to get
moving, fired up the tractor, knocked it into gear and let out the
clutch. He made it to the end of the side road, looked sideways at
the junction and got overtaken by a wave of nausea.
He abandoned
ship again just in time for whatever was left in his stomach to
come up. He stood, leaning over the fence for a few minutes, just
listening to the rattle of the diesel engine trying to quiet the
jumbled up thoughts going through his head. Something that should
be so simple was now nigh on impossible. He gave up after the
second attempt, after realising he would never make it out of the
junction. He couldn't move his head to check for oncoming
traffic.
He phoned
Davie who jumped straight into the car and headed down to get him.
He’d abandoned the tractor, hightailed it and ever since he'd been
drinking tea in an effort to feel something like normal.
He felt
ashamed if he was honest. He'd been taken by surprise, yes, but the
Polish guy would have had the better of him anyway. The feeling of
helplessness was not a feeling he thought he would ever be able to
shake. He shivered thinking about it.
"I say we all
head down and sort them," Davie announced.
"You would," his brother
Colin snapped.
"Aye, I would," Davie
replied. "You've got to put your foot down. Cannae let people walk
all over you bro.”
"I never do. Sounds like
it was a bit of an accident. Saying that, it's a bit full on
though."
"You're not kidding, is
not like they even phoned an ambulance or anything. His head could
be vegetable soup for all they knew and they just him left to choke
on his own puke or something.”
"Aye, but what are you
really gonna do?"
"I don't know, bunch of
boys, pickup truck, baseball bats, job done."
"Yeee haw! We're not in
the deep south now
“ Doubtless.”
“ Anyway,
that’s my point.”
“ I see.
Sorry…” Burke struggled to find his words and instead found himself
merely squinting as though an altered visual field would allow some
new light to shine on the situation as spelled out by his superior,
giving some kind of grasp of the situation.
Gray let out a long sigh.
“The divisional commander’s wife says we’re not allowed to pass
this on to the SCDEA so you’re stuck with it.”
********************
They sat round Davie’s
kitchen table draining cups of tea which were swiftly refilled from
a giant pot sitting on top of the Aga. Davie’s mum treated him well
it had to be said. Legend had it he didn’t know how to make tea and
didn’t even choose his own clothes in the morning; just turned up
at the Aga where they were waiting, folded over the rail, primed
for the boy wonder to fill them.
Andy stared
at the sugar bowl, trying to make out his reflection in the dull
tarnished concave surface of the teaspoon, anything really to avoid
eye contact with the other two. It had all happened before he'd
known about it. The toothless Polish guy had recognised him about
the time he had done the same. The fact that he was already hanging
out of the cab of the John Deere was the thing that really went
against him. The guy grabbed him by the lapels of his boiler suit
and in one smooth movement Andy was no longer in the cab. The giant
jerked back suddenly as he over did it and lost his footing. Andy
was thrown further out. He saw the gatepost heading towards him and
felt his heart jump, right before everything went black. Everything
after that was a bit hazy. He had pieces; some kind of flashback of
another voice in a foreign tongue, giving the first one a hard
time. He could remember being angry as they tried to move him. He
just wanted to be left alone.
He was back
in the John Deere when he came to what was left of his senses.
They'd filled the trailer with feed. He was on the road to the side
of the airstrip, neatly parked up. He was groggy and his head hurt.
He staggered down the steps of the tractor and threw up on the
grass. He sat for a while trying to muster the wherewithal to get
moving, fired up the tractor, knocked it into gear and let out the
clutch. He made it to the end of the side road, looked sideways at
the junction and got overtaken by a wave of nausea.
He abandoned
ship again just in time for whatever was left in his stomach to
come up. He stood, leaning over the fence for a few minutes, just
listening to the rattle of the diesel engine trying to quiet the
jumbled up thoughts going through his head. Something that should
be so simple was now nigh on impossible. He gave up after the
second attempt, after realising he would never make it out of the
junction. He couldn't move his head to check for oncoming
traffic.
He phoned
Davie who jumped straight into the car and headed down to get him.
He’d abandoned the tractor, hightailed it and ever since he'd been
drinking tea in an effort to feel something like normal.
He felt
ashamed if he was honest. He'd been taken by surprise, yes, but the
Polish guy would have had the better of him anyway. The feeling of
helplessness was not a feeling he thought he would ever be able to
shake. He shivered thinking about it.
"I say we all
head down and sort them," Davie announced.
"You would," his brother
Colin snapped.
"Aye, I would," Davie
replied. "You've got to put your foot down. Cannae let people walk
all over you bro.”
"I never do. Sounds like
it was a bit of an accident. Saying that, it's a bit full on
though."
"You're not kidding, is
not like they even phoned an ambulance or anything. His head could
be vegetable soup for all they knew and they just him left to choke
on his own puke or something.”
"Aye, but what are you
really gonna do?"
"I don't know, bunch of
boys, pickup truck, baseball bats, job done."
"Yeee haw! We're not in
the deep south now
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