Mam says, Sure, he was at school all day and he had to go to the
doctor for his eyes.
Well, you can bloody well forget about the bicycle.You didnt live
up to the bargain.
But he couldnt do it, says Mam.
He tells her shut up and mind her own business and she goes quiet
by the fire. He goes back to his fish and chips but I tell him again,You
promised me. I emptied that chamber pot and did your messages for
three weeks.
Shut up and go to bed.
You cant tell me go to bed.Youre not my father, and you prom-
ised me.
Im telling you, as sure as God made little apples, that if I get up
from this table youll be calling for your patron saint.
You promised me.
He pushes the chair back from the table. He stumbles toward me
and sticks his finger between my eyes. Im telling you shut your gob,
scabby eyes.
I wont.You promised me.
He punches my shoulders and when I wont stop moves to my
head. My mother jumps up, crying, and tries to pull him away. He
punches and kicks me into the bedroom but I keep saying, You
promised me. He knocks me to my mothers bed and punches till I
cover my face and head with my arms.
Ill kill you, you little shit.
Mam is screaming and pulling at him till he falls backward into the
kitchen. She says, Come on, oh, come on. Eat your fish and chips. Hes
only a child. Hell get over it.
I hear him go back to his chair and pull it to the table. I hear him
snuffle and slurp when he eats and drinks. Hand me the matches, he
says. By Jesus, I need a fag after that.Theres a put-put sound when he
puffs on the cigarette and a whimper from my mother.
He says, Im going to bed, and with the drink in him it takes him a
while to climb the chair to the table, pull up the chair, climb to the loft.
The bed squeaks under him and he grunts when he pulls off his boots
and drops them to the floor.
I can hear Mam crying when she blows into the globe of the paraf-
fin oil lamp and everything goes dark.After what happened shell surely
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