Zig tried to smile.“Nah, I’m good.Need some caffeine in me, that’s all.”
“You got plans for the day, then?”
Did Si’s voice sound a bit off?
Zig was in no condition to judge.“Might hit the library.Still ain’t checked out all them gay gods of yours.”
As Zig walked through town, all he could think about was his dad and what the hell thisone more jobwas gonna turn out to be.Another building site?Couldn’t be.Glastonbury, from what he’d seen, didn’t have the sort of construction projects to make it worth it.Zig passed an antiques shop, and shivered.Dad could have picked up a whole new skillset in jail.New contacts.There was a jeweller’s down the street.How much could you get from doing that place over?Course, they’d lock away all the stock overnight, so it’d have to be a daytime raid.
Armed robbery.Zig felt sick.He couldn’t do it.Wouldn’tdo it.
Then a picture crashed into his head of Si lying in hospital after an “accident” on the Harley, and he felt even sicker.He had to stop for a mo, head down, resting his hands on his knees.
“Are you all right, my lover?”a woman asked, sounding concerned and oddly familiar.
Zig looked up and nearly shat himself.It was Si’s mum.
“Zig?”she asked, her eyes widening and her voice a bit sharper than before.
“Di,” he said weakly.“Good to see you.How’s Bob doing?”
“He’s fine, but you still haven’t told me how you are.”She frowned.“Hangover, is it?”
So, she still wasn’t keen on him.It was no more than Zig deserved.“Something like that.”
“Hmph.Do I need to get you some water?”
Zig straightened and shook his head.“Ta, but I’m good.Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t, you know, tell you the whole story when I came looking for Si.”
She softened a little.“Well, I can see why you wouldn’t have wanted to.And Simon does seem happy with you.I’d begun to wonder if he was ever going to find someone.”
Guilt twisted a knife in Zig’s guts.“He’s a great bloke,” he managed to say.“Deserves to be happy.”
Di smiled then.“That he does.Now, I haven’t said anything to Simon yet, but I hope we’ll be seeing both of you on Christmas Day?”
Jesus.That was, what, a week away?Zig couldn’t begin to think that far ahead.“That’d be great, thanks.”He dredged up a cheeky smile.“Can’t wait to eat some more of your cooking.”
“Who says I’ll be the one cooking?”There was a twinkle in her eye now.“But you go easier on the booze between now and then, or you won’t be in a state to appreciate it.”
Zig nodded.“It’s a promise.”
“Good.We’ll see you then.Now, you go get yourself a hot drink and something to eat.That’ll take the edge off it.”Di gave him one last smile, then strode off down the street, her tall figure drawing glances as she went.
Zig wanted to cry.Mums giving out hangover advice and invitations to Christmas dinner...This wasn’t his world.
He couldn’t do this.There was no way on earth he could do what Dad wanted him to, and then go home to a decent bloke like Si.There was even less way he could then let Si take him round to his mum’s for Christmas.
But if he didn’t go along with Dad, Si would never be safe.Not with Zig in his life.
A vast hollow opened up in Zig’s chest.The solution was obvious, wasn’t it?Zig had to get out of Si’s life.With Zig gone, there’d be no point in Dad threatening Si.
He should never have come here.Should have kept going west until he fell into the bloody sea.Si would’ve been safe, then.Safe from Dad, and safe from the hurt Zig was gonna cause him.
Again.
His heart breaking, Zig turned back towards the flat.It was time to pack his things and go.This time, forever.
It took longer than it should have for Zig to get all his shit together.Mostly because packing his bag felt like hammering nails into his heart.He didn’t want to go.He hated the thought that he’d never see the flat again.
