SURGERY
A short story by Mick Macve
Part 2
Steven’s father was not happy. This was unusual, because Mr Williams was a humourous man. Steven admired him a lot. He admired his father because of the large number of friends that he had, most of whom he knew through coaching the local youth football team. He appreciated it when his father took him to the Rose And Crown on a Friday night and bought a round for his friends from College. Most of all, he respected his father for the way in which he had rebuilt his life after Steven’s mother had been killed in a hit and run incident when Steven was ten years old. Mr. Williams had never forgotten his wife, but he refused to let the tragedy weigh him down. He was a thoughtful, caring, funny and straightforward man and Steven loved him.
"Animal rights! Next thing you’ll be breaking into laboratories and freeing rats from cages. What on earth do you think you were doing? Graham Harris! I won’t be able to look him in the face again. Animal rights!"
"Sorry."
"Sorry?" I work hard all week at the factory. I spend all morning shopping so that there’s enough food in the house. I spend two hours cleaning. I put my feet up in front of the television and then what? The phone rings and it’s the police. Can you imagine how I felt? Do you know what I was thinking?"
Mr. Williams was pacing the living room. He was a tall, dark skinned, wiry man, and the top of his head just fitted under the bottom of the lampshade whenever he walked under it. Steven couldn’t help but be fascinated by this and kept focusing on the lampshade instead of what his father was saying.
"..as if it’s not bad enough, I have to come down to the police station, where Bill Davis is on duty, and sign your release forms. Thank goodness Graham Harris is not pressing charges. ‘Sorry?’ I think you owe me an explanation, son."
"I don’t know, Dad."
There was a silence and they both started speaking at once.
"Actually, Dad, there’s this girl..."
"Was that Reg Johnson’s girl you were with..."
They both stopped.
"Go on," Steven said.
"Was that Reg Johnson’s girl you were sitting next to."
"Eh?"
"He’s a trouble maker. He’s always trying to get us to strike, down at the factory. I’ve heard about his daughter. She’s got Reg’s brains, and his arrogance. She’s bad news. What was she doing there?"
Steven didn’t know it, but he was about to make a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life. It seemed so easy at the time. Just tell a small white lie and keep his Dad happy.
"I fancy her, so I went on the demonstration to try to get to know her."
He could have said that, but he didn’t. he was a bit embarrassed about being on the demo, and it sounded like his Dad would not approve, if things worked out between him and Zoe.
So he said "There was a girl there who also got arrested, but I don’t know her name."
Mr. Williams seemed happy at that, but still looked annoyed.
"Just tell me in words of one syllable. Why were you there anyway?"
"You’ve got it all wrong. I was not demonstrating. I was just walking past when someone shoved me in the back."
"That’s four."
"Pardon?"
"Four."
"Four what?"
"Syllables. Four syllables in demonstrating. You were supposed to tell me in words of one syllable."
Steven smiled. His Dad was cracking jokes again. It was going to be O.K.
"Walking has two syllables."
"Somebody has three."
"I said someone, not somebody."
The banter continued and father and son were smiling again. They thought it was all over. It wasn’t. It had just started.
Surgery part 3
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created by Mick Macve, mmacve@mistral.co.uk
last modified: December 4, 1998
URL: http://www3.mistral.co.uk/mmacve/surg2.html