Give The Devil His Due Read Online Free Page B

on the stereo and opened the french doors. I don't think it was a random collection; he had pre-selected the tracks. It was stuff that was around from the last time we'd all been together. Phil had always fancied himself as a bit of an ‘Alan Freeman’. The music leaked outwards to where we sat and provided the perfect mood for our discovery and nostalgia. All in the world was well.
           Phil got so into the swing of things that later in the evening he insisted on paying for the Indian. By the time we all crashed out, it must have been about 5 a.m. We had talked about virtually everything. Our ups, our downs, where we were going and how we hoped we’d get there. For that one evening we'd all had a tremendous mental lift. Funny how familiar friendly faces can raise your spirits. Our heads were newly-filled with the missing jigsaw pieces that had just been put into place.
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    Saturday 11.20 a.m. Bristol

I felt like absolute shit. By the time I got into the bathroom the other three had violated it. Even though there were no visible signs of the sacred place having been desecrated, there was an aura lingering and this made me feel even worse. I don't think these people understood the concept of ventilation, was it really that difficult to open the bloody window? So, Alka Seltzer, shower, another Alka Seltzer and all the while muttering to myself, ‘Never again, never again.’
           Ablutions over, I returned to the pack. Phil had stuck the coffee on. Exhausted from the night before, we were slowly easing into the day. Neil and Peachy would be getting the train. I’d be driving to Wales. Phil offered to run the two of them to the railway station. I said I'd wait until he got back before I left. I still felt over the limit and unsafe to drive. It was about 1.30 p.m. when Phil returned.
           ‘They get off OK?’
           ‘Well, Peachy did. Neil asked to be dropped into town. Said he had a few things to pick up before he was going home.’
           Again I found that odd; why they wouldn't have travelled together? They were, after all, going to the same place, and surely they had shops in London where Neil could get what he wanted.
           It was time for me to head off. ‘Have you got their phone numbers and addresses, Phil?’
           ‘Here's Peachy's work, mobile and email, his address is on the back.’ It was a P.O. box-number. ‘Neil said he's moving house at the moment, so the best way to reach him is via his folks.’
           Talk about cagey, I thought this all a bit bizarre. Were these guys frightened to give me their addresses or something? Perhaps they thought I was going to stalk them. Mine was not to reason why. Phil opened the windows; the fresh air breezed in and I began to feel a little better. Time to go.
           I arrived back an hour and a half later, straight round to mum's. Pugsley was waiting. He stank a bit but never mind; it was his smell and I loved him. He didn't ask much in life, just a decent meal, walk and cuddle and he’d be ecstatic. If only a happy life was as easily attainable for the rest of us. I avoided the sauce for the next few nights. My liver was grateful – it would have bought me a present if it could.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Wednesday 9 a.m. South Wales
     
    I'd been busy working the last few days, trying to maintain Mr Barclaycard in the manner to which I'd let him become accustomed. My plastic was beginning to strangle me.
           I hadn't spoken to Phil but would give him a bell around tennish. It was now 6 p.m. Dave was walking towards his house just as I pulled on to my drive. By the time I'd switched off the engine and opened the driver's door he had changed direction, covered thirty-five yards and was two feet away.
           ‘There's a new arrival in the street!’ he said excitedly.
           ‘Oh?’
           ‘Yes, I met her for the first time a couple of