Blue Like Friday Read Free Page A

anything?”
    By “anything” I meant those awful things you read about in the papers that bad adults do to children that make them utterly miserable and mess them up for life. I didn’t really want to think about it, but it must be absolutely terrible if that happens to you, so I made a special effort to listen to
Hal, in case that was the problem. I was quite pleased with myself for thinking of it.
    â€œNo,” Hal said. “He’s not … no, it’s not that.”
    â€œSo, what is it, then?”
    â€œHe’s just … there ,” Hal said. “I liked it better before.”
    â€œHmm,” I said.
    â€œHe snores,” Hal added. “I can hear Him, even through the bedroom door.”
    â€œHe snores,” I said. “That is not exactly a jailing offence, Hal.”
    â€œNo, and he … er, picks his nose. I saw Him once.”
    Oh gross, I thought, but I said, “Everyone picks their nose, Hal. In private. Was he in private?”
    â€œWell, he thought he was, I suppose,” Hal said.
    â€œThat doesn’t count then,” I said. “What else?”
    â€œHe slurps his tea,” Hal said. “And he hogs the remote control.”
    â€œHal, you are just describing a person being a person. Everyone hogs the remote if they get a chance. You have to make allowances for other people. That’s just … life, you know?”
    â€œBut he shouldn’t be in my life,” Hal said fiercely. “I just don’t want Him around. It was better when it was just me and my mum.”
    â€œHal, he’s been around for years; it’s time you got used to it. And if your mum is going to marry him, well, you’ll be a proper family then, won’t you? And that’s nice, isn’t it?”

    I was trying to look on the bright side, you know, cheer him up, but I think it was just that Alec was not Hal’s dad. I’d say that was the problem, nothing to do with Alec himself, not really I know that is a bit psychological of me, but it stands to reason, doesn’t it? You wouldn’t want somebody else in your family, would you, that didn’t belong there? I wouldn’t anyway. I like things staying the way they are, and I bet Hal is the same. And a stepparent is for life, isn’t he, not just for Christmas?
    Alec was going to have a rough time with Hal. I could see it coming. But I was Hal’s friend. I had to take his side, didn’t I? No matter what.

Chapter 4
    I have two other so-called friends, Rosemarie and Gilda, but they annoy me a lot of the time—there was an incident about a jacket last term that I haven’t forgiven them for—so a lot of the time I just hang around with Hal at school. That’s not the only reason I am friendly with Hal of course; I also like him a lot. Hal is like a little white mouse with a twitchy nose. You can’t help liking him, even if the twitch drives you mad.
    The only other boy I know really well apart from Hal is my older brother, Larry. He is the very opposite of Hal in every way. Larry follows a football team, for example. You can probably guess that Hal doesn’t do anything as ordinary as that. I know which team Larry follows, but I’m not going to tell you, because if you have your own favorite team, it might be the same one, and then you would think that Larry must be a great fellow and really like him, and that wouldn’t be right at all, because Larry is the world’s drippiest drip. He’s not evil, but he’s dead boring. My mother says it’s just the age difference between us that is the problem, and when I am older I will appreciate Larry’s
excellent qualities, and meanwhile I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
    I’ll try to give you an example of what Larry is like, so you’ll understand my problem.
    â€œIf you were a cathedral,” Hal asked me one day, “would you be Gothic or