Magnificent Joe Read Free Page B

his arm forward. The stone flew out, oblique to the surface of the water, and then hit it in a dash of spray, burst up, came down, skipped again, and again, and again until it died out in a series of tiny bounces too rapid to count. Ripples spread over the pool.
    â€˜Five good ones,’ announced Mac.
    Geoff turned round and smiled at them.
    Barry shook his head. ‘You’re a lucky bastard, you.’
    â€˜Nah, that was pure skill, that,’ Geoff laughed. He felt the glow of an action performed smoothly and correctly. Barry opened his mouth to retort, but Mac broke in.
    â€˜Jim’s here.’
    Barry and Geoff turned to look down the path and there was Jim trudging towards them with a cloud of midges around his head. He glowered at them and swatted irritably at the insects with the back of his hand.
    â€˜Y’all right, Professor? You look a bit sweaty,’ Barry said.
    â€˜Get fucked, Baz. Take this pack off us.’ Jim wriggled out of his rucksack and let it thud to the ground, then he walked straight past them and sat under a tree.
    â€˜Temper, temper,’ chided Barry, but he went over and picked up the rucksack anyway. ‘Fucking hell, this is a bit heavy. How many’s in here?’
    â€˜Twenty-four.’ Jim gave a short snort of laughter. ‘Joe had them all in plastic bags. He reckoned his arms were going to fall off.’
    â€˜He’d be a proper flid, then. Fucking loony.’ Barry walked over to the tree with the rucksack.
    â€˜Leave it out – he’s sound.’
    â€˜Oh, aye, sound as a pound,’ said Barry, as he squatted next to Jim and fiddled with the straps of the rucksack. ‘Can’t fucking open it,’ he grumbled.
    â€˜They’ll be pulled tight from the weight. Give it here.’ Mac took over and quickly got the rucksack open. He stuck his hand inside and with a look of religious contemplation withdrew a four-pack of lager, which he held above his head. ‘All hail!’
    Geoff giggled. Barry shook his head and chucked a stick at him. ‘Shut up, you big div.’
    Geoff caught the stick and dropped it. ‘You’re a proper cunt, you.’
    Mac ignored them, twisted out the first can, and handed it to Jim. ‘Nice work, Jim.’
    â€˜Thanks, Mac. There’s fags in there too.’ Jim smiled and opened the beer. He grimaced as he drank. ‘It’s a bit warm. We should put the rest in the water.’
    â€˜Good idea.’ Mac grabbed the rucksack and slung it over one shoulder. Before he walked away, he nudged Barry in the side with his toe and said, ‘Drink your beer and stop being a bastard.’
    â€˜Who elected you fucking president?’
    Mac ignored him and took the rucksack to the pool, where he removed each of the five remaining four-packs one by one and carefully lowered them into the water. Barry glared at Mac’s back for a little while and mouthed the word ‘dickhead’, but then did as he was told.
    Geoff sat opposite Jim and opened his beer. ‘So. GCSEs next week, Jim. Are you nervous?’
    Barry grunted and said, ‘I bet he’s shitting himself, aren’t you, Professor von Einstein?’
    Jim turned to face Geoff so that he had his back to Barry. ‘I’m prepared.’ He paused and added, ‘I think.’
    â€˜Aye, that’s the best way.’
    â€˜Yeah.’ Jim didn’t really want to talk about it. Barry and Geoff were supposed to be in the same year as him, but they’d already given up on school and had no intention of turning up for their exams. It made him feel out of place. Still, it was better to have this conversation again than listen to Barry whinge, so Jim asked Geoff, ‘What about you?’
    â€˜Still haven’t found a fucking job yet. Mac reckons he knows a bloke, though. Building.’ Geoff squeezed his can so that the sides crumpled in.
    â€˜That’s not bad.’
    â€˜Aye.