Seeker Read Free Page A

phone found its way into his pocket snugly, and the good humour dripped coldly away. A few days ago he wouldn’t have cared for shit if Jake had known about Charlie, but now he was relieved that his mate hadn’t queried the whole delay with the phone, for he was sure Jake noticed him quickly trying to shove the phone away. He wasn’t quite sure why that was, and he was still frowning over it when he entered the kitchen.
    Jake was sitting on the stool by the open door, puffing away at a freshly lit fag, his coffee cup sitting on the breakfast bar behind him. Willem's own mug was still sitting next to the kettle, the open milk bottle beside it.
    â€œYou could have put the milk away, fella. Wouldn’t have hurt you.”
    Jake flicked some ash into the back yard and glanced over at the milk. “I could, true, but then you’d be left with black coffee.”
    â€œLazy sod,” Willem said, spying his milk-less coffee. “And you couldn’t have put it in mine because why?”
    Jake shrugged. “Don’t remember signing up as your slave.”
    Willem narrowed his eyes. “Right, whatever,” he said, sharper than he meant to. Not wishing to pursue it anymore, Willem poured his own milk then returned the bottle back to the fridge. He picked up his mug and took a deep sip, enjoying the heat as it surged down his throat. The caffeine hit his taste buds, and he immediately felt better.
    â€œWant to talk about it?”
    Willem closed his eyes, and slowly turned to Jake. “Usual shit,” he said, knowing full well what Jake would infer from that.
    â€œWhat’s that prick done now?” Jake asked, all humour gone.
    The prick in question was Jimmy; not Jake’s favourite person. In fact, Willem considered, he couldn’t imagine Jimmy being anybody’s favourite person. Willem always got a kick out of the way Jake’s whole demeanour changed whenever Jimmy’s name was mentioned. Although Jake didn’t work out, he was naturally a big man, much like his dad had been, and working on a construction site helped to maintain the muscles better than any gym would have done, and whenever Jimmy was mentioned it was as if some automatic signal was sent to Jake’s cardio system and the muscles immediately tensed. The new shaved head was, now that Willem noticed it, a bit of a departure from how Jake had looked the day before, and only helped to complete an ensemble of threat and danger. Deep down Jake was a softy, and after almost an entire lifetime of friendship Willem felt he was eminently qualified to make that observation, but Jake also had his darker side. He’d seen it on occasion, and one day Jimmy would, too, and on that day Willem would not like to be in Jimmy’s shoes.
    â€œSame old, up to his eyeballs in shit. Lawrencia has dumped Curtis on me.”
    Jake looked around. “Where is the champ?”
    â€œNapping. I tell ya, man, this ain’t gonna end well.”
    â€œThat’s a sure thing,” Jake said, his voice little more than a rumble now. “You honestly need to let me take the fucker out.”
    Willem let out a noncommittal “hmm”. Someone needed to give Jimmy a good slap, but Willem suspected it would take a lot more than that to sort that man out. He’d been nothing but trouble for Lawrencia, ever since she first left London back in the winter of ’06. She’d only been back for the last two years, and when she had returned she came with a seven-month-old baby and a wanker of a boyfriend. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jimmy was Curtis’s dad Willem would have found a way to rid Lawrencia of that stain from her life years ago.
    â€œLike he’s much of a dad to the champ anyway,” Jake said, as if he’d been reading Willem’s mind.
    â€œWell, we know this, but Ren insists that Jimmy dotes on Curtis.” Willem raised his hands, warding off the derision that was