Three Letters Read Free Page B

couldn’t get her suggestion out of his mind. ‘You wouldn’t really take Dad’s guitar to Foggarty’s, would you?’
    ‘I bloody would!
I’ll tek you, an’ all, if you don’t get away from that door!
’ The impact of a second object being hurled at the door made Casey back off.
    Concerned by her threat to sell his dad’s guitar to old Foggarty, he kicked the doorwith the toe of his shoe, and ran off down the stairs. A smile crept across his face at the idea of playing his dad’s guitar. Then he thought of his mother, and the smile fell away.
    Deep down, he knew his mam had no love for his dad, and that was not fair, because he worked hard to give her everything; to give them
both
everything.
    He recalled the man he had seen outside the door. He couldn’thelp but wonder if the man really had been allowed inside the house. But if that was true, where was he now?
    When the dark suspicions crept into his thoughts, he thrust them away and concentrated on the idea of playing his dad’s guitar. He remembered everything he’d been taught, and now he went through it all in his mind. When he played the guitar, the music was in his head and in his heart.When Casey listened to his own music, he felt incredibly happy, happier than at any other time. It was magic, feeling the smooth wood, warm and alive, against him. When he moved his fingers along the strings and the guitar began to sing, it was so hauntingly beautiful, it made him want to cry.
    He had told his dad how he felt, and his dad explained, ‘That’s because the guitar is speaking to you,bringing your senses alive. Music is an age-old language. It speaks to everyone, young and old. It lifts the spirit and touches the heart, and when it stops it lives on inside you, making you richer in mind and spirit.’
    Casey understood. Daddy made it all so easy to understand. He adored his dad, but sometimes he didn’t like his mam. She shouted a lot, and she told lies. Just now, she said hecould play the guitar, but only because she wanted him to go away. But why did she want him to go away? Why couldn’t she just come down and give him the fish-and-chip money.
    At the back of his mind, he knew why, but it was such an awful thing, he didn’t even want to think about it.
    Instead he made himself think of playing the guitar, and he was filled with such excitement, he could hardly breathe.

    He now ran into the front parlour and closed the door behind him. He was happy in here, especially when he was allowed to play the guitar. Mam could shout and scream all she liked, but he wouldn’t listen.

    ‘We’re rid of him at last.’ Lying across Len’s nakedness, Ruth tantalised him, licking his mouth with the tip of her tongue. ‘We’d best be quick, Len!’ With the minutes swiftlypassing, she was growing nervous.
    ‘Stop panicking. There’s time enough.’ He was enjoying the foreplay.
    ‘There isn’t time,’ she whispered. ‘We can’t have Tom finding us naked in his bedroom. Can you imagine the ructions if he found his wife and best mate wrestling about in his bed?’
    Hearing a noise outside the bedroom, she sat back on her haunches. ‘Ssh! What was that?’ She glanced nervouslytowards the door. ‘If we’re not careful, he’ll be bursting in here, any minute.’
    She had no real affection for Tom. He was not an exciting man, while she was a woman who positively thrived on excitement. She liked the thrill of the chase, and she enjoyed the attention of other men, even though she knew they were only after one thing – which they got in abundance, and paid for in ready cash. Steady,affable Tom hardly ever made demands on her, but that was his loss, not hers.
    The thing was, she liked her men feisty, willing to take risks and grab life by the horns. Tom was not like that. He was, however, a good provider, and an excellent father to Casey, while she had no time for the brat. If it hadn’t been for Tom looking after his wellbeing, Casey would be left to his