Ma"s death had weakened Nathan"s links with the past, threatening his sense of continuity with Westburn; now severance was close, and the slow dying of the old ways, people moving from the town centre, spreading out to the boundaries where the grim new housing schemes lay.
“What"s the fuckin" point now?” Nathan said.
Nathan disappointed Leo when he said no to the invitation to his New Year party. He spent New Year"s Eve alone with a frugal supper eaten with his fingers straight from the wrapping paper: deep fried, greasy mince pie, and soggy chips, salted to destruction and swimming in vinegar; Ma would have been appalled. Nathan whiled away an hour or so in half-hearted practice on the muted Bach. He was in bed asleep by ten o"clock.
Nathan was on the way up, but still fought to overco
