43 The Secret
Thom still has the taste of Sarah on his lips when he retraces his route back to Aunty Val’s house in the numb darkness of early evening. He feels like he has been absent for so long; the paint on the door looks more cracked, the weeds droopier and extending their talons closer to the gate.
Is he ready to go back in there? Is he ready to face Aunty Val and Richard?
He stands at the front gate as though it is an obstacle to his entry and runs his tongue over his lips, closing his eyes and imagining he is back in the bedsit with Sarah. He doesn’t understand why she left or why he’d been abandoned in the cold damp room immersed in the memory of her warm kiss.
It is only a few hours later, after Thom decides he needs some fresh boxers, that he makes his way across the city a
