An image or symbol representing a word or a phraseI parked in my usual space across the street, relieved to see Roddy’s personal vehicle dumped in the car park. A mural of a poppy field produced by the local primary school smiled down on it, the bowed petals of a giant red flower kissing the flaking paint on the roof. I stepped through the front doors as my watch showed the allotted time for entering the bar.
Comfort surrounded me and soothed away the compulsions as we slipped into our routine. We exchanged the familiar grunts of greeting and I pulled cash from my pocket for our beers.
“No.” Roddy flapped his hand. “Not for me.”
The narrators in my head silenced before releasing their clamour of panic. Every other thought in my brain screeched to a halt. The air molecules clanged togeth
