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.'But you told me-''Kerry… you didn't tell everyone that Mr Munro here is a stud, did you? He's only ever done it with Pam.'Kerry's head snaps up.There's thunder in her brow.I wish I was with the football, deep in the thrashing dark of rhododendron bushes.'Pam?' she says, her voice thin with shock.If this lot weren't here I could hug her for hours.'Pam who?''Pam of his hand!' Seamus shrieks, pleased the joke worked.'Ha, ha,' I say, slowly, 'I'm bereft of ribs.''Bereft? What the fuck's bereft?''It's a type of hat, isn't it? Speak English, Dave, you daft twat.'Helen's still gawping.'You not kissed her yet, Dave? What's up? You frigid or what?''So are you gonna kiss her then, Dave?' Seamus asks.'Go on.Show us you're not chicken.''You kiss her.' I regret the words even as I speak them.Seamus doesn't need another invitation.He straddles Kerry's knees and cups her face with his hands.Kerry fights him off but not as effectively as she might.She lets him kiss her and for one awful moment I see their tongues squirm together, like slugs mating.I push Seamus away and he wipes his mouth, his eyes blazing with triumph.I grab Kerry's hand and pull her up, leading her round to the back of the pavilion where the cinder five-a-side football pitches glimmer.The dark bulk of Sankey Valley Park sweeps away from us.You can see the black holes of Seven Arches from here.The burned sugar smell of baking cakes from the factory on Delamere Road is there and then gone, swift as breath.I press Kerry up against the wall.I'm glad they haven't followed us.Somebody wolf-whistles.She's looking at me from beneath her fringe, her eyes both tender and goading.A Mona Lisa smile.I kiss her and she doesn't even seem to mind when our teeth clack against each other.It's good, nowhere near as messy as I expected.When we surface, I try not to let her see how breathless I am.'At last,' she says, and hugs me.'There was nothing to stop you from kissing me.''I know.But I've been there.It was important you made the move, David.First-timer.' She smiles and I blush.I want to ask her if I was good; if the kiss turned her on.She ducks her head and kisses me this time and she's controlling what happens.Her tongue dabs against mine, her hands crawl up my back and nestle in my hair.When she pulls away, purple spots are swimming behind my eyes.'It's not against the law to breathe.'It gets better.Soon, I'm able to think of other things while my mouth works on auto-pilot.I'm thinking of how I should touch her breasts when the shouting starts.'Why do you hang round with Seamus and Dando? They're a bit rough.Not like you,' We're walking towards the bushes.They slope down to the canal, where the noises are coming from.I can't make out who it is, or what's being said.'They're okay.Lot of hot air.And it's not like I'm spoilt for choice is it? Our year is full of geeks.' I want to ask her if I kiss better than Seamus.Now I've finally done it, I resent her for letting him get away with what he did.A couple of feet into the bushes there's a fence.Kerry climbs over first and I follow, realising that my heart is troubled with more than this business of kissing.The shouts, still vague, possess an urgency.Kerry's nails dig into my palm-she senses it too.'Careful,' I say.'The bank gets steep here.'We meet the leading edge of bushes beyond which lies a narrow path forged by fishermen and kids playing truant.Something's going on under the footbridge; four or five figures painted white by the lights are a blur of movement.I'm having to squint to make a sense of it all: it seems like a human knot constantly re-configuring itself.'Kerry?''Oh God,' she says, and lets go of my hand.I run after her.'What's happening?' I can hear Seamus shouting in that reedy voice of his.And Helen sobbing.Dando I can just see, holding something out in his hands before the knot finds another loop and everything's lost again.'Stop it.' And I'm rattled by the sheer urgency of Kerry's voice.She comes to a sudden halt and I try to look past her.I manage to squeeze by on the path by clinging on to some of the thin branches which overhang.From here I see everything.I see Seamus circling Dando.I see Kerry with her hands to her face, crouching by the canal.I see Dando.Dando's holding a dog by its hind legs and plunging it into the soft mud on the bank.He's keeping its head submerged until it begins to convulse before pulling it back out again.There's a wet sucking noise as it comes free.The dog is shivering and making odd, weak yelps.Its head is misshapen with mud.Back it goes.Seamus is cheering.Dando's face is half-hidden by shade.The other half blazes.He's got his dick out; a jutting, moonstruck twig.'Stop it!' Kerry screams.As if only now becoming aware of the people around him, Dando grins and kicks the dog in the stomach.Any noise it might have made is muffled.'The fucker bit me.No dog gets away with that.' He covers his dick with his hand, giving it a little tweak as he pushes it back into his jeans.I'm striding over, even though Dando's bigger than me and-if it weren't for Jimmy Price-would be the cock of our year [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]