The Point Read Online Free PDF Page B

stretched her out on the floor. He threw his spare blanket on top of her and got himself a good night’s sleep.
    Just as well really. She didn’t look too hot in the morning light. Her lips glistened with drool and her hair sat in a frizzy mess.
    Her purse contained thirty-five pounds. He left the fiver in it for her taxi home. Chivalry hadn’t quite died .
     
    Feelers
     
    Mad Mickey loitered on his favourite street corner, smoking a spliff. Dave jogged towards him. His cheeks were red and his breath came and went in short puffs.
    “Well?” Mickey asked.
    “The feelers are out, boss, but no joy yet.”
    Mad Mickey sucked a long draw off his joint.
    “Better get back to it, then, Dave. Right?”
    “Aye.”
    “We’re going to get this sleekit wee bastard. And when we do, I’m going to make a bong out of his skull.”
    “Right, boss.”
    “Aye. And I’ll put his lungs on ice. Might come in handy.”
    “Good thinking.”
    “Wonder what kind of hit you could get with a skull bong and four lungs. It’d have to be good, wouldn’t it?”
    Dave shrugged.
    “Are you still here, Dave?” Mad Mickey waved him away. “Go find him, for fuck’s sake!”
     
    Rachel Sticks Around
     
    Brian and Rachel had the house to themselves the entire Sunday afternoon. Paul had gone out for a walk after Karen left, to get a feel for Warrenpoint, and hadn’t been seen for hours.
    They watched some DVDs in the living room, snuggled together on the couch under the duvet dragged off Brian’s bed. They ordered a pizza and lazed. They got to know each other better between the action scenes of the Hollywood movies. Complete bliss.
    “So, Karen wasn’t particularly taken by Paul then?” Brian asked.
    “She thought he was okay, last night, but this morning he acted pretty cold towards her. She’s a good looking girl and doesn’t need to hold on to anyone she’s not sure of. Besides, he isn’t as sexy as he thinks he is.”
    “Judging by the amount of girlfriends he’s had, I thought he must have been better looking than the Devil himself. I assumed I was missing something or had the wrong idea about what women want.”
    “But you don’t try to be like him?” Her voice didn’t brim over with admiration for Brian’s choice to be his own person, but it did seem to require an explanation Brian didn’t have one. He did the usual in an uncertain situation. Kept his mouth shut.
    Rachel looked at him as if trying to figure him out. Brian gave her a little peck on the lips to mask his discomfort.
    “You’re even better looking than Karen, but you didn’t call a taxi. Are you a little surer about me, or am I just sexier than I think I am?”
    “No, I’m just a slut, and I thought if I stuck around a little longer, you’d ride me again.”
    Her hand found his crotch under the duvet and they christened the sofa while Nicolas Cage and John Travolta chased each other in speed boats on the television screen.
     
    Petrolheads and Cannabis
     
    Paul followed the sound of tuned up engines in his search for a drug dealer. The Point’s town centre was small and he’d seen most of it in a 20-minute stroll. Shops, chippies and pubs lined both sides of a wide main street. From both ends of the street a smaller road led to the shore front. Hosting a number of pubs and restaurants, this seemed to be The Point’s golden mile. A strong coastal wind shunted him along and he went with it.
    A town square mostly served as parking space for the summertime tourists at one end of the town and, on the coastal end, there was an outdoor swimming pool, built on the pebble beach. Paul once heard that the town imported sand from other beaches to take the rough look off the place, but it usually washed away into the sea within weeks. Cider cans and Buckfast bottles added a little class to the attractive seaside scene.
    Back on the main street, outside an amusement arcade, a crowd of young men in baseball caps appraised each other’s modified coupes and