The Papers of Tony Veitch by William McIlvanney Page B

Veitch’s shot the crow. Looks a bit that way, doesn’t it?’
    â€˜You reckon?’ Gus was looking at Hook.
    Hook nodded.
    â€˜So what’s it got to do with me?’
    â€˜You shared a flat, Gus,’ Hook said.
    â€˜And what’s it got to do with you?’
    Gus was completing his thought, running through Hook’s statement. Hook was shifty.
    â€˜Cam isny too sure about me. Paddy an’ me fell out a wee while back.’
    Gus’s stare left Hook wanting a shield against it.
    â€˜Anyway, Ah know you liked him, Gus. Better if Mickey finds him. If he does, he’ll have a chance to check if the boay did it, before Cam gets there.’
    â€˜I don’t know where he is,’ Gus said.
    â€˜You must have some kind of information,’ Mickey said. ‘Ah’m holdin’ Cam Colvin off. He doesny know about you.’
    â€˜Then tell him.’
    â€˜It’s no’ you that’s gonny get the napalm. It’s yer brither. That wouldny do yer mother a lot o’ good.’
    Gus looked into the living-room. His father was sitting like somebody found at Pompeii. His mother was reading the paper. Seen from outside, the room looked small, some chairs and ornaments, the pathetic sum of two hard lives. And here on the balcony was what those lives had produced, a hooligan whose existence mocked their decency and a student who still hadn’t begun to repay them for what they had given.
    He felt an anger that was never far away from him. Helooked down at what had been the Gorbals. This was improvement? His parents lived thirteen storeys up in a building where the lift broke down if you looked at it askance. His father’s life had made him an offshoot of the bookie and the pub. His mother still offered the world an irreducible decency the world didn’t deserve. Something had to be done. In the meantime, he couldn’t bear to add one more worry to their lot.
    â€˜Gus,’ Hook was saying.
    Gus looked at Hook, then at Mickey Ballater.
    â€˜Don’t you two come back,’ he said.
    But he knew himself the aggression of the remark was no more than stylish surrender. Why should he protect Tony Veitch? Let Tony look to himself. Gus’s parents were more important. Yet he resented how his brother was teaching him to hate himself. Family shouldn’t matter that much, but here it did. He thought how his father admired Hook more because he lived by his body, whereas Gus was just a reader of books. For his father it was better to batter one aggressor into the ground than try to help all the non-aggressors like himself. It was a strange philosophy, but not uncommon where Gus lived. What did this place want?
    â€˜Okay,’ Gus said. ‘I’ll tell you the only thing about Tony that might help you. There’s a girl called Lynsey Farren. Lady Lynsey Farren. Lord Farren’s daughter. She was with Tony. Then Paddy Collins. Then Dave McMaster.’
    Ballater knew he was getting close.
    â€˜Where do Ah find ’er?’ he asked.
    â€˜She’s got a shop in East Kilbride. Called Overdrive.’
    â€˜Thanks, Gus,’ Hook said.
    â€˜For being a shite? Don’t mention it.’
    Distantly, Gus watched them go into the living-room. He saw how animated his father became because Jim was inviting him down to the pub. When they had gone, he saw how contented his mother looked, as if all was well with the world. He saw how Hook was probably nearer to them than he was, though he loved them in a way he sometimes thought might destroy him. He came slowly back into the room. He lifted his book.
    â€˜Oor Jimmy’s lookin’ well,’ his mother said.
    Gus didn’t look up. He was thinking that he would soon be with Marie and he was glad.
    â€˜Is everything all right, son?’
    â€˜Fine, maw. Everything’s fine.’
    He tried to concentrate on his reading. But it was strange how he felt on the opposite side of the