The Kings: Chpt 1 Early Beginnings ...

[hillvk]

‘Matthew,’ Tom said, his voice stern, ‘where did you get to last night?’

The King family were sitting round having breakfast. Carl and Max were dressed for school and Jimmy and Tom for a day in the office. Matthew hadn’t gone back to College after the summer term and he was in his designer jeans and a red and white striped jumper. He was also pale having had a heavy night and wordlessly reached for the coffee. He wished he could have just stayed in bed but his Dad had brayed on his door and told him that he wanted him downstairs for breakfast. He didn’t like to let any of his sons ‘waste the day in bed’.

‘I asked you a question,’ Tom said, ‘I’d like it answered.’

‘Dad,’ Matthew groaned, ‘it’s not really any of your business is it? I’m almost eighteen. I went out with a few mates.’

‘Don’t you take that tone with me!’ Tom barked pointing his finer in his son’s face, ‘I’m not putting you through that fancy college and university so that you can be a lay about and get drinker’s qualifications - and while you’re under my roof then it is my business what you get up to. You might think you’re an adult but to me you’re just a jumped up little teenager with a bad attitude and bum fluff, so don’t go getting ideas that you’re anything special in this house, do you here me?’

Matthew reddened. He glared at Max and Carl as they sniggered to each other. Jimmy looked triumphant. His dad pushed him for an answer.

‘I said do you hear me?’

‘Yes, alright Dad,’ Matthew muttered slouching back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest.

‘Right, we’ll start again then shall we?’ Tom said. ‘Now where did you get to last night?’

‘I told you,’ Matthew said, but he made his voice less cocky, ‘I went out.’

‘Drinking by the look of you,’ Tom said taking in the dark circles under his son’s eyes and the pasty complexion.

‘I only had a few.’

‘Well you had enough to wake half the house when you got in – me included,’ he added with a quick glance at a guilty-looking Carl. ‘I distinctly remember telling you that you were to be in by twelve on a week-night.’

‘But I’m on holiday,’ Matthew said. His terms were shorter than Carl and Max’s; his summer wasn’t over until the following week. Last night he had been at the pub with some of his college mates, and then he had rounded off the night by going back to a girl called Katie’s empty house. She was a slightly thick, but very pretty blonde with mile-high legs and he smiled as he thought of it – it had definitely been worth getting into trouble for.

‘Half-past two it was,’ Tom said, bringing him back to the present, ‘and I don’t care if you were on a bloody Caribbean Cruise, you get in when I tell you to.’

Carl, five years younger than his brother at nearly thirteen, smirked and Matthew kicked him under the table. There wasn’t a chance that his father had heard him come in; one of the kids must have grassed him up.

‘Ow!’

‘And you can stop that an’ all,’ Tom said wagging a piece of toast at him. ‘You’re pushing me to my limits at the moment lad.’

‘He’s got too much time on his hands, that’s his problem,’ Jimmy said. ‘For him A-Levels and a degree are just an excuse to get slaughtered with his mates.’

‘Oh put a sock in it Jimmy,’ Matthew said.

‘Well it better not be,’ Tom said. ‘You’re lucky that you’ve got to go at all. Your brother here didn’t get the opportunity.’

‘Which University would have him?’ Matthew said. ‘He’s as thick as two short planks. And, as I remember it, his exam results were so poor that you could put them together to spell dunce.’

‘That’s enough!’ Tom said. ‘I don’t like your attitude, Matthew; life isn’t all about qualifications – I didn’t get any. Now apologise to your brother.’

‘Not likely.’

‘I said apologise. Either that or you can spend the morning cleaning the offices for me. I mean it.’

‘Sorry,’ Matthew grumbled after a few moments hesitation. He didn’t want to go to work with his Dad and clean. The lads at the office would rib him mercilessly all day. He couldn’t wait till he was old enough to be in charge of them; but first he was going to get his business degree so that he had the edge over Jimmy who, annoyingly, seemed to automatically assume that he would gain control of the businesses one day just because he was the eldest.

‘Didn’t quite catch that, son, what did you say?’ Tom said winking at Jimmy.

‘I said I’m sorry Jimmy.’

‘That’s better. Now make your self useful and give your brothers a lift to school. Jimmy and I haven’t got time.’

‘Fine,’ Matthew said realising that there was no use arguing. ‘But can I use the Merc for the rest of the day?’

Tom pursed his lips. ‘Alright,’ he said, much to Jimmy’s disappointment, ‘but you pick them up as well - and any marks on it you get a good hiding from me, got it?’

‘Of course Dad,’ Matthew said wryly. He was five foot seven, an inch taller than his father, and built like a typical rugby player. He would like to see his father try and give him a “good hiding”.

‘Come on you two,’ he said, ‘lets’ get going.’ Matthew smiled as Carl looked nervously at him. He fully intended to pay his brother back and he could tell that Carl knew it.

Matthew made his way to the cars with Carl and Max. Max was chewing his fingernails nervously. It was always the same when Matthew drove them to school – he always thought his brother was going to kill him. He drove much faster than his Dad and his stomach jumped everytime he took a corner.

It was a lovely sunny day and before they reached the Merc, Matthew turned round and squinted up at their house, admiring it with a smile. They had moved into their large country home two years earlier when Tom had cleared his first million. The grounds were five or six acres and the garages that held their three cars lay at the end of a winding gravel driveway surrounded by cherry trees. His father said he had modelled the exterior (albeit in miniature form) on a place called Home Farm that he lived near when he was a lad. He told his sons often that if he was ever lucky enough to get hold of it then he would die a very happy man. If Matthew knew his father, then one day he would get his wish.

‘Ow!’ Carl said as Matthew gave him a sharp dig in the ribs.

‘That’s for telling Dad on me.’

‘I didn’t,’ Carl protested.

‘Not much you didn’t. It must have bin’ you who told him how late I was – he could sleep through an earthquake. In fact I heard him roaring away when I got in – it was shaking the house.’

‘I didn’t mean to, it just slipped out,’ Carl said. Inwardly he cursed himself. He was always putting his foot in it – not just at home but at school. In fact, there were two kids a few years above him who were after him because of one of his slip ups. He had accidentally told the taller ones’ sister that everyone said she was the school bike. They had roughed him up the day before and told him to expect more of the same the next day.

‘Well I’ll remember that next time I catch you doing something you shouldn’t,’ Matthew said, ‘now get in the car.’

Matthew dropped Max off first at the local primary school and then drove Carl to the public boy’s school twenty miles away. They didn’t speak much on the journey but Matthew could see in his mirrors that Carl looked nervous.

‘What is the matter with you?’ he said impatiently as Carl tapped his fingers on the window. ‘You’re acting like Max does when wets his pants as I go round a corner. I’ve driven you to school before you know and I haven’t killed you yet.’

‘I know!’ Carl said. ‘It’s not that.’

‘Well what’s the matter with you then? You’re making me nervous.’

‘Nothing,’ Carl insisted. ‘Can we have some music on?’

Matthew rolled his eyes and turned the radio on; he decided just to let his brother get on with it. As they got closer to the school he noticed that Carl had paled and had a thought.

‘Are you sick or something?’ he said. ‘Because if you throw-up in the car then Dad isn’t going to be too happy and neither am I!’

‘I’m not ill,’ Carl said. ‘I told you, I’m fine.’

‘Hmmm.’ Matthew pulled into the school gates and parked expertly in one of the bays. ‘Get out then,’ he said. Carl hesitated.

‘Give us a minute will you?’

Carl was searching the sea of boys in school uniform for two particular faces. He soon found then and noticed that they were smiling and waving at him from on top of the stone wall a hundred yards in front of them. He gulped.

‘Friends of yours are they?’ Matt said following his gaze. Carl looked down and Matthew suddenly understood.

‘Is that why you’re acting like your backside’s on fire? Are those idiots giving you hassle?’

‘A bit,’ Carl said finally. He pulled his school satchel off the back seat and showed his brother the broken strap. ‘They did this yesterday. They nicked my cap as well and gave me a bit of a kicking.’

Matthew’s face hardened. He conveniently forgot that he spent most of his life terrorising his young brother and felt indignancy build up inside him. It was alright for him to have a go at Carl, but he certainly didn’t want anyone else taking advantage of him - especially not two kids who were both at least a foot taller than him and a few years older.

Carl saw Matthew’s expression. ‘I can handle it though,’ he said unconvincingly.

‘Course you can handle it,’ Matthew said smiling sarcastically. Both boys were also built like battleships. ‘You’ve got the physique of a wrestler, you, haven’t you?’ Carl grimaced. He hadn’t grown much over five foot and he was built like a string bean.

‘I’ll be alright.’

‘Maybe I’ll just have a word with them,’ Matthew said.

‘No, don’t Matt,’ Carl was suddenly panic-stricken. ‘It’ll just make it worse. They already think I’m a joke.’

‘They shouldn’t be picking on you in the first place – they’re at least twice your size.’

‘It’s alright, honest.’ Carl made to get out of the Car. The two boys jumped down from the wall in preparation.

‘Right, that’s it,’ Matthew said. ‘We’re getting out of here.’ He started up the engine and pushed his foot down on the accelerator causing the car to leap forward into the path of the boys.

‘Are you crazy?’ Carl said as Matthew swung it round just missing them and a few other kids who scattered in all directions.

‘Look at them, the pansies,’ Matthew laughed. Both boys ran for their lives towards the school entrance.

‘They’re still going to wait for me at lunch,’ Carl grumbled.

‘You can’t take any nonsense, Carl,’ Matthew said annoyed. ‘You’ve got to learn to stick up for yourself. Even if they are bigger, if you shout louder than them then they’ll probably back off. What is it that Dad’s always saying eh? Bullies are cowards.’

Carl still looked miserable and Matthew took pity on him. He sighed. ‘Forget it,’ he said. ‘Tell you what, why don’t you give school a miss today and come to the gym with me – I’ll try and teach you a few moves with the gloves, if I can still remember them.’

Carl smiled. Matthew had once been an amateur under-eighteens boxer. Carl had seen him fight several times and he was good. Matthew had given up his boxing when he left his old comprehensive - it didn’t seem to be the ‘done’ sport at St. Martins Academy - but he still remembered most of what he had learned.

‘Really?’ he said. ‘But what about Dad?’

‘What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him will it?’

‘Ace!’

‘That’s better,’ Matthew said. ‘Come on before someone sees you and starts asking questions.’

Matthew and Carl drove away, the music blaring. Unbeknown to them, several of the teachers had seen the Merc driving erratically and recognised the driver as Matthew King – Carl’s jumped up elder brother who had only been at the school for one term to sit his exams, but had had such a bad attitude that everyone remembered him. It didn’t take too much to connect it to Carl’s absence at school, and, pleased to have one over on the difficult former pupil, they phoned his father to express their concern.

****************************************************

‘That’s it,’ Matthew said watching his young brother approvingly, ‘the quick one two should do it. You know for such a lanky sod you’ve got a good punching arm.’

Matthew and Carl had driven straight to the private gym where they all had annual memberships. Matthew had been putting Carl though his paces for the last two hours. He was too young to use most of the weights, but Matthew had been showing him a few boxing moves and some exercises he could do to build himself up.

‘You’re much better than Jimmy ever was,’ Matthew went on. Both he and Jimmy had taken boxing up but Jimmy, as with most things he had attempted, had been useless. He had as much grace as a JCB and though he was taller than Matthew he had always been on the weedy side; more than that he just didn’t have the stomach for it.

‘Thanks,’ Carl said. His face was red with exertion. He had been pretending that the punch bag was the two bullies who had been making his life a misery. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘you won’t tell Dad that I’ve been getting hassle will you? I don’t want him to think I’m soft or something.’

‘Course not,’ said Matt. ‘As long as you promise that when they start on you tomorrow you’ll at least give some of this stuff a go.’

‘Alright.’

‘Good. Did Dad give you some money for your dinner?’ Carl nodded and Matthew smiled, ‘You can treat me to a burger then.’

*************************************************

Later that afternoon, both Matthew and Carl were in good spirits as they went to pick up Max from school. They had spent the rest of the day hanging round in a nearby village with a few of Matthew’s mates. Carl had thought he would be in the way but they seemed to see him as a bit of a novelty and had spent the time trying to shock him by taking out cigarettes and smoking them or telling him rude jokes. Matthew had been tolerant and Carl, for his part, had behaved himself. In fact, Matthew was thinking that he had found a bit of a kindred spirit in Carl. Jimmy had never really mixed with his friends – who he referred to as ‘ponces’ - but Carl had fit right in.

Their mood soured slightly as Max’s teacher told them that their Dad had beaten them to it and already picked up his son.

‘What’s his game?’ Matthew muttered as they drove back to the house.

‘Maybe we shouldn’t go back?’ Carl suggested.

‘Good idea, brainless, - except we live with him, remember?’

When they got to the house and walked up to the door Matthew turned to Carl. ‘Just let me do the talking,’ he said.

‘Remember you promised,’ Carl said.

Matthew pursed his lips. If his Dad knew that Carl had skipped school then telling him that he was being bullied would be the perfect excuse – but he had promised the squirt and so he knew he wasn’t going to say anything.

They ran into Jimmy at the door and his smug face told Matthew all he needed to know.

‘You two are in a lot of trouble,’ Jimmy said triumphantly.

‘Get lost Jimmy,’ Matthew said. ‘Go and polish Dad’s buttons or something.’

As Tom came into the hallway and clocked his two sons, he flew at them. He clipped Carl round the ear, and pulling Matthew towards him by his collars gave him a few sharp smacks to his head and shoulders.

‘Ow!’ Matthew said. ‘Get off me!’ He didn’t dare attempt to stop his father, even though he knew if he tried he would have a good shot.

‘I’ll give you “Ow” you little sod.’ Tom said whacking his son’s ears in turn as Jimmy watched with delight. ‘What do you think you were playing at eh? One of the teachers rung and told me that you were driving the car like a nutter and that Carl didn’t turn in for school. I should ring your neck for you.’ He paused from hitting his son. ‘I want an explanation and I want one now.’

Matthew opened his mouth, but seeing Carl’s sorry expression he cursed him in his head then stopped himself and changed what he was going to say.

‘I wasn’t driving like a nutter,’ he said. ‘The car just got a bit out of control – there isn’t a mark on it. And as for Carl, well I just thought that he might have more fun out of school than in it.’

The words came out more sarcastically than Matthew had intended them and Tom looked at his son like he’d grown another head. He turned to Carl. ‘And you went along with this, did you?’ Matthew nodded his head slightly at him from behind his father’s back.

‘Er – yes, sorry,’ Carl said hanging his head.

‘Get out of my sight,’ Tom said, ‘I’ll deal with you later. Not you!’ he said as Matthew turned to go. Gratefully Carl scampered up to his bedroom.

‘What am I going to do with you?’ Tom said angrily, turning to Matthew; irritated by his steely pale eyes, defiant chin and matching sneer. It was obvious that his son wasn’t the least bit sorry.

‘You mean aside from give my head a battering?’

‘Yes aside from that,’ Tom barked. ‘Isn’t it bad enough that I’ve had nothing but trouble from you, but now you have to drag your brother into it? Your mother would be ashamed of you.’

‘That’s right Dad,’ Matthew said gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep a handle on his temper, ‘bring Mum into it and really stick the knife in.’

‘I will bring her into it. She wanted you to look out for your brothers not lead them astray. You should be ashamed of yourself.’

‘Fine – I’m ashamed,’ Matthew said, ‘can I go now?’

‘Have you heard him?’ Jimmy said incredulously, ‘you would never have let me get away with talking to you like that.’

‘I’m not letting any one get away with anything,’ Tom said as Matthew scowled at Jimmy. ‘Yes you can go now,’ he went on. ‘You can get up those stairs and stay in that room until I tell you different.’ Jimmy sniggered.

‘I’m a bit old to be sent to my room don’t you think?’ Matthew said.

‘You might think you are,’ Tom said, ‘but while you’re still young enough to be at school – fancy or not - and take pocket money off me then in my book you’re still a kid and you’ll still do what I tell you to. Now get up those stairs before I take you up them myself.’

Matthew’s face flushed crimson. He knew that it was no idle threat. His Dad was likely to take him by the ear and drag him up every single one if he refused. Adding to his humiliation was that Jimmy was stood by listening to every word.

‘Well Matthew, what’s it going to be?’ Tom said standing his ground. His son was becoming too cocky for his own good and as his father he felt it was his natural duty to take him down a few pegs.

‘Alright, alright,’ Matthew said turning on his heel.

‘And you won’t be using that car for a long time either,’ Tom called after him as he headed for the stairs. Matthew grimaced. He cursed himself for ever getting involved in his brother’s squabbles. It simply hadn’t been worth it.

****************************************************

At dinner, noticing Matthew’s absence, Carl loyally offered to go and fetch him. Hattie, their housekeeper, had made a roast and it was one of his brother’s favourites.

‘Stay where you are,’ Tom said, ‘he’s not getting anything. That boy has to learn who the boss around here is - me not him.’

‘But Dad,’ Carl protested, ‘it was me that skipped school not Mat.’

‘I know that,’ Tom said, ‘and I know you won’t do it again. All lads play hooky occasionally, son, this is about more than that. He should have been more responsible and he should have been a lot sorrier when I told him off about it instead of giving me lip.’

‘That’s like asking him not to breathe,’ Jimmy said. ‘He’s always been too cocky for his own good.’

‘Well not any more,’ Tom said. ‘If he tries to take me on this time then he’s going to lose. I can deal with Matthew. Now let’s just get on with our dinners shall we?’

****************************************************

Matthew was lying on his bed trying, and failing, to get interested in one of his car magazines. He was car mad – they all were – but it was now just a reminder that his dad wasn’t going to let him drive. He cast his eyes to the shelves that were filled with the models of cars he had made and felt like smashing them in frustration.

If he’d wanted to, Tom King could have bought each of his sons a life-size version of their favourite model and still have some left over for a large fleet of limousines. Unfortunately for Matthew, that wasn’t the way he did things. Having had to fight tooth and nail to build up his business from scratch, he made sure his sons were never handed anything on a plate. In fact it had only been the last few years that he had really started to make serious money, which was why he could afford to put Matthew in a private college and send him to university, and which was why both the youngest children – Carl and Max – were now being privately educated where Jimmy and Matthew hadn’t been.

Matthew threw the magazine at the wall. He was on the verge of ignoring his father’s warning and sneaking down the back stairs and through the back kitchen to get his escape. He could then hide out at one of his mates’ houses until his father calmed down. His best mate Joe was having a party that night and Matthew knew that if he couldn’t go then he would miss out. It was humiliating being confined to his room. He could smell the roast as well and knew that his father was also extending his punishment to include no dinner. He smiled wryly; none of his friends in the private college he attended would believe it. There he knew he was well thought of – popular with the girls, top of most of his classes and Captain of the rugby team. The idea that he could be sent to bed without dinner would be laughable to his fellow students.

‘This is so ridiculous,’ he said out loud. His Dad had a nasty habit of, very effectively, putting him in his place. Matthew knew that if he did sneak out it would not be beyond his father to seek him out at Joe’s and humiliate him by dragging him out by his ear. His father was always harder on him than the others. He was constantly telling him that he was too clever for his own good, and that he was ‘cheeky’ and ‘arrogant’. He and his father had several stand-up arguments over the past few months. Tom had made it known that he thought Matthew’s new school was not doing him the slightest bit of good. He had said that he had been much happier when Matthew was in the local comprehensive. ‘You might have got into a few scraps now and then,’ he had said, ‘but at least they didn’t give you a high opinion of yourself. The other boys kept you in your place. Now they’re building you up. Your head’s so big that it won’t fit through the door and I don’t like it. I should never have moved you. If there’s one of my sons who doesn’t need a bigger ego than he already has it’s you.’

Matthew had been quite hurt by his father’s comments. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t just be happy that he was excelling in his new school. It was way ahead of his old one in terms of academic performance and, more importantly to Matt, sports teams. He had switched from the captain of the football team at his old school to the captain of the rugby team in his new one without really having to try – although it had hurt him to do it; he much preferred football and thought rugby a bit poncey (something he would never admit it to his classmates).

Matthew couldn’t see that Tom was worried that his son was growing into exactly the sort of person he had always despised; the sort of person, more often than not with a private education, who would squash someone beneath their feet without looking down. Tom wasn’t averse to a bit of spirited competition – he had often fought hard and dirty to get where he was – but he did hate snobbery and arrogance in all its forms. He had despaired of his son’s belligerent attitude and his tales of victory over the ‘local boys who didn’t even have proper kits’. Matthew seemed to forget that he had been one of those local boys not so long ago.

In Tom’s household, looking down on someone because of their background was akin to mutiny and he was determined that his second son – who had the edge over the others in every area from intelligence to charm – wouldn’t grow up thinking it was okay. He determined to curb his cockiness and teach him some humility before it was too late and he ended up disliking him. It was important to him because he knew that one day Matthew would probably be the greatest asset to the King empire. At the moment Tom was leading Jimmy by the hand every step of the way, but his second son had a quickness of mind and was already showing a good head for the business. Even though he was still in school, he took a great interest in his father’s accounts - sometimes even offering him sound advice about which contracts were the most lucrative. Tom was looking forward to the day that Matthew would complete the business degree he was so keen to start and join him and Jimmy in the company. Matthew had never shown interest in doing anything else and his father had the feeling that it would be the making of him. Unfortunately they still had another four years.

‘Sod it,’ Matthew said getting up off his bed. He had had enough of playing the contrite son. He opened the door slowly and crept down the corridor, cursing under his breath at the creaky floorboards.

‘Get back in that room before I come up there,’ his father called up the stairs.

‘Damn!’ His Dad always seemed to be two steps ahead of him. He hesitated while he tried to decide whether he should just make a run for it anyway but then he heard his father scrape his chair back loudly and he made a dash for his room.

[hillvk]

‘Hi Matty,’ Max said.

Matthew opened an eye and peered into the faces of his two younger brothers. They had opened the door to the bedroom carefully and crept in and sat beside Matthew on his double bed. Matthew was slightly irritated but he didn’t try to shift them.

‘Hi,’ he muttered. He had given up trying to read and was simply lying on his bed looking up at the ceiling enjoying his sulk. He hadn’t put his stereo on because he knew his Dad would shout up at him to turn it off.

Matthew normally enjoyed being in his room. He thought it was stylish. It was done out in cream and brown liked he had asked for; his Leeds United shield was the only thing that hung from the plain walls. His desk was a huge mahogany antique and the matching stool was trimmed with soft leather. His record collection ran into hundreds. He always kept the room immaculate. In their other houses he had been forced to share a room with Jimmy - and sometimes Jimmy and Carl – and when he had got his own room he had had a smile on his face for weeks. Today though it felt like a prison.

‘Dad says that if you come down and apologise to him then you can have the left-overs from dinner,’ Max said shyly.

‘Wow!’ Matthew said sarcastically sitting up, ‘I better hurry then hadn’t I?’ He lay back down. ‘I’m not apologising to the old git – tell him he can whistle for it!’

Max looked scandalised. He was only seven and he wouldn’t even dream of speaking about his father like that.

‘It’s all my fault,’ Carl said. ‘If you hadn’t helped me with those two lads then you wouldn’t have got into trouble.’

‘True,’ Matthew said.

Carl hesitated. ‘You can tell him about it if you want.’

Matthew sighed. ‘There’s no point now is there? Don’t worry about it, I’m not bothered.’

‘Aren’t you hungry?’ Max said

‘Not really.’ Actually he was starving. He saw his youngest brother hesitate slightly before he took something out of his pocket and grudgingly held it out for Matt. It was a chocolate bar. Matthew smiled.

‘Did you nick that from Dad’s stash?’

Max thought for a moment. ‘I borrowed it,’ he said. ‘I’ll get one from the shop tomorrow with my pocket money.’

‘You little thief,’ Matthew teased. He took the bar form the small hand and started to unwrap it. At that moment Jimmy flung open the door and jerked his thumb at Carl and Max.

‘You two get out of here now,’ he said. ‘He’s supposed to be being punished.’

‘Get lost Jimmy,’ Matthew said with a mouthful of caramel.

‘Aw, what’s the matter Matt, were you hungry?’ Jimmy said patronisingly. Matthew glared at him. ‘Go on squirts get lost,’ Jimmy ordered. Max didn’t need telling twice, he fled the room. Carl stood his ground.

‘It wasn’t even Matt’s fault,’ he told Jimmy. ‘He was only trying to help me …’

‘Did he pay you to say that?’ Jimmy interrupted. ‘Nice try. Dad wants to know if you’re going to come down and apologise or whether he should feed your dinner to the dogs.’

‘I’m not hungry,’ Matthew said.

‘Course you aren’t. Oh well you can stay up here and stew then. I’m going out myself. Thought I might head into town. If I run into some of your mates in the pub I’ll tell them that you’re grounded shall I? So they don’t worry about you.’

Matthew closed his eyes as though in pain. ‘Don’t you dare!’ he said. He knew that if word got round that his Dad had sent him to his room then he would be a laughing stock.

‘Oh I dare, little brother,’ Jimmy said.

‘You breathe one word of this to anyone and I swear I’ll clobber you.’

‘You? Don’t make me laugh,’ Jimmy said, ‘I’m not scared of you. I might see some of your little girl-friends an’ all – they’re always in The Swan aren’t they? I was thinking of heading down that way.’

Matthew got to his feet and squared up to Jimmy. Carl stood in between them but Matthew pushed him roughly out of the way.

‘Come on then,’ Jimmy mocked, ‘let’s see what you’re made of.’ Actually he wasn’t quite sure whether he would be able to take his brother. Though he was older and bigger than Matthew, his younger brother was quite handy. When they had been at the comprehensive school - which had been fairly rough and ready - Matthew had boxed to give himself the edge over the other kids in a fight.

Matthew swung at Jimmy, but Jimmy sidestepped it and Matthew stumbled over the rug. This gave his elder brother the time and opportunity he needed to put his extra height and weight to best use and he managed to pin Matthew tightly, his face crushed against the wall.

‘Get off him, Jimmy!’ Carl said.

‘Oh don’t worry,’ Jimmy said, ‘I won’t hurt him.’ He put his mouth close to a struggling Matthew’s ear. ‘I think I’ll keep that fit bird you’ve been knocking around with – Katie is it? – company instead. I bet she goes for the more mature bloke.’ He then shouted out the door, ‘Dad, Matt said he won’t apologise so looks like you can give his dinner to the dogs.’ He flung Matthew away from him before making a bolt out of the door so that his brother couldn’t come back on him.

Matthew was shaking with rage as he pulled himself to his feet. He couldn’t believe that he had allowed Jimmy to get one over on him.

‘I reckon you could take him,’ Carl said, ‘if he fought you fairly. You should have seen his expression when you went for him - and he punches like a girl.’

‘Thanks,’ Matthew said. He balled his fists at his side as he imagined how he would get his revenge on Jimmy. At that his Dad appeared at the door.

‘It’s like Piccadilly Circus in here,’ Matthew muttered.

‘Go on Carl,’ Tom said, ‘you shouldn’t be in here. Go and finish your homework.’

When they were alone, Matthew took his position back up on the bed, folding his hands behind his ears nonchalantly. His Dad pulled the stool out from his desk and perched on it watching him.

‘You’re stubborn as a mule, you know that? Are you really too proud to say sorry to me?’ Matthew shrugged, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. ‘I’ll take that as a yes shall I? Right, in that case I want your car keys.’

Matthew tried not to show his concern. He rolled over and opened the top draw of his bedside cabinet taking out his two sets of keys – one for the Merc and one for his father’s new soft-top.

‘And your set for Jimmy’s,’ Tom pressed. Matthew grit his teeth.

‘As if Jimmy would ever let me drive that – he thinks it’s his child.’

‘Oh I’m sure you and your silver tongue could convince him – or dupe him at least, but you’re not going to get the chance.’ Tom placed the rings Matthew handed him into his top pocket. ‘You can have these back in two weeks time.’

‘Two weeks?’ Matthew said indignantly, forgetting his vow to act as though he couldn’t care less, ‘but I start back at school on Monday.’

‘Oh don’t worry, son, I’ll give you the bus fare. Or maybe you’ll be able to convince one of your “friends” to give you a lift. In any case, you won’t be driving. If you’re not old enough to admit when you’re wrong then you’re not old enough to be trusted with my cars.’

Matthew was incredulous. He loved driving and he especially loved driving his father’s cars; aside from that he would get no end of stick if he had to get the bus everywhere. His father’s instincts were right – he was turning into a bit of a snob. He wouldn’t be caught dead riding public transport.

‘You can’t do this,’ Matthew said.

Tom laughed. ‘Who’s going to stop me? You’ve brought this on your self Matt – you’ve been asking for it for days. This isn’t just about encouraging Carl to nick off school because I have a feeling that there’s more to that story than you’re both letting on, but it is about your attitude. I don’t like how you’ve been acting since you started hanging around with those so-called mates of yours with their fancy cars and their designer gear.’

‘Not this again!’ Mathew said. ‘Dad, you’ve got fancy cars and designer gear now, it doesn’t make you any worse a person.’

‘That’s because I know where I come from and I remember what it took to get me there. Some of these boys you’re hanging around with have had everything handed to them on a plate by their dim-witted parents. They look down their noses at folk like we used to be – living on the breadline and scrimping and scraping a living. They think having money somehow makes them better people. Well it doesn’t – if anything it makes them worse. You’ve always been a fighter Matt, like me, but just recently it seems to have been replaced with an unwavering arrogance in everything you set out to do. I’ve noticed that you’ve started to drop your accent when you’re round your friends as well – are you ashamed of it?’

‘No,’ Matthew said, reddening slightly. Actually it had been a conscious effort. He was constantly teased by the others for his thick Yorkshire drawl. Farmer Giles was the favoured nickname.

‘You don’t say that to Max,’ he said suddenly. Max didn’t speak like the rest of the family. He was the only one to be educated privately for the whole of his (so far short) school career and he spoke softly and more properly than everyone else in the family.

‘Max is different,’ Tom said, ‘he doesn’t know anything else. But you, you seem to be forgetting your roots. It wasn’t that long ago that you were playing in the street with the other kids on the estate and doing your football and boxing and getting into scraps; now you’re driving round the countryside in fancy cars with a great big rod shoved up your backside and playing “Rugger”’ Tom put on a plummy accent to emphasize his point and Matthew couldn’t help but smile. ‘I think I preferred the old Matt.’

‘I didn’t ask for fancy cars and a poncey school,’ Matthew pointed out.

‘No, but you wanted them, didn’t you? Almost as much as I wanted them for you.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with being successful, Dad,’ Matthew said. ‘You’ve done well. You’ve pulled this family out of the gutter.’

‘So it was the gutter where we were before, was it Matt?’ Tom said sadly.

‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Matthew said quickly. He cursed himself – he knew it had sounded awful.

‘Your mother was always more easy-going than us,’ Tom said. ‘She would rather I stayed at home more and earned less than spend every waking minute trying to make my fortune. Mary was never happier than when she was sat on the front step in the sunshine, one of you lot in one arm, a cup of tea in the other and gossiping with the neighbours.’ He sighed wistfully and gestured with his arms, ‘I wonder what she would have made of this lot, eh Matt?’

‘She would have been proud of you,’ Matthew said.

‘Would she? I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to do though – make you all into people that she would be proud of.’

Matthew felt a stab of anger. ‘Well you obviously don’t think I am,’ he said looking away.

‘You’re wrong son, very wrong. She always said to me that you would be the one that made something of your self. Her little genius,’ she used to call you.’ He laughed, ‘With enough charm to talk the stars out of the sky. See - she knew you even at twelve.’

Matthew was slightly appeased. ‘Well I learned a lot of it from her,’ he said.

Tom got to his feet. ‘Not quite everything,’ he said, ‘you get your stubbornness from me. Well young man, you can stay in here for the rest of the night and be stubborn. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Fine,’ Matthew said.

He might have sounded sulky and they might both have looked angry, but the tension that had been building between them in the last few day had eased somewhat.

[rocktheworld7]

itsd really goood I luv it


Please updatE!!!!!!!

[leprecorn]

please could you post some more, its really goodx

[cielbr]

poor Matthew
more soon please

[hillvk]

A little bit more for you.


Matt turned the corner to the bus stop half a mile from his house just in time to see the private coach for St Martins pull out and go without him. He grimaced. Jimmy had told him he was going to be late as he had hammered on the bathroom door; but he had been experimenting with Brylcream and ignored the warning. Now he was going to be late for assembly and prayers again.

St Martins was a catholic school. Matthew’s mother, originally from Scotland, had been a devout catholic and Tom had respected her wishes when he choosing private schools to send her children to after her death. He had picked this particular one for his second son because he knew that even though it was a sixth form, and not technically a school, there were still enough rules to keep Matthew in check. Now that meant Matthew was going to be writing several hundred lines afte school unless he could figure out a way to get to the hall on time. Father McClannigan, the head, was apparently sick of his lack of respect for punctuality.

Matthew was just considering sprinting home and trying to persuade Jimmy to drive him in, when a bright red sports car beeped him. It was Harry Holloway’s. Harry, in Matthew's opinion, was an unpleasant, weedy little idiot. He had a nose too big for his face and hair that was greasy no matter how many times it was washed. He didn’t have much time for Matthew either, thinking he was beneath his interest, and there was no chance that he would give him a lift if he was on his own. Luckily, however, Charlie, a right-wing on the rugby team, was in the back and so Matthew thought he might have a chance. He waved lazily, pretending not to be bothered whether they picked him up or not. He knew that any sign of desperation and they would race off in hysterics like three truck-drivers taunting a hitchhiker. Luckily it seemed to work and Harry slowed down.

‘Get in, King,’ he said with a nod. Charlie opened the door for him.

‘Cheers Halloway,’ Matthew said gratefully.

‘Daddy wouldn’t let you have the Merc today then?’ Charlie said, grinning at his friend.

‘Nope.’ Matthew wasn’t about to give anything away.

‘Not like you to use public transport,’ Geoff, the third boy observed. ‘What’s the matter, The Peacock ill?’

Matthew shrugged. ‘It’s in for a service,’ he said. Actually Matt didn’t technically have his own car. His Dad had two and normally gave him the use of one or the other when he was at school. His friends didn’t know that though. They all envied the sky-blue soft top that he claimed was his – and which they had affectionately named The Peacock. Like his sons, Tom King had a passion for fast, flashy cars. It was his one weakness where money was concerned. Tom had known what it was like to have nothing and so he was never reckless with his spending, but with his “motors” he made an exception; as he told his sons, everyone was entitled to a bit of indulgence now and again.

‘You missed a good weekend,’ Charlie said. ‘Where did you get to?’

Matthew decided to tell half the truth, neglecting to mention that his Dad had forbidden him from leaving the house. ‘I was minding my little brothers.’

Geoff rolled his eyes. ‘You wouldn’t catch me dead watching my little sister. You should get your father to employ a nanny for them. Children are such bores.’

Matthew fought the urge to laugh. He could just imagine what the response would be if he suggested that one. His Dad had reluctantly employed a housemaid to see to the washing, cleaning and cooking a couple of times a week after their mother had died, but he wouldn’t have anyone else taking care of the kids.

‘I noticed that you brother was off the leash, though,’ Harry said slyly, glancing at Matthew through the rear view mirror. ‘We saw him in The Swan on Friday, and then Saturday he crashed Jacob Liner’s party with some of the lads from South Village.’

The word “lads” rolled derisively off Harry’s tongue and Matthew knew that he was having a dig at Jimmy. South Village was an estate of council-owned housing and had a bad reputation - at least amongst the boys from St Martins Academy. The Kings used to live in the nearby East Village estate, which wasn’t as notorious as the South, but still looked down upon in the surrounding villages. Luckily for Matt, or so he thought, parts of it – though in actual fact not the part the Kings lived in – were considered respectable enough by Harry and his well-to-do friends that they hadn’t given him too hard a time when they’d found out he used to live there. Mixing with the South “lads” now, however, was a definite no-no.

It did gall Matthew at times that he had to deny the people he’d grown up with. In fact, he still played football with both East and South lads when they needed to make up the numbers for their Sunday league team. But for the sake of keeping the peace (and avoiding a serious ribbing) he did what he felt he had to and always neglected to mention it to his St Martins friends (who were convinced his passion lay with rugby). Jimmy, however, had no reason to do the same. In fact, he took great delight in taking his “South” friends to his new haunts and letting them share his new life. And, quite annoyingly for Matt, he seemed to get great pleasure from introducing them to his younger brother’s friends – who he couldn’t stand.

Matthew, already feeling himself get riled by the criticism, shrugged and said shortly, ‘Well you know our Jimmy.’

Harry smiled. He could sense Matthew’s notorious temper pushing close to the surface. In truth he’d only stopped the car and picked him up to see if he could get a rise out of him. If he hadn’t had the ammunition about his elder brother then he would have left him in the gutter. He didn’t like the way that Matthew – with his broad Yorkshire accent and rough and ready family – was accepted and even admired by his peers - and his talent for rugby just wasn’t natural. Like his father before him, Harry was quick to scoff at people who he would describe as “new money”. He decided to try another tack.

‘He seemed to be getting very cosy with Katie Wilson as well, old boy. Not that she was complaining about it. But, then again, you know Katie, she does tend to put it about a bit, bless her. We lost track of them towards the end of the night. They just seemed to disappear, didn’t they boys?’

Geoff and Charlie glanced at Matthew slightly warily. They knew how he could react if he was pushed too far. Still it was always fun to wind him up. He was like a little pit bull when riled and they didn’t see any harm in it.

‘Quite,’ Charlie said grinning. He pretended to think carefully before continuing in a tone that suggested he didn’t believe what he was saying, ‘Still he could have just been doing the chivalrous thing and walking her home. Some of the - er - company he keeps were getting rather leery.’

‘Oh yes,’ Geoff added. ‘Quite the little gentleman Jimmy.’

‘Alright, alright,’ Matthew said with forced humour. ‘Just drop it. Jimmy’s welcome to her if he’s desperate enough to take my seconds. You lot are just jealous that I had some. The closest thing you get to action on a Saturday night is watching westerns at the palladium.’

Harry bristled. ‘Well I certainly wouldn’t brag about sleeping with her. Wilson spends more time on her knees than Father McClannigan – just ask your brother.’

That was enough for Matthew. He slammed his fist into back of the driver’s seat.

‘I said drop it!’

If it wasn’t likely to cause an accident, Matthew could happily have floored Harry. Katie wasn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but she didn’t deserve to be spoken about like that. It was just another example of Harry’s snobbery. Her mother had run away with a man from South Village when Katie was eleven, and there were completely unfounded rumours that she’d turned to prostitution to fund a drug habit. In actual fact, Katie had told Matthew only the other night that her mother was perfectly happy and living in a decent semi in East Village and had another child on the way. He hadn’t been taking much notice at the time but he remembered it now.

Harry grinned, swivelling briefly in his seat. ‘What’s the matter? Touched a nerve?’

‘I’ll touch a lot more than your nerves in a minute, Halloway. Just you keep your mouth shut.’

In response, Harry turned his left indicators on and pulled up in a lane still three or four miles from school. ‘I think you need a bit of a walk to cool down, King,’ he said. ‘I don’t give lifts to lunatics.’

‘Come on, Harry,’ Charlie said reasonably. ‘Its miles to school and it’s raining.

Harry smiled. ‘Not scared you’ll melt, are you, King?’

Without another word, Matthew got out of the car, slamming the door so hard that even the wing mirrors shook in their frames. Harry wound down his window.

‘Race you,’ he said, laughing, before pulling away and leaving Matthew to stare angrily after him.

What did you think?

[wenyongfa]

This is great! update soon

[hillvk]

A bit more ...


‘Sit down a minute, Dad,’ Jimmy said as his father paced the office. ‘You look like you’ve just swum the channel with both hands tied behind your back.’

‘I can’t “sit down”, Jimmy,’ Tom barked. ‘This is serious.’

Jimmy sighed. To his father every single minute detail that related to business was serious. ‘Look, I’m sure that enough contracts will turn up before the rent's due on the warehouse. You have to stop worrying.’

Tom looked at his son as though he’d sprouted an extra head right in front of him. ‘You what? The contracts will just “turn up”, will they?’ he said. ‘Oh well why didn’t I think of that? I don’t know what I’m sweating over. I suppose they’re going to just crawl off the desks of the people that we haven’t approached yet and then hop on bus and get over here. I might as well just get down the golf club!’

Jimmy folded his arms sullenly. He hated it when his Dad talked to him like he was stupid. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘No – you should know what I mean. You were supposed to be helping me with this. This was a chance for you to show that some of the things that I’m teaching you are starting to sink in. Instead the only business you’ve managed to do this week is arranging a twenty-percent discount on stationary – and that was probably only because they put the price up to double before they offered it to you.’

‘That’s not fair, Dad,’ Jimmy said. ‘I arranged those meetings that you had early in the week in Manchester.’

‘Humph,’ Tom said. ‘Any idiot could have done that. Even our Max knows how to use the telephone.’

Jimmy grit his teeth, fighting down the retort that was in the back of his throat. He was getting used to being his Dad’s punch bag. He knew that some of the criticisms thrown at him on a daily basis were fair. He didn’t have a natural head for figures and so he was rubbish at the accounting side of the business. He was forgetful as well and so wasn’t very good at the organisational side of things; but he did know how to patter and some of the contracts his Dad had secured he’d had a definite hand in. Not that it got him much thanks. Tom King was rarely satisfied no matter how well they were doing.

‘Look Dad,’ he said, trying to pacify the situation, ‘this tyre – thingy - you’ve dreamt up is a gold mine – you know that. It doesn’t matter how slow it is to start with people will soon cotton on. You’ll have no problems getting it off the ground.’

Tom winced at his son’s terminology for his latest business idea, but he was slightly appeased. It was true that it was a goldmine.

Tom had run many businesses in his quest for wealth, but it had been the haulage that had really made his fortune. When his wife, Mary, had died a couple of years back he had really thrown himself into it and now they were all reaping the rewards. In fact, it had been his haulage fleet that had led to the latest idea. He had always hated waste and when he’d seen the scrapyards full of old tyres that he had spent good money on he had felt that there had to be some way into converting it back into cash. He had done his research and realised that there was a lot of useful things in industry that the rubber could be used for. He had decided to set up a factory to convert the old rubber into new tubing (and so forth) for other businesses. He could get hold of the old tyres for a song and the products he could create with them he had the feeling would bring in enough profit to excel his fortune beyond their wildest dreams. That was if he could get investors and the contracts he needed. Therein lay the problem. As with all new ideas, there was a risk which made people wary of investing. Not only that, there was always someone with their eye on the main chance who could swoop in and snatch the idea away from him at the last moment. That was why Tom was so keen to get it all sewn up in the next couple of months and why he was under so much stress.

‘Alright,’ Tom said at last. ‘Lets go over the list of key contacts for investment again since we don’t seem to be getting anywhere with securing contracts yet.’

Jimmy picked up the file on his desk. ‘I told you – the main players are Smithson, Walker, Munro and Halloway. Halloway is the one with the serious money. If you can convince him to go in with you then I think the others will follow.’

Tom raised his eyebrow. ‘It almost reads like a who’s who in aristocratic genteel, doesn’t it son?’ Jimmy grinned. ‘They’re members of a silver spoon club that we don’t have a pass for. That’s the trouble.’

‘So you don’t think they’ll go for it?’ Jimmy said.

‘I didn’t say that,’ Tom said. ‘They know which side their bread is buttered – or which side their maids put it on at least. They might scoff at new money, but they’re very quick to take a slice of it if they don’t have to do the donkey work.’ He sighed. ‘I’ve never liked that Holloway though. He has the proverbial poker shoved so far up his backside that it’s a wonder he can even bend down to tie his shoe laces. Still, needs must, eh son?’

‘If any one can crack him, Dad, you can,’ Jimmy said.

Tom laughed. ‘Oh I can play the game alright. I might have to practice my received pronunciation a bit but I’ll get him on board – and then when I’ve finished with him I’ll drop him without a seconds’ thought.’ He pointed a finger at Jimmy. ‘You mark my words, son; this time next year it’ll be us offering out the crumbs from our table not,’ he put on a plumy accent, ‘the public school chums.’

Jimmy was inclined to believe him.


Hmmm. It seems that both Tom and Matt are having problems with the Holloway family. Any thoughts? Did you like it?

[wenyongfa]

This story is so gripping. Keep up the good work!

[rocktheworld7]

so good!!!

[hillvk]

And a bit more ...


When Tom and Jimmy finally got home it was nearly ten o’ clock. Monday was the day that their housekeeper, Millie, cooked for them and as they came into the front entrance they could smell the casserole that she’d made earlier.

‘I’m starving,’ Jimmy said. ‘Smells like Millie’s outdone herself again.’

‘Me too,’ Tom said. ‘You plate it up, eh? I’m going to go and say Hi to the boys.’

The house was large and it was no surprise that his sons hadn’t heard them come in. Tom crossed the hall and made his way to the living room. As he entered, Carl looked up from his football magazine and grinned.

‘Hi Dad, you’re late.’

‘Hi son.’

Tom was pleased to see that Carl was already dressed for bed, but he was surprised to see Matthew sat in the same room watching the news on television. Usually when Tom got home from work he was in his room playing his music, or, if Jimmy or Millie was at home to watch Max, he was out of the house like a shot, never getting back till late.

‘Alright Matt? Max in bed then?’ Tom said to Matthew.

‘Alright. Yeah. I put him to bed at eight like you said.’

‘Was he good?’

Matthew shrugged. ‘You know our Max. He didn’t want a bath but he went without too much protest. Millie left your dinner in the oven.’

‘We smelt it, thanks.’

Tom's eyes lingered over Matthew for a few moments, deciding that he looked anxious. His face was pale and he was pulling the sleeves of his sweatshirt over his hands in a throw-back to a habit he’d had when he was a lot younger. He was also cradling a cushion protectively on his knee, the side of his face pressed into the sofa. There was definitely something not quite right.

‘When did Millie leave? Have you been out anywhere?’ Tom asked.

Matthew shook his head. ‘I let Carl go and play football for a bit over in the village.’

‘Did you have some work to do then?’ Tom pressed.

Carl snorted. ‘Yeah right Dad. When have you ever seen Matt do any school work? Except maybe the night before an exam.’

‘There’s always a first time,’ Tom said. He noted the fact that Matthew didn’t even argue back with Carl. ‘He is doing his A-levels now.’

‘Matt’s not like ordinary people; he doesn’t need to study,’ Carl said rolling his eyes. ‘It’s all locked away in that big head of his just waiting to be let out.’

‘Shut it, you,’ Matthew said, but it was half-hearted.

At that, Jimmy came in with the supper and two pints of beer.

‘Shouldn’t you be in bed?’ he said to Carl.

Carl scowled. ‘Mind your own business.’

‘Oh charming,’ Jimmy said.

‘You can stay up for another half-an-hour,’ Tom said, ‘then it’s bed.’

As Tom and Jimmy tucked into their casseroles, Carl chattered to them about school and football. Jimmy, in turn, told Carl a few jokes that he’d heard over at the yard. He and his brother shared a love of rude jokes and Carl always made a mental note of them to share at school the next day. It gave him credibility as some of his mates had led very sheltered lives.

School had been slightly better for Carl that day. The two boys who’d been giving him a hard time had started on him again, like he’d predicted; but this time, armed with a few of the moves Matt had taught him, he’d stood up to them more. He’d still got a bit of a slap, but when they realised he wasn’t just going to cry about it they’d backed off, and as far as Carl was concerned that was a victory in itself.

By the look of the bruises on the knuckle of his right hand and the cut on his head, that he was so far hiding from their Dad, Matthew seemed to have had a bit of a run in himself that day. Carl had ribbed him about it before, but he’d been rewarded with a sharp smack on the head and so had decided to keep his mouth shut. He certainly wasn’t going to grass on him – after all Matt had kept quiet about what had happened to Carl.

‘That’s enough for now!’ Tom said – one of the jokes Jimmy told cutting a bit too close to the bone for his liking. ‘I think you’d better get to bed now before your ears start to bleed. Jimmy, will you go and check on Max for me? You know what he’s been like with nightmares recently.

Jimmy and Carl got up.

‘Alright Dad,’ Jimmy said. He knew why Tom wanted him out the way. ‘Then maybe you can find out what’s the matter with that miserable sod.’ As he spoke he pointed at Matthew.

Matthew looked up and scowled at Jimmy. His brother had the annoying ability of being able to read him like a book.

‘Nothing’s wrong,’ he said.

‘Oh pull the other one.’ Jimmy turned to their Dad. ‘Must be something pretty serious as well - he’s been acting like a convicted man waiting for the gallows since we got home. By the looks of the amount of casserole left, he hasn’t eaten much either, and we all know that our Matt likes his food.’

‘Get lost!’ Matthew said. He’d coloured.

‘That’s enough,’ Tom said. ‘Go on, the pair of you.’

Jimmy, still grinning, left the room with Carl.

When they were alone, Tom turned to Matthew.

‘Is there something you want to tell me son?’

Matthew hesitated. He knew it was stupid not to come clean, but faced with his Dad, who’d obviously had a long, hard day at work, he felt himself chicken out.

‘Nah – I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep very well last night.’

‘I see. So Jimmy’s wrong then, you’re not in trouble.’

‘Not really.’

‘Well not really isn’t no, is it?’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Then why don’t you tell me?’ Tom was starting to get irritated.

Matthew sighed. ‘Can we just drop it? I had a bit of a run in with one of the lads from school, that’s all.’

‘You don’t look too bad for it.’ Tom said. He took Matthew’s chin and moved his head to the side, noting the cut near his eyebrow, but it was hardly anything.

Matthew smiled for the first time. ‘Well the other lad wasn’t very handy.’

‘Not like you then?’ Tom said, sitting back and folding his arms. Matthew had forgotten about his sleeve. It had rolled up as he moved and Tom had clocked the bruised knuckles. ‘I take it that he came off a lot worse judging by the state of that?’

‘Er - yeah.’

Matthew cursed himself and wrung his hands subconsciously, wincing. It was true that he’d done a lot of damage to that weed Halloway. In fact, he’d knocked out his two front teeth.

At first, Matthew had resolved to simply pretend he didn’t care that Harry had stranded him miles from school, as he didn’t want him to think he’d got one-up on him. But then Matt had been given lines for being late by McClannigan, in front of the class too, which had put him in a sour mood. At lunch time when he’d heard Halloway bragging about what he’d done, and slagging Katie off again into the bargain, he’d just seen red. He hadn’t really meant to knock his teeth out, but Harry had been rubbish at protecting himself and it had just happened. Now he was in a lot of trouble.

Harry had got into his car and driven off – probably to some fancy dentist – but Matthew knew that there were going to be come-backs the next day. He wouldn’t put it past Harry to grass on him and he had the feeling that Father McClannigan wouldn’t be too forgiving. Even if the school didn’t find out, Harry’s father, Charlie Halloway, was going to have something to say about it. His family was the wealthiest and most powerful in the area and he wasn’t going to take it lying down – particularly if his son had to have false teeth fitted.

‘Out with it,’ Tom said, watching the different expressions that changed his son’s face.

‘I knocked his teeth out,’ Matthew said. ‘The two front ones actually.’

‘You did what?!’ Tom demanded angrily.

‘I didn’t mean to.’

‘Oh I see,’ Tom said. ‘Your fist just took on a life of its own did it?’

‘Something like that,’ Matthew muttered.

‘Well was it at least deserved? Or did you lose that famous temper of yours over something stupid as usual?’

Matthew folded his arms, irritated. ‘Oh it was deserved.’

At that Jimmy came back in. ‘So what’s going on?’

‘Mike Tyson here knocked out some poor sod’s teeth.’

‘You didn’t!’ Jimmy grinned. ‘Who? Someone from school?’

‘None of your business,’ Matthew snapped at his brother.

Tom groaned suddenly. ‘Tell me that you didn’t do it on the premises.’

Matthew hesitated.

‘You idiot!’ Tom roared getting to his feet. ‘Couldn’t it of least have waited till you’d got through the gates? That makes it a school matter!’

‘It was on the back field, though,’ Matthew said.

‘It wouldn’t make a difference if it was in the flaming chapel during mass – if it was in school grounds then you are in a lot of trouble.’

‘What did you hit him for?’ Jimmy said. ‘Did he nick your peashooter or something?’

‘Shut up Jimmy.’

‘Well it must have been something serious if you did that much damage.’

Matthew glared at Jimmy. ‘If you must know it was over Katie Wilson. Remember her, do you?’

Jimmy suddenly didn’t look so cocky. He was enjoying seeing Matthew in trouble again, but if he had been fighting over Katie then it he might bring him into it to. he had been taunting Matt all weekend about her.

‘A girl!’ Tom said incredulously. ‘Well I might have known.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Isn’t she Sheila’s kid – the one that ran off with Smithy from South village?’

‘Yeah,’ Matthew admitted.

‘I didn’t know you were seeing her.’

‘I’m not seeing her,’ Matthew said colouring.

Tom suddenly understood. ‘Oh I see – so she was just a bit of leg-over was she? Well that’s even better that is. Only you could lose your head – and possibly your place in school - over a a fumble.’

‘So what?’ Jimmy said. ‘Had this kid been having ago with her too?’

‘No. Though he wouldn’t be the first who’d tried, would he?’

Tom picked up on the tension between his two sons.

‘What’s going on here?’ he said.

‘Why don’t you ask him,’ Matthew said.

‘Leave me out of it,’ Jimmy said, holding his hands up.

Tom shook his head in wonderment. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve been messing around with this Katie an’ all ...'

‘No!’ Jimmy said firmly.

‘That’s not what Charlie and the others told me,’ Matthew said. ‘They said you took her home on Saturday.

At any other time Jimmy would have enjoyed winding his brother up, but now he decided to come clean.

‘I didn’t take her home,’ he said. ‘Honestly, why do you fall for it every time? They only wind you up because you let them get to you. I just called her a cab, that’s all. She was wasted and some of the lads were coming on to her. I wanted to make sure she was alright. You know what kind of reputation she has – I wanted to make sure that no-one took advantage. I like her – she’s a good kid. She’s might not be like the posh birds that your lot hang about with – all designer heels and false giggles and champagne – but she’s good crack. The stuff that goes around about her and her mother is a pack of lies.’

‘Sounds like you have a crush on her to me,’ Matthew said.

‘No. She was bending my ear about you if you must know. She wanted to know where you’d disappeared to all weekend. I told her that you were in your room sulking about having your car keys taken off you.’

‘Jimmy!’

Jimmy laughed. ‘What’s the matter? Why do you care so much if she was just a “fling”?’

Matthew scowled. He didn’t know why, but when Jimmy had said that she’d been asking about him he’d felt pleased.

‘I think you’ve got the hots for her,’ Jimmy said.

‘This is all very touching,’ Tom interrupted, ‘but I thought we were trying to find out why you he had a go at this lad.’

Matthew looked uncomfortable. He shrugged before continuing. ‘He was slagging her off.’

Jimmy laughed. ‘I knew it,’ he said. ‘Defending her honour as well – it must be love.’

‘Well it wasn’t just that,’ Matthew said. ‘He also stranded me miles from school this morning and got me lines from McClannigan.’

‘Lines?’ Jimmy said gleefully. ‘How old are you? What do they say - I must not get involved with pretty blondes?’

‘So she’s pretty now, is she?’ Matthew said angrily.

‘You tell me.’

‘You’re going to be getting a lot more than lines, son, if McClannigan finds out about this. Still have the cane at St Martins, do they?’

Matthew glowered.

‘Oh I hope so,’ Jimmy said. ‘Now that would be priceless.’

‘Well it’d be a damn sight better than him being expelled,’ Tom said, loosening his tie irritably. ‘I tell you - there are less strings in a flaming philharmonic orchestra than those I had to pull to get him in there. Most of the little dandies had been on the waiting list since before they were born.’

Matthew had the grace to look ashamed. ‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think.’

‘No – that’s the trouble, you never do. That temper of yours does the thinking for you. Well it’s done now I suppose. We’ll just have to see what your lad decides to do about it. You could even get lucky. The good thing about these fancy schools is that they usually have an old-boys code that goes back to the arc. It might stop him from grassing you up.’

Matthew smiled weakly. If there was a code he hadn’t heard of it, but he tactfully kept that to himself for the moment.

‘Who was it anyway?’ Jimmy said. ‘Charlie? Geoff?’

Matthew opened his mouth to answer, but as he did, Max came in rubbing his eyes.

‘What’s all the noise about?’ he said. ‘I can’t sleep.’

‘Nothing,’ Tom said. ‘Come on, lets get you a drink then you can go back to bed. We’re finished here.’

As Tom left the room with Max, Jimmy grinned at Matt.

‘You’ve really done it this time, our kid.’

‘Yeah, thanks for that, Jimmy.’

Summoning up all the dignity he could muster, Matthew pulled back his shoulders and left the room, his brother’s laughter following him up the stairs and to bed.

What did you think?

[carlsbabe]

Awwwwwww lil' Max!!!Its really good-please post some more!Please put some more Carl in it too!

[wenyongfa]

Wow I cant stop reading this hehe it is a briliant story so far

[rocktheworld7]

Great!

[leprecorn]

its really good - please post some more !

[rocktheworld7]

Please update!!!
Its really really good!!!

xx

[leprecorn]

please update

[rocktheworld7]

Please Update..!

Its really good!
x

[leprecorn]

please update

[hillvk]

More from the Kings ….



Matthew had been tossing and turning all night and so he was wide awake when he heard a glass shatter somewhere downstairs. He glanced at the alarm-clock on his dressing table; it was only five-thirty. He sighed, but decided that he better get up and investigate; his father and Jimmy could sleep through an earthquake – as he’d found, to his advantage, many times. He figured that it was probably Max. He hadn’t been sleeping very well lately.

He pulled a maroon dressing gown on over his boxers and stalked down the winding staircase then across the hall to the kitchen. Sure enough, he found his youngest brother Max kneeling down trying to clean up a mess of milk and shattered glass that lay all over the floor.

‘Max,’ Matthew said sternly, ‘what has Dad told you about being careful?’

Max spun round, startled, and as he did so he caught his knee on a piece of glass, wincing in pain. Matthew stepped forward swiftly and lifted him clear.

‘Now look what you’ve done,’ he said, putting him down non-too-gently in front of him, folding his arms as he towered over his head. ‘If you broke something then you should have got one of us to clear it up. Broken glass is dangerous – you should know that.’

Max looked sheepishly up, biting his lip. His knee was now dripping blood onto the polished oak floor.

‘I didn’t want to wake you,’ he said meekly. ‘I wanted a drink.’ He was wary of Matthew – he lost his temper very easily. He held his breath.

Matthew pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. Instead he went to the cupboard and got the first aid box and cleaned up Max’s knee, making sure there was no glass still inside it. He then sat him on the breakfast bar while he cleaned the mess up.

‘Here you go,’ he said, handing his brother another tumbler of milk. ‘Try and hang on to this one.’ Max gulped down the milk, then handed it to Matthew who refilled it.

‘So why couldn’t you sleep then?’ Matthew said.

Max shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Did you have a nightmare?’

Max looked down at his slippers. ‘Not really.’

‘Not really?’ Matthew said with a smile. ‘You either did or you didn’t. So did you?’

Max hesitated. He was torn between wanting to tell the truth and not wanting to admit that he was scared by a dream like he was a little kid.

‘Its okay you know,’ Matthew said. ‘Carl has nightmares too.’

Max looked up, pleased. ‘Does he?’

‘Yeah, all the time. So what was yours about?’

Max sipped his milk thoughtfully. ‘About Mum,’ he said. ‘She was lost somewhere. I was trying to find her but it was dark. It was in the estate. She was shouting for us – asking us where we were but she couldn’t find us.’

‘Oh.’ Matthew didn’t know what to say. He never found it very easy to talk about his mother. He had hoped it had been about a bogey monster or the usual type of dreams six year-olds had. He opened his mouth to speak but Max interrupted him.

‘Do you think she is lost?’

Matthew was taken aback. ‘Who, Mum?’

‘Yeah.’ Max spoke quickly. ‘I mean what if she’s a ghost and she’s looking for us and we’re not there. She won’t know we’ve moved will she? She could be wandering all over looking for us …’ He trailed off, starting to get tearful.

‘Look Max,’ Matthew said, ‘she’s not lost. Haven’t you been listening in Sunday School or what?’

Max nodded.

‘Then she’s in heaven isn’t she?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘There’s no supposing about it. You remember what she used to say don’t you – that God was saving a space especially for her. Now come on – shall we get you back to bed?’

Matthew was beginning to get irritated with the conversation. When his mother had died, his father had given Max and Carl a big speech about how their mother was safe in heaven and that she’d be watching down on them all until they went and joined her one day when they were really old. They repeated it whenever Max got upset, but Matthew thought personally that it was all just a big lie. His mother was dead – and the sooner they all got used to the fact that they would never be seeing her again the better.

‘I’m not sleepy,’ Max protested.

‘Tough. Come on, you’ve had a drink. You can’t get up yet – you’ll be falling asleep at school.’

‘I won’t be able to sleep.’

‘Try.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You can. Just close your eyes and lay still. It’s easy.’

‘No!’ Max jumped down from the counter and ran round his brother.

‘I’m not in the mood for games,’ Matthew said. After a short chase, Matthew hoisted Max up and over his shoulder. ‘Bed!’ he said. Max squealed and giggled as Matthew took him up the stairs to bed, plonking him down on top of the quilt. ‘And don’t get up again!’

---

At breakfast, Carl decided to risk asking Matt about his face again.

Tom glanced up from his paper. ‘Never you mind,’ he said.

‘I don’t know what the big secret is,’ Carl said. ‘He’s not normally bothered. Normally he can’t wait to brag.’

‘Is that right?’ Tom said raising an eyebrow. ‘Proud of being a bully are you son?’

Matthew shifted uncomfortably. ‘I didn’t bully anyone.’

Jimmy, who was stood cooking bacon in his bare feet suddenly called out in pain.

‘What’s up – burned yourself?’ Tom said. ‘Matthew leave your brother alone,’ he snapped, turning back as Matthew gave Carl a dig under the table.

Jimmy lifted his foot up. ‘No, its glass,’ he said.

‘Glass?’ Tom said, as Jimmy pulled a large shard out of his heel. He looked at a guilty Max and said sternly, ‘Max – have you been in the cupboards again? You remember what I told you last time about broken glass.’

Max nodded.

‘Well?’ Tom pressed.

‘You said I wasn’t supposed to touch it.’ Max spoke to the floor. He was going to be in big trouble now.

‘That’s right. And what did I say would happen if you did …’

‘Leave it out, Dad,’ Matthew interrupted, with a discreet wink at Max. ‘It was me. I got up to make a drink in the night and it slipped. I thought that I’d cleared it all up.’ Max beamed.

‘What’s the matter?’ Jimmy said with a grin, ‘couldn’t sleep? Scared that you’re going to catch it at that fancy school of yours today?’

‘No!’ Matthew said.

‘Yeah right,’ Jimmy said. ‘That’s why your ears are all red.’

Tom looked at his watch. ‘You’d better be off anyway, son. The bus will be leaving soon.

‘Alright, alright,’ Matthew snapped getting to his feet. He’d forgotten that his Dad still had his keys.

Tom folded up his paper. ‘Now if your lad has blabbed to McClannigan then make sure you do your meek, apologetic bit well.’

‘Meek and apologetic? Him?’ Jimmy said. ‘He’s about as meek and apologetic as Uncle Geoff’s pit-bull terrier.’

‘Ugh,’ Carl said shuddering. ‘Don’t talk about that thing. I’ve still got the scars.’

‘There’s a lot at stake here,’ Tom went on ignoring them and pointing the newspaper at Matthew. ‘If you throw away your place at St Martins just because you lose your temper or you’re too stubborn to apologise then you’ll know about it, understand?’

‘Yes Dad,’ Matthew said with a sigh.

‘Good. Now off you get. Come straight to the office when you’ve finished school and let me know what’s happened. If you haven’t been expelled then me and Jimmy could do with a bit of help tonight stuffing envelopes, okay?’

‘Do I have choice?’

‘No.’

Matthew smiled sarcastically. ‘See you tonight then.’



What did you think?

[leprecorn]

very goodx

[hillvk]

More from the young Kings ...


Before he got to the school gates, Katie Wilson caught up with Matthew. She was at St Mary’s School for Girls at the other side of the village from St Martin’s.

‘Alright,’ she said, slightly out of breath from running to catch him up. ‘No car today?’

Matthew slowed down slightly. ‘Alright? Nah, it’s in for a service.’

‘That’s not what Jimmy told me.’

Matthew scowled. ‘Well Jimmy should keep his big mouth shut. Anyway, since when were you two such good friends?’

Katie grinned. Her green eyes twinkled. ‘Don’t tell me you’re jealous,’ she said.

‘Of Jimmy?’ Matthew said with disgust, ‘don’t make me laugh.’

‘I thought we were just having a bit of fun,’ she said slyly.

‘We are – were,’ he said, slightly thrown; it was one thing for him to tell people that they were just “having fun”, but it was another for her to say it.

‘Well then,’ she shrugged. ‘What does it matter who I see?’

He pursed his lips as he stopped to look at her. He was once again struck by how attractive she could make the sensible navy blue and white uniform of St Mary’s. Her skirt was worn at just the right length for her long, shapely legs, and the white shirt she had chosen was almost low-cut with an oversized collar and cuffs that made her look chic. Her blonde hair was scraped back in a bun, but rather than make her look bookish, it served to emphasize her big eyes and delicate skin. She wasn’t allowed to wear make-up for school, but Matthew privately thought she looked better like that – more natural. .

‘I didn’t say it mattered,’ he said at last.

‘Oh lets just forget it,’ she said with a quick scowl. ‘Anyway,’ she added, changing the subject, ‘I think It’s Harry Holloway that you should be more worried about. It’s all round my sixth form that you knocked his two front teeth out.’

Matthew snorted. ‘I’m not scared of that toff-nosed idiot.’

Katie raised an eyebrow. ‘Well maybe you should be, Matt. His Dad practically owns your village, not to mention at least five others around here. He’s not going to be too happy is he?’

Matthew shrugged nonchalantly with a bravado he wasn’t sure he felt. ‘He’s all mouth.’

‘He bears a grudge, that’s all I know,’ Katie said. ‘You remember Rebecca Handley?’

Matthew nodded.

‘He put her father out of business. He was “new money” and you know what the Halloways think of that. He told all of Handley’s investors that he was a credit risk; dredged something up from the past as supposed proof. Well they lapped it up and withdrew their support; his antique firm went belly-up within a month. It was all over nothing as well. Handley had refused to give Halloway first refusal on some land he was selling in the village; Halloway wanted to build private flats but Handley thought it would spoil things for the villagers. Rebbeca had to leave St Mary’s in the end after Mr Handley declared himself bankrupt – but not before he was forced to sell the land to Halloway to keep himself out of prison.’

Matthew snorted. ‘I heard about that. Handley was a credit risk. He ran out on a precious gem business in Suffolk – left half of his investors penniless.’

‘Honestly, Matt, do you really believe everything that Harry tells you?’ Katie said rolling her eyes. ‘It was all just lies. It was a distant relation of Handley’s with the same name that was all. What’s more, Halloway knew that all along; Rebecca told me.’

Matthew felt suddenly uncomfortable. He remembered that it was Harry that had spread lies about Katie as well. He had equated Harry’s father with Harry – all mouth and no trousers; but the stunt with Handley proved the he was a force to be reckoned with. Matthew actually thought it all sounded quite clever in a ruthless kind of way. Halloway had known what he wanted and had gone all out to get it –after all it was dog eat dog in business, Matthew’s father had taught him that. Not that he was about to explain that to Katie of course, she seemed to think that it was completely unforgivable.

Katie took Matthew’s brooding look for fear. ‘So it is true then?’ she said. ‘You did knock out his teeth?’

‘I didn’t really mean to,’ Matthew said. He stopped abruptly. ‘You know, Katie, you really know how to cheer someone up. I was worried about what McClannigan was going to do to me, now I’ve got old Harry Halloway to think about aswell.’

‘He hasn’t grassed you up to your headmaster?’ Katie asked, horrified. ‘But Matt, you’ll probably be expelled!’

‘I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him,’ Matthew said.

Katie relaxed slightly. ‘Nah, you’re safe,’ she said. ‘He’d never live it down if he snitched. He’s old school is Halloway, and old boys don’t snitch – he’d lose face. He’ll find another way to get you back. And when he does, I’d watch your back because I don’t think it’ll be pretty.’

Matthew grinned. ‘Like I said: look on the bright side.’

Matthew was, however, quite pleased that Katie seemed to be taking such an interest. He took hold of her arm and pulled her round closely to face him, pushing her hair off her face with his free hand. ‘I didn’t know you cared.’ He leant in towards her, putting his arms round her neck. ‘You’re quite the ray of sunshine …’

‘Oh shut up Matt and get off!’ she said, pushing him abruptly. ‘Save the sweet-talking for Harry – you’re going to need it.’ With that she turned on her heel and flounced off.

Matthew grinned. He had the feeling that Katie was a lot cleverer than he had previously given her credit for. With a deep breath he stalked into the school gates.

****************************************************

‘So nothing happened then?’ Tom said.

Matthew was in his father’s offices. Jimmy had picked him, Carl and Max up from school and then had disappeared out the back to make a few phone calls muttering about space. Matthew was now pretending to stuff envelopes, though actually he was checking the accounts that Jimmy had done that morning, correcting the mistakes. Carl was filing and Max was “helping”, though probably not as much as he thought he was.

‘Nah, no-one said a word.’ Matthew smiled up at his father. It was true. Harry had simply given him a wide berth at school. He had obviously persuaded some of the other boys to do the same thing because only Charlie and Geoff had spoke to Matthew all day, but Matthew wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. He figured that his performance at the next rugby match should just about even things up.

‘What about the lad that you clobbered, did he have a go?’

It was Jimmy that spoke. He had finished making his phone calls and was standing in the doorway.

Matthew spun round, quickly hiding the account sheets under the pile of envelopes. ‘What do you care?’

‘I don’t really,’ Jimmy said.

‘Course you do,’ Tom said. ‘He doesn’t want you getting hassle anymore than I do. ‘The people in this family look out for each other.’

‘Who did you clobber, Matt?’ Carl said, standing on his tiptoes from behind the stack of files on his father’s huge, mahogany desk.

‘Yeah, Matty, who?’ Max echoed eagerly, peering up his position on the thick shag-pile carpet, an ink stain on his mouth from the company pen poised between his teeth.

‘Never you mind, squirt,’ Matthew said. He turned back to his father.

‘He wouldn’t dare. Like I said, Halloway’s all talk. Anyway his teeth were as good as new. Daddy must own the dentists as well as the entire village.’

Matthew stopped short as he noticed that his Dad and Jimmy were staring at him like he’d grown another head.

‘What?’

‘Halloway?’ Jimmy demanded, crossing the room and standing in front of his brother. ‘Harry Halloway? That’s the kid that you beat up?’

‘So?’ Matthew said. He was surprised to see that his elder brother seemed just about as angry as the time Carl had accidentally washed his favourite white sports jacket with his red football socks.

Jimmy banged the desk in front of Matthew with his fist, causing Max to jump a mile and cower behind Carl.

‘You idiot!’

Matthew got to his feet, annoyed. ‘Don’t tell me you’re scared of old Halloway too? Though I don’t know why it should surprise me. You never did have much backbone.’

Jimmy grabbed Matthew’s shirt and pulled him to his feet, drawing his fist back.

‘Go on then,’ Matthew taunted, balling his own fists at his sides.

‘Jimmy, let him alone and calm down,’ Tom yelled. ‘Carl, take Max outside to play.’

‘But …’

‘Just do it!’

Carl scowled and took Max’s hand. ‘Fine!’

‘You’re not going to let Jimmy hit Matty, are you?’ Max said hesitating. Tom smiled and bent down and ruffled his youngest son’s hair.

‘Don’t you worry about that, son. Just go outside and play.’ He took some change out of his pocket and handed it to Carl. ‘There’s a newsagents down the road, take your brother to get a mix-up or something.’

Muttering, Carl led Max from the room.

‘Sit down,’ Tom said. Matthew reluctantly sat down. ‘You too Jimmy.’

Jimmy perched on the end of his father’s desk and folded his arms huffily.

‘Now do you mean to tell me that it was Harry Halloway’s lad that you smacked in the mouth over that girl?’

‘So what?’ Matthew said. ‘I can handle it.’

‘You prat,’ Jimmy said.

‘Can you now?’ Tom said. He stood in front of his son. ‘And that’s what everything’s all about, isn’t it? You?’

‘What are you getting at Dad?’ Matthew said. ‘I don’t do riddles. And you,’ he added to Jimmy, ‘if you’ve got something to say just say it.’

‘Oh, just give me five minutes with him, Dad,’ Jimmy said. ‘I swear I’ll wipe that smug grin right off his face.’

‘Give me a break Jimmy. Five minutes with me and it’d be you fretting about missing teeth. Now what’s all this about?’

‘You know much about Halloway, son?’ Tom said. ‘Or his father.’

‘A bit. I know that he’s got a lot of money and owns a lot of land.’

‘Well let me tell you a bit more,’ Tom said. ‘He owns this village lock stock and barrel. He’s got his fingers in more pies than flaming Little Tom Thumb. Not only that, but what he says holds water with every hooray Henry from here to Timbuktu. I trust you’ve heard the story about Gregory Handley?’

‘Well I wouldn’t worry, Dad, I’m not about to go into the precious gem trade. And I don’t own any land either – unless you count the space behind the bike sheds at school, but I don’t really think Halloway’s going to be very interested in that.’

Tom looked at his son’s sarcastic sneer and had the sudden urge to knock it off his face. ‘You think you’re so smart, don’t you?’ he said instead. ‘Nothing phases Matthew King. Well son, try this one for size. We were depending on Harry Halloway’s support for the rubber business. Without him we haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of getting the capital we need to get it off the ground.’

Matthew was thunderstruck. It hadn’t even entered his head that his run in with Halloway might have a knock-on effect on the family business.

' Now,’ Tom turned to Jimmy. ‘I’m going to find Max and Carl and we’re going home to talk about this some more. You’ve got five minutes till I get back. Prove him wrong will you?’

Jimmy smiled as his father left the room. ‘Gladly.’

****************************************************

What did you think?

[rocktheworld7]

great!

[leprecorn]

really good

[leprecorn]

please update

[mikinare]

Please keep writing! You are so talented and I LOVE your stories. They rock. X

[hillvk]

By the time Tom returned with Carl and Max, his two eldest boys had finished their scuffle.

In actual fact it was more one-sided than a scuffle - with Jimmy dishing out the majority of the punishment. Matthew hadn’t had the heart to really fight back. He knew that the trouble he had created with the Halloways could really scupper his father’s dreams of expanding the family business.

‘Shall we go home lads?’ Tom said, satisfied with the triumphant expression on Jimmy’s face.

‘Why not?’ Jimmy said.

Matthew nodded and got to his feet, wincing slightly. Jimmy had caught him with some quite handy blows and he had the feeling that he would be aching the next day.

‘Can we have ice-cream?’ Max said shyly as they made their way from the offices.

Tom attempted a smile. ‘Let’s see shall we?’

---

‘Why do you want to deal with Halloways anyway?’ Matthew said with exasperation.

He, Jimmy and Tom were sitting in the living room, with Max and Carl at their feet. The two younger Kings were thoroughly engrossed in the evening film, but it couldn’t be further from the minds of the elder Kings. Jimmy and Tom had been discussing Harry Halloway since they had returned from the office. They seemed to be stuck on the notion of damage control, but Matthew thought they were missing the point.

‘Keep your nose out, Matt,’ Jimmy said. ‘This hasn’t got anything to do with you, you’ve done enough.’

Matthew bristled. ‘Shut-up Jimmy,’

‘Good come back,’ Jimmy said with a smirk. ‘Anyway haven’t you been listening? Halloway practically owns the county. If we don’t get him to invest then we won’t get anyone else to either.’

‘Says who,’ Matthew said. He turned to Tom. ‘If I were you Dad I wouldn’t be in any hurry to do business with Halloway – and I certainly wouldn’t be going round there crawling with apologies.’

‘You would say that,’ Jimmy said, ‘seen as its you who would have to do the apologising.’

‘I’d say it anyway,’ Matthew said. ‘I’m telling you, Dad, you’d be making a big mistake.’

‘So says the school kid. Look Matt, just go back to the film and let the grown-ups talk will you?’ Jimmy was starting to get annoyed with his brother’s interruptions.

Matthew ignored him. ‘Dad?’

‘Alright then son, what would you do?’

‘Are you really going to listen to this idiot?’ Jimmy demanded. ‘Its him that got us into this mess in the first place!!!’

‘You’ve had your chance, Jimmy,’ Tom said. ‘Now I want to hear what Matt says about it. He’s a King as well isn’t he?’

Matthew tried hard not to smirk at Jimmy and he gathered his thoughts.

‘Forget Halloway for a start,’ Matthew said. ‘He might be the easy option for capital but it’s a mistake in the long run. You can’t trust him. He hates people with new money. If you let him onboard he’ll do everything in his power to ruin you and keep the company for himself.’

‘How do you know all that?’ Jimmy said. ‘Halloway’s not stupid. He’ll see what a good investment it is and forget all about this thing about ‘new money’.’

‘That’s the point,’ Matthew said. ‘He’ll see what a good investment it is and he won’t be content with just a share. This rubber business is going to make Dad a fortune, do you really think that a man as greedy as Halloway is going to be happy to sit back and earn a cut when Dad’s raking it in? No chance.’

‘He’s got a point,’ Tom said thoughtfully. ‘I’ve never been happy with the thought of doing business with that man. If it wasn’t for the influence he has over the other potential investors then I wouldn’t even think about it.’

‘You’ve hit the nail on the head, Dad’ Matthew said, leaning forward. ‘Influence, not respect. I bet there’s people like us out there dying for someone to take a stand against Halloway - frightened witless to do it themselves. Exclude him Dad. It might take a bit of time and persuasion to get others to follow you, but I guarantee that they will. Start by approaching the likes of us that have made our money from hard graft. They might not have as much capital as Halloway but they’d be a damn sight better to have around. In any case, it will show that you’re a force to be reckoned with – that you’re not scared to stand up on your own without Halloway’s support. Its all about image in this game, you’re always telling me that, and what better way to begin than to shunt out the top dog?’

Tom sat back for a few moments. He could feel his second son’s eyes watching him intently.

‘It would put back the production date by a good few months,’ Tom said slowly.

‘So what? You’re always telling me that the things you work hard for are worth waiting for.’

‘That’s true,’ Tom said. ‘They are.’ Tom paused for a moment, working out exactly what following his son’s advice would mean; calculating the new time scale to see if it was feasible. When he spoke after a few moments silence he could feel both of his sons holding their breath. ‘

Okay Matthew, we’ll give it a go.’

‘Unbelievable!’ Jimmy said, throwing up his arms in despair. ‘One word from this little brat and you change an entire months plans just like that!’

‘Oh, don’t be an idiot all your life, Jimmy,’ Matthew said.

‘That’s enough, you,’ Tom said speaking sharply to Matt. ‘I’ve told you before, I don’t want you speaking to your brother like that. Don’t get ahead of yourself.’ He turned to Jimmy. ‘Like I said I’ve never been comfortable at the though of working with Halloway, and this means that we don’t have to. It might be a lot more work, but I think it will be worth it in the end.’ He looked at his watch. ‘How’s about me and you go to the pub and discuss it more over a pint. Matthew can put the boys to bed.’

Matthew scowled. ‘Do I have to?’

‘Don’t whine, son,’ Tom said, ‘it doesn’t suit you.’ He got to his feet. ‘Come on Jimmy. I’ll get them in.’

Jimmy looked slightly appeased. He got to his feet.

‘Night boys,’ Tom said, ruffling the hair of his two younger sons in turn.

‘I don’t need Matthew to put me to bed,’ Carl said managing to detach his eyes from the screen for a second. ‘I want to watch the end of the film.’

‘You can watch the end, son,’ Tom said, ‘then its bed.’ He gestured to Max who had his thumb in his mouth, his eyelids drooping. ‘But take him up, will you Matt? Before he keels over.’

Matthew hesitated. He didn’t really want to be lumbered with the kids when his Dad and Jimmy were going off to the pub to talk business. On the other hand, he was now in his Dad’s good books and it would be a better idea to stay there. His Dad probably just didn’t want him listening in to the pep talk he would have to give Jimmy to bring him round to their way of thinking.

‘Okay,’ he said. He bent down and scooped up his little brother.

‘I’m not sleepy,’ Max mumbled.

‘Of course not,’ Matthew said. He grinned as Max put his arms round his neck.

‘Film …’ Max said with a yawn.

‘We’ll tape the end for you,’ Matthew said. He nudged Carl sharply with his foot.

‘Oi! did you hear me? Put a tape in for Max!’

‘Fine.’ Carl wished they’d all go out so he could watch the end of the film in peace. He picked up at tape and put it into the VCR, setting it running.

‘We won’t be late,’ Tom said. Before he left he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of car keys; Matthew held his breath.

‘There you go – I think you’ve learned your lesson. But I want you to drive straight to the office after school. We’re going to have a lot to do from now on and I need you there. I’ll get Hattie to watch Carl and Max for a while.

Matthew beamed.

‘You’ve got it Dad.’

He was so pleased that he even failed to notice the almighty slam of the door as Jimmy left in a rage.

[maryg]

THAT WAS GREAT, hope its not so long until the next update , excellent read well worth waiting for ;D

[tomsgirl]

Fab story hillvk more soon please.

[leprecorn]

fantastic more soon please .