Free For Faughie's Sake by Laura Marney

realised I could still hear the diesel engine running. He had obviously intended to dump Steven quickly and be off. His snipe at me was an unexpected extra, for both of us.
    ‘Get out!’ I shouted redundantly.
    I was gratified to see he was taking my advice, scrabbling to get into the cab of his van.
    ‘Yeah, go on: flee, that’ll solve everything. Fleeing’s all you’re good for, you pathetic flee-er!’
    But he had fled.
    Enraged by Jackie’s talent for escapology and outstanding cowardice, I marched back into the house. This wasn’t over.
    Gerry was halfway up the stairs.
    ‘Not so fast young man. Get down here; you’ve a bit of explaining to do.’
    It could have waited till morning, but with that amount of adrenaline buzzing through my system, I hadn’t vented enough yet, not nearly enough. I pointed to a chair. Gerry meekly trotted over and sat down, perching on the end of the chair trying not to soak it with his wet jeans.
    ‘We just went for a few drinks in the Caley then we went to Shona’s.’
    ‘Shona’s?’
    ‘Yeah, one of the girls from the village, she had an empty.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘And, that was it.’
    ‘Where was this house, at the bottom of the sea? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Gerry, but you’re both soaking my suite.’
    He shifted awkwardly as if he’d netted a crab in his pants.
    ‘Me and Stevo went out to the island.’
    ‘At this time of night? Did Jackie take you out there fishing? I’m going to report him to – somebody. I’ll …’
    ‘He didn’t take us there. He brought us back. He helped us, we were stuck.’
    ‘Well, how did you get out there then?’
    ‘We took a boat.’
    ‘You stole a boat?’
    ‘We were going to put it back but when we landed on the island Stevo forgot to stow the oars. They must have floated away. We nearly lost the boat as well. It was funny at first, but it got really cold.’
    ‘Why didn’t Steven phone me?’
    Gerry shrugged, ‘Jackie’s got a boat.’
    I had no boat. No argument. I had nothing.
    ‘Why go to the island in the middle of the night? Who d’you think you are, Tom Sawyer?’
    ‘It was Stevo’s idea. He nipped a wee burd early doors but she bolted.’
    ‘Steven nipped a burd?’
    As far as I knew he’d never had a girlfriend; Steven had always been shy around girls. This probably explained his earlier huffiness, but I was concerned about the bolting. I didn’t want my son’s first encounter with the opposite sex to be humiliating. God knows he’d have ample opportunity for humiliation during the rest of his life.
    ‘And you say she bolted?’
    ‘Aye, she didn’t want to go home, she was well into Stevo, but she had to get up early to milk cows. It was still early and we just wanted to … I don’t know, do something mad.’
    ‘Well, you certainly achieved that. Didn’t you, Steven?’
    At the mention of his name Steven stirred. This was the burd-nipping Lothario who had stolen a milkmaid’s heart and then gone on a drunken boat-stealing rampage. Sweet sixteen, he was still so cute, so vulnerable.
    ‘Help me get him upstairs,’ I said.
    ‘You’re not going to phone my mum,’ pleaded Gerry, ‘are you Mrs McNicholl?’

Chapter 16
    Of course I didn’t phone Gerry’s mum – Steven would never have spoken to me again – but I grounded them for the rest of the weekend. I think it suited them, it gave them a chance to eat off their hangovers, scoffing every cake on the premises, but house arrest hardly made for the fun family weekend I’d planned.
    I took Steven up a cup of tea to his room. He lay on the bed in his T-shirt and boxers, spread-eagled and face down, ignoring the tea.
    ‘How are you feeling?’ I asked.
    ‘Quality,’ he mumbled through a mouthful of mattress.
    ‘Steven, why are you being so snarky with me? Have I done something to upset you?’
    He sighed, ‘No.’
    I stood awaiting further revelation but there was none. I looked at him lying there. Steven was blessed with a