Fragment #29 - Telling a tale I have to tell

Monday 13th July 2009
Glasgow

'Let me tell you a story, and – yes – it's a true story.
'Danny lived in the East end of Glasgow, He used to work in a factory. But then it was discovered by the management that it was cheaper to hire work in another country. Danny was thirty-five-years-old and had no qualifications other than what he had learned in the factory or on the street. This was when Danny realised that money could be made selling drugs, but he forgot to put into consideration one of the most important things a dealer should think about. And that thing was the police.
'So then his girlfriend was alone, all alone with a son to look after. Anne felt trapped and scared, before he went to prison, Danny had paid all the bills and the rent on the Council flat. But now that duty had fallen at her feet, she soon found out just how inadequate state benefits are. One evening when she had had a few too many bottles of Lambrini, Anne heard of a method to augment her income. After two weeks of being on the game she'd decided that enough was enough, she was never going to do this again. It "made her feel dirty" she said, it was scary on the streets too. Her friend told her about a way to stop the pain and a way she could stop being scared. The pain is dulled, and Anne can feed her son.
'Nathan was nine years old and he was very unhappy, y'see his Daddy was away most of the time in prison. He only ever got to see him every two weeks or when he was free which was not for a long time they said. Nathan loved his Daddy and wanted to be with him. He didn't like Mummy, Mummy drank, she also put needles into her arm and brought strange men home. A resolve came across his mind. He would go and stay with Daddy. Every time they went to visit, Nathan would count the guards and look to see where they were standing. He memorised the roads and the bushes and where all the fences ran. He plotted and planned and sweated and swore, he stayed up half the night making command decisions and working out equipment. One day he looked at his plan and just knew that it would never work. But that didn't matter. He'd heard of another way. “People go to prison when they've been very bad” his teacher said without knowing and that's what Nathan was smiling at when he struck the match.
'True story.' I take a sip of my coffee and watch David sitting across from me, he's shifting uncomfortably. Well he did ask how things could be worse after he broke up with Caroline.