War Torn

Chapter Fifty-three

ANGUS AND FINN WERE ON STAG TOGETHER AGAIN.‘Just one more day here,’ said Finn. ‘Topaz Zero has promised we can go back to Sin City as soon as Emily’s results are right, and they’re almost right.’‘Great,’ Angus said, without enthusiasm.‘They can’t keep us here any longer because Marty needs a crap. He’s not going to use the oil drums out in the open like everyone else. And Emily won’t let him use her toilet.’‘He hasn’t had a crap all week?’‘Nope. His bowels are probably silted up with sand.’It was morning. The Early Rocks were at their clearest, lit up from the east. And the desert didn’t look so flat when the sun was at this angle, lighting its contours. Across the camp the hills were mysterious with morning shadows.‘He had a talk with me,’ said Angry suddenly.‘Topaz Zero? About his bowels?’‘No, Finn. About my dad.’Finn had been scanning the hillside to discourage Angus from seeing things there. But now he swung round to look at his mate. ‘Your dad?’Angus did not meet his gaze.‘You know all about it. You’re the only one who does.’Finn turned back to the hillside.‘All about what?’ he asked cautiously.‘Finny, stop pissing about. Masud told you and Martyn about my dad.’‘And Martyn’s told you. What a fucking shit! Why did he do that?’‘You didn’t tell anyone else?’‘No, Angry. Fuck it, I didn’t even tell you!’‘Why not? We’ve come to blows before now over my dad.’‘Because he’s your hero. I wasn’t going to take that away from you.’Finn looked at Angus and saw the pinched look of sleepless nights and disappointments.‘Masud might not be right, Angry.’Angus’s face twisted. ‘That my dad was a cook, nothing more? I believe him.’‘Why?’‘Well . . . things.’‘Like what?’‘Like, I never saw my dad’s medals and he always said they’d been stolen. I thought it was weird that he never tried to get them back. And . . . he told me a load of shit which didn’t sound right. But I tried not to fucking notice.’Finn took a deep breath.‘Going to have it out with him?’‘I’ve been lying in my cot at night thinking about killing him.’Finn said: ‘I want to kill Martyn. Why did he have to tell you?’‘First off I hated him for it. But now I think he was right when he said I was living under my dad’s shadow. He said I should crawl out from behind it. See, I kept thinking I was seeing movement over by those boulders. And that was because I was looking extra hard. Because I wanted to be extra sharp.’‘What’s going on down there?’ asked Finn suddenly.They looked across the camp. There was a small commotion. Sergeant Dave Henley seemed to be at the centre of it.