MORNING SERIAL

IT’S not until he’s up the hill, above the town, looking down at the strewn houses and fields and the layered streets, that he knows it. That man touching his mam had been the same one watching Iola’s window.

And that’s when he gets it, Pigeon. He’ll need to be the one in control, here, in this town full of liars and cheats and people who want to run you into the ground. You’re either a winner or a loser. And being a winner is all about keeping your doors and windows closed to the wrong people. Being a winner means being the one who held the gun, who killed Him, who calls the shots, has the key to his own front door, and has the force to keep it closed.

I walk back home from school the long way, along the path that goes up the valley with the river, where there’s all the pools the kids from town come to, to swim. You can hear them now, the sounds of laughing and splashing around and the gasps as they jump in. The water’s freezing, since it’s only the beginning of May.

I walk round the bend in the river, coming up to the waterfall that’s like a paradise in the spring. There’s all the green rocks and trees round the waterfall, and there’s a perfect pool at the bottom. The water squirms down into it. That’s when I see them, Pigeon and his girlfriend, sat by the waterfall. They’ve probably been there all day. Pigeon doesn’t do school and I don’t think she’s too bothered either.

Pigeon’s grabbing Ceri all over and kissing her. It’s disgusting.

I stand watching. I stand watching their twisting bodies until he pulls away and says something to Ceri and stands up.

I start walking away, but then turn again because I can hear Ceri’s voice rising.

“You’re an idiot if you do that, Pigeon. It’s too high. It’s not deep enough!”

Pigeon’s stripped down to his shorts, and while Ceri and me watch he climbs right up to the top of the rock, and he looks down at the pool. There’s only three’ll do that jump. Three of the boys in town.

> Pigeon is the winner of the Wales Book of the Year and the Rhys Davies Fiction Prize. Published by Parthian

CONTINUES TOMORROW