Tea For The Rent Boy

By Helen Lynch

Welcome to our regular feature showcasing the talents of the nation’s best writers.

Lady Macbeth is a strong female character, showing that Macbeth is a feminist play. This essay will show how Shakespeare displays a feminist viewpoint by creating such a powerful woman who rules over her husband. I sigh. Unsex me here. I put it to the bottom of the pile, replacing the empty ashtray on top, though there isn’t much of a breeze. Maybe best not to start with that one. The first essay sets the tone, and I don’t want to embark on the enterprise in a state of exasperation or, worse, feeling the beginnings of a crusade.

It’s been a late Spring. This is the first day of real sunshine, though the air is fresh and cold. I reach out to take another sip of coffee, wincing at the bitterness of it black. I’m trying to cut out milk at the moment – I can’t even remember why – oh yes, for my throat, and because lattes, mochas and cappuccinos make up the dubious diet of frothy, sugary drinks in which I have been indulging lately. I suspect it’s mainly for the austerity of it, one of the myriad ways in which I endeavour to convince myself I’m taking control of my life, tinkering at the edges as usual. I leaf through the topmost essays of the pile, peeking at the next three, all on Twelfth Night. That ought to be a bit lighter going. The sea is glittering and calm, an icy grey-blue, and the light is bouncing in sparkles off the wet sand. I turn my face to the sun and shut my eyes, drink the warmth into my skin. The ice-cream sign outside the adjacent cafe creaks. I take off my scarf. The wooden slats of my chair are hard under my thighs and the metal legs scrape on the paving slab as I shoogle round to let the sun soak into my collarbone. My cheeks burn pleasantly. I look again at the beach. Is this what sun-kissed means? Sunsmooched more like. Sun-snogged even. Nice.

About the author

Helen Lynch teaches Medieval and Early Modern Literature, as well as Creative Writing, at the University of Aberdeen, and plays in allfemale ceilidh band, Danse Mccabre. Her first collection of stories, The Elephant and the Polish Question (2009) won the Bluechrome Prize. Her new collection, Tea For The Rent Boy, is published by Wild Harbour, price £8.99. n