MORNING SERIAL
Anton smiles around the processed bun. He looks better, a little. If he can eat he’s probably okay.
She sinks her teeth into the spongy bread and barely chews, but is already on the next bite, ravenous. The cheap processed food might give her stomach ache, but refuelling is vital. Maksim is queuing again, his skinny arms piled with bottles of soft drinks and bars of chocolate, a huge bag of crisps. He has tattoos peeking out from beneath his sleeves. Helen tries to see what they depict, but it’s more a swirl of blue than a distinct part of something.
When they get back into the car the bounty is shared out. Helen sips at a fizzy drink,the bubbles making it hard to slake her thirst fast enough. She belches and Maksim laughs, nodding again to affirm her actions as pleasing to him. The bag of crisps is passed around, salty and moreish. She takes a handful and shoves them in three and four at a time. Her fingers are greasy. She licks them and wipes them on her legs, uncomfortable with the fullness of her stomach.
‘So, in the Zone, what did you do to this man?’ Maksim waggles his eyebrows suggestively. Licks the salt off his lips.
‘I drowned him, then broke his ribs.’
The grin drops. ‘Why? What did he do?’
‘He tried to kill me, chased me into the forest on my motorbike and straight into a pack of wild boar.’
Maksim looks from one to the other, his mouth loose; the newly rolled cigarette he has just placed there hangs, the paper caught on the moisture inside his lower lip.
She looks at Anton and they both start laughing. Him clutching his chest and crying out a little as he does so. Helen feels something, a smouldering affection maybe. Their conversation of the night before still lingers, unspoken but binding.
Maksim tries to replace his smile and join in. ‘You are joking. It’s a joke!’
Anton opens his shirt and shows his friend the bruising. Maksim looks at Helen and nods solemnly.
She straightens her spine, accepts the praise.
> The Half Life of Snails by Philippa Holloway is Published by Parthian at £15