Ahead of his Time by Adrian Cousins (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

she noticed Martin plodding his way back into the kitchen, cleaning his glasses with a piece of toilet paper. She shot me an angry look, scrunched her face, and raised her eyebrows – oh poo – I was about to be sucked into a giant black hole.

Fortunately, George spoke, which offered me a glimmer of breathing space.

“Take the kids next door, and I’ll sort Martin out.”

“Come on, Chris, I’ve got some cakes next door, and you can show me your picture,” said Don, as he took hold of Chris’s hand after I’d lowered him to the floor.

Jenny was still glaring at me as we all stepped through the back door, leaving George and Martin on their own.

“Jason, why’s that nutter in your rental house? What the hell is going on? I thought you were taking him home!” Jenny hissed.

“I brought him here as he has a few issues at home,” I replied, trying to think on my feet as we crossed over the driveway into Don’s kitchen.

“Well, you’d better explain that as well!” Jenny stood on the doorstep, glared at me and pointed at my old yellow Cortina. The black hole was sucking hard.

8

Quicker Than The Human Eye

Don enjoyed seeing the kids, but he could sense the tension between Jenny and me, and I guess he had a million questions he wouldn’t mind machine-gunning my way as well. He was savvy enough to know now was not the time and expertly entertained Christopher with a set of dominoes which he’d tipped onto the carpet.

The two of them built various structures which Christopher took great delight in knocking down whilst he had half an eye on the TV, showing the Hong Kong Phooey cartoon. The question was, who was he? The mild-mannered Janitor – could be! Well yes, this was probably Jenny’s question – who was I? Trouble is I didn’t have a striped cat called Spot to get me out of this particular dilemma, and diving into a filing cabinet drawer wasn’t going to turn me into a number one super guy – quicker than the human eye. I might have found it funny if I wasn’t so consumed with the events of the past half hour.

Jenny played with Beth as she laid her on a blanket in the middle of the room, leaving me to try and work out my next move. Now I had Don wondering about Martin and Jenny seething about ‘Martin the nutter’ as she’d now described him twice. To a lesser extent, I was also concerned about what the hell George and Martin were talking about next door. I felt doomed and panicky and now convinced myself I could feel my chest tightening. Oh, bollocks, was I going to have a bloody heart attack? Well, if I was, it might be a way to escape this particular dilemma.

“I’ll take Beth home and start tea. Can you bring Christopher with you?” Jenny called across to me as I was debating the state of my breathing.

“Jason, I said can you bring Christopher home?” She glared at me with those kryptonite eyes which seem to bore deep into my skull.

“Yes, Jen. Sorry.” I jumped up from the sofa and escorted her to the door as she turned and shot me an angry look.

“Don’t be long. You and me need to have a chat when you get home.”

I nodded and plodded back into the lounge.

Don arched his eyebrow and nodded to the kitchen. “Right, Chris, my boy, stack those dominoes in the box for me, so you’re ready to go home for your tea. I just want a quick word with your dad.”

Don joined me in the kitchen, where I’d padded to and now stood leaning up against the sink.

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “For Christ’s sake!” This was a nightmare, and I was struggling to see my way out of this one.

“Right, son. I’ll help you get out of this mess you’re in, but I need to know what mess it is. What I do know is looking at that chap next-door tonight, he’s the spitting image of Paul Colney. I didn’t notice it yesterday as I didn’t really look at him. So, my boy, what’s going on … who is he?”

I huffed and glanced at Don, not knowing where to start.

“Come on, son, talk to me. You know you can trust me.” Don shuffled over to the cupboard beside me, pulled out a bottle of Whyte & Mackay whisky, then grabbed two glasses from the draining-board. “Get this down you; this always does the trick.”

I downed the whisky as instructed. “Look, Don, I’ve known Martin for years, many years, and I’ve never seen the resemblance to Paul Colney until tonight. Martin has always been clean-shaven with short hair. I’ve never seen him without his glasses until tonight, so I guess I’ve missed the likeness. However, you’re right, he does look like him. Seeing Paul Colney at court today triggered the resemblance when I laid eyes on Martin tonight.”

“Right, son, but that aside that’s not what the issue is with Jenny tonight, is it?” Don lifted his glass with his index finger pointing at me.

“’fraid not, Don. It’s …” I shut my mouth, uncertain of what my following words could be.

“Well, son, what is it then?”

“Don, you trust me … yes?” Don nodded.

“I’m gonna need some time on this one. Can you just keep an eye on him next door for me and ensure he doesn’t leave the house? I promise I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can.” I grabbed his shoulder, looking directly into his eyes.

“Yes, son, of course. But don’t suffer on your own here. You and your family are the most precious thing in the world to me. I don’t want anything going wrong, and I’m worried about him and any connection he may have to Paul Colney. Because as sure as eggs are eggs, looking like he does, there must be a connection.”

“Cheers, Don, thank you. I’ll