Twentysix (8 page)
Authors: Jonathan Kemp
I knew that, compared to the scrapes he’d regularly found himself in and the dangerous situations he’d placed himself in, a London bobby was child’s play, but I still felt sick from the whole experience. I tried to keep a stern face but he carried on laughing and eventually I found myself succumbing to a smile and then I myself began to laugh. In some curious way I felt the experience had brought us closer, though God alone knows how or why. I was very cross with him, and he knew it, I could tell. I can’t help feeling a little unsettled by the whole affair. Especially the police having my details. I imagine that they have a huge ledger in which they record the details of every homosexual they’ve ever unearthed, and I keep picturing the policeman who interviewed me scratching my name in it and blotting it dry with a grin of triumph. I thought of Montagu, Wildeblood and Pitt-Rivers in their cells. There but for the grace of God go I, I thought, even though I’m an atheist.
We were both in need of some sleep, so Gore took the couch and I took to my bed. Though I left my door open, he didn’t take the hint. Just as well, for we were woken in the early morning by an almighty banging on the front door.
First published in 2011
This ebook edition published in 2011
by Myriad Editions 59
Lansdowne Place
Brighton BN3 1FL
www.MyriadEditions.com
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Copyright © Jonathan Kemp 2011
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, places, people or other animals, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978–1–908434–04–3
