Monday 19 October 2015

Jacob's Antique Market

For audio click here
‘Got a Breitling watch mate, it needs some work.’
‘I'm sorry.’ The grey-haired man looked up from his counter.
‘Wanna buy a Breitling?’ The younger man repeated
‘Not today sonny, thanks.’
But the boy wasn't taking no for an answer, his dealer had the drugs ready and his body was ready for the drugs.
‘Take a look,’ he fiddled with the carrier bag he was clutching and handed the watch to the older man. The man held it in his fingertips not really wanting to touch it.
‘This is a fake,’ he said.
‘What?’ the drug addict looked genuinely surprised. ‘Can’t be.’
The antique dealer explained again that the watch was a fake and handed it back to the boy in front of him. It wasn't a fake, but it was better to say it was fake than to suggest it might be stolen.
‘That's no fake, that's genuine, look.’
The boy thrust the watch into the man's face. The man pulled back, in fear or disgust?
‘It's a fake,’ the dealer repeated.
‘How much? The boy asked scratching his face just beneath one of the open sores.
‘I’m not going to buy it,’ the dealer said, he looked around hoping one of the other dealers in the market was listening. They usually had each other's backs.
‘10 quid?’ the boy said. He’d been hoping for more, but anything would do.
The dealer busied himself with the polishing that the boy had interrupted.
‘10 quid, that’s all I want for it.’
The dealer paid him no heed; as far as he was concerned the conversation was over.
‘Oh c’mon old man, all I needs is a tenner.’ the boy was hopping on the spot desperate for the right answer.
The dealer stood up and cast a shadow over the boy. He turned away putting down the small whistle he’d been polishing on the shelf behind him and picking up the next trinket in need of work.
‘Fuck you,’ the boy said.
To his surprise the knife slid in easily, he pushed it in further so his hand was touching the other man’s clothes. He could feel the warmth of the blood escaping the body.  The body crumpled to the floor.

The older man looked at the letter opener in his hand. Gosh, it was going to take some cleaning.

1 comment:

  1. Petra Goláňová24 October 2015 at 10:35

    My favourite lines:

    But the boy wasn't taking no for an answer, his dealer had the drugs ready and his body was ready for the drugs....

    ReplyDelete