She took the baby to bathe her. It was nearly six p.m. and Steve wasn’t home yet. A church council meeting. Always something. He would be late. The only fact that mattered. She put her hand on her belly, going still for a moment as the baby kicked. This one, the inside one, could take her breath away with his punches and kicks. A boy, she thinks – already looking for a playground.
Pete peeled and chopped the garlic, tossed it in with the frying chicken. A lot of garlic; he had come to understand that she liked it that way.
The kitchen was a stove on which two of the four burners worked, a fridge that was older than he was and a sink cluttered with days of dishes. As Pete stood station at the stove Julie moved around the appliances. She was not a girl to whom stillness often occurred. Small, fair-skinned, nose splashed with freckles, blonde hair cut short, she was dressed in knock-off DKNY jeans and a No Fool tee-shirt. The radio was playing Eric Clapton, Anything For Love.
The man with the musical penis sat in the café, a newspaper folded over his lap as he absently stirred a cup of coffee that had long since grown cold. Even a casual observer would have been struck by the weariness evident in the slump of his shoulders. For he was tired: tired of his organ’s propensity to announce even its faintest stirrings with a note, a whistle or even, if the excitement proved more sustained, a flurry of drums.
Thanks to all the writers who submitted their work for the His & Hers event on Tuesday 10 February. Here are the stories we have chosen to be read ...
1. He Does Not Know by Liam Hogan
2. Preacherwife by Helen Silverstein
3. Cooking with Chicken by David Gill
4. Monsieur Fromage by Rosalind Stopps
5. The Man with the Musical Penis by Sumit Dam
Join us at the Wheatsheaf at 7pm next Tuesday for the first Liars' League of the year (we know you've missed us) when our Valentine's special will take you from the romantic to the ridiculous. See you there!
Journalist Catriona Troth came along to our Twist & Turn night, reviewed it and interviewed Katy, Liam, Cliff and author/actor Carrie. See what she said in her article for WordsWithJam here.
BUY OUR AUTHORS' NEW BOOKS!
Longtime contributors Niall Boyce, Jonathan Pinnock & Richard Smyth all have books out which you'd be well advised to buy, then read, then buy for others. All genres are catered for, from novels (Niall's Veronica Britton) and short stories (Jonathan's Dot Dash) to nonfiction (Richard's Bumfodder)
KATY LIAR'S DEBUT NOVEL
Liar Katy Darby's debut novel, a Victorian drama called The Unpierced Heart (previously titled The Whores' Asylum) is now out in Penguin paperback. It's had nice reviews in The Independent on Sunday, Sunday Times & Metro (4*).
OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANNEXE MAG!
They came, they saw, they asked us a bunch of interesting questions. Interview by Nick of Annexe Magazine with Katy of LL: here