February 18 'Head from hell' says young people need boundaries
Steve puffed on a cigar and tried not to cough before handing it to me. “Put that on, don't sit there, because I say so, be quiet. In the fifties I went to work aged 6, in a tie and a dress as me ma wanted a girl and it never did me no harm, so I know from experience. One day you’ll thank me. You’re what? A teenager? don’t try to confuse me, you’re a kid, a sprog and then you’re a man, all that time in between isn't real, and it’s about time someone had the balls to say so” We were hiding in the shed at a cousin’s birthday party, he was 14, I was 12. “That’s what they mean really, what they don’t say is more important than what they do.” My Mum caught us and made us smoke the whole pack of cigars; arms crossed; stern faced. “Don't you ever trust grownups,” Steve said later on, spitting tobacco on the grass, “they get spoilt somehow as they get older.” Steve only got a year older, and I miss my Mum.