Kate Tempest - The Bricks that Built the Houses

‘Hi.’ He stops still and smiles. He’s wearing new jeans. They are tighter than she would have advised him to wear when they were together.

‘Hi!’ She grins uncomfortably, then leans in and kisses him on the cheek. Be nice , she thinks. Please, Graham .

David sticks out his hand, smile like a windscreen. ‘I’m David,’ he says. ‘It’s good to meet at last.’

Graham wishes he was strapped full of explosives so he could blow them both up. ‘Hi,’ he says. ‘Great to meet you, David.’

Dale is standing still, staring over the head of his father at Charlotte and Gloria standing at the bar. He drools a little baggy grin like dirty underwear left on the floor of his face. He doesn’t look away when they frown at him.

Gloria gets the text from Becky. ‘Everybody down!’ she shouts. ‘He’ll be here in a second!’

Everyone runs behind the bar.

Miriam and Graham are crouched down in the middle, suddenly side by side and breathing excitedly. ‘Our little boy!’ Graham leans over and says into Miriam’s ear. ‘Twenty-seven years old! We were parents at that age, weren’t we, doll?’

Miriam’s smile is strained. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Funny that.’

David, slower at getting round the bar, is crouched next to Rags, craning his neck to try and hear what it is Graham and Miriam are saying to each other. Rags is chuckling away, Ron leans an arm on his brother’s back, chuckling too. Harry is bent double, next to them, pushed up against Rags’ epic shoulders. She has to move to get comfortable and nearly falls over. She reaches out to steady herself and ends up with her hand on Rags’ knee.

‘All very intimate, isn’t it?’ she says smiling.

Rags claps her on the back. ‘Don’t you worry,’ he says.

‘We’re Becky’s uncles,’ Ron tells her, whispering.

‘Pete’s sister,’ says Harry.

‘Oh, right.’ They nod and kiss cheeks from their awkward crouches, laughing about it. ‘Nice to meet you.’

Leon runs through the door, blowing the last bit of smoke out. The suitcase in his hand. ‘Am I too late?’ he asks no one in particular.

‘Get behind the bar, quick,’ Gloria tells him, jumping out the way for him to crouch down.

He finds himself next to Nathan, one of Pete’s friends. ‘Alright, mate?’ he says, smiling excitedly.

Nathan nods hello. ‘Does your fucking legs in after a while.’

Becky’s cousin Ted and his girlfriend Sally are crouched at the end of the line, smiling at each other, holding hands.

‘Do you think he suspects anything?’ Sally asks him.

‘No. I shouldn’t think so,’ he says.

Danny and Charlotte, Dale and Pete’s mate Mo are behind the first row, crouching down on their heels. Everyone holds their breath.

Outside the pub, Becky is being patient. Pete smokes morosely and pulls his hair around. ‘I like the pub and everything,’ he’s been moaning for the past two hours, checking his phone and finding no messages, ‘but it’s hardly a special thing, is it?’ He drops his cigarette butt and kicks it out with the toe of his trainer.

‘Let’s have a drink, Pete.’ She takes his hand and leads him towards the doors. He drags behind.

Pete trudges towards the bar, looking around at the empty pub. Feeling like he’s never had a friend in his life. He stops just before the bar and rocks back on his heels, surveying the beer taps, even though he knows which beers they serve in this pub off by heart.

‘What can I get you?’ Gloria asks him.

He thinks about it. ‘Erm. ’

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE!!!!’ The crowd erupts from behind the bar. Arms in the air.

Pete’s mouth drops open. He cracks a grin. For the first time in ages Becky sees him properly smiling.

‘Ahh shit!’ he says. ‘No way!!’ His eyes sparkle as he looks at all the faces.

‘FUUUUCK!’ he says, and he lifts Becky up and gives her a kiss. Harry’s heart stabs itself in the stomach with a blunt sword. ‘Was this you?’ Pete asks her. ‘Was this you done this?!’ Everyone runs round from behind the bar and waits for their turn to hug him.

‘Hi, Dad,’ Pete says, slapping his dad on the shoulder. Graham grips his son’s face in two large hands and kisses him hard on the head.

‘You look smashing, son.’

‘Well, you too, Dad, you look very well.’

‘I put my smart shirt on,’ Graham says, ‘for the occasion.’

Miriam and David stand close by and smile into the conversation from the edges.

Pete has his arm around Becky. ‘This is great! This is really great. You’re all here. ’ He grins round the room. ‘Just look at you all!’

Gloria’s boyfriend Tommy and Becky’s cousin Ted, who knows Pete from school, are opening a bottle of Prosecco and organising glasses.

‘How many are we?’ Tommy asks.

‘Fuck knows. Hold on.’ Ted stands on his tiptoes and counts the heads. ‘We’ll need another bottle, I think.’

‘How many glasses though?’ Tommy stares at the glasses on the bar, lost.

‘Just start pouring, mate, we’ll work it out,’ Ted tells him.

Charlotte and Becky help them pass the glasses out. When everyone’s got a glass in their hands, they raise them up to Pete. Pete is leaning on Becky’s shoulder. Becky is smiling beneath the point of his elbow, but she looks tired, far away.

Rags is having a great time. ‘SPEECH, SPEECH, SPEECH!’ he shouts, laughing. Leon and Harry join in.

Pete clears his throat, acts all tearful. ‘Oh it’s all too much,’ he says. ‘I don’t know what to say. ’ He breaks off, mimes being overwhelmed, one hand on his heart, frowning with emotion. ‘I’d just like to thank my mum and my dad for making me. ’ Everyone laughs.

‘Come on, say something proper,’ Nathan tells him, slapping him on the back.

Pete thinks about it, nods, raises his glass. ‘OK.’ He clears his throat. ‘I’d just like to say. ’ He pauses for effect, looks around the faces in the room. ‘Let’s get fucking shitfaced!’

Everybody yawls and stamps, displaying their best affection. They raise their glasses. Their smiles are wide enough to fall in.

Danny puts his arm around Charlotte. ‘Lovely, innit?’

‘Yeah,’ she says. But she’s not sure. She watches Becky floating in the background, not saying much, just fiddling with her glass and keeping a foot away from conversations.

Harry walks up from the other side of the room, and joins the circle round Pete, puts her arm around her little brother. ‘Happy Birthday, kid,’ she says, gripping him tight.

‘Oh. Thank you,’ Pete says, slapping her on the back. The drinks are flowing and spirits are high. ‘I’m sorry we’ve not seen so much of each other recently,’ he says quietly.

Harry looks at the ground, nodding. ‘Yeah, me too,’ she says, still holding on to her brother’s waist. ‘Just the way it goes, I suppose. You like the party then?’

‘Was it you? You did this?’ Pete grins, gobsmacked.

‘I just thought, you know, might be nice for you, see all your friends and family in one place.’ Harry kisses her brother’s cheek and strokes his head a few times, messing his hair up and smoothing it down.

Pete brushes her off, laughing. ‘Soppy twit,’ he tells her, voice heavy with booze and camaraderie.

Graham grins at Harry and clasps her in a fierce hug. ‘Hello, love,’ he says. ‘When you coming round to see me then, eh?’

Harry slaps her dad on the back a few times. ‘Soon, Dad. I’ll be over soon, I promise.’

‘How you keeping?’ Graham asks her, studying her. Brushing his daughter’s shoulders, rubbing her arms, holding on to her wrists, admiring his eldest.

‘I’m well, Dad,’ Harry tells him. ‘I’m good.’