📸 Photo

MARCHING POWDER

‘Stop it, Thomas,’ she protested. ‘Get your hands off me. I’m a religious woman and I’m old enough to be your mother. I don’t dare to think what you may have wished for when you cut that cake.’ Sylvia had a wicked sense of humour for someone who was the wife of an Anglican bishop.

We were all in high spirits after that, laughing and making jokes, but no one was higher than Jack, who I suspect was having an extra party of his own on the side. When I took the dirty plates back into the kitchen, he followed me. I could tell that he wanted to say something, but he was too nervous.

‘Thomas. I . . . I just wanted to tell you . . . well . . . you know what I wanted to tell you,’ he said, reaching into the secret pocket sewn into the lining of his jeans. ‘I got you a little present.’

‘Not here, Jack!’ I warned him, as he started opening up the small packet of cocaine.

‘No one will see us,’ he whispered. ‘Just a quick little puntito. It’s good stuff.’

‘Not while everyone’s still here. Try and be a bit considerate, Jack.’

Jack looked down, completely ashamed. ‘No. You’re completely right, Thomas. It’s very rude of me. I’m sorry. It was very selfish of me.’

‘That’s OK. You don’t have to apologise. I was mainly thinking of Sylvia.’

With that, Jack pricked up his ears. ‘I didn’t know Sylvia did coke!’ he exclaimed. ‘There’s probably enough for her, too. But only her. There’s not enough for everyone. So, we’ll have to do it carefully. Don’t tell Ricardo. You give Sylvia the signal and I’ll –’

‘Jack!’ I interrupted him.
‘Oh. I’m sorry. OK. Yes, you’re completely right. Sorry. I thought you meant . . .’

The party itself was a quiet affair. Because of Sylvia, we didn’t buy any alcohol. She was now like a mother to me, so I didn’t want her to think that I drank or did drugs in prison. Besides, we managed to have a lot of fun without drinking.

The guests departed just before lunchtime, and then everything went back to being really quiet. Jack stayed behind for a few minutes, wanting to do some coke, but I was already happy and didn’t want to risk ruining