Sheep magazine archive 1: issues 3-9

painful. Jesus , why did I drink that stuff? Lorenzos
brother had bought it and pocketed the change.
Brad had been trying to work up some liquid
courage. Trying to to get off with Sally McFarland
at the swings but she’d been with her mates and
he just made a fool of himself as usual. Showing
off, as they had walked along the road back to
the estate. He’d keyed a few cars and smashed
some guys window. The guy had come running
out and was almost crying as he shouted at them.
Something about a baby. Fuck him and his stupid
baby. That’s what Brad had shouted back and
they had all laughed. He didn’t remember much
about getting home apart from that.
He got up slowly from the bed and dressed in
yesterdays clothes. The clean shirt had fallen onto
the floorboards and had a dusty stripe across the
back. Brad didn’t care. Since his mum died he’d
gotten used to wearing dirty clothes. He had a
piss and looked in the mirror. There were dark
rings around his eyes and his skin looked sallow.
Spots had broken out in his chin but he was more
interested in the fluff around his upper lip. There
was the beginnings of a moustache there. Brad
felt strangely thrilled at this sign of impending
adulthood. He couldn’t wait to be part of that
world and, especially, leaving school behind him.
Closing the front door he walked down the path.
The sky was a grey blanket that stretched in all
directions above him. Somewhere above him the
sun was a ghostly white disk that made his eyes
water when he tried to look at it. As he stepped
out of the gate his foot kicked something. It rolled
under the hedge and he caught a glimpse of
cellophane. He reached under and picked it up.
It was about the size of his fist. Brad stared. He
couldn’t quite believe it. He looked around but
the street was empty. Somewhere unseen a dog
began to bark. Stuffing the package into his bag
he ran along the pavement in the direction of the
school.
The morning dragged along like a month of
sundays. Brad moved slowly from class to class in
the slow crush of the school corridors. Finally when
the bell rang for break time he ran out of the class
and down to the woods near the main gate. Spud
and Lorenzo were already there lounging with
their backs against the big oak.
“Check this out” he said and produced the
package from his bag and hid it under his jacket.
The two leaned in.
“What is it”.
“Its the biggest chunk of blow I have ever seen”.
The smell hit them as soon as he unwrapped the
cellophane.
“Whoa … what the fuck …” Spud shouted.
“Shhh …” said Brad waving his hands down. “Try
not to attract to much attention dummy.”
They all leaned in. The smell of hash drifted up
and over them. It was so strong Brad could almost
taste it at the back of his throat. The ball was black
and had a slight sheen over the surface.
“That’s the oil in it”, said Lorenzo. “That smells
and looks like primo gear. Where the fuck did you
get it?”
39
OCTOBER 2015