Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 92

               When he’s getting to his highest level of freaked out, I fish Graham’s remote control from my pocket.

                I see Yates is already looking at me. I know he’s ready for this moment, I don’t need to ask. These will be words he’s said to mirrors and to the night-time when he wished he could say them to the face of his step father. He nods with his jaw set.

                The most unbelievable thing happens. Before my eyes, I see Yates change. Slowly, the lines around his eyes disappear, the wobbly bits under his chin become taut. The five o’clock shadow on his face recedes once more to a teenage fuzz. He is a teenager in middle aged clothing again.

                Without waiting a second longer, I flick the switch on the top of the remote. I know we’ll all appear in the room, but Mr Yates only has eyes for one of us.

                ‘You!’ he screams. ‘Why have you come back?’

                ‘You drove me to this!’ Yates yells.

                He takes a step forward. Mr Yates flinches.

                ‘Don’t hurt me!’ he shouts. The TV’s volume still fills the room. There’s a surprising amount of wind at this height, and it whips through the now open windows.

                ‘You hurt me,’ Yates says. ‘Every day of my life. You made me feel pathetic.’

                Mr Yates is actually crying. Snivelling in the corner.

                ‘What do you want from me?’ he asks. ‘You don’t think I feel guilt?’

                ‘And that excuses you?’

                I wonder is this a regular occurrence for Mr Yates. I see the puffed edges of his eyes. Hear a slurring in his speech. He’s drunk, dosed, or a combination of the two. Maybe he does feel guilty for what he drove his son to. Maybe it makes him see prostitutes every night and drink himself into a stupor. But he’s a villain none the less.

                ‘I’ll do anything,’ he says. ‘Anything for you to stop coming in my dreams. Just leave me alone now.’

                ‘I want you to leave here,’ Yates says. ‘Sell this place for a pittance and leave all your things behind. Get on a plane and never look back. I don’t care where you go. If you don’t do this, I’ll come back for you. I’ll chase you across the world until you listen to me. I’ll punish you like you punished me. Understand.’

                Mr Yates nod through the tears.

                ‘I’ll be watching,’ Yates says, and we disappear at the flick of my finger.