‘Everything was easy for you because you were the youngest. I was the one who ended up with all of the crap stuff.’
We’d only been in the pub five minutes and I was already regretting arranging to meet up with my brother. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years, this was why.
‘Crap stuff? Don’t you think that’s a bit of an exaggeration? Sure, you had to run errands every now and again. Hardly cause for therapy.’
He put down his pint and took a deep breath. ‘Did I every tell you about the puppy?’ he asked.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘It was a scrawny little thing, obviously a stray. It followed me home and I wanted to keep it. And we did, for a day. Then Mam freaked out, you know what she’s like.. She made me take it on a bus into the countryside and come home alone.
‘That’s pretty bad. How come I don’t remember?’
‘You were small.’
‘What age were you?’
He shrugged. ‘Seven, eight I guess. It was before we moved.’
We sat in silence for some time. ‘Maybe the pup found a nice place,’ I offered.
‘Yeah,’ he sighed. ‘Maybe.’