Living with Shadows Read Online Free Page B

beyond the words. Kate decided not to pursue it. He looked away and began to fidget with his pen. ‘We’ll start by looking at sentences, get the punctuation sorted out. OK?’
    ‘Whatever you think,’ he replied taking a quick look around the class to see if anyone was watching.
    Apart from Andy’s outburst, there were no further problems. Kate was beginning to feel more comfortable with the group. They were a friendly enough bunch who liked to chat about their partners or children, their next visit, and sometimes the injustices of prison life, an issue she could not comment upon.
    At the end of the lesson, everyone left the room except Michael who remained in his seat by the window. He looked up. ‘I’ll finish this tomorrow,’ he called over, tucking the papers into his folder.
    ‘Shall I have another quick look, now?’
    ‘No, I’d rather finish it first. Did that guy bother you, the one that was droning on about prison?’
    ‘Not really. I don’t suppose there’s much to be happy about in here.’
    ‘So whose fault is that? He’s no right to take it out on you. He’s in here for a reason and should accept it. Prison ain’t meant to be The Ritz. What does he expect?’
    ‘Thanks for the concern, Michael, but I choose to work here and so I have to accept that sometimes people will be difficult. It comes with the territory.’
    ‘Doesn’t your husband mind you working in a place like this?’
    ‘No, he doesn’t mind.’ Kate thought he must have noticed her wedding ring, but then wondered if he was just fishing? If so, she realised how easy it was to give information unwittingly. Without even realising it, she’d let him know she was married. Another thing she observed was how much bolder he’d become now they were on their own.
    ‘If I had a wife, I wouldn’t let her work in a place like this. No way.’ He shook his head and scraped his folder from the desk. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then.’
    With that, he walked out of the room leaving Kate to dwell on the odd behaviour of this strange youth. He was visibly nervous when she sat down next to him and afterwards, even though he tried to hide it, he had been watching her every move. Wherever she was sitting, each time she glanced his way, he was looking at her but quickly diverted his gaze either back to his work or out through the window. It was apparent that Michael lacked confidence in front of others, but in a one-to-one situation he became a different person, more self-assured.

    Jim had not gone more than a couple of miles when the van began to jerk and splutter before finally coming to a stop on a busy main road. Even though he knew it was futile, he still tried desperately to start it up, turning the key over and over in the ignition, listening for the merest hint of a spark,—nothing. He hit the steering wheel with his fist and cursed at not having checked it over when he’d known something was not right with the engine. He’d hoped it would keep going until weekend when he would have more time to take a look at it, but to break down here, now, and with everything he needed for the job in the back of the van, was sickening.
    What was even more sickening was the fact he hadn’t renewed his subscription for the breakdown service. The truth was he couldn’t afford it. His overdraft was up to the limit and some days it was as much as he could do to put petrol in the van. The last few jobs he’d priced up hadn’t got back to him and though he considered his prices reasonable, he was thinking he might have to reduce them further just to get the work. Kate had no idea just how bad things were. He’d thought about telling her but in the end he couldn’t face it. To burden her with his problems was unjust. Apart from anything else there was nothing she could do, except worry, and that wouldn’t help either of them.
    Thanks to the incompetence of his suppliers, he was already running late on this job, but try telling that to his