Lingard185

176 (contd.)

that they closed the door in daytime but today he wanted to shut out
the world.

He unpacked the bag, put away the things in the cupboard. The list
lay on the table. Insurance day. The Insurance man would call and
he would take the money from the vase on the mantlepiece and the
man would make some crack about Kevin in the kitchen. He could stand
the cracks, but the restlessness inside him and the disgust he felt
for what was happening all around him were different matters. It was
as if a boil was building up inside the middle of him, getting bigge r
and bigger every day. He knew it was only a matter of time before
it would burst.