My Fat Brother by Jim Keeble

My Fat Brother

Jim Keeble

A story of relationships form the male viewpoint. Scott sems to be the older more successful brother but Jes is getting it right where it matters - in his relationships with other people. I found some of the laddish humour a bit tasteless but felt the situations were realistic and could sympathise with the characters bungled attempts to connect with each other. Oh, and don't forget the penguin ....

Extract
'You killed Norman!' cackles my fat brother. 'You killed Norman!'

Tears are flowing down his cheeks, he's lost it, and now lots of people are laughing, perhaps less with him than at him, the twenty-somethings giggling like teenagers.

'I said I was sorry. Are you okay?'
'Just,ha,ha...a bit,ha,ha,emotional,ha,at the,ha,moment.' Jes takes out a white handkerchief with which he dabs at his eyes. 'Oh,God,' he splutters, gasping for non-humourous air. 'You killed Norman!'

Then he focuses on me once again, and I wonder if the belly-flop onto my chest is imminent, Big Daddy, WWF Night of Steel, but instead he smiles and says, 'I hated fucking Norman. He scared the life out of me. I was so happy when he burst.'

And we both laugh like loons. It feels good, a shared monent, a connection.

Parallels
  • Girlfriend 44 by Mark Barrowcliffe
  • Man and Wife by Tony Parsons
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Violence
Explicit sexual content