About a Boy

Well.  Freeman  was  36  years  old  and  he  had  never  had  a  job  in  his  life.  Sometimes  he  thought  about  working.  He  looked  through  the  job  advertisements  and  newspapers  and  wrote  occasional  letters  to  employers.  But  he  was  never  invited  to  interviews.

He  didn't  mind.  He  was  okay  as  he  was.  He  was  a  cool  guy  with  a  cool  lifestyle.  He  read  quite  lot.  He  saw  films.

In  the  afternoons  he  went  running.  Running.  He  cooked  nice  meals  for  himself  and  his  friends.  When  he  got  bored,  he  went  to  Rome  or  New  York  or  Barcelona  for  a  few  days.  Will  didn't  need  to  work  for  money  because  in  1938  his  father  had  written  a  very  successful  Christmas  song.

Many  famous  singers  had  made  recordings  of  this  song,  and  each  time  Will's  father  had  received  royalties.  Since  his  death,  the  royalties  had  come  to  Will.  So  Will  had  become  rich  without  having  to  work  at  all.  He  was  happy  with  his  life.  He  lived  in  a  nice  flat  in  London  and  drove  a  fast  car.

He  liked  women  and  had  lots  of  girlfriends,  but  he  never  got  too  involved  with  them.  He  preferred  to  look  at  other  people's  lives  from  the  outside,  like  watching  TV.  If  a  relationship  with  a  woman  became  complicated,  he  ended  it.  He  wanted  to  keep  his  life  simple.  In  the  evenings,  Will  usually  went  out  with  friends.

These  were  guys  who  worked  in  music  shops  or  belonged  to  the  same  sports  clubs  as  Will,  or  who  were  part  of  the  same  pub  quiz  team.  They  weren't  close  friends,  but  they  were  good  enough  for  a  drink  or  a  meal.  The  evenings  were  fine,  but  Will  had  a  lot  of  free  time  during  the  day  because  all  his  friends  were  at  work.  So  he  filled  the  time  bath,  tidying  his  flat,  going  to  the  shops,  watching  Countdown.  Countdown  was  an  afternoon  TV  quiz  show,  and  it  was  his  favorite  program.

Sometimes  he  wondered  how  his  friends  had  time  to  work.  How  could  a  person  work  and  have  a  bath  on  the  same  day?  Will  didn't  like  children.  He  wasn't  interested  in  them  and  he  didn't  want  any  responsibility  for  them.  But  his  friends  John  and  Christine  had  two.

The  second  was  a  baby  girl  born  just  the  week  before,  and  Will  had  been  invited  to  see  her.  When  he  arrived  at  John  and  Christine's  flat,  there  were  children's  toys  everywhere.  Pieces  of  brightly  colored  plastic  were  spread  all  over  the  floor.  Videos,  layout  of  their  cases  near  the  TV.  A  white  cloth  over  the  sofa  was  covered  with  dirty  brown  marks.

How  could  people  live  like  this?  Christine  came  in  holding  the  new  baby  while  John  was  in  the  kitchen  making  tea.  This  is  Emogyan,  she  said.