Boy Kills Man (15 page)
Authors: Matt Whyman
I sensed Manu retreat as he spoke, heard the taxi door open and close, the radio volume rise inside. Uncle Jairo didn't look like he agreed with
El Fantasma
one bit, but he always did know when to keep his mouth shut. Still facing my boss and my father's brother, I levelled my gun with both hands and clicked the hammer into place.
âIt's time,' I agreed, nodding now because this felt like the only way to go. I wasn't sure how many bullets remained in the chamber, just so long as there was one. Killing Jairo would be too easy, I decided. I wanted him to see what I could do, because I knew that it would haunt him into the next life and beyond. The kid was looking very twitchy indeed, but he was only following my lead. Whether or not he was ready, this would make a man of him â just as it had done for Alberto and then me. I found the trigger, also a point above them all where the mountains met the sky. âOK,' I breathed, and touched the muzzle to my temple. âLet's finish this.'
Shortly before I sat down to write this book, I lost two people central to my life. Within the space of a few weeks, my mother and younger sister passed away. It was a dark time. Death became a part of me. It influenced every thought and feeling, and that included the kind of story I wanted to tell.
In
Boy Kills Man
, I had no idea whether such a short rage against unfairness and injustice would ever see the light of day. My previous novels were light-hearted comedies, and yet this was something I had to write. It's not about grief but inevitability. Quite simply, I wanted to explore how it felt to be in possession of a gun at a formative time of life. In a heartbeat, that weapon would come to heighten your awareness of the world around you and ultimately shape your destiny. In my mind, that seemed no different to living with a terminal illness. No matter what, it gets you in the end.
Ten years on, I still don't think of this as a bleak book. The narrator is a minor. He's at an age where death is not on his radar. Life is everything, even in a region of the world at a time when all the odds are stacked against him. So when the means to make things happen presents itself, he seizes the opportunity.
After six weeks of intense writing, I remember finishing the last sentence as if it were yesterday. Straight away, I had an urge to leave my desk to get some air. It was a warm, clear afternoon. I sat on a bench and stayed there for an hour. It felt good to be outside.
Over the course of a decade, many people have humbled me with their passion for this book. I should like to thank Philippa Milnes-Smith and David Godwin, Emily Thomas and Venetia Gosling, Honor Wilson-Fletcher, Kirsty Mclachlan, Mary Byrne, Elena Sanchez (for the colour), Melvin Burgess, Emma Whyman, Sarah Odedina and all at Hot Key Books for this anniversary edition.
Matt Whyman is the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including
The Savages
and
American Savage
, as well as two comic memoirs,
Pig in the Middle
and
Walking with Sausage Dogs
. He is married and lives with his family in West Sussex.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
Copyright © Matt Whyman 2004, 2014
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4714-0397-2
1
Hot Key Books is part of the Bonnier Publishing Group