Hot Revenge Box Set 4

Richard handles the veg knife like a kid with his first wax crayon, not so much peeling the potatoes as hacking chunks from the outside.

Trying not to be obvious about it, I watch the performance for a few seconds…

He’s going to slice his thumb if he keeps that up…

…. then taking a peeler from the cutlery drawer, I pluck the knife from his hand and replace it with the peeler. “Try that instead.”

He fumbles at the potato, drawing off a sliver of peel. “Ah, yes. That’s much easier.”

Still, I keep half an eye on what he’s doing. “Not that one,” I say, pointing to the potato in his hand. “It’s green.”

“Oh…” Richard stares at the tuber. “There were a few green ones at the top of the sack. Is something wrong with them?”

“You can poison yourself with green potatoes. That’s why you store them in the dark. So they don’t go green.”

“Seriously?” Richard stares at the spud in his hand as though he’s never seen one before. “Poisonous? Potatoes? But I eat them every day.”

“Yes, seriously. They’re from the same family of plants as Belladonna, the Solanaceae. The green parts contain a toxin called solanine.”

Richard regards the tuber in his hand with a sceptical eye.

“Belladonna? Pretty lady?”

“Medieval women used it cosmetically to enlarge their pupils. The alkaloids that achieve the effect are some of the more effective toxins out there.”

Still, he looks dubious.

when it’s in flower,” I say. “You’ll see the resemblance then. In any case, don’t add green

“How dangerous are they?”

do yourself any real damage.

striding across the kitchen, he toes open the bin and

*****

Michael

sit in one corner, snouts

steam, and I lift the lid to some dark red sauce simmering at the bottom, large bubbles glopping and redissolving into the surface. Chunks of sausage and something-or-other-else surface then vanish, nudging aside some kind of beans. The smell of fresh bread competes with garlic.

comes in, carrying a bottle. “Ah, Michael. Good timing. You want to open the wine? Set it to warm… I’ll serve the meal in the dining room, but we can sit in here while the food’s cooking.” He offers me the

idea. This is a celebration after

it is. Back in a mo.” And he vanishes

the hob. Bear isn’t so subtle. He simply

thirty seconds I reckon I have before James’ return, I fork

dogs. The two halves vanish mid-air with

Why just them?

Just as I’m blowing on it, the door swings, James strolls in, a

Fuck!

blowing air

bottles into the fridge. Then, stacking plates and cutlery onto a tray, “Perhaps when you’ve finished donating our dinner to Scruffy and Dogzilla there, you would like

I wrestle the cork out of the Rioja bottle... “Nice choice by the way.” … then set it on the hearth

flapping a palm as his spectacles mist over. “Choice? Yes, I thought Georgie would appreciate a Spanish

what I meant

clear with a bit of kitchen roll. “What email? Damn!” and he makes a dash