A Fault on the Line / Elspeth’s Boyfriend / Kissing and Making Up

In ‘A Fault on the Line’, a Hearts-Hibernian football match is on television, and a Sunday afternoon trip to a beer garden with the family is an unwelcome distraction for former trackman Malky. The day ends badly when he decides to hurry them home in time for kick-off. In ‘Elspeth’s Boyfriend’, it’s Christmas day in Leith, and Frank is suffering from the previous evening’s excesses. He doesn’t take kindly to his sister’s fancy new boyfriend. Frank’s grumblings about the choice of television programmes develop into a more serious confrontation when a spot of unwanted physical contact causes tempers to flare. In ‘Kissing and Making Up’, a drunk seeking an outlet for his frustrations heads to a strip club in the early afternoon. There, however, he only manages to make things worse. Part of the Storycuts series, these three stories were previously published in the collection Reheated Cabbage.