Last of the Line by John Mackay sampler

islands lacked the variety of the holiday camps, coastal resorts
and foreign trips his contemporaries enjoyed.
Cal had also rebelled against the strictures of the church. His
parents were devoted Sabbatarians, which caused him much
humiliation. ‘How can ye no’ play fitba’ on a Sunday?’ That
burned deep into a boy who just wanted to fit in. ‘Take pride in
who you are and where you’re from,’ his father had admonished
him. ‘I do. I’m from the city.’ It was a running feud.
His father had given up the crofting, fishing life to which he
was born to come to the mainland and join the police, persuaded
by his wife that the city would give any children they might have
a better start. That’s why Cal’s sloth and arrogance galled him
so, particularly as the boy grew older and bolder and there were
no siblings to make a comparison. ‘You’re no son of mine,’ his
father had cursed more than once. His mother had kept her own
counsel, trying to maintain harmony. Sometimes she would try
to strengthen the bond when they were alone. ‘Your father is
trying to do what he thinks best for you,’ she would say.
Cal remembered these conversations with regret. His mother
had died an early death, when he was only eighteen. It was a
miserable time. Her body had withered before them. She had
been so stoical, confined to a chair and then, finally, to her bed.
Whatever she knew, she never acknowledged to him that she
would not survive. And when the end came, suddenly, he missed
the chance to tell her how much he loved her.
His father became a brooding, impotent presence. They
had rattled about the tenement flat, trying to keep out of each
other’s way. Mary had come down to stay with them for a while,
bringing a warmth and life that helped Cal through his grief.
Mary was light and flighty, so unlike her brother, and he
found fault with everything she did. The tears in her eyes when
she kissed Cal goodbye were the first he’d ever seen from her.
‘You be sure to come and see me,’ she’d implored.
Not long after that, Cal moved into a room in a student flat
and left his father to fester. Even university had been a source
of tension between them. His father thought Cal should aim for
medicine, law, the ministry or teaching and had been appalled
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