Snookered

Pam Martin-Lawrence


‘You up for it? Loser buys the chips on the way home.’ Micky’s turquoise eyes crackle, head cocked towards the table challengingly.

‘Rack ‘em up!’ Fighting talk – all mouth and trousers, me.

I pretend to know which cue to choose.

‘You break.’

Well, at least the baize is intact. Smirking, dimple pronounced, my secret-crush-best-mate reaches for the cue.

‘Come ‘ere, champ.’

Scooching close, arms draped around me, hands covering mine he mimes the motion.

‘Let her rip!’

Ball stutters forward, rolls into a red, stops dead.

‘And that’, breathily whispered against my ear, ‘was our first kiss.’

Pam Martin-Lawrence is a neurodivergent writer living on a small English island with collections of emotional support plants, ‘book boyfriends’ and a long-suffering partner. While writing her second novel she writes poetry and short fiction for relaxation, some of which have appeared in publications including Passionfruit Review, Southern Gothic Creations, Macrame Lit. J. Flights e-Journal, Coin-Operated Zines, a MockingOwl Roost anthology, KissMet Quarterly, SunSpot Literature (Rigel anthology), litl journal on Instagram, Bunker Squirrel magazine, and is a contributor to Micromance. She is the author of ‘The Tale of a Dragon’ (Alien Buddha Press 2024). Chocolate is her kryptonite.