"Brookmyre, Christopher - Boiling A Frog" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brookmyre Christopher)

like you're aboot tae fill your breeks. Well, you'll no be roon'
here long.'
Oh Christ, not the suicide routine again, please.
'They'll have you up tae F Hall in nae time, wi' the rest
oТ the lassies. Whit you in fur? Tax was it? Fraud?'
'B and E,' Parlabane said. He wanted it to come out confident and knowing,
but as he'd barely spoken in twenty-four
hours, his voice cracked and it issued in a croaky whisper.
He cleared his throat. 'B and E,' he repeated. It was marginally better
the second time, in as much as he merely
sounded like a nervous wreck, as opposed to a nervous
wreck with a tracheotomy.
'First time at that an' all, I bet. Nae wunner you got
caught.'
Parlabane felt the stirrings of injured pride, but put the
brakes on any defiant response. For one thing, rhyming off
the places he'd broken into without being caught was not the
most discreet course of action in the company of someone
who looked no stranger to a police interview room. But
mainly he was silenced by a sense of disgust at his own
emotions. Christ al-fucking-mighty, what was happening
to him? He had started yesterday vowing that he'd use
all his inner strength to prevent this place from changing
him, yet within less than a day he had already felt an urge
to defend his criminal pedigree.
Don't be a prick, he told himself. At this rate, within a

week he'd be planning his next 'job'. A fortnight and he'd
have a home-made Rangers tattoo.
Scowl scrutinised him again, closer this time, as Parlabane
climbed to the top bunk. The wee man then hopped off his
own bed and stood up to get a better look, placing his
newspaper open on the cell's rickety table.
'Hing on,' he said. 'I ken who you are. I recognise you.
Way to go, Sherlock, Parlabane thought. His face was
only taking up half of one of the dreary tabloid's pages.
'B and E, eh? Well, I just want you tae know, here an'
now, that I'm a Catholic.'
Uh-oh.
'You an Orangeman then, eh?'
Parlabane already knew that this was an argument you
couldn't possibly win. Unfortunately, abstention wasn't an
option either. Ignoring the bloke might be worse.
'I'm an atheist. What happened was nothing to do with-'
Atheist, is it? Sounds like a new name for an Orangeman
tae me. Whit have you got against Catholics, eh? Notice you
werenae breakin' intae any Proddy church heidquarters.'
'I've nothin' against Catholics. I told you, I'm not religious.'
Aye, that's what you say. It aw adds up tae the same thing
as far as I'm concerned. If you're no' wi' us, you're agin us.'