"Bullfighting"

"Bullfighting"
by Roddy Doyle

Rating: 7.1



Short story about a middle-aged man who takes a vacation to Spain with three male friends. Donal couldn’t really remember life before the children. There’d been four, but three of them were teen-agers, more or less their own men. Except for the youngest, Peter, who still held Donal’s…

—How do you get vomit out of water?
—Don’t worry about it. We’ll throw in a bucket of chlorine. That should fix it. It’ll eat it or something.
Gerry was sitting beside him.
—All right?
—Grand, said Donal. Thanks.
—No bother.
—A great day, said Donal. Wasn’t it?
—Yeah, said Gerry. Brilliant.
—Brilliant.
He lay there for a while longer, his face on his arm. He felt good—clear. He’d get up in a minute. He might finish the bottle. He was fine.
—Fuckin’ brilliant.
This was living, he thought. This was happiness.♦