Stone cold

By Robert Swindells
Extract A4

5My fascinating life, Yes.

Born March 20th,1977, in Bradford, Yorkshire to Mr & Mrs X. We are a family, you
know – as happy as most, till Dad ran off with a receptionist in 1991, when I was
fourteen and at the local comp. this mucked up my school work for quite a while,
but that´s not why I ended up like this. No. Vincent´s to blame for that. Good old
10Vince. Mum´s boyfriend. You should see him. I mean, Mum´s no kylie Minogue –
but Vincent. He´s about fifty for a start, and he´s one of these old dudes that wear
cool gear and try to act young and it doesn´t work because they´ve got grey hair
and fat bellies and they just make themselves pathetic. And as if that´s not enough.
Vince likes his ale. I suppose Dad must´ve been a bit a bastard in his way, but at
15least he wasn´t a boozer. You should see the Vincent´s in when he and Mum come
home from the club. He´s got this very loud laugh - laughing at nothing, if you know
what I mean – and he stands there with his arm round Mum, slurring his words as
he tells me to call him Dad. I wouldn´t call that fat pillock Dad if he was the last guy
on earth. And the one thing that really bugs me is the way he leers at Mum and
20comes out with this suggestive stuff about going to bed and rounding off a decent
night. In all the years Dad was with us, I never once knew him to mention sex in my
hearing, or even hint at it. This slob leers and winks and nudges with eye on me to
see how I´m taking it, and Mum just laughs and shoves him and says ooh, you are
a one. It makes me puke.

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Possible questions:

1. Would you get along with your stepfather if you had one? (Part 2)
2. Do you think that Vince was a good influence for Link? (Part 2)
3. Why would Link prefer his father than Vince? (Part 2)
35 4. Why doesn’t Link’s mother say anything about Vincent’s behavior? (Part 2)
5. If you were a stepfather/stepmother, how would you behave? (Part 2)
6. What does the word “father” mean to you? (Part 2)
7. What do you think is essential for families to work well? (Part 2)
8. Why do you think Vince didn’t act his age? (Part 2)
40 9. In terms of social organization. What values should a family teach their
children? (Part3)
10. If we talk about the identities theme. How are family customs and values
affected by the arrival of a stepparent? (Part 3)
11. What is the most important theme developed in this extract? (Part 3)
45 12. You mentioned several issues… (experiences) What’s your opinion about
adopting new customs and values? (Part 3)
13. In terms of identities. What things would change in your lifestyle if you got a
stepfather/stepmother and stepsiblings? (Part3)
14. In terms of social organization. What about the families in your
50 community? Are they similar or different to Link’s? (Part3)