Filth

Equal Opportunities

It took me ages to get ready this morning because I couldnae think what to wear. It’s Carole’s fault; if she was going to shoot off, she could at least have arranged a fuckin laundry service before she went. I came close to just wrapping it and leaving it till the afternoon to go in. However, I discover a black pair of fla

I’m glad I made the effort though, because my wee girlfriends are in for questioning. I could fuckin well love this wee yin right doon tae her pores. Thir’s nothing better than a bird wi these wee lips that curl outwards, highlighted by plenty lip gloss. The classiest young fa

There’s a twitching in my fla

– Nuht, she says distractedly. The wee cow’s mind’s on something else. Gus has her mate next door, I’d like to see how he gets on. I’m about to turn up the heat on this cocky wee slag when I remember that Amanda Drummond’s in the same room as us. She’s looking at me, and her nose is twitching. I ignore her. Then she says, – D.S. Robertson, can I have a word?

I leave the room, followed by Drummond. This fuckin case. We’re making no fucking headway. I’ve spent most of the morning interviewing some of the punters who were in the club, but very few people will admit to remember seeing Wurie leave. The doorman, that Mark Wilson fucker, I recognised that cunt straight away, and he must have minded of the boy but he’s no letting on. As wide as Leith Walk, that cunt. Those two lassies, Sylvia Freeman and Estelle Davidson, I got a vibe off, but that was probably just because they were shags rather than because of any information they had. I’ll haul them in again later on. That wee Estelle. Phoah. Mind you, that Sylvia n aw. They can come back. They will come back. When Drummond’s oot the fuckin road.

We’re out in the corridor and there’s a couple of painters splashing cheap institution emulsion on the walls. One of them, I note, is eyeing Drummond’s shapeless, bony arse. – We should finish up here now Bruce. There’s this afternoon’s course, she reminds me. I avert my gaze from the painter to her. One thing I do like about her though: those protruding front teeth which could provide serious fun if they got under your foreskin. No that Drummond would have ever learned how to make best use of them.

– I was trying to forget about that, I tell her. Drummond turns her head away and focuses at some crack on the tiled floor. She’s developing a certain expertise in editing out bad news from the airwaves. Well, there will be fuckin plenty tae edit, I kid you not.

This fuckin daft course. As if I give a Luke and Matt Goss. But I have to comply and we dismiss the slags and head down the ca

– Ah di

– Gie them a chance Robbo, we’ve no even started yet, Clelland says. Clelland says.

Clell’s a wind-up merchant of the first degree. He’s a leathery alcoholic guy with short grey hair and a red face. Jowls like piss-flaps. There’s the desperate incubating stink of stale aftershave off him. It covers a multitude of sins. I know.

– Listen Clell, think ay the years we’ve seen in service. Some silly wee tart goes tae college n gets a degree in fuckin sociology and then does some Daz Coupon Certificate in Perso

That reminds me. I’ve a OTA 1–7 tae fill in for my overtime.

– Aye, says Gus Bain, – Scotland’s a white man’s country. Always has been, always will be. That’s the way ah see it at any rate, and ah’m too long in tooth tae change now, he chuckles cheerfully. A good auld boy Gus.

– Precisely Gus. Ah mind when I took Carole and wee Stacey tae see that Braveheart. How many pakis or spades did ye see in the colours fightin for Scotland? Same wi Rob Roy, same wi The Bruce.

– Aye, says Andy Clelland, – but that’s a long time ago now.

– Precisely. We built this fuckin country. Thir wis nane ay them at Ba

Inside the session, the wee chinky bird, this wee San Yung or whatever they call her, she’s standing up wi that business suit oan and she’s saying: – Right, I wa

She turns and writes a heading on the flipchart: WHAT DOES ‘RACISM’ MEAN TO YOU?

Clell shouts out first: – Discrimination.

The wee chinky burd goes aw hot n focused and eagerly writes it down on the chart.

Gillman steams in, no like the cunt I’m sure: – Conflict, he snaps.

As she’s writin this doon, Clell says, – Might no be conflict. Might be harmony. Gillman ignores him.

Gus Bain says: – You’re thinkin of the hairspray.

I chip in and say: – That girl’s not wearing Harmony hairspray. Everybody has a wee laugh at that, well the boys that are auld enough tae mind ay the ad do. Even Dougie Gillman smiles.

The chinky bird raises her voice and says, – I think . . . is it Andy? Clelland nods, – I think Andy made a valid point here. We in policework tend to be conditioned into seeing a conflict-based society due to the nature of our jobs, but in fact race relations in Britain is characterised much more by harmony than anything else.

– It’s the leading brand of hairspray, I tell her. Nobody laughs this time and I’m feeling isolated, like a daft cunt.

At least the hoor seems upset, which is what it’s all about. She looks directly at me and asks, – What does the term racism mean to you . . . she looks at my name tag, – . . . Bruce?

– It doesn’t mean anything to me. I just treat everyone the same.

Bain claps slowly and emphatically, his eyes glazed and his chin jutting out.

– Okay, very laudable, chinky-girl says, – but do you not recognise racism in others?

– Nup. That’s thaire lookout. You take responsibility for your own behaviour, not other people’s, I tell her. I’m chuffed, that was a good point to make, straight from these cunts’ daft interpersonal skills training jargon. I can see that it almost strikes a chord with this Kitchen Sink’s fucked up way of thinking. Then Amanda Drummond jumps in with, – But surely in our professional role as law enforcement officers, we have to accept responsibility for society’s problems. This is implicit, I would have thought.