The car keys were in his pocket. They hadn't fallen out while he was fucking Alice. He went out of the front door and got in the car. He drove out onto the road, holding the bottle in one hand, and drank as much as he could without choking.

The day was hot and sunny; it didn't know what had happened. You'd think the sky would be black and stormy once you'd had your stepmother on a Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't. It was high and blue and empty. The road was twisting and Lewis drank some more and then put the bottle between his legs to steer better. He went fast and couldn't feel the gin at all, and thought that if he could kill himself driving it would be a good thing.