Turn the knife

[Quang Hai]

I am reading a short story. Timothy is a gay living with an old man, left behind his old parent. On his birthday, he does not want to go home to see parent but send Eddie - another gay living with him - over to tell parent that he is ill so can not go home. In last 15 years, Timothy has not come back home yet.
Below is what Eddie is thinking after left the Timothy's parent house.


'It was one thing to scarper off, as Timothy had from that house: he’d scarpered himself from Tallaght. To turn the knife was different. Fifteen years later to make your point with rough trade and transparent lies, to lash out venomously: how had they cocked him up, how had they hurt him, to deserve it? All the time when there had been that silence they had gone on eating, as if leaving the food on their plates would be too dramatic a gesture'

I do not fully understand underlined words. Please someone help me out. Many thanks!

[emsr2d2]

Please note that we don't say "Xxxx is a gay". It's seen as somewhat derogatory. You can say "Xxxx" is a gay man/guy/bloke/chap" where "gay" is an adjective, not a noun.

[Tdol]

Turn the knife- deliberately hurt someone more than necessary
Rough trade- casual sex with men that may involve an element of risk- for example approaching strangers in public places

[emsr2d2]

I am reading a short story.

Timothy is a gay man living with an old man - left behind his old parent he has left his aged parents' home. On his birthday, he does not want to go home to see his parents but sends Eddie (another gay man who lives with him) over to tell his parents that he is ill so can not cannot go home. In last 15 years, Timothy has not come back home yet. Timothy has not been home for the last fifteen years.

Below is what Eddie is thinking after he left the Timothy's parents' house.


'It was one thing to scarper off, as Timothy had from that house: he’d scarpered himself from Tallaght. To turn the knife was different. Fifteen years later to make your point with rough trade and transparent lies, to lash out venomously: how had they cocked him up, how had they hurt him, to deserve it? All the time when there had been that silence they had gone on eating, as if leaving the food on their plates would be too dramatic a gesture.'

I do not fully understand the underlined words. Please someone help me out. Many thanks!

Please see my amendments above in red.