Sevens

'Sevens' covers four days in the life of William Barnes, a respected 43-year-old ecological consultant in Hong Kong. Barnes' Chinese wife Eva is in remand prison, suspected of collusion in the murder of her boss, a Chinese businessman, and he has been left looking after their two young children. He is depressed and guilty about agreeing to attend a school reunion and then the weekend Hong Kong Rugby 7s tournament. He is trying hard to keep his wife's predicament a secret from his children and his friends. His new job at Carterton Environmental, which he has had to take to compensate for his wife's loss of income, is testing his professional integrity to the limit. At the school reunion, he revisits the scene of a dreadful event from his childhood, his involvement in which has remained a secret for almost thirty years. This is followed by a troublesome afternoon in the office. The next day, Saturday, Barnes discovers that there has been a development in connection with Eva's case. He proceeds to the Hong Kong Stadium, feeling troubled. He drinks heavily, broods on his life, and gets involved in a scuffle, before fleeing the stadium in the company of Mark, an old school friend. Later, he receives even more unsettling news about Eva's case. His response is to drink even more heavily, at a cocktail party in Central for his old school alumni, with potentially disastrous consequences. As Sunday arrives, Barnes feels that he has reached a nadir in his life and it is time to start climbing out of the pit. But how can he?