Sentence:  No doubt he, like me, had been buoying himself up for years with the thought that we should never meet again and that, whatever <WSD>brickbats</WSD> life might have in store for him, he had at least got Bertram out of his system. A nasty jar it must have been for the poor bloke having me suddenly pop up from a trap like this. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A piece of brick used as a weapon, especially if thrown, or placed in something like a sock and used as a club.