As he stared at the meat for a little longer, he noticed there was a small chunk missing from the side of it and heaved.
The chunk was the size of a human mouth.
Hi-ho
When Jason led the skinny lad over, Dean’s face lit up.
George watched the hammer in his hand. Any minute now. But then he slipped it into his back pocket. What the fuck?
Clapping his hands, the loud slap ringing out, Dean then rubbed them together. “Freddie, how ya doing, son?”
The boy stood shivering in the cold.
Grinning, Dean put an arm around his captive. “Okay, Freddie, why are you here?”
The shake got worse. “I… I tried to rob you.”
The tower block walls threw Dean’s loud laugh back at him. “Jesus, Freddie, you’re like a pneumatic fucking drill. Stop shivering, will ya? Seriously though, I appreciate your honesty. You ain’t trying to mug me off by spinning me a yarn. I can work with honesty.” Tilting his head to the side, he stared at the boy. “And did you take anything worth stealing?”
“No. I got more from you when you gave me the Snickers yesterday.”
It looked as rehearsed as a street scam. Dean pulls Freddie from the audience, they claim to have never met and then Freddie tests his wonder product and tells everyone just how amazing it is.
Pulling away from the boy, Dean patted him on the back. “See, you’re better off being with me than against me. I look after my people, don’t I, boys?”
There was a weak chorus of calls that George played no part in.
When the boy looked at Ravi, Dean laughed. “It has to go both ways though.” Grinding his jaw, Dean pointed at the Indian boy. “He’s a cunt. That’s why his card’s marked. Are you a cunt, Freddie?”
Shaking his head, Freddie continued shivering and continued to stare at Ravi.
Hugging himself for warmth, George looked from the boy to Ravi and back again. He then glanced at Dean. If only he knew.
“I’m not sure if you realize it, but you’ve won the star prize by being caught, sunshine.” Fishing his hammer from his back pocket, Dean waved it around as he spoke. “You’ve fallen in with the strongest gang in London.” Pointing the hammer at Freddie, his smile fell from his face. “I should kill you.”
Closing his eyes, George’s stomach tensed. He didn’t need to see any more violence. Then he heard Dean’s lowered voice, “And I’ve been thinking about it all night. But I’ve decided to take you in. We need new blood in the gang.”
Opening one eye, George saw Dean wink at his newest recruit. “We’ll set you straight.”
As Freddie stared on, his face hung loose.
Using his fingers to count, Dean said, “We have food, shelter, water, and women.”
The smile was forced, but Freddie’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Dropping his voice, Dean spoke so only the men could hear, making a point to keep glancing at the caged women. “And you can do anything you want with them.”
George looked at Liz.
Holding his hands out, Dean said, “So, how about it?”
Freddie didn’t respond.
“Come on, son. Do you want in or out?” Leaning close to the boy, Dean’s face dropped. “Out means D-E-A-D, by the way. Do you need me to tell you what that spells?”
Speaking in a febrile voice, Freddie said, “I’m in.” After shaking Dean’s hand, Freddie glared at Ravi.
Ravi looked at the floor.
Drawing him close again with an arm around his shoulder, Dean’s slim frame swamped the skinny lad. “Gents, this is Freddie. Freddie’s been a very silly boy. But he’s ready to change, aren’t you, Freddie?”
When the boy nodded, his eyes were filled with tears.
The kid must have realized he’d just signed a deal with the devil.
As he walked up and down the line of men again, this time with Freddie in his armpit, Dean said, “We’re going looting today, lads.”
Most of the men bristled.
“I’ve found a huge house, and I know there’s someone there. They seem to have a lot worth taking, and the man’s a fat waste of space.” After spitting on the floor, Dean clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Candy from a baby, boys.” He pointed at their vehicles. “Usual teams in the trucks, apart from Freddie. You’re in the cab with me, sunshine.” Pointing at the two men, Dean said “Ginge, Jason, You’re staying here. We need to keep this place guarded at all times.” Dean then walked over to his truck.
Watching Ginge deflate, George nearly offered to take his place. Then he looked at his pickup. There was no way he was letting someone else drive it.
Walking over to his vehicle, Liz watching him the entire way, George got in and started the engine.
The door opened a couple of seconds later, and Ravi slipped in. The waft of his aftershave was as potent as ever.
Scratching his head, Ravi looked at his feet. “Thanks for saving me.”
Watching the other two trucks move off first, George swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. “I did it for your parents.”
It’s Good to Talk
Staring at Liz in the truck in front of them, her dirty, exhausted face pressed against the bars, George gripped the wheel. Holding it until it hurt, he then eased off, waiting for the pain in his knuckles to subside before he squeezed it again.
Although he couldn’t see the layer of grime on his hands, he could feel it against his skin like tight-fitting gloves. The slightest trace of blood still nested around his fingernails.
After a deep inhalation of the aftershave-tainted air, he looked at Ravi. “Mike Osbourne was a kid at our school. Fat kid, glasses, bit of a nerd. No one liked him.”
The pause lasted for a few seconds before Ravi turned to look at George. “Riiiiiiight.”
“He was a horrible little cunt. The kind that sat in the front row and kissed the teacher’s arse. It made him an obvious target for bullies. He’d rat anyone out for anything if it could gain him favor with the teacher.”
There was no reply.
“Anyway, he would get robbed every morning before school. Without fail. It happened so frequently, he brought a decoy wallet in one day. Handing it over, he kept his real one. It worked, but the only problem was how smug he was about it. He proper mugged the kids off to everyone at school. Told anyone who would listen how he got one over on the bullies. The next time he got stopped, they stole his bag as well as his wallet. His school books ended up in the canal.”
“The guy sounds like a loser.”
“He was. A proper cunt. I never bullied him though. I mean, look at me. Even if the kid was my size, which he wasn’t, he wasn’t a fighter. Every time someone punched him, he pissed himself.”
“Someone like that should have been home-schooled.”
“To make things worse, the fat little prick loved Elvis too. Now I know I’m a bit older than you, but Elvis hasn’t been cool for a loooooong time.”
“So what’s your point, George?”
George held a finger up. “I’m getting to that. So, one day, after several years of handing his lunch money over every time he came to school, the fat and obnoxious little prick decided to do something about the bullying. Fuck!”
Adrenaline kicked in, and George twisted the wheel, copying Si’s abrupt movement in front on him. The food in the back slid from one side of the cage to the other with a loud clang. Looking in his rear view mirror, he snarled. “That was a fucking dog. It was dead.” Squinting to see better, he then swallowed the foul taste that rose in his mouth and took a deep breath. “I think it had been cooked.” Looking at the women in front, he thought about the barbecued leg in with them.