The New Friend

by Alex Kane

  There was no going back now, she thought. The sooner the flight was over, the better.

  * * *

  ‘Oh my god!’

  Roxanne glanced up as she tucked her passport into her bag and had to brace herself as her best friend almost flattened her.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re actually here.’

  Roxanne laughed. ‘Well, I won’t get to see much of the place if you suffocate me before I’ve even left the airport.’

  Charlene laughed and let go. ‘Sorry. I’m just so fucking excited that you’re here. Honestly Rox, you’re going to love it here. It’s sunny all day, every day. The place doesn’t sleep and it’s so easy to get a job. In fact, I have one lined up for you already. You’ll be working in the same place as me.’

  Roxanne smiled and felt like she wanted to cry with relief.

  ‘How was the flight?’ Charlene asked.

  ‘Fucking awful. Felt sick the entire time. And what the fuck is turbulence? I mean seriously, that shit is enough to give you a heart attack,’ Roxanne replied, still feeling jittery.

  Charlene laughed loudly. ‘You’re here, on the ground in one piece. Let’s get out of here.’

  They got into a taxi and Charlene told the driver in Spanish where they were going. Impressed by how quickly her friend had learned the language, Roxanne gave Charlene a playful slap on the arm.

  ‘Get you,’ she said.

  ‘I know. But if we want to stay here, we need to make an effort and learn the lingo, don’t we?’

  Roxanne nodded and looked out of the front window as the taxi pulled away. The sun was already hot and the place had a different smell to it than she was used to. It was hot and sweet, unlike the damp and miserable Glasgow which smelt like rain and car fumes, along with that particularly familiar stench of salt and vinegar from the chippy, laced with strong notes of weed.

  It didn’t take long before the taxi turned off the road away from the tourist hot spots and began to drive them into a more residential area. Roxanne hadn’t known what to expect of the place, but she was intrigued by how white the buildings were, how dry and scorched the grass looked.

  Charlene said something to the driver in Spanish and the taxi stopped. Charlene paid him and they got out, the driver helping Roxanne with her luggage – not that she noticed; she was too busy looking up at the building complex.

  ‘This is it, our home. It’s only a small apartment. The advert said it’s a two-bed, but the second room is so small you can only really fit a bed and a wardrobe in. I hope that’s going to be okay?’ Charlene said.

  Roxanne nodded as she gazed up at the place that she would now call home. Charlene had been living out in Spain for the last six months and had been trying to convince Roxanne to join her. Now that she was standing there, she was glad she’d agreed to it. The only reason it had taken her so long to get out there was because she’d been waiting on her passport to arrive.

  ‘Charlene, I’d happily live anywhere if it meant I wasn’t sharing the same country as my cow of a mother.’

  ‘The bold Mandy still frying your head then?’ Charlene laughed as the taxi pulled away.

  ‘You don’t even want to know, trust me.’

  They walked through the main entrance and got into the lift. The apartment complex stood six stories tall, each with a small balcony or terrace. When they got to the fourth floor, Charlene stepped out of the lift and Roxanne followed. The place seemed immaculate, unlike the building she’d lived in with her mother. For a start, there wasn’t dog shit every few steps. The terracotta tiles were clean, and there was a smell in the air as though they’d just been mopped.

  Charlene stopped outside one of the doors and inserted a key into the lock. She stepped to the side and allowed Roxanne to go inside first. She couldn’t believe that this was where she was going to be living. In an apartment in Majorca with her best friend. It was something she hadn’t dared dream of.

  ‘What do you think?’ Charlene asked.

  ‘I think I died on that plane and went to heaven. Is this really yours?’

  ‘Well, it belongs to the landlord. I just rent it. But it’s home. And it’ll be easier to afford now that you’re here. You don’t have to pay me any rent until you get your first wage, by the way. And the landlord knows you’re staying here so you don’t have to worry about that.’

  Roxanne nodded as she dropped her bag to the floor. She stood in the middle of what she assumed was the living room. It was very different to the one back in Glasgow. No smelly old worn carpet. The same tiles as out in the hallway. Small frames with hand-painted pictures hung on white-washed walls and at the far end of the room the sliding doors led on to a balcony.

  Through to the left of the living room was a small kitchen, and just off that was a bathroom with a shower. On the opposite side of the living room were the two bedrooms, the smallest of which was Roxanne’s.

  ‘You like it, then?’ Charlene asked.

  ‘Already feel at home,’ Roxanne replied, pulling off her denim jacket and allowing it to fall onto the couch. ‘What’s it like, living here? Is it quiet?’

  ‘It is, thankfully. I get enough noise at work every night, the last thing I want is to be surrounded by noise and parties after a shift.’

  Roxanne smiled. She was hoping that Charlene would say that. That was another thing she hated about living with her mother. She was always inviting people back to the flat after the pub, mostly men. There were always noisy, drunken idiots banging around while Roxanne was trying to sleep. Her mother never gave a shit about Roxanne or what she wanted. All she cared about was getting dig money off her so she could piss it against a wall.

  Roxanne took her case into the small bedroom that she would now call her own and began to unpack. She could just about fit her things in the wardrobe and was able to slide the case under the double bed. Looking at it, she wondered if she could class it as a double but she didn’t care if she slept on a mattress on the floor; it was hers and that was all that mattered.

  ‘Right, lady, you ready for your first night out in Magaluf before you need to start work?’ Charlene asked, dangling a bottle of vodka in front of Roxanne’s face.

  ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

  Roxanne and Charlene sat down on the sofa and poured themselves a generous measure of vodka, topping it up with Coke.

  ‘Not only is this the best place to be living right now, but I’ve met a guy out here too,’ Charlene said.

  ‘Oh?’ Roxanne teased. ‘And from the look on your face, can I assume you’re smitten?’

  ‘It’s early days, but yeah, I really, really like him.’ Charlene’s smile widened and Roxanne couldn’t help but mirror it.

  ‘So, here’s to us, living it up in Magaluf,’ Charlene said. ‘Here’s to fun, making new friends and having a fucking shit-hot time.’

  Roxanne clinked her glass against her friend’s and smiled. ‘I’ll drink to that.’

  Chapter Three

  He stood by the door and watched his big brother struggle downstairs with his suitcase. Brian was getting to disappear from the shit hole where they lived and he was leaving Cole behind.

  Staring up at Brian through narrowed eyes, he wished he could climb into that case and go with him. But Brian only had enough money for one ticket. Not only that. Cole was sure that his twenty-three-year-old brother wouldn’t want his younger sibling following him to a job.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that, Cole. If I could take you with me, I would. You know I would, mate. But you’re only fifteen.’

  ‘Why can’t you take me? I don’t get it,’ Cole whined. ‘You could be my responsible adult.’

  ‘You know what Mum’s like. There’s no way she’s gonna let you out her sight after you smashed that shop window last week. You ain’t even allowed out the door, never mind out the country.’

  Cole smiled at the memory of putting the brick through the old cow’s shop window. That’s what she got for accusing him of stealing from her stu
pid shop.

  ‘You’re lucky the police haven’t come and taken you away,’ Brian said as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘The old bill ain’t gonna touch me. I’m just a kid,’ Cole laughed.

  ‘Yeah, well if you go through life with that attitude, you ain’t gonna get very far.’

  Brian ruffled Cole’s hair and Cole tried to pretend that it wasn’t killing him that his brother was leaving. He wanted to be just like him. He was handsome, always had a girl on the go and always said that one day, he’d own his own building company. He’d promised that when Cole was old enough, he’d train him up and get him off the streets of London. Being part of a gang wasn’t what Cole should strive for in life.

  ‘How long you gonna be gone?’ Cole asked, pulling away from Brian’s hand and fixing his hair.

  ‘Dunno, mate. But I’ll phone you every night, make sure you’re behaving yourself. And as soon as you’re old enough, I’ll take you with me on every job. I promise.’

  Cole nodded, but was sulking. He was annoyed there was such an age gap between him and Brian but there was nothing he could do about it.

  ‘Now,’ Brian said as he opened the front door. ‘Say bye to Mum for me. And don’t go trying to steal my girl when I’m gone.’

  Cole laughed. ‘She probably fancies me more than you anyway.’

  Brian playfully punched Cole before dragging the case out to the street and climbing into the taxi. He waved his hand out of the window and Cole waved back until he couldn’t see him anymore.

  Chapter Four

  ‘I have to say, Jez, I have never known anyone to pick up the job as quickly as you. Tell me, did you come out here with the idea of never returning home?’

  Jez smiled and shook his boss’s hand. Three weeks, and from the first night he’d been working in Rafa’s Bar. What had been planned as a boy’s holiday had turned into a career opportunity almost as soon as he found the bar in the resort they’d booked to stay in.

  Jez thought about his life back in Glasgow and shook his head. ‘No, I just love it here and I’m young enough that I can give it a go.’

  Rafa looked at Jez and it was obvious he knew that Jez wasn’t being fully honest. But Jez wasn’t about to tell his boss about the crap back in Glasgow. How he had left trouble back home and had no intention of going back to face it. He had no family there anymore, so there was less chance he would ever have to.

  ‘Well, keep up the good work, Jez. If you do, you might go far in this business.’

  Jez wanted that to be true. He could imagine himself living his life out in Spain. It would be like one big holiday, but he would be working to earn his living.

  Jez headed back out to the bar and stood back, happy to have a permanent job there. He’d told the boys that he was planning on staying, but they hadn’t believed him except for Billy. Marty and Stevo just laughed it off and stuck more coke up their noses.

  ‘So, it’s official,’ Jez said as Billy approached the bar. ‘I’m staying.’

  ‘He offered you permanent work?’ Billy asked.

  ‘Aye. Looks like Scotland is a distant memory now.’

  ‘Well, I’ll drink to that. Congratulations mate, fucking brilliant.’

  Jez poured them both a holiday measure of Jack Daniel’s and Coke and they drank quickly. Jez wouldn’t miss Scotland one bit. It had only ever brought him problems.

  ‘Where’s Marty and Stevo?’ Jez asked.

  ‘Where do you think they are?’

  ‘They’re at the strippers again? Filthy fuckers,’ Jez laughed.

  ‘Aye, they said that they wanted to see as much tits and arse as they could before heading back to Glasgow. Now, this is a direct quote, “the burds in Glesga are bogging compared to the wee Spanish hotties out here.”’

  Jez laughed harder this time. ‘Do you think they realise that the girls in the strippers here are mainly British?’

  ‘Are you kidding? With the amount of booze and drugs they’ve had since we got here three weeks ago, I’m surprised they can even see. I’m telling you, they’ll end up like the rest of the jakeys in the scheme if they don’t watch what they’re doing. The end of Marty’s nose is already glowing red and he’s only fucking twenty. And Stevo’s permanently sniffing as though his nose is on the hunt for a line every second of the day.’

  Billy sat down on a bar stool and leaned on the surface of the bar. Jez could see that he was mulling over what he was going to do when he got back to Scotland. He had a decision to make about his life and he still hadn’t spoken about it even though Jez knew about it all. Jez knew Billy better than he knew himself most of the time and even though Jez didn’t agree with the choices that Billy was making about his career, he still respected him. Billy had a life-changing opportunity and if he decided to go for it, it would mean that their lives would take very different paths. Jez would be living it up in Spain and Billy would be up to his neck in his work back in Glasgow, so their friendship was likely to take a back seat, diminish over time. It was something they’d both silently accepted. Billy would likely distance himself from Marty and Stevo. He’d have to if he was going to make a go of a decent future.

  ‘You cool over there?’ Jez asked as he watched Billy stare into space.

  ‘Aye, just thinking.’

  The bar was quiet tonight, only a few people in and out. It was the start of the season, so things would pick up soon, according to Rafa.

  As soon as the boys had arrived in Majorca, Jez had seen the advertisement taped to the door of the bar. Barman wanted. There was no thinking involved; Jez had simply gone inside, asked to see the owner and within thirty minutes he had the offer of a trial shift. At the end of that first night, Rafa offered him a permanent job. And that was when Jez had decided that he was definitely not using his return ticket to Glasgow. Getting a job while on holiday was the perfect solution to starting his life over, although it meant he hadn’t really been able to spend any time with the boys. But if he wanted to get a head start on his plan then that meant making the sacrifice. The strange thing was, he didn’t feel like he’d missed out on the carnage of a boys’ holiday. It was all part of the bigger picture.

  ‘Thinking about what? Whether or not to go to that college? You got in, didn’t you?’ Jez asked, pretending not to know much more than that, while keeping his eye on the door for more punters to arrive.

  ‘Aye, I got in. Got through the interview stages and everything. I didn’t think I’d manage it. But somehow I did.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’ Jez poured Billy a pint and passed it across the bar before sliding some of his own money into the till.

  ‘Och, I don’t know. I mean, is it really me? Will that life suit me?’

  ‘You’re only asking that because it’s real now. You’ve got a start date. This will probably be the last boys’ holiday you’ll have. And if I’m staying out here to do my thing, then we’ll not be seeing each other as much. It’s the end of an era, mate. We’ve been mates since the beginning of primary school, Billy, it’ll be hard to adjust without my brother by my side. But that doesn’t mean you can’t come out here when you’ve got time off. Just don’t bring those two twats with you, eh? They’ll try to shag every stripper on the fucking island.’

  Billy laughed and Jez smiled. That had been his intention. As much as he agreed with Billy that the life he’d chosen for his future didn’t suit him, he wasn’t about to voice his opinion and alter his mate’s choice. It wasn’t his future to change.

  A few hours had gone by; Jez had been serving a few punters as they came and went. But there was one guy at the end of the bar. He’d been there all night by himself, drowning his sorrows by the looks of it, Jez thought. He’d noticed Billy talking to him a few times. Two guys at a bar by themselves, why not? But Jez saw that something wasn’t right. A look on the guy’s face, a glint in his eye. He looked like the typical trouble-maker, always wanting to stir shit up after a few drinks.

  As Jez was about to take
his break, he saw Billy heading outside for a cigarette. After a few moments, the other guy went outside too. Jez decided to keep an eye on things as soon as he’d finished cleaning the tables ready for the next group of drinkers to come in. Quickly clearing away the glasses, he stacked them inside the dishwasher under the counter and grabbed his cigarettes from his pocket before heading out to the back to join Billy.

  Opening the door, he heard the unmistakable crunching sound of fist meeting face.

  He flung the door wide, rushed out to the concrete at the back of the bar and found Billy acting in a way he’d never seen before. Jez had always been the more aggressive and violent of the two, but here Billy was, stamping on this guy’s head. The sound of bones cracking under the force made even Jez wince.

  ‘Jesus, what the hell are you doing?’ Jez said, launching himself at Billy and dragging him off the guy. ‘You’ll kill him.’

  But Billy wasn’t aware of Jez’s presence. He was in a daze, far away in another place like he was having an out of body experience. Jez shook him, gripping his shoulders as hard as he could. Billy glared down at the body which lay perfectly still on the ground and then back up at Jez. His eyes slowly filled with terror.

  ‘Is he…? Is he dead?’

  Struck with horror, Billy stood as though paralysed, before Jez gave him a sharp shove.

  ‘Go. Now.’

  Turning, Billy left, running up the hill and along the back streets of the main drag. Jez hoped that Billy would be covered by the darkness of the night – that they both would.

  Jez looked down at the body, the face a mash of blood and more blood. Unrecognisable. He shook his head, wondering what in the fuck had possessed Billy to do this. Right now, Jez couldn’t think about that though; he had to get rid of the body before Rafa saw it. Before anyone saw it.

  Glaring at the large bins lined against the wall, Jez had an idea. Rafa had recently had new carpet laid in the office. The old one was sitting up against the wall. Glancing back at the lad on the ground, Jez bent down and listened for breath. Of course he was dead; Billy had stamped all over his brain. Jesus, what a mess, Jez thought, although to be fair, this wasn’t the first body Jez had had to deal with and he was now a little desensitized to it.