Lessons In Blood

by Quentin Black

  He smiled at the lithe barmaid. “Can I get a Tom Collins, Rum and Coke, and Budweiser please?”

  She busied herself making the drinks. When she looked at him, he said, “Do I come here often?”

  She laughed. “Well that’s a new one.”

  “For you maybe. The other barmaid is going to hear it next time.”

  “I don’t think she’d get it,” she replied tilting her head.

  “Already attempting to put me off her so you can have me to yourself.”

  She smirked. “Well, I’ll see which of these drinks are for you first.” She put the Tom Collins on the bar.

  “Why? So you can spike it? Then I’ll end up naked on your sofa covered in Marmite?”

  She smiled and frowned simultaneously. “How did you know I love Marmite?”

  He was about to reply when he caught a movement in his peripheral vision. He turned to see seven well-built, smartly dressed men walking briskly towards the stairs leading to the balcony where Louis and his cousin sat. When three of them broke off to take the stairs on the farther side, Connor knew what they were there for—they were going to pincer the pair.

  He screamed for the former marine’s ears, “Contact left and right!”

  Louis bolted out of his seat immediately mirrored by Tom. Connor snatched the cocktail off the bar and ran to the stairs. As he did so, he thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out his Kubotan disguised as a lighter—a present from Jamie.

  One of the heavies stood at the top of the stairs barring his way. He hunched like a gorilla preparing to attack. Connor threw the now almost empty glass at his face. A pair of hulking arms barricaded its path. It was enough.

  Connor’s Kubotan assisted fist smashed into the ape’s temple, collapsing him before he tumbled down the stairs.

  Connor surveyed the scene of Louis and Tom fighting the six men. He knew that this was going to hurt—body and head. Stick your chin on your chest.

  He threw himself into the affray. He ducked a wild punch then smashed a left hook to the body, right to the body and a left uppercut to the point of the jaw. His target fell backwards, just as Connor caught a punch on the top of the forehead which sent a ringing into his ears. He tightened his guard, ducked and weaved through the storm of blows.

  He saw his opening and took it by cannoning his forehead into his attacker’s face. His right hand-left hook combination spun the attacker into a heap on the floor.

  Connor turned in search of other targets only to find bodies strewn all over the balcony floor. Tom and Louis remained upright.

  Louis looked barely dishevelled. Blood splattering decorated Tom’s cream shirt, some of it from the laceration under his eye. He was tucking a bloodied knuckle duster back into his pocket.

  They turned as a team of five doormen came and stopped six feet from them. The one in the centre said, “You’ll have to leave lads.”

  Connor realised that they had been paid off to allow the attempted beating to happen. None could keep the nerves off their faces. Thank fuck for SIA licensing— thought Connor—or they might have been here to finish the job.

  “We’ll go. But none of you are laying a hand on us,” Connor said.

  The doorman seemed relieved, then answered, “Alright. Can we at least walk behind you, so that—”

  “No. You walk in front of us.”

  Connor saw the conflict in his eyes before they settled on resignation. “Alright.”

  “Have you called it in yet?” said Connor, thinking of his cousin’s knuckle-duster.

  “Not yet.”

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  Connor looked over the balcony and caught sight of a few phones pointing in their direction. He briefly thought of setting off the marble-like EMP device that Jamie had sent him, for occasions such as this. Then he thought against it—I am meant to be a gangster. That’s the cover. Let everyone know.

  As Louis, Connor and Tom made their way down and through the throng of staring customers, Connor made the connections in his head. The gang had gone straight for either Louis or Tom—they had ignored him. He didn’t think his cousin had the type of enemies who could or would pay off the door team of one of Manchester’s most popular nightclubs and send in a seven-man team.

  However, Louis did have an enemy like that. And as they broke onto the street into the crisp night air, Connor was already thinking of how to deal with Adam Lloyd.

  The End

  GLOSSARY

  Actions on— Pre-determined procedures that are to be carried out if certain events were to occur during the mission.

  Backblast— A cone-shaped danger area behind a claymore, rocket launcher, rocket-assisted take-off unit or recoilless rifle, where hot gases are expelled upon the discharging of the rocket or rifle.

  Members of the Royal Marines and British Infantry also use the phrase to warn one another to either cease or switch the conversation, as a person(s) who they do not wish to hear or comes within earshot.

  Baggamanz— London street slang for ‘a lot’.

  Bag-off— Royal Marine term for sex.

  Bag rat— Food (ration) in a brown paper bag given to military personnel for days on the ranges or long coach trips amongst other scenarios. They usually consist of a packet of crisps, chocolate bar, soft drink, water and a buttered baguette which may or may not have a filling.

  Ballied up— Wearing balaclavas.

  Bluegrass— What Kentucky natives refer to their State as.

  Bray— Northern England slang for ‘beat up.’

  Bridging—A move used in wrestling and other grappling and ground fighting sports, often combined with a twisting motion, to dislodge or flip an opponent who has established a position on top. The bridge is also a common exercise position.

  Buttoned up the back— A fool, i.e. “Am no buttoned up the back” is Scottish slang for “I am not a fool.”

  Chad— Royal Marine slang for corny. Can be divided into good chad or bad chad.

  Check— to block with the shin.

  Cock— Northern England form of address for a person. Another Northern England usage of the term is for the boy (or person) considered the best fighter in the school, i.e. ‘Joe Bloggs is the ‘cock’ of our school.’

  Crow— British Army term for an inexperienced soldier.

  Cross-facing— In wrestling, it’s driving one’s forearm across the opponents face to disturb their grip on you or to control position. In Brazilian Jiujitsu, the cross-face refers to the use of shoulder pressure against the opponent’s face to inhibit their movement.

  Dexter— A Television series revolving around the fictional Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician specialising in blood spatter pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting murderers who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system.

  EMP— Electro-magnetic pulse capable of disrupting electronic equipment.

  Essence— Royal Marine term for ‘gorgeous’.

  Escort magazine— British adult men’s magazine.

  Fatal Funnel— The cone-shaped path leading from the entry where the assaulter is most vulnerable to defenders inside the room. Also referred to as the ‘murder hole’.

  (to) Flap— to panic in the face of adversity.

  Flow sparring— A method of mixed martial arts sparring that combines hard wrestling and grappling with strikes to the head being purposefully light. Developed due to the widely held belief that hard blows to the head can shorten an athlete’s fighting career.

  Fud— Scottish insult meaning vagina, e.g. “Away with ya, ya wee fud.”

  Gen?— British military term for, “Are you being genuine?”

  Gora— A derisive term British Asians use to refer to white males.

  (A) Gypsies warning (or gypsies)— A warning to proceed with caution in respect of their current conduct or attitude.

  Hammer pair— Two shots fired with rapid succession using only one s
ight picture. A controlled pair uses one sight picture per shot.

  Hench— slang for muscular.

  Hooks In— is a term in grappling martial arts that generally refers to the use of careful positioning of a practitioner’s feet and legs to control and manipulate the movement or position of their opponent.

  IBT— Initiative Based Tactics.

  I-com chatter—The enemy’s talk over radio communication.

  Judoka— Judo practitioner.

  Kubotan— is a genericized trademark for a self-defence weapon developed by Sōke Takayuki Kubota in the late 1960s. It is typically no more than 5.5 inches (14 centimetres) long and about half an inch (1.25 centimetres) in diameter, slightly thicker or the same size as a marker pen. The material is usually made of hard high-impact plastic.

  K1— is a kickboxing platform and martial arts brand well-known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights. The letter K in K-1 is officially designated as a representation of words karate, kickboxing and kung fu.

  Lekker— (Pronounced lek-uh) widely used South African English term indicating that something is ‘great’ or ‘nice’.

  Mandy Powder— MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)—a synthetic drug— in powder form.

  Malcoms—Street slang for ecstasy tablets, as in ‘Malcolm Xs’.

  Matelot— A term for ‘Sailor’.

  Moomins— Central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson. They are a family of white, round fairy tale characters with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses.

  Murtaghe— Character played by Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon film series.

  Muggings— Someone who is lumbered with thankless tasks, usually used about oneself and followed by ‘here’.

  (The) Net— Radio communication network

  Omoplata— A shoulder joint lock technique which utilises the attacker’s legs and hips to manipulate the opponent’s shoulder joint to the extent that the joint reaches its maximal degree of motion. This can lead to a submission or force a reversal (sweep).

  Para— Slang for ‘paranoid’ or a member of the Parachute Regiment.

  Pareto (Vilfredo)— An Italian economist most famous for noting that eighty percent of the effects came from twenty percent of the causes—known as Pareto’s principle or the 80/20 rule.

  Pegging— A sexual practice in which a woman penetrates a man’s anus with a strap-on dildo.

  Picked up— Reprimanded, e.g. “The Sergeant-Major picked me up for my haircut.”

  R&R— Rest and recuperation. The British military splice standard six-month tours with a period of around two weeks in which service personnel are sent home.

  Royally, royally— Before the advent of mass social media, all manner of socially unacceptable shenanigans that went on within the social fabric of Royal Marines would be excused amongst the ranks as just being ‘Royally, royally’.

  Rozzers— A slang term for Police.

  SAD— An acronym for the CIA’s Special Activities Division, responsible for the Agency’s more sensitive covert operations.

  Saffa— A person born and raised in South Africa.

  Selection— The process to become a member of UK special forces is called Selection.

  Senpai— Japanese word broadly meaning ‘teacher’ or ‘master’.

  Skelp— Scottish slang for ‘strike.’

  Slicing the pie— A military and law enforcement tactic prior to room entry. Stepping around the apex corner of the room in segments to identify threats while minimalising one’s exposure.

  Shrimping (hip escaping)—The act of moving the pelvis away from an opponent attempting to control the position from above.

  SIA—Security Industry Authority is the statutory organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK. Certain criminal offences can prohibit the obtaining or keeping an SIA license needed to work in the industry legally. As a result, doormen now restrain antagonists rather than subdue them with fists. This has led—generically—to a different ‘type’ of man ‘working the doors.’

  Six Nations— An annual international rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

  Splinter Cell— Award-winning stealth video game.

  Spoof— A guessing game involving coins. Each player draws some number of coins between zero and three from their pocket and holds them concealed within a clenched hand.

  Sprawl— A defensive technique to single or double leg takedown attempts. Performed by scooting the legs backwards.

  ‘Still Game’— A long-running Scottish sitcom, set in the fictional area of Craiglang in Glasgow.

  Television X— A series of adult pornography channels.

  ‘terps— Interpreters.

  Three-to-one rule— British military doctrine dictates that the ideal ambusher to enemy ratio is three to one.

  Top cover— Combat aeroplanes flying at high altitude to protect from air attack a military force especially from other planes flying at a lower altitude. The term is also, more commonly, used to describe a protective hierarchy which breeds a confidence in the ranks beneath it.

  Tren(-train)— Trenbolone is considered the most potent anabolic steroid by many performance enhancing athletes, along with the most adverse side effects. To go on the ‘tren-train’ is to start a course of Trenbolone.

  Trouser twists— Made out of elastic fray resistant material, and used to tuck in the bottoms of military service trousers.

  Turbo Mong— A name for one severely lacking in intelligence.

  Turn to— British military term meaning ‘to present oneself at a location’ e.g. “Turn to at company lines for inspection at 06.30.”

  Wheesht— Scottish term for “be quiet.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Quentin Black is a former Royal Marine corporal with a decade of service in the Corps. This includes an operational tour of Afghanistan and an advisory mission in Iraq.

  Other books by Quentin Black.

  The Bootneck.