by Ian Woodhead
MANDIBLE
Ian Woodhead
www.severedpress.com
Copyright 2019 by Ian Woodhead
CHAPTER ONE
The First Warning
The moment that Ellis Patterson set foot in the Bombay Diner, her shoulders, laden with the stress of what had happened that morning, just floated away. She believed that the tantalising scent of hot tandoori spice-coated chicken breast, coupled with the strong smell emanating from the ever present rotating donner kebab spit might have something to do with it. That beaming smile belonging to Aroon Khan, the owner's only son probably helped a little.
“And suddenly, the whole world has become a joy to behold!”
“Hi, Aroon,” she replied. “Just the whole world?” For the first time since the dining room incident, that morning, Ellis felt her lips moving in an upwards direction. If did feel good to smile, even if it was solely because this idiot was trying it on with her, as per usual.
“If you want more than the world, lovely lady, then you are going to have to work for it!” He leaned over the counter. “How about a quick kiss? You know, just to seal the marriage proposal that I'm someday going to give you.”
“I'll have two onion bhajiis, a couple of chicken pakoras and a portion of chips.”
“My dad's framing the doorway, isn't he?”
She gave him a single but sly nod.
“That'll be four fifty please.”
Ellis paid with her phone, so doing her best not to giggle. Mr Romeo had almost been caught yet again. His dad had warned him a couple of times not to try it on with the female customers. She made her way to her usual table, grateful to see that the greasy black haired teen previously occupying it when she walked in, had already gone.
She sat down, making sure not to choose the bright red, hard plastic seat which greaseball had used. As Aroon was doing his best to look professional while he prepared her food under the watchful eye of his father, she decided to observe the local wildlife instead. Ellis casually tapped her fingers against the table surface while listening to two elderly women comment over the lack of places in the market where you could get a decent cup of tea any more.
Ellis hadn't asked for a drink. She hated tea but she'd need a coke after scoffing all that spicy food, that's for sure. That could wait. There was a stall in the market, just three rows up where they sold three cans for a quid. That would do her. The other two would go in her backpack for later on.
For a Saturday lunchtime, the largest market in Bradfield was packed out. Normally, this place wasn't that busy, even on a weekend. Thanks to the new shopping centre, they had built at the bottom of the city centre last year, the market trade had lessened considerably. Why travel all the way up Darlygate to reach some market that should have been demolished years ago when you can go into the new mall, right next to the bus and train terminal? The new shopping mall even had a Taco Bell!
Unlike most teenagers her age, Ellis didn't care for the overpriced clothing shops, bland food outlets and the shops packed with overpriced pointless junk. She preferred her shopping experience to be on a more personal level. As well as a lot sodding cheaper.
Those two old ladies had wandered off. She wished them good luck in finding a café in here which served decent tea. She knew why it seemed half the city was in here today. Hell, everybody knew. The council had closed most of the bottom part of town because of the recent bout of mini earthquakes. Ellis idly traced her finger through a coke juice puddle while watching Aroon approach her table. The smile had left his mouth but those lovely, large brown eyes still retained that cheeky sparkle.
Earthquakes in Bradfield, how weird was that? How on earth could some crappy city in the north of England possibly suffer from a series of earthquakes? It sounded too ridiculous to be true but they had happened. During the last tremor which caused the council and the authorities to finally take some action, no matter how pointless, some poor mother lost her pushchair and her six month old son into a deep crevice which opened up right under her feet. A bunch of burly firemen had been able to pull the kid to safety but the resulting TV exposure had made certain people, high up, try to do something about it.
“There you go, enjoy your meal.” He placed the food on the pale blue, plastic counter and turned around.
“Aroon,” she glanced over at the counter and saw his father serving a couple of Asian girls. It didn't surprise her to see those two old ladies were back, standing outside and studying the menu. “Do you think you could fetch a cloth? That dirty sod before me spilled his drink all over the table, it's a right mess.”
He grinned. “Sure, won't be a mo.”
She took a bite from one of the pakoras and watched another couple of kids join the queue. She was sure that Aroon's dad would be glad of the custom but she wasn't too keen. Ellis came here specifically because at this time, she normally had the place to herself. She also would have preferred to spend a bit more time letting Aroon chat her up and after today, Ellis needed all the buttering up she could get.
It looked like the two old ladies weren't interested in the goodies they had to offer in here after all. Aroon came back, his right hand holding a yellow cloth. She moved over to the wall while he briskly cleaned up the spilled coke. “Are you okay, Aroon? You don't seem your usual self.”
He shrugged. “Oh, you know, the usual family bullshit, nothing much different.”
“You mean your dad still isn't too keen on you opening your own restaurant?” The brief glimpse of pain she saw across his features told her she'd hit the jackpot.
“Yeah. He still doesn't think I'm old enough. Do you know what he said to me last night? He told me that if I had any hopes of opening my own business, I needed to go work with my cousin in his take-away in Burnley for a few months, just to find out exactly what hard work really is.” Aroon quickly looked up. “Like I don't know what hard work is? I practically do everything in here while he sits in the back, playing stupid games on his phone and drinking mango lassi.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. Look, Dad is off to the cash and carry in a few minutes. Eat your food nice and slow, okay?” He pushed the cloth into his back pocket. “There you go, madam. Your table is clean again. It couldn't be cleaner if I had used my own tears.” Aroon smiled softly. “Tears I lose nightly due to you continuing to deny our love.”
“Seriously,” she said, chuckling. “Go on, bugger off with you!” Ellis waited for him to get back around the counter and start to serve the group of kids before returning to her food. She picked up one of the bhajis and took a large bite, while watching one the those kids, a ginger-haired boy, a couple of years younger than her, take out his phone and start frantically jabbing his finger against the screen. Judging from his expression, it looked like the kid had thought his whole world had come to an end. Knowing the generation coming up behind her, that could be anything from someone on his Facebook list lagging off his last post or someone sending him a doctored Snapchat photo of his mum.
Ellis took her eyes off the kid's traumatised expression as it was depressing the hell out of her. Right now, she needed goodness in her life. The only thing which came even close to supplying a much-needed injection of happiness was the food in front of her. The chips helped to offset the tongue-tingling sensation caused by the spicy snacks. Ellis found the right ratio of three chips to every bite of bhaji or pakora, while allowing herself to zone out to avoid dwelling on the incident involving her mum and dad a few hours ago.
One of the kids cried out while simultaneously discovering her table vibrating. It wasn't just the table. The chairs were moving too. One of the lads grabbed the edge of the counter while his mate, the ginger kid, held his phone up in the air. Christ on a bike, he was filming it! As quickly as it started, the tremors st
opped. She looked down to find one of her bhajis had fallen on the floor. “Just marvellous,” she muttered.
Both Aroon and his dad had run out from behind the counter, picking up fallen chairs, reassuring their customers as well as doing their hardest to laugh it off. They weren't the only ones in the diner who were trying to see the funny side of it. Ellis heard one of the lads tell the ginger kid that the milkman was asking his mum right now if the earth moved for her. This crap insult earned the other kid a punch in the shoulder.
Two more customers rushed out, a young woman and a middle-aged man, both with their phones glued to their ears. She had no intention of leaving, not until she ate the rest of her food. Ellis picked up a couple more chips. She paused, saw the kids run off while Aroon's dad rushed into the back.
“Aroon,” she said, standing up. “Where's everybody going?”
He shrugged. “No idea, Ellis,” he replied. The young man turned and looked at the door leading to the back room for a few seconds before joining her. He sat opposite the girl. “We had one like that yesterday. A bit longer too. Nobody left then. They'll be back, don't you worry about it. Now,” he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “What's wrong, I haven't seen you looking so glum for years. The last time was, let me think.” He smiled. “That's it! When Mr Ward caught Andrew Davis with his tongue down your neck in the middle of Biology.”
“I can't believe you still remember that, Aroon.”
“Well, who can blame a man for being jealous? He had the ultimate privilege of caressing your silken skin, he gazed into the eyes which belong inside the face of some mystical Goddess.”
“I swear down, if you don't cut it out, I'll shove these chips up your nose!”
“Sorry,” he replied. “Sometimes, I tend to get a bit carried away.”
“Just sometimes? You do know that if Jason heard you talking like that to me, he'd do more than push cold chips up your nose.”
“He's not the one who's upset you?”
Ellis shook her head. Things with her and Jason were going great. For the first time in the twenty-four years she'd been on this planet, Ellis had found someone who, she believed, truly loved her. It was going so great that last night, Jason just happened to mention what she thought about getting a place together. That's where the trouble started. Not with Jason, but with her adopted parents, when Ellis broke the news to them at breakfast.
“Would Jason really try to insert chips up my nose?”
“If he found out about you chatting me up every time I came in here, he'd push the kebab spit up there.” Ellis chuckled. “Just kidding, he probably wouldn't even care.” Jason knew all about Aroon's rather over-familiar behaviour and thought it kinda sweet, suggesting that he probably had a crush on her back when they went to school and believes his Romeo act is his way of working it out of his system.
“Just be thankful that I didn't try to hang on to Andrew Davis.”
Aroon looked down at the table. “Yeah, let us thank Allah for him saving you from a fate worse than death.”
“Thanks Aroon, but I don't think Allah had much to do with it. The guy was a dick and got what he deserved.” Their town's resident bad boy might have been a looker back when they were all fifteen, but even then, the lad had already started hanging out with the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd which helped to put him inside for almost a dozen aggravated assault charges.
As for the nuclear explosion which occurred across the table, she decided to keep that to herself for the moment. Besides, Ellis noticed the back door opening, it looked like his parental problem had made another appearance. She stood up. “Aroon, I really have to go. Jason's supposed to be meeting me. Don't worry about me, honey. I'll be fine.” She caught the disapproving stare coming from Aroon's dad. Ellis winked then leaned across the table and kissed the tip of his nose. “We couldn't stuff chips up your nose, Aroon, it's way too pretty for that!”
Ellis left the diner, and stepped back into the market causeway. The thought of how much trouble her actions might have caused Aroon vanished when she found herself alone. There wasn't anybody around. It was as if she walked into the diner on a busy Saturday morning, and walked out twenty-four hours later when the place was closed.
“What the hell?” Ellis spun around hoping that perhaps her friend and his dad might have some answer but they had gone too. The temptation to shout if anyone was around almost overcame her. Instead, Ellis jogged down the deserted causeway, heading straight for the meat and fish quarter, where Jason was meeting up with her. She'd feel a lot better then. Her boyfriend was bound to know what had happened here.
CHAPTER TWO
An Easy Blag
The phrase taking candy from a baby ran through his mind, over and over. The man sat to the left of Andrew Davis would not shut the fuck up. He kept asking him something and even his hastily assembled mantra didn't help to zone out that annoying whine. “What's that?” he asked. His voice sounded as mild as ever, despite knowing that his already short temper had already blown a fuse.
“It's your turn, Davis. Are you going to play or what?”
“Like taking candy from a baby,” he whispered before throwing down a royal flush. “There you go, you fucker. That's how you do it!” He glared at the old bastard, silently daring the bastard to accuse Davis of cheating.
Nelson Bradshaw threw his cards down in disgust. “Cheeky twat, I'm not that much of a crap player.”
“I was talking about the blag.”
“Oh right. Fair enough, I'll let you off then. Want me to deal ‘em out?”
Andrew picked up the dealt cards. Their next job would be as easy as beating this idiot. He threw down two cards and glanced across at the only source of light in this dank and dismal flat. Their target lay just across the road. The local branch of Bradfield's Black Lotus Bank, wouldn't know what hit them when the three of them raided it in a few hours’ time. Andrew took the offered cards, raised the stake by throwing his mum's necklace into the pot and impatiently waited for the old bastard to shock him rigid with whatever crap he held in those effeminate, slender hands.
Nelson could have been a piano player. Davis thanked God that the foul-mouthed shithead, who usually stunk of over-boiled cabbage, chose a criminal occupation. Thanks to a bit of bribery and the actions of a fellow prisoner who took an instant dislike to Nelson, Andrew now had the best safe cracker in the north of England in the palm of his hands.
Speaking of hands, Nelson threw down a couple of pairs. Andrew resisted the urge to gloat before dropping three queens. “Had enough, old man?” He picked up the deck and gave them a quick shuffle.
“I can't do this without a hot drink.”
Nelson switched his attention to the remaining member of their little group, Tony Wright. He hadn't joined in with the card game on account that he said he didn't know how to play, so while Andrew won twenty quid, a gold watch and a go with Nelson's daughter, that clown spent the time gazing out of the window.
“Oi, make yourself useful and get your arse in that kitchen. We're both dying for a brew.”
“No can do, Nelson,” he replied, not turning around. “There's no milk left.”
Andrew eased himself up. He pulled out a pound coin from his back pocket then sauntered over to the window. The kid must have sensed his approach but before he could turn around, Andrew grabbed the back of his head and pushed it hard against the glass. “It was your job to make sure we didn't run out of essential supplies. Do you not remember me saying those sweet words to you?”
“Sorry, Guv. I kinda forgot.”
Andrew heard oodles of resentment and defiance in those five little words and wondered how much punishment this kid would be able to take before he smacked all that attitude out of him and as tempting as it was to show the kid that he was now playing in the big boy’s league, time was against him. “Best pop to the shops then, sonny. Here's a quid. Don't take too long.” Andrew grabbed the boy's little finger and bent it back. He didn't ease the pressure
until the lad cried out. “I expect some change back.” Andrew walked back to the only chair in the room and slumped into it. He idly picked at the loose red fabric on the chair arm before picking up the cards. “Do you fancy one more game while we wait for the idiot to come back?”
“No, I'm bored with you cheating.” Nelson leaned over the upturned milk-crate which served as their table. “He's going to turn on you one day, Andy. Tony ain't too keen on anyone threatening him.”
“He won't turn, Nelson. The brat looks up to me. It's as plain as day.”
“Don't bet on that, you're not that enigmatic.” Nelson walked over to the window. “He's just set off. How much are you betting he comes back with a can of beer?”
“You haven't got anything left to bet with, Nelson. Look, do me a favour will you?”
“What's that?”
“Shut your hole. I'm trying to think.”
Worrying about the kid's attitude would get him nowhere. He knew Nelson was right about not pushing the boy too hard. It's just that Andrew couldn't help himself. Whenever he sensed anyone trying it on, his temper just flared up. He couldn't control it.
The old man walked right past him. “I'm going for a piss. Give those cards a good shuffle, I want my stuff back.”
Andrew waited for him to leave the room. He left the cards on the crate and walked back over to the window, parted the filthy net curtains and gazed onto the gloomy street. Common sense advised him to call this thing off, that doing a job in his home town only a week after they'd released him was just asking for trouble.
That much was true. The bizzies would be knocking on his door hours after they'd cleaned out that bank. Of course they would, he'd be their prime suspect. Thing is, if some other set of cockwombles turned over a local bank, they'd still be knocking on his door, so what did he have to lose? Kinda made sense that he should get in first before some other outfit saw how shoddy their security was.
