Animal

by Paul Jones

  Stacey turned back and began fretting about those lost years. ‘You don’t think I’ve changed that much in four years do you?’

  Will checked her out. ‘No. The only difference is I can see is that your arse has gotten a bit bigger.’

  She gave him a lethal stare, and clouted him across the thigh for his cheek. Will continued to wind her up. ‘Being that we are using a public highway you should have a warning sign like those big lorries have saying, wide load.’

  Stacey was so close to thumping him now that she balled her fist up ready, but Will was already off. When it was safe to return, Will sat back down beside her and couldn’t resist a little chuckle. But seeing that she wasn’t very amused, he tried to make his peace.

  ‘I’m only joking, you have a lovely arse, honestly.’

  Eventually, she forgave him, and they started talking about Christmas and what effect it would have on them. Stacey began chewing her nails as if something seemed to be bothering her. ‘Will, for the last couple of years, I’ve spent Christmas with relatives in Saughall, Chester.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yeah, and we’re all supposed to be going there again this year because we’ve already had the invitation.’

  Will’s spirits appeared to wane. ‘So what you’re saying is that you won’t be able to see me over Christmas right?’

  Stacey felt awkward then suggested, ‘maybe if I asked my mum and dad if you could come with us?’

  But Will dismissed the notion straight away. ‘I don’t think that’d be such a great idea, do you? I mean your mum doesn’t really approve of me, and your relatives are complete strangers to me. It wouldn’t be fair to everyone. I know exactly how they’d feel. You can’t relax and be yourself when you have to entertain people you’ve never met before. Christmas only comes once a year and I wouldn’t want to ruin it for them.’

  Stacey could see his point, but still felt uncomfortable about the thought of Will spending this Christmas all alone.

  ‘Maybe when I get back, we can go out and have our own celebration?’

  Yeah why not,’ Will replied and slapped his thighs ready to finish off their run back down the other side of the Orme. Meanwhile Stacey hauled herself off the stone wall and felt her poor tortured legs already beginning to stiffen up.

  As they resumed their jog, Will, just by chance, noticed someone with a pair of binoculars standing high above the road on a rocky outcropping.

  *

  Geoff pulled up in his black car outside Will’s flat and waited with the engine humming in neutral. A moment later, Will ambled down the entrance steps in his beanie hat and tracky’s, then hopped in the car and they drove off.

  En route to another team training session, Geoff opened up conversation by asking Will how things were going with Stacey. Will held up a fingers crossed sign, and Geoff smiled back at him before digressing.

  ‘We had a bit of a run-in with some members of that Wilkinson’s gang at the weekend.’

  Will’s face darkened. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Well, apparently Tom and Charlie had trouble with this pleb head on the door on Friday night, and he threatened them that they were going to get a visit. Straight away they thought of the Wilkinson’s. So not wanting to take any chances, Tom phoned us the next day, and we set it all up ready for that evening just in case. Luckily they took the bait and we were there to back the lads up.’

  ‘How did they come at you?’

  ‘Three by three formation and they were carrying, but so were we.’

  ‘Did you hurt them?’

  Geoff gave him a little snarl. ‘Oh yeah, we battered them unconscious and left them lying there on the cold tarmac.’

  Will noticed this unusual aggressiveness in his old friend and stared out of the window with concern. Geoff flicked a glance at him.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Be careful, Geoff, that won’t be the end of it, you know?’

  ‘Why do you think they’ll come at us again?’

  Will answered with a look of caution, and Geoff responded with classical male bravado.

  ‘Fine if they do. We’ll be waiting for them, and in the meantime we’ll be training like hell to prepare for them.’

  ‘Geoff, you can’t have this shit coming at you all the time especially with knives, you’ve got to put a stop to it now.’

  This irritated Geoff. ‘What else are we supposed to do just give in and let them win?’

  ‘Nobody wins in these situations, Geoff. Look I’m not saying it’s not right to train yourself ready to fight, of course you should, everybody should. Everybody should be armed and ready to stand up for themselves and defend their castles against the threat of an enemy. But if someone has a vendetta against you, that’s a different story, they’re not going to give up until they get you. And it doesn’t matter how strong you become, or how hard you have trained, they won’t come at you at your strongest, they’ll come when you’re at your weakest. Even the worms defeat the tiger in the end. Nobody is indestructible.

  ‘So what are you saying? What would you suggest?’

  ‘Don’t keep waiting around for your enemies to call on you, Geoff. Never give them that kind of advantage. If you keep giving them the first shots like that, eventually they’re going to get lucky. In my opinion you have three choices, first you could go to the police, which is the easiest and probably the safest way out of this.’

  Geoff could hardly believe his ears. ‘Go to the police? You honestly think we can trust them to sort it out? The police will probably end up arresting us for trying to defend ourselves, and we’ll end up becoming a laughing stock.’

  Will switched straight to option 2. ‘You can fix a truce with this gang and end it amicably.’

  Geoff shook his head. ‘There’s no way the team will agree to that after everything that has happened so far.’

  Will tried the last and most desperate option. ‘Or you can find out who the leaders of this gang are and take them out?’

  Now, Geoff thought that was more like it, but Will warned him.

  ‘That is a last resort option, only after everything else has failed. But if you do decide to take that road, then there are many dangers that come with it. OK, you crush your enemies and take control. Then you become the top dogs and you might rule until someone else wants a shot at the title. And believe me, Geoff, there will be many contenders. You will spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, always on standby, always waiting for that next challenge that might be just around the corner. And that is another route to becoming that animal I was talking about.’

  ‘Well I think we should go after them.’

  ‘Well I don’t, Geoff. My advice to you while there’s still a chance before it escalates to the next level is to try and seek a truce. If all this carries on the way it’s going, someone is going to get killed.’

  Geoff looked on bleakly, ‘I think it’s gone too far already, Will. I honestly don’t think we can just turn it off like that.’

  ‘Yes, you can, Geoff. Anyone can back off if they want to. The only thing that is stopping you from doing it is your ego. Listen, it’s not always about beating the next guy to prove how tough or how great you are. The most important victories and accomplishments are the ones that come from inside.’ Will tapped his chest to emphasise the point. ‘That inner ability or strength to override those corrupting emotions is what really defines a true man. Our biggest downfalls in life are not the obstacles we face, or the enemies who challenge us, the hardest battles we have to encounter are the ones with ourselves. Our own minds, our conscience. You can defeat all the armies in the world, but it will never compare to the triumph of defeating that enemy within – your fear.’

  Geoff couldn’t help but smirk. ‘What is that, Zen Buddhism or something?’

  Will didn’t appreciate his humour. ‘All I’m trying to say is that you only need to fight when your back is against the wall, and there is
no other way out.’

  ‘But, Will, I find that hard to accept after hearing about all the things you used to say when we were young. The old Will would be leading an assault straight into their lair now and wouldn’t take any prisoners. And what about all the people you have wasted while you were working for the Serious Crime Agency or whatever? Now all of a sudden you’ve turned into Stars on Sunday preaching peace on earth, what’s going on, have you been born again or what?’

  Will took a long deep breath as if he was indeed trying to draw strength from the Lord God Almighty. ‘Geoff you’re absolutely right, I have changed! At one time in my life I thought the only way to beat violence was with violence, out there pain was the only truth those scumbags knew. But there’s a saying: there’s nothing like the sight of a battlefield after war to inspire peace amongst kings and generals. And it’s only now after everything I’ve seen and done, I can honestly appreciate the futility and pure waste that violence creates.’

  ‘So why are you helping to train us then?’

  ‘You asked for my help, and I agreed to do it, and everything I teach you comes with a specific warning. But perhaps the only way you will find that peace on that battlefield is to experience all the blood and guts for yourself. I really don’t know! Everybody has to find their own path. All I can say is that for me personally, I have seen enough violence to last me a lifetime. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind training you and the team, because if you haven’t got the proper tools to defend yourself, then you will be vulnerable and I would hate to see any of you get hurt. But technically speaking, in actual street combat situations, you’re all still only novices.’

  Geoff nodded resignedly.

  CHAPTER 17

  THE CHRISTMAS OUTING

  The venue they chose for their Christmas get-together was one of the oldest public houses in Llandudno, The Kings’s Head, situated at the foot of the Great Orme. The pub itself was first made famous in 1844, when the decision to build it was based on the suggestion made by a Liverpool architect after he proposed that it would make an ideal watering hole.

  Almost everybody was in attendance at the Christmas outing, except of course for Will and Stacey, plus Guy who had already informed them that he was running a bit late. The rest of the team, and their wags were sitting in the upper circle overlooking the bar.

  In between chit-chats with the guys, Geoff took a sup of his Guinness and watched contentedly how everybody seemed to interact so effortlessly. Even the wives and girlfriends who had never even met before, rabbited on like long lost school pals.

  Charlie’s missus, Clare who was just a notch above average looking and had a blonde bob haircut, was chatting with Geoff’s wife Jan about clothes (what a surprise) But what really interested Geoff about Clare was that whenever she described something, she always seemed to pull the strangest expressions as if she was actually tasting her words. Weird!

  Mike’s fiancée Sienna, a heavy-set coffee-skinned black girl, had the most astonishing shade of brown eyes he’d ever seen. She was having a tete-a-tete about holidays with Phil’s wife Norma. However, Tom had arrived without his girlfriend Karen, and when Mike enquired where she was, he replied that she would be coming later.

  Geoff suspected that perhaps they might have had an argument and Tom was embarrassed to admit it.

  Then there was Brad, the only other member of the team who had arrived unaccompanied. Yet by the way he was eyeing up all the young ladies swanning around the place, he was certainly looking to remedy that. Not wanting Brad to feel left out, Geoff leaned over to chat with him.

  ‘Hey Brad?’ He almost had to shout over the din, and Brad raised his brow in response.

  ‘So how long have you been living in North Wales?’

  ‘About two years now. I’m originally from Brussels, but my family moved to Cardiff when I was six. Then I came up here to look for work.’

  Geoff was curious why Brad hadn’t picked up a South Walien accent, but didn’t mention it. ‘Are you settled here now then, or are you planning to move on?’

  Brad gulped down a mouthful of Magner’s cider. ‘Yes, I’m settled for now, and I’m considering going to tech here to study psychology.’

  Geoff nodded with admiration just as he spotted Guy and his wife, enter through the door. Geoff waved down at him until he caught his eye. Guy thumbed back up his glasses and led his wife up towards them. Although Geoff and Guy had known each other for a number of years, Geoff had only been introduced to his wife, Joyce, just the one time. That was ten years ago, and those first impressions still remained.

  With regards to that first meeting with dear old Joyce, Geoff found that as hard as he tried, he just couldn’t seem to warm to her. Although, this certainly wasn’t an indication that he disliked her in any way, he merely put it down to the fact that because she was so shy, she probably had very limited social skills.

  Geoff always felt that she belonged to a certain breed of woman, whose sole purpose in life was to have a short courtship, marry, settle down, and that’s it! She was a throw-back to those old-fashioned post war-time wives, who hardly ever used to go out, except to shop for their families. They hardly ever socialised except when there was a wedding, or funeral to attend to, and they only ever made love for one purpose alone, procreation.

  Not that there was anything wrong with this, different strokes for different folks etc. Maybe she was simply born in the wrong era?

  Yet to be fair to her, in her prime she was an attractive woman, not in a glamorous sense, but in today’s lingo, what we term a yummy-mummy. The problem was she never realised how attractive she was, or simply, it was never that important to her. Geoff found himself pondering about this all over again.

  Shame, Geoff sympathised, as she clung to Guy’s arm like a lost child as they reached the group. Looking at her now as she approached middle-age, she reminded him of a beautiful garden rose that had always been kept in the shade and never had the privilege of basking in the sunlight. Geoff stood up from the table to greet them, and tapped Guy heartily on the back. As for Joyce, he planted a respectful peck on her warm, scented cheek. In a way, Geoff could feel her agony, her pain, her torture at having to step out of her safe little world and expose herself like this to the prying, critical eyes of her peers.

  Soon the next round of drinks arrived, and everyone clanked their glasses together. The place itself, appeared to be filling up quite a bit now, and new arrivals had to cluster together by the entrance until they could find a spot to stand or sit. Geoff looked over the wooden balustrade and jeered at the sight of a group of tarty looking women wrapped up in Christmas tinsel. By now the noise levels were rising to an almost deafening babble.

  Geoff felt a tap on his arm; it was Tom, so he leaned over to hear what he wanted. Tom’s face was becoming a tad flushed, and his eyes were already beginning to glaze over with effects of the alcohol.

  ‘Yer mate Will not coming then?’ He asked.

  Geoff shook his head. ‘Got women trouble to sort out.’

  ‘Where the hell did you dig him up from?’ Tom was almost shouting now because of the noise.

  ‘He’s an old friend and training partner.’

  ‘Yeah, but what’s he all about?’

  Geoff blew heavily. ‘That’s a long story which I don’t think we could get through in one evening.’

  ‘Well, what was he a boxer or something?’

  ‘No, not at first, he started off as a karate student just like you, then he began delving into other styles, exploring other methods of self defence to see what they had to offer. In the end he picked what he wanted from everything he’d learned, and formed his own way of fighting.’

  ‘What like Bruce Lee?’ Tom jeered.

  ‘Not quite.’

  Charlie chimed in. ‘Sort of, wos his name, Frankenstein, taking the best body parts and building the ultimate human being?’

  Geoff smiled at his analogy. ‘Exactly.’

&nbs
p; ‘Think he’s ever killed anyone?’ Tom asked morbidly.

  ‘I don’t know about that. But whether he has or not, he doesn’t do it anymore.’ Geoff replied diving into his Guinness to duck out of any more stupid questions.

  ‘I think he has.’ Tom winked knowingly.

  Geoff swallowed a mouthful, and put his pint back down. ‘Why do you think that?’

  ‘Because he’s got that look.’

  ‘What look?

  ‘Like he doesn’t give a shit. Like he could stomp on you as if you were a spider, and then carry on eating his cornflakes.’

  Geoff took another swig to hide his derision. Behind their group, a handful of folks at another table began singing Christmas songs, and one or two of Geoff’s lot joined in. After the songs, and the cheers ended, most of the women visited the ladies while others nipped off to the bar for refills.

  Mike, the only coloured member of the team, came to sit by the lads, and Geoff saluted his arrival. Taking advantage of the opportunity he decided to get a bit of background on his team member.

  ‘Hey Mike, how did you get hooked up to these two then? (meaning Tom and Charlie)

  Mike shrugged bashfully. ‘Oh, I was training for the marines and got discharged for beating up another trainee.’

  ‘Why was that?’

  ‘He kept on harassing me and making comments about the colour of my skin. So in the end, I waited until he was on toilet cleaning duties, then I did a crap and used his head as a bog brush.’

  Although Tom and Charlie had heard this story before, they still couldn’t help giggling like a pack of hyenas.

  ‘Nice,’ Geoff remarked.

  ‘Yeah, so I came out of the marines and went to stay with my girlfriend Sienna in Llandudno, and based on my recent faux pas…’

  ‘Ohhh.’ Tom mocked his fancy turn of phrase.

  ‘She suggested that I’d be better suited channelling all that pent-up energy and hostility into becoming a doorman. And that’s where I met tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum here.’

  They both gave him a look for his cheek. Nudging Geoff’s arm, Brad nodded down to puny-looking Guy getting jostled in the queue for the bar. All of them craned their necks over the wooden balustrade and found it amusing to see him being bounced around like a rugby ball in a scrum.