by Carl Hancock
‘Yes, no more excuses because he can’t wait to meet you,’ she said putting her arm through his and leading him away.
Having made it to the bar Billy was none too pleased to have to accept an inferior drop of whisky, even more so when it was politely suggested that the bottle remain behind the counter for everybody’s safety after the way he had swayed on his route indicated he was a little the worse for wear. His uninvited guest, the face he had not seen for so long and wished never to see again had gone but not before ensuring he would plague his every woken hour until he could resolve the situation to his benefit. Tina was slow dancing with a man more suited to her age group, Billy stood there transfixed watching his youngest daughter whose likeness she shared with her mother smiling and laughing. After so long banged up it was what he wanted to see, his two girls happy.
‘Dad,’ Suzy said resting a hand on his shoulder gently so not to startle him, she could see that he was tired. ‘This is Matt,’ she added indicating to the man stood closely by her side.
Matt outstretched his hand as Billy placed his glass of fire water on the bar and returned the gesture, with a tight grip he squeezed Matt’s hand tight keen to impress upon him his presence.
‘Nice to meet you Matt, I’d love to say I’ve heard a lot about you,’ he slurred. ‘But I don’t think we should start off on a lie.’ He released the grip that Matt had returned with equal compression.
‘Well I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to get to know one another,’ Matt replied. ‘Before the wedding, so we both know what were getting ourselves into,’ he added trying to inject a morsel of humour.
‘I certainly hope so, I don’t want my daughter marrying just anyone,’ Billy said and turned to face the bar. ‘What are you having? It’s on me!’
Matt observed it was offered with such conviction that maybe he actually thought it true and not paid for by his generosity and desire to put on a good show for Suzy’s sake. He had no wish for bonding with Billy and less interest in him knowing more about his life whether it be business or personal. Billy ordered two drinks for himself, Matt and his two girls without putting his hand in his pocket as Matt looked on and insisted to the barman to put them on a tray.
Billy watched on as his future son in law got all he demanded, despite the bar being crammed with thirsty punters all there to supposedly celebrate his release, although he hardly recognized any of them, Matt was dealt with first, his needs put above all others. Matt demanded respect, even through his whisky fueled eyes he could see that.
Placing the tray on the table and sliding it into the middle Matt offered to let Suzy squeeze in first, a gentlemanly gesture for all who saw it yet it was selfishly done so if necessary he could made a hasty departure if he felt the need. Suzy declined insisting she had to collect Tina to join their first sitting as a family, the words made Matt cringe inside out as he reluctantly slid across leaving him with no way out. ‘What the hell?’ he mumbled as his hands caught the unsmooth edge of a burn mark on his newly varnished table, a left over stump of a cigar whose ash caught his cream silk shirt cuff dirtying it fell to the floor.
‘Fuckin terrible isn’t it?’ Billy commented. ‘A place like this should supply ash trays, I had no fuckin choice.’
Matt stared in disbelief at his honesty and brushed the smolder from his cuff struggling to hold his tongue, not only had the evening already cost him a fortune the money spent rejuvenating the aged furniture had been pointless. Not to mention his ruined shirt.
‘It’ll wash out, or you could always ask the owner for some compo,’ Billy suggested. ‘We can deny all knowledge of it.’
Matt smirked. ‘And you think it’ll be that easy do you Billy?’
‘I don’t expect he’ll put up much of an argument, even with that lump of a doorman backing him up.’
Even though he barely knew him, Matt could tell that Billy, if not yet pissed was well on his way and by the sounds of it itching for an argument. He had hoped that be the case. ‘You mean Jack?’
‘Well trust me the bigger the man on the outside the smaller he is on the inside. He won’t bother us.’
Billy’s confidence in himself may have empowered him inside with the weak and stupid who couldn’t see him for what he really was, but here and now it was Matt’s stage, he was the orchestrator yet obviously Billy had not thought enough of his daughter to put in the proper amount of homework on her husband to be. ‘That’s good to hear, I feel better already,’ he said condescendingly. His attitude remained unnoted by the uneducated career criminal.
‘That’s the thing about these places Matt, you can look around and think that it’s the owner that run’s it and calls the shots but he’s merely a name to get the licence,’ he said. ‘It’s the doorman that run things, or rather the men that run the doorman cause if the doorman refuse to let the punters in then they’ll be no business. This crap little working men’s club, although quite smart won’t be backed up a heavy mob, it’ll be ripe for the taking you mark my words.’
If Billy thought he was ingratiating himself with his new son in law and lending him an insight into the real world then he was wrong, if all went to plan then Billy would be out of his hair sooner rather than later. Matt remained silent, giving the pretence of his attention, lapping up all the bullshit that Billy spoke to big himself up. All the while kicking himself for being so stupid as to fall for Suzy’s excuse, she had planned to leave them alone all along, to bond!
Matt watched on as Billy demolished his two whiskeys over a ten minute period droning on about his achievements with pride. ‘You see the owner here won’t have any ball’s, if it were my place I wouldn’t need to hire muscle it just aint profitable enough to pay that lump a monkey a week to stand by the entrance looking tough.’
‘Actually he works for a very successful security firm that services most of the local establishments and he’s only here tonight because of this party,’ Matt replied.
Billy laughed. ‘See what happened there then?’ he asked looking toward Matt with a self satisfied grin, Matt shook his head. ‘They knew it was for me and thought they better get some muscle in,’ he added with pride.
‘It’s nothing like that Billy, the owners not worried about you being here…he isn’t concerned about your reputation for violence at all.’
‘You’d be surprised, most of them are all talk, bravado in public until their faced with a real situation and then they break down,’ Billy insisted taking a sip of his drink, he had slowed down unable to maintain the pace.
Cyrus was standing by the bar ordering another bottle of low alcohol lager, unable to leave until Billy was ready his timetable now revolved around him. He looked on in silent frustration as the time ticked by, no longer used to the long evenings that they had enjoyed in their lesser years. Resentment bubbled inside him as he knew his slow paced life was going to be turned upside down, his nearly honest lifestyle being tainted by Billy’s ambitions.
Feeling a jostle from behind he turned to see what had disturbed his trail of thought, stood in front of him was a face he recognized from the area and he didn’t look friendly. Martin Locke shoved Cyrus into the bar knocking the collected empty glasses flying to the floor. Cyrus winced in pain and placed a hand to his lower back as he adjusted to the sudden unprovoked attack.
All eyes were on the altercation at hand, the music continued to play in the background, Billy looked over mimicking the room’s actions observed by Matt.
‘Aren’t you going to help him?’ Matt asked calmly as Locke raised his right arm and clenched his fist slamming it into Cyrus’s wrinkled face.
‘Nah, he can take care of himself,’ Billy replied turning his head away as Locke continued to rain several blows down on the helpless man. ‘Anyway where’s the doorman, it’s his job.’
Matt wondered whether it was cowardice that prevented Billy aiding his one time pal or if he genuinely believed his excuse. Perhaps it was fear of being returned to prison so soon and if that were the cas
e then maybe he was all talk and he had no reason to be concerned.
Locke was well known for his retrieval tactics, a hardcore loan shark who didn’t accept people welching on their debts, his reputation alone insured that even the supposed hard men that sat in the room did not interfere.
Cyrus was still down, battered and bloodied, Matt could see that Suzy was making her way to the bar; he had to intervene now before a line became crossed. He stood up and moved quickly toward the injured man, he grabbed Locke’s hands from behind gripping them tight as he unshed him toward the door past the gathering crowd. He pushed Locke through the swinging doors into the empty foyer as Jack emerged from upstairs unaware of the commotion.
‘Alright Boss?’ he asked observing the escorted mans lack of struggle.
‘Fine Jack, no problem at all,’ he replied and pushed Locke peacefully left through the main entrance.
‘You did say take a break dead on ten?’
‘I certainly did Jack, nothing to worry about!’
Matt returned to the bar where Cyrus had been tended to, satisfied that he had a better idea about Billy now. The old man’s injuries were better than they first appeared and he was leaning against the bar telling anyone who would listen that he didn’t know why it had happened. In all the commotion the guest of honour had slipped away, his being out of sight was a major concern, he left the bar area confident the matter was being dealt with and made his way to the toilets. He pushed the door open as a startled Billy backed away from the clubs occasional pot boy; the sixteen year old was on edge, cautious and relieved that it was no longer just the two of them.
‘Everything Ok Chris?’ Matt sensed something was very wrong with the usual enthusiastic boy.
Matt stood there with his hands in his trouser pockets waiting for an answer from the lad stood with his back against the cubicle wall. Billy was using the urinal and turned to stare at the already nervous kid.
Chris moved away from the fixated glare of Billy and brushed past Matt in silence and out of the toilets.
‘Something troubling him Billy?’ Matt asked as he disappeared from sight, Billy finished his business and rinsed his hands under the warm water.
‘How’s Cyrus?’ Billy replied ignoring the question, he placed his hands under the automatic dryer that clicked into life a fraction of a second later hindering the conversation.
Matt patiently waited not wanting to speak above the dryer, undeterred by his future father in-laws obvious wish to cancel out his request for an answer.
‘Well,’ he said as the sound of the blower drifted off. ‘What the hell was going on?’ He was well aware of Billy’s past, secrets that Billy thought only a handful of people knew about and it was one of them that now concerned him.
‘We were just having a chat, that’s all,’ Billy responded cockily and smirked. ‘What do you think was going on?’
A straight answer was more than he could have asked for, he knew that there was no way he would get the truth from Billy and didn’t want to expose exactly what he knew about him so early in their relationship. He put the thought to the back of his mind; a chat with Chris later would apprise him of the situation.
Chapter Four
‘You could have fuckin told me he owned the club,’ Billy said to Cyrus. The two men chatted over breakfast in Theo’s café situated below the shared accommodation that he now called home.
Cyrus cut his sausage in half and dipped it in his fried egg. ‘I’m sorry Billy, but you did say you didn’t want to know where we were going.’
Billy stirred his tea; he always did eat faster than his friend and took a sip of the scolding hot drink. ‘I felt a right cunt when I found that out. You never said how well he’d done.’
Chewing his mouthful of food Cyrus had an idea. ‘Why don’t you see if he can offer you some work or something,’ he suggested.
Billy shook his head immediately. ‘Nah,’ he said dismissing the idea. ‘It wouldn’t work; I can’t fuckin work for him. A fuckin dogs body at my age besides I need real dough to get me out of this situation with the copper.’
‘I work for him though Billy, the money aint half bad for the hours,’ Cyrus replied reaching out for his own tea.
‘Yeah well he aint got no work for you so he sure as fuck aint going to have enough for me.’
Cyrus finished his fry up supping away at his tea; he didn’t like to admit that he was actually working right then. He had told a white lie. ‘What’s he got on you then Billy… the ex filth?’
‘Nothing I want to talk about alright?’ he said. ‘I just need to get my hands on twenty large. You sure you haven’t heard about anything going down?’
‘Nah, I told you Billy, I keep away from all that stuff these days. Keep me nose clean and out of others business,’ he said. ‘You know there’s that law now that just by association you can be linked and convicted of a crime even if you were miles away and completely innocent.’
‘Then what was all that crap about last night?’ Billy asked. ‘You nearly got your skull caved in, you’ve obviously pissed someone off and it’s got to be about cash!’
Cyrus placed his mug on the table shaking his head bewildered. ‘Honestly, I aint got a clue why he went off his head like that, I told you what the young ones are like, they don’t need no reason these days. I know he’s a loan shark but I don’t owe him anything, it must have been mistaken identity.’
‘There was a time that you would have killed him for marking you like that,’ Billy said referring to the bruised forehead Cyrus now had from the scuffle. ‘And again there was a time that mistaken identity just wouldn’t have happened because everyone knew who we were and what we were capable of.’
‘I know what you’re saying Billy but that was a long, long time ago, we just have to accept that we have limitations now,’ he replied. ‘And that we always did but were either too busy or too stupid to see it.’
Billy was listening but he was also processing what his old friend had told him about the young man from the previous evening. His occupation may be the answer he had been looking for.
‘Anyway you and Matt seemed to be getting on Ok last night,’ Cyrus said. ‘So well that you didn’t notice me on the floor,’ he joked.
‘Yeah totally engrossed in conversation we were,’ Billy lied. ‘I just can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen him someplace before though.’
‘Unlikely Billy, he’s never been inside and only showed up some time after you got banged up,’ Cyrus said.
‘Just one of those faces I guess,’ Billy replied.
Two hours later and several more cups of tea washed down his gullet, Billy couldn’t help but feel at a loss with his new found freedom. It felt different to him than the previous times, although this had been by far the longest sentence. And he hoped it would be the last.
‘Is this what my life’s gonna be like then Cyrus?’ he asked rhetorically. ‘There was more fuckin excitement in prison.’
‘It’s early still Billy, what did you expect?’ Cyrus was content with the situation, he knew what Billy classed as excitement and it always included someone getting hurt. Sitting in the café all day whilst being paid suited him rather than the alternative.
Billy looked around him, at the café customer’s content with their daily routine of honest toil for a minimum wage that barely if at all covered the bills, and to him they were nothing more than slaves. He wasn’t going to fall into line and accept it as easily as them.
‘Fuck it, let’s go get a real drink, this stuff’s doing nothing for me and I need cheering up,’ he pushed his cup away and rose to his feet.
Cyrus looked up at him in surprise and protested. ‘Billy, I don’t have the dough for an all day drinking session, this has all but wiped me out.’ Knowing he was short of cash he had offered to pay for the food.
‘We’ll sort something out, I aint going to let something like that stop me doing what I want,’ Billy replied. ‘You bought the car right?’
; ‘Yeah I bought the car,’ Cyrus answered whilst rifling through his pockets for change to pay; he was hoping Billy wasn’t suggesting selling it. ‘Where we going then,’ Cyrus asked climbing into the car and turning the ignition on.
‘Head toward Westmarsh Road, I know where to get some walking about money that should cover us for a few days.’
Matt pulled up the handbrake and disengaged the gears before switching the ignition off. He didn’t envisage a lengthy attendance, just long enough to dish out his orders for the days business.
Griggs was already waiting along the parade and approached the car, leaning down through the open driver’s side window. The lines of shops were clearly visible behind him, more importantly the newly occupied premises that he had come to discuss.
‘I see their still working in there,’ Matt said resting his elbow on the inner window sill.
‘Yeah, just the finishing touches left though,’ Griggs replied. ‘I’ve been trying to work out what we are doing here, to no avail!’
Matt could see Griggs parked car out front, two shadowy figures lurking by the side boasting wide shoulders and puffed out chests. The sheer sight of them promised to give the impression that he had intended, intimidation was a nasty business but sometimes unavoidable.
‘It’s a chippie right?’ Matt said.
Griggs took a look behind him to confirm what he already knew. ‘Yeah a chippie that’s right,’ he replied. ‘Taking me out to lunch are you?’
‘You have to be kidding, I paid last time,’ he said. ‘No… seriously do you know how much that equipment costs? The fryers etc.’
Griggs shook his head. ‘Never been bothered enough to find out, the stench of chip fat is hard to remove.’
‘Well I do know, it’s a small fortune and if you can it’s best to get someone else to pay for it.’
‘I’m sorry Matt but I don’t follow,’ Griggs said.
‘I let the premises out as seen, I kindly gave them a month’s grace before charging rent,’ he said. ‘Sufficient time to get it fitted out.’
