In the Bag

by Jim Carrington

  I kind of drift away as I watch the joint go round the circle. My mind feels empty for the first time in ages. The joint gets round to Joe, who takes a puff on it and coughs. Trust Joe. He couldn’t be cool if he tried. He makes me laugh.

  As I sit there, my phone starts to ring. I take it out of my pocket. It’s Manky Mark calling. I bet he’s after another smoke.

  I put the phone to my ear and answer the call. ‘All right, Mark?’

  ‘Ash,’ he says. He sounds serious.

  ‘What’s up, Mark?’

  ‘Listen, man,’ he says, ‘it might be nothing, right, but . . .’

  ‘What?’

  There’s a pause at the other end of the phone. ‘Some geezers was at the rec looking for you earlier,’ he says.

  The joint comes back round to me. I take it off Joe and have a drag. ‘Yeah?’ I say. ‘Probably my dad. Was he stupid-looking?’

  ‘Nah, it weren’t your old man,’ Mark says. ‘Big geezers. There were two of them. They was driving a BMW. Pulled up at the wall.’

  I break off in mid-drag and choke a little. I don’t like the sound of this. ‘You what? In a BMW? Who were they? What did they want?’

  ‘One of them said he wanted to buy some skunk,’ Mark says.

  I pass the joint on and stand up. I need to talk in private so I walk over to the pond, away from everyone else, to a rickety bench that overlooks it. I sit down. ‘Who was this man?’ I say. ‘What did he say? Was it a cop?’

  There’s a pause. ‘I told you what I know.’

  ‘Did he say my name?’

  Mark shakes his head. ‘Not exactly,’ he says.

  ‘What do you mean, not exactly? Either he did or he didn’t.’

  ‘They pulled up by the wall, got out the car and said that they heard there was some kid selling skunk in Fayrewood and they wanted to buy some. Said he might go by the name of Layzee Eyez. No one said anything. I just shook my head, said I didn’t know nothing about any skunk or Layzee Eyez. But then one of them got his wallet out, pulled out a wodge of twenty-pound notes. And Suzie jumped down off the wall and went and talked to him.’

  ‘Fuck!’ I say. ‘Didn’t you stop her?’

  ‘I shouted at her,’ Mark says, ‘but I couldn’t do nothing else. They was big geezers, man. Gold chains and all that. I didn’t wanna get messed up in their business, you know what I’m saying?’

  I close my eyes. This is bad. ‘What did Suzie tell them?’

  ‘Dunno,’ Mark says. ‘She went off and talked to them and she ain’t come back to the rec. I called you as soon as I could.’

  I run my hand through my hair. I don’t say anything. I’m in shock, I think. I can’t quite take this in. Who would have known that I had the weed? ‘Where are they now?’ I say.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Suzie. The men in the BMW.’

  ‘I don’t know where Suzie went,’ Mark says, ‘but the geezers in the BMW went off somewhere. Revved the engine and did a wheel spin and they was gone.’

  I stare at the reeds in the pond. ‘Shit!’ I say.

  ‘Sorry, man.’

  But I hardly hear him. I’m too busy thinking. About who could be looking for me. About whether Suzie gave them my name. About what they might have done to her. About whether they’ll be able to track me down. I hang up and put my phone in my pocket.

  I get up from the bench, walk back over to where everyone’s still sitting smoking. Joe’s looking spaced out, waiting for the joint to come back round to him.

  Joe

  I’m feeling nicely spaced out when there’s a tap on my shoulder. I look up. It’s Ash. He looks worried. I think about telling him to cheer up a bit, but before I can, he grabs my arm and almost hauls me to my feet. I stumble a bit. My head rushes.

  ‘Come with me,’ he says. ‘We need to talk.’

  I stare back at him, confused. ‘What? Why?’

  He sighs. ‘We need to talk,’ he says. ‘Now.’

  And I start to think. What could he need to talk to me about so urgently? What would make him look so pissed off? My mind immediately fills with a whole host of horrible possibilities.

  Ash leads the way towards the house. ‘We need to find Rabbit,’ he says. ‘He needs to hear this as well. He’s involved in this too.’

  I nod. And in that moment I know we’re in trouble. Something’s happened. The realisation makes me feel sick.

  We go inside Rabbit’s dark, low-ceilinged cottage. The music’s blaring out and it’s rammed full of people. But I don’t look at them. They blur into the background.

  Ash goes in and out of rooms – the kitchen, the dining room, the hall – looking for Rabbit. We find him in the front room, talking to some girl that he’s fancied for ages.

  ‘Rabbit,’ Ash says.

  But Rabbit doesn’t hear him over the music.

  ‘Rabbit,’ Ash says, louder this time.

  Rabbit looks over, gives us the kind of look that says, ‘Not now.’

  ‘We need to talk,’ Ash says.

  Rabbit stares right back at Ash, giving him daggers. He does the same to me. But then when he sees that Ash isn’t taking no for an answer, he rolls his eyes and says something to the girl. She nods. And then Rabbit gets up and we all go back out of the lounge, through the hall and into the garden. We find somewhere quiet – the bench next to the pond.

  ‘This better be important,’ Rabbit says. ‘I was in there.’

  Ash looks at me and takes a breath before he speaks. ‘Manky Mark called me. He says some big blokes in a BMW were asking after me earlier,’ he says.

  Me and Rabbit look at each other.

  ‘Apparently he even knew my tag – Layzee Eyez. And he knew I had some skunk.’

  The cogs in my head start to turn slowly, trying to work out what that could mean. Is it the police? I breathe in and hold the breath, then blow it out slowly.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Rabbit says. ‘Who would know that?’

  Ash raises an eyebrow. ‘It must be whoever wanted the bag back,’ he says. ‘Who else would it be?’

  ‘The police?’ I say. But even as I say it, I start to doubt myself.

  We’re silent for a second, each of us panicking, thinking, staring at each other.

  ‘Why would it be the guys who wanted the bag back?’ Rabbit says. ‘What would they want? We gave the money back.’

  ‘Not all of it, though,’ I say.

  Ash chews his thumbnail. He nods. ‘Fuck!’ he says.

  And then we’re silent again, staring. I can hear music and laughter and voices coming from the house and the garden, but it might as well be happening in another dimension. I feel like I’m not really here any more. I feel high. I can’t deal with this.

  ‘Why don’t we just call the police?’ Rabbit says.

  Ash lets out a nervous kind of laugh. ‘Don’t be stupid!’ he says. ‘We can’t go to the police. No way.’

  ‘Why not?’ Rabbit says.

  ‘Because we’re in too fucking deep,’ Ash says. ‘We’ve done too much. We spent some of the money. I smoked some of the weed. We buried a gun in the bloody forest! How are we gonna explain that lot away?’

  Rabbit nods. And I have to agree. We couldn’t explain this to the police. They’d have us in a cell in minutes. But what can we do? There isn’t anyone we can turn to.

  In the distance there’s the sound of an engine and the scrunch of tyres on gravel. ‘What’s that?’ I say.

  Rabbit shakes his head. ‘Dunno. My dad’s not meant to be back till tomorrow evening.’

  Ash stands up on the bench and looks over the hedge. ‘Oh, Jesus!’ he says. ‘It’s a BMW. They’re here.’

  I get up on the bench and look too. I watch as the car door opens and a massive guy dressed in black with a shaved head and shades and gold chains steps out of the car. Someone else gets out of the passenger door, dressed almost identically. He’s taller and thinner but still big, and has longer hair. They sure as hell don’t look like policemen. They look like
. . . God, I don’t even want to think about it. I duck my head down. I don’t want them to see me.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ Ash says. ‘Now.’

  I stare back at Ash.

  ‘Right,’ Rabbit says. ‘Follow me.’

  So we follow, running back to the house, through the hall and into the kitchen. Rabbit grabs a set of keys from the top of the fridge. As we stand in the kitchen doorway, waiting, I hear a commotion at the front door. The two men from the BMW are trying to get inside. Rabbit thinks for a second and then runs back out of the house, with me and Ash following, into the back garden, right round the outside of the house to the garage. He puts a key in the lock and then, with a creaking noise, he pulls the garage doors open.

  He hurries to his car and tries to put his keys in the door. But as he does so, he fumbles. The keys fall to the ground. Me and Ash stand, willing him to pick them up and get on with it, looking anxiously behind us in case the two men come out of the house. I wish Rabbit would give me the bloody keys so I could do it. He picks them up. This time he manages to unlock the car and opens the door. He gets in, leans over and unlocks the passenger door. I open the door, pull the passenger seat forward and jump in the back. Ash puts the seat down and gets in after me. He pulls the car door shut and locks it right away. Rabbit starts the car. It doesn’t exactly roar into life, more splutters. He puts the car in first and floors it. The engine squeals, the wheels spin and the Fiesta rushes out of the garage and on to the gravel drive.

  As we speed away into the woods, I turn and look through the back window at the house, at the front door. The two big guys turn at the noise of Rabbit’s car. There’s a split second before they realise what’s happened. And then they both run for their car.

  ‘They’re following us!’ I say to Rabbit, leaning through the gap in the front seats. I almost have to shout it above the noise of the engine and the squeaks as the car gets thrown around on the bumpy path.

  Rabbit doesn’t answer – he just nods and changes up a gear. If anyone knows the tracks around the forest, it’s Rabbit. He’s been driving round it in this car with his dad for about a year.

  I turn to look out of the back window. We’re throwing up a cloud of dust from the track behind us, but through the dust I can see the BMW. It’s maybe 50 metres away. Judging by the state of it and the state of Rabbit’s old banger, they’ll catch us in no time. There’s no way we can outrun them. And besides, there’s nowhere for us to go. I try and take deep breaths, but it doesn’t help. This feels like a desperate situation.

  I look out of the front windscreen. Rabbit speeds towards a tight left bend in the path. He doesn’t brake, doesn’t slow down, but seems to accelerate into it and then turn the steering wheel at the last possible moment. As we go round the bend, it feels like the car’s gonna turn over. I get thrown to the side. My head slams against the window. I put my hand up to my head and give it a rub as Rabbit straightens the car and really guns the accelerator. The trees on either side of the path are just a blur now.

  ‘Where are we gonna go?’ I say.

  Rabbit doesn’t answer straight away. He’s staring out of the windscreen, not taking his eyes off the path ahead, concentrating. ‘Dunno,’ he says. ‘I’ll try and lose them.’

  I close my eyes. I put my hands together as though I’m gonna say a prayer. Which is ridiculous. I haven’t said a prayer since I was about seven. I don’t believe in God. And besides, even if there was a God, what would he do about this? Does he help people like us, who find a bag full of money and keep it for themselves?

  I open my eyes.

  In the passenger seat, Ash turns round, looks at the BMW catching up with us with every passing second. He shakes his head. ‘This isn’t gonna work,’ he says. ‘They’re in a BMW and we’re in a clapped-out Fiesta.’

  I turn in my seat and look out of the rear window again. Ash is right. The BMW is only a few metres behind us now. I can see the faces of the two guys. They’re staring at me, saying something that I can’t manage to lip-read.

  ‘You need to do something, Rabbit,’ I say. ‘They’re right on our tail.’

  Rabbit looks in his rear-view mirror. ‘I know that,’ he says. ‘I’m trying.’

  I look up. The track forks up ahead.

  ‘You can lose them here,’ Ash shouts. ‘Sell them a dummy. Pretend to go one way and then turn the other way.’

  Rabbit doesn’t take his eyes off the track, but just nods. He slows down ever so slightly, so that the BMW catches right up. And then, as he gets to the fork, he turns the steering wheel like he’s going left. But at the last moment, he turns the wheel back sharply to the right. We come off the path and the car skids a little. I get thrown to the side again. But Rabbit manages to control the skid and get us back on the path, on to the right-hand track. I look out of the back window again.

  ‘You did it,’ I say. ‘They went the other way.’

  Up in the front mirror, I can see Rabbit smiling.

  ‘Yeah. Nice driving,’ Ash says, slapping him on the arm. ‘That was wicked. Now floor it and let’s lose them.’

  So Rabbit does just that and we fly along the track. The trees on either side flash past. And I start thinking about what we do next. I mean, even though we’ve lost them now, we can’t just drive for ever. If they’ve found us once, they’ll do it again. And they know where Rabbit lives now. They know what we look like.

  ‘Oh shit!’ Rabbit says all of a sudden, looking in the rear-view mirror. ‘They’re back.’

  I turn. They’re quite a way behind, but gaining with every passing second.

  Rabbit steps on the accelerator and the Fiesta’s little engine starts to scream, as though in protest. Stones and dust get thrown up on either side of the car and in our wake as we race along. But still the BMW gets closer.

  ‘They’re gaining on us!’ I say.

  ‘I know!’ Rabbit shouts back. ‘I’m going as fast as I can. I don’t know what else to do.’

  Then a few seconds later, there’s a sudden crash and Rabbit’s car bumps forward and to the side. I jerk forward in my seat.

  ‘Shit! What was that?’ Ash shouts.

  I look behind us.

  ‘It was the BMW,’ Rabbit says. ‘They’re trying to push us off the road.’

  I watch out of the back window as the BMW surges forward, towards us. It rams into the back of Rabbit’s car, and the back of the car skids sideways. I get thrown sideways too.

  ‘Jesus!’ Rabbit says.

  I look ahead through the windscreen. There’s a kind of crossroads coming up.

  ‘Hold on tight,’ Rabbit shouts. ‘I’m gonna turn right.’

  I grab the handle on the roof of the car and brace myself, watching as Rabbit speeds up to the crossroads and then skids round to the right. I have to hold on tight as the force of the turn throws my weight across the back of the car.

  As soon as the car’s going straight again, I look behind us. The BMW’s made the turn as well.

  ‘They’re still behind us,’ I say.

  No one says anything. There’s nothing to say any more. I’m starting to think, this is how it ends. This is how we’re gonna die. Either crashed off the road or, if we survive that, beaten to a pulp by the guys in the BMW. Or maybe even shot. Or burned. Like the guy in the flat. I keep looking out of the back window. They’re nearly on us again. They’ll start trying to crash into us in a second, ramming us off the road.

  ‘I’ve got an idea,’ Rabbit says suddenly. ‘Put your seatbelts on.’

  We scrabble around and do as he says. My seatbelt gets stuck when I pull it. I let go and try again. This time it comes out and I click in.

  ‘Ready,’ I say.

  ‘Brace yourselves,’ Rabbit says.

  And then he slams down hard on the brakes and steers into the side of the track. The car skids and bumps as we come off the path and on to the long grass. Even with my seatbelt on I get thrown around in the back like a crash-test dummy. Over on the left-hand
side, I see the BMW fly past us along the track.

  Rabbit’s car bumps to a stop.

  ‘Get out and run!’ he shouts.

  I claw desperately at my seatbelt, trying to undo it. In the front of the car, Ash and Rabbit already have their belts off. They throw their doors open and start running from the car as fast as they can. I fumble for the release on the passenger seat. It takes a couple of seconds to find it and then push the seat up. As soon as I’m free, I jump out of the car and start running for all I’m worth across the bumpy ground, over the divots and lumps that are hidden by the long grass. But as I run, I feel my right foot hit one wrong and I lose my balance. I crash to the ground, head first, get a mouthful of dirt and grass. I scrabble straight back to my feet.

  Up ahead, I see Ash and Rabbit as they run desperately into the trees and then disappear among them. A little way up the track, I hear car doors open and feet hit the gravel track. I instinctively look behind me in their direction. And I see the shorter man lift a gun and aim it at me. My heart skips a beat. I bend low and run as fast as I can.

  BANG!

  The bullet misses me.

  BANG!

  The second one does as well.

  And before he can fire again, I’m in the cover of the trees, running faster than I’ve ever run before. My feet get caught in brambles and bushes as I run, and bits of the soft forest floor give way beneath my feet in some places, but nothing is gonna stop me. I focus on the forest ahead of me and nothing else. I don’t see the trees as I pass them. I can hear nothing but my own breath and the soft hollow thud of my feet on the ground. I have no idea where Ash and Rabbit have gone. All I can sense is me running and the guys behind me aiming guns at me. We’re the only things that exist in my world now, the only things that matter.

  BANG!

  Another shot. Another that misses me. This time it sounds further away, like I’m getting away from them. I want to look behind me to see where they are, but I resist. I have to focus on what’s ahead. I need to keep going. I can’t lose time looking behind me. I could stumble and fall. So I concentrate on running, sprinting, eating up the ground with each stride. From what I’ve seen of the two guys, they don’t look like they could manage much of a chase. They’re too big and fat. If I can just manage to keep going, they’ll have to slow down. I’ll be safe. For now.