A small voice in the back of his head reminded him of his promises not to go back to this old life, but this temple wanted some beer. He slowly bought the bottle to his lips so as not to spill any and took a small sip. He washed it around his mouth a little and took his time swallowing it. He let out a little sigh. It was that perfect.
He probably drank it quicker than he should have, but he knew that when he was laid on his death bed, hopefully many years from now, he would remember these few minutes of heaven.
He was disturbed from his trance by the sound of laughter from next door, so he jumped off the sofa and feeling light headed ran back upstairs. He found a T-shirt he had only purchased just before he went into jail and pulled it on in front of the mirror. It was much tighter than before. He tensed his new prison muscles and even though he didn’t quite recognise the eyes staring back at him, he nodded at his reflection. He looked good.
He grabbed the remaining beer downstairs and putting his favourite coat on, stepped outside and rapped loudly on Aiden’s door. It was party time.
35
10th February 2009
19.00 hrs
Will heard the door being delicately pushed open and then the not so dainty stomp of a medium-sized brontosaurus come and stand next to his bed.
‘Go away, I’m dying.’
‘You can die tomorrow Will. Its full moon night, you are in Kho Phan Ngan with your best friends and tonight it’s the pinnacle of all partays.’
‘I feel like death warmed up. I’m not young enough for this madness. I can’t even pass out even though it feels like I haven’t slept for a year. I’m hungry but I can’t face anything and I’ve more or less spent the last twelve hours rolling around in my own sweat. God only knows when I did anything that even closely resembled a log shaped turd. I’m spent mate. Go and have fun.’
‘Come on Will, you will feel better after a few beers. Think of all those scantily clad backpackers gyrating on the beach, waiting for your entrance.’
‘Strong am I with the force, but not that strong.’
‘Your thoughts betray you, I feel the good in you, the conflict.’ Aiden laughed as he continued the Star Wars theme.
‘There is no conflict,’ but Will got up anyway. Last night he hadn’t even begun to feel remotely up for it until he had forced down his fourth beer. That had been about eleven p.m. and he hadn’t got home until six. No wonder he felt like a dying duck in a thunderstorm, but they were going home in two days and this would be the last chance to go out for a big one.
‘Give us ten minutes for a shower then.’
‘Sure, I’ll wait on the porch and enjoy the sunset.’
Will laughed at that. The hut opposite was inhabited by two east European girls who felt it necessary to sit on their balcony naked for most of the day. Anywhere else Will guessed this might be unacceptable but here it just added to the surreal feeling that nothing was out of the ordinary. This combined with the fact they were easy on the eye and super friendly made waving to them a pleasure.
Will gasped as the cold water hit him. They had booked on the far side of the island so as not to be too close to the non-stop partying, but all it had really meant is they had a longer walk to the centre and then a longer walk back. They had also each paid for a hut on their own with air con and hot water so they could get up to mischief without someone else ruining it for them. Both the air con and water had been erratic at best but they had been too hungover to get out of bed early enough to do anything about it. The island was now overrun with thousands of people for full moon night, many of whom would not have booked accommodation, so the chance of moving was currently zero.
Will had kissed a few of those thousands of backpackers so far, but had not felt the urge to bring any back to his abode. The girl last night had been particularly keen but around five a.m. the energy had drained out of Will like escaping air from a li-lo due to a poorly positioned cigarette. It felt like even his face had begun to collapse. Only Darren was near him at the time, the others elsewhere in the mosh of humanity that was still stampeding up and down the beach-edge bars.
He had contemplated telling Darren he was off but knew he would just end up persuading him to stay. So as he was distracted giving a leathered-looking girl his full attention at the time Will had just slunk off when the girl whose name he now couldn’t remember had gone to the toilet. The others wouldn’t care as they had all been arriving home separately or in two’s anyway, with hazy recollections and sore heads the next day. Darren had even woken up next to a girl who he swore he hadn’t been with when he went to bed and said she had cried when he had asked her what she was doing there. Afterward, when Darren was elsewhere, Carl said he had seen him pushing a sobbing girl out of his door and telling her to ‘Just fuck off’.
The walk home had at least given Will a chance to think. The first week of the holiday had been brilliant. It was like old times but in a really cool place. They had gone sightseeing in Bangkok and then taken a bus to Kho Phi Phi where the film ‘The Beach’ was filmed. They had just chilled, sunbathed and swam. There was some night life but it had a chilled ambience and even though they had shifted plenty of beers it had not been excessive. They had eaten fresh fruit and vegetables and picked ‘today’s catch’ off the display to be cooked on a barbecue next to their table. It was all Will had dreamed about whilst he had been locked up and more. The people, both the Thai and the tourists, had been pleasant, friendly and relaxed. Will felt like he had entered a different world after the hatred, frustration and pent up vehemence of jail. He could almost feel the pressure being released from him as though he was a hot air balloon steadily going down after a long flight. Even Darren had relaxed a little and had not managed to find anyone to have a fight with since they had left the UK. Will and Carl had learnt to Scuba dive and now Will wanted more of this lifestyle.
That had been until they had come here to Haad Rin on Thailand’s party island. The only word to describe it was insane. A line of bars along a sandy shore with a huge throng of the world’s youth looking for and finding fun. Constant offers of drugs from every corner made you feel as though you were rude for refusing them. Before their arrival here Carl had even begun to put some weight on due to their healthy diet and lack of class A’s, but here he had discovered diet pills could be bought from the chemist containing industrial levels of ephedra. They gave you a buzz similar to cocaine when mixed with alcohol and they had all ended up taking them to enable them to continue to party when their bodies would normally have waved the white flag.
This was not what Will had wanted. Prison had been a waste of time and here felt the same. There was the same edginess as on a busy wing. Prison taught you to sense an atmosphere and this one cried out crime. Will seemed to see pickpockets, burglars, drug dealers and rapists everywhere he looked. He didn’t want to go out tonight and he would be looking forward to leaving. Last night’s solo walk home had left him with a plan though and he now accepted that he would do one more night, just for his friends, as in a way, that would be a fitting goodbye.
20.00 hrs
Will and Aiden arrived at their favourite restaurant and found Carl and Darren in a veranda seat. They didn’t look too lively either.
‘The big one eh lads? Full Moon night huh? Are we ready?’ Darren said as they sat down.
No-one else replied.
‘How about some shots to get us going?’
No-one replied to that either.
The tiny Thai lady came over to take their order. She was a terrible waitress. Will was pretty sure she had not successfully got any order one hundred percent right since they had arrived and it had become part of the night’s ritual to laugh at her mistakes. Brit’s abroad loved a bit of routine.
‘Four Changs please,’ Aiden sheepishly said.
The other amusing part was her fascination and blatant desire when it came to Aiden.
‘These beers all for you strong man. You drink many beer. You come back later when I finish?�
�� She squeezed him as she spoke, as though she was checking a horse for musculature.
‘One each will be fine thank you.’
They ordered food and as per usual the chef brought it out instead of her and practically threw it on the table. It was probably her husband and he may well have spat in it for all they knew, although as he shouted at them in Thai every time Will could always see a glint of humour in his eye and this time he winked at Will as he left. The food was always amazing but tonight Will had to really force his down, hoping some nutrients would be absorbed before it was jettisoned out of his derriere. It would need to be some pak choi to magically eradicate four days of excess.
‘I am going to shag everything on the beach tonight, I can feel it,’ Darren declared. ‘Disco dancer, pole dancer, fire dancer, you name it. No-one will be safe from my charms. I want to go out with a bang!’
‘Very romantic Darren. More like Northern Dancer. Whilst you are concentrating on that, could you please not antagonise the locals. I could do without any more drama,’ Will said.
‘If that little shit wants me to teach him a lesson, then I am happy to.’
Darren gave him an evil look. A small but incredibly muscled Thai and him had been jostling each other for the last few days. The barman at the Drop In Bar had told them he was ‘The Man’ on the island and an ex-Muay Thai boxing champion. Darren had just said ‘SAS, game over’.
‘I read on google today that it is not unusual for someone to die on full moon night here,’ Aiden said. ‘Maybe it can be you this year. Stabbed up by Liu Kang and his gang.’
‘I’m just off to the chemist would sirs like their usual order?’ Carl said as he got up from the table and pushed his mostly uneaten food away.
The thought of pumping more drugs into himself didn’t seem to be an appealing prospect for Will, but the chance of him lasting the night otherwise were infinitesimal.
‘The usual please,’ Will and Aiden replied.
Darren got up, whispered something in Carl’s ear and they both laughed out loud and wandered off down the dusty street.
21.00 hrs
They arrived at the Cactus Bar and sat on a bench in the sand outside in the dusk. It was busy but not heaving yet. Full Moon Night was a marathon not a sprint and Will told Darren so.
‘Was it really necessary to get here so early?’
‘I like to do a recce first,’ Darren replied, ‘Check out the scene. I don’t want to miss anything.’
Darren had a loose vest top which showed off his wiry muscles but even in the dark Will could see he was sweating profusely. There was actually a nice breeze off the sea tonight so he was clearly already on something. Carl looked flushed too but he was so groomed he didn’t look so manic. A sun tan had given Carl the final piece of the jigsaw and there was almost a film star quality to him. Who would have known being so thin would become so desirable. Carlbuncle was well and truly consigned to history.
They finished their beers and wandered further up the beach. There were already many people the worse for wear but they mostly appeared to be in the ‘I’m so happy, I love everyone and everything stage’ as oppose to the ‘Kill me, or kill you phase’. They stopped outside a trance bar which already had people whirling and twirling to a hideous beat. Random laser beams of light lit up the black dance floor into fractions, making the dancers appear as though they were being electrocuted from different angles.
‘If we get split up, let’s meet here,’ Aiden declared. ‘We will stick out like sore thumbs.’
22.00 hrs
As the four of them sat around a low table on the sand outside another bar Will felt the drugs he had taken pick him up out of the doldrums and felt the energy course through him. He wasn’t sure where Darren had got the ecstasy tablets from but they had all taken one anyway. All of a sudden the music from the bar seemed to become clearer and his body picked up the rhythm of ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga. They all stood up in unison, grinning at each other.
Will could feel his heart pounding as he danced with his friends. He knew it was partly the chemicals flowing through his bloodstream but he swore he had never felt this good. He had experienced some dark nights in prison where he had felt he would never have good times again. It was such a relief to know it was still possible. Aiden was bopping next to him, a huge grin on his face, arms in the air. Carl was sandwiched between the two eastern European nudists who had taken the effort to put some flimsy clothes on with a look of heavenly surprise on his face. ‘Bastard’ Will thought and tipped his head back and laughed out loud.
‘Your round.’ He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a stationary Darren behind him. He seemed at odds to the swirling mass of people around him.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ he said.
Will let him be guided round a corner thinking Darren was just wanting to get served quicker and taking him to a less manic bar.
When he got round the corner it was quieter as a big tall wooden building cut out the music and all he could hear was the beat in the background. There was no bar though, just two local men with serious expressions on their faces, clearly waiting for them. One was the Thai fighter Darren had spent the last few days posturing to.
‘Fuck this Darren. I just got out of jail. Let’s go,’ Will hissed at Darren.
‘No, I’m here to fight, you are here to watch.’ As Will wondered what the hell that meant the boxer and Darren walked further down the alley. Will followed feeling he had no choice in the matter, taking a sharp left turn until they were in a clear flat area of dried mud behind some shacks. The other Thai came and stood next to Will which elevated the discomfort his body was feeling at the sudden change in atmosphere. As the other two men squared up to each other, the man turned to him.
‘Your friend lose. Slowly,’ he whispered to Will. Will looked at the combatants. Both appeared supremely confident. The weak orange light from the single street light emphasized the greasy forehead and face of Darren but he looked relaxed and fluid as he rolled his shoulders. His opponent took his T-shirt off, bowed to him but never took his eyes off Darren’s face and then it was on.
No wonder the bloke was self-assured. He was chiselled like no man Will had seen before. He suspected he would be able to find more spare flesh on Carl than on this rapidly moving individual. Suddenly Will’s belief in Darren evaporated. He looked like what he was. A thirty-five year old washed up ex-soldier high on drugs. It seemed it was all Darren could do to dodge the myriad of kicks and punches that were coming his way. The poor light made it difficult to see what was landing and what was being deflected but it was evident to both men watching it was one way traffic.
Darren suddenly slipped a punch and no doubt realising he could not beat this guy in a boxing match got in close and got off a succession of punches to the man’s midriff. His victim though twisted his body left and right and rained elbow blows to Darren’s head and face. Darren dodged them all bar the last one, an upper cut to his chin. He blocked it but the force of the hit knocked him backwards giving the other man space to direct an extended kick straight into Darren’s solar plexus knocking him a metre back and he dropped to his knees. The other man held both hands up, nodding his head; a slow smile enlivening what had been a stony visage. He knew he had the best of his opponent.
Will looked at the man next to him and began to wonder how he was going to get out of this intact. His heart was going like a trip hammer and the blood coursing through his veins felt hotter than lava, causing sweat to ooze out of him like a cheap burger on a barbecue. He decided when the deadly blow came he was going to turn round and sprint for the safety of the crowds as if his life depended on it - and it probably did. He looked at the man next to him who had adoration glowing in his eyes at his invincible friend and Will suspected he might not even notice if he slipped away now. Something though made him stay. Darren deserved what he was about to receive and Will was done getting involved, but this could end horribly and Will wanted to be able to help if
he could and it didn’t affect his own health. It did end horribly.
To be fair to Darren he pulled himself upright and engaged his enemy once more. Breathing hard he circled him, blocking the kicks that came his way. Fast and without warning Darren flung his watch, whose catch he must have loosened when he was kneeling, with an underarm throw at his foe’s face. The man dodged it and threw an inevitable punch, but no doubt due to the surprise of the watch trick it seemed to lack its usual crispness and Darren slipped underneath his fist. It was then that Will’s mind cleared. Darren wasn’t a fighter, or a sportsman. He was a trained killer. He hadn’t been boxing with this man; he had been working out how to disable him. He had been looking to destroy his opponent in the safest way possible with the minimal amount of damage to himself. Always a professional.
Darren got in close and clawed his thumbs into his rival eyes, as he raked and gouged he used his forward momentum to slam his forehead into the exposed nose. Will could hear the wet crunch of bloody bone from where he stood. As the man lost consciousness and began to drop to the floor Darren immediately threw a thumping uppercut under his chin, knocking the falling head back up and then he grabbed the man by the back of the neck. As the man fell forward with a slack face Darren propelled his face down, straight onto his own rising knee.
Will turned to look at the unconscious man’s friend but he had disappeared, no doubt like Will should have done. He walked over to Darren who had turned the man over and was eyeing up the pulpy mess that had once been a face. As the man started to make a gurgling sound, no doubt choking on the blood which was pouring out of his nose Darren turned to face him. He gave him a blank look and walked past him, down the alley and disappeared into the crowd. Will went to follow him before whispering, ‘Fuck.’
He bent down next to the prone form and proceeded to arrange his arms and legs in the right way and pulled his head towards him. He noticed the two front teeth were missing. With a grimace he propped the man’s jaw open, wincing at the scrape of bone on bone, and put his finger into the mouth and fished them both out in a pool of blood and phlegm. He then rolled the man over into the recovery position. He stood up and spun round as he felt eyes upon him. It was just a small child watching from the shadows. Fearing the return of the other man with a mob and feeling very exposed Will trotted back down the lane and made his way towards the nearest bar toilet to wash his hands.
Lazy Blood: a powerful page-turning thriller Page 23
