Blue Jay

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Blue Jay Page 2

by A Zukowski


  inked among the animals. Chris wonders who the

  name belongs to. She swallows and is lost for words

  because she does have a thing for people with

  tattoos. Tattoos or not, she all too often falls for

  some unbearably nasty bastards. With women, she

  likes them with long hair and sweet smiles. The

  femme to her butch.

  She’s surprised she’s horny; after all, she had

  come in the client’s arse an hour ago.

  “Ah, you want a shower? Why don’t you go first?”

  That rich tone reaches out to her.

  The last thing she wants is to sport an erection

  with the new tenant. She tries to drop her towel

  serendipitously to cover herself up. “Oh, no. You go

  ahead. I’m used to staying up anyway.”

  Chris runs back to her room and sits on the edge

  of her bed to wait for her racing heart to calm down.

  When was the last time she blushed seeing a hot-

  blooded naked torso? Maybe never. Annette’s body

  parts. Limbs and flesh. She fails to remember

  anything before that.

  It must have been about fifteen minutes when a

  knock on her door wakes her from her wandering

  mind. She opens to see the man, now clad only in a

  small white towel around his waist. Tiny beads of

  water cling to his skin. Her reflex might have been

  to jump her new neighbour, except she’s unsure of

  the other’s sexual orientation and he has a few

  inches and about a hundred pounds on her.

  “Shower’s free. Thanks, hmm, for your help

  tonight.” He scratches his head. “Name’s Alex.”

  He extends his hand, which is huge, matching the

  size of the rest of him, the rough and warm skin

  16

  touching Chris’s. Closer now, she notices the slight

  kink of his strong nose. A broken nose usually

  matches a his-story. He’s a gangster, a fighter or a

  boxer. Dark-brown hair and deep-set black eyes.

  The man is made up of hard edges and sharp

  planes, and definitely not conventionally attractive.

  Her-story. She’s an escort, a cynic and stuck in a

  rut.

  “Chris.” She wants to say more, but she closes her

  mouth, afraid of the kind of rubbish that usually

  falls out.

  “All right, good night.”

  In the bathroom, when she considers her

  reflection

  in

  the

  steamed-up

  mirror

  and

  contemplates her face and body, Chris wishes she’d

  burst open and let everything out. She leans in and

  scowls at the image of someone whose pretty

  surface hides nothing but shattered pieces

  underneath.

  ~~~

  Four and a half fucking years in jail. Alex

  wouldn’t say he’d been looking forward to being out.

  Standing in front of the gate all alone, he thought

  about the prospect of life outside but couldn’t

  summon up any enthusiasm.

  Still, the smell of freedom was fresh, even though

  nothing could lift his spirit inside or outside the

  prison walls. Like a cliché, he sniffed as he emerged

  from HMP Pentonville, and found it only marginally

  better than the air in the jail yard.

  Alex was less than pleased to see his older brother

  Gary picking him up this morning. Alex had fallen

  17

  from grace at the height of his career. So what did

  he expect? An entourage? A welcome-home party?

  “Hey, don’t look so glum. I’m afraid your cronies

  forgot about you the minute you left the ring. Just

  me.” Gary gave Alex a crooked grin and pulled him

  into a bear hug. “Anyhoo, freedom at last. Let’s go

  and celebrate, bro.”

  Drinking was the last thing Alex wanted to do, but

  he knew perfectly well Gary wouldn’t have

  celebrated in any other way.

  “I’ve got to report to probation, and they’ve

  already arranged a bedsit for me in London. I’m not

  supposed to hang around Essex, Gary. It’s one of my

  parole conditions.”

  “Visiting your folks is fine, right? Come on, man.

  Fuck probation.”

  How can Gary be so irresponsible at his age?

  “No, G. Bro, if I don’t report and do as my

  probation officer tells me to during my licence, I’m

  back in the nick. You got that?”

  Gary knew all about probation and the criminal

  system, having had his fair share of troubles when

  he was younger.

  “Kill-fucking-joy. All right. I’ll take you to report,

  then home to the ’rents. They’re desperate to see

  you.”

  Gary patted Alex’s muscly arm. One thing he

  could say about prison: he was able to stay fit. Most

  days there was work and little else to do but exercise

  in the gym. Some of the inmates were in awe of him.

  Despite what he’d done, the other prisoners still

  pitched him high up in the pecking order. With a

  build like his, no one dared to touch him.

  18

  Alex wondered why his parents even wanted to

  see him. He was their golden egg for ten, fifteen

  years, but they didn’t exactly come visit him in

  prison, or not often. In fact, he’d rarely received

  regular visits other than Coach. His parents and

  Gary came once every four months or so even

  though they didn’t live that far from the jail. They

  were too busy drinking and getting up to no good to

  visit their son and sibling. He couldn’t pretend he

  looked forward to seeing his folks and being back in

  Essex.

  The

  probation

  officer

  treated

  him

  with

  professional coldness, explaining the terms of his

  licence and the reporting expectations. Alex

  received the keys to the flat he’d be sharing with a

  few other guys. Though not all the flatmates have

  criminal records, it is a kind of halfway house for

  probationers and parolees. It can’t be any worse

  than prison. Alex is going to keep his head down

  and do the time.

  The accommodation is near Finsbury Park in

  North London, away from Sam’s family and the

  extended network of acquaintances from his

  previous life. Through Coach’s connections and

  approved by his PO, there’s already a job interview

  lined up. The probation officer lifted the curfew for

  his licence because this is a security job and he’ll be

  covering overnight shifts. It’s a start. Alex grew up

  poor, and his boxing training taught him hard work.

  He can do this.

  On the way to Essex, he stared at the passing

  scenery, trying to find something familiar to focus

  on but failing. His connection to this part of the

  19

  world is permanently broken.

  Gary drove him to their parents’ large house,

  bought with Alex’s money when he was doing great

  about ten years ago. At twenty-three, the boxing

  worl
d had tipped him to be the next big thing, and

  Alex won quite a few national and international

  championships. By twenty-six, he ranked among the

  top twenty heavyweights worldwide.

  The mansion stands on the coastline of Southend-

  on-Sea. As he got out of the car, he noticed the

  extensive front garden was overgrown, and the

  building had fallen into disrepair. It had not been

  painted for as long as he’d been away, and some

  cracks had appeared on the external walls, like the

  fault lines in Alex’s life. Well, there’s nothing he can

  do for his parents now. Considering his dad was a

  builder before drinking got the better of him and

  Alex started to win fights, he should have

  maintained the house better.

  Gary opened the front door. At thirty-five, he’s

  still living at home and sponging off his folks. Alex

  followed Gary into the dusky hall. The curtains were

  drawn even though it was almost lunchtime.

  “Mum! Dad!” Gary shouted in the direction of the

  first floor.

  Mum appeared in a dressing gown at the top of

  the ornate stairs. “Shit. Alex. I forgot you’re coming

  out today.” Slurring her words, she seemed worse

  for wear, and it was only late morning. She flew

  down the stairs in an entrance that would have

  made Scarlett O’Hara proud, and Alex hugged her.

  She had gained more weight since he last saw her.

  Alex’s family members are all big-boned and solid,

  20

  and he’s taller than Gary by a couple of inches.

  Dad came out of the sitting room. “Hey, son.

  Good to see ye.”

  “Good to see you too,” Alex replied, unsure

  whether he meant it.

  Gary ushered Alex into the lounge, and he

  enthused about having some mates over and going

  to get booze to celebrate his brother’s release. Alex

  felt a dull pain in his head. All he wanted was to go

  to his flat and collapse in bed, spend his first day as

  a free man without enduring his family and their

  drunken acquaintances.

  “Oh, come on. Why don’t we go and get some

  beers, maybe a bottle of cava? To celebrate.” Gary

  was totally oblivious to Alex’s predicament.

  “Gary. I’m not drinking.” Frustration infused his

  words because since that day five years ago, Alex

  has not touched a drop. Alcohol, unlike love, is easy

  to give up.

  “It’s my parole condition.” Alex would still be

  abstinent even if it wasn’t a requirement.

  “We’ll drink on your behalf, then.”

  As if he needs an excuse to do that.

  ~~~

  Gary dragged Alex out again and bought a bunch

  of supplies from the boozer, using the allowance

  given to him upon release. Despite Alex’s protests

  all day, Gary, his mum and dad and their friends

  continued drinking. Alex should have called a cab,

  but he was too numb and tired to think straight.

  Eventually, one of the family friends took pity on

  him and gave him a lift to the train station.

  21

  Since Alex used to get taxis or was driven around

  London in flash cars, he doesn’t know his way

  around the city, especially the north side. By the

  time he had eaten dinner and worked out how to

  reach the flat near the Arsenal football ground, it

  was gone midnight. Navigating the public transport

  system is another thing he’ll have to learn in his life

  outside.

  ~~~

  Chris, his new flatmate, is stunning. Probably in

  his early twenties, he’s smart-mouthed and fearless

  and has the height for modelling because he can talk

  to Alex without looking up like most people. His

  ash-blonde hair is cut close to his scalp, and delicate

  silver jewellery adorns his neck and narrow wrist.

  Under the bright glow in the stairwell, Chris is close

  enough for Alex to see his perfectly balanced face,

  punctuated only by piercings, the tiniest studs: one

  in his left ear and one under his bottom lip. Alex has

  seen plenty of pretty people in his life, but the

  elegant face and clear aquamarine eyes have an

  intensity so bright they eclipse the artificial light

  and blind him.

  Chris’s sultry and honeyed voice, too, draws him

  in, powering an attraction beyond reason. When he

  was boxing, Alex would never have let himself

  notice someone like Chris no matter how much he’d

  wanted to on occasion. But prison has stripped him

  of the macho-boxer identity that was potent as

  much as constraining.

  Chris is beautiful and way more alluring than the

  women who used to hang around the boxing scene.

  22

  Most of them would thrust their body to draw Alex’s

  attention because he was successful and therefore

  powerful. He’d hooked up with his fair share of

  models and starlets then, even though he was

  married to his childhood sweetheart. No more. After

  his crime, Alex decided he would never behave like

  that again, and he hasn’t felt horny for a while,

  anyway. Sometimes he took care of himself in his

  prison cell, but he didn’t think about actual sex that

  much during the sentence.

  As a boxer, he couldn’t risk acting on his

  attraction to the same gender. He had to protect his

  brand, his image—his manager kept on about those

  as if he wasn’t an athlete but a celebrity with no

  discernible sporting skill. Now he is no longer in the

  limelight

  or

  married—w hat

  a

  relief! —his

  suppressed interest in more than women has come

  back with a vengeance. He wonders if the dry spell

  in prison has played havoc with his sensibility.

  Chris’s nails are painted with dark-blue glitter,

  and a subtle shade of turquoise shadow enhances

  his eye colour. Alex wonders about the make-up.

  Chris. Kristy. Christopher. Could someone be all

  three? His family would call anyone dressed like

  that a nancy boy. This is London, though, not back

  home, and Chris doesn’t give a shit about what

  anyone else thinks. That much is clear.

  Chris is gutsy in the way he stands up to Alex.

  Few people dare to challenge him like that because

  of his size. Alex even likes the way Chris frowns,

  creasing his otherwise smooth face, and he’s

  frowning a lot tonight, revealing two deep dimples.

  It’s understandable Chris is aloof and annoyed—

  23

  who wouldn’t be to find their flatmate moving in so

  late at night?—and Alex is secretly pleased Chris

  doesn’t recognise him. Before he was released,

  they’d warned him about the possible media

  attention. His case was high profile and sensational.

  Media covered the court proceedings extensively,

  notwithstanding some reporting restrictions. He

  wasn’t looking forward to the public scrutiny—
/>   another reason why he was happy to move to his

  new accommodation so late at night. The new Alex

  has replaced the limelight with shadows.

  Alex stares at the ceiling in the darkness of his

  room. Imagining Chris’s eyes and the star-like silver

  studs he wore makes his skin tingle, a warmth

  building inside of him, reminding him of a long-

  forgotten sensation. He ponders the shades of

  London on the bare walls, unable to fall asleep and

  afraid of the darkness of his nightmares.

  His first night of freedom after four and a half

  years.

  ~~~

  Fifty fucking thousand. Alex reads through the

  mini statement he’s printed from the ATM again

  and goes home to call Tony, his ex-manager.

  “What? Who is this?”

  “It’s me.” He’s bought a pay-as-you-go phone—

  the cheapest you can get—and a SIM card, which is

  why Tony doesn’t recognise the number.

  “And who the fuck—”

  “Alex.” He wants to add ‘you idiot’ but thinks

  better of it.

  “Blue!” Tony changes to the smarmy businessman

  24

  in a split second. “When did you come out?”

  “Don’t call me that, Tone.” Alex might not be very

  good with his money, but he isn’t stupid. Tony is

  good at getting him the deal while always looking

  out for number one. Alex wanted nothing to do with

  him when he came out of prison, but he can’t ignore

  the fact that Tony was ripping him off through his

  personal crisis and jail time.

  I can do this.

  “Okay, Alex. What can I do for you, son?” Now

  the wizard turns into the paternally concerned ex-

  manager.

  Alex gets straight to the point. “I wanna know

  how come there’s only fifty grand in my account.”

  “Alex, you wouldn’t believe how many outgoings

  there’ve been. Barristers, court costs, compensation.

  Severance—”

  “Is that what you call the hundred thousand you

  paid yourself? Severance?” Alex drums his finger on

  the table as he talks.

  Silence for a beat. “Alex, don’t be like that. I was

  with you for ten years. I’ve got my family to

  consider.”

  Alex can almost hear Tony’s brain calculating

  before he changes the subject. “Listen, if you want

  to do some comeback matches, you’ll build a nest

  egg in no time. There will be a lot of interest. I’d say

  you could buy a nice house in the countryside after a

  match or two.”

  A nice fucking house in Essex. Fights that will be

  televised worldwide. The constriction in Alex’s

 

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