by Ian Williams
With each and every drip came the increasing awareness of the amount of time they had already waited for Dino to arrive. It had begun to dawn on Graham that they could have scared him away already. He was probably used to living in these kinds of streets. So it was not too hard to conceive that he would be quite adept at spotting something suspicious.
“Is this the right place?” Ruth asked, standing right beside the large puddle. She had been surprised on more than one occasion by the repeated splashes. A couple of them had sent a light spray of dirty water flying across them too, which carried a suspicious odour of piss.
Graham watched as a woman walked past the alleyway. She did not stop. Dino was still nowhere to be seen and he was becoming more agitated with every minute that went by. He turned back to his sister and walked a slow pace back into cover behind the corner. “This is it. We just need to stay out of sight until he gets here. If we scare him off we’re screwed.”
“What about when he does turn up, what should I do?”
He thought over a battle plan that had been very loosely forming in his mind. The obvious choice to him was that he faced this Dino himself. If he could be as forceful as necessary then the guy should be easy enough to fool. With Ruth by his side, however, he worried she may give their desperation away, or worse just attack him herself.
“Best if you stay behind this corner while I speak to the guy. That way if he gets nasty I can keep him away from you.”
“Thanks Graham. But I’m sure I can handle a skinny druggy.”
“Whatever. Just don’t do anything to put yourself in his way.”
She joined him around the corner and leaned against the suspiciously damp wall, with her arms crossed. “We have to get this right. I can’t lose Elliot, not to these bastards.”
“I know. If it comes to it I’ll floor the guy, ask questions later, that sort of thing.”
They continued to wait with nothing to break the nervous tension. Still, the constant and prolific drops from above brought a shimmer to the growing puddle. The weather was warm and dry around the city, so their location was at odds with what they had seen on the way there. It felt to Graham to be experiencing its own damp and humid microclimate, like an urban swamp land. The puddle even resembled an alligator infested pool with a mirror like surface hiding what may lurk below. He could see himself being swallowed whole by an unseen predator, hiding less than an inch under water.
Such thoughts only exacerbated his impatience and took his concentration down a dangerously distracted route. To combat the boredom he took to flicking his shoe over the surface of the large puddle. The reflections duly scattered in rainbow coloured concentric circles that distorted the returning image of sky and buildings. When the water settled he gave it another prod to watch as the process repeated itself.
“Graham,” Ruth whispered.
The interruption instantly brought his eyes level. He looked ahead as an echo gave away someone approaching. For now the visitor was unseen and sticking closely to the wall just behind another row of bins. “Stay here,” he told his sister, who clicked her tongue in response.
He walked into the middle of the alley and stood waiting, his pose sturdy and confident while his eyes stayed as casual as possible, looking to and fro as if the world could not touch him if it tried. Whether this was projecting the desired level of fierceness down the alley to whomever was coming, he did not know. He had never had to try before, with only a few school fights to his name. The truth was, if Dino turned on them he was unsure if he would know how to react. All he could hope was that some instinctive reaction would take over in that moment.
A hooded man left the shadows to the side and allowed what little sunlight there was getting between the buildings to highlight him. When he spotted Graham standing like a bouncer guarding a nightclub entrance, he immediately lowered his blue hood to reveal his face – and concerned frown upon it. Surprisingly, he chose not to run. His eyes darted about the scene, but he was not compelled to leg it just yet.
“Where’s Elliot? You’re not Elliot,” the man said as he pointed at the stranger before him.
“I’m Graham, Elliot’s friend. He needs your help and I need a name. That’s all. Is your name Dino?”
“Dino, yeah.” He took a deliberated step backward into a smaller puddle before continuing. “Why didn’t he come himself?”
“Because he’s in hiding. I just need you to tell me who you give the MARCs to.”
“The what? Look buddy, I don’t know you, I know Elliot. If he’s not here then I’m not either.”
As Dino turned to walk away Graham could hear a wet footstep from behind him. He guessed Ruth had become impatient and was edging closer to interrupting them. If she did then Dino would surely quicken his pace dramatically. So with the enthused marching of a well-trained soldier, Graham waded through the puddles and caught up. “Elliot has less than a day left, after that he’s dead.”
“Bullshit!” Dino returned over his shoulder.
The alleyway was set to end only a hundred foot or so ahead, Graham was running out of time. He sped up, sloshing water to the side, and stopped suddenly in front of the malnourished figure of Dino. Standing close only expanded this particular facet of a drug dealer’s physique, with eyes hidden underneath sharp eyebrow ridges and sunken cheeks to frame his darkened lips. If threatened, he did not appear able to defend himself.
Graham had to sidestep to keep Dino from walking around him. Each time he did he knew he was losing the battle. Soon he expected the guy would switch to self-preservation mode and would flee at full gallop, like a spooked horse escaping its perimeter fence. Finally he took the chance to hold Dino still by placing a hand on his chest.
“Hey man,” Dino said. “What’s your problem?”
“Sorry. Please, I just want a name, that’s all.”
“I don’t have to tell you shit. Now get out my way.”
Pushed aside and quickly running out of ideas, Graham had no choice. He had to try again. This time when he managed to get in front he raised his hands to show he had no intention of touching him unannounced. “I’ll pay whatever you want.”
“It’s not about money, Mister. I don’t deal with anyone I don’t know.”
“Fine, then what? I know Elliot swaps something with you for D-Stims. All I want is to find out where it goes from there.”
By giving up his attempt to circumnavigate Graham’s expanding field of physical influence, Dino seemed at least willing to listen. Though his constant checking around him and toward the end of the alley was demonstrating his unease with the conversation. He even started to rub his thin and bony wrists together like a praying mantis. Rolling his sleeve up a few inches revealed he was completely devoid of any personal screen or tech of any kind – not even a watch.
“How do I know you’re not the police? For all I know this is some pathetic attempt at catching me out,” Dino said.
There was little Graham could do to tell him otherwise, nothing about him suggested he was not. He had no criminal record, and his only dealings with the police were when they called him in to help them. It was obvious he did not belong in this world of secret alleyway meetings and dealings with known drug pushers, and that was all that mattered. He found it hard to understand how Elliot could be.
“I’m not. Please, we really need your help. What if I call Elliot for you?” Graham slid up his sleeve and held out his wrist screen as it automatically activated a video call.
“You’re fucking kidding me!” Dino said with a twinge of anger to his voice. He stepped away from Graham and began to shake his head. “I don’t believe it. You’ve had that thing on you all this time.”
“So?” Graham cancelled the call with a swipe of his finger.
Dino became even more nervous than before and searched the area for an unknown accomplice, looking to the sky and then to the overarching metal emergency stairs from the apartments above. Paranoia was written across his face, making it appear some
how more jaundiced than earlier. “You’re not a cop, that’s for sure.” His gaze shot about the reverse of him as he turned to searching this area, after coming up short with the alleyway ahead.
“Just give me a name and I’ll leave, how about that?”
“You’re a fool man. Everything we’ve said has been recorded. I didn’t tell you anything. I’m not a D-Stim dealer, are you mad? I sell insurance.”
“What are you talking about?” Graham insisted, now more frustrated than angry.
“Elliot knew to leave his tech somewhere before meeting me. If you knew him, you’d have known that too.” Dino backed away cautiously, one step at a time as he continued to profusely deny Graham’s accusation with the fervour of a guilty person. “You shouldn’t have come here. I can’t help you.”
With each step taking him further in the other direction, Dino had soon edged out of reach. There was nowhere to go and it became clear to Graham that he remained the only thing blocking Dino’s escape. The option of exiting the alleyway was out. Equally, the other way presented no hope either. At the end was Ruth and a row of bins. Beyond that, nothing except a high fence that only a trained free-runner could traverse.
“Dino, listen I’m not here to hurt you or get you into trouble. I just need one answer from you and then you can go.”
“You idiot, don’t you see it’s too late now. The police already know where I am because of you. I’ve been on their list for months and you’ve handed me straight to them.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Too late.” Dino suddenly turned and ran in the direction of the bins. He gained speed much quicker than Graham was expecting, no doubt due to extensive experience in evading people. A spray of water accompanied every stride he took as he broke the calm ripples of the puddles underfoot.
“Shit!” Graham did his best to chase the much more agile Dino, but was left in his wake almost immediately. At the pace he managed to achieve he was still well under what apprehending Dino required. Even so he raced as fast as he could, feeling his feet squelch each time they landed.
It was now clear Dino thought he could get over the fence and make his escape. Using the bins to launch himself up, he leapt to the top and scrambled up the rest of the way. Once he reached the summit he swung his body over the fence and dropped down the other side. His landing was on dry land, with the sound of gravel giving it away. A moment of unsteadiness was joined by the sound of loose stones flying out from under his feet.
Graham watched through the gap in the fence panels as the scrawny outline of Dino fled away down an adjoining alleyway. But it was the flapping bin lid next to him that really disturbed him, followed by Ruth’s feet slamming down hard. “What are you doing?” he said, exasperated.
“I’m not letting him get away. Help me up, Graham.”
He pushed his sister’s body up onto the bins and stood back as she vaulted over the top and landed firmly on her feet on the other side. “Ruth wait,” he called.
Getting over himself would be a major undertaking and one that he had no time to think through. The other option, to head back up the alley and go the long way around the street, was out of the question. By then he felt sure Dino and his sister would be long gone. Her running had already become quiet. She was heading straight into danger and he could do nothing to stop her. He would soon lose her altogether if he did not act.
An overwhelming exhaustion hit him just as he gained the height of the blue plastic bins. He jumped up and grabbed the top of the fence panels. Pulling himself up proved too difficult. When he landed his left foot awkwardly on the bin’s lid it deformed and dropped him a few inches. The bin would not take his weight for much longer. It was now his last chance to get over it.
This time he placed a foot against the fence and pulled his body up. When his other foot joined the wooden structure a loud creak escaped as it struggled to cope. With the muscles in his arms and shoulders reaching the limit of their endurance, he put one final shove of his body into moving up just high enough to hook an arm over the top. Now he was finally in a stable enough position to plan the next part. His feet kicked about as he made it to a point of no return, at which stage his weight carried him the rest of the way over the top.
Upon landing he felt his legs give out from beneath him, sending his bulk to the floor. Luckily he took some of the forward momentum with him and was sent rolling onto his side. The dirt and gravel stuck in his back and side. He brushed himself down as quickly as he could and set about returning to his feet.
This side of the fence appeared similar to the other, except for the lack of leaking pipes overhead. As a result his feet could find traction much easier than before. So he jogged away, fazed, but not damaged by his clumsy landing.
“Ruth?” he called out. There was no response and absolutely no sign of either of the two. A few long drag marks in the dirt were all that remained of Dino’s hurried sprint toward the street ahead. Passers-by took no notice of the alleyway that he walked down, which told him he was further away than he needed to be. If someone had stopped and gawked at him as he landed on the other side of the fence, then he would have known they had just seen it all. But no-one had.
At the end of the alleyway he faced a choice of where to go. During his time getting over the fence he had not thought of watching where they went after exiting the alley. He looked to the right and saw only the street and a few people walking down it. In the middle of the road was a row of plants that had been placed to conceal the unused road surface underneath. To his left he saw the same, plus a few of the expressions of surprise he wanted to see too.
He approached a couple stood talking and pointing in the same direction. Though with his heavy breathing he struggled to ask for help. What came out of his mouth was more a murmured and wheezy garble of words. In the end the two had continued to point to another alleyway further ahead. When he left them he could hear their complaining about the sudden disruption that had stolen the peace and quiet of their street.
The building they pointed to was a small coffee shop with only two tables occupied outside. If these alfresco customers had seen anything it had not taken them away from their beverages. To the side of the building was another alleyway, this one just as overflowing with full bins as the last alley.
“Ruth, where are you?” He leaned against the wall for a split second of relief before he heard a reply.
“Over here.” It was Ruth.
She seemed hardly out of breath at all. She stood, poking out from the corner at the end and waving to him to join her, and it appeared she wanted him to do so urgently. He could only guess she had caught up with Dino and had somehow convinced him to help. When she popped out again to check on him, it was the black stick like object in her hand that really answered the question for him.
He made it to the end of the alley and again had to lean against the wall to catch his breath. His heart had only just started to slow when he saw Dino sat with his back against the brick wall and his head drooped. This was not how he expected things to go. If not for his sister tagging along then Dino would have disappeared without a trace. Thankfully she had gotten the better of the skinny little shit, with the help of her Taser-stick of course.
“Are you OK?” Graham asked.
Ruth nodded without moving her eyes from Dino’s unflinching body. There was no hint of her having over-exerted herself by tackling a grown man to the ground at all.
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” she replied. “I only hit him lightly, barely caught him. I turned it on just as I touched him.”
“Is he awake still?”
“He was a moment ago. Graham, I swear I just wanted to stop him, that’s all. When he fell he jittered about for a second then he stopped. I had to drag him here and prop him up.”
Graham knelt beside Dino and lifted his head up for any sign of consciousness. “He’s out. Jesus Ruth, couldn’t you just have hit him without shocking him?”
/> “Hey, you’re lucky I was there to stop him at all. Be grateful he didn’t get away.” She flicked her ponytail back into place behind her shoulder.
“I know, well done. We need to wake him up quickly,” he said as he prised Dino’s left eye open. He peered into the unresponsive pupils looking back at him, and searched them for movement. After a couple of seconds he decided it was worth trying a slap or two to bring him around again. They only needed a name. After that they could call for help.
He started with a gentle tap of the cheek and when this failed to work he drew his hand further back. In its extended position he hesitated before letting it loose. Then in one sweeping motion he made contact with the left side of Dino’s head, which jerked away in response. When it bounced back again the eyes were wide and glazed. Slowly Dino began to come around.
“Hey, can you hear me?” Graham asked.
For a short while the response was nothing more than a confused look to him and Ruth. As the rest of his brain returned to full operational capacity, Dino once again descended into a paranoid rant. “What did you do? Are they still listening? Who sent you, was it the police?”
“Dino, we aren’t the police. You need to give me the name so we can leave you be. Please.”
“Show me your arms,” Dino said, in an unexpected moment of clarity. All the babbling went to the wayside and his attention became completely focused on the current situation. He waited silently for them to do as they were told.
“OK, Dino. Whatever you want,” Graham said. Twice the reason behind Dino’s odd behaviour had been targeted at his wrist screen, what he thought rather innocuous a thing. Certainly nothing he expected someone to be so afraid of. But as he slid his sleeve up and over his personal device he was in for a surprise.
