‘Cyn get back alright?’ Viv asks as she lifts the flap at the end of the bar and comes from behind it to stand next to Daniel. ‘Aven’t seen you since she went.’
‘Yep,’ Daniel rests his glass on a bar towel and wipes his mouth of froth by pinching his upper lip between finger and thumb. ‘Last of her exams this week, so she’s having a minor panic.’
‘Done ‘er good, ‘aving a break,’ she nods as though it was her idea.
‘That’s what I thought. ‘
‘All that studyin’ they ‘ave to do would do me ‘ead in.’
‘It’s pretty intense,’ he agrees. ‘Think they all appreciated some light relief, the books were out and lap tops were going into meltdown but it was more double-checking what they did know rather than finding out what they didn’t.’
‘Yeah.’ Viv looks at him without blinking. ‘’Course it was.’
Daniel laughs. ‘They had fun, that’s the main thing. You can’t think straight if you’re wound up. A couple of days off was what they needed. They did do some revision but it was all very relaxed.’
‘My idea of hell that is, houseful a bleedin’ kids.’ She eyes him with a knowing smile. ‘But I suppose it suited you alright.’
‘Being surrounded by all those nubile young women? Mmmmm,’ he takes another drink. ‘They made me feel about ninety. I had to call for reinforcements Saturday night; got some of my mates down to even things up a bit. Where does time go, eh? Doesn’t seem that long ago it was me with exam nerves.’ His sigh is long and wistful.
‘Blimey! You think you got problems, I can’t even remember that far back!’
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ he says quietly as she barks with humourless laughter. ‘I know you’re older than me but you seem to ram it down my throat every chance you get. For the last time, it doesn’t make any difference. Is it that you don’t want me at all and you’re using that as an excuse?’
Viv’s laughter morphs into a fixed smile and her eyes glisten in a face warmed by his directness. ‘You got it on the nose, sweetheart. I don’t fancy you, so give it a rest. I can’t be mates if you’re goin’ t’keep on pushin’ yer luck. I can’t say plainer than that, can I?’ She gives his hand a double tap and turns away.
‘No, no you can’t,’ he mumbles as the swing door to the corridor swings shut behind her.
The White Horse
Chapter Forty-nine
Woodbury Town Centre
‘You’re late.’ Charlene’s brother hisses, emerging from an alleyway and coming up behind her. He grips her arm tightly and hurries her along the pavement. ‘I ain’t got time t’piss about. Nine o’clock I said and nine o’clock I meant!’
Charlene yelps in surprise then pain as his fingers dig into her flesh. ‘Me car wouldn’t start!’ Her eyes swim with tears and she stumbles as she catches her heel on an uneven paving slab. ‘You’re ‘urtin’ me!’ Her protest and the tears are real.
‘Nothing t’what I will do if you’re late again.’ They reach the bank and Scott shoves her towards the cash machine. ‘Get it done.’
‘I can’t do it no more after this, I int got no money for meself. I need petrol and stuff t’get me t’work.’ She fumbles her debit card into the slot.
‘They’re gonna kill me if I don’t pay up and you’re gripin’ on about fuckin’ petrol!’ He raises his hand and she cringes, thinking he is going to slap her as he had before.
‘You can see the receipt an’ everythin’! I can’t give you no more cos I int got none, an’ tha’s the truth.’
In a doorway further along the street, two men surreptitiously watch the exchange and decide it is is time to make a move. Indulging in some synchronised newspaper folding, they heave themselves from the wall and amble towards the bank, each dropping their respective newspaper in a litter bin as they pass. Dwarfing Charlene, they stand shoulder to shoulder behind her.
‘You got a problem ‘ere, Miss?’ Paddy flexes his fingers inside his black leather gloves, draws himself up to his full height and rolls his shoulders for good measure. ‘Mister Alexander’s not gonna be too ‘appy if you got a problem.’
‘N-no..No, it’s alright, ‘onest.’ Charlene looks petrified despite knowing exactly what is going on.
‘Do you mind?’ Scott manages to prove he is an idiot in three words. ‘This is private.’ Should there have been any doubt about his sanity, he does it again.
‘And this, my son,’ Jerry growls menacingly ‘Is business.’
‘I’ve got no business with you.’ Scott looks down at the fan of notes in his hand and carries on counting.
‘Excuse us, Miss.’ both men move forward.
‘That.... ‘ Paddy prods Scott’s chest with his index finger and bends so that their faces almost touch. ‘Is where you’re wrong, Mister Baker.’
Scott’s legs cycle backwards and he looks from one terrifyingly large, booted and suited man to the other and begins to sweat. ‘I don’t know you!’
‘Our boss bought your debt.’ Paddy makes the words sound as though he is rubbing his hands with glee. ‘So when you don’t pay up, it’s us what comes lookin’, don’t we, ‘Arry?’
‘We do, Mister Green, we do.’
‘And when we finds people, we likes a bit of sport.’ He pats the bulge showing clearly under the left arm of his suit jacket and closes the gap by taking a slow and purposeful step. ‘That right, ‘Arry?’
‘More’n most, Mister Green, more’n most.’ Jerry says, having moved to stand behind Scott.
Scott swings round, his eyes wide, but showing no inclination to back down despite being sandwiched between them. ‘You got the wrong man!’
‘He’s me brother!’ Charlene finds the opportunity to play some of her script.
‘Yeah! You tell ‘em, Charlene.’
‘Well now.’ Jerry’s voice is breathy with sinister intent. ‘That makes things worse, don’t it Mister Green? Mister Alexander...well...he’s like...a family man. ‘E don’t ‘ave no fondness for anyone what don’t give their family respect. Did you see any respect there, Mister Green?’
‘I don’t reckon I did, Mister Field.’ Paddy cracks his knuckles and crunches his fist in the palm of his other hand. He leans back slightly, seeming to give the situation baleful thought. ‘Now we got two problems.’ He gives Charlene a respectful nod and turns back to glower at Scott. ‘It’s like this, my son. Not only has Mister Alexander bought your debt but seems ‘e’s taken a liking to this young lady 'ere and told us to look out for ‘er.’
‘But I don’t know anybody called Mister Alexander, I don’t, honest!’ Taking her cue, Charlene stands between him and Scott and holds her arms out from her sides in a gesture meant to give the impression she is trying to protect him.
‘Aaw, would you look at that, ‘Arry. She’s got some bottle, ain’t she?’
‘I seem to remember tha’s what Mister Alexander likes about ‘is ladies.’ Charlene gets a low chuckle of approval from Jerry.
Smiling, Paddy puts a hand under each of her armpits, lifts her bodily from the ground and sets her gently to one side. ‘You stand there, little lady, while we sorts this out.’
‘But I don’t know no Mister Alexander!’
‘Let’s just say ‘e knows you. ‘E likes to take an interest in all his customers.’
‘I don’t take drugs!’
Paddy tries not to laugh at her indignation while admiring her acting skills. ‘We knows that. Mister Alexander don’t have no truck with 'is special ladies gettin’ off their face, see? But ‘e says you ain’t been to none of ‘is clubs lately and ‘e does like a bit of decoration ‘round the place.’
‘I dint ‘ave no money!’ Charlene throws in an unscripted lip tremble.
‘And now we knows why, don’t we?’ He rocks onto his back foot, folds his massively muscled arms and leers at Scott. ‘When me and my associate come out tonight, our orders was to find them what owes Mister Alexander money and jog their memories a bit. That was on top of looking out for this young lady and 'ere we are...’ he pauses for effect and smiles. ‘Killing two birds with one stone. I call that an 'appy coincidence, don’t you, Mister Field?’
‘A very happy one, Mister Green.’ Pulling a sand-filled sock from the pocket of his long black overcoat, Jerry thwacks it several times into his hand.
‘Don’t hurt him!’ Charlene cries out.
‘I think it’s best you go now, little lady.’
At last getting the message that he is in real trouble, Scott looks round frantically for an escape route. ‘But...but....I don’t owe anybody anything!’
‘Not what we heard.’ Jerry touches the side of Scott’s head with the cosh and lets it slide slowly down to his shoulder. ‘Mister Alexander bought your name along with a few others they was having trouble getting payment off. You tellin’ me Mister Alexander tells porkies?’ The cosh lifts an inch and taps.
‘I don’t owe anyone any money! You tell ‘em, Charlene!’ As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he realises from the look on her face that his one possible ally has been lost.
‘You told me you needed money t’pay people off else they was going t’kill you! I give you money t’pay ‘em!’ Charlene’s anger is genuine and she lunges at him with the nails of both hands ready to do damage.
‘Oh, dear.’ Paddy exaggerates a regretful sigh as he blocks her attack with one arm. ‘You hear that, ‘Arry? Seems Mister Baker’s been takin’ this young lady’s money. Mister Alexander’s not gonna be too 'appy about that either.’
‘Bit of a dilemma, tha’s what we got now, Mister Green.’
‘Hmm...Now who does we believe, Mister Field?’ With a flick of his wrist, Paddy relieves Scott of the money in his hand and returns it to Charlene with a courteous nod. ‘I think Mister Alexander would want us to add what was took under false pretences to what ‘e already owes ‘im . You say that was fair, Mister Field?’
‘I’d say that was very fair, Mister Green.’
‘I don’t owe him nothing!’ Scott’s voice becomes a whine.‘You gotta believe me! I’m clean, look!’ He hastily bares his arms for inspection. ‘It was a wind up, right?’ he says, squeaking when Jerry stoops to push up the legs of his trousers to pretend to check for tracks and scabs there. ‘I needed a lend to see me through. I’m on the dole; you gotta know how far that goes. And I got expenses!’
Paddy feigns indecision for a very brief moment. ‘The Boss don’t make mistakes.’
‘He does! He does!’
‘I’m thinking, Mister Green,’ Jerry muses thoughtfully. ‘No matter what, there’s still the small matter of what’s outstanding to Mister Alexander’s particular friend ‘ere. What with ‘im ‘aving took money from ‘er.’
‘Which he’d want us to collect.’
‘Yeah, so it don’t make no difference, do it?’
‘Not as I can see, Mister Field.’ Paddy puts a ‘friendly’ hand on Scott’s shoulder and smiles as a cat might when playing with a mouse. ‘Personally,’ he says, drawing a noisy breath through his nose while his heel grinds into the toe of Scott’s trainer. ‘I’d like to finish things right now.’ His words sound more intimidating for being delivered with a smirk. ‘But that weren’t our orders, see? We was only supposed to give people a little reminder of what might 'appen if they overstep the mark. Thing is,’ he says, tilting his head to one side and giving every appearance of giving the situation careful consideration. ‘We’re thinking you might of overstepped the mark already.’ He pauses then sighs with resignation. ‘But it’d be more’n our life’s worth to do anything without Mister Alexander’s say so. E’s a big man, is Mister Alexander.’
Scott’s eyes travel upwards past Paddy’s chin and he gulps in terror at the thought of anyone bigger than the man in front of him.
‘So this is what we’re going to do.’
‘Don’t hurt me!’
‘I got that pleasure to look forward to,' Paddy sniggers. ‘In the meantime, Mister Baker, we got you pegged and we got people on the street keeping tabs, so we’ll know where to find you when it comes payday. We’re going to see this young lady home now, cos we’re polite like that. Mister Alexander likes us to be polite.’ He nods Jerry to Charlene’s side. ‘And we’re going to be asking 'er just how much you owe before we come looking for you again. You better 'ave that money ready or Mister Alexander’s going to be very cross with you. Got that?’
‘It’s nearly three thousand pounds!’ Charlene blurts when prompted by a nudge from Jerry.
‘Dearie me, we have been a greedy boy.’ Paddy pushes his face close to Scott’s and lowers his voice to a growl. ‘Then we’ll call it five, shall we? A little bit of interest for the lady’s trouble.’
‘FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS!’ Scott splutters. ‘But I haven’t got five thousand pounds! I haven’t even got a hundred. I need time, give me time!’ he burbles in fear.
‘Then either you find it, sonny, or you’d better learn to run fast. And don’t bother looking over your shoulder ‘cos we’ll be there and we will get you.’ Paddy moves his hand to the top of Scott’s head and turns him to face the other direction. ‘Off you go.’
