*****
The best news, really, is that it turns out that I’m meeting Rob Shady at a pub. Well, a wine bar really, a posh kind of pub with raised leather seats over small, round, frosted tables, dark tiled floors and kind of subtle lighting. I’d say it’s not my kind of place, I like something more authentic, but to be honest that would be a lie. I don’t really care what a place is like, so long as the drink’s good. Me and Jason walk in, Jason scans the place, not really difficult as there’s only one table occupied, and we walk over. “Now don’t start drinking all right, while you’re here. Just coke, or orange juice, or whatever, understand?”
“Jason!” The man gets up as we approach and they give each other a sort of hug. Rob’s thin and dark, and he’s wearing a black suit, black shoes, black gloves and black sunglasses. Some people used to think that wearing sunglasses indoors made you look cool, but most of them were jerks. It’s a shame really, because sunglasses indoors really do make you look cool. “This is Mark, who I was telling you about” Jason says. “Nice to meet you” says Rob in a deep, gravelly voice and puts out his hand. As we shake, I can’t help noticing that his suit is not just black, it’s incredibly black. I mean, it’s so black, you could lose your soul in there. Unless, of course you’d lost it already.
“Right, Mark, I’ll swing back in a while and pick you up. And for now, listen to Rob, all right?” Jason gives me one last look then turns and goes.
Rob gives me a broad smile. “So, Mark, would you like a drink?”
“Ah” I shrug. He clicks his fingers. “Jason told you not to, right? Ah, don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I have some coke if you like.”
It’s going to be a slow afternoon. “Yeah, coke’s fine, he said I could have some of that.” Rob reaches his black gloved hand into his black suit and pulls out a small bag of white powder. He taps a little out directly onto the table, and clicks his fingers again. “James!” he calls to the bar. A young guy, dressed as a waiter, comes scampering over. “Yes sir, Mr. Shady?” Is this guy really called Shady? “Two premium beers, please, and two straws.” The waiter makes a very small bow. “Coming right up.”
“So, Mark, tell me in your own words what happened” Rob says, relaxing back with his beer. I can still feel the powder tingling in my nose.
“Well, it’s really a case of police brutality…”
“Ah, brutality, good, I like that. So you’re saying that it was actually the police that cut your girlfriend’s ear, and tried to frame you. Good, good.”
“Well, erm, no, not exactly, I mean, well maybe.”
“Ah” says Rob, “leaning forward, you may not think it was, but do you have proof?”
“Proof?”
“Do you have proof that this, erm, Mr. Dredd, didn’t actually cut this lady’s ear, just to frame you?”
“Well, erm, no, not as such?”
“Oh” he smiles, “I see. He’s a friend of yours. You’re just trying to protect him. I understand.”
“No, no, he’s not my friend at all. You see, the thing is, I split up with Van and…”
“Ah, yes, love, it’s a mysterious thing, makes us do strange things. So she finished with you, and you were so upset, you cut her ear off. It’s not an unreasonable reaction.”
“What? No, I didn’t…”
“It’s fine, Mark, it’s fine” Rob says, soothingly. “Don’t worry. I can handle anything. I’ve seen all of these things. The important thing, Mark, is that you tell me the truth. You need to get your story straight. I can’t have you one minute telling me that this policeman did it to set you up, and the next minute confessing to it yourself. The jury would tear you apart I’m afraid. So. Take a deep breath. Let’s start by talking about your girlfriend.”
“Van?”
“Yes, her. Strange name for a girl. Sounds quite industrial. Is she one of these dyed hair, lots of piercings wild people? It’s fine. It takes all sorts. Myself, I’m not into that kind of thing, but I’m not here to judge. It’s completely up to you. Though I must admit, I would find it off putting.”
“No, no, no. It’s short for Vanessa.” I feel confused, maybe I need more cocaine.
“Ah, yes, Vanessa, lovely name. What’s her surname?” Good question. I have no idea. “Erm, yeah, I really can’t remember.”
Rob raises his eyebrows. “Interesting. And how long did you say you had been seeing her?”
I take a drink. There doesn’t seem to be any more coke around. “Erm… maybe… two years?” That sounds about right.
“Two years, two years, but you’re not sure. And you can’t remember her surname. Okay. We’ll need to work on that with the jury, if it comes to that. They’ll want to see you care, and not remembering her name gives the impression that you don’t. Not that that’s fair. And not that it matters of course, and they won’t care, but you know, a strange thing happens to people when they’re in the jury box. They suddenly feel that they have moral authority over people. Anyway. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. So. Let’s stick with two years. And she left you. For another man, I can tell. He glances up and down at me. Not good enough in bed. Not adventurous enough. It’s fine” he smiles, putting his hands up, “it’s fine. We’re friends here. Not everyone can have what it takes, in fact most people are just plain dull. I’ve seen it many, many times. So don’t worry, you’re just in with the crowd. That’s fine. It’s a good place to be. So you were with her for two years and she cheated on you. I understand.”
I really don’t think that’s the way it happened, but I can’t get the waves in my mind to line up straight. “Well, no, I don’t think. I mean, I think. I mean, I think that it was me that left her.”
“Ohhhh” he smiles. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Why didn’t you just tell me. So you left her, in a fit of jealous rage after you’d found out she was cheating on you, and she was shocked. In fact, it shocked her into action. She looked at this man that she was seeing, and she thought, what am I doing. Have I made a mistake? So she called you, to come over, but you’d already been drinking heavily. You went to her flat and you got into a fight. She brought out a knife. That’s really important, Mark, remember, whatever she says, it was her who brought out the knife. She threatened you with it, and you defended yourself. And in the ensuing fight, it slipped, and went straight across her ear and cut it. She screamed at you to get out, she never wanted to see you again, but you begged her, Mark, you begged her to let you help her. To call an ambulance or at the very least try and stick it back on with superglue. That’s very, very important. You must remember to say that you begged her, all right. It will get the jury on your side. Even though she was cheating on you, even though she attacked you, even though she was screaming at you, you still cared about her, you still worried about her. But she wouldn’t let you, Mark. She just wouldn’t let you. She told you to go to the kitchen to get some water, she had a headache and she was feeling thirsty. You did, and when you got back, you saw that she had scrawled that message on the wall. What could you do. You turned round to her in despair, but she had fainted. She was lying on the bed, arms by her side, vulnerable, weak. Well, you panicked, naturally. You put the towel to her to stop the blood from flowing too much. And you ran back home, and drank yourself to oblivion on decent scotch whisky. Well, who wouldn’t in that situation. Really, who wouldn’t.” He leans back in his chair, with a huge smile. “Brilliant. That is absolutely brilliant. I can sell that to those daft bastards tomorrow. No problem.” He gets out the little packet of cocaine and pours the rest onto the table. “Have a snort” he smiles and gratefully I accept, then he finishes it off. “Mark, Mark, this will fly.”
“But… it’s not true” I say, uncertainly.
“Of course it’s true” he says, confidently. “Name me one part that isn’t.”
“Well…Vanessa wasn’t going out with anyone else, for a start…”
“James! Two more premium beers please. And a couple of your best chasers. Single malt.” He turns bac
k to me. “How do you know?”
“What? Well, she wasn’t.”
He shakes his head sadly. “Mark, I can find you at least twenty people who will swear blind in front of any jury that she was seeing them behind your back.”
“She was?” I’m really surprised.
He laughs and the beers arrive. “Funny man. Enjoy your beer” he takes a long, satisfied drag. “What else is wrong with it?”
“Well, I didn’t have a fight with her…. It wasn’t me that cut off her ear.”
“Of course it wasn’t.”
“No, no, I mean, seriously, it wasn’t.” I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.
“Mark, Mark, Mark, these are details. We can work through these. Listen, my friend” he’s starting to talk very slowly, like he has to explain it to me carefully. “The police want someone they can pin this on. They can’t move on until they’ve done that. All right? Fine. So. You think you know who did this, some jerk, but you can’t tell them that, because you and Jason need to go and beat up said jerk for other reasons, which of course are perfectly understandable, but you can’t have these detectives sniffing around him. You understand me?”
“Well, sort of, but…”
“Exactly! Drink up. This whisky’s very good. And therefore we come to a perfect solution. No one else involved. A clear set of actions, and a clear set of motivations. Immovable from any circumstantial evidence they may care to throw our way. If needed, we build up your character as a respectable member of society, with a very good job. If needed, we bring in some reputable witnesses to support all aspects of the truth. You understand?” He reaches over and pats me on the arm. “Drink up, there, my friend.”
I finish my beer and pick up my whisky, rolling it around in the glass, studying it. They’ve put ice in it. I hate ice, and I try to fish the ice cubes out, but they seem to keep running away from me.
“I’m glad we’ve got this all sorted. You know Mark” he says, looking at me, “I like you. You’re simple, you’re straightforward. You’re clear to me about the trouble you’re in and we work out a solution together, like me. You wouldn’t believe the number of people that I have to talk to, who are so interested in the details, who want to challenge every single aspect of our discussion. But not you. James! Fetch the man another whisky, without ice this time please. No, not, you, you tell me what happened, clear and simple, and that’s what we tell the police. No bullshit, no lies, just the plain truth. Thanks James.”
The waiter gingerly plucks my glass out of my hand, and replaces it with another one. I study it again, for a few seconds, before throwing it back. He’s right, you know, I’m thinking, I am clear, and keep things simple. It was a hell of a mess, that night at Van’s, when I challenged her about that guy she was seeing, when she tried to attack me, but I dealt with it, as well as I could. I didn’t do anything wrong, and now I have this, well, brilliant lawyer, to represent me. What can go wrong?
“Chin chin” winks Rob. “I think Jason will be back soon. Oh, and look at the time. I have to go. Right, so nine o’clock tomorrow at the police station. That’s the appointment. Fine. Let’s meet at quarter to. When we get there, leave the talking to me.” He winks at me and gets down off his chair. “Put it on my tab, James” he calls as he walks out. “Oh, and anything else my friend wants, I’ll cover.”
Well, what can I say. I have to do the decent thing.
“Whoa, whoa, no, cancel that order!” Jason’s voice behind me as I’m just about to order. “Mark, what did I tell you? No drinking. You need what little wits you have with you for the moment. After tonight, yeah, get drunk, whatever, we’ll swing by town and get to the pub, all right. But not now. You haven’t been drinking have you?”
“Erm, well, no, not really.” Jason sighs. “Oh for God’s sake.” “Well, Rob insisted I have a drink so what could I do?” I say, forlornly.
“Yeah, all right, whatever. Did you sort things out with Rob at least?”
“Yes, yes I did, well I think I did, he seemed to think I did.”
“Oh, well, if he thought so, that’s OK, just remember to follow his lead on everything tomorrow, all right. Right, come on, let’s go, it’s got dark, time to pay a visit to our friend Mr. Jelfs.”
The streets are quiet as we drive back to Belvoir Terrace and pull up near Patience’s house. We walk up to Jelfs' house, a small, run down Victorian, dim lights showing through the dirty, ripped curtains. I’m about to walk up the drive, but Jason stops me. “Listen. You go in first, but you let me do the talking, all right. All I need to know is whether he’s the guy who attacked you, and I’ll be able to tell that straight away. Here, take this, but for fuck’s sake, don’t use it.” He hands me a silver gun, from somewhere inside his jacket. He sees me admire it and says “Look. There are rounds in the chamber but the safety’s on. It’s just in case. Just in case things get sticky. But whatever you do don’t suddenly decide to become a soldier or anything, all right.”
“Sure” I grin, and stuff it into the front of my trousers, so the handle is showing. “Jesus, Mark. In the back. Always in the back. You walk up to him, he grabs it out of your trousers and bang, you’re gone. Use your head.” I smile sheepishly and stuff the gun into the back of my trousers, but hey, it feels weird. We walk up the path to the front door. “Ready?” asks Jason and I knock, twice.
There’s shuffling inside that gradually becomes louder and then we can hear some sounds at the back of the front door. It shifts open a bit. It’s on a chain and half a face peers out from the darkness inside. It’s him.
“You!” he shouts. “What the fuck do you want.” There’s a rattling as he pulls at the chain, the door swings open and he’s there, the man that attacked me. Big and broad and scary looking, evil eyes and cropped hair, a dirty t-shirt and ripped jeans and he has his hands on my shirt, pulling me in, not noticing Jason who follows us into the dim, dingy corridor and slams the door behind him.
“Who the…” Jelfs starts as he finally notices, but Jason pushes me aside and is face to face with Jelfs, gun out and under Jelfs’ chin, all in a quick movement, all before he can react, and he’s pushing him back down the corridor to the door at the end, and he’s pushing him inside, through, into a brightly lit kitchen, the white walls smeared with grease, and he pushes him to the wall, next to a battered oven, something boiling in a dark pot on the hob.
“Evening” snarls Jason. “How you doing today?”
“What?” Jelfs is struggling to speak, Jason has him by the throat. “What the f…” Jelfs’ right arm is just above the pot, I can see the steam rising up and slowly turning it red. He’s trying to move it but somehow Jason has him in such a grip that he can’t move at all.
“We want some answers. Understand?” Jelfs’ face is starting to turn purple and he’s stopped speaking. Jason releases the pressure a bit, and shakes him. Jelfs is a big guy but Jason is holding him easily, controlling him completely. I need to go to the gym, get my muscles up. After I’ve had my tattoo done.
“Do you understand?” and Jelfs’ eyes are wide. Jason shakes him again, like a puppet, Jelfs flops around and doesn’t make any attempt to defend himself. Jason lets him go and he flops to the floor, panting, wheezing, crumpled in on himself. “A bit fucking pathetic if you ask me.” Jason kicks his side and Jelfs flinches but doesn’t move. “Now you need to start talking to me before I get angry.” It’s all happened so quickly, I’m not sure Jelfs has even had the chance to understand what’s going on, just that he’s in trouble and there’s some vicious guy who really wants to cause him harm.
There’s a whimper from the crumpled pile. “What was that?” asks Jason. Another whimper. “Not good enough.” Another kick. A cry this time, then another whimper that almost sounds like a word. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” That’s what he’s saying, I’m sorry. “What?” asks Jason impatiently.
“Er, he said he’s sorry” I say helpfully. “I know that” replies Jason without looking around. “What
the fuck’s he sorry for?”
There’s a mumbling from the heap. “What?” asks Jason again and the voice repeats it.
“Er, I think he said he’s sorry for attacking your friend.”
“Oh. Yeah, right, well you fucking should be. But that’s not why we’re here. Well, it is, but we’re here for something else too. So you get the fuck up and get yourself sorted, and start answering some questions. And if you try anything, anything at all, I will kill you. You understand?”
There’s another whimpering noise.
“I think he said yes” I say. “I know that” says Jason. He reaches down and pulls up the man, and half helps him, half drags him to the small table in the corner of the kitchen, and throws him down on one of the old wooden chairs. Jelfs’ head is still hanging down. Me and Jason sit at the other chairs. “Maybe I could get us a drink” I say. Jason shakes his head. “Stay the fuck there.” He slaps Jelfs, hard on the face, and Jelfs flinches, puts his hand to his cheek. Gradually he lifts his head and looks at me, the anger in his face gone, red marks around his eyes and blood trickling down from his forehead. “I’m sorry, man” he says. Three of his front teeth are missing and blood trickles out of his mouth as he speaks. Jason is really something. I’ll have to get him to teach me some of that. This guy just looks broken.
“Stop apologizing for that. You understand. You do something like that again and you’re dead. You got that?” Jason squeezes Jelfs’ arm and he flinches in pain. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got that, I’m really sorry, I mean…” he wipes his bloody mouth with his hand.
“Right. Fine. Now. John Paris” says Jason.
“What?”
“Tell us about John Paris. How you knew him, what you did for him, what you were hiding for him.”
“I wasn’t hiding nothing!” he blurts out and Jason smacks him hard, across the face. “I don’t know if you’re lying or not but if you want to have any teeth left…” he holds Jelfs’ jaw in his left hand, forcing his mouth open, and puts two fingers of his right hand into it. Jelfs tries to scream but he can’t, and Jason’s face tenses as he works his fingers. He takes his fingers out and in between them is something white and red, little strands dangling from it, and I realize it’s a tooth. “Fuck, man, fuck, fuck, fuck” moans Jelfs. “You get my point?” asks Jason. “I do man, but I wasn’t lying. Honest to god, I wasn’t.”
“All right, all right, calm down. Now tell us about Paris.”
“My fucking tooth man, I look like a fucking cannibal, Jesus, what the fuck am I…”
“I said calm down” snaps Jason.
Jelfs was quiet for a moment. “I could really do with a drink” he sniffed. “I’ll get you one!” I’m up on my feet. “Where do you keep it?”
“Sit down!” Jason looks at me and I sit down. “Now. Paris.”
Jelfs sniffs and coughs. “All right man. I’m sorry. Just to calm my nerves.” He looks at Jason, realizes he’s not going to get anywhere, and sighs.
“What… about him?” his voice high and soft. “Tell us how you know him. Tell us about him. Tell us about the two of you.” Jason looks over at me. “Always best to get the background, the details. You can tell if he’s lying more easily.”
“I ain’t going to lie to you man! Really, I ain’t. I don’t want to get hurt no more.” Little flecks of blood jump out from his mouth as he talks. “I’m glad to hear it” nods Jason. “Now talk.”
“All right man. John and me, we was mates. From way back. From school. He was all right. A bit weird, a bit quiet, liked to keep himself to himself, most people thought he was a bit of a loser, never amount to anything. His brother, Mike, he was different. King of the class. Everyone fucking loved him, man. He just had something about him, even the teachers, even they was scared of him. They used to say he was shagging this lass, one of the teachers, he must have been about fifteen, she was really fit, really hot, but it was like all the girls, they just swarmed round him. He didn’t really give a shit about John, but no one was really sure, you know, so people left him alone. Hadn’t been for Mike, I’m not sure John would have made it out of that school. But he was all right. He just, like, walked in the shadows, you know.” He glances at Jason. “I’m listening.”
“It was different at home, though. I went round a few times. Their dad, he was fucking mental. No protection for John there. He was fucking terrified of his dad. I mean, fucking terrified. Used to hide from him. Used to find any excuse to go out. We used to hang round outside till late, see if we could scrounge a few ciggies, a couple of tins. Then he used to go back when the house was quiet. It was all right. We got used to it. We got to be mates in the end, really.” Jelfs coughs and blood comes out of his mouth, drips onto the table. He glances at it nervously. “It’s only your gums bleeding. Don’t worry. Carry on.” Jason’s quiet now, calm.
“Well, yeah, like I said, we got to be mates for a while. Then Mike, he got older, you know, he got wilder. Wasn’t scared of his dad no more. I tell you, that house was like a fucking war zone. They used to fight. Not like normal people, not like me and my old man, you know we used to throw a few punches but it was all normal, yeah, it was all a bit of a laugh. This wasn’t like that. They was fucking wild. They used to use knives on each other, go for it, I mean really try and fucking kill each other. But then, it got worse, you know, it got weirder. There was this one time, it was the last fucking time, it was too scary after that.
“I don’t know why we ended up at his house, I think we couldn’t get hold of anything and John said he knew where there was a few cans and a bottle we could nick from his place, and we could get in round the back and get out without being seen. Anyway, we went in, through the kitchen door at the back, and the kitchen, it was empty, right. And I’m like, well let’s get it and get out. But John says, no, it’s in the living room, that’s where they store the booze, right at the front, but it’s all right, cos it’s quiet, so they must be upstairs, or out, or wherever, but they’re not there so it’ll be all right. I tell you man, I was freaked. I hated going to that house then. With his old man, you knew you’d get a kicking. With Mike, you never knew what you’d get, but he could be fucking dangerous. I’m not sure who I was scared of most. Well, I still remember it now. We walked through that hallway, we was both on tiptoes just not to make any noise, and you could tell, John, he was scared too, he wasn’t taking no chances. I don’t know what it could have been like living there the whole time, he used to just sneaked in and out and kept himself to himself. Even his mum, she was unpredictable, after she got on the booze. Anyway, we get up to the living room door and it’s shut, and I’m, like, let’s forget it John, let’s just go out and bum a few cigs and call it a night, but he really wanted some booze, so he’s like, no, no, it’ll be fine, it’s quiet, there’s no one here. So he gradually opens the living room door and there’s no noise that comes out, and I remember breathing out and being so fucking relieved man. So we go in there and he’s like, it’s in the corner, in the cabinet by the telly, so we start to walk across the living room. It’s cold in that room, I remember, it’s real fucking cold, which was strange because it was a warm night. I remember thinking that, when we got to the cabinet and we opened it. And there was some cans in there and a bottle of Jacks and there was two packs of Bensons, so we was in luck. We left the cans cos they was warm, but we took the Jacks and the ciggies, and we turned to go. Fucking hell man, we hadn’t seen, quiet as death man, on the sofa, they was. Mike and the old man. They was sitting there. But the old man, he was just wearing trousers, he was bare chested, right, but his chest was covered with cuts, and they was fresh because they was still bleeding, right, and he had his hands and feet, they was tied up with rope and he had a gag round his mouth, but you could see his eyes and he looked fucking blank man. I remember, cos it was dark and there wasn’t much light, but it’s like the light was reflecting out of his eyes, they was blank but they was like shining too. And Mike was sitting there, next to him, and he was grinning a
t us, and he had a knife in his hand, you know. And we was watching, we couldn’t fucking move, and Mike brings the knife up to his dad’s throat, and his dad doesn’t react at all, and he moves it, back and forth, back and forth, gently, and the blood starts to seep out, a line, trickling slowly down his neck, like. And Mike takes the knife away and, Jesus, he licks it man, he fucking licks it. And he gives us this huge fucking grin like he’s on top of the world, like he’s the King of the fucking night man, and then he whispers ‘You better go.’ And Jesus man, we are out of there so fast, you couldn’t believe, we’re out of the door and out of the house and running down the street, till we can’t run no more. And fucking hell man, we smoked those ciggies and drank that bottle and we was both passed out on the street all night. I remember, we didn’t go to school the next day, we didn’t want to talk about it or nothing, but Jesus, I still don’t know what fucking happened there.”
And when he’s talking it’s funny, I have a strange, sudden memory of something, maybe something like what he’s talking about, somewhere deep, that dark, cold room and those people.
“And what happened to his dad?” I snap back to hear Jason talk.
“Well, fucking hell, that was strange, man. I thought he was dead, you know, I thought he was a goner. And so did John, I’m not sure if he was happy about it or more scared that Mike would do the same to him. But that day, later that morning, we sneaked up to the house and hid, across the street. There was this little green bit, they used to call it a park, it wasn’t a fucking park, it was just a patch of grass, but they put a bench there and some bushes and they called it a park, and it was opposite their house. So we hid behind the bushes and watched the house and waited. And we waited for ages, we didn’t eat or drink nothing, didn’t want to, I remember, I was so fucking hung over, half a bottle of Jack’s and I was only fourteen, so it was about all we could do anyway, watch and wait. But anyway, eventually the door opens and John’s dad walks out. He crosses the street and he’s walking right towards us, like he can see us, and me and John, we look at each other, it’s like we’re seeing a fucking ghost and I’m thinking he’s some dead phantom or zombie or something and he’s going to come and rip our heads off. And I want to run but John, he grabs my arm, and he makes me stay and so I do, which is a good fucking thing cos there was nowhere to run to. So we just watch. And John’s dad, Jack, he stops on the pavement by the bench, and he lights up a ciggie, and we’re looking at him, and it’s like he’s completely fucking normal. There’s no marks on his neck, and he’s wearing this half open t-shirt and there’s no marks on his chest or nothing. And he’s just smoking, casual, like nothing ever happened.”
“So… what happened?” I ask.
“I dunno, man! I don’t fucking know! How do you explain shit like that. I think that’s when we realized that Mike, he was into all kinds of dark shit, man, it wasn’t just the violence, it was…. Well, I don’t know what it was. But he fucking scared the hell out of me.”
Me and Jason glance at each other, I’m not entirely sure why. Jason looks back and he’s wrapped, he’s staring intently at Jelfs like he doesn’t want him to stop. “What happened then…” I ask.
“Well, me, I was scared, like I didn’t want to go near that family again, like they were a bunch of freaks. But I still used to see John at school, it was in our final year I think, before we… Well, anyway. John, he told me that after that, Jack, his dad, well, he wasn’t vicious no more, not like before, it was like, well, I remember him saying to me once, we were sat out in the yard, it was like, I remember John saying, like, well, he’d had it sucked out of him. He did his shit, he still walked round and he still smoked his tabs and he still sat on his chair like you wouldn’t want to mess with him, a scowl on his face, but he didn’t do nothing. John didn’t know how to handle it. And Mike changed too. They all changed, even Prudence, their mum. She was always on the booze but it got worse after that. There was one more time, I remember him telling me about it, it was like the last time he told me about. They was all eating together, and that was fucking unusual, but they were there, I think it was Sunday lunch or something, and John was there, quiet as he could be, eating through his sprouts or whatever the fuck they was cooking, and I remember, he tells me, he spilt something on his t-shirt. Some gravy or some shit. And he glanced up at his dad, hoping that he wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care or stay in that same kind of stupor he’d been in since that time right, but he sees something, it’s like a flash, and Jack, he lifts his fist up, he’s about to punch John, but before he could do anything, it’s like Mike’s there, and he’s got his fist in his hand, and, I tell you, I remember John telling me this, he just like squeezed for a minute and Jack lets out this yelp of pain, and Mike lets go, and it’s like, his hand is mush, man. Just like its been crushed. And Mike sits down again, and he smiles, and he winks at John. And that’s it. He says that Jack, he never did anything like that again. He was like a fucking zombie, after all.
“Well, anyway, it wasn’t long after that they died, was it. His folks, I mean. Pru, she was always a drinker but she really took to it after that, a bottle of vodka a day, like. I remember helping John a couple of times, we had to nick it from the offy for her, she was getting through so much they couldn’t afford it. We used to go to a different one each time, and the supermarkets, they was much easier to nick stuff from in them days, remember. She shouldn’t have been driving, really, should she, but then they had to get round and Jack he never drove anyway, so it was always her. I guess she thought she could handle it, cos she drank so much, but it was like, just one mistake weren’t it. Coming over a hill, in the wrong lane, straight into a fucking lorry. There weren’t nothing left of the car, was there. Had to bury them in empty coffins, didn’t they. I remember John going to the funeral, even then, even after all that shit, it was just him and that daft bat Patience, that went. Mike, he didn’t go. No one was surprised, no one knew where he was. Me and John, we went drinking after that, I remember, that night, got fucking plastered, and I was like, John, why do you even fucking care, they was shit parents, and now you can do what you like. We was sixteen then, and everyone left us alone. Everyone left them alone, Mike and John. Mike was three years older and I guess they figured they could look after themselves. And I think Mike, you know, in his way, he still looked out for John, even though they didn’t talk or nothing, but I think Mike, you know, he made it known, that he was there. Don’t fuck with John or you’ll have to deal with me. And everyone knew what that meant.
“So after that, me and John, we drifted apart a bit. I don’t think we seriously meant to, it was just, like, well, there was just too much weird shit between us. And then school finished, and I had to get a job, and I got busy, got myself some new friends and you know, we just kind of stopped seeing each other. I know Mike, he left, too, went over to the continent somewhere, just got fed up with it all.”
Jelfs pauses, looking down at his hands, waiting. He’s still panting, slightly out of breath, a tiny dribble of blood still coming from his mouth.
“Shit, John, he had a tough time” I say into the silence. Jason looks over at me. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, course I am, why?”
“Well, shit Mark, I don’t know how to say this, but it looks like you’re crying.” Jelfs looks up at this, looks over at me. “Fuck” is all he says.
“What?” I ask, putting my hands to my face, and feeling the wetness there. “What?” is all I can say again in confusion. Shit. I don’t know what to say, don’t know how to feel, hearing all that about me, about my life, my childhood, my alky mum and insane dad, and of course my brother Mike, and look what’s happened to him. And for the first time I can remember, I actually feel something, maybe the first time since I woke up in that hospital bed, I actually feel, I can actually think, a dark trickle of the past somewhere behind me, somewhere inside me, and I look down at my hands, turn them over, study them, this is me, but this isn’t me. What am I, who am I, am
I free.
“Mark?” Jason’s voice feels like a whisper on a cloud, somewhere above me. “Mark, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing” I cough, choking on my words. “Nothing.” I look over at him, and he seems fuzzy, they all do, I need to reach out, I need to get back, but get back where? The feeling starts in the pit of my stomach, like it’s eating me, like it’s vicious, and gradually I can sense it working its way through me, making me want to keel over, making me want to bend over and curl into a ball, making me want to scream, to shout, to kill, to die, please, please, please, stop it, and I can see my left hand, reaching out to him, reaching out to Jason, help me, please, help me, but as I look, Jason’s changing, the room’s changing, the room’s getting darker and colder, and Jason, no, he’s not Jason anymore, his eyes have turned to fire, his hair has become the burning sun, and he talks, no she talks, soft and smooth, “live it, dream it, be it” and she smiles and her smile’s like thunder, her hands are like ice, burning me as they touch me, “live forever, live for now” she whispers, “eat the pain, destroy the pain” and
“Jesus Mark, fuck…” I’m in Jason’s arms, he’s holding me up, pulling me back up to the chair, “are you all right, you look like…” but no, it’s all right, “It’s all right” the pain has gone, I’m all right, “I’m all right”, and Jason’s got his hand on my shoulder, “Are you sure?” and I’m pulling myself up, “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine, I’m fine”
He steps back and sits back down. “What the hell happened?” I shake my head. “Don’t know, sorry, Jase, just came over a bit strange”. Jelfs hasn’t moved but he’s looking at me curiously. “You sure you’re all right? You need a drink?”
I smile. “Yeah, good idea.” I’m trying to remember, I’m sure I saw someone, I’m sure I saw her, who did I see, I’m sure. “I need a drink. Where can I get a drink?” Jelfs nods to his right. “Over in that cabinet over there. Should be some glasses too.” He snatches a glance at Jason. “Could I…”
“No you fucking couldn’t” snaps Jason. “Get yourself a drink, Mark. Then we’ll carry on.” Gratefully I get up, I feel a little light on my feet, walking the two or three feet, but manage to steady myself, and pour myself a very large vodka. My hand’s still shaking as I bring it back to the table and sit back down. It stings the back of my throat and makes me feel better.
“Right” says Jason, looking back at Jelfs, “so what happened then?”
“Well” shrugs Jelfs, “nothing. I mean that was it. Me and John, we never saw each other after that. Like I say, we drifted apart…”
“Liar” Jason reaches forward and puts his left hand over Jason’s right, pinning it to the table. Panic rises in Jelfs’ voice. “I ain’t lying! I swear to you! I ain’t!” and he looks small and weak.
There’s a knife in Jason’s right hand, and he brings it forward. “No, man, no, no, seriously” but Jason ignores him, opens up a little slit between two of his fingers and drives the knife through, through Jelfs; hand, into the table, you can hear the wood splinter as he does it. Jelfs’ scream bounces around the kitchen and Jason slaps him hard across the face. “I told you not to lie” he says quietly, over Jelfs’ sobbing. “But” Jelfs’ voice is just a high pitched whisper, and Jason twists the knife, making him scream again. “Please, please, no, no”
“You’re lying. I told you not to lie.” There are tears in Jelfs’ eyes as he looks at Jason and nods miserably. “John, he got in touch with me a couple of months back” he says between sobs. “And I should have never done it, I should never have done it, but we went back, and I felt sorry for the guy.” Jason’s looking attentive now, “never done what?”
“Well, I was all right back then, had myself a job and everything, even a woman. She was pretty too. And John, he just turned up one day, came to find me, and I didn’t even recognize him at first, well it had been years, but he was just so thin, and his clothes were dirty and just, he just looked like a mess, really. So I let him in and we drank vodka, and we chatted. And he told me, about this woman, right. This woman that he’d fallen for, I mean, fucking stupid isn’t it. But there was this woman, and she weren’t interested right, well I mean, course she weren’t, I mean, you just had to look at him, but he’d never like fallen in love before, that’s what he told me, and I’m not surprised, I mean, I wasn’t surprised, cos I remember him, I knew him, he could never get close to people.”
“And he had money, right?” asks Jason.
“What? Well, yeah, he had some, but it was nowhere near enough.”
“How much?”
“I dunno, a couple of grand maybe? But he told me it didn’t matter, cos he had information, valuable information, that was worth a lot.”
“What sort of information?”
“I dunno, he didn’t fucking tell me, man! Please can you take the knife out of my hand?” Jason looks down. “In a minute. So he came to you because of a woman? And how the fuck could you help?”
Jelfs glances down at his hand and gulps. “Well,” he says in such a small voice, “I knew people, see. I knew people who could…” he trails off.
“Could what?”
Jelfs looks down. He’s barely talking now. “Could make pretty much anything happen. Could, like, make her fall for him. If he paid them enough.” Jason’s holding the knife deep in his hand. It’s like he’s deciding whether to believe him or not. And he’s probably thinking what I’m thinking, if you can make someone immortal, you can probably do this. “Who?” whispers Jason.
Jelfs gulps. “John. If John paid them enough.” Jason twists the knife and Jelfs screams again. “Who were these people?” Jelfs won’t look up, he’s shaking his head ever so slightly. “They’ll kill me, man. They’ll just rip me apart and kill me.”
“Look at me” whispers Jason. Jelfs’ head stays down, tears are dropping from his eyes onto the table, mixing with the blood. “Look at me” Jason whispers again. “No, please” whispers Jelfs. Jason reaches forward, and gently puts his hand under Jelfs’ chin, raising his face to be at eye level with Jason’s. “I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me. You understand?” he whispers softly, in the silence of the room. Tears are flowing freely down Jelfs’ stained, dirty face. “And I’ll do it now. And painfully. So I really think you should tell me.” Jason shakes his head, ever so slightly, all the light gone from his eyes. Jason smiles, and slowly pulls the knife out of Jelfs’ hand. He moves his own hand, exposing and holding Jelfs’ little finger, and with a swift, sharp movement, brings the knife down, leaving the finger severed, lying inert on the table. Jelfs doesn’t even scream. He looks deep into Jason’s eyes.
“The Village” he whispers. “They’re a group called The Village.”
“The Village?” echoes Jason. We look at each other, recognizing the name from the file on Zoltan Draman. “You know The Village?”
Jelfs sighs sadly. “I know 'em a little. Not much. I can’t tell you anything about them, please, please, they’ll kill me.”
“I thought we’d clarified that particular point” Jason says, moving Jelfs’ ring finger into position. “Okay!” screams Jelfs, “okay! I’m sorry. I’ll tell you. What do you want to know?”
“Everything you know” says Jason. He’s intensely interested now, and I’m not sure if this is good news that he’s not concentrating on the money, or bad news that we’re getting closer. Can this just be a coincidence?
“Can I have a drink, please?” asks Jelfs. Jason looks at him and nods. “Get him a drink” he says to me. He also digs out a rag from his endless pockets, and wraps it around Jelfs’ still bleeding hand. I pick my glass up, refill it and get another large vodka for Jelfs. Shakily, using the hand that still has five fingers, he raises it to his lips and drinks it in one gulp.
“I don’t know much about them, honest. They’re really secretive. Listen, I’m telling you the truth here. They’re into all kinds of weird shit, you know, black magic, witchcraft, all that shit. Seriously. They can do some strange stu
ff, they can make things happen. They’re seriously fucking dangerous. I ain’t lying to you.” He looks pleadingly at Jason. “After I saw all that shit with Mike and everything, you know, people can do stuff. It ain’t lies.” Jason nods. He’s seen stuff too, I guess. “Their sign is the pentagram, you know, like the pagan symbol, like the one I cut on his chest” he nods at me, “to scare him off. I mean, Jesus, the last thing I needed was someone poking around, the last thing I fucking need is them knowing that someone’s onto them. That’s why I had a go at his girlfriend too. He seriously didn’t get the fucking hint. Because I tell you man, they’ll know. They’ll fucking know. Jesus, they probably know we’re talking now. What am I going to do…”
“Shush” says Jason. He looks at me. “He cut a pentagram on your chest?”. “Erm, yeah, I guess” I reply. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I shrug. “I forgot I guess. No big deal.”
“Jesus, Mark, you always got to say everything, every detail, you never know what’s important. Let’s have a look.” Sighing, I lift my t-shirt up to show him. “What the hell?” asks Jason, shaking his head. “What the fuck?” asks Jelfs. I look down at my chest and the pentagram’s gone, the only traces of it being the slight outline where the blade cut away my chest hair. “Well that’s weird” I say. “How long ago was this?” asks Jason. “Erm, three or four days maybe?” I say, uncertainly. “Then, how…?” Jelfs doesn’t say anything but his eyes search mine.
“Fuck” says Jason. “Some weird fucking shit going on here.” He holds his hands under his chin. “Right, I’ll come back to you” He looks back at Jelfs. “The Village. How do we find them?”
“I only got one name. Just one. That’s all. Please don’t make me give it to you.”
“You know that’s not going to happen. And this is the name you gave John?”
He nods sadly. “I’m waiting” says Jason.
“Richard Marx.” He gives us an address and phone number. Then he sighs and studies his broken hand.
“Thanks Martin. Good to talk to you. Be seeing you around.” Jason nods at me. “Come on, let’s go.”