by Ben Spavins
aim been off, he picked the marble up again, and threw it at the centre of the pane again, Marvin shook his head.
‘Tut man, c’mon, give it here’ Otis said as he took the marble from Marvin and stood in front of the pane. He took careful aim and released the marble at the centre of the patio door. It hit and instead of bouncing off, went straight through, the outer pane of glass crashing down onto the floor. ‘That’s how you do it man’ Otis said, winking at Marvin.
‘Well this is my way’ Marvin said as he looked around for something to smash the inner pane with, he spotted the rockery and walked over, picking up a football sized rock. He picked it up before lining himself up with the patio door, he took a small run up before releasing the rock into the air. It flew towards the window before smashing through the inner pane and hitting the dark curtain behind, ‘see just as good’ Marvin said, winking at Otis. He walked over, smiling at the small amount of destruction of his former home. He saw the key had been left inside the lock so reached inside and turned the key.
Marvin opened the door, revealing the dark heavy curtain, he pulled it back, the strong scent of Marijuana escaping through the gap as Marvin violently pulled it until he heard the sound of the curtain rings snapping. He stepped further into the room, rows and rows of Marijuana plants lined what used to be his lounge, he looked down at what used to be a cream carpet, replaced by layers of compost and fertiliser, he scraped his foot across the floor to discover the stained carpet underneath. Low level heat lamps swung in between the plants, wires reaching up towards the ceiling.
He soon realised it was no longer his home, it was now just a house, an unloved one at that, it was all gone, the memories were in his head now, the house was a shadow of its former self.
...
Marvin opened the front door and strode with purpose to the car where Otis was standing, Otis reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves, handing them to Marvin when he reached the car. They both walked round to the already open boot and looked inside at the cans of petrol they'd bought earlier, five green and red cans of liquid destruction, collected from five different petrol stations to avoid being linked to what they were about to do, several fire lighters, some rags to soak with petrol and a large gas canister to make sure the house was destroyed, although Marvin knew it’d be a good show with all the fertiliser in the house.
Marvin wrapped his gloved hand around the handles of two petrol cans and lifted them out of the car, putting another can under his left arm and started to walk towards the house, he made his way upstairs and into Taya’s old room. He stood in the doorway and set the two petrol cans on the floor, before walking over to her window, a walk he’d made so many times before, when he wished her goodnight, he’d open her window on a hot summer’s night, now he was doing it for the final time.
He looked out over the front garden, the rose bush Denise used to be so proud of, once so full of life and colour, now just a dying brown, a new Mercedes replaced with a rusty Cavalier and an ex-cell mate instead of a beautiful wife. He turned around to where Taya’s bed used to be, instead replaced by a row of Marijuana plants, he shook his head, disgusted by what had become of his house, he marched over to the petrol cans, picked one up, undoing the lid in one swift motion and started splashing petrol over the walls and floor. As he walked backwards towards the door, he drained the remnants of the first can and threw it into the room, he picked up the other can and repeated the process in the hall and Reece’s room making sure all the marijuana plants would be destroyed, he could hear Otis doing the same downstairs.
He walked down the stairs, opening the remaining can of petrol and pouring that over the stairs as he went down, he could hear the petrol splashing onto the stairs, he began let himself grin. Otis met him at the bottom of the stairs, Marvin nodded at him and followed Otis out of the front door. Marvin poured the remains of his can on the front doormat. Marvin watched as the last of the petrol dripped out of the can, the last few drops quickly sinking into the doormat, he chucked the empty can into the hallway and watched as it slid across the half floor, he reached into his pocket for the lighter. He pulled it out, the red plastic lighter, £1.20 from the corner shop, he reached into his other pocket and pulled out the last letter he’d sent to Denise, the one that had come back, ‘return to sender’. He flicked the lighter and watched as the flame burst from the chamber, the flame dancing in the slight breeze, he lowered the flame beneath the envelope and watched as the envelope began to blacken and then catch alight. The flame spreading up the envelope, he took a step back and dropped the flaming envelope onto the floor mat.
The mat burst into flames and, a trail of flame quickly bursting away into the hallway, spreading across the floor like a tsunami, Marvin nodded and walked back to the car. He got in and Otis started to reverse the car, Marvin looked up as flames began to eat at the blinds in Taya’s room, a tear began to trickle down Marvin’s face. It had taken fifteen years to build his home, now it had taken fifteen minutes to destroy it, as they sped away, they both heard a huge explosion as the gas canister exploded, a tear started to trickle down Marvin's cheek.
...
Having dropped Otis off, Marvin drove back to his bedsit, still contemplating the memories he’d just burnt to the ground, in the end he decided it had been the only choice, Denise wouldn’t have wanted their family home being used to grow drugs. He parked the Cavalier, pulled the handbrake and turned the engine off, and sat for a while, listening as the Bob Marley song came to a finish, thinking about the day’s events. As the song finished, he stepped from the Cavalier and smelt the aroma of fish and chips coming from the chip shop opposite his bedsit, he smiled and walked towards the chip shop, it'd been a while since he'd enjoyed the taste of chunky chips saturated in vinegar.
‘Alright fella, what will it be?’ the man behind the counter asked.
‘Fish and chip’s please’ Marvin replied.
‘Wrapped or unwrapped?’
‘Wrapped please’, Marvin said as he took a seat at one of the tables, he was tired, the nerves and adrenaline of the day had drained him.
'Ok, be about 10 minutes'.
As Marvin sat, he noticed the table in front of him, two men were sitting, both eating a Donna Kebab and chips. Both of their eyes looked wild and wide open, Marvin eyed them suspiciously, he’d seen the effect before, both on the estate and in prison, he wondered if the effect had been supplied by the same man growing the drugs in his old house.
‘Mate, this is good shit, where’d you get it?’ the smaller man asked.
‘The chips? Got them here mate, where have you been’?
‘No you muppet, the chalk’?
‘Ah, sorry, you know Jammy down the street, he’s got everything you need, a one stop shop as he calls it’, the taller man said. Marvin’s ears pricked up at hearing this, he continued listening to their conversation, ranging from football to women, Marvin started to drift away from the conversation until he heard the smaller man say ‘shall we get some more then?’
‘Yeah man, we’ll get some now’ the taller man said as he rose to his feet. The two men made their way to the door, both walking like baby deer, clearly well inebriated and high. Marvin rose to his feet, ‘just be five minutes’ he called to the man behind the counter before stepping out into the cold air, following the two men to ‘Jammy’.
He followed them a few hundred yards up the road and watched them as they stopped outside a multi-storey car park, he could see a hooded figure in the doorway with a lit cigarette, he watched, as the two men reached into the pockets and handed a handful of notes to ‘Jammy’ who gave them a few small packets, Marvin smiled, it was that easy.
Marvin turned and started on his return to the chip shop, smiling, he knew what he was doing for the next few nights, if he was going to crush HIM, Jammy was the first step to doing so.
...
The next night, Marvin found himself huddled in a doorway opposite the car park Jammy was in, he’d got there early at 6pm so h
e’d catch any early action. He’d wrapped up, t-shirt, jumper and a black jacket so Jammy wouldn’t see him watching, black jeans and shoes so nothing would stand out, as he got there he saw Jammy was already there. He was sat on a bollard playing on his phone, wearing some jeans and a bomber jacket with a hoodie underneath, Marvin thought he looked like your stereotypical dealer.
Marvin watched each person that passed him, waiting for Jammy’s first customer, Jammy remaining engrossed in his phone, Marvin was soon bored and started to wonder why Jammy bothered. As if on cue, a man wearing a dark jacket approached Jammy, exchanged a few words, shook hands and walked off, Marvin watching closely as Jammy put something in his pocket. Marvin’s eyes lit up, today’s business had begun.
…
Over the next few hours, Marvin watched as a steady flow of customers approached Jammy, exchanged money and drugs and casually walk off into the night, Jammy continuing playing on his phone in between. He had the occasional phone call, no doubt his boss to see how business was but business seemed to be fairly swift. Marvin considered what he could do, he could threaten Jammy and take his drugs but it wouldn't hurt whoever was supplying Jammy, he had to find Jammy's supplier, but how?
As if on cue, a blue BMW M-sport