Swan Song

by Tom Butler

  James, sensing that the interlopers were either drunk or high on drugs, did as he was told, though part of him told him he ought to be at least remonstrating with them for crashing in as they had.

  Sylvia was close to hysterics as she tried stemming the flow of blood from Luke’s nose, her voice almost incoherent as she shouted across to Mary and Clare warning them to stand well back and not become involved. A glass got smashed by the man now grappling with Phillip, and Wes sprang into action, using the door as a makeshift weapon, pressing hard against it with Budgie still not completely inside the room. This strategy worked and not even the foot in the door routine could gain him access though Wes’ success was short-lived, with the combined effort of Budgie and the second man forcing him to retreat away from the door.

  ‘Get out!’ Sylvia ordered. ‘We don’t want youngsters getting hurt. You should be ashamed.’

  This just made Budgie laugh at her. And that was just too much for James.

  ‘No son,’ Phillip said from the corner of his mouth as he wrestled with the first interloper, trying to avoid his flailing fists. ‘Don’t do it.’

  Too late. It was the last thing he should have been doing on his sixteenth birthday, but no one got away with assaults and insults inside his beloved foster home. There could have been an army awaiting him in addition to the three he knew of, but that would not have stopped him from fighting back.

  His eyes met Budgie’s for a second, and he read only hatred and revenge. The texts and Facebook messages had said he would get even with him for daring not to allow him a piece of the action where any future musical career was concerned.

  Imitating a bull, James charged headlong into Budgie who, off balance careered into his other henchman, resulting in both of them losing their footing. James kicked out and caught Budgie somewhere near his ribcage which made him struggle for a breath. The other man leapt off the wooden floor of the hallway and surprised James with his strength, pinning him against a wall and out muscling him. This bought Budgie some time, and he went back inside the lounge and began striking out at anything that moved that was likely to prevent him helping his friend. This meant that Phillip, Wes and Hal, having gained the upper hand were left spread-eagled, and their advantage had been well and truly lost.

  It was now altogether serious for James if Budgie and the other man were to retreat back into the hall, but at the same time, it meant no immediate danger for Mary and Clare. Nor for Luke, who might already be nursing a broken nose. Figuring this out, Phillip tried to lock horns with the first man again, targeting his ponytail, but he was already being pulled backwards by Budgie who was shouting, ‘Come on, we’ve got what we came for. Birthday boy is ours.’

  Now the gatecrashers were using the door into the lounge to their advantage with Phillip taking a hefty whack to his head as he tried to get through it and follow them into the hall. Budgie then caught him with a well-aimed elbow into his face and the other man gave him a cowardly kick in the groin. These slowed him up considerably and when Wes and Hal reached him to help him out, his attackers had gone and so too had James.

  ‘Somebody call the police,’ Phillip spluttered, scrambling to his feet before collapsing in a heap as Wes and Hal failed to catch him.

  ‘Shit!’ Wes exclaimed. ‘The bastards have James. They’ve taken him.’

  Though not the most agile or active of men, Hal suggested he go after them, at least to follow them, although, in his words, ‘the streets weren’t familiar to him.’

  This prompted Wes to do likewise, and they jogged out into the dark street to give chase, not knowing if James’s callous hijackers were in a car or on foot. Instinctively, Wes looked in the direction of Groby, remembering that James had told him he used to meet up with Budgie in the park on the edge of town.

  Silhouetted by a street lamp about twenty yards away as the road curved to the left, he could see his quarry. Three vindictive men, hell bent on making somebody pay. And with them, being dragged along, was James. This was turning out to be one hell of a sixteenth birthday.

  ******

  Chapter Nineteen

  The way James saw it was that he had two choices. If he tried fighting the men off it could end very badly, and if he co-operated, it might not end quite so bad. It did strike him that if he just slowed down their progress as much as he dared any chasing posse would surely track them down to where ever they planned to take him. The bigger of Budgie’s so-called friends had a vice like grip on his arm, and every few seconds, he repeated himself on exactly how he would break it if James kept dragging his feet.

  Of course James had pleaded with Budgie as soon as they got out onto the street which was noticeably quieter than normal due to it being a Sunday evening. There weren’t even pedestrians about to witness his rapid abduction or help him if he did manage to secure an unlikely escape.

  Hurriedly slurred words passing breathlessly between the men gave nothing away as to what they had planned for James, but like Wes, he too thought about the park. They were certainly heading in the right direction, and it would get them off the streets and provide them with cover.

  ‘Keep going,’ Budgie said, clearly, barking out an order like a sergeant major.

  ‘The bastards are after us.’

  It was what James had wanted to hear, and then there was more frenzied promptings from the leader of the gang of three. ‘Come on, they’re catching us.’

  The “they” he referred to giving chase on foot, was in fact one person because Wes had fetched his car and with Hal alongside him, they were out on four wheels, figuring they’d be much quicker that way. So who was it chasing them and catching up so quick as to cause Budgie to panic and look to change his preferred route?

  When he was thirteen, Noah Swan had broken his school’s record for the boy’s intermediate mile at an end of year sports event. He was still built like a runner, carrying not an ounce over ten stone in weight though James imagined it was some time since he had competed on a proper athletic field. The last fact whether true or not mattered not. All that did matter was that his brother had made up so much ground he had managed to get within a few feet of the smallest man, and he was being even more vocal than he was when performing on stage.

  ‘Let him go if you know what’s good for you,’ he shouted as the man he was now almost level with began a zigzag strategy to try to shake him off.

  ‘Fuck off,’ Budgie shouted back at him, though it lost out to the sound of a Leicester bound bus that had now swept past them with hardly a passenger aboard. Wes’s Volvo Estate car was closing in, and Hal seemed to be standing and shouting something through an open sunroof whilst Wes concentrated on the configuration of the road ahead.

  To the right, there was a well-lit walk through to the back of a housing estate, and whether by design or just necessity, Budgie shouted ‘Up there’ and they switched direction. It meant the chase was over so far as Wes and his four wheels were concerned, and the move also took Noah by surprise.

  It brought him to an abrupt halt and clearly his athleticism was put in doubt. With both hands on his hips he made a raucous sound and spat out saliva.

  This did not go unnoticed by Budgie who mocked him before urging the others to ‘run like shit’ which is exactly what they tried to do. Taking in a lung full of fresh oxygen, Noah set off again, his feet pounding even faster than before and easily catching the small man for whom running did not come so natural. He was, however, still a formidable adversary given the plight he was in, kicking and punching out at Noah who took one particular hard kick between his legs that momentarily winded him. Swinging away from Noah’s attempt to grab him, the man was suddenly running again and calling to the others. They had reached a grassed area at the head of a cul-de-sac and now had only one way to go, and despite experiencing some pain, Noah jogged purposely after them, mindful of what the weakest looking of the three was capable of.

  Several times, James had tested the big man’s strength by trying to twist and contort his
body away from him, but it had proved futile. Once Budgie, seeing what he was attempting to do, struck out at him with a menacingly clenched hand, and it had landed squarely on James’s left ear, causing him to shout out.

  At the end of the narrow road they were on, there were some marked crossroads that James knew well. A right-hand turn and then a left a little further on would see them reach one entrance to the park.

  Further threats were being issued by Noah as he whittled down the gap, all the time weighing up his options, especially as he now knew none of the men would be pushovers. He also called out to James, telling him not to worry. His big brother was well and truly on his case.

  This riled Budgie, and he aimed another cowardly punch at James’s head that caught his cheekbone just above his jaw.

  ‘Bastard!’ he exclaimed. ‘Both of you are bastards.’

  They played a bizarre game of cat and mouse. Noah, looking for a weakness and the three men closing ranks around James like he was a bar of gold and part of a major shipment. They crossed over to the other side at the crossroads and bore a swift left. The outline of the trees of the park, though covered in darkness, was clearly visible. It was then that Budgie swore loudly. He looked down the road, and there was precious little wrong with his eyesight. Wes’s Volvo hadn’t, after all, been eliminated from the chase. It was parked straight ahead, yards from the entrance to the park, and both Wes and Hal were out of the car, bracing themselves for an inevitable confrontation. If James’s eyes didn’t deceive him, Wes had armed himself with something, most likely a wheel brace from the back of his car.

  The pace had reduced to a trot, and Noah tried reasoning with the men who were all panting loudly.

  ‘Let him go. Just let my brother go. Maybe then we’ll let you walk away. I just want my brother back unharmed. End it now.’

  Ever defiant Budgie took a deep breath, and told him to go to hell. And Noah retorted by saying that’s where all three of them were heading if they didn’t set James free. The impulse to launch himself at his brother’s attackers grew stronger by the second, but something suddenly made him hold back.

  What looked like a blade of a small knife was protruding from the right hand of the man holding on to James, and though his grip on James had been eased, there was no question of anyone making advances to free him now there was the menace of a knife added to the equation.

  ‘He’s got a knife. Stay well back,’ Noah warned Wes and Hal.

  Even Budgie had looked shocked by its sudden appearance. And now the man threatening to use it became vocal too.

  ‘That’s right, stay back.’ he ordered in a surprisingly high pitched and panicky voice as his ponytail swished from side to side. ‘I’ll cut him if you take another step closer.’

  Not even an adrenalin fuelled Noah would be crazy to disobey the man, and the show of the knife had seemingly changed the dynamics of an already serious situation. For James, it was a major setback. From where the man had procured the weapon, he had no idea. Maybe it was just being carried for insurance if the abduction didn’t go to plan? Right now it was pretty important that he make no sudden moves or try to escape.

  ‘No one need get hurt,’ Wes piped up from where he now stood stock-still. ‘Just think about what you are doing. Is it really worth it?’

  Budgie still believed it was worth the trouble they had gone to. He was hell bent on teaching James a lesson, his already dark skin making him look even more sinister in the gloom of night time.

  Naming the other men for the first time, he gave out some orders of his own.

  ‘Cal, keep a good hold of him, and JC keep a close eye on the buggers with the car.’

  His two makeshift lieutenants caught their breaths and acted accordingly.

  James looked across at Noah and tried not to show just how terrified he was. This was a million miles away from getting text and Facebook threats. Budgie and his pals had reached another level. In effect, he was being held at knifepoint and that changed things a lot.

  They were walking briskly, passing the point at which Wes’s Volvo was parked. Wes and Hal stared at the knife and said and did nothing that might antagonise its carrier. With almost a hop and a skip movement the three bad guys and James levered themselves through the opening into the park with Noah following on with extra special care so as not to put James in any more jeopardy than he already was.

  The man referred to as Cal had a vice-like grip on James that meant the sharp end of the knife was much too close to his throat for comfort. Not for a second did he think he might be able persuade Budgie and his associates to let him go without harming him further, but the natural compulsion to break free was boosted by the fact that they were now running on grass, dampened by evening dew. He had also noted that the man holding him was wearing tatty trainers making traction even harder, and it was becoming a challenge to prevent either or both of them from slipping over.

  Likewise, the flying boots James’s brother wore might have seemed fashionable for a stage performance, but they were not much good for running on wet grass. OK, so they had worked perfectly well on the road and pavements, and he could have easily followed at a safe distance on a tarmac path, but this would not have brought him close enough to attempt any sort of rescue should that vital window of opportunity arise. So he tried taking precise steps in order to stay on his feet and kept as close an eye as he could on his brother.

  How could either of them forget that a knife had ended the life of their mother, and they could have been forgiven for thinking like identical twins. One false move, and the man could use it against them. If that happened, it was highly probable that one of them would die. What was the price then of a wrong move or hasty action?

  They had run the width of half of the park, and all five were breathing heavy. Meandering through trees in the dark was not so easy. Still Budgie barked out his orders and told Noah to give up the chase or risk making his little brother’s fate much worse. For his part, Noah was showing great restraint. A veritable mountain of it, considering he was not known for being patient.

  Across from the opening where they had entered the park, there was the sound of raised voices, and James knew immediately that Phillip had caught up with Wes and Hal. He imagined they were on the brink of hatching some brilliant plan designed to save him. Or were they on the other hand just waiting for the police to arrive? That thought alone startled him. Exactly how would Budgie and the others react to him when the inevitable echo of sirens sounded out to announce the cavalry were on their way?

  For Budgie, this was not how he had planned it. The knife apart, he had expected little resistance from others at the party, believing he and his co-conspirators would take everybody by such surprise that they could easily spirit James away to a place where they could exact some kind of revenge on him for letting Budgie down.

  Budgie had convinced both Cal and J.C. that the lad had immense talent and needed the likes of them to manage him and protect him. There were sharks out there in the music industry waiting to eat him up if he made the wrong move and no one would have begrudged him getting people like Budgie on board to watch his back. He had a famous brother and was going to be just as famous. How could he turn his back on a friend when he was on the brink of something like that? He needed to be taught that he couldn’t cold shoulder somebody with his interests at heart. As if emulating the words of a gangland boss in a movie, ‘Young James Swan needed a slap,’ and there was nothing more to be said. Only now, things had spiralled, and it was doubtful that even Budgie Bird quite knew how it would end.

  Knowing that there was no love lost between James and Noah, he was further confused by Noah’s determination to rescue his brother. Thinking that he wouldn’t give “two hoots” about his sibling, however, had been a big mistake, and if anything, Noah was controlling his thoughts. Surely, Cal wouldn’t use the knife for real, and it was there just to warn off others who might get in the way. But it hadn’t stopped Noah. His dark shape was lurking, threate
ning to scupper any plan Budgie might conjure, and though outnumbered, he had effected a standoff virtually in the middle of the park. Carrying on straight ahead would bring them to the opening on the opposite side where there was a school building, more houses and a row of shops. To the left, there was a fenced off, kiddies play area and to the right a recently added area designed for skate boarders. The park had always been the place they were going to take James to. They would frighten him, rough him up, make him wish he had stayed faithful to a friend and not snubbed him like he was a nobody.

  It would have been over pretty quick, and if anybody came after them, they would disperse into the night, leaving James to lick his wounds. Knowing how overstretched the police were, it would be highly unlikely they would make more than a routine sweep of the area and log it in their records as merely an act of ‘bullying’. It might not even merit a crime number or a follow up.

  A shadowy figure now stood at the other entrance to the park, and Budgie squinted at the man. His eyes homed in on a small shape moving in the grass to the right of the man who, by the way he stooped, looked elderly. It was a dog on one of those extendable leads. The man seemed oblivious to what was going on and was now ambling slowly towards them. Why should that have taken Budgie so by surprise? After all, this was a park, a public place. There were numerous dog dirt bins stationed around its perimeter and one just yards away from where they had paused for breath. He prayed that the man didn’t come much closer, but no one up there was listening.

  ‘Fuck this,’ he said curling his lip. As if it was all James’s fault, he launched a kick at his left knee and made instant contact. James, still held rigid by the strongest of the men, felt immediate pain but didn’t buckle or try to hide. Another kick aimed higher caught James on his thigh which cushioned the blow and suddenly everything was happening at once. Because he felt Budgie was shielding him from view of the knife wielding man, Noah had made up yards of ground in a second, leaving JC in his wake and crashing headlong into Budgie’s left hand side which, helped by the fact he was already off balance, sent Budgie tumbling into James. Though not able to see the knife, James knew it was there, and he consciously tried to fall on top of Cal rather than try to break free which might just give the man a chance to swipe at him with it. Noah was swearing his head off, and he instinctively used his head to butt anything that moved with the exception of his brother.