by RR Haywood
Maddox slammed his elbow down again and went for the gun, reaching out with both hands to grip the pistol and twisting round to drive his feet repeatedly into the Bossman’s head and neck. The gun fired again as the Bossman tried to desperately empty the magazine before Maddox gained control of the weapon. Gunshot after gunshot rang out as they fought, kicking, writhing and screaming with terrified rage. Maddox lifted his foot and slammed the heel down on the side of the Bossman’s face breaking the cheekbone. The grip on the pistol loosened enough for Maddox to twist it free from his hand.
Losing the gun and screaming in terror the Bossman rolled away as Maddox fumbled with the weapon, got his hand on the grip and his finger on the trigger and fired point blank range into the solid mass of the Bossman. Two shots ripped through his upper body and the third made a small neat entry into his cheek and took the back of his head off. Skull, brains and blood sprayed out in a wide arc coating the wall.
Maddox stayed in position, breathing hard and hardly believing what had just happened. His ears were ringing from the gunshots, the stench of cordite and cannabis made his eyes water. The Bossman lay dead just a few feet from him. The back of his head gone.
Slowly he lowered the pistol and gave a silent thanks for the lessons the Bossman had given him, showing him how to load, clean and fire the different guns available on the black market. Using the desk he levered himself up and stared down at the third person killed in the compound within the last few minutes. Two of them from his own hands.
‘Maddox…’ Lenski whispered. Leaning on the desk he dropped his head and looked back at the door and Darius, Sierra and Lenski stood there.
‘He went for me…’ Maddox straightened up and turned towards them, the pistol held down at his side.
‘We saw,’ Darius said quietly.
‘Is he dead?’ Sierra asked their view of the Bossman blocked by the desk and the gloom.
‘Yeah,’ Maddox replied looking back at the corpse. Lenski entered first, carrying a large torch and shining it down onto the body. The other two filtered in behind her and stared down. After nine days of constant killing neither of them flinched at the corpse but they both reeled from the implication.
‘I shouldn’t have come in here,’ Maddox shook his head, ‘I knew he’d be stoned…but not that much.’
‘Bruv, after what happened you had to see him innit,’ Darius said, ‘he fucked up.’
‘Maddox, this not your fault. He called you nigger and he hitting you. He try to shoot you.’
‘I know,’ Maddox breathed out deeply, ‘how’s everyone out there?’
‘You not worry, they good now.’
‘Did anyone else see it?’ Maddox asked worrying if the news had yet spread. On seeing the nods he groaned, knowing the camp would be buzzing and terrified from the killings and what it meant.
‘Come on,’ he nodded as he moved towards the door.
‘What you do?’ Lenski reached out pulling his arm back to turn Maddox round.
‘We need to speak to everyone.’
‘Now?’ Darius cut in.
‘Yeah now,’ Maddox stared at Lenski, not wanting to pull his arm away by force. She dropped her hand and nodded, knowing it was the right thing to do.
The four of them filed out of the room as the full weight of the consequences hit Maddox. This was his. His compound. These were his people. Ending it like this was wrong. But it had happened and Maddox knew there was a secure compound of feral youths, drugs, booze and guns and if he didn’t act quickly it would fall within hours.
Lenski picked up on a similar train of thought herself. At first she thought her and the other older girls had been allowed in to give sexual favours or services to the older lads and the Bossman. But despite some clumsy flirty comments from a few youths, not one of them had tried anything. Even the Bossman had acted properly and he could have taken what he wanted with impunity. Lenski had watched Maddox transform over the last few days. At first he followed the Bossman at every step, but now he made his own decisions with confidence.
They walked through the units and past the blood stains on the ground where Zayden had bled out before his body was removed. Youths were all through the units staring quietly as Maddox and the others walked through. They ran ahead and out the doors, alerting the others that Maddox was coming out.
As they stepped out of the units and into the cooler night air Maddox saw the fire in the pit was still burning and the music decks were being slowly dismantled. The atmosphere was electric as terrified faces stared at him. Eyes wide with the shock of seeing Ryker kill Zayden. Then Maddox kill Ryker and now hearing that the Bossman had attacked Maddox.
Maddox, leading Lenski, Darius and Sierra moved over to the pit so the flames would illuminate him, making him visible to everyone. He stood silent for a few seconds breathing deeply and staring down at the dancing flames. The smell of wood smoke was a blessed change from the reek of cannabis and pistol fire.
‘The Bossman, he attacked Maddox,’ Lenski spoke out in a clear loud voice surprising Maddox. ‘I see this, Darius and Sierra they see this too. He attack Maddox and call him the street nigger,’ gasps sweep round as air is sucked in quickly. It wasn’t the word used that made them gasp. The word was familiar to them in everyday language, as well as a thousand other insulting and extreme words. What made them prick up was that Maddox had been called it. And by the Bossman.
‘The Bossman tried to shoot Maddox with the pistol,’ Lenski said. ‘Maddox defend and he kill the Bossman.’ Audible gasps, mouths drop open and eyes go wide as the rumour so freshly circulated and hardly believed, despite the gunshots, was so quickly and bluntly confirmed.
‘Listen up,’ Maddox’s deep voice boomed out. ‘This happened but it doesn’t change anything for us. We still the same and we carry on like we were. You still get food and clothes, we still run this estate and this is still our base. The Bossman was a good man, but the weed fucked him up. It made him paranoid and sick, same with Ryker. It fucks you up good and proper if you take it all the time. We got a lot of work to do now…’
‘Are you in charge now Maddox?’ One of the youths called out.
‘You the Bossman now?’ Another voice added.
‘I am in charge now,’ Maddox nodded, ‘but I’m not the Bossman, he’s dead. I’m still Maddox.’
‘Do we still call you Maddox?’ The first voice called out again. Maddox smiled to himself at the thought that the youths need that authority to cling on to, who is in charge? Who is boss?
‘Nah you’s got to call me Mr Maddox Sir now innit bruv,’ the youths laughed at the quick joke and Maddox smiling. He looked normal to them. The same man they’d come to accept as their leader over the last days. The Bossman was always spoken about but it was Maddox who did all the work and they all knew it.
‘It’s Maddox,’ Maddox added quickly before anyone could think it was his real name from now on.
‘Get some rest, we’ll sort this out and everything will be okay. Crew chiefs come over here for a minute…well what you’s looking at? Go on, get some rest.’ The youths shuffled away as the crowd broke up. The same Maddox as every other night telling them to go to sleep and rest. Re-assured that things seemed okay they formed groups and talked quietly. Most of them still coming down from the weed smoked through the evening.
Maddox waited until the crew chiefs were assembled round him, nodding at some of the youths hanging around too close, motioning them to move away with a warning smile.
‘That was bang out of order he calling you that,’ Skyla said, moving to stand close by Maddox and already pulling the zip down to show her heaving cleavage.
‘That’s fuckin’ sweet that you’re in charge now Maddox,’ Ryland said with a grin.
‘Yeah,’ Maddox nodded back, ‘listen, when the survivors on the estate find out the Bossman is dead they’ll think we’re weak,’ He explained watching their faces, ‘so they might come and try it on here, try and get in or take over. I want double gu
ards on here which means the crews will be smaller, so I want each crew to pair up with another one. The chiefs share the responsibility and also I want one crew chief awake all the time and overseeing the guards.’ The chiefs listened intently as Maddox outlined the immediate changes. Drawing up a list of watches starting from then and telling the chiefs he wanted them checking the gate and walking the compound too.
As he spoke, more idea’s started forming. More plans and the realisation that he could implement what he wanted now without having to check first. He held himself back from going through more, seeing the chiefs yawning and fidgeting.
Eventually he sent them off, reminding them to stick to the watch list and report directly to him or Lenski if anything happened.
Maddox took Ryland and Darius into the Bossman’s room and wrapped the heavy body in black bin bags before rolling him and the bits of him splattered about, into a sheet and carrying him outside to join the other two bodies in the sentry hut.
Finally at some point during the early hours he entered his room and collapsed exhausted on the bed. Staring up at the low ceiling, his mind a blur with the future and how things can be different. How he can make them different. Less drugs. Better food. Safer.
Something about the deaths he caused and the emotions he felt sparked a thought process and awakened a sense of remorse about the survivors killed on the estate. They had to be dealt with, that much was for sure but now after this night he realises that death was easy to give. If there is to be a future then it should be a decent one, otherwise what’s the point? Why go through all this just so they can kill more people?
The sudden realisation that what they’ve been doing is wrong burns through his soul. This isn’t the way; he knows this but the thoughts become muddled and slip into visceral images spinning through his head as he drifts into the first layer of sleep, images of Zayden stood out on the junction holding his bleeding stomach while laughing about the box of condoms.
The eighteen year old hardened criminal sleeps fitfully as he becomes the new leader of a community of drug addicted kids, and one with a sudden conscious.
Three
Day Ten.
Sunday.
Maddox wakes instantly from the loud knocking at his door, still dressed and flat on his back in the same position that he flaked out in just a few hours ago.
‘Yeah?’ His voice sounds deep and ragged, unrecognised by his own ears. The door opens to show Lenski stood there smiling and holding two steaming mugs. She’s dressed in different clothes, jeans and a simple top. She looks clean and fresh.
‘Everything okay?’ He asks quickly.
‘Sure sure,’ she waves her free hand gently, motioning him to stay put, ‘I knew you want to be awake before the youths yes? So I bring you coffee.’
‘Coffee,’ Maddox repeats the word dumbly before collapsing back down. He stretches his arms and legs out groaning noisily.
‘Ssshh,’ Lenski laughs, ‘they will think we are doing the sex.’ She stands at the end of the bed staring down as Maddox looks up quickly from the mention of the word sex from a beautiful woman stood in his room, ‘ha! That got you awake,’ she laughs again.
‘Not funny,’ Maddox groans sitting up and extending his hand for the coffee. She steps in and passes the cup. Fingers brushing as his hands fumble to grip the hot ceramic mug. ‘Thanks,’ he murmurs. She sits down next to him on the bed as he takes the first sip and rubs his face with his free hand. Suddenly aware of her close proximity and the downward pressure of her weight on the mattress.
‘Last night it was crazy no?’ She says quietly.
‘Nuts,’ he replies, ‘anything happen overnight?’
‘Nothing, I took coffee out to the gate. Skyla she was there, she does not like me I think.’
‘Why not?’ Maddox asked and instantly regretted it, knowing the reason why.
‘She like you,’ Lenski shrugs lightly, ‘you spend the time so much with me, she not like this.’
‘She’s young,’ Maddox mused, ‘they all are.’
‘But not you? I am only twenty one. That make me old though to the children.’
‘Ancient,’ Maddox answered quickly with a quick smile.
‘You! I not ancient,’ she slaps his shoulder affectionately. Leaving her hand there she squeezes his hard muscle, ‘are you okay?’ she asks with a worried expression.
‘About last night?’ Maddox answers feeling her hand rubbing and enjoying the pleasurable feeling. Normally he’d flinch away from unwarranted contact from another person but her manner makes him relax and he doesn’t sense anything other than care from the woman. No threat or clumsy flirting like with Skyla and the other girls.
‘Of course last night,’ she says continuing the rub and staring across at him.
‘Yeah it’s okay I think, nothing we can do now is there? Just got to roll with it.’ Lenski picks up on him saying we and not I.
‘No, nothing we can do. It done now but I worry you feel bad for killing the Bossman and…’
‘He would have killed me; as soon as he said what he did I knew it was on. There’s no going back from something like that. He could have backed down, or I could have but it would have happened today or tomorrow. Getting fucked up on weed and sat on his own would have made him worse.’
‘And Ryker?’ Lenski gently pushed the question, needing to know how Maddox was thinking about it now a night had passed.
‘It’s done,’ he says quietly, ‘we can’t lock people up here and if we sent him away he could have caused problems. He had to die after what he did. Zayden didn’t deserve that.’
‘Maddox?’ She asks in a quiet voice. He turns to look into her eyes, her face looking soft instead of the normal hard stare, ‘maybe many they didn’t deserve the killing, maybe we not kill so many people now.’
‘I was thinking the same last night,’ they stare at each other, her hand still gently rubbing his back. ‘We’ll stop killing the survivors but we’ve got to do it carefully…’
‘Why?’
‘Like I said, they might see losing the bossman as a sign of weakness. If we just suddenly stop killing and become nice, they’ll be in here and taking us over. It needs to be done carefully, we still got a shit load of kids here that need protecting and there’s so much we don’t know too. The Bossman knew about the Dysentery, none of us would know that.’
‘Not the word maybe we do not know, but being clean is obvious no?’
‘There could be a hundred things like that we don’t know about…’
‘Then we will find them no? We make it work.’ Lenski says softly, her hand still gently massaging his back.
‘Yeah,’ Maddox whispers staring at her, the atmosphere suddenly becoming charged. Eyes locked on each other they gently lean in, closing the gap. Two hearts hammering in two chests. Two young minds drawn together. The youths, the chiefs they all have Maddox and Lenski to take care of them. Maddox and Lenski have but each other and the weight they feel is suddenly shared. Two people that moved in different circles never associated and never knew the other existed. They may have crossed each other in the street with barely an appreciative glance at the others attractive form, but that would have been it.
After what seems an eternity their lips brush and gentle kissing continues for long minutes as the heat between them builds, still clutching their coffee mugs they move to embrace and laugh when the contents slosh over the rims of the mugs. The brief diversion does nothing to end the moment as the cups are lowered and they fall back onto the bed. Kissing passionately, touching, caressing. The need for contact, for that thing of closeness that every human strives for. Not drunk, not stoned, not some random act taking place after a nightclub. Two people taking the lives of many in their hands and needing an escape. The constant state of extreme emotion, surrounded by death and suffering vents as the pressure between them explodes into an urgent loving ecstasy.
Maddox, for an eighteen year old male is tender, loving and caressing. Knowing
his hands are strong he restrains himself which sends shivers down Lenski’s body. Her slim athletic frame grips the hard muscles in his arms, feeling the ridges of his abdominal muscles. Sensing his power, his aura. Feeling safe and protected. He, in turn feels nurtured and loved and in a strange way he also feels protected. The hardened young man knows his physical prowess and has worked hard to become strong and healthy, but with Lenski he feels protected from the psychological draw of going back to what it was. With her understanding him, even for this short time, he feels empowered to try and change.
Tenderness builds gradually until it becomes an urgent need and they make love. Desire wants and needs, emotions so powerful they cannot be expressed by words pour from them. Instinct moves them, propels them to action. The intrinsic need to progress the species tempered by the one thing that marks humanity apart from all else. Love.
It’s over in minutes but it’s enough for both of them. Enough to forge that contact and make that connection. A contract drawn between them of mutual respect, desire and genuine care.
The suns golden rays penetrate the once grimy window, wiped and scrubbed by Maddox so he could always have a sight of the world outside. Dust particles glint and dance as the warm air settles over the naked forms lying with entwined arms upon the small bed. The contrast between them is stark. The pale, slender curves of Lenski snuggling in close against the dark, defined frame of Maddox. They kiss more, stroking and smiling in the early morning light. Faint noises caused by the rustle of bed clothes, exhaling and the soft sound of skin against skin. Delight in both their faces. Eyes bright and searching, staring, gazes being held. They shuffle up to a seated position; Lenski reaches down with her slender arms to bring both their mugs up. The coffee, still warm is sipped quietly as they manoeuvre to maintain the closeness. Neither one wanting to break the spell.