by RR Haywood
‘Take it easy,’ the driver calls out, ‘he ain’t gonna piss with you yelling at him is he?’
‘Just…’ Biting the anger down the rapist takes a breath, pressing the rag harder to his cheek, ‘just hurry up then.’
Todd carries on to the side of the pavement, followed by the bleeding man watching him closely. Standing in front of a wall he fiddles with the zip on his shorts, struggling to get them undone.
‘Come on,’ rapist mutters.
Todd glances up, tears starting to burn his eyes in terror at the man glaring at him. He struggles and tugs at the zip, finally yanking it down before pausing before drawing himself out.
‘Well get on with it,’ rapist shouts.
‘I can’t,’ Todd sobs, ‘you’re watching me.’
‘Fucking what!’
‘Oi,’ the driver leans over the passenger seat, yelling out the open door, ‘stop yelling at him…’
‘Or what?’ Rapist spins, unleashing his temper on his mate.
‘Or the Doc’ll find out you been a wanker and then what’ll happen? Think about it you moron, if these kids go back saying you were being an arsehole…’
‘Fine,’ Rapist snarls, taking a step away from Todd and standing with his back to him he folds his arms. ‘Happy now? This far enough away is it?’
Todd glances round, spotting that the bleeding man has moved away and is shouting with the other man in the van. Billy stares out, locking eyes with Todd. Todd holds his gaze for a second, looks at the driver, then he stares at the back of the bleeding man and decides to run. His little legs pumping furiously as he starts running. An instinct booming in his mind, telling him to get away, run, run and keep running.
‘GET HIM!’ The driver yells. Rapist spins round, cursing foully at the sight of Todd running round down the road. Starting after him he yells hoarsely, threatening to split the kid in half if he doesn't stop right now.
Pain burns in his cheek, his head banging with pain and waves of dizziness. Growling he runs on, trying to open his stride to go faster. He is tired though, exhausted even, and had no sleep for a long time. He struggles to sprint, so he drops back to a jog knowing the boy has nowhere to go and he’ll stop running soon. Then when he catches him…well the Doc won’t know any different if they just bring one boy back.
‘You little cunt!’ Rapist shouts, ‘I’ll fucking kill you like I did your old man…and that fucking bitch…’
Sobbing, with his chest heaving, eyes misted from tears, Todd runs and runs, following the natural bend in the road until he reaches a junction. A long wall follows the contour of the road as it bends into the side street. Sticking close to it he tries his best to run as fast as he can but the long walk yesterday has left him tired and his energy levels are already starting to drop. Pure fear pushes him on, forcing his little legs to keep going.
‘Keep running you little cunt!’ Rapist bellows, ‘I’ll fucking kill you…I’ll fucking stab your face off…’
Rapist spots the junction. The lack of anyone running down the road means the kid must have gone down the side street, ‘OI…FUCKING LITTLE WANKER….’ The rage in him explodes, nothing will stop him getting that little kid and hurting him bad. The psychotic fury, the same psychotic fury that has seen him serving many prison sentences for serious assaults, makes his eyes go wild, the red mist descending in his mind. In the past, when that mist has lifted, the rapist has genuinely struggled to recall the events of what he did during that “episode”. In many interviews with the police he has sat there listening to evidence of witnesses put before him, shaking his head with confusion. Even when shown security camera footage of his own actions, of beating a man unconscious outside a pub he struggled to recognise himself. His own mind refuses to accept that he wasn’t the easy going, fun-loving person he thought he was.
The rape last night wasn’t a psychotic episode. That was just a necessity. He is a man, she was a woman, so he took it. Simple. No rage needed there. Until the end of course, when he was smashing her face in with his fists.
‘I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU….HERE ME?...YOU ARE GONNA DIE YOU LITTLE WANKER CUNT PRICK…’
He rounds the corner into the side street and skids to a stop.
‘Pardon?’
‘Who the fuck are you?’ The rapist shouts with enough rage left to contort his features into an evil sneer.
‘I’m the man holding the gun,’ Nick replies. Holding the pistol with one steady hand, he uses the other to push the weeping boy behind him, forming a protective barrier, ‘what did you just say?’
‘What?’ Rapist demands.
‘You said you were going to kill him, you said that…’ Nick repeats, his voice soft and deadly.
‘What? Eh?...Nah…fucking hell mate,’ Rapist swallows and tries smiling with a quick dirty leer, ‘he’s er…he’s my kid ain’t he…little fuc…er…little sod got told off so he legged it….you know what kids are like eh mate, ‘ere, hand him over,’ Rapist extends one hand, beckoning Todd to come.
‘Your kid?’ Nick asks.
‘Yeah, s’what I said innit, come on nipper, mum’s waiting,’ he beckons harder, trying to smile again as he ignores the pain in his cheek.
‘What happened to your face?’ Nick asks, ‘looks like a bite mark,’ Nick steps back, forcing the child to move with him, still with one arm wrapped round his shoulders.
‘Eh? What? Oh er…you mean this?’ The man gingerly touches his face, ‘yeah er…fucking dog, yeah a dog…’
‘A dog? Wasn’t a big German Shepherd was it?’
‘Eh? What? No, er…a er…staffy, yeah a staffy got me…our staffy actually…fucking thing just turned you know…’
‘Turned?’
‘Yeah turned, no…not like them things…fuck mate, no…just you know, snapped and went for me.’
‘Not surprised,’ Nick says, ‘you threatening to kill children and all that.’
‘Ha! Yeah, got a temper on me.’ Rapist forces a laugh, ‘he’s the same, ain’t you nipper, take after your old man don’t you nipper?’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Er…Spike.’
‘The kid not the dog.’
‘Oh, Ha! Thought you meant the dog mate, yeah…ha! Er the kid…yeah his name is er…Brian, yeah Brian…Come on Brian, Mum’s waiting and we gotta get a move on, come on Bri…’
‘What’s your name kid?’ Nick asks.
‘Ere mate, don’t be getting all fucking weird,’ Rapist takes a step forward, ‘what you some kind of peado or sommit? How old are you anyway? And where you get that gun from? You in the army or something?’
‘What’s your name?’ Nick nudges the boy while keeping his eyes locked on the man with the injured cheek, ‘is he your dad?’
‘Don’t question my nipper,’ Rapist protests, ‘that’s fucked up mate, you don’t go round questioning other peoples kids.’
‘Oi mate,’ Nick nudges the boy again, ‘is this man your dad?’
‘Now listen here…’
‘No,’ Todd whimpers, terrified and frozen to the spot as he clings onto Nick, staring down at the big axe on the ground.
‘Brian!’ Rapist shakes his head.
‘What’s your name?’ Nick nudges the boy, prompting him to answer.
‘Todd.’
‘Oh you little shit,’ rapist snarls. His cheek hurts, his head hurts, he is tired, and that all takes its toll. The one chance he has to protest, his one chance to act out the role of the stunned father and try to blag out of it, that moment passes. The moment that follows is the one with Nick staring through the eyes of a killer, holding a 9mm army issue pistol whilst staring at the man with the injured cheek.
‘He killed my dad and Sam,’ Todd whimpers in a soft voice that carries only too well into the silence of the street.
‘When?’ Nick asks bluntly, watching the facial features on the injured man change. Anger replaced by indignant surprise replaced by confusion replaced by fear that seeps across his features.
<
br /> ‘And Billy’s dad too but not Lilly.’
‘Billy? Who is Billy?’ Nick asks.
‘Listen mate,’ Rapist finds his voice as he starts back stepping, holding his hands out in front with the palms facing out, ‘things happen don’t they…all this going on and…you know what I mean yeah? We’s just trying to get some er…some food and things happen….’
‘Who is Billy?’ Nick asks, this time directing the question at the man. He starts walking forward, maintaining the distance between him and the retreating man.
‘Billy? I don’t know,’ Rapist shrugs, ‘never heard of him.’
‘Todd, who is Billy?’ Nick asks, eyes still locked on the man in front.
‘Lilly’s brother,’ Todd whimpers, ‘down there. Billy didn’t need a wee…I wee’d in my pants.’
‘That’s okay,’ Nick replies softly, ‘don’t worry about your pants.’
‘Come on mate, keep the kid yeah? You want to keep the kid he’s all yours,’ Rapist holds his hands up, giving a magnanimous gesture, ‘everyone happy yeah? You keep him and I’ll go… no problems here mate…’
‘Where is Billy?’ Nick presses, speeding up as he walks at the man, ‘stop moving back.’
‘Come on mate,’ Rapist keeps going, back-stepping while talking in a pleading tone, ‘come on mate…take it easy…things happens don’t they, you know that…me and you we’re men ain’t we yeah? You get me, don’t you nipper?’
‘Don’t call me nipper and if you keep walking away I’ll shoot you,’ Nick speaks bluntly.
Rapist makes a mistake. His fear of dying stops him from properly seeing Nick. He sees a nipper dressed like a soldier, young and lean. What he doesn't see are the eyes, the hard stare that fixes unblinking.
A lot can happen in two weeks. Over three hundred hours. Some of them have been spent sleeping, eating and walking but many have been spent in battle, firing weapons and becoming lethal. More rounds have been fired by Nick than most platoons do during a tour of overseas warzones. Nick is intelligent. He learns quickly. Years of playing computer games, of working on small things that require focus and concentration have made his hand to eye co-ordination phenomenal.
The man is only a few yards away. The distance is small. One minor adjustment to his aim. One single solitary squeeze of the trigger. The retort is loud and instant, bouncing off the houses as it rolls down the street. The round exits the pistol, crossing the short distance and striking the man in the thigh, tearing through muscle and tissue before exiting the other side.
Shock hits Rapist faster than the pain from the gunshot. The nipper only made a quick twitch and bang. Staring down, he spots the blood spurting from his leg. That didn’t just happen. No way did that young nipper just shoot him in the leg.
He falls down, the leg suddenly unable to take his weight. Clutching the wound, the pain hits and for the first time in a few hours, the injury to his cheek is completely forgotten.
‘I’ll ask you again,’ Nick says, still holding the trembling boy close, ‘where is Billy?’
‘Down there…fuck you fucking shot me…he’s down there…in the van… down there…VINCE!’ Rapist bellows, ‘VINCE…VINCE…’
Nick glances up at the sound of an engine coming from ahead. A big, white van crosses the end of the junction, pausing as Nick clocks sight of the man behind the wheel and the young boy sat on the double passenger seat. The passenger door swinging open.
As Nick lifts his aim the engine screams louder. The driver has spotted his mate on the floor and the soldier stood over him with the kid.
‘BILLY?’ Nick bellows, catching sight of the boy lifting his arm before the van speeds off, accelerating down the street and out of view.
‘VINCE…’ Rapist bellows, twisting round to see the van driving off, ‘VINCE….GET BACK HERE….VINCE YOU FUCKING CUNT….’ His voice trails off at the same time the noise of the van tapers away. Whimpering, he stares down to the junction, at the void where the van was just seconds ago. ‘Vince…’ he whimpers. Slowly he twists round, wincing from the pain exploding up his leg. Now he can see the hard eyes staring down at him. The face is young but holds no compassion for him and that shot, it was so fast and completely brutal.
‘Shit,’ Rapist mutters, ‘please mate…’
‘Your mate has fucked off,’ Nick observes.
‘Please mate…come on…’
‘What?’ Nick shrugs, slightly confused at what he’s being asked. What does he do now? The shot he took to stop the man getting away was done from instinct. But now, he’s lying there with a gunshot to his leg and a young kid stuck to his side.
‘It wasn’t like that,’ Rapist blurts out, ‘his dad went for me, I swear it….it was self-defence and I kept the kid to keep him safe…I didn’t mean what I shouted…I wouldn’t kill a kid mate…’
‘Todd,’ Nick asks, ‘what happened with your dad?’ Todd doesn't reply. Terrified witless he clings onto Nick, only too aware that the man with the bleeding cheek is right there, so close and able to reach out and grab Todd again.
‘I’m telling ya, his dad went for me…’ Rapist pleads, ‘really mate…it was him or me…we had some food and his dad wanted it…fuck mate…you gotta believe me…’
Suddenly it isn’t so clear. A few seconds ago, and relying on pure instinct, Nick knew what to do. This was a bad man, he was threatening to kill a child. Easy, that’s black and white. Man threatening to kill child equals bad man. But now, he’s on the floor giving a plausible reason for it, explaining why he killed the kid’s dad. The kid himself is too scared to say anything.
‘So what happened?’ Nick asks, wanting to know more details before he decides what to do next. If he saw someone holding a gun he would probably drive off too, so that reaction doesn't mean anything.
‘Me and Vince, we had this camp in a forest…you know mate, like keeping our heads down,’ Rapist gasps in agony, ‘they came in and tried to take our stuff, it all got bad and like his dad got it…’
‘They?’ Nick probes.
‘What?’
‘You said they?’
‘Yeah they…fucking they…them…the fuckers that tried to steal our food,’ Rapist snaps.
‘So not just Todd’s dad then?’
‘Eh?’
‘How many came into your camp?’
‘What? I don’t fucking know…shit mate…you get shot in the leg and see if you can remember everything…have some mercy mate…’
‘How many?’ Nick asks again.
‘I don’t know!’ Rapist wails, ‘they raped Vince’s daughter and it all went fucking bent…’
‘What?’
Too late now, it’s been said. Rapist curses himself internally for egging it too far but now it’s out it can’t be taken back, ‘yeah…Vince’s daughter…she’s in the back of the van all cut up and stuff, poor cow…’
‘Why didn’t you say that before?’ Nick asks.
‘Er…fucking scared mate…you waving that gun about and saying you gonna shoot me and…’
‘I never said I was going to shoot you.’
‘You did, I swear you did…shit mate…I haven’t eaten for days and my cheek got bit and I’m confused…you’re confusing me.’
‘You said they came for your food.’
‘Yeah.’
‘But you just said you hadn’t eaten in days.’
‘Eh? Look you’re confusing me. You’re doing it on purpose just cos you got that fucking gun…this is torture this is…you’re torturing me….’
‘So,’ Nick asks slowly, ‘you hadn’t eaten the food that they came for and they managed to rape Vince’s daughter before you…’
‘Fucking hell!’ Rapist screams in agony cutting Nick off, ‘my god this fucking hurts….I think you got the bone…shit I’m gonna die here…’
‘You ain’t bleeding that much,’ Nick peers down at the leg.
‘Bullet is still in there,’ rapist rolls over for effect, clutching his leg as he writhes on the gro
und.
‘Nah, it came out,’ Nick says, ‘I heard it bounce off the pavement.’
‘Oh god…my poor wife…’ rapist wails.
‘Wife?’ Nick scratches the side of his head. This is all getting too much. What would Mr Howie do? He knows what Dave would do. This bloke wouldn’t have been shot in the leg for a start. But what would the boss do? Christ this is difficult, Nick thinks to himself.
His instinct is telling him the man is lying. Lying about everything and his story has more holes in it than a sieve. But what if he’s telling the truth, or really is just confused?
‘Can you walk?’ Nick asks, deciding to get him back to the car park and leave the decision to someone else.
‘Eh? Er…yeah…’ Rapist spots the glimmer of light. He can sense the young lad’s indecision. His leg hurts like hell but not that bad, the bullet missed the bone so the pain could have been a lot worse.
‘Get up then,’ Nick orders.
‘Where…where we going?’ Rapist mutters, moving slowly he uses his good leg to take his weight as he eases himself upright.
‘Just get up,’ Nick replies, ‘Todd, you alright?’ No answer but Nick feels the boy nodding against his side. ‘Todd, we’re going to have to walk for a little while.’
Todd nods but doesn't let go. Nick doesn't know what to do, so starts walking awkwardly over to his axe, scooping over it up whilst navigating the small child clinging on and keeping the pistol aimed at the other man.
‘Can you move off a bit,’ Nick asks softly, prompting Todd to squeeze harder. The young boy, like Billy did with Rapist and the driver in the van, senses the difference between Nick and the injured man. Nick looks like a soldier and soldiers are like policeman. He speaks softly and holds him close. They wear a uniform and are the goodies. Mummy always said if you get lost then find someone in a uniform. Seeing Nick walking down the street prompted Todd to run straight for him, grabbing him tight as he listened to the screaming threats being bellowed from behind.
Nick doesn't push the boy off, but starts walking with him holding on, hoping that it’s as uncomfortable for Todd as it is for him and that he’ll soon relax a bit.
Grunting with pain, Rapist limps slowly forward, using both hands to squeeze the wound. Nick notices there isn’t that much blood, the bullet must have missed any arteries and gone straight through the muscle. In this heat, with the amount of dirt and filth about, the wound will get infected if not treated quickly.