Tony huffed, and went purposefully over to where Charlie stood. ‘You’re taking it, Charlie. Okay?’ Tony grabbed Charlie’s wrist and lifted his palm up in the air. He shoved the bag in his hand. ‘That’s the deal. You can do whatever you want with ’em. But, believe me, one day you might need ’em.’
Charlie looked from Tony to Nick.
‘Just take ’em,’ Nick said, and then looked away, disappointed.
Charlie sighed, lowered his head, and held the bag by his side. ‘All right. But, I still think they’re cursed.’
‘Think what you like,’ Nick said, and began weighing the remaining jewels. He filled another bag and handed it to Tony.
When he was done, he turned to the others. ‘Right. Everyone happy?’
Tony flicked his head down, affirmative; Charlie’s head twitched; Snoop barked.
‘Go get us the address of one of those gold buyers and we’ll all go down there now,’ Tony requested. ‘We’ve still got time,’ he added, glancing at his watch.
Nick sighed again. ‘All right. I’ll give you two a lift down there if you like.’
‘All right,’ said Tony. ‘Sooner we get shot of these, the better.’
‘Good. Charlie?’
Charlie shook his head. ‘Nah. I’m gonna hold onto ’em, if it’s all right by you two.’
‘They’re yours, Charlie,’ Nick reminded him. ‘You can do what you want with ’em. Throw them in the fucking river if you want.’
‘Yeah,’ Charlie replied nervously, tapping his thigh with the bag. ‘Sounds like a good idea.’
‘Whatever floats your boat,’ Nick replied. ‘Now, do you want a lift home?’
*****
Nick pulled up outside Charlie’s house. Charlie got out of the car.
Just as he did, Tony stepped out as well. ‘Charlie! Wait,’ he said, making Charlie turn to face him.
Tony approached him, his hand held out. Charlie took it. Tony then pulled him into his chest and he hugged him hard. ‘Thanks for what you done for me and Maria, man,’ he said, patting him firmly on the back.
‘It’s okay,’ Charlie replied just as Tony released him from his grip.
‘Listen. I think you better lay low for a while, re,’ Tony advised him. ‘Just till the shit with Mario blows over. If he’s gone to the police…’
‘Then I’ll face whatever’s coming my way,’ Charlie replied with integrity. ‘I deserve it.’
‘No you don’t!’ Tony said curtly. ‘He does. Anyway, fuck him! You just take care of yourself, you hear me?’
Charlie frowned. ‘What, is this goodbye or something, Tone?’
‘Kind of… Look. I’ll contact you. I promise. Okay?’
Charlie lowered his head and nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘See you later, Charlie,’ Nick said from the car; Charlie held up his palm in return.
Tony gave Charlie one last hug. ‘Love you, man!’ he said, ruffling his hair.
He let Charlie go before he turned back and headed for Nick’s XR2.
Charlie stood where he was and watched as they pulled away. Tony turned back and stared at him with a sincere look stamped on his face, his thumb raised triumphantly. Charlie smiled wanly and gave Tony a tired thumb up in return.
The car then turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
And Charlie never saw Tony alive again.
*****
Nick XR2 pulled up outside the Iceland in Kentish Town.
‘Is this it?’ asked Tony, looking up at the building beside them.
‘Yeah. Dump Ur Gold. See?’ Nick pointed up at the second floor set of windows, the words he had just spoken embossed across them.
‘Dump Ur Gold?’ Tony echoed, unimpressed. ‘Sounds like shit, re. Are you sure this gaff is legit?’
‘There’s only one way to find out…’ Nick said before he went and found a parking space that wasn’t yellow/red lined. They went into the building, and up a flight of stairs. They entered Dump Ur Gold to find just a bland counter, topped with security glass, and nothing else behind it.
‘This place looks fucking dodgy,’ Tony whispered to Nick.
‘Can’t argue with you there,’ Nick replied.
‘Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here,’ Tony suggested, and they both turned.
Just as they did, a muffled, computerised voice spoke to them. ‘Can I help you?’
They both froze, and then spun round at the same time like a couple of burglars who have just been caught red handed.
‘Christ, where did you come from?’ Tony asked the tall Asian man that was now standing behind the counter, his hands casually resting on its surface as if he had been there for hours.
‘I cannot hear you,’ the man replied into the microphone attached to the counter ahead of him. ‘Please come and speak into the microphone.’
Tony huffed and went up to the counter, putting his mouth close to the microphone. ‘I said: where did you come from?’
The Dump Ur Gold man turned to the side and pointed behind him. ‘Through that door,’ he said. Tony rolled his eyes; Nick chuckled. ‘What can I do for you boys?’ the Dump Ur Gold man asked.
‘I got gold,’ Tony told him.
‘Well, we like gold here,’ the Dump Ur Gold man replied with a toothy grin.
‘Yeah, but I got a lot of it,’ Tony stated.
Nick cleared his throat and casually approached the counter, grabbing Tony’s bag of bling from him on the way. He placed it on top of the counter and opened it up. The Dump Ur Gold man tried to get a peek inside. Nick placed his hand over the open bag, obscuring his view. The Dump Ur Gold man locked eyes with Nick, his pupils dilating.
‘Like he says, we got a lot of it,’ Nick said, and then stared at him darkly. ‘And it’s no questions asked, okay?’ He continued with his serious stare after he spoke.
The Dump Ur Gold man locked eyes for a few seconds, Nick knowing that he was trying to psyche him out, trying to see if he would fold.
Nick managed to hold both his ground and his stare, and the Dump Ur Gold man finally caved. ‘Let’s see what you got,’ he said.
‘Okay…’ Nick rolled his hand on the air, indicating he wanted a name.
‘Adrian,’ the Dump Ur Gold man replied.
‘Adrian?’
‘Adrian.’
‘Okay,’ Nick said in an unsure voice. ‘I’m Nick; he’s Tony.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ Adrian said. Then: ‘Place your items in the security hatch.’
A small mechanical hatch flipped open in front of Nick, making him flinch back.
He tentatively pulled out a thick gold chain and placed it in the hatch. ‘This is a sample,’ he said, not wanting to stick everything into that hatch, which suddenly looked like a giant mouth that had a sweet tooth for gold.
Adrian closed the hatch, picked up the chain and held it up in front of him, staring at it intently. ‘Hmm, not bad,’ he said.
Nick chuckled. ‘Not bad? This is the shit, my friend, believe me. And don’t think we don’t know my man here’s making a loss selling to you neither. We all know this could be auctioned off for a lot more than what you’re gonna offer him.’
‘What are you gonna offer me?’ Tony then asked and leaned forwards.
Adrian looked from Nick to Tony, back to Nick again with slits for eyes. ‘We pay by the weight and hallmark.’
‘Well, this is pure. Twenty-four carat,’ Nick stated.
‘I know that,’ Adrian said, matter-of-factly.
‘So, I want top dollar,’ Tony informed him.
‘Indeed,’ Adrian calmly replied.
‘No bartering. What they’re worth in today’s market is what he sells for,’ Nick demanded.
‘Naturally.’
‘I got a lot of this shit here, you do realise that?’ Tony told him.
‘You have already told me that.’
Tony’s face scrunched up in confusion and he stared at Nick. ‘You seem very blasé about all this,’ Nick then stated,
his suspicions suddenly aroused. ‘Are you not even curious as to where he got this lot from?’
‘We don’t ask, we just take,’ Adrian informed him in a casual voice.
Nick chuckled. ‘A philosophy close to my own heart, my friend.’
He then glanced at Tony, who shrugged in return. Adrian was being sweet as a nut; subconsciously, Nick expected him to somehow try and shaft them. Be careful, re, a voice inside Nick’s mind warned. That part might still be yet to come…
‘My dears, this is not a jewellers per se,’ Adrian then said. ‘You see this,’ he said pointing to the small LCD television up on the wall next to the counter. ‘Up to the minute value of gold.’ They both stared at the screen—it depicted a graph with a red line zigzagging across it. ‘And as you can see, it is at a good peak, which means I make money, you make money, we all make money, thanks to this wonderful stuff.’ He held up the fat gold chain in his open palms close to his face and stared at it. His irises flushed with gold, and for a second he looked to Tony like some kind of greedy monster. ‘I buy high from you, we send it away to be melted down into bars, and we sell those bars for an even higher price. That’s how Dump Ur Gold works.’
‘All right, we don’t care about all that shit,’ Tony said. ‘Just tell us how much you’re gonna give me.’
‘Well. Let’s weigh,’ Adrian said and gave Nick a ‘come here’ gesture with his hand. The hatch opened its greedy mouth again, and Nick realised Adrian wanted the rest of the gold. He sighed. He had no choice but to feed that avaricious mouth. He gave Tony an edgy glance before tipping the contents of the bag inside. There was a dull clang before they were swallowed up.
Adrian bent down and plucked a set of electronic scales and calculator from below the counter. Nick eyed the scales suspiciously. He himself weighed the jewels before he left the house, so he knew exactly how much each bag weighed. He had a bad feeling that Adrian’s scales might be tampered with, so that it displayed a lighter weight than it should. But once Adrian dumped the gold in the tray and showed them both the electronic display, his fears were unfounded. The number was the same as at his house.
‘Okay. You have one thousand, two hundred and twenty two grams of gold at thirty eight pounds a gram…’ Adrian said casually as he punched the figures into the calculator.
Nick did a quick calculation in his head. He stared at Tony ruefully.
‘Forty six thousand four hundred and thirty six pounds,’ Adrian said, looking at them with a neutral expression stamped on his face. ‘Give or take once we remove the stones.’
Tony stared at Nick and shrugged.
‘That ain’t even a fifth of what that’s worth,’ Nick said in a loud whisper. ‘Knew we’d be taking a hit doing it this way…’
‘It’s better than nothing,’ Tony replied philosophically. ‘I just wanna get rid.’
Nick still had that rueful smile planted on his face as he turned back to Adrian, tapping his clenched fist on the counter. ‘So, you’re just gonna hand over the best part of fifty grand to him?’ he asked, giving Adrian a sideways look. ‘Just like that?’
‘Yes,’ Adrian replied in that same neutral tone that matched his facial expression to perfection.
Nick stared at him incredulously. ‘Come on, Adrian,’ he said. ‘You got that kind of money here?’
‘My dear, we are a very big company,’ Adrian stated nonchalantly. ‘We are all over the Internet.’
‘If you say so,’ Nick replied.
‘I do. And what I give you, we get back once we melt it.’
‘When are you gonna melt it?’
‘It will be sent away tomorrow at 9 am.’
‘And when do I get my money?’ Tony asked.
‘We will deposit your money into your bank account within forty eight hours.’
‘What about the stones?’ Nick asked.
‘The stones we will remove and post back to you via Royal Mail Special Delivery service.’
Nick turned to Tony. ‘The stones aren’t marked,’ he whispered to him. ‘You can sell ’em to a jeweller or auction ’em. They’ll fetch top dollar, believe me, bump up your score.’
‘Whatever,’ Tony answered flippantly. ‘I’ll sort that out later.’
Nick shrugged. ‘Cool.’ He turned back to Adrian and sighed. ‘Okay, boss. Where does he sign?’
*****
They trudged out of Dump Ur Gold, Tony holding a receipt for the gold he just handed over to Adrian.
‘That bloke was weird…’ Tony stated.
‘Yeah, he was,’ Nick replied, without any humour in his voice. ‘You took a massive hit there, you know,’ Nick said, staring at the street with distant eyes. Cars went by on the busy High Street, people bustling by behind them.
‘At least I got something, and finally got rid of that fucking bling!’ Tony stated, watching the world go by with a casual gaze. ‘And it’s a good amount. Not great, but good. Means I can make moves now.’
‘And once you shift the stones…’ Nick reflected. ‘Yeah, maybe not so bad after all. At least you’re better off than you were this morning.’
‘Yeah, well let’s hope Adrian pulls through,’ Tony said. ‘If he don’t, I’m gonna come down here in two days and smash his fucking head in.’
‘He’ll pull through. He’s all over the Internet.’ They both chuckled. ‘So what do we do now?’ Nick then asked.
‘Dunno. Go get drunk?’
‘I meant with our lives.’
Tony shrugged indifferently. ‘Don’t matter. We’re all fucked anyway.’
Nick turned to face him. He was talking like Charlie and that was unusual. ‘What do you mean, re?’ he asked.
‘Marco. That’s what I mean,’ Tony told him, still watching the street. ‘He’s gonna get us, you know? Just like he got the others.’
Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this really Tony Savva standing next to him? Who the fuck was this imposter? ‘Listen to me,’ Nick said angrily. ‘I don’t believe all this shit about ghosts and zombies, okay?’
‘Well, I think you should.’ Tony replied in a calm voice, his eyes scanning the street. ‘You know why?’
‘Why?’
‘Cos it’s true. Taki (See No Evil); Nick Black (Hear No Evil). Both killed by Marco. Just ask Charlie.’ (Ask Taki; ask Nick Black; ask little fucking Costa!)
‘Charlie’s mad, Tony.’
‘No he’s not. No, he’s not,’ Tony said, laughing absently. ‘He’s right when he says Marco’s back. Believe me.’ (It was Marco. Marco said he’s gonna kill you!)
‘No, I don’t believe you, Tony. I believe that Charlie killed Taki, and doesn’t know it ’cos he’s got more than one personality living inside him. As for Nick Black, it was an accident. For all we know, Charlie might have scratched that message into the side of Carla’s car without us noticing…’
Tony laughed and turned to face Nick for the first time since they left Dump Ur Gold. His eyes gleamed with sorrow and regret. ‘And that’s what you believe is it? You laugh at me when I say Marco’s the one doing all this, and you believe a skinny fuck like Charlie did it?’
‘Charlie’s stronger than you think, re. He put your sister’s husband in hospital didn’t he?’
‘Ex-husband.’
‘Whatever. If he’s capable of that, then he’s capable of killing.’
Tony just stared at him with dark eyes. ‘You wanna start believing, re, ’cos it’s real. Stop acting blind and wake up. We’re all going down—me, you, Charlie. And you know it. So, if I was you, I’d sell up and enjoy the money while you still can.’
‘Is that what you’re gonna do, Tone? Enjoy the money while you still can?’
‘Yeah,’ Tony replied, facing the street again and watching it. ‘I’m packing in my job and going to Thailand.’
‘Thailand?’ Nick exclaimed, not believing what he just heard. ‘What the fuck are you gonna do out there?’
Tony shrugged. ‘Dunno. Drink. Fuck. Heard it’s good f
or that. I mean if we’re all gonna die anyway, I might as well enjoy myself before I go. You never know, he might not find me out there…’
‘Who, Tone? Who won’t find you out there?’
‘Marco…’ he replied monotone. Then, he chuckled. ‘You know, it’s like 50 Cent: Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Well, we died trying.’ He stared solemnly at Nick as he spoke. ‘But, at least we tried…’ he added, and then turned his back on Nick and walked away.
‘Where are you going?’ Nick asked.
‘Travel agent. Then solicitors. Then home.’
‘Don’t you want a lift?’ Nick shouted after him.
‘I’ll get the bus,’ Tony replied, shouting over his shoulder, not breaking stride from his focussed march.
He got further down the street before he disappeared into a crowd of people.
And Nick Theodorou never saw Tony Savva again.
SIXTEEN
Tony had been gone for almost a month when Nick XR2 went round to see Maria.
He strode confidently up to Tony’s mum’s front door, and rung the bell. After a minute, Maria opened it. At first, she seemed a little shocked to see Nick standing there; her eyes widened and she froze.
‘I wanted to find out if you’ve spoken to Tony,’ Nick said, wanting to get straight to the point and not allow that moment of stasis to become uncomfortably long. ‘He’s just disappeared,’ he added with a slight shrug.
‘He’s in Thailand,’ Maria replied and cocked her head to the side, her apparent unease melting. ‘Said he needed to get away for a while.’
‘Yeah, I know that,’ Nick said. ‘I was wondering if you’ve spoken to him since he got there. Did he even get there?’
‘Yeah. He got there. He’s got a flat out there.’
‘A flat?’ Nick echoed. So, Adrian must have pulled through then…Nick nodded. ‘Good. Is he all right…?’
‘I think he’s having a good time. You know Tony…’
Nick chuckled. ‘Yeah,’ he said and nodded. ‘I know Tony…’
Another moment of uncomfortable silence ensued.
Maria broke it. ‘You wanna come in for a cup of tea?’ she asked.
Nick checked his watch, scratched the back of his head, and then faced Maria. ‘Okay,’ he said and smiled.
Die Tryin' Page 27