Blood Donors

by Steve Tasane

  Slurp slurp slurp.

  Shake ’em off. Shake ’em off! Shake!

  Nothin’.

  Shake. Shake shake shake. Shakeshakeshakeshakeshake!

  Jus’ four big lumps, growin’ bigger, slurpin’ away.

  Roll my eyeballs up to the ceilin’. Always liked lookin’ at the ceilin’, pretend it the sky and you flyin’ high. This be the route to a different land, maybe a different planet, when I was younger, Con-Con’s age. Bedroom ceilin’ is sweet.

  Hear the door openin’. Roll my eyes. Mum!

  Mum! Mum! Help! Help me!

  No sound. She smilin’ across the room, and put a hand down on Con-Con’s head, stroke his hair, soft. She look across at me, see my eyes open.

  Awake, hey? she say to me, soft. Your little brother was supposed to be watchin’ over you for once. Always the responsible one, hey, Marshy?

  HELP ME!

  Frown fall across her face. Yes! Concern. Yes!

  HELP ME, MUM!

  But she stare down at her toes. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you she say. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you to make the right choices. Marsh, I promise…

  Please…

  …I promise I’ll never let you down again.

  She kiss Con on the top of the head, smile contentedly in my direction. She is never goin’ to come and save me. I am screamin’ at her, yellin’ my head off, but she jus’ smile my way. My beautiful, gorgeous son…

  I am cryin’ now. I can feel the tears cool against my cheek.

  She sees my tears. She steps towards me. She stops. Her jaw drops. Her eyes widen. She lunges forward.

  She pulls the duvet off of me.

  We both look down.

  There are four of them. One on each arm and leg.

  Me and Mum scream. I only hear hers.

  I been shanked. Bug suckers in me, flowin’ red. They are fillin’ themselves.

  They paralyzed me. They are drinkin’ me alive. I feel cool flow of blood along my veins, out through the puncture, up into their straws. Now it is their blood. Now it is in them.

  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Mum’s scream wakin’ everybody, but it does not stop the bugs from emptyin’ me.

  Sis is in the doorway right away, her eyes poppin’ out of her head when she sees me on the bed gettin’ slurped.

  Sabe is right next to her and his eyes pop out of his head too. He barks, looks up at Sis, like it her job to sort it out.

  All aroun’ the room, littl’uns are yellin’ and screamin’, their own eyes poppin’ out. All of ’em starin’ at me in horror.

  Connor too.

  They think I am bein’ killed. I look down at the Megas, each one half-filled with my blood. I mus’ be half empty. I feel a chill. Am I dyin’, then? If I’m so cold how comes I’m sweatin’ so much? How come I’m strugglin’, but I’m still?

  Get ’em off. Get ’em off. Get ’em off. No voice.

  Got no movement, other than inside, blood flowin’ outta my veins, a icy draft oozin’ its way down the inside of my arms. On the outside, I am a stiff.

  Oh my God Mum is sayin’. Oh my God. She grab one of the Megas with both hands and pull at it, tryin’ to tug it off of my arm. My arm moves ’cos it’s attached to the schnozzle and Mum is pullin’ the Mega back. I ain’t movin’ my arm myself. I am a ragdoll. Mega ain’t lettin’ go. Sis tugs at the Mega on my leg, makes my leg jerk.

  They tuggin’ and I’m jerkin’. Arms and legs twitchin’ all over like I am a flesh-and-blood avatar.

  Sabre whinin’ away. My chest hurts where my heart is. My heart is what pumps my blood but by now there ain’t much left. I am Emptyin’.

  Mum bashin’ at the bugs with her fists but the bugs will not let go.

  I won’t let them take you Mum is cryin’. I cannot lose you.

  I am a Dead-Body Marshall. Can’t feel nothin’, jus’ my heart goin’ boom.

  Mum pull out Dad’s army knife from her pocket, lookin’ at it, thinkin’. I see pink mist. What she doin’? Thinkin’ for a long time. Too long. Clock on the wall say 4.16. Prince Marshall O’Connor the First died at 4.16 in the mornin’.

  Mustaph stroll up. He only jus’ woke up? He give a big yawn, stare at the wall behind Mum. Has a can in his hand. He sprays. Hiss. Hiss. The room is full of turquoise fumes. My vision hazy, like a death fog. A Mega sneakin’ up behin’ Mum’s back, but Mustaph spray it turquoise. It’s wigglin’ to death. Another on the wall. Mus decorate that one too.

  Mum frantic, pullin’ out the knife blades, one by one. Small blade, big blade, corkscrew where I got the Mega in the head, scissors.

  Scissors. My mum usin’ her brain.

  Don’t wanna look. Can’t help it. Mum wedges a bug between her knees, wraps her fist round its schnozzle, gets the scissors where the schnozzle is stuck into me. Starts to cut.

  She cuts for ever. Scissors too blunt. Dad’s stupid army knife is old crock.

  Sis runs in with the kitchen scissors.

  Schnozzle comes away. Mum throws the bug across the room. Sabre leaps on it, and shakes it, my blood splashin’ all over the carpet.

  Tip of its sucker still stuck into my leg. Blood pumpin’ out like a broken pipe. I’m needin’ emergency plumber. I am anti-coagulated.

  Mum? Wish they could hear me. Wish I could speak to them.

  Mum wedgin’ a second Mega between her knees, snippin’ away at its sucker. Sis snippin’ at the third.

  Mustaph aimin’ his spray can at the walls. He spray again, bright, dazzlin’ colour. Bug behind Sis.

  How many bugs?

  Con-Con run out of the room. Leavin’ me. No, no, it is me, I am leavin’, pantin’, pantin’. I am a hot dog. Watch my blood flowin’ like the fountain in the park used to do, back in the day.

  Mum?

  I’m seein’ rainbows.

  You’re in shock.

  Mum has cut off the second Mega. Sabretooth waitin’ to catch it like a tennis ball in the park with the dried-up fountain in a rainbow.

  Breathe easy.

  Sis cuts off the third. Catch, boy. Mum, I’m runnin’ out of breath now because you are grey. Rainbow turn grey. Mum jammin’ her fingers over a sucker stem, blood leakin’ out between her fingers. Con-Con back in the room.

  Hi, bro I say, silent. He brought me a pack of Blu-Tack. Thoughtful, yeah? Rollin’ a blob between his finger ’n’ thumb like a bogey.

  I wish. I wish I wasn’t dyin’.

  Con-Con press the Blu-Tack bogey into the end of the scissored schnozzle. Is a plug. My blood stop pumpin’ out. My brother the emergency plumber. Con roll another blob of Blu-Tack, plug up the second sucker. Mum snippin’ away at the fourth. Sabretooth is waitin’ to play catch-n-shake. Team O’Connor.

  I roll my eyes. A bug sneak behind a littl’un’s head, nozzle quiverin’, wonderin’ which be the juiciest part of his face to have a stab. It turn its head for a second, like it gloatin’ at me, then turn back, aim its sucker over one of his eyes.

  Movement to my right. Sis got her nail gun. Phutt! The Megabug is nailed to the wall.

  I see Con got one wrappin’ its legs roun’ his ankles. I can’t do nothin’, jus’ watch. Mum grabs her rollin’ pin and she smashes the smithereens out of the bug.

  We are ambushed.

  All our defences. All our care. Bugs jus’ hid themselves away inside the flat while it still daylight. Watch us from their hidey-holes as we barricade ourselves in. Wait for the sleep.

  Sis on her BlackBerry callin’ Big Auntie’s assault group. Effin’ and blindin’. No time.

  Mus is sprayin’ at bugs on the walls. Mum smashin’ ’em on the ground.

  Where’s the chainsaw?

  I am sleepy now…

  I’m awake! Everythin’ upside down and bumpy-bumpy.

  We out of our house. Stairwell of The Finger.

  You gonna be all right, boy. Sis’s voice whisperin’ in my head. She got her hand on my butt, bad Sis. Bad bugs splattered along the stairwell. Con and Sabes trottin’ after me, growli
n’ and watchin’ for Megas.

  Twist round my head, see Mum in front, upside down, goin’ whack whack with her rollin’ pin, makin’ Mega pancake.

  You gonna be all right. Sis’s voice sayin’ again, like I ain’t gonna be all right. She carryin’ me like I ain’t full of no weight, because I lost four cartons of juice before I got Blu-Tack sucker corks blockin’ my leakages.

  Sirens I’m hearin’ in my head. Nee-naw nee-naw nee-naw.

  There’s one I say in my head, seein’ a Mega crawlin’ along the floor, reachin’ up its front legs to try and hitch a lift on my danglin’ ears. Kapow! Sis fire off a nail straight through its head, pin it to the floor. Mustaph hobblin’ along, tryin’ to bash their heads with his crutches.

  Another Mega, on the ceilin’. Try and raise my finger, point. Gonna bash it. Finger ain’t movin’. Can’t even lift a… Sleepy me…

  Swingin’ aroun’ like I am a funfair. Sis, your arms are big and strong. Passin’ me roun’ like a Pass the Parcel. Mum, you take me, is it because I am dyin’ now? Goodbye. Love you.

  Kapow! Kapow! Sis lettin’ rip at those uglies. Sis never let me have a go on the nail gun and now I am dyin’. Everybody else gettin’ to split and splat. I’m in Mum’s arms and she kiss my head. I have nothin’ left.

  Big Auntie loomin’ over me whizzin’ and whirrin’, doin’ her Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Gimme a go, gimme…

  Yahh! yell Sis. Now they’re real sorry they messed with us.

  I’m real sorry.

  Down we clatter, roun’ and roun’. Mum carryin’ me more than Dad ever did. Down and down. Blood and shell all over the walls. Mustaph sprayin’ his colours like mad Picasso, hissin’ and howlin’.

  My dog lickin’ my ears, ticklin’.

  Blood. Gallons. Everywhere. ’Cept in me.

  Ground floor. Megas blockin’ the escape.

  Someone say We’re losin’ him…

  Someone drop me to the floor like a sack of loot. No pain. Face to face with Megabug. A foot stomps down, crushes its head. Bad brains. Look up, Compo big size twelves.

  Yo Comp say Sis. You is a little late.

  Slash of chain, roar of metal. More brains. Big Auntie, flexin’ her muscles.

  Someone say You’ll be OK, OK?

  OK…

  I see a giant bug suckin’ a rat.

  I’m bein’ dragged along the ground. By a bug? No. Sis. Towards the exit. But Sis got a Mega attached to her leg, claws grippin’ tight, steadyin’ itself. Sabre snarlin’ forward, sinkin’ his fangs round its head. Crunch.

  Sis kickin’ out her leg, tryin’ to get the headless Mega to release its death grip. Mustaph bat it off with a crutch. Hit it for six.

  We’re losin’ him. We’re losin’ him…

  More Megas. Compo struttin’ towards them. Oh, I see, he got a taser.

  Blue lightnin’ everywhere. Bugs burnin’. Mustaph and Con-Con whoopin’. Sis sayin’ Go, Comp! Compo the brave fighter. Big Auntie swingin’ her chainsaw, hackin’, choppin’.

  Everybody battlin’. Everybody ’cept me.

  And Mum. Mum cradlin’ me.

  Doors swing open. Exit The Finger.

  Dragged into early mornin’ air.

  Someone say Faster, faster…

  Someone say Mess with us?

  Someone, Monsters…

  Squealin’ brakes and headlights shinin’. The meat wagon is here. It has come for me.

  Exit

  I’m awake! Suffocatin’, smothered! Bedbug underbelly mufflin’ my horror.

  Rip off the bug with my hands but my hands are dead. Choke. Kick and scream but I ain’t got no kick and all my ears got for me is pantin’ pantin’ pantin’, like Sabretooth gone and hidden inside my own head.

  It’s an oxygen mask say Compo. Don’t worry… He look at Mum, like his eyes got somethin’ to say to her, and she strokin’ my head and sayin’ We’ll get you safe, we’ll get you safe…

  Pantin’ slowin’ down, calmin’ into smooth, deep breathin’, and I’m hearin’ sirens.

  We in the back of a meat wagon, and I am in need of sirens. Sirens mean they think I am not dead. Sirens mean I ain’t yet Soft Stuart.

  Nee-naw nee-naw. Can you hear ’em?

  No more bugs. Con-Con sittin’ there, cryin’, tears rollin’ down. Don’t cry, bro. Don’t cry…

  I wake up in a bed. I am in a hospital. I have tubes attached to me. I clench my fists and I feel my fingers work.

  I turn my head and the bedsheets are white, and crisp and clean. There are no bedbugs. A nurse smiles at me. I am smellin’ bleach and it is the smell of the Garden of Heaven.

  Marsh?

  Turn my head round the other way and there is Mum and Connor sittin’ there, smilin’ and cryin’, like they can’t make up their minds. I smile back. My mind ain’t so indecisive.

  You’re safe says Mum. Con-Con don’t say nothin’, jus’ sittin’ still but I can see by his eyes that inside he bouncin’ off the ceilin’.

  I look at the ceilin’. It is clear, white. No bugs. I ’member. Everybody believed me. Sis killed all of them bugs. Mum killed the bugs. Compo did. Big Auntie.

  My mouth starts movin’. I can move again. I can move. I was s’posed to save you. I fell asleep. I was little ol’ Sleepy Lady. I was dopey ol’ Muskrat. Soft. Fell asleep on my watch and let everybody else do my battlin’.

  It’s OK says Mum. I guess it is. She squeezin’ my fingers. My fingers can feel her fingers. We ain’t ballin’ our fists, jus’ holdin’ hands, breathin’. Bein’ alive.

  Sis?

  Sis is fine say Mum. And Mustapha. Ambulance men called the police. Everybody got out. The Finger is evacuated.

  Tonight?

  It’s tomorrow now, Marshy. Everybody is safe. What’s left of those monsters, the army are dealing with right now.

  I’m thinkin’ about this for a minute. The army?

  Finishing off what we started says Mum. Sort out the big ones first. Then the council are going to get the little ones.

  Proper this time?

  Proper.

  No more little bugs crawlin’ outta my shirt sleeves. No more bug-poo full stops.

  Thinkin’ about this. Sleepy…

  I wake and Sis and Mus are sittin’ by my bed and they wearin’ gowns and they got tubes stickin’ outta their arms and I blink and I say What? The bugs got you also?

  No Sis laugh. You got us, ain’t you?

  Huh?

  How you think you got ’nuff blood back dancin’ through your skinny arms?

  Muskrat grin. Now a part of you will always be me. Think about it.

  We your blood donors add Sis. Ain’t we kind? We replace all that the bugs stole.

  Mus start to joke about how I slept through all the battlin’, how even on crutches he could conquer the Megas, and Sis was a deadly aim.

  You missed all the fun, Mallow say Mus.

  Look at him, though, ain’t he all blissed out now?

  Blissed out.

  All of a sudden I remember. Try and bolt upright.

  Where’s Mum? I say.

  She in the canteen.

  Go get her. Get her now!

  Mum arrive back at my bedside and she can see somethin’ is wrong. I take her hand.

  I’m sorry, Mum I say.

  No. You did good.

  No. I am sorry. I hesitate. Only one way to say it. I saw Dad.

  Oh. She tries not to look hurt.

  You were right, Mum. It wasn’t really my dad, not like I remember. My dad.

  I’m so sorry. I see she got a tear tricklin’ down her cheek.

  It’s OK I whisper. We don’ need him, we don’ need him…

  She sit holdin’ my hand for a while, and I try to find the words I need.

  I ask Mum, how many letters did he send?

  There are now no more lies between us.

  Not many. A handful. Would you like to see them?

  Nor no more distrust.

  No. I saw him.

  Is h
e…?

  He is no good.

  Oh, Marshy… Mum smiles, all sad, puts her hand on my cheek. You know she say, when I heard … when I heard – that he’d killed a man – she strokes my face, soft, small – it almost broke me.

  A strand of hair falls across her face. She is still beautiful.

  But it was OK she says. She swallows a sob. I always had you.

  I smile now. I imagine my smile is sad also. I got one more duty to do. One final duty.

  Mum I say, we got to go back to The Finger. We got to get Compo, and go back…

  It take a bit of persuadin’, but here we be, ridin’ back to The Finger in a police car, me and Mum and Compo and Inspector Morse.

  I am still feeble and my head is all fuzzy I think the hospital got me all drugged up which I think is what they call a irony.

  We pull up outside The Finger and it is not the place I remember. We seein’ council workmen doin’ a clean-up, like the aftermath of a riot. They literally sweepin’ dead Megas off the floor like crisp, golden autumn leaves. A pleasure to behold. Cleaners is in, squirtin’ down all the walls. Riot vans parked in a huddle all round the car park. Soldiers with rifles and gas masks goin’ in and out through the entrance. Place finally gettin’ the fumigation it needs.

  Where’s all the citizens? I ask.

  Mum smile sideways at me, sneaky. Nobody is going back. Can they fumigate the damp sinking down from the roof? Put in a whole new lift? Get the stink out of the busted rubbish chutes? The Finger has been declared unfit. That’s unfit for human habitation. We’ve got a right to live somewhere civilized.

  Compo step up ask me a question. He ain’t sure how he should be addressin’ me now I am the hero of the hour. Suppose me and him declared a uneasy truce. Either way, it feel right he get to do what he always wanted: clear the last druggie out of his policin’ patch.

  My dad is dead to me. Even so, I’m hopin’ we ain’t too late. So I give Comp directions, and he and Morse step inside, and begin their slow walk up them twenty flights.

  We wait.

  I fixed for Con-Con to be waitin’ by the park with Big Auntie. Don’ want him to see whatever it is Comp is goin’ to carry down. I text Sis and double-check. They all there, Mus and Sabes too.

  We wait.

  We watch the council cleaners and the army and the firefighters even, and out the corner of my eye I see a TV crew. Now they want to know about the people of The Finger.