by T H Paul
We were barely one hundred metres from the casino where I’d spent most of the early hours when the world stood still for five horrific and brutal minutes.
“You’ve got to try the bacon,” Keith had said, less than ten metres from the casino, the other two joyous and laughing as they tried to catch up. The street was long and narrow. Up ahead the late night party goers could be seen exiting one of the many nightclubs that there were in the party town of Blackpool.
“You never forget the bacon,” Little Mike commented. It’d been a good few years since Keith had been to the venue in mind. He’d eaten there the day he’d last been in Blackpool. Little Mike had taken the call as he sat in the cafe opposite Keith that morning informing him that Keith’s dad knew his lad was in town. Keith had legged it almost before he’d finished telling him. How surreal that they were now heading back there and Keith had nothing to fear.
They were now sixty metres from the casino.
“What happened to Tommy’s Club?” Keith asked as they drew nearer to a nightclub that no longer held that name. Groups of men were continuing to emerge from the exit.
“Closed down four years back. Reopened about three years ago under new ownership and a new name.” That much was immediately noticeable. It was now apparently called Queens. Keith instinctively slowed. He saw two men holding hands.
“A faggots place?” he said, spitting out the words.
“One of the several gay clubs there are here now, mate. The place is diversifying,” Little Mike said calmly, evidently not bothered in the slightest by a club he’d walked past many times in recent months. As long as they kept to themselves, Mike had no issue with anyone. Keith apparently didn’t think the same. Penny reached for his hand, intending to help him move on, quickening the pace, crossing over to the other side. The end of the street was only thirty or so metres away. That would bring them out onto the seafront. Everything would look different then.
They were now one hundred metres from the casino, directly opposite the doors to Queens. Big G stepped out through the door at that moment, with another man close beside him. Both Little Mike and Keith stopped dead. They watched Big G then kiss the guy on the lips, not a gentle thing, but a more intense, lasting kiss. After a few seconds, Big G pulled away, and Penny could hear him saying how he’d always wanted the courage to do that. She felt a little proud, albeit inwardly that her gift had brought such transformation. That moment was broken by the realisation that the scene had pushed Keith over the edge.
“You dirty faggot!” he screamed at Big G, his friend looking over and his smile vanishing as he saw the look in Keith’s eyes. There was a frosty standoff. Other club-goers were clearing the scene. They knew trouble when they saw it. It was soon just Little Mike, Keith and Big G, ten metres apart. Penny froze a few paces behind the two best friends.
“Let’s beat the crap out of him!” Keith roared, taking hold of Little Mike by the arm as he pulled him forward.
“Sure,” is all Penny heard Little Mike agree to, as he darted for the bins, Keith going straight for his friend and getting right in his face.
“That’s disgusting!” he said, though wasn’t laying into him as he thought he would have. Little Mike had found a plank of wood, and came in from the side at that moment, smashing Big G so hard over the head that he went down immediately, momentarily knocked unconscious. Once Big G was down, Little Mike didn’t relent, hammering the fallen man’s genitals, thighs and backside with blow after blow, before tossing the wood away and kicking him instead. What had started out as a bit of fun, had quickly turned very ugly. A few clubbers had emerged from the building and were stumbling onto the scene of violence. The police were called.
Still, Little Mike kept kicking, Keith now doing his best to hold back his friend, an uncontrollable rage having taken hold of Mike that Keith felt unable to restrain. The ordeal lasted for four minutes. Big G was covered in blood, Penny was screaming at them to stop, and a few men from the club had got involved trying to drag the attackers away from the apparently unconscious victim. Sirens were heard approaching nearby.
Little Mike broke free, landing one final kick as he jumped the body and caught Big G’s head, before vanishing back up the street. Keith fell to his knees, Penny running over to them both, as bouncers from the club were now closing in. They grabbed Keith, telling Penny to stand back.
The police arrived and came immediately to the heart of the scene to check the victim. An ambulance was summoned. They put Keith in handcuffs and led him away. Penny had dropped back to the edge of the crowd at this point. The police were doing the rounds, asking if anybody had recorded anything of the incident. She heard one man say he’d only caught the last seconds, Keith captured beside the victim, the legs of another man seen fleeing the scene. Most witnesses had been quite clear there had been another man who’d been the chief aggressor. Penny slipped away from the area before anyone could stop her. Five minutes later from across the road she saw Keith being manhandled into a patrol car. He didn’t notice Penny watching him. He was taken away, due to arrive at the same police station for the second time that day. He wouldn’t be leaving this one as quickly as he’d done earlier.
The ambulance pulled up moments later. A trolley was taken from the back as two paramedics rushed to the scene. It was twenty minutes before Big G was loaded into the vehicle. Penny had seen one paramedic administering CPR briefly. Big G looked to be in a severe condition.
10
I felt distraught. When I’d given Little Mike the gift to accept any offer, I had no idea that moments later Keith would ask him to beat the crap out of Big G. That was precisely what Little Mike did. He was to spend the next three months in the hospital, the first month of that spent in intensive care, kept in an induced coma, irreparable damage to his bowels where Little Mike literally had beaten the crap out of him.
I undid what I’d done to Little Mike the moment I came to my senses as I sat watching at the scene from across the road––too late for Big G, who was being lifted into the ambulance at the time. But something I’d done had once again stretched Little Mike beyond what he could adjust back to. He had a higher disposition to accepting an offer after that day than he ever had before, as well as a reported leaning towards violence. I would never see him again. And he would soon be firmly behind bars.
That was all months away, however. That Sunday morning, I was still in shock. None of this had yet sunk in, and Keith was the only man they had in custody for the crime.
Michael Thomas was back at the police station for the second time that morning. He’d cancelled the site visit entirely by this point. He wasn’t allowed to see his son immediately either, this time. Michael had arranged to bring in their lawyer.
Half an hour after first arriving, the news was filtering through about the attack. A few witness reports were also beginning to circulate. The fact it was Big G, a friend of Keith’s and an employee of Michael’s, only added more complexity to the situation. Michael was informed where the attack had occurred and that the victim had just come from the club.
Alone for a while as the lawyer sat with Keith, Michael hung his head in his hands. Just hours before he’d made so much progress with his son. Bridges that had been burnt had seemingly seen great restoration. Yet, so little time after that, this had happened. It was clearly connected. Keith was taking out his anger about his father on his suddenly out-of-the-closet friend. Michael had been told by Big G’s father earlier about the call they’d had with their son the evening before. The news that their son was gay had come as a big shock. That now paled into insignificance given the nature of the injuries. They were already at the hospital awaiting news.
By eleven, the lawyer was with Michael.
“It’s a nasty one. If this guy dies, it’ll be a murder charge. Keith has told me it wasn’t him. It was someone else.”
“He didn’t say who?” Michael knew his son was with Little Mike, his own righthand man at the builder’s yard.
&nbs
p; “No, he’s covering for whoever did this.”
“What are we looking at?”
“Mr Thomas, I’ll be frank with you. It’s as bad as it gets. If the victim doesn’t pull through, it gets a thousand times worse. Many witnesses are placing Keith there. They even have it on video. Keith doesn’t deny being there. They have no one else in custody. Even as it stands, it’s GBH. That carries a sentence range from three to sixteen years, and from what the reports suggest, the assault was as extreme as they have ever seen.”
Michael swore. His son was facing severe heat if he didn’t turn on his friend. Michael was torn as to what to do. Up until yesterday, Little Mike was the son he’d lost. Michael had invested in him, relied on him and had him now working as his righthand man at the firm. If this had been yesterday, Michael would be doing whatever he could to keep Little Mike safe. Now, he didn’t know. His son had returned, and their relationship had seemingly been restored, though that was until this had happened. Michael couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible. He’d put too much pressure on his son, he’d been too hard as always. Michael had driven his son to breaking point. He should never have left him. He should have taken him home with him earlier that morning.
“Can I get five minutes with him?”
The lawyer didn’t look confident. “It’ll be a tall order. I’ll do my best, but can’t promise anything.”
“Thanks,” Michael said, as the lawyer left to go and see what he could arrange.
It was gone one by the time Michael was allowed ten minutes with Keith. By that point, Penny had turned up. Awkward introductions had been made between Penny and the still waiting Michael. Penny had just come from the hospital. She didn’t know why she was still around, no one needed her poking her nose into things, they all had too much else to worry about. Big G’s family were concerned their son wouldn’t pull through. Penny had left within minutes of them arriving. She knew she was a spare part.
Penny had been with Michael for half an hour. He was still awaiting news from the lawyer about seeing Keith. Michael had quizzed Penny about what had happened. He now knew the full gory extent. Penny had left out the part about her being solely responsible, however.
Michael had a choice to make, and as he walked the corridor on his way to speak with Keith, he still didn’t know what to do. He’d prided himself on his integrity, on standing up for his friends. The business had a culture where all labourers were equal, where they looked out for one another. He’d been the one to initiate, Little Mike the man on the ground to make sure it was enforced.
And now Michael was contemplating demanding his son turn on his best friend, to give up the name, to turn the police attention onto the real culprit for the crime. Michael was under no illusion that Keith was still guilty to some degree, but Penny had explained how after the initial confrontation, Keith had actually been trying to hold back Little Mike.
Michael couldn’t understand anything. It was entirely out of character for him to be so aggressive. That was always Keith’s weakness, not Little Mike’s.
They were at the door to the room where Keith was. The lawyer stood to one side, though would have to be present, as was another officer. They’d give the father and son some space, but they couldn’t leave the room. Not this time. Not on such a charge.
Keith looked up. He smiled as his father walked in, something that hadn’t been the case in the early hours. Keith knew what his father was there to do.
“You alright?” Michael started, taking the seat, this time sitting opposite his son. Their heads were only a couple of feet apart. The officer and lawyer hung back at the door, a respectable ten feet from the pair but if their conversation rose anything above a whisper, near enough to hear what was being said.
“Yeah.”
“I know it wasn’t you.”
“Yeah?”
“Penny told me all about it.” The fact Penny was there seemed to lighten the mood. Keith felt glad that the two of them had had a chance to meet. He had wondered if Penny would have already taken off by that point, fleeing the city to never be seen again. Keith wouldn’t have blamed her. He’d certainly have done so given a chance.
“Did she now. Is she here?”
“Yes, waiting outside. She’s also too young for you.”
“She told me she was twenty.”
“I think we both know she lied to you, son.” It was an easy distraction but not what either of them needed to discuss.
“You didn’t come here to give me relationship advice though.” The tone suddenly became sombre, the volume dropping.
“No, Keith, I didn’t. I know about Little Mike.”
Keith seemed to shrug his shoulders. He didn’t say anything in response.
“You have to turn him in.” Keith looked his father in the face.
“Grass him up? Turn tell-tale on him? After all that we’ve been through, after all you stand for?”
“I also used to stand for family comes first.”
“And look where that left us!” The volume was up again now.
“It wasn’t me who changed that one, son.”
"Bollocks it wasn’t!”
They realised they were shouting and both caught themselves at the same moment. Keith glanced up at the two spectators, who were doing their best to pretend they weren’t listening.
“Was it because of what I told you that you took it all out on Big G?”
Keith sat back in his chair and pondered what to say in reply for a few seconds.
“You told me it was possible to have feelings but not act on them. I actually came away from our encounter this morning respecting that. I’d never considered it before. Then I saw him leaving that place. He had his arms all over another guy, dad. It was sick. He kissed him, I mean, proper and all. Something snapped. I wanted to beat him. I asked Little Mike to help. He agreed.”
“He more than agreed.” Michael was still shocked that Little Mike would have agreed. He was dependable, and level-headed most of the time. Keith had always been the aggressive tearaway.
“I know that. I just meant to rough up Big G. Little Mike grabbed a two by four and really minced him.”
“I know.”
“Is he going to be okay? Big G, I mean.”
“I don’t know. From what I hear, Big G might not make it.”
Keith swore quietly. He’d never contemplated this would be the outcome.
“You have to speak up, son. Give them his name.”
“I can’t. It was my fault.”
“You didn’t do this, son!”
“I wanted to. I might as well have. I snapped, okay, I admit it. I took out ten years of anger and frustration at you on someone lauding himself right in front of my goddam eyes. I couldn’t take any more.”
“I know,” Michael said. He’d heard it all from Penny. He wasn’t there to prove his son’s guilt, but to talk him into turning on Little Mike.
“It’s just as much my fault as it is his.”
Both sat back in their chairs.
“If you go down for this, she won’t stay around. That girl Penny, she’ll be gone.”
“She’ll be gone regardless, dad, whether I’m charged with it or not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Even if I give them his name, I’m still guilty. Which jury isn’t going to stick the same time on me as they do on him? I was there, it was me who instigated. So no, I’m not turning on him. At least let me keep some dignity.”
Crazily, Michael respected his son more than ever at that moment, a certain level of pride rising inside. Maybe he’d not been a total flop as a father after all? He knew he wasn’t going to change his son’s mind now, and the lawyer had already informed Michael that both would likely be charged if they did have the other culprit, both on trial, it just might be possible to plead a lesser crime in Keith’s case. They would both undoubtedly serve time. If the victim didn’t pull through, it would add years to the sentence, that was the only differ
ence.
11
I left the police station before Michael returned. I couldn’t be around anymore. I’d impacted them all too much already, broken into something that while previously complicated, could have worked out so much better if I’d not interfered.
I watched the situation from afar all the way to trial. Keith never did turn on Little Mike, though both were eventually charged. Michael had ultimately forced Little Mike to give himself up.
Both friends would, therefore, go to prison on the same day. Big G had pulled through by the time the trial was held, though would never walk again. He was also deaf in one ear where the plank of wood had permanently damaged his eardrum. Little Mike got sixteen years, Keith was sentenced to ten, though would be eligible for early release after six years if his behaviour was proper.
I would never return to Blackpool again.
Michael would go on to lose half his crew before the year was out. Twenty men, his workload could ill-afford to see walk away, leaving for other local firms. The trial and pressure they were all under had caused a division. Those loyal to Little Mike had been angry at the pressure Michael had put on him. The business limped on, however, it was touch and go for a while.
There are many things I regret about my teenage years. This weekend ranks up there with the best of them, and we aren’t yet through with everything that happened quite yet. I hadn’t thought about my rage, however. It’d escaped without me knowing it, lost in the thrills, spills and shock that those forty-eight hours had brought. It’d been a healing balm, though at what cost? I wish I could pretend the weekend didn’t happen. I wish I could just undo it all.