by Edie Baylis
Jane’s expression remained blasé as she watched Seth wipe spattered blood from his face. Removing San of his balls he threw them nonchalantly onto the carpet.
“Won’t be doing that again, will you?” Seth raged, grabbing San around the throat and repeatedly banging his head against the floor, all cool demeanour now blown apart. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”
The man started fitting horribly. Raising the knife, Seth plunged it deep into San’s chest. Once, twice, three times. The frenzied stabbing upon the inert body continued whilst the carpet pooled with dark blood.
“SETH!” Jane interrupted, grabbing his arm. “It’s done!”
Wild-eyed and with his mind elsewhere, Seth ignored her and continued to plunge the knife into flesh.
“SETH!”
With a jolt, Seth finally snapped out of the trance and ran his dripping hand through his hair. He slowly turned to Jane, his cold eyes staring unseeing. Shaking his head to clear it, he pushed away a long curl stuck to a thick streak of blood across his cheekbone. His green eyes, ringed with black drilled into hers as he rocked back on his haunches.
Jane scowled. Some wash load this was going to be... And he’d promised she could finish it. It was her argument after all wasn’t it?
Wiping the blade of the hunting knife down his blood-soaked jeans, Seth glanced at the sticky fingerprints he was leaving over the sheath. “For fuck’s sake, the messy cunt!”
Pulling himself to his feet, he surveyed the carnage of the completely smashed, broken object that no longer resembled a human being. “Right, one second.”
Jane’s eyes followed Seth as he disappeared out of the trailer. She then returned her gaze back to the end of the bastard’s cock. It was still half-poking out of his slack mouth and his glassy unseeing eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling pebble-dashed with his own blood. She felt nothing apart from annoyance.
With a flash of frustration she moved over to the mess in front of her and stamped on San’s face, relishing the sound of crunching of bones under her boot.
An arm grabbed her from behind and pulled her away. “Come on.”
Jane watched Seth unscrew the cap of a petrol tin and douse the body with the pungent liquid. Throwing the remains over the television and some items on the floor, her attention was drawn to a small blue ride-on tractor sitting in the corner. “The woman? The baby?”
Seth glanced backwards. “Oh yeah. Forgot about them.” He flicked the lights off and the room fell into darkness with only the moonlight outlining their silhouettes. Feeling his way to the bedroom door, he opened it.
The woman sat on the bed with the sleeping toddler in her arms and stared with wide-eyed shock at the blood-soaked man in front of her, before letting out a blood-curdling scream.
“Shut the fuck up!” Seth hissed, pulling the woman roughly to her feet.
“What have you done? What the fuck have you done to him?” she shrieked, peering blindly around in the dark whilst she was pulled out of the bedroom and ushered towards the front door. “San? SAN...?”
Seth’s teeth glinted in the moonlight as he smiled at the blonde woman. “You won’t be seeing him again, love. And your kid here,” he looked towards the sleeping child, “has no longer got the stigma of having a rapist as a father anymore. Unless you wish to tell him of course.”
“A rapist?” the woman whispered.
“Yes. A fucking RAPIST!” Seth pushed her towards the door. “Now get out of here. As far away as possible.”
The woman stared at Seth incredulously. “But where? What am I supposed to do?”
Seth laughed. “Personally I don’t give a flying fuck lady, but I do know you’re not going to want to be here.”
Pulling out a small packet from his pocket he stared deeply into her eyes and shook the matches in her face. “I do know though if you so much as breathe a fucking word about anything, I promise I’ll hunt you down and destroy you. NOW GO!”
The extent of the situation finally sank in. Slowly nodding, the woman shakily walked down the metal stairs into the night.
Watching her retreating figure fade into blackness, Seth turned to Jane. “Time to go. Start the car.”
Jane took one more look behind her and then left.
Sitting with the engine of the Senator running, she watched Seth flick a match before he walked towards the open car door.
Slipping into the passenger seat, Seth smiled, the orange glow from the raging fire behind them lighting up his face. He grabbed Jane’s hand as he sparked up a fag. “We’ll get that weekend away now shall we, baby?”
PART TWO
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun
Now there’s a look in your eyes, black holes in the sky
You were caught in the cross fire of childhood and stardom, blown on the steel breeze
Come on you target for far away laughter, come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr and shine
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon
Threatened by shadows at night and exposed to the light
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
TWENTY NINE
GLANCING DOWN AT HER watch for the fourth time in approximately three minutes, Jane disappointingly found the time had not moved forward marginally enough. Had it stopped?
Shaking her wrist, she looked at it again. It was still 9.57. This was a nightmare. How many more hours?
Dizziness enveloped over her in waves as she cracked open the second can of Fanta of the morning. Maybe taking a few more tablets might waste a bit more time?
Three long months now she’d worked at the warehouse and could honestly say she’d never been so bored in her entire life.
Trying to focus her hungover eyes on the job sheet in front of her, Jane grated her teeth to stop herself from slamming her fist down on the workbench. She poked the fresh purple bruise on her arm painfully with her finger before pulling the sleeve of her tight black jumper down over it.
“SHUT UP!” SETH SNARLED at the whining dog before slugging down the remains of his cold tea. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he rubbed at his sore temples and glared at the animal deftly positioned in front of the door.
Shoving a cigarette in his mouth, it snapped in half and he stared at it in disgust before throwing it onto the floor. He eyed the big hole in the lounge door and slowly closed his eyes. He’d put the door back on its hinges, but hadn’t repaired the hole or the splintered wood and it had been months now. Which reminded him, he hadn’t fixed the fire yet either had he?
Seth exhaled slowly. He was not in a good mood. Jane had been itching to pick a fight with him last night, making snotty bloody comments about everything he’d said. Every time he’d spoken, she’d moaned and then she’d disappeared for ages, leaving him sat like a twat to be bored shitless by some old bastard with a back to front shirt on and a weeks’ worth of breakfast down it.
When she’d finally returned, she’d said she’d been talking to a couple of girls she used to work with. A likely fucking story. She’d have been talking to some bloke or shagging in the toilets.
Seth clenched his teeth. It was probably that bloke with the brown hair Stuart had being going on about. Of course Jane had denied all knowledge when he’d asked, insisting she’d no idea what he was talking about. Well she would wouldn’t she?
They’d ended up having another screaming row. He knew he shouldn’t have yanked her arm, but what was he supposed to do when she’d tried to smack him in the face?
He frowned. Things had been getting back on track since they’d had that weekend away in the country, but during the last few weeks they’d been back on each other’s cases again.
Seth accepted he hadn’t stuck to his promise of stopping the constant stre
am of fuckheads drifting in and out of the flat, but then Jane hadn’t stuck to her side of things either had she? Still, he needed to sort it out. He wanted things to be as they were when they’d been away.
Seth glared at the man lying face down on the floor who had wandered in last night. The twat had stuck his head around the bedroom door, interrupting his shag to ask if he could buy some dope. He’d been told to fuck off and wait in the lounge, but the guy must have got tired of waiting because he’d helped himself.
He eyed the small bag on the table suspiciously. Ok, so he’d forgotten to sort out the gear because he’d much preferred staying in the sack with Jane, but by the looks of it, this wanker had smoked half of what had been there last night.
Seth nudged the man with his steel toe cap, figuring now was as good a time as ever to wake the fucker up and get the brass off him for what he’d smoked. “Get up you fucking lazy bastard!” he growled, booting the man hard in the ribs.
With a yelp, Mike sat up like a shot, but was pulled quickly to his feet by his throat. “S-Seth mate,” he stuttered. “What’s happening? What have I done?”
“What you’ve done,” Seth pushed Mike’s head towards the coffee table, “is help yourself to my stuff, look!”
Mike’s bewildered eyes searched the contents of the low wooden table. “But, I....”
Yanking him back to an upright position, Seth pulled the man close to his face. He was sick of these people. Fucking SICK of them. “You’ve smoked half my dope, you wanker!”
Mike’s tangled dark hair caught in the collar of his denim jacket. “Y-You said to go in to the lounge and help myself?”
Seth raised an eyebrow. “Did I hell!”
Mike stood limply. What was he going to do now? He saw the rabid look in Seth’s eyes. Going totally fucking tapped he was. “I-I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I must have misheard. I must ha...”
“I’m sick of people like you!” Seth grabbed Mike’s lapels. “Thinking you can take the fucking piss?”
“I wasn’t taking the piss mate. I wa....”
“SHUT UP!” Seth screamed. “I’m bored of excuses. Very fucking bored!”
Mike crashed over the edge of the armchair as he was launched backwards and backed away on his elbows as Seth stepped towards him. “OK! OK!” His hands came up in a gesture of submission. “I was going to pay you mate, I promise. I only wanted a bag of something.”
Ignoring his pleas, Seth pulled Mike to his feet and slammed him hard against the wall. A large piece of plaster fell off the ceiling and crashed loudly to the floor. “Now look what you’ve done!” he roared, glaring at the ragged hole. Fucking dump. Fucking shit fucking CRAP hole.
“Here. Here!” Fumbling in his pocket, Mike tried to find some money. He knew he had twenty quid in there somewhere. He needed to get away from this.
Everyone knew Seth was losing the plot. It was common knowledge that even his good mates walked around on eggshells these days. Not that anyone would dare say anything about it, but it didn’t leave much hope for mere acquaintances like him, did it?
Pulling out the twenty from his pocket, Mike held it up. “Here Seth, sorry mate.”
Seth snatched it out of his hand. “Don’t be taking the Michael, Michael! I don’t like it.” Wrenching the lounge door open with one hand, he dragged Mike down the hallway and opened the front door. “Now sling your fucking hook!”
With a final shove, Mike tumbled down the stone steps and landed in a heap at the bottom. He sat for a moment attempting to catch his breath and rubbed the back of his head, making a mental note not to push his luck again. He’d be giving Seth a wide berth from now on. He didn’t want him on his back.
Stomping back into the flat, Seth sparked up another fag and perched on the windowsill. Feeling the rage rising up from his feet as he looked down on the people going about their business below, he spun around and grabbed his coat from the back of the sofa.
He’d had enough. He was going to find out exactly who the bloke with brown hair was that Jane was so fascinated with.
THIRTY
JANE LAY BACK IN THE stone cold bath. It was freezing, but she couldn’t face getting out just yet. The raucous laughter, along with Stuart’s nasally voice coming from the lounge only served to strengthen her resolve. When was Seth going to wise up about that idiot?
Teeth on edge, her eyes moved to the peg on the wall and sighed seeing the towels had disappeared.
“Alright, Janie?”
Jane jumped as the bathroom door swung open and Lee walked past her on his way to the toilet. She rolled her eyes. Could she get no peace?
The sound of Lee relieving himself against the enamel of the toilet bowl echoed in Jane’s ears and made her want to smash the place up.
“Had a good day?” Lee turned his head, his eyes roaming over Jane’s naked body.
“Not really, but what’s new!” Jane snapped.
Raising his eyebrows, Lee decided he’d best just concentrate on finishing his piss. Jane obviously wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
“Alright?” Seth muttered, glancing at Jane as he walked in the bathroom. Edging Lee out of the way so he could reach the toilet he burst out laughing. “Do you come here often?”
“Well, I would except Janie keeps telling me to fuck off every time I try to wank over her!” Lee laughed.
Seth shoved Lee playfully into the wall, causing him to drunkenly stumble forward almost into the bath.
“Watch it!” Jane shrieked, wishing they’d all fuck off and go away.
“Besides,” Lee continued, “don’t think she’s in the mood, so your luck ain’t going to be in later, mate. Right miserable bitch she is tonight.”
“My luck’s always in!” Seth grinned. “But haven’t got a clue what’s the matter with her lately.”
“HELLO? I am here!” Jane snapped.
Seth raised his eyebrow. “See what I mean?”
“Seth,” Jane called as the men walked out of the bathroom laughing. “What have you done with the towels?”
Stopping, Seth turned back, indicating to wait a moment before walking off.
Sitting up in the bath Jane soaped her body down. Was she miserable? Probably, yes. She couldn’t seem to pull herself together the last few weeks and things felt like they were falling apart. When it was good it was fucking fantastic, but when it was bad, it was worse than awful. With a shiver, she realised the bad times were far outweighing the good lately by a long shot.
The beginning of tears pricked the backs of Jane’s eyes and she tried to get her head together. Things were so much better the less she felt.
Sighing, she pulled herself out of the bath deciding she’d find a towel herself. She needed another drink anyway.
As Jane stepped out of the bath, Seth appeared and threw a crumpled towel at her. “Here you go!”
Jane glared at the wet muddy towel at her feet. “What the fuck’s this?”
Walking over with a lopsided smile Seth squeezed her breasts. “The dog got soaked today and I had to use it to dry him.”
“Get the hell off me!” Jane snapped, batting his hand away. She pointed towards the grubby towel. “You expect me to use that?”
“There aren’t any other clean ones left, baby.” Seth pulled her towards him. “Come here. I’ll dry you off.”
“No you fucking well won’t!” Jane twisted away from him. “Get out of my way!”
“For fucks sake, you miserable bitch!”
“Get back to your mates!” Jane flounced naked out of the bathroom. Bollocks to him and to it all. She’d just dry herself on his clean clothes.
Hearing Seth storm off towards the lounge muttering to himself angrily, Jane sat on the edge of the bed and burst into tears.
PRETENDING TO BE INTERESTED in Lee and Stuart’s pointless conversation, Seth personally didn’t give a shit what they were banging on about. All he knew was that he was fed up of being made to look a fool by Jane and wanted to know what the fuck the matt
er with her was. He swigged from the whisky bottle getting drunker by the minute.
“Fuck me Seth! Cheer up!” Stuart quipped. “Letting birds get to you again?”
Seth gritted his teeth as his fingers fumbled for his lighter. “My wife’s not a ‘bird’ Stuart.”
Helping himself to one of Seth’s fags, Stuart laughed. “I’m surprised her mates aren’t over more often. You know that Eliza bird and the other one whose name I can never remember? Maybe that’s why she’s pissed off?” A sly grin passed fleetingly over his face which Seth was too drunk to notice. “Or what about that new friend of hers - the bloke with the brown hair? The one whose car she was in the other day.”
Seth stiffened. What the fuck was this then?
Stuart smirked, seeing he’d hit the target. Watching the fire burning behind Seth’s eyes he fully intended to stoke it further.
Seth tried to act nonchalant. “When was this?”
Lee watched closely. Since when had this Stuart become such good mates with Seth anyway? Helping himself to his fags and making snide comments about Jane? What was his game?
“Don’t know. Can’t remember. A few weeks back maybe? It was pretty late.”
Seth’s jaw set hard. He knew it. He just fucking knew it! That must have been where she was when she’d been back late and given him bullshit. Well he wasn’t having it. Thanks to Stuart’s description and Phil’s digging he knew who this bloke was and he was going to sort it.
JANE LAY IN A BLACK satin wrap on the bed, chain-smoking and drinking vodka straight from the bottle, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She could still hear them in the lounge but she just wanted to go to sleep. Eyeing the almost empty bottle and grateful for the gradual fuzziness enveloping her mind, she reckoned she was half way to switch-off.
Despite her terrible mood she smiled, recounting the weekend they’d had last month away from all the bullshit. It had been so nice. Like really nice.