Dark of Mind

by Robin Roughley

  'We certainly do,' Belle replied as she glanced in the wing mirror, her hands at ten to two on the steering wheel.

  'So, you prefer sex with older men then?' Danny sneered.

  Kelly turned her head slowly and glared at him, grimacing at the beer fumes blasting in her face. 'What are you talking about, you moron?'

  'Hey, you were the one that said it, not me.'

  'Said what?'

  'Well, you know, that bit about how ''we both think the world of that man'',' he said in a silly high-pitched voice as he made quotation marks with his fingers.

  Belle glanced in the mirror and frowned when she saw the smirk on Danny East's face.

  'Kelly's right, you are a moron,' Belle snapped.

  East suddenly looked annoyed, his natural arrogance rising to the surface. 'Perhaps he acts the good guy just so he can get in your knickers, they say older men can be like that,' he fired back.

  In the passenger seat, Charlie Reeves snorted a laugh.

  Indicating, Belle pulled over to the kerb before turning in her seat. 'What do reckon, Kel?'

  'Time to hit the ejector seat,' Kelly answered and watched as East suddenly looked puzzled.

  'Agreed,' Belle replied. 'I want you two out of my car, now.'

  'What are you talking about?' East demanded.

  'I thought you were decent, but it turns out you're just a little boy pretending to be a man, now get out of the car.' Kelly said.

  East's eyes widened in dismay. 'What the hell have I said?'

  'Out,' Kelly demanded.

  'You too,' Belle said from behind the wheel.

  Charlie Reeves face started to glow red. 'But what have I done?'

  'You laughed at that idiot's offensive remark, so I want you out of the car as well.'

  'Jesus, Belle, Danny was only having a laugh…'

  'We won't tell you again, you either get out of the car or we give Lasser a ring and tell him what you said, and then you'll see how ''caveman'' he can get,' Belle warned.

  'Come on, Charlie, these two are fucking nuts,' East spat as he snapped the seat belt off and thrust the door open.

  Charlie Reeves tried to make eye contact with Belle, but she was facing front again, her fingers drumming impatiently on the wheel.

  With a heavy sigh, he followed suit and opened the door before stepping out onto the pavement, moving to one side as Kelly walked around the car and got into the passenger seat.

  'Bet that Lasser guy is grooming you two, you're just too thick see it,' East alleged as Kelly closed the car door.

  Seconds later, the Panda pulled away, Charlie turned to Danny and scowled.

  'Why the hell did you say that?' he demanded.

  East thrust his hands into his pockets. 'Come on, it's fucking weird, two hot girls like that waffling on about that tosser Lasser.'

  Charlie sighed as it started to rain. 'Well, you've screwed it for us both now with your bullshit,' he snarled before turning away and stalking off along the pavement.

  A few seconds later, East followed, his young face marred with a frown of anger.

  8

  Foster let himself into the house as quietly as possible, closing the door he winced at the click of the lock.

  The seconds ticked by, he waited with bated breath before going over to the stairs, he was halfway up, tiptoeing over the creaking boards, when the shrill voice rang out from the living room.

  'Help me, Benny, I need a drink, I'm so thirsty, and you've been gone for hours!'

  Foster felt the familiar despair start to take over, but he tried to hold onto the thrill of the moment when the stream of acid had landed on the face of the ''big I am''. The way his flesh had melted, the wonderful screams of agony, the…'

  'Benny, I need you. NOW!'

  The images fled his mind as the screeching voice blasted into the hall, no longer sounding feeble, but loud and strident.

  Shoulders slumped, he shuffled back down the stairs before heading into the front room.

  'Where have you been!?' his mother demanded from her bed in the corner, as always, the lights were dimmed, the television on showing some game-show trash.

  'Do you want tea or coffee, Mother?' he asked, ignoring her question.

  Tricia Foster tried and failed to cross her gargantuan arms, the bingo wings spreading out across her monumental chest, as always, Foster grimaced and wondered how his mother could be so enormous when he was as thin as Jack Sprat.

  'You know I always have Ovaltine at night, coffee keeps me awake and tea makes me want to use the toilet.'

  Foster felt the disgust squirm through the pit of his stomach as she shifted her bulk slightly, the bed groaning under the weight of blubber, the memory foam mattress having lost its memory many months ago.

  'Ovaltine it is then,' he replied as he turned to leave the room.

  'Hang on, you haven't told me where you've been?'

  Closing his eyes, he held the sigh in check before turning back to his mother and plastering a weak smile onto his spot-infused face. 'I took some books back to the library, and as it's a nice night I went for a walk in the park,' he paused, 'there, are you satisfied?'

  His mother scowled at the reply, before wiping a wad of tissues over her sweating face, ending with a wipe under her three chins, making her son feel nauseated in the process.

  'What have I told you about going to the park alone?'

  'I have no idea what you are talking about.'

  'People don't like to see a single man in the park, especially near the play area, you didn't go near the play area, did you?' she chastised, dropping the moist tissues into the plastic ASDA bag at her side.

  Foster knew it would be half-full of toffee and cake wrappers and damp tissues, the thought made him shiver in loathing. 'No, I stayed near the pond and watched the ducks and then some OAPs started playing bowls, so I sat under the pavilion for a while and then made my way home.'

  'So, you stayed away from the children?'

  'I don't even know if there were children there, Mother, I mean, why do you always have to ask things like that?'

  'There's no need to shout.'

  Foster gritted his teeth in anger. 'I am not shouting, I never shout.'

  'I just worry about you,' Tricia Foster paused before pulling more tissues from the box. 'You have no friends; you spend all your time alone walking around the town like some waif and stray.'

  'Please, Mother, I'm fine,' he lied.

  'But you could stay in here with me, we could watch the television, The Voice is on tonight and Love Island,' she beamed.

  'I'd sooner gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon than watch that vapid nonsense,' her son snapped before spinning around and heading from the room.

  Tricia sighed before unwrapping a Werther's Original. ''How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child,'' she sighed before popping the sweet into her cavernous mouth.

  9

  En route to Anna Lee's flat, Lasser took a call from Bannister informing him that he had spoken to Doc Shannon, the injured man had been carrying a wallet in his pocket and it was as Sally Wright had suspected, it was Mal Marshall, he was twenty-six years old and lived over in Aspull.

  'Do you want us to head over there?' Lasser asked as Odette took a left turn at the lights.

  'No, I'll see to that, I've got Spenner picking me up in five, you two check on the girlfriend, see what you can find out.'

  'Did Shannon say how Marshall was doing?'

  'He's in theatre as we speak, and it does appear to be an acid attack, the poor sod was blinded instantly but that's all I know for now.'

  'OK, I'll ring you once we've seen the girlfriend.'

  'Make sure you do,' the DCI replied before ending the call.

  Slipping the phone into one pocket, Lasser stifled a yawn. 'Sally said Marshall was a loudmouth dick, but no one deserves to be blasted in the face with bloody acid,' he grimaced at the image that flashed through his mind.

  Odette went smoothly t
hrough the gears, her hand resting on the lever. 'If he was a ''dick'' then maybe he had enemies,' she suggested.

  'Even so, I could understand fisticuffs but not something like this, it's barbaric.'

  '''Fisticuffs''?' she glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.

  'Old Wigan saying,' he smiled.

  'So, Spenner asked you to be his best man?' Odette asked, changing the subject.

  'Bannister told you?'

  'He did.'

  Lasser sighed. 'No doubt laughing his head off in the process.'

  'Actually, he didn't, he seemed impressed.'

  'What did you make of his little speech?'

  Odette tapped her fingers on the wheel as they drove along. 'I worry about him at times, I spoke to Suzanne a few days ago, and she said she planted the seed about him being more proactive about the job, but now she thinks he's becoming obsessed with the way things are run.'

  'Well, everything he said was true.'

  'We know that, Bannister can be a force of nature at the best of times, but now he sees himself as a crusader determined to have his voice heard by those in power.'

  Lasser glanced left, watching as the canal ran alongside the road, a narrowboat chugging by in the twilight and suddenly he thought of Jackie on the wide beam, wearing her harem pants and little strappy top, the thought brought a smile to his face.

  'We know what he's like once he gets the bit between his teeth,' Odette said as she checked her mirrors before hitting the cruise control.

  Lasser turned from the side window view. 'Well, you never know he might actually make a difference.'

  'Or he could end up in deep trouble with those in power.'

  'You're worried about him, aren't you?'

  Odette sighed and nodded. 'He just seems more wired than he used to be.'

  Lasser thought about what she was saying, but the truth was Bannister always seemed constant in his angst against the unfairness of the world.

  'Perhaps he needs the challenge, needs to concentrate on something he thinks he can change.'

  'But we both know he can't really make a difference; Suzanne knows it and she's worried about what will happen when he realises that fact.'

  'Like the guy in that book.'

  'What book?' she asked as the road curved slightly left.

  'Don't know what it's called but it's some old guy dressed in armour fighting windmills.'

  'Don Quixote.'

  Lasser looked at her blankly and shrugged. 'Could be.'

  At the end of the road, Odette turned left onto the dual carriageway. 'We'll just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.'

  'But he's always doing stupid things.'

  'I remember him saying the same thing about you, more than once.'

  Lasser snapped his head around, his eyes widening. 'What do you mean? I never do stupid things.'

  'Of course you do.'

  'Name one?'

  Odette switched lanes to pass a slow-moving ASDA truck. 'Well, you've been shot, stabbed, beaten up and put your life at risk more times than I can shake a stick at.'

  'That doesn't make me stupid.'

  Odette glanced at him. 'OK then, call it reckless, impulsive, or spontaneous, take your pick.'

  Lasser folded his arms and pursed his lips. 'Smarty arse,' he mumbled as Odette smiled in satisfaction.

  10

  Foster sat on the single bed, staring at the wall, his pale eyes unblinking as he thought about how the night had unfolded. Within seconds his emotions had swung from terror to great joy, his mind brought the image of the ''big I am'' forward and he superimposed it onto the magnolia-coloured wall, expanding the melting face until it filled the surface, the eyes dissolving, the mouth stretched wide in agony as the acid went to work.

  The master had been right; all he'd had to do was follow the simple instructions and do exactly as he was told, and all the dark depression would vanish. So, he concentrated on the aftermath of the attack, the screams and the gore serving to wash away the usual thoughts of desperation.

  Then he swallowed the sudden sense of unease as he realised that he had no way to contact the man on the phone, the number was blocked, and although they had spoken on the internet, he knew that the master used false email addresses. He thought about trying one of them, but he was afraid of the repercussions, after all the man had told him that he would be in touch and never to try and contact him. The feeling of being deserted again rushed through his mind and he slammed shut the door in his head and glared at the face on the wall, only this time the ''big I am'' had vanished and to his dismay he imprinted his mother's fat face on the woodchip, her features melting into rivulets of running fat and blood as he poured the acid on to the top of her bowed head, the straw-like hair burning away to nothing as she screamed in tortuous agony.

  'If only,' he whispered as he lay down on top of the bed and closed his eyes, praying that the man would contact him soon before the black void opened again, and he was sucked into the endless vortex of horror.

  11

  'NO!' Anna Lee screamed out her pain and anguish as Odette broke the news about her boyfriend being in theatre after an acid attack had blinded him. 'It's all my fault, I should never have left my credit card at home. It wouldn't have happened if I'd taken it with me.'

  Gently taking hold of her elbow Odette led her to the sofa before sitting by her side.

  Lasser hovered in the doorway of the flat unsure whether to offer the usual tea or whether to just stay where he was.

  Anna Lee sobbed as she listened to Odette explaining about the attack on her boyfriend, the shock etched onto her tear-stained face.

  'But why would someone do something so horrible?' she asked, wiping at her eyes with a tissue, leaving smudges of black on the white, her bottom lip trembling.

  'Our colleagues said that Marshall had been shouting at you in the street?'

  Anna sniffed as she looked at Odette and nodded. 'He does that a lot, everyone says we shouldn't be together, but I thought I loved him, now I don't know. Maybe my friends are right.'

  Stepping into the room, Lasser sat down in the only other available chair. 'Do you know if he'd been having any trouble, Anna?'

  'Trouble?' she looked at him with shimmering, confused eyes.

  'Had he argued with anyone lately, he was shouting at you in the street so was he like that with everyone or just you?'

  Anna twisted her hands together as she shook her head. 'He can be loud at times, but he has no enemies, he just likes to go out and have a good time…'

  'At your expense?' Odette interrupted.

  Lasser glanced at her, seeing the empathy in Odette's eyes.

  More tears trickled down Anna Lee's cheeks. 'I took twenty pounds out with me tonight and left my card at the flat.'

  'To stop him from drawing out more money?' Lasser asked in a quiet voice.

  'I had to, the rent's due this week and he would have made me draw it all out and spend it on drink and I just can't afford to keep doing that.'

  'He's done it before then?' Lasser asked, loosening his tie slightly.

  She did another quick sweep over her eyes with the tissue. 'The last time I had to borrow the money from my parents, I told them I'd lost my purse, they knew I was lying but they still gave me the money,' she sobbed harder and lowered her head.

  'So, you can't think of anyone who would want to hurt him?'

  Raising her head, she looked at Odette again and gulped. 'No one.'

  'When he was shouting at you did you notice anyone watching, anyone at all?'

  Anna thought for a moment before answering. 'To be honest I was too upset, I just kept my head down while he screamed at me, I didn't want anyone to see me, I was so ashamed.'

  'You have nothing to be ashamed about,' Odette insisted. 'I dare say when you first met him, he seemed like a nice guy?'

  Anna looked distraught as more tears spilled from her eyes. 'He was kind and caring, I'd only ever been out with two pe
ople before and they were the same age as me and so immature, but Mal treated me like a woman, treated me with respect.'

  Lasser saw the hurt in Odette's eyes and he had no doubt she was thinking about how she had been fooled by Craig Lanark, a man who had pretended to be something he wasn't, a man who had ultimately used her in the worst possible way.

  'You need to forget about him, Anna,' Odette said.

  Anna blinked in surprise. 'What do you mean?'

  'If Marshall loved you then he wouldn't scream at you in the street, he wouldn't demand you draw money from the hole in the wall, leaving you with nothing to pay the bills.'

  'But…'

  'You were fooled into thinking he was one of the good guys and all the time he was using you. Is that what you want, to be used for the rest of your life by a man with no face?'

  Anna gasped and even Lasser winced at Odette's choice of words.

  'Believe me, I only say this because I know exactly how you feel.'

  'You do?' Anna sounded like a child being told a great secret of how the world really was.

  Odette gave a sharp nod. 'If you want my advice then get rid of him and move on.'

  'Is that what you did?'

  Odette smiled before rising to her feet. 'It's a work in progress but you deserve better than to be disrespected by someone like Marshall.'

  Lasser saw the determination suddenly spring into Anna Lee's tear-filled eyes. 'Thank you,' she mumbled.

  Lasser smiled at her as he followed Odette out of the flat.

  In the lift to the ground floor they never said a word, Lasser well aware that now was the time to keep his mouth well and truly shut.

  12

  Bannister sat in the passenger seat; arms folded as Spenner drove down the narrow country lane.

  After breaking the news to Malcolm Marshall's mother, they had taken her over to the hospital, Bannister making the most of the journey to question her about her son.

  Though the truth was she had been unable to tell them anything useful, other than the fact that her son was a ''loving, caring boy, who would do anything for anyone''. Bannister had decided not to burst her bubble by telling her about her ''loving, caring boy'' screaming abuse at his girlfriend in the street and demanding money from her.