Driving around the back of the estate, Alfie’s gaze darted about. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes as he caught a glimpse of Alan, wandering over an area of wasteland behind a large block of flats.
Pulling over as quickly as he could, Alfie jumped out of the car and sprinted across to where Alan – who’d just looked over his shoulder – was.
Fear was pencilled over Alan’s face as he began to run, whilst Alfie screamed after him. ‘Oi! Oi! I’m going to fucking kill you! You hear me! Alan! Alan!’
Terrified, Alan squealed like a pig as he headed towards the underground car park, hurtling along and slipping on the wet ground as he did so.
Coming to the entrance of the flats’ car park, Alfie looked left and right, unable to see where Alan had gone. But he knew that he couldn’t have gone far, and one way or another Alfie was going to find him.
Walking in, Alfie bent down, picking up a small scaffolding pole, which had been discarded along with a heap of household rubbish, tipped in the corner.
‘Alan, mate! If I were you, I’d give up!’ As Alfie spoke he looked under all the parked cars, tapping the pole in his hand.
‘Come on, you know you can’t get far, mate. You want a bit of advice? The longer I can’t find you, the more pissed off I’ll be, and you know what I’ll do then, Alan? I’ll take it all out on you.’
He continued to walk further down the slope towards another set of garages, his eyes darting around. The tiniest of noises behind him had Alfie spinning around. He stared into the shadows, working out where it was coming from. He listened again – yes, there it was, over by the lock-ups.
Slowly, he walked towards the sound. ‘Alan? Give it up, mate.’ There was no response as Alfie stood by the thin gap between the two garages. He couldn’t see down it; it was too dark, but he could hear that someone was there.
Suddenly, in a hopeless attempt to escape, Alan sprung out, but not before Alfie’s foot booted him hard, tripping him up and causing him to sprawl across the concrete.
‘Going somewhere are we?’ Alfie stood over Alan. He brought back his foot, kicking him in the ribs. ‘Now, I want some answers. Where’s Barry? And where’s my money?’
Alan, who was groaning on the floor, shook, as the kids on the estate – used to regular fights in the area – stood around barely interested, paying more attention to the smashing up of an abandoned car by the lock-ups.
‘You owe me some money, mate. I hope you haven’t spent it on that shit you like to take. You really picked the wrong person to mess with.’ Alfie pressed his foot on Alan’s back as he squirmed underneath him.
Covered in dirt, Alan stuttered. ‘Listen, I’m … I’m sorry, mate.’
‘I’m not your mate, and how about I show you just that, you piece of scum.’ Alfie kicked Alan in the side again, the sound of cracking ribs echoing around the underground car park. Alan screamed out in pain, staggering for breath before curling up in a ball.
Alfie prodded him with the piece of metal scaffolding. ‘That was just for starters, and if you don’t tell me what I want to hear, you’ll see what the main course is like. Do you understand?’
Alan nodded his head as he whimpered. ‘Yeah, but I don’t know much.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that. So, my first question is, was this just a setup to mug me off? Is this what you and him do? Get some punter and rip them off? Is that your game?’
‘No … no. He did send me, but … but not to take your money. I was desperate.’
Alfie jabbed the pole in Alan’s ribs. He yelled out in agony. ‘Just answer the question! I ain’t interested in any hard-luck story, you got me? I mean, where do you get off taking my money and going off to score?’
He stared down at Alan. He wasn’t going to risk going into his pockets, knowing that there was a good chance he might have a dirty needle in them.
‘Turn them out.’ Alfie prodded his foot against Alan’s pockets.
‘I swear I’ve got nothing, I spent it all.’
‘Well then, you’ll have no problem showing me, will you?’
Seeing he clearly had no choice, Alan eased his hand into his pocket, grappling for the money Alfie had given him.
Begrudgingly, clearly having hoped to keep hold of the money, Alan sulkily said, ‘Okay, here, but it’s not all there.’
Swiping the screwed-up notes from Alan’s hand and taking a quick look around, Alfie crouched down. ‘There you go … See, that wasn’t too hard, was it? Now what might be harder is trying to get the truth out of you. Do you think that’s possible?’
Alan nodded but said nothing else as Alfie continued to talk. ‘So, is he here? Is Barry really nearby?’
Holding his ribs and still shivering on the ground, Alan muttered, ‘No. He just called me up and asked me to come and meet you. He just wanted to make sure you seemed all right. Sometimes he does that, gets me to do little things like that for him.’
‘Then where is he?’
Alan’s eyes stayed firmly on the scaffolding pole Alfie was holding. ‘I dunno, I ain’t seen him, and that’s God’s honest truth. He just asked me to wait for you, so I guess he’ll be in contact soon.’
Holding down his temper, Alfie asked, ‘And if he isn’t?’
‘I dunno, Barry is a law unto himself.’
‘Yeah, apparently so.’
Back in the car having gotten all the details from Alan, Alfie sat and stared, gazing up at the moon as his emotions overwhelmed him. What he’d heard Alan talk about so casually, so matter-of-factly, was something that he’d never forget, something that he knew would haunt him forever, and the worst thing about it all was that he knew this woman in Doncaster was just the tip of the iceberg.
And as he continued to stare up at the full moon, shining bright in the clear February sky, Alfie Jennings began to cry.