Текст книги "Just Another Day"

Автор книги: Steven Clark

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Chapter 16

‘Just slow down a bit and run that past me again little brother.’

Luke was now looking intently at the swaying figure at the bar with the bulge in his arse pocket.

‘Yeah, he’s been doin it for a few months now. Soft cunt can’t help himself. He’s pissed. Told me all about it Luke. Says he’s doin another one in a few days.’

‘Do you think he’s said anything to any one else? Anyone here got wind of it?’

‘I don’t think so, I think he realised after he’d told me that he’d already said too much. He tried to pass it off as a joke and said he was just taking the piss and having a laugh. I could see it in his eyes bro, he was telling it for real and that wad in his pocket is certainly real. Peeled off a twenty for his fags and a pint of Guiness from a thick roll before he realised. He quickly shoved it back in his pocket when he saw me looking. Nobody else noticed as we were too close together.’

‘Did he say anything about when he’s driving again?’

‘Yeah, He’s got the day off tomorrow, no driving, that’s why he’s out on the piss tonight. He’s got a late run over to Yorkshire he said on Wednesday. Just the one container.’

Luke continued to look at the racing pages as he quietly scanned the rest of the bar. No one paying any attention to Terry as he gently swayed as he downed the last of his ale. All the usual punters, no strange faces, no one else talking to him or wanting to buy him a pint. Pretty quiet tonight. Not many customers on a Monday night. Three regulars at the dartboard minding their own business and engrossed in their own company. Couple of Filipino crew from the Blue funnel boat in the Huskisson Dock, nothing to worry about there.

‘Irish Mary’ getting bladdered again and stroking the thigh of her next customer, a 19 year old deck hand off one of the fishing trawlers in the Canada dock. Poor lad wouldn’t know what had hit him when she’d finished with him. Half a dozen lads off the Tugs. They were just leaving to board the nearby Trafalger tug as they were off out to the Bar in the Liverpool Bay to bring in a big chemical tanker.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terry swaying towards his table. One step forward and two back.

‘Fucking had yeh there Tony, eh. Had yeh going there mate didn’t I. Yeh believed every fuckin word of me little joke, didn’t yeh?’

‘You’re not wrong there Terry. It took me a few minutes to realise you were taking the piss out of me you old fucking wanker you.’

He gave Terry a playful punch on the leg.

‘I might just give you a slap if you take the piss out of me again. Go on you old twat, piss off and leave us in peace eh?’

‘Aye, I didn’t want to fuck off without making sure yeh knew I was just joshing yeh. Just having a laugh, eh? Alright there Luke, just having a laugh with your Tony eh, just a bit of a wind up y’know?’

Luke never looked up from his paper.

‘No problem Terry. He needs a bit of piss taking now and then, don’t you Tony. He was just telling me how he nearly believed you at first, and then he realised you were just winding him up. No problem Terry, mind how you go now, you’ve had a bit of a skinful mate. Look after yourself on the way home. Take it easy out there okay.’

‘Ah, cheers lads, I’ll be off now, think yer might be right Luke, maybe one or two over the odds eh. Take it easy boys, see yeh soon. Glad we sorted that out boys before I left. G’night and God bless lads.’

With that, Terry swayed over to the door, took hold of the door pillar and stumbled out into the cold night air. He was well pissed, but even so, he realised he had spoken out of turn and the words of Frank echoed in his alcohol steeped brain, ‘There’s some evil bastards in our game Terry’; and they didn’t come much more evil than the Johnson brothers. He was well aware of the tales over the years including that of the last landlord to have spoken out of turn. It wasn’t just the chill of the night that made him shiver as he walked alone along the Dock Road.

‘You stupid old twat’ he said out loud as he stumbled along. ‘You’re a fucking arsehole Terry Penrose, a stupid, stupid fucking arsehole.’

He turned the corner up Nelson Street and hoped his last few words to the brothers Grimm would have done enough to convince them that his story was nothing more than a fairy tale. As he hadn’t convinced himself, he doubted he’d done enough to convince them as he put one foot in front of the other and walked unsteadily away from the pub. Normally, he would sleep like a top after a bellyful of ale; tonight, he tossed and turned till the sun rose.

‘You OK Terry, you look a bit under the weather mate.’ J.J.  climbed off the back of the big Mercedes tractor unit where he had been making some adjustments to the air brake couplings.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Must have been something I ate the other day. I had the wild shites all day yesterday but I’m much better now. Good job I wasn’t due to do any driving yesterday. Don’t think I could have sat in me wagon for more than half an hour. Is frank in the office J.J.?’

‘You know him Terry, he’s always in the fucking office, think he lives there sometimes. Wish he’d give me a hand with some of these old fucking wagons he keeps asking me to repair. Half of them are like me Terry’ as he wearily climbed back up onto the diesel tank of the unit, ‘ready for the knackers yard.’

Terry turned and began climbing the steel steps. He felt weary himself and met Frank as he was coming out of the door.

‘Hello Terry, didn’t expect to see you today. Thought you had that box to take out tonight. Everything okay?’

‘Not really boss, any chance of a quick word? I know you’re busy.’

‘Have to be pretty quick, I’m meeting the MD in Liverpool in about half an hour so I can’t be late. Can it wait till later?’

‘I really need to see you now; won’t keep you more than a few minutes, but I don’t want to talk to you in the yard.’

They both went back in the office and Terry sat down on the chair, usually he would wait for Frank to invite him to take a seat but as he knew he was wanting away as soon as possible, he plonked himself down heavily.

‘You look a bit worse for wear Terry. You okay? You look like you’ve had a late night.’

‘I can’t do it any more Frank. It’s time for me to call it a day. I think I’m going to take early retirement. I’m sixty next week and the job’s just getting to me.’

Frank also plonked himself down in the chair,

‘Fuck me Terry, this has come out of the blue, when did you decide on this?’

‘I’ve been thinking of it for a little while now. The kids are long gone and Connie’s been pretty poorly the last few years with a bit of a dicky heart and I’ve been feeling a bit wound up meself for a month or two. I think you know why eh?’

‘I did wonder how long you would be able to keep it up for Terry. I think you’ve done pretty good. There’s a lot of stress mate when you’re hauling those boxes, sometimes, I think its better not to know what you’ve got on the back eh? It’s not all about money mate; some things are more important Terry. You’re a rich man if you’ve got your health eh?’

‘Appreciate you understanding Frank. I won’t leave you in the lurch; I know how important everything is. I just wanted to flag up the idea to you and give you a bit of notice of what I wanted to do.’

‘Okay, when are you looking at going then?’

‘Well, I’ll have to sort out my pension and a few other things with the office, so it’ll probably be about a month or so. Will that give you enough time to sort out another driver for the special boxes?’

‘Yeah, don’t you worry about that mate, go home and get your head down for a few hours. I’ve got someone else in mind. Will you be back tonight to sort out that box for Yorkshire?’

‘Yes, no problem Frank, I won’t let you down or leave you struggling at all. I can do tonight’s job OK and I can easily do the next few specials. Could certainly do with the extra money before I finish.’

‘Okay. Leave it with me and I’ll sort something out. Now, I’ll have to love you and leave you. Stockie will whinge at me for being late if I don’t get to town in the next twenty minutes. Come on, I’ll walk down with you. We’ll have to get together for a pint before you go. You really got me out of the shit a few months ago mate and I owe you one.’

‘Thanks, Frank. Listen, you go on, I’m going to have a quick chat with J.J. before I go. Thanks for being so understanding. Like I said, I won’t let you down until you’ve got the right man for the job.’

‘Right, see you later. What time are you driving over to Leeds?’

‘The box needs to be in their yard by about 4 in the morning so to make sure I’ve got plenty of time, I’ll get back here for about midnight.’

‘Okay, I think most of the lads will be well gone by then. Jock Burns should be back before ten o’clock and he’s due to be the last man for the day. Just make sure you’ve got your keys with you to lock up when you go.’

‘Cheers Frank, see you in the morning. I’ll be in sometime after mid day seeing as I won’t get back from Yorkshire till late on.’

Frank jumped into his three litre BMW coupe and did a swift exit from the yard. Mr Stock, the MD would not take kindly if he had to wait for his subordinate.

Terry went wandering into the garage and found his old friend in the mechanics pit under one of the wagons and crouched down to speak to him.

‘Well, that’s me J.J. Just told the boss that I’ve had enough. Jacking it in mate and taking my pension. Must say, I’m glad that I’ve made the decision after wondering about it for a couple of months.’

J.J. put down the torch that he’d been using to get a good look at the brake drums and wiped his hands on an oily cloth as he climbed out to greet his old comrade. Every time Terry saw him, he seemed to be wiping his hands on something or other.

‘Good for you Tel. About time you old bastard. Will you manage okay?’

‘I think so mate, might have to make a few adjustments and savings here and there; maybe sell the car and get a cheaper one, but you know how Connie is. She won’t get any better and so I think its time I looked after her a bit more eh?’

‘Give her a month Tel, and she’ll probably fuck you off from under her feet mate. She’ll probably tell you to piss off out of the house and stop moping about. Tell you to take up gardening; get an allotment or something.’

They both grinned. ‘You’re not far wrong there J.J. Might fancy a spot of gardening or something. Anyway, talkin about pissin off, I’d better do just that, I’ll be back later to take that box to Leeds. I’m going home for a few hours’ kip, see you in the morning.’

J.J turned back to climb down the short ladder into the pit and Terry walked out of the garage and drove home. He certainly felt better leaving the yard than he had done a short time ago when entering. Now that he had made the decision, he knew he would sleep better.

It was pitch black when he got back to the yard. It was a bit later than he had originally planned, just after half past midnight but he still had plenty of time. There wouldn’t be a lot of traffic on the roads on his way to Yorkshire at that time of night. He quite enjoyed doing the odd night run from time to time. Made a pleasant change to have quiet roads instead of wall to wall traffic which was becoming the norm for day time driving on any of the Motorways. He knew he had made the right decision. He’d had enough of driving. Easy street was not far away now. Couple of months would see him sorted.

Everywhere was locked up and even Frank had gone home earlier. The lights from the office windows would usually help any of the drivers using the yard at night as it shone down from above but there was no light tonight. A heavy, cloudy sky didn’t help matters as Terry pulled up outside.

Leaving the engine of his car running, he used the headlights to help him get the key in the padlock. After taking off the heavy chain from around the gateposts, he swung the gates open and drove inside. He parked his car alongside the container and gave the wagon the once over making sure all the lens covers were in place on the back of the trailer. Quite often other drivers would ‘borrow’ a brake light cover or a bulb from another trailer, he had done the same himself on other occasions, and the last thing he wanted was to end up with a couple of points on his licence if he got pulled up at night because one of his lights was not on or he was showing a white light instead of a red one. He would check that they were all working properly once the engine was running, but it all seemed ok up to now.

He unlocked the cab and climbed onto his seat. Frank had sorted the paperwork earlier and left the delivery notes and the police gate pass under the seat. A few glances and everything appeared in order. Right box number, right registration and all the details on the pass sorted. He drove the wagon and the trailer out of the yard and pulled up just outside the gates. Leaving the engine running and his drivers door open, he climbed out of the unit and walked back to close and lock the gates once more.

He had his back to the trailer as he was padlocking the chain in place. The gates were made of heavy galvanised steel and took a little bit of getting together, but he had managed ok, same as he had done a thousand times before. Job done, time for the off.

He never heard a thing, but just as he was about to turn back to get into the lorry, he felt a slight pressure from behind in the middle of his back just below his shoulders blades pushing his chest onto the gate. It wasn’t a sudden pressure, but he didn’t have time to get out from behind the wagon and he was becoming pinned between the gate and the back of the trailer and he couldn’t move. He tried to turn around but the pressure was too strong and he could feel his chest and ribcage becoming constricted, pressing more and more into the gates and he was having difficulty breathing. Suddenly, the pressure stopped. He still couldn’t turn round, but the pain in his chest remained constant, at least it wasn’t getting any harder to breath. He tried to look around but it was impossible. He could only turn his head one way, slightly over his left shoulder, but he couldn’t move at all.

He suddenly realised that the wagon was on a very slight slope and that he must have forgotten to put the handbrake on when he jumped out. He was positive he had put the brake on. That would explain why the pressure had built slowly, the very slight camber of the roadway had meant that the lorry had rolled back very slow. Maybe, as the pressure had eased, the wagon had levelled off and wouldn’t move back any further. He might be able to squeeze down and climb under the trailer. His arms were trapped just in front of him, maybe if he could free them, he would have a little more room to move. He tried to breathe out as much as possible to shrink his chest a bit more but it was no good. His breathing was becoming more and more laboured as the life was being slowly squeezed out of him.

‘Bit of a fucking mess you’re in there Terry.’

He recognised the voice instantly as that of Luke Johnson and the sudden chill down his spine had more to do with hearing his voice than the crushing pressure on his chest.

‘Good job me and our Tony were here to put a wedge under the back wheel of the wagon eh? Otherwise you’d be flattened by now.’

Terry knew it wasn’t the time to speak. He also knew that he had in fact put the handbrake on and that the pain he was in was not of his own doing. He couldn’t see Johnson as he was stood on the other side of the wagon and he couldn’t turn his head towards him. A few seconds later, Luke Johnson was stood alongside Terry looking into his eyes. It just seemed so unreal, he was stood no more than two feet away from him, hands in pockets, leaning with his shoulder on the same gate that was crushing him to death, yet he was smiling in that evil way of his and breathing easily.

‘What are we going to do with you now eh, Terry. Shall I get Tony to drive the wagon forward a few inches and let you get your breath back?’

‘Please help me Luke, I can’t breath. My legs have already gone, it’s only the wagon crushing me chest against the gate that’s keeping me up.’ His words were said in short bursts, one or two at a time, as the effort of speaking caused him further pain.

‘Course we’ll help you Terry. But, before we do, just a little bit of information that you might be able to help me and me little brother with eh? When’s the next box due to go? And don’t fuck me about because you will die if you do. You know what box I’m talking about.’

‘Friday morning Luke. I’m due out of the yard at 6 o’clock Friday. Please help me, I can’t breathe.’

‘Just one more question Terry, then we’ll help you. One more little bit of info and this will all be over. No more pain. How will we know which box it is?’

‘It will be an ACL box, they only ever use their boxes and the last four numbers will be 6538. They always use the same containers and that’s the next one on the list. Pleas Luke, for the love of God, help me, I can’t breathe properly any more, my eyes are starting to blur.’

‘Thank you Terry, you’ve been most helpful. I told our Tony. I said to him before that you were a good bloke. I told him you’d tell us without any messing about.’

Terry’s breathing was becoming shallower, his lungs compressing as he pleaded with his eyes.

‘Come here our Tony’ said Luke without taking his eyes off Terry.

Tony had always done what his older brother ‘requested’ him to do. He had learned many years ago that brother or not, it was not a wise thing to ignore Luke. He had the memories and the scars to testify to his older siblings’ willingness to inflict pain. Terry saw the face of Tony appear over the shoulder of his brother.

‘Ever seen a man dying before your eyes before?’

Tony had been in many fights and was not averse to inflicting pain when he wanted. His glassing of the punter in the Bramley pub previously was evidence of his violent nature but even he did not share his brothers enthusiasm and pleasure for what could only be described as torture.

‘No Luke, he looks in a bad way. D’ya think I should move the wagon forward a bit and get him out?’

‘Well, that would cause us a bit of a problem Tony, how will Terry here be able to explain to anyone in the morning how he got out from behind the wagon when it was crushing him eh? The only way that could be explained was if someone was here to help him. Now, thickhead, if someone was here, why didn’t they call an ambulance? No young Tony, I’m afraid if we help the old man here, that would look very suspicious indeed. The other, and from our point of view, the much more pressing issue is that Terry might well still be alive when they find him, that being the case, how would anybody be able to explain the wedge here behind the wheel? Couldn’t exactly put it there himself now, could he?’

Tony didn’t have the brains or cunning of his older brother, but even so, the evil in Luke’s words began to dawn on him.

‘Luke we can’t’ began Tony, only to be grabbed forcibly round the throat by Luke’s powerful right hand as the back of his head was pushed hard up to the palings of the gate.

‘We don’t have much choice in the fucking matter you arsehole. It’s got to look like a tragic fucking accident. If it looks like something different, we’ve got no chance of improving our fucking lifestyle have we eh?’

Deep down, Tony knew that his brother was right.

‘Please don’t do this Luke.’ The words were almost too quiet to hear but Tony heard them as though they were being relayed through a loudspeaker. He could see Terry’s lips moving, about to say something else. Luke banged Tony’s head against the metal.

‘Listen, it won’t take more than a few minutes, he’s almost gone now, just kick the fucking wedge out.’

Tony knew that he was aggressive and vicious; he couldn’t really be anything else having grown up alongside Luke. But, there was one very important difference between them. His anger was always heat of the moment stuff where he would react to an incident or sudden confrontation. Luke’s, for the most part, was quite the opposite. He revelled in the violence. Sure, he reacted violently a lot of the time but, more often, his anger and viciousness was controlled and intended from the outset. He was at his most cruel when he had time to think about his actions and intentions. This was one of those times.

He loosened his grip on his young brother and pulled him roughly to the back wheel of the lorry. The wooden wedge was no more than a foot or so from Tony’s steel toe capped boot. Luke twisted his young brothers face toward his own and their eyes were just a few inches from each other.

‘Don’t think about it. Just fucking do it. One little kick and the wedge will be in the fucking dock and no one will be any the wiser. When they find him in the morning with the engine running and the door open it will just be the result of a tragic accident. He was a bit late getting away and in his hurry to close the gates behind him, forgot to put the brake on and the wagon rolled back and crushed him, end of story. Simple.’

‘I can’t do it Luke. I’ll fight anyone with you, you know that, but he’s just an old man. An old man with a fucking family. This isn’t right Luke, this is cold. I can’t do it.’

‘If you don’t, I’ll fucking do you. We’re in this together and it’s survival for both of us. If he lives, it’s all fucking over for us. When he’s questioned, he won’t be able to stop himself. You know that what I’m telling you makes sense. Just close your eyes, bring your foot back and swing. Easy. Don’t think about it just do it.’

Tony, as he knew he would, like countless times in the past, did what his brother ordered. The wedge bounced and skittered across the granite cobbles, slid over the edge of the quay and bobbed in the waters of the dock a few yards away from the trailer.

Tony turned away towards the front of the wagon. He knew what he’d done but the sickness in the pit of his stomach was rising. Suddenly, he was grabbed roughly by the back of his collar and pulled violently backwards and he began to stumble.

‘You’re going nowhere just yet little brother. We’ve got to make sure.’

Luke pulled him back towards the rear of the trailer. It wasn’t enough that Terry would die within the next few minutes as the weight of the wagon very slowly continued moving back towards the gate. He wanted to experience the elation. For him, it wasn’t sickening, it was exciting. This was pure undiluted pleasure.

‘This is what it’s like to see a man die before your eyes Tony.’

Luke, being much stronger than his brother, forced him to the back edge of the container. He was just two feet away from Terry’s bulging eyes. He couldn’t speak any more; his spine being compressed ever more towards his chest.

Tony couldn’t look at Terry anymore and closed his eyes. He jumped involuntarily as he heard two of terry’s ribs break and he pulled himself away from his brothers’ grip. He knew what he had done and that was enough for him. He didn’t want to revel in it. Luke didn’t bother to stop him. He could have held him if he wanted and forced him to watch as Terry breathed his last, but Luke was more fascinated by the spectacle and wanted to be closer. He leaned in and his face was no more than twelve inches or so from Terry. He could see his eyes bulging and all the veins on his forehead and neck standing out against the skin. The breathing was very shallow and almost none existent. He saw the eyes begin to glass over and the pulse on his neck became very faint. As his heart was pressed ever closer to the front of his chest and his lungs slowly but surely compressed, all that could be heard in the still night air was the breath expelling from the dead mans throat in a hoarse, rasping manner and the occasional rib cracking with the relentless crushing. He watched for the next few minutes until he was sure that he was dead. He saw his younger brother stumbling away and quickly moved toward him.

‘Listen, Tony. That had to be done. When they find him in the morning it won’t be suspicious. They’ll all say what a great fella he was and that’ll be the end of it, no comeback on any one, just a simple but tragic accident can’t you see that?’

Tony was bent forward with his hands on his knees trying desperately not to throw up. He knew he had to keep the contents of his stomach intact. It would be a dead giveaway if there was a load of vomit just a few yards from the scene of the ‘accident’. Questions would be asked. Why, if someone had come across the scene and been so horrified by what they’d seen that they had vomited on the road, why hadn’t they contacted the police or the ambulance. He took a few deep breaths and straightened. A sample of the puke, a DNA profile and it wouldn’t take them long to come looking for him.

He turned to face his brother and in a rare show of aggression towards him, he launched himself forward and punched him in the chest. Luke was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered and wrestled his young brother to the ground. Tony thrashed with his legs and tried to struggle free but he was no match for Luke. He’d never been much of a match for him. Luke for his part would normally have delighted in the opportunity to kick the shite out of his brother. How dare the little shit bag have a go at him. He didn’t retaliate. He just held him tight to make sure he couldn’t do any damage to either of them. Luke also realised that although they were brothers and shared many traits and similarities; in some things, they were very different. He never felt compassion for anything but, in that moment, he felt a definite tinge of remorse for his little brother.

The moment passed instantly and Luke pushed his brother away and they both sprang to their feet and faced each other with clenched fists. Tony was the first to ease up a little and he relaxed his hands.

‘I know that it was the only way Luke; you’re right, he would have told someone what had happened. Just because it needed to be done, doesn’t mean I should enjoy it. I’m not like you Luke.’

He turned and started to walk towards the dock wall. Luke ran up behind him and attempted to lighten the mood by playfully grabbing his little brothers’ head and ruffling his hair. Tony pulled away and ran towards the wall. He took a leap and scrambled to the top in the same way that they had done when getting into the docks earlier. They couldn’t risk being seen by the policeman on the gate and they had gone in and out of the docks in this way many times in the past, particularly as kids when they would come and go after nicking stuff. As they both sat astride the wall facing each other, Tony said again,

‘I’m not like you Luke, I’m not a cold blooded killer. I’ll never do that again. I’ll kill you before I ever do that again. You will never put me in that situation ever again.’

Luke shrugged his shoulders and swung his other leg over the wall and dropped down to the street below. He had bullied his little brother since before he could walk. If he wanted, he could sort him out no bother, but, at the back of his mind, something had changed in Tony and he would have to keep his wits about him.

Maybe, just maybe, Tony had had enough of being bullied by his big brother. He might need watching a bit more than usual.