Rise and Fall (26 page)

“Why are you crying, Reagan? Only pussies cry. That’s what you taught me, remember?” Tyler mocked, angrier with every passing second. “Come on, Reagan, stop being a pussy and pull the trigger,” Tyler challenged.

Reagan shook his head. A stream of snot hung from one nostril, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand; his other was holding the gun.

“I’m sorry, Tyler, really, I am.” Reagan’s finger gently pressed against the trigger. He couldn’t bring himself to squeeze it. 

Reagan was clearly losing his nerve; he looked like one of those deranged people on a documentary about mental people; like he was having a breakdown, Tyler thought. 

“What are you sorry for, Reagan? Sorry you’re about to plant a bullet in my skull? Sorry you knew what that fucking paedo was doing and that you did nothing to help?” Tyler threw the question out there, wanting to find out how much Reagan had known. Reagan at least had the good grace to briefly look away at the question, and the fleeting movement told Tyler everything he needed to know.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” 

“I didn’t know at first, Tyler, I swear.” Reagan snivelled, as he tried to explain, knowing he sounded pathetic. “I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure.” 

Tyler shook his head in disappointment. “You’re weak, Reagan, weak and pathetic. Jerell may as well shove his hand up your fucking arse and use you as a puppet. That’s all you are to him. You're a puppet on a fucking string, and he’s the one controlling you. What about Louise, huh? He doesn’t give a shit about her. What do you think he’s going to do to her when he catches up with her?” 

“I don’t know.” Reagan spoke quietly. He knew that Tyler was talking sense.

Tyler laughed. “You don’t know? Going by this fucked-up situation, I’d say he’s pretty much going to want to do away with her an’ all. He ain’t gunna leave it to chance that one day she might blab her mouth off to someone about me. Jerell doesn’t give a shit who he tramples on. Me, Louise... It’ll only be a matter of time until he comes for you too. You hadn’t thought of that, had you?” Tyler felt empowered by the fact that he could see everything playing out so clearly. Even if Louise and he were off the scene, there would still be one person left who knew the truth about Jerell. Having a gun shoved in his face had given Tyler a voice and, knowing it was do or die, he carried on talking. “Do you think that he trusts you enough not to talk? I mean, this is Mr Fucking Paranoid that we’re talking about here,” Tyler continued.

There was a silence.

“Go on. Shoot me,” Tyler said. “Shoot me, and then when you find Louise, shoot her too. Then who knows, one night you’ll be lying asleep in your bed and someone will sneak into your room and blow your brains out all over your pillow. Might be Jerell himself that does that deed. We’ll all be brown bread, and Jerell’s dirty little secret will be buried nicely along with us. Until Jerell finds another young boy.” Tyler’s eyes flashed with rage. How dare Reagan do this to him, and for what: so he could be that fucking man’s scapegoat? 

“Come on then, Reagan, fucking shoot me,” Tyler shouted now. 

“I can’t,” Reagan cried. “I can’t. I’m so sorry, Tyler. Please… I don’t know what I was thinking.” Reagan dropped the gun and fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. He didn’t know who he was anymore. He was bawling, speaking incoherently.

Tyler grabbed his chance and picked up the gun. Then he ran as fast as he could, and he didn’t look back.

“This is pointless,” Louise exclaimed, after she had been trudging around the park, following Jamie, for the best part of an hour. It was icy cold, white frosty clouds of her breath accompanied her words, hitting the night air as she spoke. 

“If we haven’t found them by now, then we’re probably not going to.” Louise hated stating the obvious, but she couldn’t help feeling like they were on a wild-goose chase. Her feet were throbbing from all the walking they had done and it probably didn’t help that she hadn’t taken her shoes off for almost forty-eight hours. Louise wasn’t cut out for living on the streets, and she hadn’t even found a place to stay tonight. “They’re probably not even here anymore,” she reasoned.

Jamie had a stubborn look on his face that indicated he wasn’t ready to give up looking. Louise understood that he desperately wanted to find Tyler, and she did too, but the chances were that he and Reagan had been and gone, and she and Jamie were now walking aimlessly around the park wasting time that they didn’t have. 

“Why don’t we go back to your car?” Louise persisted. “We can see if their car’s still there. If it is, it’s only going to be a matter of time before they come back to it; we’ve been here ages.”   

As much as he hated the idea of giving up, Jamie knew that Louise had a point. They could search this park all night, and there was still a chance that they would miss Tyler, the place was too big. If they were doing a drop, as Louise thought they were, they wouldn’t be lurking around somewhere waiting to be found, they would be on the move too.

“Okay, Louise.” Jamie sighed. “Let’s go back to the motor.”

Louise was relieved. She thought that they should have stayed in the car from the start but, as she was slowly learning, Jamie was the boss and he called the shots.

They hadn’t seen many people in the park. Which was to be expected, Jamie thought, seeing as it had gone eight o’clock, and the park was almost in darkness. The temperature had dropped too; Jamie could hear Louise’s teeth chattering as they walked in silence. 

“Are you alright?” Jamie asked. The girl hadn’t moaned once about the cold, or how tired she must be, and Jamie was impressed. Most girls would be feeling hard done by and going on about stuff like that by now.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Louise said, as she hugged her arms around herself to try and keep warm, she was looking forward to getting back to Jamie’s car and blasting her cold hands with the heater, anything that would help to stop herself from shivering.

They walked fast and within minutes they were back at the entrance to the park, where they had pulled up earlier.

“Looks like you were right then,” Jamie said, as he indicated the empty space where the Corsa had been parked. Somehow Reagan and Tyler had managed to get back here and drive away without Jamie and Louise spotting them.

“Bloody hell,” Louise said. “What a waste of time that was then.” They should have stayed in the car.

“Come on, get in.” Jamie was in no mood to hear ‘I told you so’. “I want you to show me Jerell’s place; chances are they’ve gone back there. Then I’m going to drop you at my mate's house. You need a hot cup of tea and a warm bed; you’re going to end up with flippin’ pneumonia otherwise.” Jamie looked concerned. Louise hadn’t made a fuss, but he could tell by her drooping eyes that she was exhausted. 

“What, you’re not going to let me come in with you? You can’t go in on your own, Jamie. Jerell’s a psycho; you don’t know him like I do.” Louise felt scared as she spoke.

“Trust me, Louise. I know exactly what I’m dealing with. I'll be going in there alone.” He started the engine and concentrated on driving. Louise could tell that once again the conversation was over. Jamie had a way of cutting her dead when he didn’t want to discuss things further; it was starting to do Louise’s head in. He was bloody stubborn.

“Who’s your friend then?” Louise hoped she wouldn’t be left with that bloody Shay again. He was harmless enough, she guessed, but she didn’t fancy another session of him talking about nothing but himself.

“Gary. He’s a nice bloke; he’s got a spare room. He won’t mind you being there for a night.” 

Louise didn’t want to intrude on some poor bloke she didn’t know. But then, she didn’t have much choice. It wasn’t like she had any other option. 

***

Letting himself in with the key that Gary had given him, Jamie walked quietly through the hallway, Louise cautiously following. Jamie had pre-warned her that Gary was recovering from surgery, and Jamie wanted to keep the noise down in case he was in bed.

He shouldn’t have worried; as he opened the lounge door, he saw Gary and Les sprawled out on the settee like an old married couple, Gary had a blanket over his legs and they were both cradling mugs of tea.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were bringing someone back,” Gary said, sitting up, surprised to see a beautiful girl standing behind Jamie. Gary had never had the privilege of meeting any girlfriend of Jamie’s, the boy was so private that Gary had never even heard him even mention that he was seeing anyone. And he certainly hadn’t expected him to bring somebody back to his own house. The girl looked nice, though, Gary thought, quite young, but nice all the same.

Realising that Gary assumed Louise was his girlfriend, Jamie immediately put him right; Louise would be cringing at the thought of an old git like him being mistaken for her boyfriend. “This is my friend Louise, Gary; she’s got herself in a bit of bother. I said it would be okay to put her up here for the night: she can have my room. I wouldn’t ask, only it’s getting late and she hasn’t got anywhere else to go.” Jamie wished he had rung Gary beforehand, and felt bad that he was putting him on the spot, whilst Louise was standing there no doubt feeling awkward.

“Of course, Jamie, that’s fine with me,” Gary said, not batting an eyelid. Jamie wouldn’t ask for a favour unless he really needed one, and as always Gary was happy to help him out. He had seemed to have so much on his mind lately. Maybe this girl had something to do with it.

Les, however, scoffed at Gary being so accommodating whenever it came to Jamie. 

“Well, it’s not really ideal letting someone stay at the moment, is it, Jamie? I mean, Gary’s only just back on his feet.” Les was fuming. Jamie was taking the piss bringing some stranger to Gary’s house without warning and expecting him to put the girl up was out of order, especially in Gary’s condition. Jamie was a selfish bastard.

“No, no. Don’t be silly, Les. Any friend of Jamie’s is a friend of mine. And if she needs a place to stay for the night, she’s more than welcome,” Gary insisted. “Take a seat, love.” Gary wanted to make the girl feel comfortable.

Louise sat on the chair nearest to her. Gary, who could tell that she was cold as her nose was red, asked if she wanted a cup of tea. Louise nodded gratefully. She had never known why English people drank so much tea, but right now, she could understand it. A nice cup of tea would really help warm her up.

“Bung the kettle on, will you, Les,” Gary said, ignoring Les’ grumpy face. 

Les stomped to the kitchen, like a child that had just had his toys taken away from him. 

Jamie shook his head at the man’s temper tantrum, but kept his thoughts to himself. He didn’t want to cause Gary any grief, especially when he was being so good by allowing Louise to stay the night.

“Gary, I’ve got to go out for a bit. Is it okay for Louise to stay here?” Jamie knew that he was taking the mickey out of Gary’s kind nature, but he didn’t have any choice. He needed to get over to Jerell’s to see if Tyler was okay, and he didn’t want to get anyone else involved this time. He had to sort this mess out once and for all.

“No worries,” Gary said, “as long as you don’t mind watching The Apprentice, Louise. That Alan Sugar cracks me up, ruthless old bastard he is.” Gary laughed and smiled over at Louise. 

Seeing Louise return the smile, Jamie was relieved to see that she looked happy enough in Gary’s company.

“Les,” Gary shouted in the direction of the kitchen. “See if there’s any of that cake left out there, would ya? Bring Louise in a nice big slice with her tea, yeah?” Gary winked at Jamie; they both knew that Les would be rolling his eyes to the heavens out in the kitchen. He wasn’t happy unless he was moaning, and where Jamie was concerned he was always moaning. Jamie could imagine Les slamming around out there. He could be a diva when he put his mind to it; Mariah Carey, eat your heart out.

“Right then.” Jamie felt less guilty at leaving Louise with Gary and vice versa. “I’ll leave you two to it. If you get tired, Louise, have a sleep in my bed.” 

Louise blushed as Gary raised his eyebrows at Jamie’s suggestion, and not wanting to give the man any ideas, Jamie added: “I’ll take the sofa.”

Stepping out into the dark streets, Jamie walked to his car, leaving the warmth of Gary’s cosy house behind him.

Jamie parked in the next street to the house that Louise had pointed out as belonging to Jerell, and decided to do the rest of the journey on foot. Now he was alone he sprinted, desperately wanting to get to Jerell’s house. He prayed that Tyler would be there; that he would be okay.  

***

The house was peaceful. Jerell had spent the last two hours smoking weed whilst listening to tunes on the stereo. He was chilled out; for the first time in ages he had the place to himself; for once he truly appreciated the stillness around him.

The boys had been told in no uncertain terms that they were not to return to the house unless they had Louise in tow, so for now Jerell was just going to lay back and chill, while he waited for the boys to fetch the girl to him. There weren’t too many places that she could be; it would only be a matter of time until somebody found her. His boys were like sniffer dogs, it wouldn’t take them long to get her out from wherever she was hiding.

After the way Louise had run rings around him by disappearing, and disrespecting him, Jerell felt that he had been left with no choice but to make an example of her. These boys couldn’t be getting ideas in their heads about going up against him. He needed to retain control.

Forgetting his troubles for now, though, he closed his eyes, and let the music transport him, as it always did, to thoughts of home. The reggae sounds had a way of soothing his soul. He settled back in the chair and got swept away by the musical vibes.

Tonight his happy thoughts of home were overcast by difficult feelings about his grandma. Jerell had been in England for almost six months, and he knew that she would be worried. She was the only person that had been there for him no matter what, and he was ridden with guilt for leaving her without saying goodbye, but he knew if he had, she would have begged him not to go.