The Scrapper (16 page)

‘Indeed it is, Sparrow. Indeed it is.’ Williams spoke through clenched teeth.

Sparrow took his hands from his trouser pockets and held them out by his sides. ‘Sorry to bring you out on a night like tonight, Mr Williams.’ Sparrow looked around while speaking, making it look as if he was checking on the weather. There was no sign of Kieran Clancy. All was quiet.

‘No problem, Sparrow.’ Simon took a step towards Sparrow. ‘Of course, I would like to be partying with Angie, but one must take care of business first!’ He sounded every inch the businessman.

‘Your wife is out partying, Sparrow, in some disco, with some young fellow stuck into her!’ Teddy goaded Sparrow, and both Morgan brothers laughed.

Simon raised a hand. ‘Now, now boys, let’s mind our manners.’

Sparrow gazed at Simon. ‘That’s okay, Mr Williams, yeh don’t expect anything from a pig but a grunt.’

Teddy made to move at Sparrow but Simon placed his hand across Teddy’s chest. ‘Easy, Teddy. I’ll take care of this.’

Sparrow’s mind was now racing. To the left over the bridge was deep water. To the right over the bridge was also deep water. He discounted these two options as points of exit. To run back from where he came meant running at least ten to fifteen yards in a straight line. This was something Sparrow didn’t particularly want to do. Between the three men they had the small bridge blocked on their side. Sparrow made the decision not to plan, but to wing it!

‘So, Mr Williams, did you bring the stuff?’ Sparrow asked.

‘Indeed I did.’ As Simon answered he dug his hands into his coat pockets. From his right-hand pocket he extracted a white envelope.

‘In this pocket I have twenty-five grand.’ Simon had obviously decided to do a commentary. He then extracted his left hand, in which there was a foil-wrapped parcel in a clear plastic bag.

‘And in this pocket,’ he was beginning to sound like a game-show host, ‘one kilo of heroin!’ He put the money and the heroin together in his left hand.

‘Great, I knew you’d bring the stuff,’ Sparrow said.

‘Yes, indeed I did – but you’re not getting it.’

The Morgan brothers smiled simultaneously, like synchronised swimmers.

Sparrow knew this, of course, but he played dumb.

‘What d’yeh mean?’ he asked, like a little kid.

Instead of answering, Simon barked at Bubbles. ‘Search him, Bubbles.’

Bubbles hurriedly walked to Sparrow and began to frisk him. As he was frisking, Simon inserted his hand into an inside pocket and pulled out a revolver.

‘This is what I brought for you, my little Sparrow.’ The pistol had a silencer on it, giving it an exaggerated length. Without further ado Simon pointed the pistol directly at Sparrow. In one movement, as Simon was squeezing the trigger, Sparrow grabbed Bubbles and turned him to face Simon. The gun spat and two slugs buried into Bubbles’s chest. Bubbles looked down at his chest and then up to Simon Williams, his face looking puzzled.

‘Mr Williams?’ were Bubbles’s last words before he passed out. Even as his body was dropping to the ground, Sparrow had taken off like a sprinter. Teddy Morgan immediately ran after him. Simon moved to the edge of the bridge and squeezed off two more shots at Sparrow. The first one ricocheted two feet in front of Sparrow as he ran; Sparrow heard the second one whizz past his ear, giving off a little bang as it broke the sound barrier. Simon Williams, still on the bridge, had gone completely crazy now.

‘Happy New Year, Sparrow! Ha, ha, ha, ha!’ he bellowed into the night air. His eyes were bulging and his face red with frenzied rage.

Very clearly and sharply from out of the bushes beside the bridge came another voice.

‘And a Happy New Year to you, Mr Williams!’

Simon Williams spun towards the source of the voice to find Kieran Clancy, Michael Malone and three uniformed policemen surrounding him, all five of them panting. Kieran Clancy was pointing a pistol at Simon. In his crazed frenzy, Simon raised his pistol, but too late! Kieran’s gun barked off
one shot. The bullet caught Simon on the shoulder, cracking his shoulder blade and tearing four inches of muscle apart as it exited. Simon Williams crumpled to the ground with a yelp.

Kieran turned to Michael. ‘Michael, put handcuffs on him and stay with him. You three fan out.’ He shouted to the other policemen: ‘And don’t shoot at anything you don’t recognise!’ This was good advice as the uniformed Gardaí were carrying uzi sub-machine guns, which they only got to carry twice a year, at most. As the Gardaí spread out, Kieran took off, sprinting in the direction he saw Sparrow and Teddy go.

Sparrow was running as fast as he could. As he was bursting through the bushes, they ripped at his face and tore his shirt, and red streaks appeared across his face and chest. He felt no pain. At first when he began to run he could hear Teddy Morgan cursing and swearing behind him; but now he heard nothing. He stopped and listened carefully; there was no sound. I must get to the street, he thought to himself. He began to head for where he saw lights. Within seconds he emerged into an open space. He found himself beside the bandstand in the centre of Stephen’s Green. In the cover of the bandstand he stopped and began to catch his breath; this was difficult as he was crouching, his breath coming in gasps. He surveyed the damage to his clothes, which were now shredded and dirty and speckled with blood. Carefully he ran his shaking hand along the scratches on his face which were oozing blood.

Once he had his breath back he began to inch his way around the bandstand. Just as he got to the steps that led up onto the platform, he heard the metallic click of a revolver
being cocked behind him. Slowly he turned. Teddy Morgan was standing no more than ten feet from him. He had a smile on his face and his right arm was extended with the pistol pointed directly at Sparrow’s head.

‘Tweet, fuckin’ tweet,’ Teddy said with a smirk.

Mickey was lying sound asleep in his bed. The only light in his bedroom was that which was spilling in from the landing, as the door was half open. Suddenly, like a flick-knife, the child shot up into a sitting position and screamed.

‘Daddy!’

He was terrified and shaking. His mother’s footsteps came pounding up the stairs. Eileen burst in the bedroom door and took Mickey in her arms.

‘Mickey, are you all right?’

Mickey put his head on her shoulder and held her tightly. ‘Daddy,’ he said softly again.

Eileen hugged her son, rubbing her hand up and down his back. ‘Shush now, Mickey, I’m sure Daddy’s fine.’ She took him by the hand and led him out of the bed and onto the landing.

‘Come on, Mickey, let’s go downstairs and turn on the television. We’ll watch all the people bringing in the New Year.’ She closed the bedroom door, which sent a puff of wind into the bedroom. This blew the curtains away from the window. They brushed lightly against the photograph of Sparrow and it toppled to the floor.

Keeping his eyes at all times on Teddy, Sparrow walked backwards up the steps of the bandstand. Teddy walked after him, keeping the distance between them. In the centre of the bandstand Sparrow stopped, his hands up like in an old cowboy movie. Teddy now walked towards him. The distance was closed down to about two yards.

‘Well, Sparrow, it’s over!’ Teddy sneered.

‘Is it, Teddy? I thought it wasn’t over until the fat lady sings?’ Sparrow was talking smart, but feeling terrified.

Teddy put his hand to the side of his head and cocked his ear in the air. In a mocking tone he said, ‘I think I hear the fat lady clearing her throat.’

From out of the darkness came another voice.

‘No, that was me. I have a cold.’ It was Froggy.

Teddy glanced with a start in the direction Froggy’s voice had come from. Froggy was standing two steps down on the bandstand steps. With Teddy distracted for a second, Sparrow lunged at him, slapping at his wrist. The two men grappled. The gun fell from Teddy’s hand and slid across the bandstand floor towards Froggy. Froggy picked it up and looked at it as the two men wrestled on the ground.

Sparrow called out, ‘Run, Froggy. Run!’

Froggy ran; he didn’t know where, but he ran anyway. He headed for the bushes, where suddenly he was tripped up and floored. Froggy found himself lying on his back with an elbow in his throat. The figure standing over him held a gun to his head and looked just as surprised as he was.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Kieran Clancy asked.

‘Hawoo. I’m Froggy. Spawoo friend. Are you a good guy or a bad guy?’

Kieran frowned at the question, and then answered it.

‘I’m a good guy.’

‘Here!’ Froggy said and handed Kieran the gun. Kieran took it and pulled Froggy to a standing position.

‘Where are they, Froggy?’ he asked. Froggy pointed in the direction of the bandstand.

Kieran ran towards the bandstand. Halfway there he could make out the two figures standing, now about three yards apart. They seemed to be just looking at each other. He slowed first and then stopped. Froggy arrived and stood beside him. On the bandstand Sparrow and Teddy remained standing apart.

‘Well, well, Teddy, no gun? Oh dear. Are we a little bit scared now?’ Sparrow goaded.

‘Scared of you? Yeh little shit!’ Teddy shouted. He lunged at Sparrow.

Sparrow sidestepped, and Teddy ran straight past him. Sparrow changed his stance to a boxing stance. Teddy smiled and threw off his overcoat.

‘Okay, little champ. Let’s see what yer made of.’ Teddy took up a boxing stance too.

The two men prowled in a circle on the bandstand. Teddy feigned a blow at Sparrow who immediately threw up his guard. Teddy laughed. Sparrow moved forward towards Teddy. After two jabs and a punch to the stomach, Teddy reeled back. But he regained his footing and wiped his mouth. There was blood on his hand. He looked down at it.

‘You’re good!’ Teddy said.

Sparrow motioned to Teddy to come forward and smiled at the man.

‘Yeh, I am, and the bad news is, Teddy, I get fuckin’ better.’

The two men closed on each other again. Sparrow got a jab off to the jaw, but his reach was not long enough. Teddy caught him with a punch to the ribs. It hurt. Teddy lunged again, this time using his sheer weight to get in a couple of jabs at Sparrow. One of them hit Sparrow across the bridge of the nose and blood began to pump from his nostrils.

Realising he couldn’t out-reach Teddy, Sparrow sprang back from Teddy’s lunging body. Teddy turned to face him again, more confident now. He began to move forward. Sparrow came in quickly, with a jab to the face and two body punches before Teddy could even gather himself.

Not many people realise it, but most fist fights or street fights last only thirty seconds. The amount of energy that’s required to fight a street fight is usually used up within that time. Teddy was a street fighter. Sparrow was not. As Teddy began to wilt, Sparrow moved in to finish him off. A left to the ribs winded Teddy, and a right-cross opened a cut beneath his left eye. Teddy reeled back against the bandstand rails.

Now furious again, Teddy lunged. Sparrow sidestepped him and Teddy went straight past again. Teddy was reeling across the bandstand, Sparrow following him staying perfectly balanced. Teddy turned to make another lunge, but took a three-punch combination from Sparrow. He was dazed, disorientated and hurting.

Sparrow went in low now and came straight up Teddy’s body with an uppercut. He heard the crunch of Teddy’s jaw
breaking, and one of Teddy’s teeth flew out of his mouth. Dazed, Teddy reeled back against the rails. Sparrow went after him, but Teddy was now beginning to slide to the ground. Sparrow hauled Teddy up with his left hand and drew back his right. He heard the crowd begin to shout: ‘Men-en-dez, Men-en-dez.’ He heard Tommy Molloy, his coach, slapping the canvas and screaming, ‘Throw the punch, throw the punch!’

Sparrow began to loosen his grip on Teddy. Over Teddy’s shoulder he could see Froggy and Kieran Clancy standing together. He looked into Clancy’s face. Kieran smiled and nodded once. Sparrow tightened his grip on Teddy’s shirt, pulled him up and drove home a fifteen-year-old punch. Sparrow’s fist made contact on the left-hand side of Teddy’s face, just between his nose and his mouth. Sparrow let go his grip on Teddy’s shirt. Teddy’s head spun, blood spurted out of his mouth and his body tumbled over the edge of the bandstand onto the snow-covered grass.

Kieran Clancy smiled. He slipped his gun back into its holster. He put Teddy’s gun into his pocket and slowly began to clap. Froggy imitated him. Sparrow, now crying, started to dance around the ring like a champ, with his hands raised in the air. Froggy joined him and danced with him in an identical pose.

Fifteen years had passed, but at last Sparrow had thrown that punch.

Mickey was sitting on the fireside chair in his pyjama bottoms and an Aston Villa tee shirt. Although the television was on and the revelry had begun in the run-up to midnight on RTE One, Mickey paid no attention. Instead, he stared into the flickering flames. Eileen entered the room with two cups of hot milk. As she came in Mickey looked up and smiled. Eileen squeezed her way into the armchair beside him and handed him his cup. Together they sat in the fireside chair sipping their hot milk.

Sparrow didn’t think there were this many police cars in Ireland, never mind around Stephen’s Green. It seemed that everywhere he looked there were flashing blue lights and white police cars. Teddy was put into a police car, with his hands tied behind his back. Bubbles was taken away in a police ambulance. A uniformed guard was handcuffed to Simple Simon Williams. They sat in the back of the ambulance. Just before the ambulance doors were closed, Sparrow met Simon’s gaze. It was cold and filled with hatred. Sparrow smiled at Simon Williams and gave him a little ‘bye, bye’ wave. The doors were slammed shut.

‘Well, that’s that, Sparrow. Lock, stock and barrel!’ Kieran Clancy slapped Sparrow on the back.