Griff's Grief

He felt he could be walking on eggshells as Mary had never spoken of her arrangement with Dougie. Neither did he want her to misconstrue his plan as a marriage proposal. So once again he left it to discuss another day.

The nightcap encouraged the pair to kiss and remove each other's clothes. Soon they were both naked on the thick rug In front of the warm fire. Mary led there like a goddess, with the light from the flames of the fire danced across her body. Mary personified everything Griff wanted a highland woman to be, voluptuous, passionate and with flaming red hair.

Griff felt like a broken, tired old man compared to her, even though he was younger, but she adored him and cared for him, so he was happy.

Soon she pulled him into her, opening her legs as they coupled and writhed together. For a change they were in no rush and able to linger and enjoy their passion, soaking in their pleasures. This time there was no screaming, just moaning and then the bear hug post-sex grip.

"Mmm, that was lovely... A lovely way to end the day... Griff, do you love me?"

"Of course, Mary Doll..."

"You don't say it though?"

"Well, I'm not a man of many words, I'm here for you."

"That's not what I asked."

"Mary Doll, I love you. You are my wonderful highland goddess and I will fix your washing machine anytime you like," He joked.

"You're not bothered about who I am married to?"

"Nope... You said you had an arrangement and if you're happy then I'm happy. Anyway, he is over a decade away."

"I'm glad. Until I met you, it was like I had a pile of manure on my back, with people shunning me because of him."

"So why don't you get a divorce?"

"I told you, we had an agreement and I've also told you not to ask me about that."

"So, what is this agreement?"

"Trust me. Please? Ignore what people say, they don't know Dougie as I do."

They left it at that. As the fire died down, they ran naked up the cold stairwell into bed to sleep.

BANG, BANG, BANG... A thunderous thumping came from the front door in the early hours of the morning.

BANG, BANG, BANG...

"MARY..." Came a muffled shout from outside.

"Fuck, who is that? Shuggie and Rab aren't due until nine?" Swore Griff, seeing it was only barely past seven.

Griff rose out of bed, went to the window and pulled the curtains back. He opened the window to the driving icy wind and leaned out to see who was banging on the door so early on a Sunday morning. Griff saw an absolute barrel of a man, six-foot-tall and six-foot-wide, looking up at him wild-eyed.

"Who the fuck are you?" Griff asked.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? In my house? When I get in, I'll batter you to death," The stranger screamed at him.

Mary, recognising the voice, turned white as a sheet.

Exclaiming to Griff, "Griff... It's Dougie, what the fuck?... He has another ten years..." Mary went into shock.

Griff went into full flight mode, hoping to survive beyond the next five minutes. He ran past Mary, to the bathroom, he opened the window and leapt out grabbing the soil pipe.

He had always joked that this was the best escape route for any errant lover. The cast iron soil pipe ran down from the vent above in the guttering, past the bathroom window and toilet, down to the sewer below. The pipe gave Griff a perfect firefighter's pole to escape down.

The cast-iron pipe was freezing to the touch, and the rough brickwork tore at Griff's bare feet and knees as he scrambled down. As soon as he landed on the frozen ground he ran, over the garden, between the new concrete fence posts and across the field beyond.

Unfortunately, the stubble from the harvested field cut into his feet. But Griff couldn't slow down or stop, his feet pumped as did his adrenalin. He wanted to save his bacon, expecting to hear a shotgun or a dog at his heels. He could have beaten Usain Bolt across that field.

Shuggie's house was in the distance and Griff Hoped he was awake. Behind him, he could hear Mary screaming and a loud voice bellowing. Griff leapt over the barbed wire fence on the far side of the field, landing on the tarmac road. He turned and ran away from the village to feign a direction out of the village, knowing a path that would cut back behind Shuggie's place.

A car coming the other way nearly crashed, as the naked Griff streaked towards it with his family jewels swinging. He darted down a path to surprise an early dog walker, who threatening to set his dog on the pervert. Finally, he leapt over the fence behind Shuggie's house, to bang on the door.

"Shuggie... Shuggie... For fuck's sake, it's Griff... Get your car keys and get me out of here..."

The back door opened to reveal Penny and their daughter peeking around the door frame. Both squealed in shock to see Griff stood there naked with blood running down his knees. The blood had also smeared across other parts of him as he tried to warm himself up with his hands.

"What the fuck, Griff? What have you done...?" Penny screamed as Shuggie pushed past.

"Oh, for fuck's sake? What on earth?... Wait until I tell the lads." Shuggie laughed, but seeing Griff's face, the inevitable answer crept over his face.

"Wee Dougie's home..." Griff Panted.

"Let me in, I'm fucking freezing," Griff begged.

Shuggie dragged him in through the door and sent his daughter to get a blanket.

"Shuggie, get me home, fast, get your car out... I am fucked... He's not due out for ten years... oh fuck... fuck."

"What about Mary?" Penny asked.

"I don't know, all I could hear screaming and shouting behind me as I ran across the field..."

"I'll go see how she is..." Penny offered.

"NO, are you mad? Dougie will know I am here then. Please get me home... Shit, I left my phone... shit... shit..."

Then Shuggie's phone rang...

"It's from you?" Penny said as she was about to accept the call.

"STOP, are you fucking mad? Ignore it. Don't answer any phones until I'm long gone... It's a Sunday and you're lying in... If they turn up then lie, tell them Shuggie's helping a sick friend in Dundee this morning," Griff pleaded.

"You're in a bucket of shite of your own making. I warned you... Didn't I warn you?... Even last night, I bloody warned you," She said as her phone rang.

"It's Mary, I have to answer."

"NO, you fucking don't, please I like my knee caps... Give me a head start. Does Mary know where you live?" Griff asked in a panic.

"No, I don't think so. She knows where my parents live though."

Shuggie returned with his coat on and a spare coat with a woollen blanket, laughing his head off. Griff wrapped himself in the rug, pulled the coat on and followed Shuggie to his car. Penny appeared with a pair of wellingtons and large socks as they climbed into the car. Shuggie tore the blanket covers off the windscreens and turned the engine on.

Shuggie crept the car out of the drive and turned the long way out of the village, so they wouldn't pass Dougie coming the other way. Once out of the village, he put his foot down. As soon as they arrived at Griff's house, Griff grabbed everything he needed, even his hidden stashes of holiday and emergency money. That was the last time he saw his house.

He dressed in Shuggie's car and got him to take him to work. He could hide there and arrange a hotel for the night. With unlimited overtime, no one would bat an eyelid at his arrival looking haggard on a Sunday. There was also a first-aid post that wouldn't ask questions and a canteen.

That weekend felt like a lifetime ago now, as Griff watched the street coming to life. Dawn had come and gone with another day before him. Being a Saturday he needed to plan his next bolt hole, he had gotten lazy and like a pool player; he needed to plan three or four shots ahead. He made himself a cup of tea and herbal tea for Chantal.

He placed the tea on the bedside cabinets and checked the street one last time as he pulled the curtains closed. He stripped naked and slipped under the duvet, unwittingly waking her.

"Cup of tea, love?" He innocently asked.

"Mmm lovely thanks, when did you come back to bed?"

"Oh ages ago," he lied.

Griff knew there was no chance of morning sex as she didn't have a spontaneous bone in her body. She planned sex in the smallest detail.

Griff needed to hunt down options. He drank his tea whilst checking emails and texts. He had lost so many of his contacts when he left his phone back at Mary's. Thankfully, his phone didn't contain work contacts as they were in his little black book rescued from his house, enabling him to stay one jump ahead of Dougie.

But there was no good news, so he started logging into the various B&B sites he had bogus accounts with, to see what was available.

The problem with temporary cash in hand jobs he had to accept lower-paid jobs. Four months ago in Rosyth, he was on double what he was earning in London. The thought of giving up and returning ran through his head nearly every day now. But gangsters had long memories and had seen the results of a kneecapping when he was a kid, and it isn't pretty.

As it is Griff can't run straight it was a wonder how he had escaped across the field from Mary's that morning. As a teenager, he and his mates would steal and joy ride mopeds or motorbikes. One day he couldn't shake the coppers off. So he dumped the bike and ran. The copper had no chance against him as a teenager. Running through an old housing estate, he ended up fenced in, so he leapt the nearest fence.

Unfortunately, a railway cutting was on the other side. He dropped over thirty feet to land onto railway ballast. He broke both his ankles, lying there screaming with the coppers laughing at him over the fence. His ankles never set straight, which was the major reason the Army and Navy rejected him, and he joined the Merchant Navy instead.

The only industry available to him back home was coal mining, and he didn't want to end up like his dad or granddad. The Merchant Navy was the making of him, ironically giving him the skills that kept him in work now.

After a while, he found two probable B&B's, using google earth he was happy with their locations and the web pages appeared as if they were both female single landladies. So that would be tomorrow's job.

Today he promised to take Chantal into central London. There was a green, vegan, LGBTQ+, Anti-something protests that she wanted to go to. The rally would be the perfect cover to be out and about without looking over his shoulder for a change. He could relax as there was no way Dougie would be anywhere near such a London centric rally. Maybe if it was a fascist bastard rally but not this.

Eventually, Chantal was ready. They walked to the nearest underground station, joining the Saturday throngs going into central London to shop. When they reached the station closest to the rallying point, she guided him out, and they emerged into a sea of jugglers, stilt walkers, banners and street vendors, as she read her phone...

"Tracey says she is over by the statue, over there," She pointed.

Through the sea of banners waving, they could see a statue, so they slowly made their way through the crowds. There were all kinds of carnival-like floats and marchers, with drumming bands, even a dancing troupe of drag artists. As they threaded along the side of the dancing drag artists, one did a double-take as Griff passed by, catching Griff's attention. He knew that look of recognition, but with all the makeup, wig and mask on, he didn't know who his accuser was.

The drag queen quickly moved out of the troupe to the other side of the road. Through the throngs and banners, Griff saw him meet two unmistakable gangster types from Glasgow soon enough. They perked up as the drag queen spoke, their eyes searching, following his finger pointing towards Griff.

'Fuck' was his first thought, the one place and time he thought he was safe. Phones were on-ears now as they were calling reinforcements, Griff had to go and now.

"Er... Chantal, I've seen an old shipmate I have to catch up with. I'll text you later."

Before she could respond he had gone, ducking into the crowd, keeping his head down, heading back to the underground steps. Before he reached the steps, he could see the two heavies already there. They hadn't seen him yet, but they still had phones glued to their ears. He doubled back into the crowd, moving with the flow, taking advantage of the waving banners to hide behind.

The crowd opened up to his right, exposing a narrow lane, with a few stragglers coming through to join the march. He dodged down the lane, once hidden by the buildings, he stood upright and jogged as best he could towards the junction at the end of the lane.

Halfway down a crowd came out of a pub, blocking his route, slowing him down. He heard his name shouted from behind him, turning he saw the two thugs and the drag queen running towards him, followed by two more thugs. Griff barged people aside he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

Passing a doorway, an enormous arm stuck out in front of him. It caught him in an old-fashioned washing line tackle under the chin. With his legs still running forward, the momentum flipped his legs up in the air with his chin caught on the arm, flipping him onto his back in the air. He crashed onto the pavement flat on his back, winding him.

He led there struggling for breath, to see five heads over him, smiling and then the enormous head of the barrel that is Wee Dougie loomed over him...

"At last we meet... Griff, you've given me a lot of grief these last four months and it is time for you to pay."

He felt four pairs of hands lift him and propel him behind Dougie into a bar. Dougie barged his way to a booth and tore the occupants out. They thrust Griff into the booth to sit opposite Dougie.

Griff was hyperventilating now and terrified. The four heavies blocked his escape route as the drag queen went to the bar.

"Hmm, Griff... Griff... Griff... What am I to do with you?" Dougie said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"You've led us a merry chase, and it's cost me a pretty penny. Our trip to Malta alone and then chasing all over the country trying to find you it's all cost us money. Even today, hotels, food, drink, it all adds up," He continued.

"But, you didn't have to... I left, so you no longer have a problem."

Griff knew this was a useless argument. But it gave him the chance to think. How on earth did they prepare to be at this rally, even the drag queen dressing up, did Chantal rat him out?

The drag queen turned up with a whiskey for Dougie and some beers for everyone but Griff. He sat down next to Griff, pulled Griff's old phone out and started texting.

"Thanks, Pete. Now, Griff, there's also my loss of face... You dallied around, showing my Mary off for the entire world to see she was adulterous. You didn't even try to hide it... This loss of face all costs, you know? How are my associates to look me in the eye?... Knowing some local Fifer jumped into bed with my loving wife? If this were Hollywood, I could claim millions in damages, so what are you offering?"

"Ah, well... Running from you has cost me too... I've incurred B&B, costs, lower pay and all for no good reason as I have a perfectly good house in Kirkcaldy without a mortgage."

Griff realised too late that arguing wouldn't cut the mustard.

"Ah, now you've brought it up. That house of yours is worth £175 grand and is a nice down payment on reparations."

"£175 grand? Market value is only £125. That's asking price not selling, so you'd be lucky to get £110, you robbing bastard."

"Well, that's the price of my compensation... £175 grand... So it's that or we have some concrete boots waiting for you at a wharf downriver... After we've done some minor surgery to those knee caps and taken some photos. We need to dissuade anyone else from crossing me."

The drag queen smiled and cut in, holding Griff's old original phone up to Dougie.

"Dougie, I have Mary now..."

"Thanks, Pete, put her on," Dougie asked.

Pete rotated the screen for them to see Mary's face on the screen and a little window with Griff and Dougie sat in the booth.

"Dougie don't kill him."

Her time delayed voice came from the phone.

"Shush, woman. We've caught our little fish... Now it's his decision whether we fillet and gut him... Or we set him loose to swim free," He laughed, "No, just joking, say your goodbyes as I think we'll be filleting this fish."

"No, Dougie, I'll never forgive you," Mary said over the phone and then Dougie motioned Pete to mute her.

"Mary, nod if you can hear me?"

Dougie waited until he saw her time delayed nod on the screen.

"So here is the deal, lover boy signs his £175 grand house over to me or we do some knee surgery and he swims with the fishes..."

"I told you it isn't worth it. When I last checked, market value is only about £125." Griff cut in.

Dougie motioned to Pete.

"He's right, boss, I checked. The same house at the end of the street was advertised for £125 earlier this year."

"Okay, so I'll offer you a discount."

Dougie unbuckled his belt and opened his jeans, to allow his ample stomach to fallout. He shuffled his jeans down to expose a huge cock shape under his boxers, dropping down one leg.

"Griff, as you had carnal knowledge of my good lady wife, then maybe you should have carnal knowledge of her husband?"

Dougie grinned at the shock on Griff's face, whilst nodding down to his crotch.

"You suck Big Dougie. Make sure he has a good time and I'll give you a fifty grand discount... Or we take you downriver, get the surgeon, take some photos and size you up for some concrete boots?"

Griff looked at the phone, seeing Mary again was a pleasure but her face said it all, he was in deep shit. She looked terrified. He looked back at Wee Dougie, then down to Big Dougie... Fuck... The four heavies still blocked any escape route, assuming he could get passed Pete the drag queen.

"Big Dougie... 50 grand Discount... Or... lose the kneecaps and swim with the fishes? Tick... Tock..."

Dougie waved a finger like a clock ticking.

"Okay, time is ticking, we need an answer or we'll take you down the wharf, once we move there is no going back..." Dougie was getting impatient.

There are many jokes about 'being in the Navy', especially after the Village People, but Griff had never done that, nor did he want too, not even for £50 grand.

"Ok, you have the house, I'll sign it over but you had better put Big Dougie away as I won't be doing that. Once back in Rosyth I can pay you back the fifty grand soon enough."

Griff haggled, hoping that was enough to compromise with Dougie.

"That wasn't the deal." Dougie looked at Mary on the phone.

"You said he was honest... Tut, Tut... Nope. Sucking on Big Dougie is the only way to get the discount... No 36 easy monthly payments. I'm not a bank or a loan shark. Those are your two options, suck on Big Dougie or we take you down the wharf."

Dougie's face was getting impatient as he sipped his whiskey, producing a big knife which he now toyed with.

Griff's mind settled on his course of action. Maybe at the wharf, he may find an opportunity to escape. They had to get him their first. But no way was he sucking that dick.

"Suck your dick? Fuck off. I'll swim with the fishes, thanks." Griff said, sealing his fate.

Dougie slowly tucked himself away, tutting and shaking his head.

"So, Mary Doll, what do you think?" Dougie asked as Pete turned the mute off, so they could now hear her.

On the screen, Mary looked unsure, with fear written all over her face. Then the screen jumped as the Wi-Fi four hundred and fifty miles away in her remote Scottish village caught up with the delay. Now the screen showed her loudly laughing, and the sound caught up...