Pony Boy Ch. 10

"What the fuck... Hang on, I'll just lock up here." Tracy went back into the office and shut the safe. When she re-emerged she locked the office door and we set off towards where the sound had come from.

There it was again, an obvious cry of pain.

"I don't like the sound of that. Whoever it is shouldn't be here. This place should be empty. Come on, Ben but keep quiet. I want a butcher's without being spotted if that's possible."

We turned a corner and there, at the other end of the warehouse, was a group of people stood around two chairs, two occupied chairs. The two bodies slumped in the chairs would have fallen off if they weren't tied down. Their bloody faces and blood soaked clothes made it immediately clear exactly what was going on. They were on the receiving end of a severe beating; so severe that it was hard to tell who they were, especially from that distance.

There was one of those frozen moments. Both Tracy and I knew we should run but we were like rabbits in the headlights. I thought I had been hardened by my time as a ponyboy but nothing could have prepared me for this. I couldn't help it, my stomach lurched and I vomited, loudly. The group looked up and saw us just as we recognised the battered and bleeding figures of Mr Mason and Archie.

"Run!" Tracy screamed as she turned and headed for the door. I didn't need to be told twice. We had quite a start over the guys who were chasing us and I intended to keep it that way. I heard a couple of bangs and the sound of bullets ricocheting but no one was going to hit anything with a handgun at that distance and it just served to spur me on.

My time in the gym served me well and I was out to the loading bay in no time. I'd already fished out my car keys and was busy pressing the remote locking and I was still several yards away when the flashing indicators told me it was unlocked. I leapt in and shoved the key in the ignition. When I looked up Tracy was just emerging. I drove round to meet her and hardly stopped as she tugged open the door and jumped into the passenger seat. With a squeal of tires I headed for the gate. I may or may not have heard gun shots but by then I was simply concentrating on getting out of there.

"Slow down!" Tracy ordered.

"We've got to get away."

"Too right we've got to get away but that means we don't want to be stopped for speeding."

That made sense so I slowed down to thirty.

"Down there."

I followed Tracy's directions and we got hopelessly lost in some housing estate.

"We should have stayed on the main roads," I said in despair.

"Fuck that. We need to get lost and that means keeping off the main roads. Hang on a bit and I'll get my sat-nav working."

As I drove in aimless circles she played with her phone and then, at last, we had a route.

"Where are we going?"

"You just drive and, for fuck's sake, keep to the speed limits. If we get stopped we're dead meat. Why on earth did you have to spew your guts like that?"

"I didn't mean to."

She gave me a long hard look.

"I guess not. But I've got to vanish and I've got to take you with me. You're a good lad, Ben, but you're a liability. They got a good look at the both us and, even if they hadn't you can be sure they got your car registration. That means they'll soon know exactly who you are and where you live. If they get hold of you then the first question they'll ask will be about me and, with the best will in the world, it will take all of thirty seconds before you're spilling your guts. We've got to disappear. Both of us."

"In which case I need to make a quick detour."

"How quick?"

"Ten minutes tops. We're nearly there already."

Despite Tracy's protests I drove to the college playing fields and parked up. Thankfully, mid-morning, it was as deserted as the warehouse should have been. Now I knew why Jed had been so insistent. I found my stash and ran back to the car.

"What the fuck's that?"

I tossed the package into Tracy's lap, got in, and started driving. She opened up the Tupperware box and looked inside.

"Jesus, there must be over ten grand here."

"Thirteen seven fifty last time I counted."

"Five grand gets you out of the country. You can keep the other eight."

I was about to complain but, what the heck.

"OK. Now, where exactly are we going?"

Tracy led us a roundabout route which used most of the lanes of south Essex, Finally, after what seemed like hours, we drove down a narrow muddy track which ending up in a boatyard out on the north bank of the Thames. A handful of yachts rested on the mud but basically the place looked empty and deserted. We got out of the car and went to the back door of the house that overlooked it all. Tracy knocked on the door and we waited.

"Hello, Trace. What brings you here?" A man, as rough and battered as the boatyard emerged not from the house but from one of the sheds. He was dressed in oily overalls and had the look of someone interrupted in their work.

"Hi, Uncle Jimmy. Can we go inside?"

"Of course, doll. Is there a problem?"

"We need to vanish. Soon as."

"We'll have to wait for the tide. Couple of hours, OK?"

"Yeah, I guess we're safe for a couple of hours."

"And what about the car?"

"That needs to go as well."

"In which case let's get it undercover first."

Uncle Jimmy had me park the car in one of the many sheds around the yard and then he took Tracy and I over to the house. As we sat over a cup of tea at the kitchen table Tracy told him the full story.

"You've got yourself a spot of bother there, Trace. You really have got to lay low for a while. I've got some friends over in Holland who owe me a few favours and I can ask them to look after you, no problem. What about sonny Jim here?"

"I... I've got an idea where I might go."

"Out of the country?"

"Yeah. Tracy said you might be able to get me to Holland and, tomorrow, if you can get me to an airport then I'll do the rest."

"Yeah, I can do that."

A couple of hours later the tide started to fill the creek. In the meantime Uncle Jimmy had been getting a thirty foot fishing boat ready for sea. Just to make things perfect a light autumn mist was falling and, as we slipped out of the creek the light was ebbing from the day. I stood at the aft rail and watched the English coast disappear into the gloom. Tracy came out and joined me.

"How long before we can return?"

"I dunno. We saw what we saw and Harry Applegate isn't the sort to forget in a hurry. I'm not sure if he got a good look at me but he definitely knows who you are by now. Never might be too long - for either of us. Oh, and don't go contacting your family either. It's best that they don't know. Sorry, kid, I know it's hard but that's the way it goes, sometimes. Just be thankful we got out of there before Harry caught us."

"What's going to happen to Mr H, or Carl, or Rog, or any or the others?"

"Mr H? A slimy toad like that one will be just fine. Harry will need someone to run the business just the way Andy Mason did. As for the lads, they'll hardly notice the difference."

"Look, Ben," she continued. "I'm not going to ask you where you're going but treat this as your lucky break. Mr Mason was never going to let you go but he'll be dead by now and, as long as you keep out of the country and don't do anything stupid Harry Applegate isn't going to find you. Wherever you go, keep your head down, keep your nose clean and enjoy your freedom. That's what I'm going to do. Now, I'm going back to the cabin. It's fucking freezing out here."

That night we slipped into a boatyard that was almost identical to Uncle Jimmy's except that the signs were in Dutch. While Uncle Jimmy and Tracy were greeted like long lost cousins the locals were somewhat cooler towards me. Sure, everyone was very friendly but it was quite clear that they wanted me out of there as soon as possible. They let me stay the night but, first thing the next morning, I was taken to Rotterdam and dropped at the station. I was all alone but I knew where I was heading. I bought a ticket for the next train to the airport. It was time to see if my guess was right.

Some time later

It was mid afternoon and we both knew we had things to do but, somehow, there is always time for love. The weather was hot, baking hot, so we took it long and languorous but we both knew where this was heading, we both knew what we wanted.

"Oh, god, yes. Like that, oh, please, like that, fill me up, all the way, all the way in."

There are few better things in life than the feeling when the love of your life slides inside you. That full feeling as, inch by inch, he plunders your well lubricated. backside. I know I will never, ever, get bored of it. Making love, being loved, sharing love, what could be better.

"Like that do you?"

"Yes, yes, you know I do. Harder, please, oh my love, fill me up. Oh yes, I love you, I love you so much my darling, darling, oh, please..."

He took his time, moving within me, slowly, strongly, building towards his climax, building towards our climax, thrusting, thrusting, until...

"Oh yes, oh yes, like that, my darling, my love. Come for me, come for me. Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh Jed!"

With a deep groan that seemed to come from the very heart of him, Jed came inside me. One, twice, three times he pushed himself deep inside me before he was finished. Then he just lay there, still inside, while we both got our breath back Being loved by Jed is the best ever. It's all I could ever wish for.

We lay together for a while and if we could, we would have laid there all day. However, we both had things to do. The business wouldn't run itself; Jed had the bar to restock and Belle had a new gown to try out ready for tonight's show. Buying Belle's specialised outfits wasn't quite as easy here in Tenerife but the internet and mail order helped keep Belle the best dressed drag act on the island.

I snuggled up closer to Jed, safe and secure in his arms, and recalled the journey that had ended up here, wrapped in the arms of my lover, as happy and content as I could be.

I'd known where I had to go right from the moment Tracy had opened up my stash on that mad dash from London. While she had been counting the notes and inspecting my passport all I could see was the postcard, the one I had rescued from the wreck of fortress Jed. He'd never talked about it but it had been plain as day how important it was to him. I'd put two and two together and just knew I was making four. From Rotterdam I had flown to Madrid and then, from Madrid on to Tenerife. OK, once I got to the island it wasn't quite that simple, there are quite a few bars in quite a few resorts but I had taken my time and, as soon as I had found it I knew that I had come home.

Belle's Bar. There it was. My name in lights. I went inside and looked around. Nothing fancy, just a bar but nice, tidy and with a little stage at the far end, a little stage just right for...

"I was wondering when you were going to turn up. What took you so long?" Jed appeared from a room behind the bar. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"Oh, Jed, it's perfect."

He came out from behind the bar and I ran over to meet him. Jed! Jed! My Jed! Oh, how I had missed him. We hugged and hugged and hugged. I was never, ever, going to let him go again.

He closed up there and then, quite happy to lose a day's takings while we made up for lost time. And then, when we were finally sated he showed me around the bar, and the apartment that went with. It was not The Birdcage, it was never going to be The Birdcage, but it was everything I wanted. After a few very basic questions we both just knew that the past was the past. There were things we would never refer to, things that we would never, ever, go back to. We had Belle's Bar, we had the Tenerife weather and, most of all, we had each other.

So, let us leave Jed and Tom to share their lives under the Canarian sunshine and if you happen to be in Tenerife and happen to stumble across Belle's Bar go on in. Jed mixes a mean cocktail and Belle's act is most nights at nine. Have a great time but please, don't tell Harry Applegate!