Retribution

Grabbing the baseball bat, I rushed into the house to encounter another member of the gang. He was steaming down the stairs. This one had a chain in his hand. I threw the bat low, towards his legs, at the same time I manoeuvred to the right. The bat caught his shin. He tumbled down the stairs, going head first into the front door frame, knocking himself out.

On my right was the living room when I stepped through the door. The thug with the knife confronted me. He charged me, armed stretched out, the blade pointing towards me. I spun to the side. The dagger missed me by inches. I had my hand around his fist in a split second, with a twist, I snapped his wrist. He was on the floor, curled up into a ball. Holding his hand and screaming. I made a quick sweep of the ground floor, to make sure there wasn't anyone else before going upstairs. In the kitchen, on the counter, I found a rucksack. Inside the bag were stacks of money and a clear nylon bag. The nylon bag was full of small clear sachets, inside them a white substance. It was cocaine. Taking the bag I put my hand through the strap, and then threw it over my shoulder like a teenager off to school.

I could hear commotion upstairs. The sound of the floorboards crackled. I approached the stairs, dropping the rucksack at the start of the staircase. Taking it easy, I started ascending the stairs. My eyes were fixed ahead for more gang members. When I reached the top, I tightened my grip on the baton. In front of me, there were four doors. There were two doors on the left and two on the right. I figured, three were bedrooms, and one was a bathroom. I gently turned the handle on the first door to my left, focused on what was waiting for me inside. What happened next surprised me. Someone came charging at me. He came from one of the rooms on the right. His left hand rose, gripping a machete. He ran at me, bringing the knife down when he was close enough. I moved out of the way. He missed me, causing the blade to embed into the door. I pushed him back, forcing him to release the machete. I punched him across the cheek, dazed he went down on one knee. I felt someone touch me on the shoulder. Quickly turning around I threw a punch. I stopped inches from striking the person. It was Tatiana.

"Is there any more up here? Are the other girls here?" I asked her.

She stood there frozen.

Shaking her arm, I repeated myself in a more colourful language. "Are there any more of these fuckers up here? I screamed.

"The girls are with customers. It's only him and me up here. This coward was hiding up here," she said. She looked at the goon I just brought down.

"Who's the boss?" I asked

She didn't answer. She just looked down at the thug.

I grabbed him from the back of the neck and lifted him to his feet. When I saw his face, I recognised him at once. It was the blabbermouth from Alexandra Palace. "Move it asshole," I said. I started pushing him to walk ahead of me.

"What should I do?" Tatiana asked. Fear was written all over her face. "What are you going to do with Jimmy? Are you going to take him to the police?"

"Don't worry about Jimmy." I pushed him harder to go down the stairs. "You're free to go. Get out of here. You have a clean slate now," I said to Tatiana.

"What about me?" Jimmy asked.

Without answering, I grabbed him and dragged him down the stairs. I snatched the rucksack on our way out of the house. We walked through the front garden, avoiding bodies on the ground. He watched his gang members, all of them helpless on the pavement, holding their limbs. Once we were out on the street, I noticed a majority of the houses around us had their lights on. I forced my knee into his groin, making him drop onto his knees. Taking the nylon bag out of the rucksack, I emptied the contents over him. Sachets with cocaine covered him from head to toe.

"This is what you're going to do Jimmy. You and your friends are going to disappear from this area. I do not care where to, and I do not want to know. If our paths cross and I learn you are up to your old tricks. There will be consequences," I said each word slowly and clearly.

He just looked up at me.

Grabbing him from the throat, I lifted him onto his feet. I forced my fist into his ribs. The force of the punch lifted him off the ground. "Are we clear?" I screamed.

He nodded his head.

When I looked around me, many of the neighbours had come out of their houses. They stood in silence, waiting to see what I would do next. I made eye contact with a man not more than ten metres away. He smiled, nodding his head slowly.

I nodded back, grabbed the rucksack and ran. The sound of police sirens in the distance made me sprint faster back to the church.

Chapter 9

As soon as I got back to St Barnabas, I locked myself in my room. I ripped off the clothes I was wearing and jumped into the shower. I scrubbed my body clean from any evidence I had on me. The clothing I had on I dumped in a black garbage bag, to get rid of later. All these items needed to be destroyed. My adrenaline was still high. I emptied the contents of the rucksack onto the bed, covering the bedspread with money. It took me a while to separate the notes into their category and count it. There was over £10,000 in cash. I didn't get any shut-eye until the early hours of Sunday morning.

The loud knock on the door woke me up. Grabbing my watch, it showed a few minutes after eleven. I could hear in the background the sound of the clergymen, they were reading from the bible. It can't be Father Petrou at the door. He will be in church.

There was more knocking on the door. "Give me a minute!" I shouted. I quickly slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. I splashed some water on my face then brushed my hair back. Turning to look at the bed, I gazed at the black garbage bag and the rucksack. I pushed both items under the bed.

A female voice in broken English shouted, "Open door. I know you there."

"Ok, I'm coming!" I yelled.

When I opened the door, Tatiana stood there in front of me. She was the last person I expected to see this morning. She rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them up. I looked thoroughly to see if she was with anyone. She was alone.

"You invite in or I stand in cold," she said.

I stared at her for a moment before I stepped aside, making way for her to come inside. She slowly walked into the room. She gave the place a quick scan, before she walked up to the bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

"How do you know where I live?" I asked her.

"After you leave, police come, many police," she said.

"That wasn't my question. I want to know how you found out where I live!" I demanded, raising my voice.

"Don't worry, only me." She smiled.

I smiled back. Shaking my head

Tatiana tried to explain to me, what happened after I'd left. The neighbours delayed in calling the police so that I could get away. As soon as Jimmy heard the sirens, he got into his car and drove out of Gladstone Avenue. Some gang members did the same. Whoever was left behind was arrested when the police arrived.

She laughed. She said, "Many police come. Neighbours say." She was thinking to find the right word before she continued. "Many man come and they fight."

"The neighbours said to the police that it was a gang-related incident?" I said.

"Yes, yes," she replied.

We occultly sat and looked at each other for a moment.

"Where are you staying?" I said.

"Staying?" She gazed at me with a confused look on her face.

I tried again. "Where are you going to live?" I said slowly. With a hand gesture, I drew a house on the bed mattress with my finger.

"With friend, Kilburn. You know Kilburn," she said.

I nodded my head.

I pulled the rucksack from under the bed, opened it and pulled out a bundle of money. I counted £2000 and gave it to Tatiana. She watched me put the rest of the money in the bag. "Is everything ok? Do you need more money?" I said.

"No." Her vision went from the bag to my face. Her eyes were moist. She said, "You good man. Money goes to Salvation Army. You help many times." Leaning forward, she kissed me on the cheek.

She got up and walked over to the door.

"Tatiana, we have to work on your English, if we're going to keep on meeting like this," I smiled.

She smiled back, opened the door and left.

The church was full. It was over spilling with Christians wanting to get inside. They had to pay the price for coming to church late as I did. Everyone went quiet as the Orthodox Archbishop said a speech after the service. I watched the masses around me, consisting mostly of families. In the crowd, two individuals stuck out like flies in milk. They were CID. I turned to look onto the street. Parked on a double yellow line was a black BMW 5 series. I smiled to myself. These guys make their presence visible wherever they go.

The Archbishop's speech dragged on for a while. It was the same speech you hear every time you go to church. 'The church needs money for its up keeping'. After his talk, the small silver trays appeared for people to put donations. When his lecture had finished, he began making his way to the exit. It took him a while to go through the crowd, to get to the vehicle waiting for him outside. Every woman who was over sixty-years-old blocked his path, asking him for his blessing. When he got to his Mercedes limo, his driver held the back seat door open, as Father Petrou helped him to get inside. A few minutes later, the limo disappeared around the corner. The crowd also scattered like ants under attack, going in different directions. A few stayed inside the church to pray. There were also two clergymen from St. Mary's Church who had come to help. They were inside the church, finishing off their duties. Father Petrou was outside his office. He was speaking with the two detectives.

Father Petrou looked over at me. "Tony can you come to my office please!" he called.

Without saying anything, I walked over. Father Petrou introduced me to Detective Smith and Detective Brown. They took over the conversation. They explained to both of us about the events of the previous night, not getting into too many details.

"You go jogging late at night Tony? Did you go last night?" Father Petrou said.

The two detectives turned their attention to me.

"Yes. I went between one and two," I said.

"Did you see anything suspicious while you were running? Maybe you saw some cars going over the speed limit or a group of men that were acting suspiciously?" Detective Smith said.

I shook my head. "I did hear police sirens, but I didn't think much of it. Saturday night, you guys are always busy," I said. Trying to look as calm as possible.

Detective Brown said, "Tell me about it. Saturday nights are a handful, especially with Christmas coming up."

Father Petrou and I nodded our heads in agreement with him.

We all exchanged hand gestures. Detective Brown said, "If you remember anything from Saturday, don't hesitate to call us." Both of them handed me their cards, with their details.

"Sure, detectives." Taking the cards, I put them in my jeans back pocket.

I watched them both get into the beamer and drive off. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank God they are gone," I said to myself. Father Petrou came next to me. He stroked his beard.

"Is everything ok, Tony?" he said.

"Do you accept confessions over a cup of coffee, Father?" I said.

"Put on the kettle. I need to check on the clergymen, to make sure they are ok. I'll see you in the kitchen in a few minutes."

We sat opposite each other at the kitchen table. My eyes were glued on my cup, watching the steam rise from the hot beverage. I could sense Father Petrou watching me. "You win at chess with checkmate. That means your opponent's king is helpless," I quietly said. I wrapped my hands around my cup, warming up my palms. "That is what happened to their leader last night. He was helpless."

"You saw what happened last night?" he asked.

"I confessed to my friend exactly what happened during the night. Telling him in detail what I did. I made myself clear that I was not there to kill anyone, but to scare them. When I finished, he was speechless. We finished our beverages in silence before we went to my room. He stood there rubbing his neck, watching me retrieve the rucksack and the garbage bag from under the bed. I showed him the money that was in the bag.

"This is drug money Father, I stole it from them," I said.

"You took it from them, you didn't steal it," he insisted. He looked at the garbage bag. "What's in the black bag?"

"The clothes I was wearing last night. I need to destroy them."

"How much money is there?" he asked.

"£8000."

He blew out a light whistle. He just stood there, staring at the two bags. He said, "This is what we're going to do." He walked up to the bags, grabbing both of them. "I'll get rid of the clothes. The money we'll use it for the community." He walked out of the room, left me standing there, speechless.

I decided for the rest of the day I would spend some time with my wife. It gave me great joy when I saw my mother-in-law beside my wife's bed when I got to the hospital. She held Julie's hand as she gently wiped her arm, with a wet tissue. She whispered something in Julie's ear, which I didn't hear. I stood back, letting Maria have the moment with her daughter.

When my mother-in-law noticed me, she smiled. She walked over to me, kissing me on the cheek. She whispered, "Hello, Tony." She looked and sounded exhausted.

I took her hand, squeezed it lightly, rubbing my thumb on the back of her hand. "You look very tired," I said.

"Watching Julie like this, every day, it's just killing me, Tony," she said. Her eyes moist, she was ready to cry.

At that moment, the doctor on duty interrupted us. She said, "I will need you to wait outside for a few minutes. I need to check the patient."

"Would you like a coffee," I said to Maria.

With our beverages, we sat outside the ward. We sipped on our hot drinks, from a distance we watched the doctor perform her duty.

"I've never seen my father-in-law at the hospital," I said. "You must come at different times, that way; someone is here with Julie at all times." I found it odd that I had never seen him at the hospital.

"He's busy, that's why he couldn't come today." She quickly got up. "The doctor has finished with Julie," she said. She started making her way back to my wife's bed.

We both took turns with Julie, reading to her and speaking to her. My mother-in-law asked me at least half-dozen times when I'll be going back home. I would give her the same answer every time.

"When Julie goes home, I will too."

We both stayed until visiting time was over. Maria gave me a lift back home. We chatted all the way to Wood Green. Spending the day together, seemed to bring our morale up. It was good to see my mother-in-law smile again.

She stopped the car outside the church. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you for spending the day with Julie," she said. She embraced me, holding me there.

"Don't worry Julie is strong, she will get over this," I whispered, trying to comfort her. "I will see you in two days, on Christmas Day at the hospital. I want to spend the day with Julie." I kissed her on the cheek before I got out of the car.

I stood there for a moment, just gazing at the dark silhouette of the church. That is when I saw the shadowy figure of someone sitting on the steps. I began to walk towards the person, still not sure who it was. When he spoke, I knew who it was.

"Where the fuck was you, bro? It's fucking freezing," he said.

I looked behind him at the church entrance. "Chris?" I said.

"I'm sorry for swearing bro. Bad habit I picked up when I was inside."

"It's late. What are you doing here?" I said with concern in my voice.

"We need to talk, also I want to show you something," he said.

I gestured him to the small kitchen next to the church. Once inside, I turned the gas to warm up the small space. I filled up the electric kettle and waited for the water to boil.

"Tea or coffee?" I said.

"Black coffee, no sugar."

I prepared two cups with a teaspoon of coffee in each. The water started to make the growling sound before it starts to boil. At that moment, Chris said something. I heard the last two words. "Found them." The switch on the kettle clicked. The water had boiled.

"Found who?" I asked.

"I asked around for you, did a bit of poking around, if you know what I mean. I visited some friends in the joint." He retrieved an envelope from inside his jacket. He threw it on the table top, only a couple of feet away from my reach. I just stared at the envelope. "Are you going to open it or fucking what," he said.

I picked up the envelope, turned it over and opened it. There were two photos inside with a folded piece of paper. I gripped the edge of the pictures. I slowly pulled them out of the envelope revealing the top image on the glossy paper. It was a picture of Goliath inside a car, both his hands wrapped around the steering wheel. The other photo was taken at night, making the image grainy. The picture was clear enough to see who was on it. It was Bobby. Unfolding the piece of paper, written inside was an address in Brighton. I looked at Chris. He was smiling. I looked at the photos again, making sure my eyes were not deceiving me. It was them.

"How the fuck did you find them," I said.

An hour later I was on the eleven-thirty train from Victoria Station to Brighton.

Chapter 10

It was two in the morning when the train rolled into Brighton Railway Station. If it hadn't been for one of the passengers waking me up, I would have still been sleeping on the trains return journey. All groggy I staggered off the train. Once I went through the ticket barrier, I searched for the nearest bathroom to freshen up. After letting the water run for a while, I realised the water wasn't warming up. As soon as the cold liquid touched my face, it fully woke me up. I was ready to begin my two-mile walk to Sussex Square where Bobby lived.

Coming out of Brighton Station, I felt the icy weather bite into me. Pulling my smartphone out of my pocket, I pressed the power button. The screen came to life, showing me the temperature and time. It was two-thirty in the morning, and the temperature was minus two degrees Celsius. I zipped up my jacket, turned on my Google Map app and punched in the postal code. It showed the street name and forty-five minutes. Pressing the blue start icon on the screen the arrow appeared. I began to walk towards the direction the pointer showed. From the station to the beach, it was a maze of side roads. There wasn't a single person on the streets at this time. The seafront, on the other hand, was livelier, especially around The Brighton Pier. I was tempted to jump into one of the taxi's to take me to Sussex Square, but I thought, best not too. The fewer people I have contact with in Brighton the better. My journey down here wasn't exactly a social visit. The last thing I needed was a taxi driver giving the whole nation a description of me on the evening news. I continued to walk along Marine Parade, keeping an eye on my smartphone for directions. I was almost there.

"Five minutes to your destination," the mousy female voice said from my smartphone.

I was cold, hungry and I needed sleep. Luckily, there was a takeaway shop which was open. It wasn't far from Sussex Square. Again, I was sceptical if I should go inside. I looked through the shop window. Behind the counter, two men, both of them in black polo shirts were preparing the food. One was slicing kebab off the turning burner, while the other was on the salad prep. A third person was behind the cash register taking the orders. Behind the counter, five hungry mouths were waiting in queue to put their order. "Fuck this I'm starving," I said quietly. Ten minutes later. I was sitting at a bus shelter, my face buried into a chicken kebab.