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~ PART
TWENTY THREE ~ News always seems to
travel fast in small towns like ours. It always has, and I guess it always
will. Whether it is good news or bad news it simply doesn't matter; the old
gossip trail can always be depended upon to start up quite quickly when
something is afoot. Usually by nightfall of
the first day you can be sure that anyone who matters will know the ins and
outs of what is going on. By the end of the second day it can be guaranteed
that everybody else in town will have an idea that something has happened.
Not only that, they will have already formulated their own ideas as to who
was right and who was wrong, or who was guilty and who was innocent. It was one of the very few
things about our town that I actually disliked. For the most part, however,
and largely only because our little group lived outside the town boundaries
and tended to stay somewhat isolated from the rest of the community, I
think, I could put up with it. There were times, though,
when no matter how hard we tried, we found it impossible to isolate
ourselves from the gossip and innuendo. It came with the territory I guess,
all a part of being who we were, and whether we liked it or not we would
often be drawn into the web of intrigue and gossip simply because of that. It wasn't hard to imagine
what some of them might be saying about us. 'Them boys in that Gay
House! I dare not think of what must be going on out there!' 'Orgies all night I bet.' 'And drugs too, no doubt.' 'I don't know . . . what's the world coming to? This was a nice little town once. Now look at it . . . all sorts of undesirables every which way you turn!' * * * * * That afternoon when I
called into the corner store after work for a few supplies I soon found out
that the gossips had already set their tongues in motion. When I entered the store
there were two ladies at the counter talking. One of these was the owner of
the store, Mrs. Hamilton, who was always more than friendly toward us and
loved a chat, while the other lady was one of the locals I had seen around
town often. As soon as I pushed on the
door, ringing the little bell that was attached to it, I noticed them stop
talking and look my way. The expression on the face of the customer as she
turned and walked away, told me all I needed to know. 'Hello, love,' Mrs.
Hamilton cheerfully said to me, while rolling her eyes behind the other
womans' back as she walked away. Mrs. Hamilton had been the one who had
given us all a friendly warning when we had first arrived in town and so we
always thought kindly of her. 'Hi there, Mrs. H.,' I
happily replied, heading toward the refrigerator for some milk, along with
some bread and margarine, which Luke had asked me to pick up that morning. The other customer was
standing in front of a display stand of chocolate biscuits (which, by the
look of her, she really didn't need to be buying), but seemed to be watching
me as I made my selections. When I glanced at her and
caught her staring at me I gave her a nod and a smile, then on an impulse I
picked up the last packet of Tim Tam chocolate biscuits from right in front
of her as I walked past, hoping that it was the packet she had intended for
herself. I could be a real bitch like that when I wanted to. Mrs. Hamilton gave me a
knowing smile as I sidled up to the counter where she was standing. I gave
her a wink as I placed the groceries on the counter. 'How are you today love?'
she asked me. 'Fine thanks Mrs. H.,' I
answered. 'How are things with you?' 'Ahhh, you know . . . no
use complaining,' she replied. I smiled at her and packed
the items into a bag as she finished ringing them up on the old-style cash
register. 'That'll be twelve fifty
thanks love,' she said to me. I handed her a twenty. 'Sounds like there was a
bit of excitement down at the beach today,' she said as she placed the
change in my hand. 'Really?' I replied,
deliberately acting dumb and hoping she might fill me in on what might be
being said. 'I hadn't heard anything, I've been at work all day.' 'Yes, some pervert up to
no good apparently.' 'Geez, that's no good,' I
remarked. 'What happened?' 'Don't really know just
yet . . . but give it time,' she answered, giving me a wink as she did so. 'I'll keep my ears open
and see what I can find out,' I said, with a chuckle. 'You just can't be too
careful these days!' I heard a muffled, 'Hmmppff,'
from close behind me, but didn't turn around. Instead I picked up my bag of
items and shoved my change into a pocket. 'See you later Mrs. H.,' I
said and turned to make my way outside. 'Of course he knows what
happened, Kayleen,' I heard the other woman say in a forced whisper as I
pulled on the door, making the little bell jingle again. 'Now, now, Mavis. You
can't know that.' 'You go girl, Mrs. H.,' I
thought as I walked out into the sunshine. I may have been chuckling to
myself as I went outside, but deep down inside I was worried. I knew exactly
what people would soon be saying in town (if they weren't already) . . .
that whatever happened would have something to do with us. It made me madder than
hell, but what could I do about it? Abso-fucking-lutely nothing! Or could I? * * * * * It was only a few minutes
later when I arrived home, to be greeted by the smell of wood smoke, and
meat and onions cooking on the barbeque, as I stepped out of the car.
Walking around the back of the house to where the barbeque stood in the
garden, a bricks and mortar job with a hot plate that you had to actually
light a real fire under to use, I found Tim and Guy there along with Aaron
and Tony. There was no sign of Luke
yet, but when I glanced at my watch to see what time it was I knew that he
wouldn't be far away. Even though Tim, Guy and Luke all attended the same
University, and often travelled together, their schedules were quite
different, which meant that Luke often caught the bus back to Thompsonville
rather than always travel with Tim and Guy. Everything had been set up
for the night by the look of things, with a table beside the barbeque
carrying some food items, some chairs scattered about and an esky containing
some beers on ice. I placed the bag of grocery items on the table and pulled
a cold beer from the esky. 'We having a party or
something?' I asked as I took in a mouthful of what was a bitter tasting
brew. At least it was cold and wet though. 'Nah, nothing special,'
Guy answered. Tony and Aaron were also
swigging on a stubbie each, but they were both just taking small sips. Guy noticed my raised
eyebrows. 'They'll be okay,' he said
to me. 'They've got to start some time. And at least here we can keep an eye
on them.' For a moment I wondered
what Luke and also Aaron's mother might think, but then I remembered my own
father giving me my first taste of the stuff at about the same age. 'So . . . you're just in
time for a family meeting,' Guy said to me as he turned over some sausages
on the barbeque. 'Errr . . . if it's a
meeting you want then Luke's not here yet. What's up?' Even as I said this I was
smiling inside at Guys use of the word family to describe our little group. 'Have you heard about what
happened today?' 'About Thompson, you mean?
Down by the beach? Yeah, I had lunch with Justin and he mentioned it,' I
answered. 'Funny thing was, Thompson showed up just as we were leaving. And
what was even funnier, was that our old red-headed mate, you know, the guy
that bailed us up that time and caused us all some grief, was with him.' 'Really?' 'Yeah. Odd. But what's
that got to do with this meeting?' Tim and Guy both looked
down at Aaron and Tony. 'Do you want to tell him?'
Tim asked. Aaron sat his beer on the
table that was beside their seat, while Tony leant across and placed an arm
around his friend's shoulders. Whatever it was that was
coming was obviously pretty serious, as Aaron looked pale and nervous. 'What's happened?' I
asked. 'It wasn't you that was involved, was it?' 'What?' Aaron squeaked.
'No way! Me and Tony were with Justin. We saw Thompson there, that's all.
It's just . . .' 'And?' I urged. 'We heard in town today that it was some kid. Thompson tried the same thing as he tried with me that time . . . only this kid wasn't quite as lucky as me . . . 'What do you mean? What
happened? Do you know?' 'The kid is in hospital,'
Tim offered. 'He was knocked around quite a bit apparently. Seems like our
friend is changing his M.O. and upping the ante with it.' M.O.? Now there's
something I haven't heard in a long time. Not since I watched those re-runs
of Hawaii Five-O and Starsky and Hutch on the Golden Oldies channel back
home. I grabbed a plastic garden
chair and pulled it across to where it was in front of the two boys, placing
the back of the chair facing them and then sat down, straddling it, with my
arms folded across the top of the backrest. 'Do you know who it was?'
I asked gently. Aaron simply shook his head. 'We're going to try and
find out though . . . one way or another,' Tony said. I raised my eyebrows at
him questioningly. 'If it was Thompson again
that's some pretty serious shit,' Guy said. 'It sounds like he hasn't
actually gone this far before.' I looked at Tony, who was
looking grim, clearly concerned for Aaron, but I could also sense an
underlying anger that appeared to building up within him. 'Do you know what happened
to Aaron previously? Have you been filled in?' I asked him. 'Yeah. I found out today.
That's why I said he should talk to all you guys. You're as good as any
family he's got,' Tony replied. 'This fucker has to be stopped.' 'What do you think he
should do?' I asked Tony directly. 'I think he should tell
the cops what happened to him,' Tony ventured. 'If he did the same to Aaron
it stands to reason that this kid and Aaron aren't the only ones. If he's
trying this same shit on with other kids then it'll only be a matter of time
before he does something really bad. Like I said . . . he has to be
stopped.' 'You could be right,' I
answered. 'Look, I know I'm no
brainiac or anything,' he added, 'but even I can tell you that if there is
more than one person fingering someone for doing something, then the greater
the chances of the charges sticking.' 'Yeah. And what do you
think, Aaron? Do you think you could do that?' 'Yeah, well, it's the
right thing to do, isn't?' he said. Tim and Guy and I all
looked at each other. Our expressions were stony faced. We all knew what
Aaron had gone through, so this would be a huge undertaking on his behalf. I noticed that Tony
reached across and placed his hand over Aaron's hand, rubbing his thumb back
and forth across the top of his hand, as if trying to offer some reassurance
to his friend. 'Have you said anything
about this to your folks?' I asked him gently. 'No. Not that I think they
would care.' 'What do you mean?' Tim
asked, the concern in his voice obvious to everyone. Without saying a word
Aaron got up and walked away from us, going over and leaning on the wooden
fence railing and looking out into the scrub in the direction of the distant
beach, from where the sound of waves rolling in could easily be heard. 'Things aren't good at
home,' Tony whispered, as he got up and went to his friend. We all watched
as he placed a caring hand on Aaron's shoulder, which was followed by Aaron
turning toward Tony, then being pulled into Tony's arms. We watched as
Aaron's body shook with heavy sobs. Tony glanced back at us, the expression
on his face one of almost total helplessness, though we could all see his
affection for Aaron and his desire to help his friend. 'Has anyone thought to
call Scott? He might have some ideas,' I asked Tim and Guy. They both shook
their heads, then at Aaron and said, 'Is that okay with you Aaron?' He could offer only a
pained expression that I took as being consent, so I then dug my phone from
my pocket and dialled Justin's number. 'Hey, bud,' I said when he
answered. 'Are you at home? Is Scott there?' 'Yeah,' Justin replied.
'Do you want him?' 'Yes please, if I can.' A few moments later Scott
came on the line. 'Hey, Matt. What's up?' he
said. 'Did Justin fill you in
about today?' I asked him. 'Yeah,' he replied. 'Bad
news that was. I heard the kid is in hospital.' 'I'll say. Listen, we were
just wondering if there was any chance that we could drag you away from
watching Home and Away and you could duck out here to the house for a quick
pow-wow. The barbeque is fired up, so if you haven't eaten yet then you and
Justin are more than welcome to join us. We're just talking with Aaron about
what has been happening and an . . . ummm . . . elder statesman might be
useful. Would you mind?' 'Elder statesman? Is that
what I am now?' 'Well, you're no spring
chicken,' I laughed. 'Whatever you reckon.
Anyhow, yeah, we're on our way. We'll see you in a few minutes.' Just as I disconnected
Luke came around the corner of the house. To the others I said, 'They're on
their way,' then got up off the chair and greeted Luke with a hug and a
kiss. 'Wow. This looks heavy,'
he said, taking in the scene. I nodded to him as he looked from one of us to
the other. I saw his eyes settle on
the bottles of beer that were in Aaron and Tony's hands, then narrow. 'They're okay,' I said to
him. 'We'll keep an eye on them. There are other things to worry about at
the moment though. Scott and Justin are on the way as well. There was a bit
of an incident in town today and Aaron wants some advice, so the bar-b-que
is more a family meeting.' 'I see.' 'So. How was your day?' I
asked. 'Dull,' he replied. 'I'll
go and take my stuff inside and be back out in a sec.' 'I'll come with you and
fill you in,' I offered, then taking his hand in mine I let him lead me
inside. After the door had closed
behind us and we were heading down the hallway he said, 'This almost sounds
serious.' 'Yeah. It is actually.
Some kid got bashed up pretty bad near the toilets by the beach this
morning. Justin and Aaron and Tony saw that Thompson guy, the one that
bashed him that time, near the toilets shortly afterward. They reckon it
might have been him that knocked the kid around today.' 'Oh, shit,' Luke said as
we reached our bedroom. I sat down on the edge of
our bed as Luke dumped his bag on the chair by his desk, before then coming
to me and standing before me. I reached out and wrapped my arms around his
waist, pulling him closer to me, resting my head against his abdomen, as he
placed his hands on my shoulders and leant forward and kissed the top of my
head. 'I've missed you today,' I
whispered to him, suddenly hungry for the feeling his touch, his warmth. 'I've missed you too. You
have no idea how boring some of our lectures can be sometimes. It's times
like those that I think about you . . . about us . . . and about how lucky I
am.' 'That sounds just like me,
when I'm stacking shelves,' I remarked. 'So, tell me about today.
What else did you hear?' he asked, as he sat down on the bed beside me and
took my hand in his. 'I don't know much more
than that, other than the kid is in hospital apparently. Tony thinks that
Aaron should tell the cops what happened to him that time, so that's what
we're going to talk about. That's why we asked Scott to come out and join
us.' 'That sounds like a good
idea.' Just then we heard the
sound of a vehicle somewhere outside, so I got to my feet and dragged Luke
back onto his. 'That sounds like Scott's
on his way,' I said. 'We better get back out there.' 'In a sec,' Luke replied, then without saying anything further he pulled me to him and placed his lips over mine, which was something I had been day-dreaming about all day. * * * * * Scott and Justin were
sitting in the back yard with beers already in their hands when Luke and I
made it outside a few minutes later. 'Hey. Thanks for coming,'
I said to Scott when we joined them. 'No problems. I just hope
we can help,' he replied. We both looked at Aaron
and Tony who were appearing unsure of themselves. 'So,' I began, 'how do we
handle this? I know that Aaron didn't want to have anyone find out about
what happened to him, and I can understand that, but Tony thinks Aaron needs
to tell the police about it. Especially if that helps put a stop to
Thompson.' 'What do you think,
Aaron?' Scott asked. 'Do you understand what will happen if you do speak
up?' I watched as Tony placed
his hand over Aaron's and gave a reassuring squeeze. 'I . . . I don't know,' he
answered after a long pause. 'I know I probably should, but . . .' 'Aaron, it's okay,' Scott
reassured him. 'What Tony has suggested is absolutely the right thing to do,
of course, but it's really all about what you want to do; not what anybody
else thinks you should do. I understand what your fears are, but just
remember that you're a part of our little family here, and no matter what
you decide we'll all support you in whatever way is needed.' Slowly he lifted his head
and looked around at us all. The angst. The fear. The uncertainty. It was
there for us all to see. 'Do you really mean that?'
he finally asked, when his gaze eventually settled back on Scott. 'Absolutely,' Scott
answered. 'And I'm just as sure that your own family would support you as
well.' 'You don't know them like
I know them,' he said simply. 'Maybe you should just
give them that chance?' I said. 'Sometimes family can really surprise you.' As I said that I felt
Luke's hand squeeze mine. I looked across at him and saw him smile. 'So . . . what do I do
then?' Aaron asked. 'First things first, I
think,' Scott said. 'How about I talk to the local sergeant and find out
what I can. I know him and I'm sure he'll understand if I explain the
situation to him . . . without mentioning any names of course.' 'Can you actually do
that?' Tim asked. 'I mean, without giving any details? I would have thought
that they'd want to know it all if there was a crime committed.' 'Like I said,' Scott said,
smiling. 'I know the sergeant.' 'What about the other
kid?' I asked. 'Should we find out how he is first? And can we find out if
it was actually Thompson that did it? I mean, if it wasn't, then there's no
point in Aaron saying anything at all, is there?' 'I . . . I think I should
talk to him,' Aaron said. 'Are you sure that's such
a good idea?' I replied. 'If I mention Thompson by
name he's bound to react, isn't he? I'll know straight away, then.' 'If he's a local kid then
that might work,' Scott said. 'But don't go there or do anything until I
find out what's what from the sergeant, okay? My guess is that this kid
won't have fingered Thompson, otherwise the police would have already, at
the very least, picked up Thompson. If that's the case, then your visit to
the hospital could be a good idea.' 'If Thompson gets named by
the kid,' Justin added, 'and then the three of us can truthfully say we saw
him near there, plus with Aaron saying what happened to him last time, that
would nearly be enough, wouldn't it?' 'I'm sure of it,' Scott
replied. 'But what if the kid
doesn't say anything?' Justin asked. 'Then neither will I,'
Aaron quickly said. 'I'm not going to make a total dick of myself unless
there's a fuckin' good reason.' 'Fair enough,' Justin
replied. 'So, that's it then?
That's the plan?' I asked, then turning to Aaron and Tony added, 'Are you
guys both okay with that?' Together they nodded their
accord. 'All right then,' I said,
while at the same raising my beer. 'Here's to us, and to ridding the town of
one oversized pest!' 'Here, here,' Scott
responded, while raising his beer to the evening. 'Now, are those steaks
done yet?' * * * * * The rest of the evening
passed by with not another word of Thompson or the events of the day being
said. Despite the circumstances by which it had been brought about it proved
to be an evening of friendly companionship, with fun and laughter, and the
sounds of more than just the occasional mosquito filling the night air. Thankfully Aaron and Tony
didn't let the occasion get them down and they seemed to be enjoying
themselves, even though we did limit them to just the one beer each, despite
their half-hearted grumbles. They both knew that we were looking out for
them and accepted their boundaries with good grace. As darkness descended we
kept the fire in the bar-b-que going for a while; with the small amount of
smoke it provided seemingly doing enough to keep the mozzies at bay.
However, as the evening wore on and the fire burned down, it soon became
obvious that we were about to be invaded by them, so we started packing up
everything and taking it inside. Scott and Justin were the
first to call it quits, saying their farewells once the cleaning up had been
done, but not before inviting us all for a gathering at their place the
following night to discuss the situation further and assess what progress we
might have made tomorrow, to which we all readily agreed. Before they left Scott
walked over and squatted down in front of Aaron, putting one hand behind his
neck and leaning in close to him. 'Don't go getting yourself
worked up over this Aaron,' he said. 'It's going to be okay. Okay?' Aaron looked up at him
with eyes wide. 'I know,' he replied. 'Thank you.' Scott smiled at him and then reached forward and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, before turning his attention to Tony, placing a hand firmly on his knee 'Tony, you just make sure
you look after this boy,' Scott said to him. 'Yes, sir. I intend to,'
Tony answered, which brought smiles to all our faces, not the least of which
was Aaron's, who cast Tony a long and admiring glance. 'Come on SIR,' Justin
said, trying to drag Scott to his feet. 'Leave these kids alone. It's time
we went home so that someone else can stand to attention!' We all laughed and said
goodnight and watched them as they headed to Scott's truck, hand in hand, a
perfect couple, despite their obvious differences in age. After waving them farewell, we watched from the front steps as the tail-lights of Scott's old Ford pick-up bumped their way down our road and disappeared into the night. Then when they were gone, Tony got to his feet and dragged Aaron up from his seat as well. They didn't say a word, just headed inside, hand in hand. We saw the light come on in the window of Ben and Samantha's old room, which was now Tony's room; then a few moments later it went out. It wasn't the first time
that the pair of them had retreated to the privacy of the room, but Aaron
would always head home a short time later so as to not annoy his parents any
more than he had to. This time it looked like he would be staying for the
night, for the very first time. Luke looked at me in
surprise. I winked back at him. 'It was only a matter of time,' I said to
him. 'Yeah, I guess you're
right.' Luke and Tim and Guy and I
had discussed the situation with the boys amongst ourselves a few times and
had come to the conclusion that the boys would eventually reach this point.
We also believed that whatever happened behind the bedroom door could stay
behind the bedroom door, but both Aaron and Tony knew that we were there for
them if the need ever arose. As for either of the boys'
parents knowing what was going on, well, we all agreed that that was a
matter for the boys' themselves, and sadly, from what both of them had told
us, none of their parents seemed to be taking a great deal of interest in
what either of them got up to anyhow. I know that in Tony's case he had
virtually been disowned by his mother, Luke's aunt, while Aaron's parents,
from what I could find out around town, spent most of their time, and money,
at the local sports club drinking beer and playing the poker machines. All
things considered it was hardly surprising that both Tony and Aaron were as
independent as they were. After Aaron and Tony
disappeared the rest of us sat watching the television for a little while,
before eventually Tim and Guy decided to call it a night as well, leaving
just Luke and me alone in the lounge room, cuddled up together but not
really taking much notice of what was on the television. Eventually we both fell
asleep, with Luke leaning back against me on the large lounge and with my
arms wrapped tightly around him, and that was where we stayed until sometime
in the very early hours of the morning when I woke to total darkness, with
someone obviously having turned off both the lights and television for us,
while letting us sleep on. When my eyes adjusted to the dim light I glanced around the room but it was still and quiet, so I closed my eyes once more and tried to drift off again. Luke stirred in my arms but didn't wake. I kissed him on the cheek and felt him snuggle in closer to me; then we both let sleep take us once more, at least until daylight, when the bright morning sun blasted into the room, almost setting fire to the pale lemon walls and blinding our sleep-filled eyes. * * * * * If this were a perfect
world, a place where justice could take its true course, then Andy Thompson
would already be in a place befitting his deeds. My only hope, as Luke and I
showered and shaved this morning, was that today would bring with it exactly
what he deserved. The new day was a Friday,
bringing with it sunshine and a promise of change in our small town; even
though he who would be most affected still had little idea of what was about
to be brought down upon him. Much to our surprise Aaron
and Tony came out of the bedroom together as Luke and I were having
breakfast, looking somewhat sheepish and dressed only in their shorts, which
barely seemed to hide their morning wood. With their hair all messed up and
while rubbing sleep from their eyes they said good morning to us, before
retreating to the bathroom together. It looked like it may have been quite a
night; although we never heard a thing. Tony had settled into the
routine here quite quickly and it appeared that Aaron would as well –
assuming, of course, that their relationship developed to that level. Of
course it seemed somewhat premature to be thinking along those lines,
considering both their ages, but deep down I was secretly hoping that they
had both found true love and that this wouldn't be just another teen romance
that starts brightly, burns fiercely and eventually fizzles out to nothing.
Maybe that was just the romantic in me, but I figured that everyone deserves
to live in hope that true love awaits us all. The day progressed as
normal, with all of us going about our usual routines and heading off to
wherever we needed to be. It was sometime shortly after lunch when I had a
visit at the shop from Scott and Justin, both of whom looked rather glum. I
took a break and we went outside to talk for a few minutes. 'Well, how did you go? Did
you find anything out?' I asked them straight up. 'At first, not a lot,'
Scott replied. 'The Sergeant couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me who the kid was.
Nor would he say if there was anyone under suspicion.' 'So what does that mean?'
I asked. 'Exactly that. It's a
closed shop as far as they are concerned. They said that the case is still
under investigation, but you can guarantee that unless they come up with
some cold, hard facts then it won't go any further.' 'But . . .' Justin said,
'we did mention that we thought that someone else may have had the same
thing happen to them and that it was suggested that Thompson was involved!
Plus, I mentioned that I was with some friends near there yesterday and we
actually saw Thompson hanging around there.' 'And?' I urged. 'And you should have seen
the Sergeants eyes light up when we said it,' Scott added. 'We also said
that this other someone might be willing to talk to them if it meant being
able to stop it from happening again.' 'No names mentioned?' 'No. None,' Scott replied.
'He did give us a lecture about withholding information and hindering a
police investigation, but quite frankly, by the sounds of it, I would say
the old Sarge would be happy for any information he could get. When Justin
said that he saw Thompson there he started walking up and down and
scratching his chin, like he was deep in thought.' 'Well, let's hope then
that he goes back to the kid and lets him know he's not the only one around
that it has happened to. If they all speak up then something might actually
get done.' 'That's what I'm counting
on,' Scott replied. 'Anyhow, we'll still see you guys tonight, right?' 'Yeah, of course.' 'Okay then. We can talk
about it some more then. We'll be seeing you.' They left after that and I
went back to unpacking stock and filling up racks of car seat covers. I was
constantly amazed that this little shop in this little town always seemed to
sell so much stock, but I didn't care much about that today. Today I was
only on auto-pilot, not giving a lot of thought to what I was doing, instead
I was just going through the motions of doing what I had to. A short while later I
heard the buzzer go off that indicated the automatic sliding door had opened
and someone had come into the shop. I didn't look up, as I knew my boss, the
store owner, was at the counter but moments later I sensed someone walk past
me and glanced around to see who it was. My heart sank when I saw
Red and one of his mates walking down the aisle toward the display of oils
and other fluids that are used in vehicles. He looked directly at me
and sneered as he passed me, then mumbled something to his goon. 'What was that?' I asked
him. 'I said, some blokes
around here should be more careful who they hang out with.' 'Yeah, they should,' I
said, looking straight at him, before shifting my gaze to his mate. The two of them shared a
little laugh and kept on walking down the aisle, stopping directly in front
of the oil section. I watched as he picked up
a bottle of motor oil plus a small bottle of brake fluid and said, 'Yeah,
this should do,' then headed to the counter and paid for it, before leaving. After they had gone my
boss looked across at me with a curious expression. 'Friends of yours?' he
asked.
EDited by Ed |
As always, your
comments are most welcome.
Please email me at
mp_ponyboy@hotmail.com
or visit my website: www.ponyboysplace.com
© Mark Peters 2002-2012. All rights
reserved