by
Mark 'Ponyboy' Peters
Chapter Twenty-Three
'You look happy,' I said to Raffa, as we bumped fists. I would have preferred a hug or a kiss, but that would be just like waving a red flag in front of a bull in this town, so in place of that the fist bump seemed to have become our go-to greeting lately. I could live with that.
'Yeah I am, actually. But enough about me . . . I'm more interested in how you're doing. You said that you had a lot to fill me in on,' he replied. 'So, what gives? Any word yet on who the arseholes were from last night?'
'Nothing so far,' I replied. 'I had expected the cops might come in today, but I haven't seen them yet. They were going to try and check if there was any CCTV footage from the security cameras.'
'Well, hopefully they'll find something. It's not that there aren't any likely suspects.'
'Yeah,' I replied, as thoughts of Tom Goodwin and Animal sprang to mind.
We hadn't discussed what we were going to do for lunch as yet, but after we had met we both started to walk down the arcade automatically, where we knew there were a number of options available to us. One of the first of these was a cosy little cafe called The Hideaway, which had dark timber booths with green padded seats down both sides of a black and white tiled walkway, dark green walls and lots of potted plants. I glanced inside and there seemed to be some empty booths, so I took hold of Raffa's elbow and steered him towards one of these.
Shortly after sitting down a young waitress came over and handed us each a menu.
'It's okay, can I just have a cheeseburger, fries and a mango smoothie please?'
'Make that two of everything please,' Raffa added.
'Too easy,' the waitress replied, before hurrying off towards the kitchen.
After she had left Raffa looked at me and said, 'Okay, time to spill. What the fuck happened? Tell me everything.'
While we waited for our food I told him everything that had happened since he had left me in the stockroom the previous day; getting jumped in the carpark, having the ambulance and the police arrive, mum's near hysterics, and then outing myself to my father when I got home last night and having him storm out of the house and not come back.
'Jesus, you don't do things by halves, mate! So, he didn't take the news very well then, eh?'
'Apparently not. And that ain't the half of it yet, either.'
'What do you mean?'
We were talking quietly, so as not to broadcast my news to everyone within earshot, but to be honest I was almost past caring about who knew what about me.
'Dad eventually came home and I found him in the kitchen when I got up this morning. We talked for a bit.'
'At least that's something.'
'Yeah, well, I now know why he feels the way he does about gays.'
'And?'
I offered him a wry smile. 'Not here,' I quietly said as I glanced around.
'That bad, huh?'
'Kind of.'
Just then the waitress returned with our food and set it down in front of us, so we tucked into our lunch as each of us weighed up the meaning of the information I had just revealed.
'If he feels that way because of something that happened in his past,' Raffa said, between bites of cheeseburger, 'maybe he's not a lost cause? Maybe he'll see reason?'
'Yeah, it was something like that. I heard mum trying to explain to him that we're not all alike, so hopefully we can get him to understand that, or get him some help so that he can.'
Raffa nodded while he continued chewing. I wasn't sure yet just how things with my father would end up, but I agreed with Raffa in so much as being able to hopefully get dad to see reason. There was a long way to go, but when I left the house this morning I did feel that there was some hope that my father would be able to put his past, and his prejudices, well behind him. I could only hope that this would be the case.
While we continued eating we changed the subject and talked about work and the changes ahead for both of us, with Raffa set to take over what was previously Tom Goodwin's area within the store, while I was going to start working full-time, rather than part-time, and be given a traineeship. Raffa informed me that he would be starting in his new position the following Monday, but I was still waiting on news about when I would be starting.
'Maybe with everything that has been going on lately Mrs Mack is just holding off until things settle down?' Raffa suggested.
'Maybe. I don't want to appear too pushy, but I think I'll try and ask her this afternoon what's happening with it,' I answered.
'Good idea.'
Glancing at the clock on the wall I noticed we still had about fifteen minutes until we needed to be back. I wanted to check that my car was okay, as I didn't get a chance to do that this morning due to my only just making it on time, so I suggested we head up to the carpark while I had a chance to do so.
'Fine by me. Let's go,' Raffa replied, before we both slid out of the booth and headed for the cash register. I paid for both our lunches, despite Raffa's protests, then we set off for the stairs that would take us up to the carpark.
'My treat tomorrow,' Raffa said.
'Sure thing. I'll book us a table at the Cattleman's Steakhouse then, eh?'
'You wish! Trainee Managers don't make that much money.'
'Oh well, I guess I'll just have to hang around until you're a proper manager then?'
'I wouldn't mind that.'
I looked sideways at him and noticed him grinning at me. I couldn't help but grin back.
When we reached the top of the stairs and were just about to step out into the daylight we had to pause for a moment as a group of people were coming through the doorway. We stepped aside to allow them to enter, but then I noticed the last person in the group.
Tom Goodwin stopped and looked directly at me, and I just froze. My guts seemed to jump into my chest and my heart started racing. The effect was instantaneous and far more intense than I had ever imagined it could be.
Raffa quickly stepped between us and stared him down.
'Whatever you're thinking, Tom . . . don't!' Raffa hissed at him.
Tom looked from me to Raffa and then back again, before gently shaking his head. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. He looked pale. He looked like a shattered person, but there was just no way I could have any sympathy for him.
The group of people he was with had stopped and were studying us.
'Tom?' an older woman said to him. His mother, I think. 'Everything alright?'
'Yeah, coming,' he replied, before turning back to me.
'I'm sorry, dude. I was an arsehole to you, and now I don't have a job. I guess you think I got what I deserved?' he said, sounding rather contrite.
'And what about what happened last night?' Raffa quickly asked.
Tom's face immediately became etched with a frown. I could see that without even saying a word he was questioning what Raffa was saying.
'When someone bashed Gray,' Raffa added. 'Right out there in the carpark, after work.'
'I wouldn't know anything about that,' Tom replied.
'Bullshit!'
'I swear. It wasn't me!' Tom pleaded.
Finally snapping out of my daze and able to move, I reached out and took hold of Raffa's arm. He turned and looked at me.
'It's okay. Just leave it,' I said.
'But . . .'
I shook my head. 'The police will get to the bottom of it,' I said, as I glanced at Tom, whose face only turned an even whiter shade of pale.
Who could know if Tom had been behind the bashing or not, but arguing about it here at the top of the stairs wasn't going to change anything. Just as I said, the cops would get to the bottom of it, sooner or later, and if it was proven that Tom was behind it, then he would pay the appropriate price.
'Just go,' I said to Tom and he didn't need to be told twice. He turned and rejoined his family and they left us.
'You let him off way too easy,' Raffa said as we watched them descend the stairs. 'We should have made him squirm some more.'
When they reached the bottom I saw Tom take a quick look back up at us, then he turned and disappeared from view.
'Nah, mate. It wouldn't achieve anything,' I said, before walking out the door and into the sunshine.
I was still shaking when we reached my car a few minutes later, as I stopped and leaned against it.
'You okay, babe?' Raffa asked, while placing a hand on my shoulder.
'I'll be fine. Just shook me up a bit,' I said, as I turned to face him. He quickly wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, right there, out in the open.
I heard someone laughing nearby, while somebody else gave a wolf-whistle. I didn't give a fuck, however. I think I was too busy falling in love.
* * * * *
After quickly checking my car for any signs of damage or vandalism, of which there was none that we could see, we headed back to work. We bumped fists at the end of the main aisle, then I left Raffa to it and headed for the stockroom, where I found that Mike was just going to lunch. He made sure that he had left enough to keep me busy for a while, so I set about making my deliveries around the store.
For the next hour nothing much happened of note. I got lost in what I was doing, seemingly on auto-pilot while thoughts of Raffa and his touch occupied my thoughts. He had been there for me when needed, stepping straight in between me and Tom at the first sign of trouble, then afterwards he had held me, as the world spun around us. He made me feel good about myself, even when I was struggling to do so. He was a keeper, I was sure of it.
I was wheeling an empty trolley back to the stockroom a short while later and looked towards the front of the store as I crossed the centre aisle, only to be stopped in my tracks when I spotted two figures in blue walking towards me, accompanied by Mrs Mack.
They were the police officers who had attended last night, and I could see one of them was carrying a large envelope.
Mrs Mack waved at me and so I waited for the three of them to reach me.
'Hello, Grayson,' one of the officers said to me. 'I'm Constable Freeman. I hope you are doing a bit better today?'
'Yeah, I'm fine, thanks.'
'They've been to see the shopping centre management,' Mrs Mack said. 'And they would like you to take a look at some print-offs from the security vision.'
'Okay then,' I replied.
'Let's go to my office, shall we?'
I left the trolley parked in one of the aisles and with Mrs Mack leading the way, we continued down the centre aisle with many heads turning our way, including that of Raffa. He looked worried as we passed him, but I gave him a wink and kept going.
When we reached her office Mrs Mack closed the door once we were inside and then offered the police officers a seat, but nobody sat down.
'Even though it was getting dark,' Constable Freeman said, 'we were able to get some still shots from the video of the car that we think was the one belonging to the offenders, which had been parked near yours. When they entered the carpark there was still enough light to make out the vehicle and even get a look at their faces, although we would have preferred for the shots to be clearer.'
Placing his hand inside the envelope he retrieved a number of pages and began laying them out on the desk in front of us. They were only black and white, but all were A4 sized pages and gave a reasonable look at various parts of the carpark and different angles.
'This was your car, correct?' I was asked.
'Yes.'
'And this car that was parked not far away from you is the one you think the offenders had been travelling in?' the officer asked, pointing at a Holden Commodore.
'Yes. I think so. I remember that the engine had been running and I had taken a quick look at it.'
'And you didn't recognise it, or the occupants, or who it might belong to?'
'No. I didn't get a look at who was in the car as they were in the shadows and it was growing dark.'
'Okay then. So here are some shots of the same car when it had arrived earlier. It wasn't quite so dark and you can get a bit of a better look at the occupants, though it's still not brilliant I'm afraid. Recognise either of them?'
They looked to be average guys, maybe a few years older than I was, but with the images not being very clear it was difficult to tell anything more about them.
I simply shook my head. 'No, sorry.'
'Okay then. We did manage to get a shot of their licence plate as they were driving through the carpark, so we'll follow that up with the motor vehicle registry and see if we’ll have any luck, though it's always possible they could have used stolen plates anyway.'
'We'd also like to run these images by the others who were there last night, if we could,' the second officer said.
'Sure. That would be Claire Brady and Simone Drew. I'll ask them to come here now,' Mrs Mack said, picking up her phone as she did so. Moments later we heard her talking to Claire, asking her to come to the Personnel office and then she also paged Simone over the PA system.
I left the office feeling slightly disappointed that we weren't any closer to finding out who it was who had bashed me, but at least the police had a couple of leads to go on, so there was still some hope.
A nervous looking Raffa was hanging around the entrance to the offices when I emerged and asked me what was going on.
'Just looking at some images from the CCTV,' I replied. 'I couldn't help them, though. They weren't really clear enough and I didn't recognise the car that they were in. They did get a shot of the number plate, so maybe that will give them a lead.'
'Okay then.'
'Meet up after work? I have a favour to ask.'
'For you, anything,' Raffa replied, with a massive grin.
To be continued . . .
Authors Note:
Hi there. It has been a while since I have posted anything new on Nifty. I guess life gets in the way sometimes.
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