Читать книгу The Young Gangsters - E.J.P Murphy - Страница 7

BERTIE COONEY KICKED THE BEDCLOTHES OFF HIS BODY, SAT UP IN BED AND STRETCHED. HE LOOKED AT THE CEILING, SHOOK HIS HEAD AND JUMPED OUT OF BED.

He looked at the clock on his bedside table; it was a little after 10am, Monday morning. He walked over to the bedroom window, he pulled the curtain back and peered out; it was cloudy. It felt warm, but it looked like rain. He craned his head so he could look up at the tower block opposite. Jimmy usually leaned over his balcony this time of the morning, but Bertie couldn’t see him today.

“I’ll nip over and see him later,” he murmured to himself.

Bertie was just past his sixteenth birthday. Born in County Mayo in Ireland, his father couldn’t find work so he packed up his family (five kids) and moved to London, where they lived with Bertie’s uncle in Willesden.

His dad, Brogan Cooney, soon found work, on building sites. After three years, they were given a council flat in Camden; that’s where Bertie had found his mate, Jimmy Day. They had met at the local Catholic school. Jimmy had been in a fight with another boy and, when Jimmy was winning, the boy’s mates had joined in. Bertie had seen it, and joined in to help Jimmy. They’d become close ever since.

“That boy will get you in a load of trouble,” his dad had told him after he met Jimmy, “mark my words.”

But after a year, Bertie’s dad got to like Jimmy and never said anything again about him. Indeed, when Jimmy used to slip him a £20 note, he would say, “He’ll be a fine man one day, you wait and see.” He usually said that on Saturday nights, half-pissed in the pub.

Bertie was like his dad, very broad, and was getting taller everyday. Not much to look at, but he had that lovely Irish sense of humour.

He could also fight. His dad made sure of that, taking him down the gym most Tuesday nights, with Bertie’s uncle who used to box back in the old country. His uncle Sean used to say to his brother, “He’ll be a tough bastard when he gets older.” His dad would reply, “He’s a tough bastard now.”

School was out for Bertie. He gave it up when Jimmy was expelled for nicking the headmistress’s handbag out of her study.

“Fuck em,” Jimmy had said one day as he waited outside the school for Bertie and that was the day that Bertie left.

“I’m going to get a gang together,” he had told Bertie one day. “And you’re my number one, Bertie, OK?”

“You bet,” Bertie had replied. “What we going to do, rob banks?”

Jimmy looked at him, his blue eyes broody. “One day, Bertie, one day.”

* * *

Bertie could hear his mum, Mary, hoovering downstairs. “God,” he said, “I wish Mum would give it a bloody rest.”

He got ready, putting his beloved Dr Marten’s on carefully; they looked dead smart with his Levi’s and sweatshirt. He looked in the mirror, assessing his reflection. “Cool, son, cool,” he said to himself. He opened his bedroom door, walked out and into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face and hands (his hair was too short to comb), grinned at himself in the mirror, had a quick wee, opened the bathroom door and walked out.

As he walked into the kitchen, his mum called out to him from the living room: “Jimmy boy called this morning; said he had to go out, but will meet you at 11.30 at Mac’s in the high street.”

“Oh, thanks, Mum. Did he say what he was doing this morning?”

“No, son, he didn’t,” his mother replied and continued with her cleaning.

Bertie looked at his watch, it was just gone 11am.

“Time for a quick cup of tea and a bacon sandwich,” he said to himself. “Mum, don’t you want to do me a …?”

“Yes, yes, give me a minute,” she said, reading his thoughts.

He walked into Mac’s just after 11.40am. Jimmy was near the window, just about to light a fag.

“Want one?” he said to Bertie as he approached him.

“Just put one out, Jimmy, thanks,” he said, sitting down opposite him. “What’s to do today, mate?” He looked at Jimmy, seeing a bit of a frown on his face. “You don’t look all that happy, mate.”

“Er, it’s nothing, Bertie. Been talking to old Mrs Lyons, you know, the old lady who lives near me, you know, her old man’s a cripple.”

“Yeah, yeah. Why, what’s wrong, Jimmy? Ain’t died has she or something? She’s a nice old lady, the old man is a nice bloke as well.”

Jimmy looked at his mate. “A bunch of Asian kids mugged her husband last night, broke his leg and fractured his bloody arm as well. They took all his money, even took his fags, the bastards. He’s seriously ill in hospital. Not expected to live!”

“Bloody hell,” Bertie blurted out. “We gonna do anything about it?” He stood up, looked around the restaurant. He punched his fist into his own hand. “I wish there were some in here, I’ll fucking show em!”

“Sit down, sit down,” Jimmy said to him. “I’ve already got it sorted, sit down, Bertie, and listen.”

“Sorry, Jimmy, go on, go on. I’m listening.”

“Well,” Jimmy went on, “I’ve been out since 7 this morning, asking about what happened last night. Anyway, the story goes that the old man was coming back from the social club on the estate, about 10.30, but on the way to the lift to his flat, he realised that he’d left his glasses in the club. Anyway, as you know, Bertie, old man Lyons can’t walk very fast, so by the time he got back to the club, it was closed.

“I can guess the rest, Jimmy,” Bertie interrupted, “Them bastards must have seen him, and done him over.”

“Yeah, Bertie, that’s what happened. But unknown to them – there were six of them, by the way – up on the second floor of the flat, Dean Conte, the Italian kid, was having a crafty smoke. If his dad caught him smoking he’d bleeding kill him, that’s why he was out there. Anyway, he told me this morning that about 11 he heard a lot of shouting, walked to the end of his balcony, looked over and saw the Pakis giving old man Lyons a kicking. He couldn’t help so he ran back to his flat and told his dad, who phoned the Old Bill.”

“What happened then?” Bertie said to Jimmy. “Did they arrest them?”

“Are you kidding, Bertie?” Jimmy looked at him. “They get away with murder, mate. Dean wouldn’t tell them anything. No witnesses, no crime. They took all six of them down the nick, but let them go early this morning. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah,” Bertie replied, “fucking bastards, they ain’t getting away with that… ain’t that right, Jimmy?”

“You have got it, mate. Anyway, I’ve found out from Dean that one of the Paki boys lives over near Kings Cross. Him and his mates go to a school over there.”

“What we going to do, mate?” Bertie looked at him eagerly. “Are we having some of it?”

“You betcha life, Bertie. Old Mrs Lyons does our washing and things for us, I owe her and her husband big time. This is what you do – go round the boys up, I want them over Kings Cross by 3, outside the Drummond Street end of it. Also, get some of the boys from the old school. I’ll round up about ten to fifteen myself. That should bring a nice number, about 40. Get ‘em tooled up – baseball bats, knives, anything that hurts. When you get to Drummond Street, spread out, hide in doorways, don’t act daft. I’ll watch the school with Dean. He’ll show me who the Pakis are, they all look alike to me. I’ll follow them down the street from behind, so they can’t run back. Hit ‘em hard, Bertie, and then get the hell out of there before the Old Bill come. Do damage, don’t hold back, I want these bastards hurting, OK?”

“All the way, Jimmy, all the way,” Bertie smiled at him. “You gonna get the main one then?”

“Of course I am, what do you think?” Jimmy replied. He looked at his watch. It was just 2pm. “Blimey, I didn’t think it was that late. You get over the estate and school, Bertie. I’ll round up the rest of the boys. I’ll see you at the bundle. Don’t forget to get the tools. I’ll see you there.”

They both got up and walked into the high street.

Jimmy looked at Bertie. “Later…” he said, and walked away, leaving Bertie to get organised.

* * *

The revenge attack went down well. Owing to the surprise that Jimmy’s gang sprung, the Asian kids stood no chance. Out of the 80 or 90 kids fighting, ten were stabbed, twelve were battered around the head but weren’t too hurt, with cuts and bruises all around. One Asian girl who thought she could fight had her nose and arm broken.

Jimmy and Dave (Mack the Knife) cornered the Asian gang leader, with the help of some of Jimmy’s gang and carried him over to a derelict building.

“Right, hold him down,” Jimmy told some of his gang. “Bertie, hold his arm out over that lump of wood there.”

Bertie held his arm out by sitting on it. “What you going to do, Jimmy?”

“Hold ’im mate,” Jimmy said. He looked around, saw no one coming, put his hand into his overcoat and took out an old axe. He looked down at the young Asian who was shaking and crying with fright. “That is for the old man you gave a kicking to last night.” He lifted the axe above his head and brought it down in one swift arc. The Asian kid’s hand came clean away from his wrist as the axe made a clean cut through the bone. The boy fainted.

Jimmy stooped down, no emotion in his face at all, then picked the bloody hand up and started laughing. He walked over to the corner of the building, took a small can out of his pocket, dropped the hand onto the ground, sprayed it with the fluid from the can, took a box of matches from his pocket, lit one and set fire to the hand.

He looked around at his mates who were still shocked by this grotesque violence.

“Fucking hell, Jimmy,” Dave said to him.

“Shut it Dave, he had it coming.”

“Bleeding right!” the other boys shouted across to him.

“Nice one, Jimmy, that will teach ‘em a lesson,” Bertie said, a smile on his face.

“Fucking right, it will,” Micky the Ferret said, now over the shock. “If they want more, they can have it,” he went on.

“Yeah, yeah, come on fellas. We better push off quick, the Old Bill will be here soon, and we don’t want to be around.”

Jimmy looked around at his small gang. He knew they wouldn’t say anything to anyone, no matter what. He felt good and safe. No one else had seen what he had done, so he knew his secret was safe with this lot.

He walked over to the Asian who was still out. Jimmy kicked him in the balls, took out his penis and pissed all over him.