Everything to Nothing (16 page)

‘Hi dad.’

‘Hello my
darling. Come and give me a kiss!’

‘Oh dad,
alright then.’ Michelle walked across the conservatory and pecked
her father on the cheek. ‘I’m going to stay at grandfather’s
tonight. Can I take the Z4?’

‘Cheeky little
monkey! You can if you tell me where you spent last night?’

Michelle
glanced at her mother but she did not look like she was listening,
she had her head buried in the Times, but Michelle knew she was
listening. ‘Did mum not tell you?’

‘Nope.’

‘I’m sure she
will later! Pleeeaaassseee! Where are the keys?’

‘Okaaaaaaayyyyyy then,’ her father replied, mimicking his
daughter’s long drawn out plea. ‘In my jacket pocket, in the
utility room.’

‘Ohhh, thank
you! You are a great dad!’ She gave him another peck on the
cheek.

‘Now, now, no
need to twist my arm using those little tricks, I have already said
yes! Be on your way. Tell dad that I will be there to see him
tomorrow about oneish probably. You sure you don’t mind staying
there on a Saturday night? Not messing up your plans are we?’

‘No, of course
not. I enjoy it. We’ll go for a walk with Jack and we’ll stop at
the Rose for a meal. We’ll play pool and I will try to take his
mind off things by being my charming witty self! I know how lonely
he gets at this time of the year.’

‘Good girl. Go
on then before I find out where you spent last night and change my
mind!’

‘Okey dokey
then. Bye. Bye mum.’

‘Bye
sweetheart. Be careful in that car. Don’t be daft!’

‘I know. I
won’t be! Bye.’

Michelle walked
out of the conservatory, into the kitchen and then to the utility
room. She rooted in her father’s pockets for the key and then left
the house.

‘She seemed in
a good mood. Where did she spend last night?’

‘I think it
best for her to be in the car and away before I tell you!’

Michelle’s
father simply rolled his eyes and said, ‘In that case, I don’t
think I want to know!’

Chapter 16

‘DO I LOOK LIKE
A BITCH?!’

‘Wh… wh…
what?’

‘Say what
again! Go on, I dare you Tommy, say what again?’

‘Wh… wh…
what?’

There was a
loud explosion right next to Peter’s ear and he instantly thought
he was going to die. Instead all he saw was a smoking gun move
across his range of vision. He then twisted his head upwards and he
saw the bullet hole in the ceiling.

‘Yeah, look
boyo. That’s what a bullet hole looks like. Next time that hole
will be in the back of your… FUCKING… HEAD if you say what again!
Now, think carefully before you attempt to answer this next most
simple of questions. Are you ready?’ Peter managed to quickly nod
his head. ‘Do… I… look… like… a… bitch?’

‘N… n… no, you
don’t.’

‘Good, I didn’t
think I did. So, tell me Tommy, why you treating me like a
bitch?’

‘What?’

Peter did not
see the fist. All he could presume once he gathered his senses was
that the punch had come from behind him. After he scraped himself
off the floor back into the kneeling position he had been told to
assume and his vision cleared, he looked directly into the eyes of
his questioner. They were blue, ice blue and cold with no trace of
emotion. Contrasting the eyes were the flaming red hair and red
goatee beard. Peter’s eyes glanced down to the gun in the man’s big
hand and recognized it as a Luger pistol. The history of this
pistol was well known to Peter but he really did not want to think
about it at that time. All he definitely knew was that he was in
big trouble but he did not know the reason why.

‘I think the
drugs he has been stealing from you have affected his common sense.
Shall I hit him again to knock the sense back into him?’

‘No, leave him
for now. I just trust he won’t say what again will you Tommy?’

‘Who the fuck
is Tommy? Is it any wonder that I am a bit confused?’

‘Right now
boyo, you is Tommy. I think I can call you whatever I want to can’t
I Tommy? Considering I am the one pointing the Luger at your right
temple right now don’t you think that gives me the right to call
you whatever I want to Tommy?’

‘Ye... ye…
yes.’

‘Good. Now that
we have cleared that little bit of confusion up we go full circle
and come back to the original problem that we have here, this
problem being why you are insisting, insisting upon treating me
like a bitch. So, go on then Tommy, why are you treating me like a
bitch?’

‘I’m, I’m sorry
Reg…’ Again Peter’s face slammed into the carpet as another punch
landed on the back of his head.

‘Today, he’s
Mr. Maxwell. Savvy?’

‘Wh… what the
fuck is this? Pulp fucking Fiction?!’

‘All I want,
Tommy, is some respect to be shown to me today. You know what
respect means don’t you Tommy or you gonna say what again?’

‘I… I know what
respect means Mr. Maxwell.’

‘Good Tommy.
I’m pleased about that. Jesus Christ, one day, preferably before
I’m drawing my pension, we’ll finish this conversation!’ This got a
laugh from the surrounding people but certainly not one from Peter.
‘So, once again I will ask a question and I expect a respectful
answer Tommy, which does not involve the words Reg or what. Why are
you treating me like a bitch?’

‘I’m not Mr.
Maxwell.’

‘He’s not
apparently Kevin. He’s not. So Tommy, why then does it feel like
that I am being FUCKING SCREWED BY YOU?!’

At the end of
this question Reg pressed the muzzle of the Luger firmly into
Peter’s temple. Peter, panicking now, screwed up his eyes knowing
that his next few words would seal his fate one way or the other.
‘P… p… please Mr. Maxwell. Just, just explain to me why you think
that and I’m sure we can sort it out.’

‘Mr. Luger here
is itching to sort it out Tommy, itching. Not very often that he
gets fired in anger, but believe me when I say Tommy he is very
close to striking down upon thee with great vengeance and furious
anger! You’ve been screwing me for months now Tommy. Scraping a
little bit off the top here, and a little there, thinking to
yourself that the thick Scottish bastard won’t be any the wiser.
But I know, Tommy, I know.’

‘I swear I have
not been on the take sir, I swear. Everything is straight, I ensure
it is. I tell you how much I have sold and give you your cut every
Saturday night just like tonight. Why is tonight any different from
any other night? Why, tonight, do you think I am on the take? I
swear sir, I’m not. Honestly sir, I’m not.’

At this Reg,
and the others not in Peter’s view, started to laugh quietly, then
more loudly until there was general hilarity. Peter just knelt
there and looked around and saw everybody in the room laughing. Reg
was in fact laughing so hard now that he was wiping tears away from
his eyes.

‘Did you see
his face? Did you? When the Luger went off?!’ Everybody
laughed.

‘We will be
talking about this for years!’ commented someone else.

One of the men
put on a feminine voice and mimicked Peter, ‘“Please sir, yes sir.
Yes Mr. Maxwell! Please don’t shoot me Mr. Maxwell. I love you Mr.
Maxwell. Bend over Mr. Maxwell while I ram my head further up your
arse Mr. Maxwell!”’

Another large
bout of laughing followed this and eventually Reg waved them to
stop while wiping his own tears away. ‘Let this be a lesson to you
Peter. I don’t like takers and I don’t like people with brown
noses. You’re getting a bit cocky and I don’t like it. If you are
with us for the long ride you treat me, and everyone else with
respect. You’re a good little salesman, but that is all you are.
You’ve got a long way to go until you get to play with the big
boys. Just you remember your position which for now is nothing,
nothing within this organization. You got it boyo?’

‘Yeah, I’ve got
it Mr. Maxwell.’

*

He had left his
grandma’s house in good time to make his appointment with Reg his
supplier. On the drive he was thinking about Sarah, about how good
she had been last night, how willing she was to do anything he
wanted, and how much he was looking forward to more of the same on
Wednesday. His parents were away for two weeks and he fully
intended to make the most of his time with her. Let her take lots
of drugs and have lots of sex with her. Sounds like a perfect night
in his eyes.

The drive took
about half an hour to reach the out of town house. It was a large
house, gated, high walled and secluded. He approached the gate
slowly knowing that to drive quickly to these gates was a bad idea.
The guard nodded at him as he opened the gates and Peter drove in,
leaving his car in the corner of the front courtyard out of the way
as he had been instructed to do. He walked down the side of the
house to the kitchens where he knew he would be checked for weapons
and like usual his knife that he had started to carry ever since he
had started dealing was taken away from him.

As soon as
Peter walked into the house he knew something was wrong. Nobody
acknowledged him or said hello like they usually did. He was
unusually searched again before being allowed to enter the room Reg
was in which immediately set his alarm bells ringing.

When he did
enter and stand in front of the chair where Reg was sitting, he was
not acknowledged for a minute and when he opened his mouth to speak
somebody behind him hit him across the back of his knees with what
he could only presume was a bat of some kind, maybe baseball. Of
course, he collapsed to his knees and it was then that Reg first
asked Peter whether he thought he was a bitch.

*

‘He says he’s
got it Kevin. Do you believe him?’

‘I don’t know
Mr. Maxwell. Perhaps I should rough him up a bit just to make
sure.’

‘That’s not
necessary Kevin. I’m certain I’ve got it. Can we get down to
business now or do you want to humiliate me some more?’

‘Believe me
when I say that this is nowhere near humiliation Peter. If I wanted
to humiliate you I would have one of my Great Danes mount you!’
This crudeness gained another laugh from the men.

‘Either way, I
would like to finish up here so I can into town and start making us
both some more money.’

‘Stand up, sit
down there.’

Peter gingerly
stood up, the pain across the back of his legs was severe, and he
hobbled over to the indicated chair.

‘Business is
good for you, yes?’

‘Yeah, getting
better all the time Mr. Maxwell.’

‘Good. Hear you
getting quite a good reputation?’

‘Yes, I think I
am. Regular customers every night in the clubs, more and more
non-regular and regular contacting me all the time.’

‘Good. Anybody
contacting you for a large deal?’

‘No. Nothing.
You told me not to draw attention to myself in that way.’

‘Yes, I know I
did. And I still want it to remain like that. As soon as someone
does, and they will, what you going to do?’

‘Exactly what
you said Mr. Maxwell. Say I don’t have the resources to do
that.’

‘And the reason
why I don’t want you to do this?’

‘Because I need
to remain small time for now. Two reasons. One, I am not ready to
start hanging with the big boys yet. Two, I will get noticed and
then get heat off the police. And if I get heat, you get heat.’

‘Yes, we will.
However, I think it is time for you to expand a little. Kevin, go
and get Harry.’

‘Harry? Who’s
Harry?’

‘You’ll see.
Been following the football?’

‘Yeah, a little
bit.’

They chatted
for a few minutes about the ongoing football season until Kevin
returned. Peter looked over Kevin’s shoulder expecting someone to
be following him and it was only when Kevin placed a package on the
table that something clicked in Peter’s mind.

‘Expecting a
person?’

‘Yeah, at
first, but I think I know what Harry is now. I’m not too sure about
this Reg. I mean, going from small time coke and E dealer to
dealing the big-H is a big step as far as I am concerned.’

‘It is in some
ways, yes. However, I want you to come to the house and pick up a
package like this on Saturday as usual.’

‘And do what
with it?’

‘Sell it. It is
up to you how, who or where you do it. I am leaving it in your
hands.’

‘I don’t know.
I might be standing on people’s toes. I thought you didn’t want me
drawing attention to myself. In my eyes dealing heroin is drawing
attention to myself.’

‘What if I told
you that more than one of your regulars contacts another one of my
agents for a stash of heroin more than once a week?’

‘It wouldn’t
surprise me. But I will standing on your, erm, agent’s toes if I
suddenly steal his customers.’

‘I wouldn’t
worry about him. Turns out he has been treating me like a
bitch.’

‘Oh, right.
And?’

‘It is easier
for me too. I would only deal with one agent but still be getting
the same return.’

‘So all I do is
put the word out to my regulars and see if they would like to
enhance their purchase?’

‘You could even
do incentives at first, buy one get one free for example. You know
as well as I do that once they have that first hit they will be
begging you for some more the next time they see you.’

‘Right. I
suppose it is a good idea. Two things though. First, I know nothing
about heroin. I want to be taught about it without needing to
experiment with it. Do they smoke it? Inject it? Snort it?’

‘Not a problem.
That would take two minutes to tell you that. Second?’

‘I want more
protection. If I am going to be dealing heroin at some point it
could turn nasty.’

‘You’ve got
your knife.’