Get Some (14 page)

‘
Man, I really feel like shit now.’

‘
Don’t, Joey, it’s ok. You are just careful who you’re friends with – a problem we share in fact.’

‘
Yeah, ok, fuck it. You know what? It’d be good for me. Where are we playing?’

‘
Well, I have just secured 5 memberships at the …errrm … ok, here it is …. and the memberships are for The Alwoodley Golf Club, at a place called Wigton Moor in Leeds. I hear it’s the business, Joey, but haven’t been there myself yet.’

‘
Are you kidding? Valukana, there are regular tournaments there. They host county and national competitions. I think it has a 5 star rating with Golf World too. How in fuck’s name did you get a membership there? I heard the waiting list was two years.’

‘
Ha-ha, Joey…it is five memberships, and Joey, you want to know how I got them?’

‘
Er, that’s a no. I’d rather not.’

Chapter Twenty Five

‘
No, no, no, you don’t hold it like that. Come here.’

There was something weird about him, he was icy.

Standing behind me, he helped me to adjust my arms and posture.

‘
You grab it with two hands, back straight, keep it steady, aim for your target, remember to breathe, exhale as you see the shot…’

It certainly was helpful advice, because I shot straight onto the green.

‘
You see, Joey, it’s all about concentration, always, my friend.’

I couldn’t believe it. Valukana was amazing at golf. There was no way he was learning to play like he had told me over the phone. As it turns out, Valukana had played some of the best courses the world had to offer.

‘
So, come on, how long?’

‘
How long what?’

‘
How long have you been playing? I can’t believe I took all that in about you being a learner and all. You had me there, and here was me thinking I would be taking another scalp today. Damn I’ll be lucky to finish par with you.’

‘
Ha, Joey, an old saying goes ‘When you’re weak, act strong; when you’re strong, act weak’. It was all an act. I had to have you thinking you were at some advantage, had to boost your ego, I had to get you here.’

The way Valukana seemed to want to be around me still had me wondering about his intentions. I kept my eyes on him. I watched him as he watched me. He seemed to be trying to suss me out, but why?’

‘
I am in need Joey.’

There it was.

‘
In need of what?’ I asked as I looked at him. I wasn’t being played by him, even if his ice-like eyes seemed to be looking straight through me, seeing my insides curl.’

‘
You see, I need another identity. I have only been in this country for, ooh what, about a month. There are people who would like to find me, Joey. I need to start afresh.’

Ok, this wasn’t too bad. I had the thought that he was after me cleaning some money for him. There was no fucking way I was doing that. By cleaning money I mean money laundering. Wise guys, gang types, whatever you want to call them, they were always approaching people to try and launder their money, people like me. There were certain ways of doing it, but like I said, there was no fucking way. A new identity didn’t seem so bad, as long as it was legal.

‘
Have you spoken to the police? There are ways of doing it all legal, you know. It doesn’t have to be cloak and dagger all the time.’

‘
But it does, Joey. Look, I am going to be straight with you. Your guy, the guy whose number you gave to me, he has helped me with a new passport.’

Passing his new passport over I saw his new name, impressive, he sounded like a villain out of a movie.

‘
Hmm, interesting name. So, you have the passport. What more do you need?’

‘
I need a background, Joey, a legitimate background. I am going into business, as your firm has seen. I have put all the new businesses into my new name, but I need to create a history, a track record, so that if anyone looks into it, it will seem that I have been here in this country for a while and that I am a legitimate businessman.’

‘
But that is easy,’ I chuckled, and it was. You didn’t have to do much in this day and age to change your past, especially in the age of computers and computer hacking. Ok, I know this was illegal, but I felt like helping him.

‘
Don’t you see, Joey? That is why I need you. I haven’t got an idea how to do such things, I…’

I had to stop him in his tracks, I wanted to help but there was no way I was compromising myself or my career, no matter what he threw in front of me.

‘
Look, I can show you the way. I can show you. I have no problem with that. After that you’re on your own. I will take you to some people who can go through the process, show you the wheres, the whats, and the what ifs on the computers and so on, but then you and them have to do it all. You have to do what you do, and it will have nothing to do with me. Once you are introduced, it’s you and them. Agreed?’

Walking over to me, he looked as icy as ever, serious, like he was going to kill me. What had I said?

I held my 9 iron tight and got ready to bash him with it. He extended his arm and offered his hand, which I shook.

‘
Joey, you are helping to save my life. I will not tell you why, but you are. I would give you money, lots of money, if I thought you would accept it. Instead I can only offer my gratitude and my loyalty which, for me, is a thing which I don’t give easily. I promise you, you will not regret this. I will not bother or burden you, but if you want to come play golf, hang out or whatever, then that would be great. In the next few months I also have a casino opening. I hope you would honour me to be there on opening night. You could bring your wife. I would love to meet her.’

‘
She’s a bitch.’

‘
Ha-ha, aren’t they all, my friend? I bet she’s a ball breaker though, isn’t she? Come on you can tell me.’

We laughed and chatted as we went round the course.

In fact it was a great day. Valukana never talked shop again for the rest of the day.

We just played, just two guys having a game.

Afterwards I called some people who called some people.

Valukana had his meeting set. He was getting his new background. As I drove home listening to power rock ballads, I started to wonder how a man could be so desperate to erase his past. I guess it was a question that I really did not want to know. I knew the man but I didn’t want to become his friend and, as much as the day had gone well, as much as I had surprisingly enjoyed Valukana’s company, there was no getting away from the fact that this day had been, and was, just business.

Chapter Twenty Six

I knew that Emma would never pressure me to tell her what went on over there. That’s just her. She would never ask me to do something I didn’t want to do, but I wanted to. We shared everything and I think the success of our relationship has always been built on complete openness.

I remember when we first started going steady. I told her about all the shit I was into, the illegal shit, everything.

It’s not that she didn’t care. Quite the opposite. She wanted me to see what I was doing with my own eyes and she never quit on me. I thank God she didn’t. Many others would have ran for the hills if their boyfriend had come back in the middle of the night covered in someone else’s blood, and that’s exactly what happened one night a few years ago.

It was the day I got my ‘bones’.

The term ‘bones’ or ‘getting your bones’ was used as a way to describe somebody getting their first kill in the game. I got mine, not that I ever wanted them but, as they say, stay in the game long enough, you’ll either get your bones or be someone else’s.’

The day I killed Lee Redman was a turning point for me. I started to see how the game had affected me, affected my judgment, but most of all how the game moulds you into what it wants. The game is the game, and you either play or you get played, smoke or get smoked.

Owing a decent amount of money to some not so decent characters is enough to get you killed in the circles I was in. Lee Redman owed 25Gs - that’s 25 thousand. Word is he had taken a loan from X Company for his much doomed pawn shop. The thing is, it was a good idea and, if he had had some business sense, it would have made money. I mean, this is Hull for fuck sakes, everyone is skint and always looking to sell shit.

The thing is he did the worst thing ever, he loaned money out, and like I say – this is Hull.

Redman had word that X Company had sent a guy to ‘see’ him. He wasn’t stupid. Redman knew he was either going to get one more chance or be wearing concrete pumas by the week’s end.

Now, when all this shit was happening, I was on leave from the army. I still had my connections on the street while I was away, and I had a few businesses I had pieces of, I had a few stalls on a few markets. I also had a piece of two newsagents. They didn’t make huge money but were a steady income all the same, an income I could’ve lived on if I had needed to.

Now the thing with Redman and me started out ok. I had got him some tills for his shop, not your crappy old ding-ding tills either, they were proper electronic tills that the supermarkets have. I had known a guy who knew a guy and I got a good deal. I sold them to Redman and he had promised to send the money in the post to Emma. That was it - it was only 300 quid so I wasn’t chasing him. I had gone to his shop that day because he had been rude to Emma. I wasn’t going there to kill him, not at all.

Emma had bumped into Redman in the supermarket with Sarah. Emma, being the friendly girl she is, noticed Redman and asked him how he was. Now she didn’t know anything about our business together, she was just being friendly. Redman told her to fuck off and to tell me I wasn’t getting a penny because the business had gone under.

He then told her not to look at him funny and called her a cunt.

I wasn’t having that.

The thing is she didn’t even tell me on that period of leave I had at that time. I just heard from a guy who worked with Sarah. Apparently Sarah told this guy and there you have it - small town.

I didn’t ask Emma about it. I just thought ‘what the fuck’ and figured I’d go see Redman as he locked up at 5 p.m..

I followed him to a multi storey car park. I didn’t think he had seen me walking after him. I have to say this sounds dodgy, but I say again, my intention was not to kill him, just to put the windies up him. I didn’t care about the 300 quid, it was the principle, and most of all how he had spoken to Emma.

I wanted to make it clear that if he saw her again, he got the fuck out of Dodge. I didn’t even want him to look at her the wrong way.

I got to the third level and lost sight of him. I had been made. I remember thinking how sloppy I had been. I had never been seen before and after all my job in the army, as a sniper, was based on stealth, so this fucker making me was an insult.

It was just as I was thinking that that I felt it. A huge whack on the back of my head. He had pistol-whipped me, and I was out for the count.

I woke up again when I realised I was in the boot of his car. We were driving somewhere and it was bumpy. My hands weren’t tied or anything, but I had no fucking room to manoeuvre. When the car came to a halt he opened the boot. I tried jumping out at him but he hit me with something and it knocked me out… again.

I don’t know how long later but the next thing I knew I had come back to life near the river Hull. I was laid on the riverbank that is situated in the middle of Bude Forest, near what was to become Kingswood in Hull some years later.

Looking up as I got back my wits, I had to admit I was in a bit of a predicament.

He stood there above me, he was shaking and panicking as he waved and shook that Winchester shotgun, and for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Winchester, it is one hell of a shotgun that packs one hell of a bang. If you aim in the direction of your target and pull the trigger, it is odds-on you will record a kill.

Thinking back, Redman must have feared for his life because those Winchesters don’t come cheap. Even at a street price you would pay around 700 quid for one of them bad boys.

‘
Hold on a fucking minute, Redman, calm the fuck down. What are you doing?’ I said as I tried to get his attention.

‘
No!’ he screamed at me. ‘You and your chums have been following me all week. I know it, I know it, I know you’re all trying to kill me but, guess what, I’m taking you first, and I’ll shoot any bastard that tries to get near me.’

He was fucking cuckoo. Nothing I said made a difference. I tried telling him I wasn’t with anyone. I told him the truth about how I was only going to put the windies up him for shouting at my Emma.

Nothing registered though. The thing is, I at first thought he wouldn’t have had the bottle, but when he started looking around, then ordered me to strip off and to get closer to the water, I figured we were way past fucking around. He put my clothes in a bin liner and threw them into the brown muddy water of the River Hull. I again tried to talk him out of it. He shouted insults at me and held the shotgun with one hand aimed at my head from about a foot away.

I was going to have to kill him, and quick.

‘
For starters, Redman, you aren’t holding it right. If you’re gonna kill me, then you have to hold it with both hands because the Winchester kicks like a mule.’ I wasn’t lying, and while I knew that giving weapons advice to a man pointing a weapon, which in all probability would have blown my head off from the few feet away where he was standing, was stupid, it was my only shot to get his attention.