Rise and Fall (27 page)

He decided that first thing tomorrow he would call her, and ease the worry that he undoubtedly had put her through. Finally making a decision, he felt the weight he’d been carrying lift from his shoulders; at last he could relax.

***

Clad in black clothing, the shadowy figure who had been hidden by the darkness of the night watched him through the window, pleased that Jerell Morgan seemed to be alone. It was time to strike.

Tyler scaled the drainpipe that hung down the side wall next to his bedroom window. He was panting and aware of the gun in the waistband of his jeans digging into his thigh as he climbed. He had been out of breath from running all the way from the park; fuelled by adrenaline, and thoughts of getting his own revenge, he had managed to make it back here in good time. 

Someone else was watching, concealed by darkness. Jamie, who had been hiding against the tall fence, crept towards the back gate, keeping his body pressed against the wood; he was hoping to stay undetected in the shadows. On reaching the back gate, he gently lifted the handle and slid his body inside through the gap.

Upstairs, Tyler was tip-toeing along the landing, aware that even the slightest creak of a floor board would alert Jerell to the fact that there was someone inside the house. Nothing got past him. Tyler didn’t want to give the man a head start; he was counting on the fact that catching him off guard would be the only way that he could get his revenge.

Jamie, finding the back door ajar, crept in and through the kitchen. So far there had been no sign of Jerell, or anyone else for that matter. He made his way to the stairway, assuming that because the house was in darkness Jerell was in bed.

The lounge was dark; the only light that broke up the blackness was a tiny blue one that flickered dimly on the stereo in the corner of the room, as the voice of Bob Marley filled the air. Jerell was lying on the sofa with his mouth hung open, as he breathed deeply in slumber. 

Thinking he heard a noise, Tyler stopped at the top of the stairs and hid down on the floor behind the banister. Crouching down, he remained still. Maybe Jerell had heard him. Getting out the gun and holding it tightly, he got himself ready in case he needed to use it, as he heard faint footsteps sneaking up the stairs towards him.

Tiptoeing as carefully as he could, Jamie was also holding a gun in front of him. Gary would have gone mental if Jamie had told him that he was coming back here on his own to find Jerell; because he didn’t know the full story, Jamie was convinced that Gary wouldn’t understand, and he would go ape-shit if he found out that Jamie had taken his Smith and Wesson out of the safe in the garage. Jamie had loaded it earlier, when he had met Louise down there. He imagined that Jerell would be tooled up.

Jamie had reached the top of the stairs, and turned the corner, when he almost tripped over himself. The kid crouching down on the hallway had scared the shit out of him.

The small petrified boy lurking in the shadows was Tyler. Jamie felt a massive wave of relief surge through him that he had finally found him, until he saw that Tyler was pointing a gun straight at him.

“Don’t move another step,” Tyler said. He felt his hands go clammy with fear. Realising that it wasn’t Jerell who had come up the stairs, Tyler continued to hold his gun tightly as he stared at the man standing before him. He looked familiar, but Tyler couldn’t place him.

“Put the gun down, Tyler… please, I’m not going to hurt you,” Jamie said, shocked at the sight of the kid before him; even through the shadows, with only the moonlight coming through the skylight above them, Jamie could see that Tyler looked skinny and terrified. “I’ve come to help you, Tyler,” Jamie whispered nervously, hoping that Tyler would believe him, not only did Jamie not fancy getting shot by the kid, he was also worried that Jerell would hear any noise they made, and would come up the stairs to investigate. Jamie knew that Jerell was in the house; he needed to keep Tyler calm if they were both going to make it out of here alive. 

Although his body was shaking, Tyler didn’t put down the gun. He didn’t know who this bloke was: why should he trust him? Although he looked really familiar… His mind whirled.

Then it dawned on him. He had been one of the men who had barged into Reagan’s flat. One of them had been shot. Maybe this man was only here for Jerell, hoping for revenge.

Jamie could see a flicker of doubt cross the boy’s mind, but Tyler didn’t waver as he continued to point the gun at Jamie while he kept his eyes locked onto his.

“I’m here to help you, Tyler.” Jamie couldn’t have been any more sincere. He could still see traces of the little chubby baby brother that he had left behind, in Tyler’s cold, hardened face. He couldn’t begin to imagine what this poor kid had been through, and he felt partly responsible. He should never have left him. Things may have been different if Jamie had been there when Tyler was growing up. He couldn’t turn back the clock, but he hoped that in time Tyler would let him make it up to him. Jamie was pained by the fact that this boy crouching in front of him, holding the gun out so bravely, had no idea who Jamie was; he didn’t even know that Jamie existed.

“I promise you, Tyler; you can trust me. Put down the gun.”

Tyler saw tears in the man’s eyes. He had no idea what was going on, today had turned into an extremely fucked-up day. 

Tyler lowered the gun as Jamie gave him a smile, thankful that he believed him. 

Seconds later, the sound of a gunshot rang out downstairs, making both Jamie and Tyler jump. 

Jamie instructed Tyler to stay where he was as he ran down the stairs. Rushing into the room that he thought the sound had come from, Jamie froze. He could see a silhouette. Someone was standing holding a gun, pointing it at a figure lying on a sofa: Jerell.

Jerell was writhing on the settee. He had woken up to pain searing through him, realising instantly that he had been shot.

“What the fuck have you done?” he screamed. The pain was excruciating, making him flush hot and cold. Shock was setting in. He had thought of himself as indestructible, this was his worst nightmare.

Unable to stay away as Jamie had told him, Tyler crept into the room to see what all the commotion was about. Seeing a familiar figure standing in the room, he switched the light on and gasped loudly.

“Mum?” Jamie and Tyler said in unison. Tyler swung his head towards Jamie in surprise.

Maura Finch looked like she had done ten rounds with Mike Tyson. Her right leg was in plaster from the toes to the knee. Her face was battered almost beyond recognition: her eyes dark purple, her lips swollen. And right now, she looked like a woman possessed.

“Not so cocky now, is he?” Maura laughed manically, emphasising the word cocky. The boys both looked at Jerell. A thick pool of blood seeped out from around the groin area of his jeans, indicating where she had shot Jerell.

Tyler recognised the gun as the one that Jerell had told him to dump. His mother had obviously taken it.

Aiming the gun at Jerell, Maura fired, straight into the howling man’s chest. She would love to leave him lying there bleeding to death from having his dick blasted off, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Jerell was the sort of jammy bloke that might survive an attack like this; she could imagine him rising from his death bed like the frigging Terminator. 

The second bullet tore through Jerell’s chest. He stopped breathing on impact.

‘Redemption Song’ played out in the background. Bob Marley’s lyrics about freeing yourself from evil were not lost on Jamie.

Jamie and Tyler stared at their demented-looking mother in disbelief. She didn’t take her eyes off Jerell’s body, as she stood there seemingly in a trance.

“No one fucks with me or mine,” Maura said, to no-one in particular.

“Stay still. One movement and you’ll be seen.” 

Jamie was the mastermind once again, and as always when he put a plan together he wanted it executed exactly as he intended. Everyone had been briefed, there were to be no fuck-ups. Jamie had worked hard to see that this all went exactly to the letter; it was important.

The room was dark; the only sound heavy breathing.

Hearing a car pull up outside, Jamie felt his heart beating fast; they had to pull this off. Jamie was relying on being able to hear the door open when he entered; otherwise this had been for nothing. Shay and Gavin were on the other side of the room, waiting until Jamie gave a signal.

A key turned in the front door. Voices could be heard in the hallway, chatting quietly at first, but louder as they came closer.

The lounge door opened. The timing was crucial.

“Now,” Jamie said, as he, Gary and Les jumped from behind the curtains, while the walk-in cupboard door across the room simultaneously burst open, as Shay and Gavin almost fell over each other in their hurry to jump out from where they had been hiding.

“Happy birthday,” they all shouted to a gobsmacked-looking Tyler who had just walked into the room, closely followed by a smiling Louise. She was glad that the men had managed to pull off the surprise that Jamie had organised. Tyler looked dumbfounded as he realised what was going on.

Jamie wondered whether they should have jumped out like that, Tyler looked like he had seen a ghost, still understandably jumpy from all that had happened.

Jamie needn’t have worried; the look on Tyler’s face, as he took in the balloons and decorations, was enough to make even these tough men feel teary. 

“Wow,” he said in awe, as a massive grin spread across his face. “Is this all for me?” Tyler had never had a party, not even when he had been little, and he couldn’t believe that they had gone to all this trouble for him. He had been through so much and was still getting over the shock of finding out that Jamie was his brother. He would never forgive his mother for keeping the secret from him for all these years. Jamie had become his best friend, and Tyler loved the funny stories that Jamie had told him about when he had been a baby. He had never realised that he had been loved so much.

Jamie laughed at the boy’s modesty. “Of course it’s all for you, mate, you don’t see any of us turning thirteen anytime soon, do ya?” Jamie pointed at the 'Happy Birthday' banners that were dotted around the walls, all brightly displaying the number thirteen on them, before he quickly added: “well, Shay might just about pass for thirteen, the way he acts, but you’d have to be pretty blind not to clock his stubbly moosh and the suitcases under his eyes.” 

“Oi,” Shay said, and laughed, his mouth full of sausage roll; he was happy that now the birthday boy had arrived he could finally tuck into some food. Unable to wait another second, he had started to help himself.

“Come on then, Tyler, take a seat. You’ve got a mountain of presents to open, you know.” Gary beamed from his seat at the table. He was still taking it easy, even though he had almost fully recovered. He didn’t want to push himself. Even jumping out from behind the curtains had taken it out of him. He had been happy to have Tyler’s surprise party at his house, though. Jamie was like a son to him, and Gary would do everything he could to help him with Tyler.

Tyler made his way over to the table, where Les handed him a plate of goodies to eat, and Gavin gathered up the boy’s cards for him to open.

“Are you alright?” Jamie asked Louise, who was getting a cold drink. 

“How could I not be… look at his face, he’s made up.” Louise nodded at a grinning Tyler, as he tore into his presents. She stepped back a bit, Jamie was standing in such close proximity to her, she was paranoid he would read her thoughts. Her pulse had quickened and she fought to stop herself from blushing as he stood close to her, chatting. Jamie was a good man, one of the best in fact, and what he had done for Tyler had proved that. Looking around at the men in the room, Louise felt emotional. This was far from a traditional family set-up, but she couldn’t think of anyone better to look after Tyler. Now that Tyler had moved in with Jamie, Louise had never seen the boy so happy: he was a changed kid.

“Any news on your re-housing?” Jamie asked.

 Gary letting Louise stay had been a weight off Jamie’s mind, but he knew that even though she and Gary got on well, she was eager to move into a place of her own. She was used to her independence. After telling the council that her house had been taken over by squatters while she had been staying with friends, the local authority had offered to re-house her. The police had investigated the claims of squatters moving into her flat and had declared the place a crime scene when they had discovered the drugs factory. 

“Yes, actually, there is.” Louise beamed; she had been told the news that afternoon. She was excited to start her new life. Thoughts of Jerell, Reagan and the others had been put to the back of her mind. She was never going back to that life. No more gangs; no more drama, she had started looking at recruitment websites in search of a job. “I’ve been offered a little place just around the corner, actually.” 

Jamie was pleased. Louise was a nice girl and if she lived nearby, Tyler would be able to spend time with her; they had a strong bond, and Jamie could see that Louise cared about him. 

“What about you; did you speak to the doctors about your mum?” Louise asked.

Jamie tried not to flinch; he didn’t like it when people referred to Maura as his mum. 

The past few weeks had been a nightmare for them all. But now Jerell was dead, hopefully they could put this all behind them and finally get on with their lives.

“The doctor said that she’s going to be assessed by a psychiatrist next week, to see if she is able to be tried for Jerell’s murder, but they reckon she won’t go to trial,” Jamie said. “The doctor said she spends her days talking gibberish to herself and trying to cave her head in by banging it against the walls of her room. They’ve got her under twenty-four hour surveillance.”

Tyler had told Jamie that the gun their mother had used for Jerell’s murder had been the one that Tyler was supposed to dump for him; the gun that Tyler had then hid, which had since gone missing. It had been their mother who had taken it. Not only did she have Jerell’s gun on her when she was arrested, but the police had also found the original property details from the estate agents on her, which explained how she knew where to find him. Jamie had a feeling that Maura’s attack on Jerell had been more on her part, for his attack on her, than about getting revenge for what the man had done to her youngest son. Jamie knew that he wouldn’t be seeing his mother ever again, and he had a feeling that Tyler felt the same.