2

REWINDING BACK TIME

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

WHEN ALL THE MADNESS BEGAN

I sat down in front of the TV, playing Crash Bandicoot as usual. My stepdad Steve was coming round today. Steve was black, in his 40s. I couldn’t wait to see him. He always came round to see me, and help Mum with money, because she was finding it hard to manage without Dad.

Dad left me when I was ten. I hadn’t really given it a second thought. I didn’t need him, and Mum was strong without him.

Dad is Caribbean and Mum is white. I was half black, and half white. Dad’s parents disowned him when they found out that he secretly got married to Mum, because they didn’t like her. After staying with us for a long time, Dad finally realised he’d had enough. When Dad left, Steve came along.

My phone started ringing, and I jumped to answer it straight away.

“I’ll be there in 5 minutes, little man,” Steve said on the other end of the line.

“Can’t wait! I’ll go tell Mum to get the table ready,” I replied excitedly.

“That’s live, son, I’ll let you know when I’m here.”

I hung up the phone and made my way to the kitchen. Mum was standing there washing the dishes, with her back turned to me.

“Mum, we need to put the food out. Steve’s gonna be here any minute!” I said, with my hands on my hips.

Mum looked startled. “That was fast. I haven’t had time to make him anything.” Mum held her hands against her face, trembling. I didn’t know why she was panicking so much, or why she looked so scared and nervous, but I decided to shrug it off.

“Why am I so stupid?!” Mum screamed.

I laughed awkwardly, furrowing my eyebrows, and then put my hands up to stop Mum from rummaging through the cupboards. “Mum, it’s calm! We have tuna and bread, we’ll make him some sandwiches.”

“I guess that’ll have to do,” Mum replied, unsure. She blew a small sigh of relief and then started preparing the food.

The doorbell sounded. “Steve’s here!” I said excitedly.

I ran to the door and opened it. Steve came in and gave me a massive hug. “You alright, little man?” he chuckled.

“I’m good, man!” I said happily. He walked into the living room where Mum was standing, scratching her arm uneasily. She straightened out her hair and clothes, and Steve’s arms folded angrily; it was like his blood was boiling just by looking at Mum. He raised an eyebrow at her outfit.

“Linda, a word?” Steve hissed, gently moving me aside.

“Okay,” Mum said, afraid.

“Sorry,” I said awkwardly. “I’ll get out of your way.”

He took Mum into his arms, smiling over me at his shoulder. I smiled back, reassured.

§ STEVE §

“What the fuck are you wearing?” I hissed angrily at Linda, grabbing her hair, so that Louis couldn’t hear me.

“I… erm…” Linda took deep breaths in and out, jumping up, looking frightened. I knew she was trying to remain calm for Louis’s sake.

I rolled my eyes angrily, walking away from her. I was pissed off, and I couldn’t be arsed to deal with her bullshit today.

“Come on, Louis,” I said. Linda adjusted her clothing so her cleavage couldn’t be seen. Louis nodded happily and we both walked towards the television.

§ LOUIS §

“You still play Crash Bandicoot?” Steve laughed, as he looked at the television screen. He reached for the bag next to him and pulled out some games, ‘Grand Theft Auto’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and ‘Fifa’.

I gasped. “Steve, you’re the best!” I opened up the CD’s, unable to believe my eyes. “These must have cost you a fortune!”

“It’s been a while since I got you something nice and you’re always playing the same old stuff, it’s time to play suttin’ new!” he said cheerfully, ruffling my hair.

Mum came into the lounge from the kitchen. She gasped as she saw the games. “Steve, you shouldn't have! You spoil him rotten! And you know I'm struggling with money…”

I rolled my eyes, suddenly pissed off. “Mum, will you stop going on about money and let us have fun for once? Jheeze.”

“He's right Linda, he deserves it. Let the kid breathe, for God's sake,” Steve said, folding his arms.

“But I've got bills due soon that I need to pay…” Mum said timidly.

“You know I'll pay your goddamn bills so what's the problem? Let me do some nice stuff for the kid, I don't even see him that much anymore.”

“I - I…”

“That's enough Linda.” Steve rolled his eyes and I did the same. It was annoying how fucking over-bearing my mum was sometimes.

I opened up Assassin’s Creed and started playing it on my console.

§ STEVE §

I chuckled happily as I watched Louis play Assassin’s Creed, and then looked around the room to see Linda crying at the other side of the room. I sighed, walking towards her.

“Hey, cheer up babe. I’m sorry for being a moody prick, I’ve just had a long day.” I gave her a hug to shut her up, and she sighed underneath my touch uncomfortably, feeling obliged to hug me back. This just pissed me off more. I kissed her on the cheek, desperate to get a normal reaction out of her, and she drew a deep breath in nervously.

“It’s okay,” Linda mumbled.

“That smile is what I like to see, baby girl!” I grabbed hold of her face, kissing her forcefully, not giving a fuck whether she liked it or not.

§ LOUIS §

I put down my games controller and walked over to Steve, wondering what was taking him so long. Him and Mum were making out, and I felt like puking. I shifted about uncomfortably, wishing they would stop.

Mum giggled, pulling away from Steve and Steve kissed her cheek again. I didn’t understand their relationship. One minute, they were at each other’s throats, and the next, they were playing happy families again.

“Steve, Louis is here!” Mum said, with her hands on her hips.

“So what?” Steve rolled his eyes, and sighed.

“I’m gonna go upstairs,” I said awkwardly.

Steve coughed, embarrassed. “Shit, sorry Louis. I just haven’t seen your mum for a while, that’s all.” He shrugged, and I rolled my eyes. “So what’ve you two made me to eat? I’m starving.”

“Sandwiches,” I shrugged.

“Sandwiches yeah?” Steve said. I quickly handed him one of the sandwiches from the kitchen. He started eating it, and then sighed angrily.

“What is this crap? Some out of date tuna, Louis. Make me some proper food,” he said angrily.

Mum looked mortified.

“I didn’t even make it, Mum did!” I said defensively.

Steve stared at Mum with a blank expression on his face, and Mum looked down to the floor sadly.

“It’s alright babe, we’ll order some takeaway instead,” Steve said reassuringly. He turned back to me. “Louis, put this shit sandwich in the bin.”

I nodded, taking it back from him to put it back on the plate. But before I knew it, the plate slipped, and smashed all over the floor.

“Shit,” I sighed, suddenly even more pissed off than I was before.

“For fuck’s sake Louis, you’re so dumb sometimes,” Steve scolded.

“Look at all this mess!” Mum said angrily, taking her head in her hands.

“I can’t be arsed to tidy this shit,” I complained. “Can we just chill and play games?” I turned to Steve.

“Yeah, we will do. Linda, tidy this mess. I’m gonna order pizza now.”

Mum shook her fists angrily, storming out of the room.

§ MUM §

I stormed into the kitchen to collect a dustpan and broom. While I was away from Louis and Steve, I kicked the hoover on the floor angrily. I started screaming, tears streaming down my face.

§ LOUIS §

“Yeah, that’ll be two 12-inch pizzas mate,” Steve said on the phone.

“That’s a twenty minute wait, yeah?”

“Make it quick if you want a tip.” Steve hung up the phone and then turned back to me. “Now, we playing Grand Theft Auto or what?!”

“Fuck yesss!” I exclaimed.

“Language Louis!” Mum said angrily, as she walked back into the room.

“Sorry Mum,” I said awkwardly, and Steve rolled his eyes. I suddenly felt bad for the way I spoke to her earlier. “Let me help with that,” I signaled the broken plate on the floor.

“Thank you baby,” Mum sighed.

***

The floor was cleaned and tidy now, and Mum was in a much happier mood. We all sat down together on the sofa, having a fun time playing games.

***

20 MINUTES LATER

§ STEVE §

“That’ll be 25 quid, mate,” said the delivery man, as I took the pizza box out of his hands at the doorway. I handed him his cash quickly.

“Thanks donny, enjoy your food!” he said, as he took the cash.

“Will do, big man,” I replied, making my way back inside.

When I made my way back to the living room, my phone started ringing. Louis tried looking over at my phone but I wouldn’t let him.

“Louis, take the pizza to the table for me g. Just let me answer my phone.”

Louis nodded happily, diving into the pizza straight away. Fat fuck.

As soon as he took it from me, I stormed out the room, because I knew the name ‘Abid’ flashed up on my phone screen. From the get-go, that meant this call wasn’t gonna be good fucking news.

I pressed the green phone button on my phone, and Abid started rambling on the other end.

“What do you mean, ten bags are missing?” I shouted angrily.

§ ABID §

Bilal. The motherfucker that crossed us. Me and Trex were in an old parking garage, and we had Bilal tied up in a chair with his mouth taped.

“We’ve counted the cash g. We’re missing ten bags of cash and two weeks’ worth of goods. You need to fucking sort this, we’re losing money fast,” I said to Steve down the line.

§ STEVE §

I started sweating, frustrated. I treated Bilal like a brother… and now this was the news that I was fucking receiving.

“Bilal… no fucking way man,” I sighed. “The last person I thought was gonna fucking snake us.”

“I didn’t like that motherfucker from the start you let him in with us,” Abid said on the other end of the line. “He’s always been making booky movements, and now we’ve caught the motherfucker before he did any more damage.

I took out a long, deep breath, and reached into my pocket for a box of cigarettes.

“You still there, Boss? What do you want me to do?”

I put a fag in my mouth and lit it. “Put a blade to the motherfucker’s neck, stick nails in his toes. Burn his feet till the bastard talks. I’m on my way.”

“You got it, Boss. I’ll text you the address.”

I hung up the phone angrily, taking more puffs of my cigarette. I looked down at my phone, my eyes lingering at the text with the address written on it. 33 Sycamore Street.

I ran downstairs, making my way out the door, slamming it, getting inside my whip and driving off.

§ LOUIS §

I heard the door slam and put my half-eaten pizza slice back in the box.

“Steve?” I called. “Steve, where’ve you gone?”

Mum finished eating too, and got up. “Do you want me to have a quick look around the house?” she asked.

“No Mum, I heard the door slam. He’s gone somewhere.”

“Oh right. Bit rude of him to just walk off without letting us know,” Mum said condescendingly.

I raised my eyebrows. “I’m gonna save him his share of pizza, Mum. He’ll come back, I know he will.”

Mum smiled at me warily. “Hopefully sweetheart, he’s probably just gone to run an errand. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

I nodded, smiling at Mum and going back to my pizza… but as soon as I looked at the box, my smile faltered. I don’t know why I kept kidding myself. Steve always let me down, and I was always making excuses for him, latching onto a dream. I guess I was too blinded by this perfect image of Steve that I never saw him for who he really was. Mum was always giving me that “I told you so” look… but for once, just once… I wanted to prove her wrong.

I took my phone out of my pocket and sent Steve a text saying “Where are you?”

§ ABID §

I slapped Bilal’s face, holding a lighter flame next to it. This motherfucker deserved all the torture that was coming to him.

“Trex, hammer a nail in the bastard’s finger,” I said angrily.

Trex nodded and walked over with his hammer, while Bilal was trembling, his face red and beaten from my doing, his legs shaking. Trex started waving the hammer in Bilal’s face, and I ripped the tape from his mouth.

“You gonna talk, motherfucker?” Trex shouted.

Bilal started bellowing in pain, crying desperately. “I - I can’t! The Surenos will fucking kill me!”

I started laughing. Poor bastard didn’t have the slightest idea about how we were gonna deal with him if he didn’t co-operate.

“What are you on about, motherfucker?” I said. “If you don’t give us information, we’re gonna kill you our fucking selves.”

“I can’t die, man! I gotta feed my mum, she has no money, my little baby sis needs looking after man, she’s only two, my mum’s not well, she…”

“You should’ve thought about all that shit before you ratted us out to them motherfuckers,” Trex shouted. “Now you’re gonna have to face the fucking consequences.”

Bilal started shaking uncontrollably. “My mum’s got cancer man, I can’t die, I…”

“I don’t think this motherfucker understands,” I spat. I nodded at Trex and Trex nodded back, it was like our fucking code when we mutually agreed with something. Trex resealed Bilal’s mouth with tape, and Bilal started wailing again. He was really fucking pissing me off now.

“We gave you a chance to talk, motherfucker,” Trex warned. He took the nail in his fingers and crouched down to Bilal’s feet, positioning it in the middle of his foot. He started hammering it inside and Bilal rattled in the chair in pain. I set Bilal’s hand alight with the flame in my hand.

“You could’ve had it easy, motherfucker,” I said. “Told us what we wanted, we give you protection, you get to live for one more day. But you had to make it difficult for yourself.”

I put out the flame on his skin and nodded at Trex again, who removed the tape off of Bilal’s mouth again. Bilal wailed in pain, crying horribly for a short while. I was getting quite fucking tired of babying this bastard and getting no results.

“A - a - alright, I’ll fucking talk!” Bilal stuttered, hardly able to compose his sentences properly. “The Mexican motherfuckers were gonna kill my mum man, I had to do what they wanted…”

“What are their plans?!” I roared. “WHAT ARE THEIR FUCKING PLANS, BILAL?!”

“T - they want t - territory,” Bilal mumbled.

“Answer our questions properly, motherfucker! Do you have a fucking death wish?!” Trex shouted.

§ STEVE §

I walked into the car park with my phone in my pocket. It started buzzing so I took it in my hand, and a text from Louis appeared on the phone.

“Where are you?”

I took out a deep breath that I didn’t know I was holding, and ignored the message, shoving my phone back into my pocket. Louis was the least of my worries right now. He was just a fucking kid… only 14. I didn’t want him to get caught up in my life. As far as Louis and his mum were concerned, I was just a plumber. Not a fucking mafia kingpin. It was the best thing for all of us if they didn’t know my real lifestyle.

I shrugged off my jacket and threw it to the ground. I nodded at Abid and Trex, walking closer to them.

“Boss is here now,” said Abid.

I saw Bilal in his chair, trembling, and rage suddenly boiled over me.

“I trusted you, motherfucker!” I roared. “I saved your ass so many times, and this is what you do to me?!”

“Steve, I s - s - swear, I d - didn’t have a choice!”

“Shut the fuck up, bastard!”

I freed Bilal from the ropes, and then punched him so hard that he knocked off the chair, falling onto the hard ground with a painful smack. It wasn’t enough, though.

I began punching his face and beating him repeatedly, kicking him in the ribs in repeat succession. Bilal was wailing underneath my grip, but I wasn’t satisfied. This motherfucker needed to suffer for double-crossing me. Double-crossing me, the very man who brought him into my organisation, gave him an opportunity, helped him level up in business, push product, make shit tons of money.

“P - please Boss, I was t - talking, I w - was!” Bilal cried.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite hear that,” I said quietly, and then stamped on Bilal’s face. At this point, Bilal was struggling to breathe. I grabbed him with force, sitting him straight and slapping his face, which was already blue.

“Talk to me, motherfucker,” I spat.

“I s - said they w - want territory!”

“What territory, motherfucker?!” I roared. By now, my white vest was drenched in sweat. I ripped it off and threw it to the side.

“O - over all the places we sell to. S - Small Heath, Alum R - Rock, S - Smethwick…”

My face dropped. It felt like my blood was running cold. Somebody was coming for my organisation? Everything I’d built from nothing, built from the ground up. They wanted to destroy everything I’d worked so hard for? Everything I’d put my blood, sweat and tears into?

They were coming for all of my territory? I didn’t just own Birmingham in the drug business. I owned pretty much the whole of the damn United Kingdom. I had operations in London, Manchester, and even Cardiff, a city in Wales. I’d learnt the game well. I had somebody taking care of operations in all of the other cities too on my behalf. Was this the result of their own fuck-ups? I didn’t know. I guess I needed to keep a better eye on the bastards that I allowed to represent me in my organization.

I wasn’t going to let a pathetic cartel come and compete against me. They needed to be sent a warning not to fuck with me. Nobody was going to ruin what I’d built. Nobody. Maybe the Surenos being given a warning would also teach other cartels a lesson too, to not sell on my goddamn land.

I slowly turned away from Bilal, my heart thumping against my chest. My blood was boiling to the point it almost dried up. I got up on my feet, and the room was silent for several minutes as the sweat on my face fell onto the floor in tiny droplets.

Abid took a deep breath in. “So the Surenos want our territory, Boss…” He began, sighing. “What’s our next move?”

I said nothing. All I could hear… All I could feel… Was my pulsing heartbeat raising through the roof.

I swallowed. I knew I owed them an explanation. I knew I owed them a plan, a strategy on what we were going to do moving forward. Abid and Trex, my fucking sidekicks. The only men who I could really rely on… The only men who I could really trust. The men who’d been there for me from the beginning.

“Boss?” Trex repeated nervously.

I lit a cigarette, taking several inhalations… before slowly turning around to face Abid and Trex.

“They want our territory?” I pondered. “We give them a fucking war. We go out for fucking bodies.” I let my head get back into the zone, ready to assert my authority again.

“So what’s the plan, Boss?” asked Abid.

I started elaborating my strategy to them, every word, every fine detail. They nodded in approval, and we started devising together who was going to do what.