Wee Rockets (12 page)

They looked at each other and silently elected Joe as spokesman.

"Me and Danny want to leave the gang, Liam. It's all yours if you want it."

Liam nodded. "Funny. What's this really all about?"

"We're serious, Liam," Joe said.

"What? Why would you want to give it up? Sure we make good money and have a laugh."

"Because Stephen McVeigh is on to both of us. He's been to my house and he's been bending Danny's brother's ear. We'll get caught if we keep at it."

"So what? I get caught instead? Do you two think I'm fucking stupid?"

"Aye," Wee Danny said.

Liam turned to Joe and held up his hands, palms to the sky.

"Liam, me and Danny just figured that you'd want to make your own choice. We're offering you the gang, but you can leave too, if you want. At least we've told you about McVeigh."

Liam rubbed his chin. "I suppose we could see what the pickings are like further up the road. McVeigh might lose interest in us if we're not working Beechmount."

"Up to you, boss," Joe said.

Joe laced the word boss with sarcasm, but Liam still liked how it sounded.
Boss.
With full control of the gang, Liam could increase the number of nights on the hunt. He'd always been eager to do more, but Joe always had to play it safe. And he'd get more ambitious with the targets. No more robbing grannies for pennies. He'd have a go at the tourists, like he'd always wanted to. Relieve them of their holiday money and digital cameras. Make the effort worthwhile.

He reeled himself in and forced his brain to slow down.
Baby steps,
he thought.
Don't get ahead of yourself. Think this all through.

"I'm going to have to think about this," Liam said.

"Do what you want," Wee Danny said. "We're out and that's that. If you want to pick up and carry on, fine. If not, the rest of them can sort it out amongst themselves."

"Right, but don't tell the others until I've decided. Don't want them getting big ideas if they think there's an opening."

"Like Danny said, we're out, Liam. It'll be up to you to get in touch with the others and let them know what's going on."

"So what are you two going to do instead? Sit and scratch your balls?"

"Don't worry about us," Joe said. "We've some ideas. But it's all hush-hush until that ginger freak stops sniffing about. For now, we're probably just going to lay low. Get pissed, get a couple of birds and enjoy the summer. That sort of thing."

"Aye? Well, good luck with that. Let me know how it works out for you."

Joe gave him a tight-lipped smile. Wee Danny lit another fag. Liam didn't reprimand him for not offering them around again. They stood in silence for a few seconds, none of them knowing what to say before parting company.

Then a thought struck Liam. "Joe, does this mean we're not going to hang about with each other any more?"

Joe shook his head. "No. We're still mates, like. We'll meet for a carryout on the weekends like normal. Then you and the boys can fill me and Danny in on your adventures."

"Aye, okay." Liam didn't feel a hundred percent convinced that things would work out that way. He felt like he should say goodbye or tell Joe it'd been nice knowing him, but didn't know how to say it without sounding soft or gay.

He flicked his fag butt onto the road and exhaled his final lungful through his nose. He looked up to Joe, shielding his eyes from the high sun with his hand, and then down at Wee Danny. It didn't look like they had much to say. Up to him to fill the gap as usual.

"Well, then. I suppose I'll smell you two fruits later. I'm away home to wake my ma up and see if I can get my lunch."

It'd have to do.

Joe pulled Wee Danny's head off his shoulders and whipped him with his own spine. Blood pixels gushed from the ragged wound. Joe had set up the PS2 in the living room, taking advantage of the bigger, louder TV while his ma worked her Tuesday shift. He played Wee Danny at a two-player beat ‘em up. Joe loved the button-mashing martial arts games. You could lose yourself in them, concentrating on timing and finesse, or you could go at it half-tilt and have a bit of craic with player two. Another round, and Joe laid into Wee Danny with a seven hit combination.

"You're shit at this today," Joe said.

"I can't concentrate."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just haven't felt right since we were talking to Liam earlier. That fat fucker gets on every nerve in my body. It's probably pissing me off that we've just handed him a meal ticket."

Joe thumbed a four-button sequence and knocked Wee Danny from one side of the screen to the other. "Sure we both agreed it was stupid for the two of us to risk running with them."

"I know, I know. But I still feel like we're losing out. And Fat Boy is laughing at us."

"So fucking what if he is? It's only Liam, Danny. He's always been a dickhead."

"Fuck's sake! Get up you useless bastard!" Wee Danny pounded on the joypad and spoke through clenched teeth. "Then why do you always protect him?"

"Because he's a mate! Now quit yapping and put up a fight here. I'm bored of kicking your arse."

"It's a stupid fucking game anyway."

Joe had heard enough about Liam Greene and the Rockets. They could get a record deal as the next big rap crew for all he cared. As long as his kneecaps were still intact, he was happy. He'd more important things on his mind, and Wee Danny should know that. They'd talked enough the night before.

"So, what do you think I should do about my dad?"

Danny hit pause on the game, dropped his joypad and reached into his pocket for his fags. "I had a think about this after you left my place last night. I reckon you should phone him."

Joe accepted a fag and lit up. "Really? Why?"

"Well, you're going to lose out on a whole lot of cash now that you've handed over the Rockets. And your dad's missed loads of birthdays and Christmases. The way I see it, he owes you big time. You'll not get a penny if you don't get in touch."

"What if he hasn't got any money?"

"Then you only phone him once. You're in a position to call all the shots. He's the one in the wrong."

"Fuck. You're right."

"Of course I'm right."

Joe thought for a few seconds. "What am I going to say to him though?"

"Well, big lad. What's the craic? Do you have much money?"

"Aye. That might need a bit of work."

Wee Danny shrugged. "Do we have to keep playing this?"

"What else is there to do?"

"I've got some E tabs. Want to try them?"

Joe sucked air in through his teeth. "Jesus, I don't know Danny. I've never taken that stuff before. Why'd you even get them? You should try and save some money, now that we're not earning."

"You need to get with the times, mate. Sure an E is cheaper than a twenty deck of fags these days. I bought a couple of Mitsubishis because they're selling grass for thirty quid an eighth this week. Fuck that."

"But Ecstasy's a nightclub drug. There's no point doing it here."

"I've got some of our Paul's old CDs with me. Come on, we can have our own wee rave."

Joe narrowed his eyes. "So long as you don't want me to slow dance."

"Fuck off, you fruit."

Joe stroked his moustache. He wasn't sure. A bit of blow was one thing, but Ecstasy still held its place as a Class A. The same league as cocaine and heroin. He shook his head to scatter his doubts. It was only a pill. "Ach, fuck it. Okay. But we may go up to my room. The stereo down here is shit."

"Dead on. We should neck the pills right now though. They take about half an hour to kick in according to the dealer. If you want, that'd be enough time to cook a pizza or something. I'm not sure if they give you the munchies or not, but there's no point starving if they do."

"Good thinking. We should drink shitloads of water too."

"Yeah, that's right." Wee Danny dug into his pocket and pulled out a little cellophane bag containing two aspirin-like pills. He handed one to Joe and dry-swallowed the other.

Joe shuddered. "I'm having a drink with mine."

In the kitchen, Wee Danny laid twenty fish fingers side-by-side on a baking tray while Joe inwardly talked himself into swallowing the pill, now floating in a mouthful of tap water. While Wee Danny tried to figure out the oven, Joe blessed himself and gulped. They had another few rounds on the PS2 while they waited on the food and the first signs of a buzz. Half an hour later, stomachs full, they carried water up the stairs in pint glasses and milk bottles.

Joe opened his bedroom window while Wee Danny fed three of Paul's discs to the sound system. Noise from the street invaded the room. Loud kids and louder parents. Beeping horns and revving engines. Sounds of the summer. Wee Danny cranked the volume knob. Aphex Twin knocked the dust off Joe's speakers. Old school mind-fuck. The bass line rattled Joe's fillings.

"Is it warm in here?" Joe asked.

Wee Danny shrugged. "We might be coming up."

"Cool."

Joe sat on his bed and tried to imitate the beat from the techno track in a combination of foot-stomping and knee-slapping. He couldn't keep up. But his jeans felt good. He ran his hands up and down the blue material from his knees to his hips and his scalp tightened in a pleasure shiver. He dug hypersensitive fingertips into his thighs and smiled. Then something important occurred to him. He needed to share it.

"See if I ever think about topping myself, Danny; will you slap me?"

Wee Danny blinked. "What?"

"You have to slap me if I ever want to kill myself."

"How will I know?"

Joe shrugged and flopped back on his bed. "I'll probably offer you a big bag of dirty mags."

"If you ever give me a pile of porn, I'll kiss you."

"Well, that's the end of that then. No fucking way I'm risking it now."

Wee Danny's laughter crackled in Joe's ears. Joe sat up. His legs shook but he liked the sensation. He watched Wee Danny's jaw work as if he'd a mouthful of Hubba Bubba bubblegum.

"Seriously, though," Joe said, "I don't want to die."

Wee Danny swayed from side-to-side in the middle of the bedroom like a metronome with a rubber needle. He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest then deflating it with a whooshing noise. "Me neither."

"I'm glad."

"I'm kind of excited."

"What about?"

"I don't know." Wee Danny laughed again.

"Your laugh sounds brilliant."

"So does yours."

"I'm not laughing."

"And I'm not singing."

"What?"

Wee Danny shrugged and slumped. Shrugged and slumped. Nodded his head and tapped his feet. "This tune is brilliant."

Joe stood up and danced. "I'm going to phone my da."

Wee Danny nodded in approval.

"And I'm going to ask him to meet me."

Wee Danny smiled.

"And I'll tell him I missed him, even though I never knew him."

"Joe, mate, that's beautiful."

Joe flinched as Wee Danny charged at him. But it was okay. His little friend wrapped little arms around him and squeezed. Joe looked down on his dandruff-speckled suede head.

"Your heart is out of sync with the music," Wee Danny said.

"Out of sync? What's that mean?"

"Do you never listen to the music teacher?"

"No. Should I?"

"You should listen to everyone... no... every
thing
."

Joe stroked the crown of Wee Danny's head then gently pushed him back. "Where's my phone?"