Behind the Tears (Behind the Lives) (8 page)

“Watch your mouth, dago bastard. And you look the same.”

“I’m not Italian and Dante has a tat round his left eye.”

“How the fuck would I know? Deano usually deals with you pricks, not me. So, shut your gob, and get in here before someone sees you.”

Ash tucked his T-shirt behind his gun and entered the house. He wished he didn’t have to deal with the Joneses, but his boss gave him no choice, the family also working for Craven.

Ash placed the bags on the table and faced Len as the fat cunt closed the front door. Len’s eyes lowered to Ash’s gun. “Nice piece, just keep it in your pants along with your cock, cos Carly’s home.”

“Fuck off; I’m not interested in her.”

“Good. Now, do you want a beer?”

“The last time I had one my mother died and I ended up in hospital, so get my bloody money or I’m leaving with your stash.”

“What’s your fuckin’ issue?”

“You shot at Dante.”

“Deano ordered me to, and it was last year, so get over it, you prick. Anyway, I purposely missed, so you should kiss my arse.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true, cos Craven would’ve killed me if I damaged his property. I aimed for Dante’s car, which made Deano happy and kept Craven off our backs.”

Ash sniffed, surprised that the guy actually had some brains, because he was right, Craven would’ve brought the Joneses down to their knees and begging for mercy if they had killed Dante.
Property.
Yeah, they were all Craven’s property.

“Just get my money so I can go,” Ash said. “Your place reeks.”

Len headed into the kitchen mumbling, “Dago bastard.” He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the bench dividing the rooms, then pulled open the fridge.

Ash sat down on the couch, wishing Len would stop pissing him about, because he hated being in this place. Not only did it stink of cat piss and cigarettes, but the lounge was lined with boxes, which he knew were full of stolen goods.

A female squealed. “Dante!”

Ash’s gaze shot to the passage doorway as Deano’s wife headed towards him. Bloody hell, she looked awful. He hadn’t seen Carly since Dante had told her to fuck off just under a year ago. Back then she’d been a right stunner, with a figure to die for, but now she appeared gaunt with sunken cheeks and sores peppering her skin, while her once lovely blonde hair was stringy and unkempt.

Len ran out of the kitchen, and grabbed Carly’s arm. “It’s Ash, not Dante.”

Carly tried to yank herself free. “You bastard, lemme go!”

“Don’t speak to me like that!” Len let go and shoved her into the coffee table.

Ash bolted to his feet.

Carly moved in front of Ash, blocking him from Len. “Sit down, hun; I’ll get ya a beer.”

“I don’t drink,” Ash said, still eyeballing Len.

Len jabbed a finger at Carly. “Stay put, woman, while I get him his money. And if you touch him...” He smiled. “Deano said I can take care of things.”

“I won’t touch him.”

“We’ll see.” Len smiled wider, then disappeared down the passage.

Ash sat back down, then jolted in surprise as Carly launched herself onto his lap. She grabbed his head and started kissing him, making him want to chunder. She reeked of cheap methamphetamines, the smell resembling a mixture of burnt plastic and ammonia, the latter probably why the place smelt like cat piss. He hated meth, it was the only drug he refused to sell, his father’s addiction still weighing on him.

He pushed Carly off, accidentally knocking her into the coffee table. She righted herself, then placed her hands on either side of his head, leaning into the couch and giving him an eyeful of what she wasn’t wearing under her baggy T-shirt. “C’mon, Dante, Deano’s out of the country, he won’t know.”

“I’m not Dante. My bro has a tat round his left eye now.” He swatted her hand away as she stroked his hair. Her pupils were dilated, making her irises look almost completely black. Freaked out, Ash shifted down the couch. “Stoppit.”

She followed him. “We were good together.”

“I’m Ash. Remember I went out with your cuz at high school?”

“But I wanna be with you, not Deano,” she said, as though she hadn’t heard him, too spaced-out to listen to reason.  She placed her arms around his neck, and tried to kiss him again.

“No!” Ash jerked away.

“For fuck’s sake!” Len stormed over with a bag, and yanked her away from Ash. “Don’t you ever bloody listen?”

She squealed and slapped Len. Len pushed her into the passage, closing the door behind her. She kicked the door and yelled at him, making him holler back: “Stay in there!” When she went silent, Len shook his head and walked back to Ash, muttering, “Crazy bitch.” He slumped down on the couch and dumped the heavy bag on Ash’s lap. “It’s all there, check it if ya want.”

Ash unzipped it, and started counting the money, while Len grabbed the brick of coke. Len opened it and stuck a finger inside, licking off the white powder. “
Sweet
... that’s good shit,” he said, putting it aside to check the bag of weed.

Ash quickly finished counting. “All good?” Although he had no idea why the Joneses wanted to get into the drug business, because the amount they were ordering was definitely not for recreational use and well above their means—gathering from their royal abode. Ash snorted, slightly amused. Len gave him a glare, making Ash smile more.

“You dealing now?” Ash asked, not really caring if Len stole his lower-end customers or not. If anything it amused him, knowing that Craven’s men would string the fat bastard up alive, because there was no way Len had been given permission to sell anything but electronics.

Len’s eyes narrowed. “No, it’s for me and Deano.”

“A kilo in a week? Yeah right, I can see you consuming a hundred kilos of McDs in that time, but not coke.”

“Watch your mouth, you cheeky bastard!”

Ash shook his head. “If Craven catches ya dealing, you’ll end up in the Waikato River with the other fat logs.”

“You keep your greasy mouth shut or my aim will be more accurate next time.”

“You threatening me?”

“No, I’m threatening Dante, so shut your gob if you want him hole free.”

Ash clenched his fists.  “If you go near my bro—”

“I won’t as long as you don’t tell Craven.”

Ash got to his feet and glared down at Len. “Take my biz away from me for all I care, I don’t give a shit. I’ve had enough of dealing.” He snatched up the bag and headed for the door, sick of this shit-arse business.

Len followed him. “Next time you come here, keep your opinions to yourself, Dago boy.”

Ash flicked Len the finger as he jumped down the front steps. Len yelled racist names then slammed the door behind him. Rain descended over Ash, the cloudy sky matching his mood. He headed for Dante’s car, pissed off with everything. A loud crash came from the house, making him stop. Ash glanced back, then at the kids in the beat-up car. They continued to play, seemingly unconcerned by the noise. He dumped the bag of money into the boot, then moved around to the front of the car, just wanting to go home and bum out for the rest of Saturday. Maybe he could watch a DVD with Beth or spend some quality time in bed with her, making up for how he treated her earlier. Yeah, he’d stop by the dairy and buy her some flowers, because she always liked that. And it wasn’t like he meant to upset her, he just needed some breathing space before he choked on his memories.

Another loud crash sounded, followed by a high pitched scream. Ash froze for a moment, then swore up a storm as he headed back down the path, knowing he shouldn’t interfere, but also knowing he had to do something. Finding the front door locked, he took off around the side of the house. Like the front of the property, the backyard was overgrown with the additions of a garage and clothesline. He entered through the kitchen as another shattering sound came from down the passage.

Len screamed, his voice dripping with pain. “You bitch! I’m gonna fuckin’ kill ya.”

Ash bolted down the passage and stopped at the bedroom where the noise was coming from. Shattered glass and ceramics littered the floor and bed, along with broken picture frames, while on the mattress a bloodied Len was punching Carly, who was curled up into a ball and screaming. Ash grabbed Len from behind, but the guy was too heavy to budge.

Len stopped punching Carly and shoved Ash away, making him stumble into the cabinet. “This has got nuthin’ to do with you!”

Ash launched himself at Len, this time putting his full weight behind him. Len fell off Carly and over the side of the bed, knocking into the front wall. Ash grabbed Carly, yanking her off the bed and pushing her behind him. “Get outta ’ere,” he said, remembering his gun.

Len got to his feet, his fat face full of rage. Before Ash could pull his gun out, Len stepped onto the bed and flung himself at Ash like a WWF pro-wrestler, the fat bastard’s speed taking Ash by surprise. Ash fell into the passageway, the back of his head hitting the wall hard. On autopilot, he raised his leg, kneeing Len in the nuts just as a punch connected with his face. Both of them grunted, but only Len crumpled to the floor. Ash brought a boot down into Len’s fat gut. Len hollered and lashed out, clipping Ash’s heel. Ash righted himself and raised his boot again, then stopped, a sudden bout of dizziness taking over. He wobbled and staggered to the side, then everything went blank.

***

The sound of a gun firing brought Ash around. Another shot rang out followed by a loud thud. He sat up, everything a blurry mess of colours. He wiped at his eyes, then jolted when a hand touched his face.

“God, I thought he’d killed you,” a female said. She hugged him then started peppering kisses all over his face.

Too disorientated to push her away, Ash laid his head against the wall, wincing at the pain it caused. She stopped kissing his face and latched onto his lips, her breath making him gag. He tried to raise a hand to push her away again, but it flopped back down. He blinked and shook his head, finally clearing his vision and realising where he was.

Carly stopped kissing him and reached around his head, her expression upset. “My poor baby, you’re bleeding.” She wrapped her arms around him and heaved, getting nowhere as she tried to pull him up. “Help me, Dante.”

Too sore and dizzy to correct her, Ash pushed to his feet. She directed him down the passage. He stopped at the doorway to the lounge and leaned against it, everything that had happened coming back. “Where’s Len?”

“I shot him. And I hope he’s dead!” she screamed down the passage. She started laughing, the sound surreal for the situation.

Ash looked down at his pants. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she used his gun! Ash turned to go back to the room. Carly blocked his way, steadying him as he swayed slightly.

“I was protecting you, like you protected me,” she said.

“But, you shot him with my bloody gun.”

“What gun?”

Confused, Ash blinked at her. “But you just said you shot him.”

“Who?”

Ash breathed out, remembering she wasn’t all there. He turned and walked back to the room, spotting the gun lying in the doorway. He swiped it up then went still, his gaze moving to the body on the floor. Blood covered one arm and a shoulder, but apart from Len’s scratched up face, Ash couldn’t see any critical damage. He reached out a foot and nudged Len’s leg, then jerked back when Len pushed up onto a hand.

Len’s gaze moved to the gun in Ash’s hand, his eyes going wide with terror. He shuffled away from Ash, banging into the wall. “Don’t kill me, man, please don’t kill me.”

“I don’t intend to as long as you stay away from my family.”

“Yeah, man, no worries, it wasn’t your fault, it was Carly’s,” Len babbled. “All’s good between us.” His gaze moved to Ash’s right, his expression changing from fear to anger in an instant. “You bitch!” Len screamed. “Wait ’til Deano hears what you did!”

Carly screamed back, the two having a yelling match.

Ash put a hand to his head, then hollered at the top of his lungs, “Shut the fuck up!!”

Both Len and Carly went quiet.

Ash pointed the gun at Len again. “You make sure Deano knows nuthin’ ’bout my involvement or I’ll come after both of you, cos I don’t want that jealous shit threatening my brother again.”

“Dante has got nuthin’ to do with this,” Len said.

“Deano will use this as an excuse to get back at him,
so
... do you understand?”

Len nodded. “Yeah, no worries, all’s clear. This is Carly’s fault, not yours or Dante’s. You weren’t even here; I didn’t see you at all.”

Ash lowered the gun and pulled out his phone, quickly pressing his boss’s second-in-command’s number. Saul answered after a few rings. Ash relayed what had happened, relieved when Saul said he’d take care of the situation. Ash hung up and pocketed the phone. “Saul will be sending someone over to help you,” he said to Len. “He told me to drop Carly off at the hospital, cos he doesn’t trust you two to be left alone together. So, if you have any issues take it up with him, but be clear, he has stated his men will also come after you if you go near my family, and they’ll make you wish you chose a bullet instead.”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand,” Len said, nodding so hard Ash thought the guy was going to lose his head as well as his mind.