Fall of the Cities_A Mercedes for Soldier Boy Read online

  “Cripes. Thank all and any gods I’m not on their dance card. There’s some news I’d rather hear about without full visuals.” Harold frowned. “How come Caddi doesn’t?”

  “There was some bad business between them an’ the ‘Ot Rods early on. Best kept well apart.” Mack glanced towards the kitchen, but the women were still out of earshot. “If yer want ter see ‘em, the bodies are shrink wrapped an’ tied to lamp posts well away from Beth’s. They reckon it’s your idea.”

  “That was a message early on, before we had borders, and I killed mine straight away.”

  “Yeah, an’ you don’t need summat like that now. Everyone knows about you an’ that rifle sothey don’t want ter start shootin’ trouble.” Mack turned to look towards the door. “‘Ow long do yer reckon ‘e’ll be, Lada? I ain’t frightened of the dark but I want yer over there before then.So Caddi don’t get nervous. ‘E really does want ter talk to yer.”

  “You walked again?”

  “No. I came with Roller so ‘e can stay as ‘ostage for yer, but ‘e’ll want ter keep ‘is motor. I didn’t think you’d mind the walk but Lada ain’t up ter it. Especially after the Patty love-kick.” Mack glanced round but there weren’t any Hot Rods here, so he couldn’t commandeer their car. “I’ll ask the two up there at the island ter pass a message if I can borrer a radio. I’ll get my truck sent ‘ere. It’ll save yer the diesel.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ll go in my pickup so I can come home if Caddi starts acting up.” Harold finished his beer and stood. “I’ll go and sort out this and that. If you want me, ask the kitchen to call me on the phone.”

  “That still does my ‘ead in, ‘Arry. Caddi managed to get a field phone thing set up to the gate, but not a proper exchange an’ all that like you lot.” Mack started chuckling. “You should set up a proper system, phone boxes across the city like BT did. It’d make a fortune.”

  “Until I tried to empty the coin boxes.” Harold joined in with Mack’s laughter, but then remembered he’d got another possible passenger here. “Will Pete come with us or walk home?”

  “With us.”

  That confirmed the coupons and games definitely belonged to Caddi. At least Pete hadn’t officially joined the Hot Rods or he would’ve had a better weapon. As long as Caddi settled for what Pete had brought back, Harold thought the youth should be okay. “I’ll go and get my toothbrush just in case.” Both smiled because even if he stopped over, Harold wouldn’t need it.There’d be a brand new one supplied as part of Caddi’s showing off.

  Harold headed home to put on some clean and more or less new clothes, part of the gang boss pose. Soldier Boy had to wear good gear to get respect. He stopped at the serving hatch on the way out. “Patty, I’ll be going to sort out some bother with Caddi, and might not be back tonight. Let everyone know please?”

  “Not a problem, we’ll sharpen the welcome mat for midnight visitors.” Patty mimed aiming her crossbow and smirked. “I’ll ask Liz for some special artwork.” Harold laughed at the joke about the blacksmith’s viciously ornate crossbow heads.

  *

  Once he got home, Haroldgave Sharyn the remaining Coven coupons and let her know what he’d be doing. She promised to arrange a Casper-story for Daisy and Wills at bedtime, because it was already past midday so Harold probably wouldn’t get back tonight. When Harold came in through the back door of the canteen Mack already stood by the front door, waiting. Harold could hear Lada complaining, loudly but carefully avoiding obscenities.

  Casper had brought his rucksack up from the gate,and now he’d joined Matthew in keeping an eye on Lada. Considering the size of Casper and his outsized machete, Matthew’s crossbow might be overkill.Lada shut up immediately when he saw Mack and Harold, warily watching them both. Mack grinned, looking around. “Told yer to watch yer mouth. It’s the rules ‘ere. Now shut it or Soldier Boy or one of ‘is lot will insist on the canin’ as well. I ‘ope yer can walk cos I’m not carryin’ yer, and I don’t fancy yer chances if I leave yer ‘ere.”

  That steadied the little git up, because there were several other scowling people nearby and two were holding crossbows. One wrong word and he’d getthe caning at least. Lada grimaced, bent over, and emptied his stomach onto the lawn. Matthew scowled at him. “That’s a shame because all the other gardens are veg plots. They could have done with the fertiliser.”

  Harold looked back when the door behind him opened again. Patty came out with a bucket in her hand, offering it to the retching youth. “Probably concussion. Still, duck your head in here, rinse your mouth and take a nice brisk walk. That should sort it out.”

  Everyone including Mack stared, surprised, becausePatty hated all gangsters and she’d spat on Lada and kicked him not too long ago. Patty held out the bucket, smirking as Lada gripped the sides and bent forward. Her other hand came down on his head, forcing it right into the bucket for long moments beforeLada came up spitting and spluttering and pawing at his eyes. She sneered at him. “I was going to chuck it on the veg garden, but I didn’t want to waste clean water on a piece of crap.” Patty tipped the rest over Lada’s head before stalking off back into the house. Big Mack looked at Harold with a question in his eyes.

  “It’s the water from washing the pots, so a sort of grease and soap soup.” Harold inspected the dripping gangster. “Lada should consider himself lucky.If Patty had been carrying her crossbow or machete when he opened his mouth,you’d have been carrying a corpse home.”

  “I know. Patty oughta join the Barbies, they’d luv ‘er.” Mack slapped Lada on the back then sniffed his hand. “Yer smell better, but don’t walk too close. Yer boots are still full of piss, I reckon. Come on, let’s get goin’. Caddi will want to ‘ear this.”

  “My knife.” Lada reached for his neck and looked round. “Knives?”

  Casper held up a sheath on a cord, a six-inch-long, very slim sheath with a hilt nearly as long coming out of the top. “I found it down the back of sleepy’s shirt when we checked him over. There might be something else in those boots but I’m not looking there, or inside his pants.” Casper curled his lip. “I’m not that desperate.” The watchers all knew about Casper being gay sothe laughter grew.

  Mack reached out, stopping Lada’s abortive grab for the weapon. “No, yer lost yer stuff. Rules, remember? Some folk I know would’ve took yer clothes an’ boots as well.” Lada looked very wary, then flinched as the big man continued. “‘Arry ‘as kept yer bat an’ Caddi won’t be ‘appy yer lost it. Now c’mon.” Mack glanced at Harold and grinned. “Any chance of a drink so ‘e don’t keel over on the way ‘ome? Without soap?”

  “There’s a barrel of rainwater by the gate, for the gardeners. Nobody’s washed their hands in it yet, I think.” As the trio left the canteen,Pete, looking worried now,followed them towards the gate. A subdued Lada stopped by the barrel to rinse and spit on the ground, carefully clear of anyone, then drink deeply. Mack collected his aluminium baseball bat and a machete before all four headed out through the gates. Lada wasn’t moving very fast after being knocked out, though it might be his aching nuts that kept him hunched over as he walked.

  Five Hot Rods emerged from the nearest ruins,nearly half a mile from the gates near the traffic island. When three drove down the approach road, Mack took them aside for a quick chat while Louie brought Harold’s pickup round to the gate. The laughter that followed must have burned Lada’s soul. One of them, Roller, went into Orchard Close as the hostage for Harold’s visit to the Mansion. Meanwhile, Mack pointed to the rear of Harold’s pickup truck. “Get in there Lada, where we don’t ‘ave ter smell yer.” One of the Hot Rods helped Lada climb in because his hand had swollen up, either from Harold’s stick or Patty’s stamp. The youth sat shivering while Harold and Mack got into the front. Pete sat in the back of the crew cab with the two Hot Rod bodyguards.

  *

  Pete didn’t want to talk on the journey, becoming more and more obviously nervous as they approached the Mansion. Mack didn’t know or didn’
t want to discuss why Caddi wanted to see Harold, or what Pete had to do with it, which cut down on conversation. Harold took the opportunity to have a good look round as he drove.

  The wasteland of rubble, ruins or abandoned houses and weeds continued for a mile and a half, half a mile past the Orchard Close borders. Three years after the last big riots, the sharp edges of paths and walls were blurring, and even houses that were still standing had weeds growing from inside their broken windows. The first break in the devastation was a smallgroup of habitable houses surrounded by a low wall built of loose bricks. The inhabitantspaid protection to the Hot Rodsso they had a pair of guards outside the entrance, one with a crossbow and one with a small-calibre shotgun. Neither had hand guns, which caught Harold’s attention.

  The guards on housing usually had plenty of firearms, so Caddi must need all his for the war with the Murphies. Perhaps the takeover of the two streets wasn’t as smooth as Mack had said,or maybe it wasn’t completed? Either way, the strife shouldn’t affect Harold this trip, because that border lay nearly four miles from Orchard Close.

  Harold also took note of the increased use of nearby gardens for vegetables. Unlike Orchard Close, the other gangs hadn’t planted up the cleared areas around their bases.They bought their food from the Marts, using the coupons they took from others as protection payments.Continual shortages at the Marts, and the gangs taking the best, meant the ordinary residents were taking matters into their own hands. When he mentioned the large garden to one side of the houses, Mack explained the new system. Some old parks and cleared areas had been planted up for the Hot Rods, tended bythe nearby residents.

  Thinking about that and Caddi’s expansion kept Harold occupied until the Mansion came in view. Caddi had been improving his defences since the last time Harold visited. The approach to the only way in and out of the enclosed area now wound around concrete blocks, with two bricked pillboxes framing the steel faced gate. Only cars belonging to Caddi and his favoured few went through the gates.

  Harold parked up outside, following Mack to a guardhouse. Mack confiscated weapons from Pete and Harold, putting Harold’s into a locker. “‘Ere yer go ‘Arry, yer keep yer stick.” Mack grinned. “I still don’t see why yer keep that instead of a machete like yer entitled.”

  “Your boys have been spanked often enough for this to be a reminder.”

  Mack wore his weapons becauseafter all, he was Caddi’s bodyguard. The big man also kept Pete’s machete and Lada’s ex-knife. As they headed for Caddi’s house, both Lada and Pete were clearly hoping for something to intervene. Lada looked even worse now, hunched over, limping, nursing his hand andstill shivering. The youth hunched down even lower when a couple of gangsters looked out of a door at him, laughed, and went back in. That sort of news spread faster than light these days.

  *

  A maid in a micro-mini and tight T-shirt, but without the usual canemarks on her legs, opened the door.She led them down the hall, past the study and opened a door. Mack chuckled, standing back to let Harold through. “Through ‘ere ‘Arry. Not the study this time,so Caddi thinks this might be pleasure, not business.”

  Harold looked around because business had always been conducted in the study, sohe’d never seen the rest of the house. Caddi lounged in what would have been the lounge at one time, in the largest of several leather easy chairs. Along one wall a huge glass fronted cabinet had been crammed with expensive luxuries, including some lovely looking cut glass. Caddi had no doubt stolen the best. The luxuries were rows of bottles, top brands, and many were still sealed, as well as real capsule coffee and named teas in labelled tins. Valuable salvage still turned up in cellars or ruined houses, but less often.It wouldn’t be long before the price of Caddi’s luxuries finally went out of the reach of all but the very top of the new tree.

  The three automatic firearms chained to the wall were a definite boast, two Army rifles and an AK. Every gangster wanted an AK, because of the publicity about the Russian automatic rifles.Most other gang bosses would flaunt one if they could get one, even a broken one with no ammo. Not Caddi, he was smart enough to only use these weapons for a serious emergency, becausethe Army or RAF bombed or shelled anyone seen using either.

  Bug, Charger, Chevy and Cooper, elite gang members, were already reclining in smaller armchairs. The new arrivals were all offered seats according to their status. As a gang boss, Harold had one of the largest armchairs opposite Caddi. Mack took one set back from the rest,where the bodyguard could watch them all.

  Pete and Lada were seated very conspicuously on dining-type chairs against the wall, obviously the centre of attention. A call to bring some cloth for Lada to sit on, so the furnishings weren’t messed up, caused a short delay. While the rest waited, another young woman, in another very short skirt and tight tee, slipped in and served tea and coffee. She did so with eyes carefully averted, leaving as soon as possible.

  Harold avoided looking at the woman, part of a game between himself and Caddi. If Harold acknowledged her, Caddi would arrange for her to be in his bed naked, or offer herself, or anything else the warlord thought might embarrass them both. The pressure had increased over time in direct proportion to their clothing shrinking. Harold had a private mental bet that eventually the server would be kneeling and wearing just knickers and manacles, or maybe just the nervous smile.

  “Harry, Harry, what have you been up to?” Caddi smiled, a completely insincere friendly smile. “Abusing one of my valued associates, and trying to poach my staff? Naughty, naughty Harry.” Caddi knew Harold preferred being called Harold, which was why all his gang now used Harry. Hope flickered briefly on Lada’s face, so the newcomer didn’t know Caddi very well. Pete knew Caddi well enough to sit very still. “Stealing personal property, poaching staff and interfering in my transactions. Very bad.” His voice gave the game away,the last complaint seemed to be what had got Caddi’s back up.

  Harold leaned back into the armchair, with his stick across his knees and a cup of coffee in his hand. “Why on earth would I interfere in your business, Caddi? You to yours, me to mine, because that’s the treaty. As for poaching your staff, do you mean Pete?” Harold glanced at the youth in question. “It was lucky I was there or the Ferdinands would have your coupons. You should take better care of your grocery boys if you want them to come back in one piece.”

  “What about my valued associate and his personal property?” The tone of voice actually said ‘this stupid dickhead,’ and wasn’t much concerned about the answer. Caddi always picked on the easiest or least important item first.

  Harold obliged. “He broke the rules. I told him to stop and he braced me. He went for a hidden knife so I took it off the prat. That makes it mine. Mine twice because he shouldn’t have brought a second one in.” A round of sniggering followed from the elite.Everyone visiting Orchard Close tried to keep hold of an extra knife. “I kept the bat, of course, as a fine. I knew he’d pay you for it.”

  Caddi looked at Big Mack, who nodded and answered. “Yup. I warned Lada before we went in, an’agen when ‘e swore an’ started insultin’ women. Then ‘e threatened ‘Arry an’ pulled this.” Mack showed everyone the knife. “‘Arry poked ‘im, clouted ‘im, then we went an’ ‘ad some stew an’ a beer ‘til ‘e woke up.” Caddi gestured and Mack handed the knife over. “Good stew, an’their beer is the best round ‘ere.”

  The rest of the sidekicks were hooting now. It sounded funnier somehow when told by Mack, and even Pete smiled a little. Caddi looked over at Lada, who didn’t see the funny side at all. “Well now, and what did you call the ladies? How did youmanage to annoy such aneven-tempered man as our Harry?” Caddi’s smile wasn’t fooling Lada now.

  “I said it were nice to see some, er, women cos I thought we could have some fun.” Lada paused, swallowed hard and continued. “Then I said Big Mack could have seconds.” Caddi raised an eyebrow at Mack.

  “More or less. ‘E were warned after the blow job and whores thing, an’ ‘e offered me seconds
once ‘e sorted ‘Arry out. ‘E went for ‘Arry first.”

  “What about the disgusting state he’s in?” Lada would be either broken or killing mad after this, because Caddi had decided to have fun.

  “Heh.” Mack sniggered. “One of the women ‘e were talkin’ to were Patty, which makes ‘im lucky cos she didn’t ‘ave ‘er crossbow. She gave ‘im a kick in the nuts instead of a blow joband stomped on ‘is ‘and.’E pissed ‘imself. Elizabeth kicked ‘is nuts as well. Wedidn’t like the smell when ‘e woke upso Patty stuffed ‘is ‘ead in ‘er dirty dish-washin’ water, then tipped it over ‘im.” The others had another roll about at Lada’s expense, while he looked down at his hand in sudden comprehension and put the other hand protectively over his groin. “‘E still stinks of piss.”

  “We all noticed that.” Caddi put the knife down on the coffee table, with the hilt towards Harold. “This is a personal weapon, so he lost it and it’s yours of course, Harry.” The gang boss turned to Lada. “You are a jumped-up stupid little shit, who is lucky that Harry is particular about who he kills. I am not, so be warned. Now you owe me for one aluminium baseball bat”—Caddi paused one careful beat—”barely used, one careless owner.” The laughter chorus dutifully struck up. “You lost it, so you pay. Unless you can make Harry give it back?”

  Lada didn’t answer or lift his gaze from the floor, even when Caddi gave him plenty of time. The gang boss curled his lip into a sneer, his smile long gone as his voice rose in volume. “On top of that, I now have to give you new clothes, and return the weapons you brought in with when you arrived. Unless I want you out there bare-assed naked, for the first ten-year-old with any fucking balls to stomp flat?” Specks of spittle flew as Caddi shouted the rest. “So perhaps you might want to try very hard to do something with them. Just to convince me that it’s worth risking you losing the fucking lot again!”