The Gus Yates series

Gus Yates

Angus 'Gus' Yates

The sun was setting and it was putting on a beautiful display. Pinks, oranges mixed with yellows and a splash of red. The kind of sky that would make people take a photo of it. And they were. Countless beach goers had their phones out taking hundreds of pictures of the sky.
Gus Yates was no different. He took several photos and pushed on with his walk. He took in all the sights that the Glenelg foreshore had to offer. The Stamford Grand and it's vast frontage. The squiggly metal sculpture out the front that had never made sense to him. He thought back to when he was a teen and his friends touched the sculpture during summer and it was as hot as a barbecue. Another memory jumped into his brain. One mad Monday celebration that went 4 beers too Long. His old mate Shawn Thornton jumped off the Squiggly thing and tore his ACL. Back in the day when he was good enough to make the Glenelg Tigers A-grade side. A short career. All 37 games of it to be exact. Getting in to the police force meant he wasn't guaranteed every Saturday off. As his superior officer at the time said "Crime doesn't care if you get 35 touches..." so that put an end to that. But he still got out on the field when his roster allowed him. The Marion Rams were his club now. He was wearing his football Guernsey as he did for most of his cardio sessions. He always got a few "Go you Rams" or boos from people he walked past.
The jetty was lined with sight seers and fishermen. He walked passed the scaffolding that wrapped itself around The Town hall like some kind of black and green insect. The squeals and laughter came from the adventure playground. Kids. He sighed. He knew that if he had still been in a relationship with Kaitlyn that they would have had kids by now. But they hadn't even got to an engagement. Her fondness for other men had put an end to any future they might have had. He looked at his smart watch, not for calories burned as he had a schnitzel and chips with his dad for lunch, but he paid attention to the year. His relationship with Kaitlyn ended 6 years ago. That blew his mind. It was some of his favourite times but it was also his Vietnam.
He walked on past the deserted lifesaving club and the massive congregation of seagulls, who weren't interested in him because he wasn't handing out hot chips by the wheel barrow load. The two large apartment blocks/ monstrosities, depending on your stance, loomed over him as he walked past. He cut down between them and crossed the lush green lawn of Colley Reserve. Dogs ran and leapt off the lawn. Dogs always made him smile. It was probably because he didn't have pets as a kid. A giant golden retriever bounded up to him. Gus stuck his hand out for the dog to sniff like he always did. On most walks he encountered many dogs who wanted a pat. The dog sniffed his hand and then licked him. He took this as a good sign and patted the dog on its back. The golden haired beast rolled over and wanted a belly pat. Gus crouched down and informed the dog that he was a good boy with a belly scratch as a blonde woman jogged over. She was wearing those baggy pants that looked like she swapped pants with MC Hammer and an over size sweater. "Arty...did you make a friend?" the woman said. "Arty...is that your name big fella?" Gus said as he kept patting the dog. "Hes a beautiful dog." Gus said as he stood up straight. He found himself towering above the woman. Her eyes grew wide. "Jesus you're tall! Shit I must be a dwarf to you!" She said with a laugh. "I get that a lot...thanks for letting me pat your dog!" He said as he was about to walk away. "Um...is there any chance you would want to pat him again?...over a beer?" Gus was amazed. This kind of thing didn't happen to him. "Um yeah that sounds great...im Gus by the way." He said beaming. The blonde smiled too. "I'm Nicole...pass me your phone and I''ll put my number in." She said. They swapped phones and numbers.
On the top floor of the Van Der Built building a shell of a man starred at the beautiful sunset. He wasn't even paying attention. He was in so much trouble he didn't care what the sky looked like. He was so broke he didn't even have any coke to take the edge off. The office was almost empty. Anything that could be sold, had been sold. Only one desk and one chair remained. The chair he was sitting in. Jack Blakey was once an big spender and a high roller. But, there was always a but with these come from nothing and strike it rich types. Jack had discovered Columbian nose candy and that had sent him on a path to destruction and ruin. His creditors were on a take a number system when it came to threatening phone calls. He had one just 5 minutes ago That broke him. It wasn't an agent of a big cooperation or some rich fat cat looking for a top up of drug money. It was a small time sparky who desperately needed his payments for the work he did on the Mawson Lakes build called "North Star." A proposed 25 storey building that would be a business hub and luxury apartment's. The idea was loved by all so every man and his investors dog threw cash at Jack Blakey and his architecture and building firm, JB Enterprises, to get this hot shot building built. There were red flags everywhere. Buy nobody paid attention to them. That was until the bills weren't getting paid. Now instead of a luxury business tower all that stood in the centre of Mawson Lakes was a twisted concrete monstrosity that was more eyesore than opulent attraction. John walked over to the balcony doors. He thought about it. He had contemplated it even as far back as a month ago, back when he thought he could save things. A noise startled him. Before he could even turn around his head was rammed in to the glass doors. The pane cracked and John groaned. He was thrown into the glass again and it smashed. He flumped to the floor and barely moved. The figure in black grabbed the door handle and opened the balcony door. The smell of the sea air filed the office. The figure grabbed a limp Jack and bundled him over the railing. He tumbled down the 12 floors and slammed in to the concrete below. The figure ran back out of the office. His car was parked a few streets away so the car couldn't be placed at the scene.