It was a wet night. The blue cab and damaged Hi-Ace van had done the rounds of every haunt Joe and his mates were known to hang out in, and after a couple of unlucky hours cruising the streets, they gave up and headed back to where they'd started, the Sandcastles Tavern.
It was nine o'clock.
Pete pulled up beside Lee in the car park and opened his window. 'What do you reckon?' he asked.
Lee shrugged his shoulders, glancing around the car park - there was no trace of them anywhere. 'I dunno,' he admitted. 'This is strange. You can't tell me they all stayed in tonight.'
'Jez's motor is always here,' added Billy. 'He's never out of this place.'
Lee nodded with a frown, biting his lip. 'I know. I wonder where they all are.'
'Well, I reckon we should let 'em know we were looking for them,' suggested Bob.
Lee glanced at him, sitting beside him in the front of his cab. 'You just read my mind.'
Bob cast his eyes up the side of the three-story building when he noticed two open windows on the second floor directly above them. 'Do you reckon they're the bogs?' he asked.
Mick leaned forwards over the front seat and followed Bob's eyes, and nodded.
'Nah!' disagreed Steve. 'The bar's on the second floor.'
'That is the second floor, dickhead!' said Bob. 'Look at the hill we're on. It slopes down to the front.' He pointed out the small barred window at knee level. 'That's The Coffee Shop's kitchen, so those have to be the bogs.'
'Oh, yeah!'
'What're you planning on?' Dave wanted to know.
Lee and Bob were still thinking alike. They both looked at each other and shrugged. 'Nothing else to do,' remarked Lee.
Bob felt under the passenger side seat and found the notorious can of blue spray paint they had vandalised many of these guys cars and properties with in the past. If they couldn't get satisfaction in finding them tonight, personally, then they were going to piss them off by leaving their mark in their pub's toilet.
'What're you going to do?' Dave asked again.
Lee pulled back his hair and re-tied it in the nape of his neck. 'We'll leave 'em a nice little message to let 'em know that we're after 'em.'
Pete rolled his eyes to the sky. 'It's not that important,' he said, fed up with the ongoing 'war' between them and the local Aussie guys.
'They trashed your fuckin' motor!' exclaimed Jimmy, incredulously. 'Of course, it's fuckin' important.'
He chewed the inside of his mouth, fearing further reprisals.
Mick got out of Lee's cab and began organising things. 'Pete, move your van up against the wall, then Lee can jump up and get in through the window.'
'How come?' he wanted to know. 'Why not just walk in through the door?'
Lee gazed at him sarcastically. 'Yeah, right. You wanna do it?' he asked, holding the can out to him.'
'Jeezus!' breathed Jimmy. 'Their cars might not be out here, but that doesn't mean to say that they're not all fuckin' sitting in there, does it!'
Pete ignored him and did as he was told.
Mick, Steve, Bob, Dave, Jimmy, Billy and Pete all stood back and watched as Lee climbed up onto the roof of Pete's vandalised van.
Reaching for the window, he hoisted himself up, pulled open the small window, and peered in. After a quick glance around, he realised this was the ladies.
'Wrong one. This is the bird's loo.'
'So what. Do one in there, too,' suggested Billy.
Lee hauled himself up further, squeezing his shoulders through the small space and pulled one arm through at a time. It wasn't easy. He wriggled through as far as he needed to, and after checking the cubicles were empty, shook the can and aimed at the bit of wall directly below the window.
It was difficult spraying legibly from that angle, but once satisfied it could be read, Lee jumped back down onto the roof of Pete's van.
Mick got into the van and took the hand break off. 'Give us a shove back the way,' he told Jimmy.
Once the van was re-positioned under the second window, Lee climbed back up again.
'Yup. This is the one.' He grinned down at them with a thumbs up. 'Give us a hand?' he then asked Bob.
Bob jumped up behind Lee, and standing on tiptoe, held the window open for him, as far as it would go.
'Now what're they doing?' moaned Pete, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets as he looked away.
'What's his fuckin' problem now?' Lee wanted to know.
'He's shitting himself,' said Bob. 'He's scared we're going to get caught.'
Lee screwed his face up and made a wanker hand gesture in Pete's general direction as he continued to hoist himself up to the window again. 'Fuckin' wanker,' he muttered under his breath.
Bob helped ease Lee in through the window, holding on to his legs as his head and shoulders slowly disappeared inside.
He got in as far as his waist and held onto the wall for support, fixing his eyes on the basins below.
'Easy,' he told himself. All he had to do was work his way down towards the basins, and he was in - no problem! He then felt Bob take a secure grip on his ankles.
'Let go!' he hissed.
Bob couldn't hear.
Lee glanced towards the door hoping to God no one came in now. Imagine being caught dangling halfway through the window of a men's toilet.
'Let go!' he called louder. But it was no use. Bob could not hear him. Lee kicked his feet until Bob finally got the message and let go. But it all happened too soon, and Lee fell. Unable to grab the basin as he went, he crashed down to the floor, smashing his shoulder on the heavy porcelain.
'Shit!' he cursed, trying to ignore the pain.
He glanced up at the window.
'You okay?' asked Bob, peering in.
Lee nodded.
'Just keep an eye out in case anyone arrives.'
Bob disappeared.
Lee held onto his shoulder as he now looked round for the spray can. He scoured the floor, then found it had rolled into one of the cubicles. He picked it up, knowing he had to be quick.
Choosing the wall with the larger area to write on, he shook the can and sprayed in huge letters.
BEWARE - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
Since he hadn't had time to think of anything particularly clever or irritatingly insulting, he just thought he'd deliver a warning for the attack on Pete's van. Then smiling, he re-shook the can and circled one of the urinals and wrote beside it.
DOES JOE WANK HERE?
He couldn't help but find that quite amusing, then deciding it was time to get out of there, Lee looked back up at the window.
Hmm, he thought, I won't be getting back out that way. He was going to have to go out through the main door.
Lee had only been in Sandcastles once before and tried to remember where the toilets were in relation to the bar, and realising he couldn't just stand there wondering, thought, sod it, and just went for it. Any one of them could walk in at any minute.
He pulled open the door and found himself in a corridor – Ladies to the right, bar to the left.
'Ha!'
He walked towards the open bar area listening all the way, and judging by the dull drone of music and lack of voices over it, figured the place to be fairly empty. Where was everyone tonight?
As he reached the end of the corridor, Lee cast a careful eye around the bar, and finding no one at all he recognised, put a hand up to the side of his face – just in case, and made for the main entrance.
As his hand touched the handle, the door swung open, and he braced himself for the worst, and after taking a step backwards, found himself staring into the face of a guy, a guy he had thankfully never seen before. They smiled at each other, apologising for getting in each other's way, and without looking back, Lee headed out onto the street and back round to the car park.
Five minutes later, Lee, Bob, Dave, Jimmy, Billy, Steve, Mick and Pete were in the Britannia Bar having a couple of beers when Paul came in, followed by Claire and Gayle.
'Where did you get to?' Jimmy asked Paul as he sat down beside him.
The girls got ignored.
'I had to work back late,' he said.
'Del and Rat never made it, either,' added Lee, putting his feet up on the seat opposite.
'What happened. Did I miss anything?' Paul wanted to know.
'Nothing,' grouched Pete, sourly.
Paul raised an eyebrow detecting a case of the shits. 'Not happy, I take it?'
Pete didn't answer as he lifted his pint to his lips, vowing, from now on, to distance himself from this company.
Paul pulled a face asking without words what Pete's problem was.
'Couldn't find anyone,' said Bob. 'It's dead out there. Couldn't find anyone anywhere.'
'That's a bit odd,' he commented. 'They're usually out most nights, aren't they?'
'Yeah, so all we could do was let 'em know that we're after 'em,' added Dave with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
Paul couldn't help but grin back and turned his eyes on Lee again. 'Oh, no, what did you do?'
Lee shrugged with indifference. 'There wasn't a lot we could do in the time we'd got, so I broke into the toilets at Sandcastles and spray-painted the wall with a message for them,'
Paul frowned. 'You broke into the toilets?'
'Yeah, well, we didn't know if any of 'em were in there or not,' said Billy. 'So Lee went in through the window, just in case.'
'Yeah, none of their cars were in the car park, either,' added Jimmy,
Paul closed his eyes. 'What a fuckin' mess.'
Lee shrugged again.
'Oh well, at least I never missed out on any serious action.'
'I just wonder where they could be,' said Dave.
Lee's mind then turned to Stacey. Maybe she'd know something.
' ... I've got a phone call to make,' he muttered, getting up and pulling out his mobile.
'Who to?' asked Jimmy.
Lee winked at him and said nothing as he began punching her number in from memory.
Claire scowled. 'Look at him, the bastard.' she said bitterly to Gayle. 'I wonder who that is he's phoning.'
Gayle glanced in Lee's direction, still feeling pretty pissed off with him for knocking her back on Monday night. 'Probably that bird he's been seeing.'
Claire did a double-take. 'Bird? What bird?' she demanded to know.
'That married bird he's been seeing. Haven't you heard about it? He picked her up in the cab the other day and has been seeing her ever since!'
Claire couldn't hide her resentment and shot him daggers as he went and stood in the doorway, obviously wanting to speak to her in private.
It was like twisting a knife in an old wound. How dare he, she thought. How dare he humiliate her in front of everyone.
'How come you know about it?' she then asked bitterly, 'When did you find out about it?'
'They were talking about it Monday night.'
'What, round at Bob's?'
'Yeah,'
'But I was there Monday night. No one said anything,'
'Well, no one's going to bring it up in front of you, are they?' Gayle then said, sounding more patronising than sympathetic. 'Billy told us after you left. Lee came round about half an hour after you'd gone. He'd been out with her.'
Claire's face was pinched with jealousy, and she glared at him as he held the phone to his ear, waiting for it to be answered.
' ... And she's married?'
'Yup.'
'Fuckin' bastard! How dare he! It makes you wonder how many other fuckin' tarts he's picked up in that poxy cab of his. He'd shag anything!'
Steve grinned as he listened to their conversation and leaned over, giving Claire a light squeeze on the knee. 'Cheer up, love,' he told her, appearing to be quite sincere. 'He doesn't always just shag anything.' Then deciding to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, added. 'Eh, Gayle?'
Claire frowned, waiting to hear what else he had to say, and Gayle, hoping he wasn't dropping her in it, challenged him with her eyes, 'I don't know what you mean,' she said.
Steve smirked, 'yes, you do! You know very well what I mean. He knocked you back Monday night, didn't he? One minute you were both rolling all over the sofa, and the next minute, you'd gone.'
Claire's mouth fell open in horror, and she suddenly turned on Gayle. 'What?'
Gayle swallowed, unable to hide her guilt. 'It wasn't like that ...' she tried to say in her defence, but Steve just laughed.
'Bullshit!'
'It wasn't.'
'It was from where I was sitting.'
'You were fuckin' stoned!'
'And you weren't?' Steve stood up, draining his glass and cocked his head towards Paul. 'Ask him, he'll tell you. She was all over him like a rash!'
With that, Steve disappeared to the bar, and Gayle clutched onto Claire's wrist, 'It wasn't like that, Claire, honestly.'
'Fuck off, Gayle. You're supposed to be my friend.'
'I am your friend. Don't listen to him. When Lee arrived, he'd had a few beers. We'd all been smoking, and I was laying on the couch when he climbed on top of me.'
'Spare me the details, you bitch. We've only been apart for just over a week, and you're throwing yourself at him already!'
'I wasn't.'
Claire didn't believe her. 'I know what you're like. You've shagged nearly all of 'em at one time or another. Don't play the innocent with me.'
Gayle slumped back in her chair and turned her eyes sulkily in Lee's direction. 'Well, if it makes you feel any better, he did knock me back. He started to grope me, but when it came down to it, he changed his mind.'
Lee stood on the doorstep, and when his phone was answered, he leaned in the doorway with a smile on his face.
'Hi, it's me,' he said.
Stacey hesitated, 'oh, hi.'
Immediately he realised she couldn't talk. 'Who's there?' he asked,
'Um, hold on ... Katie, can you open the other bottle, please. It's in the freezer.'
Lee smiled to himself, 'Katie's there, yeah?'
'Yes.'
'Do you want me to call back later?'
'No ... ' she said, hoping she didn't sound too urgent. ' ... It's okay. Is everything alright?'
Again he smiled. 'Yeah, everything's alright.' Immediately that urge to make love to her returned. 'How long's she going to be there for?' he asked, wondering if there was any chance of seeing her later.
Stacey was evasive. 'I don't know. She hasn't been here for very long. Why?'
Inwardly, Lee groaned. 'It doesn't matter. Have you told her anything yet?'
'How do you mean?' she asked.
'Well, if you're going to be seeing me, you're going to have to tell her something, or she'll be wondering where you keep going.'
Stacey felt her cheeks redden slightly, 'Um,' she said, glancing over her shoulder. 'I did tell her that I'd met a guy at work.' She lowered her voice, making sure Katie, who was going about opening a bottle of wine in the kitchen, couldn't hear her. 'I told her he was married, just so that she wouldn't talk about it - or ask too many questions.'
Lee grinned, loving this girl, thinking great minds think alike!
'And do I have a name?'
Stacey kept her back turned towards the kitchen, holding the phone in both hands and blushed. 'Yeah.' And feeling embarrassed at her lack of imagination, said, 'John.'
'John,' he repeated. 'That's not very imaginative!'
'No, well, when I started talking to her about it, I kind of panicked, and the first person I saw on the front of the TV week was Elton John, and I didn't think I'd pull it off if I said his name was Elton!'
Lee laughed. 'Oh well, I can understand that.' He paused for a moment, wishing he could see her. 'No chance, I suppose, in coming round a bit later, after she's gone?'
Stacey bit her lip, wishing to God he could come round. She'd done nothing but think about him all day – but still felt too uneasy about sleeping with him straight away. 'No, I don't think that'd be a real good idea,' she felt uncomfortable to admit.
Lee ran his fingers through his hair, fighting the desire he had been fighting now for days, and as he turned around, found himself looking at Claire. Her eyes were drilling into him, and immediately his expression changed. He pushed himself out of the doorway, and as the door swung closed behind him, he gave it an extra boot to shut her out completely.
'So where are you?' Stacey then asked, hearing the bang of the door.
'Down the Southern International, at the Britannia Bar,' he replied.
There was a short silence. ' ... Is Claire there?'
'Yes.'
' ... And how is she?'
Lee forced a smile, detecting a tinge of uncertainty in her voice. 'I don't know. I haven't bothered speaking to her,' he told her, honestly.
'Oh.'
'So what's Katie doing there, anyway?' he asked, more interested in knowing what she was doing.
'Er, she came round because Troy and the guys are at the game tonight.'
Lee frowned. 'Game? What game?'
Stacey was surprised. 'The England Australia game.'
It was only then that it registered. The England/Australia friendly match! He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered. How could they have possibly forgotten that! England was playing Australia in a friendly leading up to the World Cup - Fuck!
'How come you didn't know about that?' She then asked, thinking every guy from the UK was soccer mad.
'I did,' he then admitted, feeling pretty pissed off - he couldn't believe they'd forgotten about it, and all because of what had happened to Pete's van! 'So I don't suppose you can come and meet me for a drink somewhere?' He then tried from a different angle.
Stacey bit her lip, knowing it would be impossible to get rid of Katie for a long time yet. 'No, not really. Troy's supposed to be coming by later to pick her up, and I don't know when that'll be.' She cringed, waiting for the response.
'Oh well, too bad I guess.' There was a short silence. 'There'll be another day,' he then said.
But Stacey didn't want another day. 'I'd really like to see you tonight.' she admitted.
'And I'd really like to see you too,' he said in return. But knowing there was nothing they could do about it that night, he asked, 'what're you doing Sunday?'
God, how much she wanted to see him. 'Nothing.'
'Then how about I give you a buzz early Sunday morning, and we go off somewhere?'
She didn't even need to think about it. 'Okay.'
Sunday seemed an awfully long way off.
'Alright. I'd better let you go. I'll call you Sunday, okay?'
'Yeah, okay.'
Stacey held the phone in both hands still, not wanting him to go.
'I'll see you then.'
'Yes'
With that, he was gone.
Stacey put the receiver down, feeling almost hostile towards Katie for being there.
'Was that him?' she wanted to know, peering over the breakfast bar with wide, inquisitive eyes.
Stacey felt low and couldn't hide it as she sank down on the sofa and nodded.
Katie came running through from the kitchen bringing the two glasses of wine with her, 'What's up? Is everything alright? Has he upset you?'
'No, no, no,' answered Stacey, feeling so sick inside. 'No. He just wanted to see me, that's all.'
' ... And you end up like that, looking as if your whole world's fallen apart. God! He certainly knows how to put you in a whirl, doesn't he?'
'He's gorgeous, Katie. I've never felt like this before.'
Katie sat down beside her and handed her, her drink, not wanting to bring her down but deciding to be realistic. 'That's all good and well, Stacey. But don't forget, he is married.' She forced a smile and held her hand for a second. 'Just take it easy, or you're going to end up really hurt. It's not the best situation.'
'I know,' said Stacey, thinking, if only she knew the real situation. 'But right now, it feels good. If something comes out of it, then that'll be fine by me, but if nothing does, then I've only got myself to blame. But do us a massive favour, though, Katie. Don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone knowing about this at all – not even Troy. It's nothing to be proud of and goes against all my principles, but I just can't help it. I just want to see him – for the time being.'
Katie nodded. 'If that's what you want, you can trust me,' she said, crossing her heart. 'I won't tell a soul – and anyway, at the end of the day, it's nobodies business. But just remember, if anything goes wrong, and you need me, I'm always here.'
Stacey forced a smile and gave her a hug, feeling bad for deceiving her friend, but at the same time pleased she had pulled it off. 'Thanks, Katie,' she said. She closed her eyes over Katie's shoulder, once again wondering what on earth she was getting herself into.
Lee lit a cigarette as he went back into the bar and motioned to Bob to follow him into the gents.
'Well?' asked Bob, wanting to know what he had found out.
'Have one guess!' said Lee. 'Just one fuckin' guess!'
Bob frowned and looked at him as he took a deep drag on his cigarette, then shook his head.
'Where do you think we'd have been tonight if Mr Intrepid hadn't had got into a flap over his motor?'
Bob chewed the inside of his lip as he thought. ' ... Wednesday? Wednesday? ...' Then it slowly hit him. 'Wednesday! No! Not the fuckin' football?'
Lee nodded with a tight smile on his lips. 'Yup! What I'd like to know is what arsehole suggested tonight! That's where they all are! The perfect place for a ruck if we'd have thought about it properly!'
'How the hell did we let that happen?' asked Bob, not believing it at all.
Lee shrugged. 'Be fucked if I know. It'll just be interesting now to see who remembers first.'
The following day, the news about what had been written on the toilet walls spread around the Sandcastles guys fast.
It had been Joe who had first found it when he had nipped into Sandcastles at lunchtime for a quick one.
That evening they all met to work out what they were going to do about it.
The atmosphere was tense, and two hours later, they still hadn't come up with a satisfactory solution.
Jez sat drumming his fingers on the side of the bar, schooner up at his lips and a deep frown on his forehead as he thought.
The drumming began to irk Troy. 'Are you gonna fucking stop that, or what? You're irritating me!'
Jez shot him a look and slammed the schooner glass down on the bar. 'Fuckin' shut up!' he told him.
Jerry had had enough. 'Right,' he announced, refusing to sit there and listen to any more of this. 'Instead of just sitting here getting the shits with each other, let's fucking think of something. I'm not going to sit back and let them take the piss out of us like that!'
Jez scowled, picking up his schooner and began unconsciously drumming his fingers on the bar again before Troy finally nudged his arm away.
'I dunno,' said Punko, flipping back his dread-locked topknot. 'I dunno how they had the nerve to just walk in here. I mean, we could have all been sitting here.'
'Well, we weren't, were we, stupid!' said Joe, raising his voice. 'And they obviously knew it, or it wouldn't have happened.'
Glen scraped back his chair and tossed his empty cigarette packet into the ashtray, raking for some change for the cigarette machine. 'This is driving me nuts!' he muttered. ' ... They're like fucking school kids - bloody spray-painting walls!'
Joe shot him a look. 'You fucking did the van over, arsehole. What do you expect?'
Glen shrugged. He couldn't give a fuck. Joe might have his own private issues with Lee, but not only did he hate Lee, but he also hated the rest of them solely because they were English.
'Free Ivan Millat, that's what I say,' snickered Punko. 'He'll get rid of the bastards!'
Troy looked around as Katie and Stacey came back from the ladies together.
'They've been in there, too,' said Katie.
Stacey looked fed up and sat down quietly on a barstool.
He sighed a heavy sigh and lit another cigarette.
'What's it say?' asked Jez, creasing his forehead further.
'Pom Power.'
'I can't believe they came in here!' Punko said again. He turned his eyes on Jayne the barmaid. 'Where were you last night. Did you see 'em at all?'
Jayne threw him a look. 'No, I didn't! And if I had of, what the hell do you think I could have done about it, you idiot!'
'It doesn't look like they were actually in there, to be honest,' added Katie, as if that was of any consolation. 'It looks more like someone's done it through the window. It's not very straight, and it's pretty high up.'
'Well, they were definitely in the men's,' said Jez, 'that's for sure.'
'It must have been that little arsehole, Jimmy,' said Katie, turning her nose up.
'No, it wasn't,' grouched Joe, interrupting his own conversation to correct her. 'It was that bastard, Lee.'
'How do you know that?' she wanted to know.
Joe just tapped the side of his nose. 'I know,' he said confidently.
Stacey had had enough of all this talk, and the atmosphere was getting to her further. 'Get over it, for God's sake,' she complained, taking some money out of her purse and ordering another drink. 'You say they're like school kids. Listen to yourselves.'
Joe shot her a look. 'You keep out of it. You don't know anything.'
Stacey pulled a face at him and picked up Katie's cigarette packet. 'Can I pinch one of these?' she asked.
Katie raised her eyebrows, 'You, smoking?'
'I need something. It's shit in here tonight, and they're doing my brain in.'
Jayne then came over with a bottle of vintage champagne. 'Fancy something special to cheer yourselves up with?' she asked the girls alone.
Katie's eyes lit up. 'Yeah! ... But ...' she indicated paying for it.
Jayne just shrugged. 'Don't worry about it. Tom's just gone. You can have it on the house, from me!'
Stacey polished off the drink she had just ordered and waited for Jayne to crack open the champagne. She lit a cigarette and had an instant head spin.
'You alright?' Katie then asked, noticing.
'Yeah, I'm fine,' she replied, deciding she was going to drown her sorrows tonight.
Then the guy's conversation began to filter back over theirs again.
'I hate that bastard with a vengeance!' Joe was now saying, hunched over his beer like an old derro. 'What I'd like to do to that blond-haired bastard! Just wait. The minute these ribs are fixed, I'm after him – big time! I'm going to splatter that fucking Cockney's head from one end of Coogee to the other!'
Stacey was horrified and glared at him, unable to imagine having so much hatred for one person. He caught her expression and refused to accept criticism from her. 'And don't you look at me like that. You don't understand it.'
'Maybe not, but you don't have to sink to his level.'
'It's the only way to deal with fuckers like him.'
'Are you going to watch your language, or what?'
Jerry gave up, and threw his hands in the air. 'Don't you two fucking start! Come on, now. Let's start using our heads and think about what we're going to do about this!'
Jez continued to stare into his beer and shrugged. 'I don't know what to suggest, mate,' he admitted. 'If I could figure out what they're planning to do, then I might be able to come up with something.'
'Well, whatever we do is going to have to be pretty damned effective, and I reckon we should get in first,' said Glen.
They sat and considered this, and all agreed.
'Why don't you just go and blow up the Britannia Bar,' remarked Stacey sarcastically as she lit another cigarette. 'Then all your problems will be over.'
Katie laughed. 'Stop it, Stacey ... or I'll take that drink away from you!'
But Stacey turned her nose up, unsmiling, and took charge of the bottle and refilled her glass– she was definitely on a mission.
' ... One thing that keeps coming to mind,' said Jerry, ignoring her comment, 'is jumping 'em.' He rubbed his freshly shaved head with a dubious expression, and they all looked at him.
'Jumping them?' questioned Joe,
'Yeah, one at a time, so no one knows who's next.'
He glanced around for some kind of approval, but got none.
For the first time, Rod spoke up. 'We could get 'em one by one and spray 'em in red paint. You know how all their graffiti, or whatever, has been done in that blue paint, well, we could use red paint, so they know it's us – sort of like a serial mugging.'
Joe grinned - he liked it.
Glen didn't need to think. 'Problem solved,' he told them.
Jerry was nodding. He looked happier now they were on to something.
Stacey opened her mouth to speak, but Katie managed to stop her. 'Shhh! Let it go, Stacey.'
'Bullshit!' she exploded. 'Why should I?'
Jez hung an arm around Stacey's shoulders and drew her into his side, but she pulled herself away with a frown. 'Don't ...'
Jez just laughed, 'Poor little Stacey,' he said, 'you really shouldn't be in here listening to this if you can't handle it.'
Katie affirmed that with a nod.
Stacey looked unhappy again. 'I just don't understand why you have to do anything! I mean, how old are you, for God's sake!'
Glen dismissed her with a flick of his wrist. 'You should be down the church hall with the knitting group!'
'Leave her alone,' said Joe, protectively. 'She's just sensitive, that's all.'
'She's half pissed, more like. Look at her!'
'Have another drink, Stacey!' chimed in Punko.
Troy refilled Stacey's glass. 'Here, and have another fag.'
By closing time Stacey's head was in a whirl. Not only from having far too much to drink but from also listening to their horrible plans.
She walked out of Sandcastles with Troy and Katie, who were still going over the plans, and she kept silent, feeling both mentally and physically ill.
It was sick! In fact, it was more than sick - it was frighteningly serious. Somebody could be permanently injured or killed even, and the worst part was they were all excited about it. They were actually looking forward to doing it!
'You're quiet,' noticed Katie as they wandered slowly along the beachfront. 'Are you okay?'
Stacey nodded unconvincingly. 'Yeah, I'm fine.' She then stopped. 'Listen. You two don't have to walk me home. I'll be alright now. I just needed some air.'
'You sure?' asked Katie, concerned.
'Yes.'
'You were throwing 'em down tonight,' grinned Troy. 'I've never seen you drink that fast before.
'And you were mixing them,' remarked Katie. 'You started on brandy, lime and soda, then you had more than half that bottle of champagne, and then you went onto wine.'
'Don't remind me,' she told them.
'Why don't you get something to eat? You haven't eaten tonight, have you?'
Stacey shook her head. 'Yeah, I might go home and order a pizza.'
They said their goodbyes on the corner of Coogee Bay Road and went their separate ways.
A thousand thoughts ran through Stacey's head. She couldn't stop thinking about all she had heard and suddenly found herself running. She had to get home to warn Lee straight away.
The road seemed to double in length. But she made it up the hill to her block of units and up the stairs in moments.
She flung open the door, dropping her bag on the floor, not knowing which way to turn first.
Telephone!
She snatched up the receiver, checking the time as she did so, and dialled his number. She counted each ring as it rang on and on at the other end.
He wasn't there!
She hung up, wondering if she was overreacting. Maybe she should leave it until tomorrow – but tomorrow might be too late.
He hadn't given her his mobile number. The pub! He might be still in the pub!
She dragged the L-Z directory out of the cupboard and threw it onto the floor in front of her, opening it at S. 'S' she repeated aloud until she came to the correct section. 'South, Southern, Southern Cross, Southern International ...' She ran a hurried finger down the different extensions at the Southern International until she found the Britannia Bar.
Stacey lifted the receiver, not knowing if she was doing the right thing or what she would say once she got him. She dialled the number, and before she had a chance to rethink her actions, someone answered the phone.
'Britannia Bar.'
The voice was deep with an accent similar to Lee's but much older.
Stacey tucked her hair behind her ears, feeling the heat radiating off her after dashing up the road. She swallowed, hoping she was doing the right thing.
'Is it possible to speak to Lee Stevens, please?' she asked, sounding particularly anxious.
The man didn't sound overly happy. 'Lee Stevens?' he asked bluntly.
Again Stacey swallowed, uncertain about what she was doing. 'Er, yes. I was wondering if he was there still, um, if he could come to the phone?'
The man didn't sound happy at all. 'Listen, darlin'. It's after twelve. The bar's shut, and nobody's here, alright?'
'Oh,' she said. She felt like quickly hanging up but thought for Lee's sake had better remain polite. 'I'm sorry. I, er, didn't realise what the time was.' She sounded just as uncomfortable as she felt. 'I had an important message for him, that's all. I'm sorry for bothering you.'
The man stopped for a second, thinking by the anxiety in this girls voice, she wasn't just phoning to check up on the guy. 'Is everything alright?' he asked.
'Yes, it's fine. If he's gone home, then I can contact him there. Thank you.'
And before he had the chance to tell her that he had left the bar just five minutes ago, she hung up.
Stacey redialled Lee's number, suddenly feeling terribly emotional as she held onto the phone with both hands, praying for him to be there and answer. 'Come on!' she begged, almost tearfully.
But it continued to ring unanswered.
She hung up, feeling useless. Her head was beginning to ache, and she couldn't think straight. The thought that suddenly struck her was, what if he had already run into them on the way home? The thought of him being severely bashed and left covered from head to foot in red paint was too much for her to handle, and in seconds, she snatched up her keys and ran from the flat, slamming the door behind her.
The night was damp and misty from the rain that had fallen earlier, but it wasn't cold. The moon shone through the hazy sky, throwing ghostly shapes all around – but Stacey didn't notice any of it as she ran up the street, clutching her keys tightly in her hand, knowing she wouldn't be able to rest until she had, at least, managed to warn him.
The streets were quiet, and the sound of her feet clapping on the wet footpath rang out into the night.
She crossed the main road and ran down towards the Southern International, making sure to keep well into the wall so she wouldn't be seen.
Once opposite, she could see, like the man had told her, that the bar was closed, but the reception area, twenty-four-hour cafeteria and games room were still open. She strained her eyes to see into the games room and only recognised the dark guy as being one of Lee's mates, along with the shaggy-haired guy he was playing pool with.
There was no sign of Lee.
She ran on, cutting up Carr Street, having forgotten just how steep that particular section of the road was. She made it to the cross of Brook Street without having to stop and carried on past, what had now become her special bus stop, and on to the cross of Carr and Byron Streets, where she finally had to slow down to catch her breath.
She hadn't run so fast in ages, and the alcohol wasn't helping, as it pumped around her body, making her head swirl.
The RSL was just closing. She quickly turned into Byron Street, not wanting to bump into anyone she might know, and broke into a jog.
She pushed back her damp hair, fixing her eyes on the parade of shops in front of her. 'The liquor store,' she told herself. 'He lives above the liquor store.' Her heart beat harder now for a different reason.
Once at the corner of the road, she stopped, keeping to the shadows of a tree that hung over the school wall, and glanced up at the darkened windows thinking surely he was home by now.
She frowned, wrapped up in a million thoughts as she dashed across the road, oblivious of the car she had run out in front of and raced around to the back of the shops to where Lee had told her the entrance to the flats were.
It was pitch black round there. The streetlamp was broken, and as Stacey peered down the narrow alleyway, she became consciously aware of the dangers she seemed to have forgotten about tonight.
She hesitated.
She had come this far and couldn't possibly allow herself to turn around and go back, because all of a sudden she was afraid of the dark.
She bit her bottom lip, refusing to let her fears get the better of her, and began to make her way through the alley, wide-eyed, unable to see more than a foot or so in front of herself.
She felt her way along, using the row of parked cars as a guide until she came to the dimly lit courtyard behind the shops.
She glanced around nervously, and then seeing the steps leading up to the flats, quickly made her way over.
She pushed the damp hair away from her eyes, feeling a sudden lift in spirits when she saw the dim glow of light filtering through the curtained window above the liquor store.
Without another thought, she rushed up the steps, only stopping once she had reached the top to look around for his car.
Her eyes scoured the dark courtyard until she saw it parked along the back fence. An intense feeling of emotion shot through her, and she fought back the tears as she made her way along the balcony to his door, thinking of all the things she had to tell him.
Stacey's heart thumped almost painfully in her chest, her head swirling with emotions as she now stood on his doorstep.
Suddenly she hesitated, wondering what on earth he was going to say when he found her standing there. It was a sobering thought.
She cast her eyes to the window, thinking it was awfully quiet in there. There were no sounds to indicate he was up still, and she stood back for a moment, chewing the inside of her bottom lip. What if he was annoyed that she had come here? What if someone was with him. A girl? Claire, even?
Stacey then realised she had made a big mistake in going there. She really hadn't thought this out at all.
Just then, the sound of a car entering the alleyway panicked her, and she stepped back against the wall.
She closed her eyes, feeling suddenly quite sick – he must never know that I came here – he must never know that I came here – he must never know that I came here.
The headlights lit up the courtyard below, and Stacey kept still, not chancing being seen by anyone. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead and held her breath.
The car pulled up leaving the engine running, and when the door finally opened the night air was filled with loud thumping music.
A moment passed.
'Yeah, mate. Alright. I'll see ya.'
The door was slammed shut, and the car began to slowly reverse back out of the alleyway, leaving the courtyard in darkness again.
Stacey swallowed as she kept in against the wall, straining her ears to hear which way the footsteps were going. They reached the top of the stairway. She kept her eyes shut with false security, thinking if she couldn't see whoever it was, then they couldn't see her either.
The footsteps came closer.
Stacey then opened her eyes and saw the person flick a cigarette end over the balcony, and as the figure reached the filtered light that shone from the window, she gasped, covering her mouth with a hand.
Lee stopped dead in his tracks having heard it, and squinting through the darkness, saw the outline of a person standing flat up against the wall, directly beside him, in the shadows.
Stacey was too frightened to move.
Lee made a grab for her, having no clue as to who it was, and once he had pulled her out by the light, his face froze. 'What the fuck?'
He swung round, keeping a firm grip on her arm, for some reason anticipating an attack from behind, but when nothing happened, he shook her roughly. 'What the fuck do you think you're doing?'
Gripped by fear, Stacey just stared at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head, unable to find her voice.
Lee flung his door open in a rage. He pushed her inside, and then glaring at her, kicked it shut behind him, demanding an answer. 'What the fuck do you think you're doing coming round here like this, eh?'
Stacey stared at his face but couldn't say a word, 'I, I ...'
Furiously, he grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Are you fuckin' stupid or what! What if Mick had've come up?' He let go of her, throwing his hands up in frustration. 'Jesus Christ!' He then pointed an angry finger at her. 'This is the last thing I expected of you!'
Stacey was devastated – he wasn't giving her a chance. 'I'm sorry,' she said, holding back the tears. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here like this, but ...'
'You're pissed!' he then deducted, smelling the alcohol on her.
Stacey swallowed the pain down, not wanting him to think that was the only reason she was there. 'I am not pissed!'
'You fuckin' are!' he said, pushing her. 'I can smell it on you. Do you think I'm fuckin' stupid or something?'
Tears began to choke her as she fought to find the words she needed, but nothing came out.
'Look at the fuckin' state of you!'
'And no bloody wonder!' she suddenly shouted back, hurt by the harsh insult.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she pushed him like he had pushed her. 'If you'd had to sit through what I've sat through tonight, then maybe you'd understand!'
Stacey wiped her eyes on the cuff of her sleeve and tried to pull herself together, not wanting to lower his opinion of her further. How could he think she'd only gone there because she was drunk?
'I have sat in that pub tonight and listened to so much shit about you, your mates, and all the things that you've done, and it wasn't easy, so instead of just standing there having a go at me and treating me like some kind of fucking idiot, why don't you ask me what I'm bloody well doing here, eh?'
Not only did she surprise him with her sudden outburst, but she also surprised herself, and for a moment, they just stared at one another.
'So what are you doing here?' he then asked, eyeing her coolly.
'Well, I'm not just here because I've had too much to drink, that, I can assure you. I'm not like that. I would never have come round here if I hadn't thought it was urgent – and it is. I came here to warn you, Lee. They were so pissed off about what you did in the toilets.'
Lee waited for more. 'And?'
'And they're after you big time.' Suddenly her lip began to tremble. ' ... Lee, I only came here because I didn't know what else to do. Maybe if I hadn't had so much to drink, I'd have thought about it better, but I did try phoning you ...' All her words now came at once. ' ... I tried phoning you both here and at the pub.' She hesitated, not knowing how he was going to react to that, and quickly added, 'but I didn't say who I was. I just asked if you were there, and when the man said you had gone, I just apologised for bothering him and hung up. Then when I tried to phone you here, again, and you still weren't in, I panicked. I thought something awful might have happened to you.'
She swallowed, tears brimming her eyes again, clearly upset by the whole thing. 'You wouldn't believe the night I've had listening to what they're planning to do to you.'
Lee finally eased up. He put a hand out to her and pulled her against him, holding her close, only then realising how wrong he had been to have thought, for a minute, she'd only come round because she was drunk. She was nothing like the rest of them. And now he was showing her the affection she so obviously needed, she cried, opening her heart and let out a night's long emotion.
He held her close, kissing her hair. 'I'm sorry,' he then told her. 'I'm so sorry.'
When Stacey finally managed to stop her tears, she kept her head bent low, knowing what an utter wreck she must be looking. He lifted her head to face him and kissed her wet cheeks, thinking what a shame it was she had got so upset.
He took her hands and sat her down beside him on the sofa, knowing he had to sort this one out. 'So, tell me, what happened?'
Stacey looked down at her hands. 'I've never seen them so angry. They were that angry they argued with each other most of the night. It was awful. I have never heard so much arguing and hatred.'
She then looked up at him. 'They've come up with this horrible plan to jump you all, one by one, and then once they've beaten you up, they're going to spray you in red paint, so you'll know it was them who's done it. Rod thought it was so bloody funny and said it will be like a serial mugging.'
'That's brave' Lee commented, wryly.
'I couldn't believe the stuff they were coming out with, and the minute I opened my mouth it was, "Oh poor old Stacey, she's so innocent, so sensitive" or, I should be down the church hall with the knitting circle.'
'They're arseholes,' Lee said, reaching for his cigarettes.
'I just couldn't listen to any more of it, and ended up drinking far too much. I can't believe how much they hate you!'
Lee turned his nose up with a shrug, clearly not giving a damn, and for a moment Stacey just sat there, struggling with his blasé attitude.
'Doesn't anything ever bother you?' she asked.
'No, not really,' he admitted. He took a long drag on his cigarette before leaning forwards and flicking the ash off into the ashtray. 'It's not worth worrying about, honestly, Stacey.' He sat back against the arm of the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair. 'Listen, we've all made plans before; some get carried out, and some don't. The thing about making plans is that it eases the tension for the time being. Of course, we all mean to carry them out, but usually, by the next day, you've mellowed.'
But Stacey was shaking her head. 'Nope, those guys aren't going to mellow, Lee. That's what I'm trying to tell you. They're after blood. They hate you.'
Again he shrugged.
A minute went by.
'Obviously I can't ignore what you've told me,' he finally said, 'cos it involves all of us.' He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, looking deep in thought. 'I'll need to talk to Bob about it. We'll need to come up with something - just in case.' He then frowned. 'The hardest part, though, is going to be trying to warn the others without actually telling them that I've heard it from someone first hand.'
Stacey sat back in the sofa exhausted by all this, and pushed her hair away from her face with a sigh. 'I'm so sorry if I annoyed you by coming round here tonight. But you do understand now, don't you?'
Lee nodded giving her a reassuring wink. 'Yeah it's okay. I just hope none of 'em noticed your reaction too much, and thought you were sticking up for us, or me in particular.'
'No, I would never be that obvious – but it was so hard'
'Well, unfortunately that's the way things are between your friends and mine, and I can't see anything ever changing. So you'll have to get used to it if you're going to carry on seeing me for a while, otherwise it's not going to be worth it. You can't go getting upset every time something kicks off.'
Stacey glanced away. There it was again. The reminder that she wasn't like the rest of them; the reminder that this was only a short-term thing – "if you're going to carry on seeing me for a while". She bit into her bottom lip, wondering why he'd bothered asking her out in the first place, and decided maybe it was time to go.
She'd had a bad enough night as it was and couldn't handle it getting any worse. 'I'd better go,' she suddenly announced, looking at her watch.
He stubbed out his cigarette and glanced back at her over his shoulder, thinking that decision was rather abrupt.
'I'm tired. I've got to get up in the morning.'
'Yeah, you look absolutely knackered,' he admitted, rather thoughtlessly.
Thank you, she thought bitterly.
He then pushed the ashtray across the table and turned to her, putting a finger under her chin, 'You don't have to go, you know.'
Stacey's stomach did the biggest somersault, and she swallowed, knowing that was all she wanted to do. But she couldn't – she mustn't, it was too early. It would be far too easy to stay. She wanted to prolong sleeping with him for as long as she could, if not only to prove to herself that he wasn't only after one thing. 'No ...'
'Why not?'
She shook her head, unable to tell him the truth.
But he sensed her feelings. 'We don't have to ...'
'I know,' she answered quickly. 'It's not that.'
Lee grinned, taking her hands in his, knowing that was exactly what it was. 'Listen, Stacey. I'm not forcing you into anything you don't want to do.'
'It's not that, I ...'
'Shhh,' he said, putting a finger over her lips. 'It's alright. You don't have to explain yourself to me.' He moved into more of a comfortable position. 'Don't go. Stay. I promise you I'll behave myself.' He forced a smile, wondering how he would, in fact, be able to behave himself - he desperately wanted to make love to her.
'What about you?' she then asked, finding the words difficult to say. 'What do you want?'
He cupped her face in both hands, and suddenly looking quite intense, said, 'you know what I want.'
She flushed as he watched her.
'Well?' he wanted to know.
Stacey felt uncomfortable and wondered why he always wanted her to make the final decision. He didn't seem to like to commit himself. It was like the day he had asked her out – it had been down to her; it had been her choice. Would he care either way if she'd said no? But somehow, she managed to push that insecurity to the back of her mind, and modestly found herself nodding. 'Okay, I'll stay.'
Lee got up from the sofa, pulling her up with him with a wink that melted her heart. He held her in his arms and kissed her, moving the erection that he had been struggling with for the last half-hour against her, and knew if he was going to stick to his word, he had to stop it there. He broke away, putting the chain lock on the door, then led her by the hand into the bedroom, turning the lights out as they went.
Stacey's head was in a whirl – what the hell was she doing? She was finding fighting her desires just as hard as Lee and waited just inside the doorway as he pulled the curtains on the outside world.
He handed her a tee-shirt. 'Here, you can wear that, if you want.'
It was huge, but She took it from him, grateful that he had offered her something to wear. And feeling too shy to change in front of him, asked where the bathroom was.
Stacey closed the door behind her, taking a deep, deep breath and put a hand up to her head, wondering whether she was sober or not. She couldn't believe she was doing this.
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and could see why Lee had told her she looked knackered. Her hair was a mess, she had no colour in her cheeks, and the small amount of make-up she usually wore, had now been cried off. What must he think of her?
She changed into his tee-shirt, keeping her underwear on - and noticing a faint hint of his after-shave waft up, felt her stomach turn another somersault.
She combed her hair with her fingers, hoping to rescue her looks the best she could, then rinsed her face with cold water.
Lee was sitting on the side of the bed when she returned.
He pulled off his Docs and tossed them onto the floor, then stood up, unbuttoning his jeans.
'You okay?' he asked, thinking how lovely she looked in his old tee-shirt.
She nodded, holding her clothes against her, not quite sure what to do with herself next.
Lee took them from her, putting them down on his chest of drawers, then motioned for her to sit down beside him.
She did.
'Thanks again for tonight,' he told her, hoping to make her feel more comfortable with what she'd done. 'I appreciate it a lot.'
He watched her for a moment before laying her down and leaning over her, brushing a few stray hairs away from her face, as his fell onto her cheek.
He winked, kissing her lightly, then switched out the light.
Feeling almost ill inside from the constrained desire, Lee laid down beside her, putting an arm around her.
Stacey lay still, not daring to move, her heart racing in her chest just feeling his warm and strong body beside her.
She wondered what he was thinking.
Then, as Lee drifted off to sleep, Stacey's mind went over the past week's events, and tears pricked her eyes. No one really knew him, she thought. He was nothing like everyone said. There she was, in his bed, and he hadn't even gone back on his word. Somehow she thought he would. Somehow she hoped he would. God, how much she wanted him, and all that kept going through her head was this was going to be just a short-term thing. A fling. She knew, in the end, she was going to end up hurt.
Stacey turned her face away and silently cried herself to sleep.