Rough Justice (Part Two)

© 2013 David Jasmin-Green

Archie walked straight past the gate leading into the park. “What's 'e doin'?” Jordan said.

“I dunno,” Dalen replied. “'E must be 'eadin' for the other gate, the one that leads to the Arboretum extension and the golf course. Just carry on walkin, it'll be OK.” The old man passed the other gate as well, though.

“The park's full of kids and folk walkin' dogs,” Jordan said, “so 'e's changed 'is mind, 'e's goin' to Pleck cemetery instead, it's quieter.”

“'E must be,” Dalen said. “The old bone-yard's even better than the park, there are loads of trees where we can't be seen, so we can take our sweet time.”

“A-fucking one!”

Archie walked slowly for another four or five hundred yards along the busy main road past the park and turned into a posh cul-de-sac called Emery Row, and just as the boys predicted he entered the old cemetery. The boys kept their distance while they checked the place out, and apart from a couple of old ladies putting flowers on the graves of the long dead the cemetery was empty. “It looks like 'e's goin' to that big lawn with benches around it, the Garden of Remembrance it's called, I think,” Dalen said. “Gollum, couldn't 'ave done better, that place is always deserted an' there's trees an' bushes all the way round.”

The boys ran off along a side path and entered the trees where they could lie in ambush. Before long they saw Archie walking across the grass, but to their dismay he had another tramp with him, a scrawny little man of indeterminable age with a huge mop of black hair. “Fuck!” Jordan growled. “I've never seen Gollum with anybody else, where did that daft cunt come from?”

“I dunno, but 'e's only a little bloke an' 'e wouldn't take much overpowerin', so maybe we'll bag two stinkies for the price of one..... Fate's smilin' on us today, buddy boy.”

The two tramps sat on a bench less than twenty yards from the boys' hiding place and began to empty their pockets of their gains. “Look!” the little man said. “I've got a carrier full of Chinese, the bloke at the takeaway saves it for me nearly every day.”

“Splendid!” Archie said. “I'm afraid I haven't got much, and we shouldn't be too greedy because we may well have a lot of mouths to feed today.”

“Wot's 'e on about, a lot of mouths to feed?” Jordan whispered. “We can't cope with more than two!”

“The birds, look,” Dalen replied. “They're just feedin' the squirrels an' pigeons. I think we should strike now while it's quiet, drag 'em in the bushes an' then we can do whatever we like. You take the little feller, I'm bigger'n you, so I'll take Gollum. Ready?”

“Ready.”

The tramps were utterly surprised by the attack, but they put up more of a struggle than the boys bargained for. Archie was in his late sixties and he was a little frail, so Dalen was easily able to drag him across the freshly mown grass, but the little man was stronger than he looked and he started to scream and lash out as Jordan held him in a headlock. The boy punched his victim in the face, busting his nose, and then he continued dragging him into the bushes until they were under the shade of a huge horse chestnut, the branches of which tumbled almost to the ground creating a private little torture chamber.

“The rope! Jordan cried. “Gimme the rope, you'll 'ave to cut it, 'cos we only planned on doing Gollum.” Dalen pushed his victim to the ground and fumbled in his jacket for the rope and his penknife.

“Stay there, old man, or I'll give you a kick!” he said, and Archie did as he was told.

“What do you want from us, child?” Archie said over the other man's snivelling. “Leave him alone, boy! There's no need to hit him. Billy, don't struggle or they'll hurt you! I haven't got any money if that's what you're after, nothing at all, not penny - and I doubt if Billy has any either.”

“We don't want any money you dirty fuckers might be carryin',” Dalen said as he tied Archie's hands tightly behind his back as Jordan did likewise with the other man. “We might catch somethin' from it. God, you stink..... Ain't there anywhere you could 'ave a bath now an' then?”

“If you're not after money what are you after? You can see we have nothing worth stealing.”

“We're just gonna 'ave a bit of fun with you,” Jordan said, pulling his own knife from his pocket. “We're gonna 'ang you upside down from the branches of this big old tree, maybe cut you up a bit, slice your ears an' noses off, then your shrivelled cocks an' balls. Maybe we'll beat you black an' blue with sticks, it depends on 'ow nasty we're feelin'. I'm feelin' very nasty today - 'ow about you, Dalen?”

“Oh, I'm feelin' very nasty indeed. When we've 'ad our fill of cuttin' an' beatin', which won't be for a long, long time, mind, we're gonna burn you alive,” Jordan said, pulling a bottle of methylated spirits from the inner pocket of his jacket, which inspired a fresh wave of wailing from the little man, which Jordan swiftly silenced with a well-aimed kick to the groin. “I know it'll grieve you, cos you lot drink meths, don-cha?”

“I don't think that's a good idea, boys,” Archie said. “If you don't untie us right now you'll live to regret it, you mark my words.”

“Why should we do a daft thing like that?” Dalen replied. “I think it's a well sick idea.”

“Because if you don't do as yer bloody told you'll be the fuckers 'angin' upside down in the trees,” a voice from behind the boys said, and they almost jumped out of their skin.

“'Oo the fuck am you?” Jordan said nervously, waving his little pocket knife at the stocky man who had appeared out of nowhere, and the man pulled a machete out of his coat.

“I'm Marley, a friend of folk in need and the enemy of the wicked,” he smiled. The boys made a run for it, but a huge bearded man dressed in stinking black rags scooped them both up in his mighty arms.

“No you don't,” the big man said. The boys kicked and struggled, but their struggles stopped as the undergrowth came alive with dark moving figures and it was clear there was nowhere left to run.

“I'm the gaffer around 'ere, lads,” Marley said, “'an what I say goes. Now if you'd 'appened across us yesterday I might 'ave let you off with a smack an' a stern warnin', but today..... What can I say? Today you've caught me in a very dark mood, a very dark mood indeed. My old mum passed away this' mornin' in the Manor 'ospital, last night she was beaten 'alf to death by a couple of young 'oodlums like you for the pittance in 'er purse, an' 'er old 'eart gave up the game. Untie those men, lads, an' tie these pair back to back. They're stoppin' right 'ere until it goes dark and the place is locked up for the night, then we'll take 'em to pay my good friend Pinky a visit.”

“Nooo!” Archie yelled. “Not that, Marley. Just give them a smack and let them go like you said. Please.....”

“Sorry, Archie, but I'm afraid I's made my mind up – these evil fuckers meant business, an' they need a good, stiff lesson concernin' the wages of sin.”

************************

Several hours later the boys were half marched, half dragged by the raggle-taggle band of vagabonds to the far side of the cemetery, the oldest part that contained a cluster of ancient tombs.
The big bearded man unlocked the cast iron gates of a crumbling mausoleum, pausing to speak to something that lurked inside.

“Pinky? Pinky, we've got a little present for you, a rare treat. You stay away from the gate until I say it's OK - stay at the bottom of the steps, do you understand?” There was a low keening from deep within the tomb, a caterwauling, almost, that sounded like it came from something not quite human. “You've got 'alf an hour or so, buddy, then me and the lads are coming to take 'em away. There are two of 'em, an' they need punishin' - don't kill 'em, for fuck's sake, or you'll get no food for a week.”

“Mister, let us go, please!” Dalen said to the powerful little man that untied his hands and ripped the tape from his mouth, and he was rewarded by a sharp slap across the cheek.

“Shut up and take your punishment like a bitch,” the man muttered, shoving Dalen into the dark rectangle, where he tumbled down the steps, and Jordan was forced to join him.

“Please!” Jordan cried, his hands gripping the rusty bars as his gaoler deftly replaced the padlock. “What's in here, what will it do to us?”

“Pinky will be very gentle with you if you do as 'e asks like a good girl,” the big man said. “You know the crack, surely - buy 'im flowers, kiss 'is lady lumps, suck 'is cock. Really, 'e's a darlin'. Not.....” And then he turned around and walked away with his associates.

“Nooo!” Jordan cried, and then he heard Dalen scream.

“Come to Pinky, little boy,” a high-pitched voice whispered from the cloying darkness. “Come to Pinky right now. Take off your panties, boys, Pinky promises not to hurt you.....”