You Against Me

He grabbed a beer from a woman with a tray and knocked half of it back. He wondered if anyone from school would recognize him. It’d been two years since he left and these kids were the ones who went on to college, so it was unlikely. He took another gulp of beer and tried to concentrate. Find Tom Parker,  that was the plan. Tell Jacko when he had.

There was a group of boys sitting at one of the tables, there were more queuing for food, another group swigging beer over by the fence. They all had that posh look Mikey was expecting to find, but none matched the pixellated photo Jacko had shown him in the car.

He walked round the garden once, a whole circuit. Music pumped out from speakers, the leaves on the trees shivered, the grass thumped under his feet. He hated all these people in their smart clothes, with their wine and champagne. He thought of his sisters at home – Holly drawing crazy pictures with colours like mud and grey. Karyn trying to make di

A girl wobbled by on very high heels. She was drunk, he could see that.

‘Hey,’ he said, ‘I’m looking for Tom Parker. You know him?’

She stopped and smiled. Her eyes were dark and drawn round the edge in blue. ‘Who are you?’

He couldn’t stumble at the first hurdle. ‘Joe.’ He had to be someone other than himself and he knew he’d never see her again.

‘You’re very good‑looking.’

‘So, do you know where Tom is?’

She waved her arm in the vague direction of the house. ‘Somewhere. How do you know him?’

‘College.’ Second time today and it was begi

She leaned in to him as if she had a secret. ‘You want to kiss me?’

‘Not really.’

She laughed, puckered her lips and moved in closer. ‘I bet you do.’

He looked about, but no one was taking any notice. He could pick her up and carry her off. He could drag her behind the marquee where it was dark and do whatever he liked to her. He could say she wanted it, that she asked for it.

‘Come on,’ the girl said. ‘Kiss me then.’

Was this how trashed Karyn was that night?

He nudged her off. ‘I don’t want to.’

She looked insulted. ‘Don’t you like me?’

He gave her a peck on the cheek to shut her up. Her skin tasted expensive. He told her he’d see her later, though he’d run if he saw her coming. He waved her off and fumbled for his phone. He couldn’t do this. He shouldn’t be here. This was the stupidest idea he’d ever had.

Just as he was texting him, Jacko appeared. ‘Target located,’ he said.

‘What?’

Jacko nodded at a tall boy loping across the grass towards a group of men. ‘I’ve been tailing him for five minutes. It’s definitely him.’

Tom Parker looked like a tosser – shirt and tie, schoolboy hair, shaking hands with all the adults. Looking at him made Mikey want to puke, made the knot in his gut tighten.

‘Let’s get him.’

But before he could move, Jacko caught him, said, ‘Whoa! That’s not  the plan.’

‘Bollocks to the plan!’ Mikey tried to shake him off. ‘Let go of me. I’m sick of this.’

‘You whack him now, you’ll get arrested,’ Jacko hissed. ‘How’s that going to help Karyn?’

Mikey shoved him off. ‘It’s go

A woman walked past and looked curiously at them. ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Everything all right?’

‘Perfect,’ Jacko said, putting his arm round Mikey and reining him in. ‘We were just saying what a lovely evening for a bail bash.’

The woman moved away, frowning slightly.

Mikey shrugged Jacko off again. ‘I hate this place.’

‘I know, I know.’

‘I hate him too. Look at him – surrounded by suits and still untouchable. He’s getting away with everything!’

Jacko sighed, opened his coat, pulled out a bottle and passed it to Mikey. ‘I also located the drinks cabinet. I think you’ll find this twenty‑five‑year‑old malt whisky will clear your mind.’

Mikey took three long gulps. It flamed in his throat, warmed his belly. It was good to sink inside the feeling that somehow this was all going to work out. He took another gulp, and another.

Jacko smiled. ‘Better?’

Mikey nodded. He was thinking of his mum with her morning Valium. For the first time he understood why she talked about taking the edge off the terror.

‘He’s the centre of attention,’ Jacko said, ‘so we need to stay calm and move on to phase two.’ He winked. ‘You get to do what you’re best at, Mikey, and talk to girls. We need tactical intelligence – does he do martial arts? Is he left or right‑handed? Has he got brothers and are they here? The usual stuff. I’ll keep a visual and gather data as I tail him. We both need to suss out the best location for phase three – preferably somewhere dark and quiet with good escape routes.’ He checked his watch. ‘We’ll reconvene on this position in an hour.’

Mikey felt momentarily dizzy. He rubbed his eyes. It would be great to pretend this was an ordinary night, that they’d crashed some random party, that he was here on the pull.

Jacko pressed the whisky bottle on him. ‘Keep this, it’s doing you good. Think of the Vikings, Mikey. Free booze. Posh birds. We’re here to plunder.’

Mikey shook his head as Jacko walked backwards away from him. ‘The Vikings?’

‘Yep. And don’t worry, the face‑to‑face thing’s go

Mikey took another swig of whisky and watched the clouds. Soon it would rain again. A downpour would be good – wet people rushing back to cars, the whole party ruined. Tom Parker would be left alone. An easy target.

Mikey sca

But there – who was that? On the bench, underneath that tree. Lanterns swayed above her, people everywhere, and her simply sitting there, the one still point. Mikey put the whisky in his pocket, plucked two beers from a waitress and smiled. He knew this girl. She’d opened the door to him earlier. She was Tom Parker’s sister.

Seven

When he got to the bench, she looked up, but didn’t smile.

‘Mind if I sit down?’ he said.

She shrugged, as if she didn’t care either way, and slid along to make room. He put the beers on the bench between them. ‘One of these is for you.’

‘No thanks.’ Her voice was softer than he remembered.

He took out his tobacco and rolled a thin one, offered it across. ‘Smoke?’

She shook her head.

‘So,’ he said, ‘not in a party mood then?’

‘Not particularly.’

‘Missing revision?’

He meant it as a joke, but she didn’t get it. ‘It’s not that, it’s just, I never expected it to be so…’

She let the sentence drop.

A group of girls cheered as some Lady Gaga song suddenly blared from the speakers outside the marquee. They started dancing, singing along to the words and pointing their fingers at the sky. A couple of boys stood watching and one of the girls wiggled her arse at them. Adults stood about on the grass, leaning towards each other in deep conversation. It was like there were two parties happening at once.

‘Your brother knows a lot of people,’ he said.

She sighed. ‘Never underestimate the power of curiosity.’

‘Are any of your friends here?’

‘I didn’t invite anyone.’

‘You invited me.’

‘Apart from you.’

She slid a fraction further away to show her utter lack of interest. He smiled. This would be a breeze.

‘Where’s your boyfriend then? Is he here?’