Six years later.
It was a cold afternoon, the fog was creeping in and Howard Moon shivered violently as he made his way home. Picking his path carefully, he tried to avoid the puddles and icy patches that were littered perilously across the pavement, before turning into an alleyway that ran behind the local Starbucks. He hugged his coat around him as the cold, damp darkness of the alley closed in on him. Howard felt a little anxious. He walked home this way everyday but it wasn't usually this murky or, more importantly, dark.
Just then, Howard heard a shuffling behind him. He looked over his shoulder but he couldn't see anything, so he walked on. The shuffling sounded again. Howard stopped, so did the shuffling.
'Maybe I'm just imagining things' he thought, shaking his head and walking on. The shuffling returned, louder this time, closer. Howard span round in time to see a shadowy figure launch towards him and Howard found himself shoved against the wall, with something cold and sharp pressed into his back.
"Give me your money." growled the man, dragging the knife up Howard's spine.
"Please. Don't hurt me," Howard whimpered, shaking violently "I've got so much to give."
"I won't hurt you." said the thief, almost kindly, and then as though remembering the situation he dug the knife deeper into Howard's neck and added "if you give me your money." The knife wasn't pressing hard enough to draw blood but Howard was still convinced he was going to die. But he tried to keep as calm as he could, he knew these London muggers didn't always kill their victims.
"M-my m-money's in m-my front pocket." he stammered.
"Get it out then."
"Ummmm, well, I can't my pocket's pressed against the wall."
"Oh. Um, right, course it is." the aggressor faltered, stepping back. "Right, you've got some room, now get it out then." he hissed. Howard couldn't help but feel that there was something in the thief's voice that suggested he was a little nervous about the situation too.
Howard turned around slowly and faced the thief. He'd expected to see a tall, burley man maybe with a beard and a beer belly or at least a few tattoo's or something that made him look even slightly threatening. So the sight that greeted him almost made him faint with shock.
The thief him and had long mousy brown hair with lot's of blonde highlights and a black fringe. He was wearing a flamboyant, brightly coloured t-shirt, very tight jeans and a pair of white cowboy boots. He was shorter than Howard but he must have been about the same age and there was something strangely familiar about this boy's mesmerising, oversized blue eyes. He had razor sharp cheekbones, quite a large, crooked nose and an almost gaunt look, which may have been down to the fact that the thief's mouth was hanging open.
"Oh my god! It's you!" he gasped
"Huh?"
"Howard. You are Howard, right?"
Howard nodded slowly.
"You haven't changed a bit." the thief grinned. Howard searched the thief's face for some clue as to who he was. "You don't recognise me, do you?" the thief grinned. "Howard, it's me… Vince!"
Suddenly, it all came flooding back to Howard. He remembered the day at the zoo with the only friend he'd ever had. He'd found Vince… after all this time. He wanted to cheer, or hug him, or something, but all he could say was
"Why the hell are you mugging people?"
--
"Here you are." Howard said, putting a cup of coffee in front of Vince and sitting down opposite.
"Thanks." smiled Vince. "I still can't believe this. My first mugging and it's you. What are the chances, eh?"
"Hmm. Why are you mugging people, Vince?" Howard asked, taking a sip of his own coffee.
"I ain't got any money." Vince shrugged.
"So, get a job."
"Where? No one will take me on. I'm not very good in school and I did try to burn down a zoo, remember. No one want's to take on a thick kid with a criminal record."
"Well, it can't help that you walk around with a knife." Howard said, nervously eyeing the pocket that Vince kept his knife in.
"Yeah. Well, when you dress like me, you've got to have a way to protect yourself."
"So don't dress like that."
"This is my look. You don't just mess with a look like this. Anyway, when I dress like this I feel most comfortable."
"You've changed a lot since I last saw you." Howard said, looking over Vince's extravagant outfit, his eyes being drawn quickly to Vince's crooked nose.
"One too many fights in the foster home." Vince explained, a grin playing across his oddly handsome features.
"Did you get fostered again?"
"Yeah, I've been living with Brian Ferry in a forest for the last five years. From foster child to forest child, eh?" he chuckled "Brian was a really good foster dad, though. He didn't get rid of me if I was ever a bit difficult. He straightened me out a bit too. I could never be cheeky to Brian."
"He couldn't have straightened you out much if you're mugging."
"Give me a break, yeah? I said it was my first time. I was desperate and starving. You can't just catch an antelope in the centre of London you know. It was all so much easier in the forest."
"If you liked it so much, why aren't you still there?"
"I've come to London to become a rock star."
"Can you sing?"
"Can I sing?! I'm one of the great front men: Freddy Mercury, Axl Rose, Vince Noir. That's what they'll say."
"Oh right." Howard laughed. "Sorry, I didn't realise."
Vince grinned back. "You still playing the saxophone?"
"Yeah, I'm a multi-instrumentalists. I can play everything."
"Cool."
"Oh yes, sir. In fact, I had an epiphany the other day when I was in a jazz club."
"What's an epiphany?"
"It's like an awaking, I discovered my true identity."
"Wow. What happened?"
"Well, I wasn't very good but the other day I met a jazz expert called Howling Jimmy Jefferson and now I can play anything you want."
"Can you play electro?" Vince asked excitedly.
"Yes, but I wouldn't."
"Why not?"
"Because it's rubbish."
"It's not." exclaimed Vince. "It's the best genre of music there is. It's the only genre of music there is."
"Nonsense!" cried Howard, "You need to listen to jazz."
"Jazz, oh no! Please tell me that's some kind of joke."
"Not at all, it's free and loose and…"
"freakish? I bet you've got no friends." Vince laughed. Howard turned bright red and looked straight at his feet. "Oh," Vince breathed "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I'm sure people love you…"
"Yeah, well." Howard mumbled, looking at his watch "I should probably get going. I'm never this late home from work."
"Ooooo work. Where do you work?"
"The zoo." Howard replied embarrassedly, standing up so quickly he almost knocked the chair over.
"Oh." Vince said dropping his head too. "Is it okay? You know since I…"
"Yeah, It's fine. Naboo the shaman fixed it. There was no damage, though Tommy's been missing ever since." Seeing Vince's horrified face Howard added "He didn't die in the fire though. It's not your fault."
"Yeah." Vince said, quickly changing the subject "Can I walk back with you?"
"Umm, yeah I guess." Howard said, holding the door to the café open.
"Cool." Vince stood up and Vince walked through. The boys walked back to the Moon household laughing and chatting away happily.
As they reached the gate Howard stopped suddenly and turned to face the flamboyantly dressed boy. He looked awkwardly from Vince to his house and back again.
"It's good to see you Vince. Really, it is."
"It's great seeing you too." Vince smiled, then after a while he saw the problem. "You don't want your parents to see me do you?"
"No, it's not that."
"It is." Vince said knowingly, "You don't want them to see you with a knife carrying criminal, but I'm not like that really. See." he said chucking the knife into the bin. "I'm not like I used to be. I'm popular now. Hey! It's my mate Leroy's birthday tomorrow and there's a house party down at East Tram Gardens. You should come."
"Oh I don't know if…"
"Please come Howard," Vince almost begged "I'd like to see you there. I don't wanna lose touch again."
"Well, um…"
"I tell you what, come down at around 10pm and I'll meet you by the big sign at the entrance to the estate, it's huge you can't miss it. And then we'll walk to the party together. What d'you think?"
Howard looked down at the skinny mod and, just like when they were ten, he was completely taken in by those shining eyes and charming smile.
"Yeah, okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Excellent." grinned Vince, throwing his arms around Howard's neck. The taller boy hugged him back. Howard liked hugging people, it made him feel safe inside, made him feel loved. He'd always been a little needy like that. As Vince pulled away Howard said "Have you got somewhere to stay tonight?"
"Oh yeah, I'll be fine." Vince grinned "Don't you worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow yeah."
"Okay."
Howard watched as Vince bounced off down the road. He could tell Vince still had a slightly crazy streak but he seemed calmer now, more innocent, less likely to hurt people. Maybe, this was the real Vince finally breaking out whereas before, thug-Vince was just protection to stop from getting hurt. But one thing hadn't changed, Vince still had it - whatever it was; that unexplainable force which draws you towards him and makes you like him.
Okay, firstly: I'm useless with animals and where they live. Antelope don't live in forests in Britain but hey neither do cobra's or leopards (as found in the Hitcher episode) so I figured it wouldn't matter too much!
Secondly: My great front men; Freddy Mercury is undisputable and Axl Rose is my favourite front man so I put him in too.
Hope you're enjoying it!
Sisi...xx