There was a wail of sirens and two police cars and a fire engine whizzed past them, painting the dark night blue and white. Howard kept his head down until they were past. He could see Vince looking at him at him from the corner of his eye but kept his eyes on the road and just gripped the steering wheel tighter, both glad and dismayed that for once, the boy had chosen to be silent. With a wrench of the wheel, he kerbed the car and drove it into the hedge that grew on either side of the road, wincing as branches squealed over the body of the car.
"What the fuck're you doing" Vince shouted, hands over eyes. Howard said nothing and instead forced the car door open and got out, ignoring the scratches that the pushing through the undergrowth earned him. Vince followed suit, mumbling about how it was ruining his top and how he could've got out before they parked the car in the hedge. Howard was just about to tell him to shut the fuck up when he noticed the boy struggling to get through the undergrowth, his top already ruined beyond the point of ever being wearable again, and remembered shamefully his broken ribs. So he liked to put up a front of being tough, Howard realised. As Vince attempted to brush the leaves off his top, Howard grabbed his hand and pulled him along the road, continuing in the direction that they had been travelling. As they rounded the corner, it became immediately apparent what the problem was. The sky was lit orange from the blaze and emergency vehicles of all types were gathered what was left of Howard's house. Flames licked the walls as fire fighters tried in vain to control the inferno.
"Shit,"
Howard crouched down, his head in his hands and shouted it again,
"Shit, Shit, Shit!"
Feeling Vince's light touch on his shoulder, he gazed up into the boy's troubled face with a look of fear,
"That's my house! My fucking house!"
"Is it insured?" Vince asked, simply, stopping the hysteria that was building in Howard's chest,"
"Yes – but that's not the problem. All my stuff…my lovely stuff. I had some jazz records that are irreplaceable. Oh, and the small matter of two million fucking pounds!" The hysteria was back, shriller and tighter than ever and he had to stand up and start pacing back and forth to stop himself from screaming, because he knew once he started, he wouldn't be able to stop. Even now, faced with a flaming pyre of evidence, flickering in his face like a neon sign, he couldn't tell Vince the true extent of the horror, the danger they were in, the sheer awfulness of it all.
Vince started walking towards the house, only to find himself spun on his axis as Howard grabbed him by the shoulder. The jolt through his injured ribs made him clench his teeth in agony, his eyes blazing,
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Vince demanded.
Howard's face mirrored his fury, the distant flames making the gentle brown of his small eyes shine almost red in the night sky.
"I could ask you the same thing!"
"I was just going to have a closer look, you know, see if there was any of your things that were ok,"
"You can't just go waltzing over there, what good do you think that's going to do?" he affected a camp stance, and lisped girlishly, "Ooh Mister Fireman, can I just pop inside that burning building and grab all of the valuables. Oh no, I don't live here, this house is Howard Moon's, you know, the one that the whole country's police force is looking for today. Get fucking real Vince, you can't get whatever you want just by being pretty you know,"
The anger seeped out of Vince's face and was replaced by a blushing smile,
"You think I'm pretty," he murmured. It wasn't until then that Howard realised what he had said, and groaned internally. If this boy didn't fuck off soon, he really was going to end up at the bottom of a canal. He needed to make him see that, and fast,
"Right, listen here you little tit box. You got the shit kicked out of you today and I'm sorry about that but the way you act, I'm frankly surprised that it doesn't happen more often, and besides, it was nothing to do with me," he winced at the lie, "as you can see, I'm in no position to help you now, so you may as well just run along,"
He expected Vince to cower at his words or look upset but he barely reacted, other than to raise an eyebrow archly,
"No, Howard Moon, you listen to me. Thanks to your childish tantrum, I know your name, I know where you live, or at least I did before somebody turned your house into the world's most expensive bonfire. I reckon I'm the one holding all the cards now. For one thing, I've had more than enough beatings from my step dad to last me a life-time, that's how I ended up in that shit hole down at the Carrestone. So don't you ever think that I'm in need of one. Secondly, you're talking bollocks. I saw how you reacted when I said who broke into my flat. I don't know what's going on but I know that he didn't want anything that I had so it must be about you. My life might have not been completely fucking genius before but you've gone and got me into a whole shit heap of trouble so don't you dare fucking talk to me like that again. And as for running along, have you seen these shoes?" he flicked up a silver cowboy booted heel with an amused grimace.
Howard clenched and unclenched his hands slowly. The only thing that was preventing him from punching that jumped up little cunt who thought he could order him around, square in the face was the absolute and certain knowledge that once he started, he wouldn't be able to stop. He could imagine slamming the kid's head against the pavement just a bit too clearly. Plus there were too many people around, it really wouldn't do to draw any more attention to themselves than they already had. Instead, he set his face into a mask of grim indifference, lips clamped tightly to stop the screams from bubbling out, and headed back towards the car without a word.
He had barely taken two steps, acknowledging silently that Vince was trotting along beside him, when he saw two familiar men coming towards him, deep in conversation. They hadn't looked up, they hadn't noticed him…yet. Blinded by panic, he threw himself back against the fence that banked the pavement and pulled Vince into him, kissing him violently. His eyes shot open with surprise as Vince returned the kiss with equal passion, kissing him hungrily, desperately. His cheeks grew flushed and he felt himself harden as Vince's hands snaked up into his hair, pulling him impossibly closer. Unconsciously his hands gripped Vince's buttocks, causing him to groan into his mouth. His head was swimming and he was barely aware the two men had passed them, muttering 'fucking queers' to each other. As their footsteps began to echo away, it took all of Howard's self control to shove the smaller boy's body away from his. Vince's eyes flashed with lust as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, panting heavily,
"Wow," he breathed.
Howard had to look at the ground for a moment, certain that if his eyes remained locked on the bright blue ones for a moment longer, he wouldn't be able to resist,
"You tit box. I was just trying to hide my face from those men. What the fuck made you start all that funny business? Don't touch me again!" Once again, he was surprised that Vince didn't crumble at his words but just laughed,
"Try saying that when your cock doesn't look like its about to burst your fly open and it might be a bit more believeable!"
Howard opened his mouth, then shut it again before muttering,
"Just…get back to the car,"
Howard reversed the car out of the hedge and drove the car to a quiet car park he knew about. Bathed in the silvery white light of the street lamps that illuminated the car park, he turned towards Vince, gritting his teeth to see the smug grin on his face. He leaned in towards him and reached his hand slowly forward and Vince's eyes turned downwards as the back of his hand brushed his knee. Finally his hand found what he had been seeking for….the catch of the glove box. He allowed himself a gratified smile when he saw the disappointment flash over the boy's pointy features as he began to rifle through the papers there.
"What are you doing?" the boy asked.
"Everything I own is in this car, I was rather hoping that there might be something of value,"
He then exited the car and opened the boot, moving the first aid kit, blanket - and other things he kept there in case of emergencies - frustratedly from side to side, looking for something, anything, of value. Finally admitting defeat, he got back into the car, staring silently at Vince,
"Howard why are you looking at me like were on a desert island and you're starting to hallucinate that I'm a giant ham?"
"What have you got? In that case? Must be pretty fucking valuable for you to want it so much."
Vince's sunshiny features turned serious for a moment, just a flash of hardness that Howard noted, made him look almost ugly.
"It's nothing. Nothing. Just leave it Howard. I've, I've got this,"
He held out the roll of notes that Howard had given him earlier almost shyly. Howard snatched it off him and flicked his thumb feverishly over the notes, counting them, forgetting he had counted themselves out only a couple of hours earlier. Was it really that short a time? It seemed like a life time ago, when his life was his own and not the nightmare that he seemed to have slipped into. A couple of hundred quid, it was nothing really but it would have to do. Barely looking over at Vince, he pulled his seatbelt back on,
"Go on then, you little shit, fuck off," he didn't have the faintest idea of what he was going to do but he couldn't be looking after this kid, not when he barely knew what he was going to do with himself. The feeling of responsibility and self pity was nearly drowning him, crushing his chest.
Vince didn't move, but looked at him as though he were a small child that needed something explaining to, preferably using words of less than one syllable.
"Howard, I know you don't like this but you and me are in this together now, and I'm not going anywhere. I've got nowhere to go, other than where you're going. I know that you're some big shot bank robber or something and I'm, well I'm nothing, but right now we're all each other has got and I reckon that's got to count for something hasn't it? So why don't you start by telling me what sort of trouble we're in before that big vein in your neck bursts. Because, trust me, the last thing either of us needs is to get covered in any more blood today."
Howard opened his mouth to speak but immediately closed it again, scared that if he spoke he might cry. Instead he sat for a few moments, staring out at the night sky, in a silence that Vince, in a rare moment of being able to keep himself from talking, allowed. Although he didn't move a muscle, his mind was racing, running over the ghosts of plans that he dismissed almost before they entered his conciousness. Finally, he came up with something that didn't seem as phenomenally shitty as the others, and nodded to himself,
"Right," he set the car in gear without even looking at the boy, "Right". He drove off into the night.