Chapter 14
The day had come where Freddie had to pay Finn his next instalment, he so desperately wanted the day to never arrive. No matter how hard he tried to fall asleep the night before he just couldn't, things were playing on his mind all night. That morning Freddie was needed at the garage as there were a lot of customers waiting on cars to be collected, with Joe not being around he figured it would be very hard for him to sneak out during the day to see Finn. He quickly went to get changed into his overalls, he then had a quick cup of tea. He did his best to keep his cool but deep down he was nervous.
"You okay Fred" Lindsey asked as she noticed he was staring into space quite a bit. "Uh yeah I'm alright thanks, want a cup of tea?" He got up and made his way to the kettle to refill his cup, hovering just in case Lindsey said yes. Lindsey shook her head. "No thank you, I'm going to head to work now" She said with a warm smile. He sorted himself another drink and watched Lindsey leave the house. Once he had finished he made his way to the garage. Freddie hated opening the place as it meant he would probably have to stay till closing time to close up too.
As the day went on his and Finn's arrangement kept creeping up on him, the time seemed to be flying by so quickly. Too quickly in fact, before he knew it the time was nearing 3pm meaning he only had half an hour to go till it was time to go. Most of the customers had now gone and there was only a few milling in here and there, karma was on his side he thought as he knew he could make a quick exit for a while. He looked over to the reception desk to see Ziggy typing away on the computer. "Do you as a favour would you mate? Cover me for half an hour, need to grab some lunch" Freddie asked as he finished fixing the last car on the list that needed doing.
"Yeah of course, no problem. Take as long as you need" Ziggy said with a smile. "Thanks bruv" Freddie said, slapping Ziggy's back on the way out of the garage. Freddie quickly made his way to the bank, praying that he had enough in there to give. As he nervously typed his pin in he knew he would either be doomed or blessed within the next couple of seconds. Thankfully luck was on his side as his wages had recently gone into his account meaning he would have a bit left after he had drawn the right amount out. Rapidly placing the correct amount into his wallet he then found himself making his way to the folly hoping to get it over and done with quickly.
There he met a smirking Finn, looking as if he was the king of the world. Freddie didn't understand how someone so young could have a hold on him like this but he knew he had to do as he was told for Robbie's sake, sure he and Robbie didn't get on some of the time but that didn't mean he wouldn't bust a gut for him. Freddie quickly handed Finn the money, Finn counting every note just to make sure the right amount was there. "It's all there" Freddie spat, as Finn took his time to count it. "I'll be the judge of that thank you" Finn added, he finally finished counting and gave Freddie a simple thank you.
"You aren't having any more, now leave me and my family alone, and if you lay a finger on Robbie then you'll be a dead man. Do you hear me?" Freddie had Finn by the scruff of his neck, Finn had gone from a hard looking school boy to a quivering mess in the short space of a few minuets. Finn tried to break free, Freddie only pulled tighter. "Alright okay, I'll leave him alone honest" he panicked. Freddie was laughing inside. "Good" he said with a simple smile on his face releasing him from his grip in the process, Finn took one last look at him and fled the scene. This satisfied Freddie as he knew he wouldn't have to deal with the waste of space again.
Once he had composed himself Freddie made his way back to the garage to see that it was all closed up, this confused him as he knew he had a booking later that day. He didn't think too much about it he just made his way back home. When he got home everyone was sat in the living room looking distraught, he scanned the room for Lindsey but couldn't find her. Panic filled his body as all the what ifs circled his brain. "What's happened" Freddie managed to say just loud enough to be heard. "There's urm been an accident Freddie" Sandy said as tears rushed down her cheeks. Freddie's heart sank, he hated seeing his mum cry. He couldn't hug her he couldn't comfort her until he knew what was happening.
"What kind of accident and where's Lindsey?" he asked trying to stay as calm as possible. He knew something bad had to have happened as Robbie had visible tears in his eyes and he hardly ever showed any emotion towards anybody or anything. "A road traffic one involving Joe. She's upstairs wants to be alone" Jason said looking at Freddie sympathetically. Relief filled his body as he heard that Lindsey was safe, but where was Joe? and why weren't the family at the hospital at his bed side? "Is Joe in hospital?"Freddie raised an eyebrow with concern, that question caused tears to shift out of everybody's eyes. Instantly causing Freddie pain at the sight in front of him. Sandy shook her head and placed her head on Ziggy's shoulder he had his arm wrapped around her gently rubbing her back.
"Well somebody explain what the hell has happened then?" Freddie shouted causing everyone to jump, Freddie didn't want to shout at anybody but at this rate doing that was the only thing which would bring him one step closer to the truth. "He's dead Freddie, that's what's happened. Now get out of my sight before I say something I regret" Sandy spat matching Freddie's previous tone. Freddie's world crashed down into a million pieces as he heard this news. Was this true? If it wasn't then who the hell told the family? Freddie left the room shaking his head in the process not saying anything.
He decided to go and check on Lindsey, he understood that she wanted to be alone but he needed to see for himself that she was okay before he left her be. When he entered the room Lindsey was sat clutching a picture of her and Joe, tears staining her cheeks. Freddie walked towards her and gently sat beside her, pulling her into a side hug. He didn't speak to her he just held her and allowed her to cry into his chest, his heart was breaking as he heard her sobs. He had tears in his eyes at the same time.
"I don't understand how anybody would want to hurt my Joe, I know we aren't together any more but that doesn't mean I don't love him still" Lindsey announced. Freddie kissed her forehead and pulled her closer."I know" was all he could say to her, he knew if he had more time then he would have been able to say something better but he didn't want to ignore her."He didn't say goodbye when he left and now he's dead, oh god you don't think he killed himself do you Freddie?" Lindsey screamed a pained scream as she finished her sentence. Freddie didn't know the answer to that question because deep down Freddie didn't know if all this was the truth, Joe could be alive somewhere all of it could be a load of rubbish but he just didn't know.
"Don't say that Linds, you know Joe would never put us through that" Freddie soothed, that then making him think that this definitely wasn't true as he knew that Joe would never ever put the family though pain like that. Joe was safe and well in Freddie's eyes but he couldn't share that with anybody yet until he had made sure he was completely right. Lindsey continued to cry a great amount, Freddie rocked her gently in hope of comforting her. His hopes came true as around 20 minuets later Lindsey closed her eyes and went to sleep, he gingerly helped her lay down and covered her with a nearby blanket. He then left the room and retreated to his own room. There thinking what the hell he was going to do next. The one question kept occupying Freddie's mind. Was Joe alive? He was going to do all he could to find the answer to that question.