Something Else

Chapter 6 - Retaliation

Saturday afternoon. The day of Dave's party, and 21st birthday.
The weather had turned out hot, and it seemed as if the whole of Coogee had hit the beach for the first time since Christmas.
Lee lay on his back, pillowing his head in linked hands, thinking of all the things Stacey had told him Thursday night. At first, the thought of trying to warn the others of her mate's plans had seemed an impossible task, but having taken Bob aside the next day, and had managed between them to come up with an idea.

Feeling a drop of sweat run down the side of his face, Lee wiped it away, completely oblivious to anyone or anything around him as he lay there wrapped up in his own thoughts.
He was feeling a lot more contented now, and as he remembered back to how they had tackled the problem, a smile crossed his lips.

'I wonder what's happening down Sandcastles right now,' Bob had started by saying, to get the conversation going. 'I'd have thought we'd have heard something from them by now.'
Lee glanced over his pint, and then with a change of expression, looked suddenly concerned. 'I know. It's funny you should say that. It's been on my mind all day. I think they must be up to something.'

As predicted, their concern sparked off the conversation they needed.

'It has been rather quiet on that front, hasn't it,' said Mick, frowning.

At first, no one answered.

Dave looked up, chewing the inside of his cheek. 'They must have seen what you did in the bogs by now,' he said to Lee.

'For sure,' confirmed Lee. 'I saw Jez's motor parked out the front virtually all day yesterday. They've got to have seen it.'

Mick then began to frown. 'So what d'you reckon?' he asked, leaning forward on the table.

Lee shrugged. 'I dunno, mate. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. But I'll tell you one thing; it's been a bit too quiet for my liking. I think they're up to something. I reckon we should be on our guard, just in case.'

'Yeah,' added Bob. 'There's no way they'll let that one slip by unanswered for. I reckon if they've not planned something already, they'll be right in the middle of it as we speak. They've gotta be.'

Mick then leaned further across the table on folded arms with a grin. 'Hey, how about we get in first, like before they have a chance to retaliate. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, I don't think we've sorted 'em out properly for what they did to Pete's van.'

Bob and Lee exchanged satisfied glances.
Dave perked up and began thinking, too. 'How about we pay 'em a surprise visit?'
Paul, who was preoccupied with cleaning the dirt out from under his nails, flipped back his heavy fringe as he glanced up. 'What's that?'
'A surprise visit.' Dave repeated.
Paul frowned, even though Jimmy was already very interested. 'How do you mean?' He asked, ignoring Jimmy's enthusiasm for a moment by not letting him speak.
'We set 'em up' said Dave. 'They're always after me an' him, at the best of times.' He laughed, indicating Jimmy with a nod. 'It'd be a synch.'

Lee leaned forwards now too. 'Yeah. It would be. You know how they all tend to go into The Coffee Shop on a Monday night. All we'd have to do is get one of them two to wander past, and we could all be waiting in the back of Del's works van. None of 'em would know that, when they rush out, we've got 'em! It's as easy as that.'
A few grins went round the table.
'Yeah, that'd work,' said Jimmy, not bothered in the slightest that it would probably end up being him used as the bait.
'Yeah,' Paul agreed. ' That's not a bad idea at all.'
'So when are we going to do it?' asked Del. 'I'll need to clear all the crap out of the back of my van.'
'Monday?' suggested Bob.
'This Monday coming?'
'Yeah.'
They all agreed.