Chapter 29

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29
Saturday 5th January 2030
21:40

          'There's no one on the streets tonight', Vince said to Corbin, 'we should catch the bus into town, there's bound to be some action there'.

         'And more police', Corbin said to Vince.

          There was eight of them marching around, looking for anyone who wanted trouble. It wasn't the first time they'd fought other groups of youths. Occasionally, if nothing was going on, they might even tag along with an older group and head into Watford, find a rave and attack the people there. It was always more about scaring the opposition, than causing any real harm. However, people did get hurt. Corbin recalled a fight where one of his friends got stabbed. Roddy was always with them and always the first into battle. He never showed any fear at all. Corbin admired him, even if, he didn't really trust him. The mistrust came from Roddy's ability to take credit for every successful achievement. Corbin guessed it was because he was one of only three white boys in their group and felt he had to prove something.

          'Hey Corbin, I can't say I'm really in the mood. Nothing's happening here', Roddy said. 'I'm gonna shoot'

          Corbin had to agree, there wasn't much of anything happening. Even the police hadn't envisaged there to be any trouble around there. They had allocated their resources to the centre of town, around the night clubs, the airport and the train station.

           'Yeah, that's steam man. I might give it another five minutes'

           'Charlie. You coming'

           Charlie looked in Corbin's direction. Charlie liked Corbin, never considered anyone else to be their leader, even though they officially didn't have one. But he was the only other white boy there and he knew the likes of Vince and Alvin were racist towards whites, or anything that wasn't black.

            'Yeah. Catch you later Corbin'

             Corbin nodded.

             The two white boys left, he waited until they were out of view before turning to the others.

             'What do you think. Five more minutes?'

              'I still reckon we should head into town. Only take us fifteen minutes to check it out. If nothing happening, we leave', Vince said.

              'I think Corbin's right, it'll be crawling with police', Mike said. Corbin could always rely on Mike to stick up for him.

              'Maybe. But there's nothing here'

               'Yeah, but with Roddy and Charlie gone, the police will be on us like nothing. At least with two......'

                'Fuck dem white boys', Vince said raising his voice angrily, 'they shouldn't even be hanging with us. Every time we get seen with them, we lose some cred'

                'Hey guys', Alvin interrupted, 'over there'

                The others turned to look at what he was pointing out. Five figures were heading in their direction.

                'They all white?', Vince asked

                'Think so'

                'Well, let's find out'

                'Even if they are white, we need to find out what their intentions are', Corbin said.

                 'Fuck their intentions. If they're all white, we fuck them up'

                 'Come on Vince, you know not all white people gonna be out to cause trouble'

                 'Then they shouldn't be out. What's a man to think', he smiled and started to walk towards them. The others followed and so did Corbin.

                  'They're not turning away', Alvin said, 'think we have a fight on our hands'

                  'Good. It's time to get some revenge'

                  The two groups stopped five yards from each other. It was boys against men and even so, Vince was confident they could win. Six against five, made up for it.

               Corbin could see them clearly, from that distance. They were all white, all aggressive looking and the majority of them were older than the boys. What struck Corbin was the fact he recognized two of the men. Bill and Robert Smith, Holly's brothers. They didn't know who he was, at least he assumed they didn't. They wore an amused grin on their faces.

              'Boys. I think maybe we should leave it', Corbin whispered across the line, Mike seemed to be the only one who had heard him and turned with a puzzled look on his face.

             Mike had never known Corbin to back away from a fight, even when he was outnumbered. What Mike wasn't aware of, was that Corbin was sensible enough to gauge whether he was likely to win a fight, before he committed to it. He was also sensible enough to know that he needed to disregard his warning signs, as to refuse a retaliation would cause his character irrefutable damage to his standing in the group.

             Mike turned back to the men and Corbin hoped he hadn't understood what he had said.

              'Good evening boys', one of the men said. 'Shouldn't you boys be tucked up in bed?', he laughed. Two of the other men laughed with him.

              'Where are you lot going?', Vince asked, he was trying to put a firm and slightly aggressive voice on, instead it came across croaky and nervous.

              'Oh, we're out for a walk. I know it's cold and dark, but we kind of prefer it that way. Thought we'd maybe see if there were any Niggers out, we could beat up. You wouldn't happen to have seen any?'

              If Corbin knew anything about Vince. It was his temper, instantaneous and aggressive. Vince flew forward at the man, who stood waiting until Vince was just about to pounce, when the man produced a knife and plunged it deep into Vince's chest.

              The rest if the boys, who had been ready to follow Vince into battle, froze, as they saw the men each produce a weapon.

              'Run', Corbin shouted, yet remained where he was watching Vince fall to his knees in front of the man who had stabbed him.

               The others had set off in different direction, but the men were prepared. Others came out from hiding with weapons. Mike, who was the fastest boy at his school, he flew down the road, avoiding the men that seemed to be coming out of every gap in the street.

               Corbin watched, as one by one, his friends, were stabbed and hacked at, until they were dead. It had seemed the only one that would escape was Mike, that was until a car came round the corner and ran him over. The driver and the passenger were out of the car quickly, holding pool cues, which they used as clubs, to hammer down on Mike.

               Corbin stayed motionless. There was only him left, he looked at the man standing in front of him, his blade and hand dripping with blood, there was nothing in his eyes that indicated he felt any remorse or regret. He knew then, he was going to die.

               There was only one other chance, a glimpse of hope. He looked towards Bill and Robert, who had stayed where they were, either side of the man.

             'My name's Corbin. I know Holly', he said, his voice strained.

             'We know', the brother on the right answered, as he produced a knife, 'that's why we're here'

              The two brothers walked forward, one holding a knife, the other a hammer.

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