Snow Space

Brush With Death

Outside, Khamil made sure to tread silently on the concrete, his trainers pressing on the floor with the upmost vigilance. The idea of someone having followed him and Gaz earlier had only come to mind once he'd said it aloud, and now it was all his mind could think of. He urged himself forwards, though the sudden abrasive sound of footsteps sent alarm shooting through him, and he immediately ducked backwards, keeping his back against the wall. Sure enough, voices followed; clearly there were a few of the Sutherland lot hanging about here, and no doubt Khamil was in trouble. Either they wouldn't recognise him, and start asking questions about where he was from, or worse - they would recognise him. Khamil's heart tinged with a cold dread as he heard one of the boys address the other.

"Finn - you got any smokes?"

"No. Go find Hade."

The authoritative, unemotional response came from the boy who'd held a knife at Gaz and Khamil a few weeks ago - his very tone just foreboding of the threat he posed to anyone who crossed him. From what Khamil could pick up on, the other boy had left, and now his ears were attentive to Finn's actions. He was leant against the low, brick wall a few metres away from the film shop, though Khamil didn't dare to steal a glance at what he was doing there. All he had to do was wait it out in dead silence until he left, regulating his breathing, controlling his thumping heart - suddenly his blood ran cold as the default tune on his phone began to ring out, the device buzzing in his hand with unnecessary vigour. Eyes widened, he scrambled to grab it and switch it off as 'Mum' showed up on the screen, though the damage was already done. Finn had heard it, and now he was up on his feet, surveying the direction. Fight or flight took over as Khamil reasoned his best chance of escaping - running. Leaping to his feet, he took off into the beginning of a sprint, though almost immediately the anticipating boy had lunged out, and collided with him, sending him smashing to the floor with painfully hard contact. He kicked out, hearing a groan from his opponent, before swinging his fist around to thump him hard in the cheekbone, satisfaction in the slight pain that shot down his wrist. 

"GAZ!" he yelled, in a vain attempt to signify for help. "PIKEY!"

It was only when Finn unveiled a sharp blade, glinting in defiance of the darkness, that he immediately ceased his fighting, an icy fear washing over him. Keeping his eyes on the knife, after a moment of frozenness, Khamil slowly rose to his feet as Finn raised it, now controlling his movement like he was a marionette. 

"Good," said Finn with a sunken smile, an ominosity to the composure he held. Khamil stayed steady, his eyes wide as he stared at the tranquil maniac before him. The knife lingered between them. "You've got some balls coming down here, I'll grant you that."

"I haven't done anything," Khamil replied stonily, choosing his words carefully, though this just made Finn's smile crawl further up his face.

"That's funny. I suppose you heard about Raff getting locked up."

Khamil didn't respond this time, though his jaw clenched slightly. 

"Mm. Eight years he's facing. That means he'll be out when he's twenty seven. Long time." 

"I said fuck all to the police, and for some reason you lot are using it as an excuse to start a gang war."

Khamil's growing irritation only prompted Finn to move in closer, and flick his knife as a reminder, bringing it a little closer as he spoke - a warning for Khamil not to offend again.

"The only one you knew in that deal was Raff. The only one who got locked up was Raff. The only outsider who witnessed the deal - was you."

"I don't know what you want me to say, it was a fucking coincidence."

"Coincidence? Okay, how about this -"

The colloquial manner in which Finn was addressing this was intensely unnerving to Khamil. He'd dealt with Hade before - the brute force, the aggression, the menacing talk .... but this was creepy and macabre - unpredictable. He couldn't tell whether Finn was just trying to scare him, or if he was genuinely planning on killing him. 

"You end Raff's future by getting him done for a coke deal, and I end your future in return? Sounds fair to me, no?"

That decided it - he really was a nutjob. As Khamil began to try and reason with considerable alarm in his voice, his phone rang out yet again - cutting through the tension with the upbeat jingle, melodically playful. They both looked down to the phone in Khamil's left hand - where once again, 'Mum' was calling. Finn's smile grew. 

"Let me answer it."

Khamil looked up at him, concerned, though reluctantly passed over his phone - with some relief as Finn withdrew the knife momentarily to answer it, his eyes lit up with a dangerous glee. 

"Hello?" he said, pretending boredom as he sent an amused look to Khamil.

"Who's this?" 

The low voice on the other end ignited a different kind of tenseness in Khamil - a worry he'd almost forgotten about after the preoccupation with Poppy. Finn raised his eyebrows.

"This doesn't sound like 'Mum'," he replied skeptically, his sarcasm inevitably spurring on Rob's anger.

"Put Khamil on," came the threatening order.

"I'm sorry, Khamil can't get to the phone right now, can I take a message?" Finn offered brightly. Khamil could only stand, worry racing through his mind at how and why Rob was calling from his mum's phone. Every so often, Finn would share cheeky eye contact  with him as if they were two friends in the midst of a prank call. 

"Okay," Rob said balefully from the other end, his voice dripping with threat. "You can give him a message. You can tell Khamil, that he's fucking dead."

A slow and steady beep signified the other line had cut, and Finn looked at Khamil, his eyebrows raised in amusement. 

"Seems a lot of people want you finished," he said, now malevolent. "Too bad I got there first."

For some reason, Finn decided to examine his knife before actually using it - and it was this brief moment of delay that saved Khamil as a force suddenly knocked Finn sideways, twisting the knife out of his hand violently.

"FUCK!"

Finn was choking on the ground, his hand outstretching for the knife a few centimetres away as Gaz pummelled him, clearly the stronger of the two with the absence of weapons. Reacting fast, Khamil jerked forwards to grab the knife off of the floor, away from Finn's reach - he then turned around at the sound of others advancing to see Omar, Pikey, and a considerable number of others from Bateson road not far behind. His eyes were still wide from his brush past death, and he wasn't quite sure of what to do with the relief flooding from him. Then as Gaz let out a yell, he turned back and hurled himself at Finn who'd managed to get in a punch - he felt himself pulled backwards as Pikey held back him and Gaz from the brawl.

"I got it," Pikey said, before swinging back his fist and smacking it into Finn's jaw, leaving the boy to slump down, unconscious against the wall.

"Fuck!" exclaimed Khamil, looking at Pikey in alarm. Gaz too had a startled look on his face as Pikey shook his hand. 

"One punch wonder," he grinned. Khamil couldn't return the smile, leaning against the wall and holding his hands against his face, overwhelmed at the sudden events and how close he'd come to death. The others started talking as he took in deep breaths, before looking up to see Gaz's outstretched hand. He took it gratefully, hoisting himself up and then clapped his friend on the back, briefly resting his head on his shoulder in thanking. 

"You good?" Gaz checked, patting Khamil's shoulder back.

"Yeah, man. Fuck. Yeah"