In the Absence of a Good Life

(5) If You Think A Penny's Pretty...

The Partner in Crime (A.K.A The Best Friend - Terrance) :

I woke up when I heard the front door slam. I heard a muffled voice echo through the walls of my room.

As silently as I could (which is not that quiet considering my anything-but-ninja-light figure that closely resembles that of a silver-back gorilla) I stood up from my bed and grabbed the baseball bat I kept by the wardrobe for 'comfort'.

I tiptoed to the door before gently pushing down on the handle. I knew that if I opened it, I would be able to see straight down the stairs to the front door. Taking a deep breath, I barged through the door and flew down the steps.

Wielding my baseball bat in my hand, I flung it in a wide arc before it landed beautifully on the unwelcomed visitor.

It knocked him straight to the floor.

Using my speed (which is remarkably fast given that I'm a man of the size I am), I leapt over the man to land straddling him.

I dropped my bat in the process and raised my right fist to bring it down into a deadly punch. With my left hand, I held onto his collar.

I landed one hit.

Then the lights flickered on.

Surprised and dazzled by the sudden change of dark to light, I hesitated.

"Terr! What the fuck are doing!?"

...

"Jimmy! Stay back, I got this bastard!

I felt a tugging weight on my arm and knew instantly that Jimmy had jumped onto it in an attempt to pull me off.

I remained exactly where I was (there were up-sides to being built similarly to a large truck).

"Terrance, stop!"

"Jibby? Wab's ooin oon?"

I heard the man on the floor speaking. He was struggling to get the words out through the bleeding from his broken nose.

"Oh, hey Gus," Jimmy spoke to the man over my shoulder, "Terrance, seriously, get up!"

....a little while later....

The three men sat around the table in the kitchen.

One of them had an icepack held onto his face while his head rested on the table itself.

Another sat eating a bag of tortilla crisps, laughing silently at the man with the icepack.

The third man stared with disbelief and confusion.

"So...you're...you two...are cousins?" Terrance asked.

"Yeppers." Jimmy replied through the food stuffed into his mouth.

"And...wait...why's he here again?"

A large wad of money was placed onto the table. There must have been atleast 10 grand there.

Terrance's hand slid towards the pile, though it was stopped in its tracks by the flicking of the wrist of Jimmy's cousin, Gus.

Both hands quickly withdrew, each of the owners afraid of falling victim to the first blow of another battle.

"It's a loan...for Jimmy..." Gus said, with extra emphasis added onto the 'for Jimmy'. "Look cuz', you got yerself in some sticky situation, right? I don't wanna know, man, not why I'm here. You wanted help? Well, this is help..." The man finished by pointing to the pile of money in the centre of the table.

Jimmy eyed it up greedily, the tortilla crisps were now the last thing on his mind. Everyone knew straight where the money was going to go but no one had the guts to say it.

"Look, I gotta go, if ya don't want it, give it to charity or some shit like that, I don't know how you kids get yer kicks now-a-days, frankly, I don't give a crap. But if anyone comes a-knockin', ya didn't get that from me. Alright?"

"Wait a second!" Terrance stood up as Gus made to leave.

"Make it quick, I gotta dash."

"We can't take dirty money, this is my flat and that's where I draw the line, you take it back, take away the temptation. You get what I'm saying?" Terrance made reference to Jimmy's 'problems'.

"Wait! We can't?" Terrance turned to see Jimmy looking as if he was a small boy who's balloon had just been popped. He was holding the money and was obviously slightly offended by the idea that he couldn't keep it. His crisps lay on the floor, now completely forgotten about.

Terrance ignored him.

"Like I said, I don't care wotcha do with it, just keep it schtum. Kapeesh? Hey! And no hard feelings bout the nose, never liked the shape anyway."

Before Terrance could protest, Gus had left the building.

"What the fuck did'ya go and say that for?! I told you not to bring your work home with you!"

"Whether you like it or not Jimmy, I am a law-abiding citizen. I will not let temptation take me away from the path of good! My life is my work and my work is my life! You know what I want to do in the future, shit like this could ruin that permanently!"

"Yeah, but when you said you wanted to set up a security company, I didn't think you'd go all 'goody-two-shoes' on me, did I?!" Jimmy shouted. "Man, you're supposed to be my best mate! Mates stick by eachother, through thick and thin!"

Silence fell over the two as Terrance contemplated what had been said.

"Jimmy...if you use that money to make this worse that it already is...if my house gets torn to shreds because of something you've done...."

"It won't, trust me." Jimmy interrupted and stared innocently and honestly into his friend's eyes.

"..."

"Please Terr..."

"Fine! But if you..."

"I won't..."

"Right...then if that's all over, I'm going back to bed. Put the money in the biscuit tin...if it's gone when I wake up in the morning, I know who to blame." Terrance gave a warning glare to his friend, before walking sluggishly to his room to sleep.

..................................................

Hey :D

It's ifindedcake here...again...

So I hope you enjoyed reading the preview of this story.

I would love to know what you think. Feedback is always welcome.

Please let me know if this is worth continuing!!

Currently, I've got a very busy year coming up, what with GCSE's and work experience... D:

So I do apologise (if you want me to continue the story) if my updates are a little slow.

I will try my hardest to keep them coming to you...

Until then...we'll see...

Bye for now :D