Skins: Endgame

Chapter 12

To anybody else passing by, seeing two guys you don't know having coffee would have meant nothing. If you were Sid Jenkins, Michelle Richardson or Effy Stonem on the other hand, then the sight of Josh Stock and Tony Stonem acting civil, let alone sharing coffee, would have been unbelievable.

It was like a dirty secret, the past dealings that Tony and Josh shared. Very few people knew about how it properly went down: even Tony and Effy's parents didn't know the full story as both siblings told an abbreviated version of it. That was how most people heard about it, but even then, "most" still didn't equate to a lot of people. Only Tony's ex girlfriend and ex best friend, Michelle and Sid, got the full Story, as did Effy.

It was tragic, remembered Josh as Tony talked to him. Michelle had just broken up with Tony at the time and met Josh as she went to confront his sister Abigail. Things looked well between them and they started a relationship. Josh felt really good about Michelle. She came across as trustworthy: she herself confessed that she found she could have an equal conversation with Josh, a luxury she never shared with Tony. Due to this, he felt comfortable to mention to her that a lot of his family have mental health issues. It got sick after that. Somehow, Tony was able to find out about his issues. He took advantage of the situation and being desperate, he was willing to go very far to get Michelle back. Tony tricked Abigail into posing naked for photos, before stealing Josh's phone with the help of a friend, and proceeded to upload the pictures onto the stolen phone, before sending them to everybody Josh knew, including Michelle, which lead to her dumping Josh. But Josh was no fool.

Michelle told him all about Tony and what he was like. He didn't have to put two and two together to figure out that Tony, somehow, was responsible. It all made sense: the consequence of those pictures getting sent out was Michelle dumping him. Nobody else but Tony, who no doubt wanted her back, would have any motivation to do that.

Josh thought long and hard the night he broke up with Michelle on how to handle Tony. He had no real proof it was him, but he knew it was. So going to the police was out of the equation. In any case, the whole situation started to make him angry. He didn't like being angry: his mother gave him medication to keep his cool, but no drug could hold back his anger. He knew what he had to do. It was time to fight a fire with a flaming inferno. Knowing how close Tony was to his sister, he invited her to a party with him and some of his friends. They drugged her up until she lost consciousness. Tony showed up shortly after. Josh decided to go all out and get extreme: he tried to force Tony to have sex with his unconscious sister. After making Tony beg- no, begging was too kind- after making him plead for mercy, Josh allowed him to walk away with Effy, declaring that "here endeth the lesson."

That was the end of it. Or at least, so he thought. Now he found himself face to face with him once again. Tony had literally went to the care home Josh worked at a few days ago. It may have been because Josh was so stunned to see him again. It may be because of how charming Tony was. It may have been because of how smoothly he made his request. Josh didn't know, but the next morning, even as Emily and Mandy were still asleep in their bed, he found himself having a coffee with him in a cafe.

Tony spoke to him like an old friend. This set Josh on edge, but he was curious enough to give him some of his time. Tony spoke for a solid ten minutes, during which Josh found himself intrigued, surprised, alarmed and longing.

" - So it will be tomorrow. Short notice, very short notice, I am fully aware, but tomorrow will be the best time to pull it off. In any case, I won't be able to do this any other time: I'll be back in Cardiff in the not too distant future and I need to spend time with my family using the other free time I have."

He leaned forward before continuing, "But, I find myself indebted to you. Without you, I wouldn't be the man I am today. I'd have probably ended up seriously hurting someone actually... But, this is my opportunity to thank you."

Josh breathed inwards before replying. He had a lot to say, but he wasn't going to just walk away. He had his reasons, even if Tony's idea was extreme.

"Tony... You claim you've changed, but you want to rob a pub? Are you for real?"

"It's me giving back to you, in repayment for setting me straight back in the day," replied Tony. "Of course, it's also my way of saying sorry."

"Burying the hatchet then?" Asked Josh. "That's what you want?"

"Yeah why not?" Replied Tony. "Anyway I mean look I'm also making money on this so it's beneficial to me. We've both got lots to gain."

This was the one thing that snared Josh. He had money problems, big money problems. A few weeks ago, he ended up buying drugs from a drug dealer. It was for a massive party he planned on attending and he and a bunch of acquaintances combined their cash to pay the guy, an idea which was Josh's. One thousand and five hundred in all, three hundred of which was Josh's. A lot of money which eventually went to waste: the drug dealer, who was called Madison Twatter, ended up getting arrested and charged for possession and distribution.

With no drugs, Josh ended up in debt, considering the idea was his. It wouldn't have been an issue, except for two things: he only worked part time at present and his mum's birthday was next week. Even if the birthday was a few months down the line, he would have struggled to buy her a decent present with part-time cash. That was before factoring the debt into it, which alone was a real problem for him. His friends were more lenient about timing, but the acquaintances with them were nasty pieces of work who were very impatient. Josh needed the money and fast.

An opportunity like this however gave him the means to fix things. Even if he had issues with Tony in the past, he was desperate enough to let the past lay to rest and solve all his problems in one day.

"What about CCTV?" Asked Josh.

"It's a run-down looking place, despite the fact they do reasonable business," replied Tony. "It used to have working cameras, but I heard through the grapevine that they don't work anymore."

"Why me?" Asked Josh. "You surely know plenty of people who could help you do this?"

"Lack of suspicion, replied Tony, "It goes without saying that we haven't exactly been best friends in the past. Who is seriously going to try and connect us to a robbery? The prospect of us both doing that together is an unthinkable one. Kind of genius, don't you think? Covers our tracks very effectively."

Josh had one more question. The important one.

"What if it's busy, Tony?" Witnesses and all that..."

"Don't worry," reassured Tony, "during this part of the week, this place is as dead as can be around the evening. They only have one member of staff which works there at that time alone because of how lacking in business it is. We can hang around for a short time until its empty if we need too. I've thought this all out."

"Yeah," replied Josh, "you've got this planned pretty well." Tony had covered all the bases, at least as far as Josh was concerned.

"Okay", declared Josh, "I'm in."

Tony looked happy.

"That's grand Josh," he said before shaking Josh's hand, "We don't have to be the best of mates, but if we can bury our differences and work together, it'd be foolish not to."

It had worked, thought Tony. He had Josh by the balls now. Things couldn't have played out more perfectly.