The Cunning (18+)

26

"Jase!" A familiar voice called to Jase as he left the shop after his gym session later that week. He turned to spot Reece crossing the road, closing the distance between them. "Did you speak to McKinney the other day?"

Jase narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he asked, only half interested.

It hadn't long stopped raining and Reece's hair was stuck flat to his skull. "You heard what he's been saying?"

"I can't say I care much," Jase replied. Reece carried on, either not noticing or completely dismissing his lack of enthusiasm.

"He told my boys you walked away from him, scared like." Jase couldn't help but smile. "None of them believed him," Reece said, quick to put him and his friends in the clear, "I figured to give you a heads up. He keeps telling people you're going soft," Reece shook his head, "Charlie's the one that started that. Little twat's been running his mouth off."

No one important paid much mind to Charlie; he was always exaggerating things, and as for Mitch, he could say what he wanted. It was only a problem if people believed him. Jase took this as a 'no' to the proposition he had offered Mitch on Ramon's behalf.

"Charlie's just shifting the attention from the fact he got his nose broken by a girl. As for McKinney, I'm not exactly worried about him. Let people talk. It's cheap," he said.

Reece grinned like the teacher's pet getting a gold star. "True. I'll let you know if I hear he's planning anything."

Reece was only telling him because he preferred being on the winning side. He was a clout chaser but he had fingers in every pie, so his information was often factual, even if it was uninteresting. Tossing the bag on the passenger seat in his car, Jase was already forming a plan to put McKinney in his place. Either a grave or, at the very least, out of work.

Adam, Sam, Benny, Tommy, and two others were waiting in the living room when Jase got back to the house. He'd sent out a text to round them up.

"What's this about then?" Adam asked, his eyes fixated on the television screen, his thumbs flicking the Xbox controller.

"McKinney's saying we backed off. Reece said he's been talking shit," Jase replied from the kitchen, putting the shopping bag on the side before joining them. "I'm taking it as him rejecting Ramon's offer."

"What do you want to do about it?" Sam questioned. Adam paused the game. Jase smiled.

*

By the early hours of the following morning, they were watching strips of red and orange lick at the night sky from the top level of a multi-storey carpark. The Leather Boot was engulfed in flames.

"Alright, come on," Jase said, turning and walking across the carpark to his Mercedes. The others followed suit. The pub paid Mitch to keep trouble out, in return, they let Mitch store his drugs there. It said a lot about the size of the footprint he had if someone vandalised it. Burning it down was a far more prominent sign of disrespect than a pathetic flick of ash and spreading rumours.

You were with Ramon, or you got taken out. London wasn't big enough for both of them.

*

The lamp was on in the bedroom when Jase returned. Madison stirred as he climbed into bed.

"You smell like a bonfire," she mumbled. He didn't respond immediately, staring ahead and taking a long drag on a cigarette. Now, they waited for McKinney's response. He would either retaliate or crumble. Jase hoped it was the latter. Between walking the wire with Madison and trying to keep Adam in check, he didn't need the headache. He wouldn't drag the drama out longer than necessary.

Madison closed her eyes again. Jase wasn't sure whether she had returned to sleep or not, but he spoke anyway. The adrenalin in his system promised hours before he would be able to sleep and he needed something to do.

"We burned down a pub," he said. When he didn't elaborate, Madison pulled the sheets down from her face.

"You're serious?" she questioned, tilting her head like she was waiting for the punchline.

Jase glanced down at her. "Why would I lie?"

Madison stared at him for a second, searching his face. He wasn't sure what reaction he was looking for, or if he was looking for one at all. He'd never really said the things they did out loud.

"Were there people in the building?" she asked. She seemed nervous.

"I don't know," he said.

"There could have been kids in there, Jase. The landlord could have had a family upstairs." He didn't so much as flinch at the thought. Jase knew there was no one in the building. He just wanted to see how she would react.

He let Madison squirm a little longer until her eyes welled up, and he decided not to let her think he was a total monster. She wouldn't cooperate if she didn't think he had a slither of humanity to play on. He would stick to his initial plan of making her soften towards him. So far, it was working. All he really had to do was spend time with her and pay her a bit of attention every now and then, just like Sam did with Janine. He turned a blind eye to the fact that Sam's relationship with Janine was a little more complex than that.

Jase didn't get the same kicks Adam did from scaring the girls with a violent personality. Mostly, he found it boring and he didn't have anything to prove. But also, seeing Madison cry was uncomfortable.

"There was no one inside," he said, putting her mind at ease. She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Yes."

Madison hugged her knees to her chest and the tears stopped. He wondered whether he'd been too quick to reassure her.

"How do you know?" she asked. Jase poked his tongue in his cheek, contemplating just how much he was willing to comfort her. She didn't trust him, and to an extent, he needed her to.

"Sam went inside, it was empty." Madison bobbed her head.

"Promise?" The vulnerability in her question caught him off guard. His stomach knotted, a small crease settled between his brows. Guilt wasn't a feeling he was very familiar with but he was sure that was what he experienced when he saw Madison cry. Besides, it had been such a long time since he had been upset about something, how did he know what the appropriate amount of crying was?

"Promise," he replied sincerely. "I've done some fucked up shit in my time, but I'm above killing kids." His voice was softer now, almost gentle.

Madison looked at the door. "Can I go splash my face?" she asked.

"It's unlocked." She crawled off the bed, drowning in his hoodie, the sleeves flopping over her hands. He didn't particularly like how seeing her cry had made him feel. Stubbing the cigarette out, he pulled the duvet up to his chest, switching the lamp off. It didn't take long for Madison to fall asleep when she came back. Jase sat up until the sky lightened, trying to wrap his head around how he felt when Madison cried and what he was going to do about it.