Feral!

Chapter 4

4

Anthony “Tony” Platt found the tiniest of spaces up the road from his house on the other side of the street, in front of one of his neighbours' houses. The old couple living there didn't own a car and he was on friendly terms with them, often stopping to have a chat to them about their garden or whatever they felt like talking about. Looking out of the rear window, he saw his new neighbour speaking to his mum and dad. "Great!"

All he had to do was navigate his way into the space, which he did after five manoeuvres. On the passenger seat next to him, he picked up his Big Mac, fries, and strawberry milkshake.

Now cold, he munched on his favourite burger, ate a few fries, and drank some shake while watching his parents and sister talk to the neighbours in his rear-view mirror. "How big is he?" The dad was massive, easily six-two, stacked. It was embarrassing. His old man was tiny by comparison.

Grumpy from having been up since five in the morning, Tony saw his mum waving him over. He groaned, scrunched up the paper McDonald’s bag, and threw it in the back of his car with the rest of the rubbish. One day, he might get around to cleaning it. The bag would stay with the wrappers and plastic bottles until that day came.

Tony had moved to Portsmouth with his family at probably the worst time—the end of his GCSEs. He was sixteen, had his friends and life all sorted, and wham, his parents hit him with it: we're moving to Pompey. Of course, he was delighted to have his dad back after all these years, and his old man couldn't get a job in Sheffield. Tony had bitten his tongue and gone along with it, for the good of his family.

He took his exams in a new school, where he knew zero people. For those couple of months, he laid low, didn't interact with anyone in class, as if he were a ghost. No one bothered him, so he sat the examinations and looked around at local colleges, where he could take a PT course.

In the end, after much deliberation, Tony settled on Portsmouth College, where he took an NVQ level 3 in Personal Training. In August of that year, he received his mediocre GCSE results, which gave him enough points to accept the offer.

Taking his studies seriously, he knuckled under, and two years later, graduated with an NVQ and a rich social life with all the friends he’d made at the college. And the girls he slept with—gorgeous each one. He'd had an amazing time.

Now out of full-time education, Tony had to focus on his next goal: starting his own personal training business, which was tough in an area like Portsmouth and Southsea.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he grumbled, pulling the door handle and heaving himself up and out of his knackered red Ford Fiesta, which was the best he could afford. At least it ran, even if it did feel like it wanted to fall apart. But she had a few miles left in her yet.

"Tony, come and meet our new neighbours!" his mum yelled from across the street.

With a half-smile, Tony locked his car door, held the keys in his hand, and walked slowly to his driveway, going around the removals van. His dad turned to him as he approached.

"Here he is, my boy. Come and say hello to Callum and Sarah Bowman," his old man said, holding his arm out. "He's trying to get his personal training business off the ground, aren't you, mate? It's tricky, though, what with how many trainers there are registered locally. If my boy has anything, though, it’s perseverance."

Tony smiled politely at his dad's introduction. "Hi! Pleased to meet you." He held his hand out for Callum to shake. His tiny appendage was engulfed by his neighbour's slab of meat.

"Strong handshake you've got," Tony said, rubbing his aching hand.

"How are you enjoying Tesco Express?" Callum smirked.

Tony wondered at the odd question. "It's a job. It pays the bills."

His attention turned to a lad his age appearing from the open doorway. Robert Bowman! When his dad had introduced Callum and Sarah, he hadn't given the surname a moment's notice. Why would he? But now, seeing Robert f*****g Bowman standing next to his dad, Tony's spirits dropped.

"Hey, T-Bag, I didn't know you lived here," Rob said, a grin stretched across his face. "Small world, huh! Just think, we're neighbours now."

Trying hard to hide his true feelings, Tony put on a fake smile. "Oh yeah, only been here five years, mate." He wanted to be anywhere but here, pretending to be polite. Internally, he was squirming, itching to run inside and close the front door.

Another lad ventured out to join them on the other side of his mum. Hannah, he noticed, had a strange smile on her face. He had never seen the young bloke before, but could tell he was Rob's younger brother. If his little sister fancied Rob's brother, she could forget about it; he wasn't about to let her get involved with the scummiest family in Hampshire. He would talk to her, make her understand.

"How's Darren doing these days?" Rob asked, taunting him.

"He's good, thanks," was his reply. His parents knew Darren, but what they didn't know was that Robert Bowman and his mates had put Darren in the hospital for three weeks. They had beaten him to within an inch of his life in front of Tony and two of his friends on Southsea Common. Rob hadn’t stopped kicking him until a mate of his literally pulled him off.

"Still got the limp?" Rob grinned.

"Still has the pins in his legs, yeah." He wanted to swing at his new neighbour.

Not helping Darren was his biggest regret in life so far. He couldn't have, though; there were eight in Rob’s group, and only three in his to fight them off. The eight were all violent, d**g-dealing scumbags. They all carried knives.

"That's enough, Rob, go on inside," Callum said.

Tony couldn't get over how well-spoken Rob's dad was, considering what a thug his son turned into. He guessed Rob's dad was putting on the airs and graces for his public image; he could imagine the man-mountain being hard as nails indoors. Poor bastards, he thought, as the rest of the siblings ventured outside. Even the young daughter.

He'd heard about Katie Bowman. She was prettier than he imagined her to be, with dark hair and pleasant features. Her eyes were cold, though. Although he found her attractive to look at, Tony knew how much trouble she would be. According to rumour, the first guy she’d gone out with had ended up in hospital via the boots of her brothers.

Callum turned his attention to his dad. "Tell me, Nige, what do you do for work?"

"Me? I'm a Civil Enforcement Officer with a private company," his dad replied, making his job sound far better than it was.

Tony remained tight-lipped. He didn't want Callum to know what his dad did for a living. It was embarrassing, especially given the amount of a***e his old man received.

"And that's a posh way of saying what? A traffic warden?"

"He's a parking warden, yeah," Tony confirmed.

"Parking warden, huh? You really are trying to big it up." Callum's expression changed from smug to almost disgusted. "You wouldn't ticket me, would you, Nige? Not your neighbour, surely?"

Tony sensed the tension, the Bowman boys about to stick it to his dad. He could imagine them being a handful, especially all four male Bowmans. "’Course he wouldn't, Callum. Would you, dad? He's not a total jobsworth."

"Jobsworth? I like that." Callum's disgusted face returned to smug. "Here's hoping I never run into you while you're on the job, eh? But I suppose someone's got to do it."

His dad stared at Callum. "I'm not ashamed. It pays my wages. Plus, I get to ticket silly t***s who park on bus stops or on double yellows on the corner of a road. Without us wardens, the streets would be chaos. That being said, I wouldn't want to give you a fine, but I would if you parked like a twat."

When Callum's expression changed to one of annoyance, Tony's mum made their excuses to go back inside. His mum said goodbye to Sarah while his sister turned and walked inside without saying a word, although Tony did notice her look back at the younger Bowman brother before she disappeared. He would scare her off him.

"See you around T-Bag!" Rob shouted out to him from the window on the first floor. "I'm looking forward to us being neighbours." He laughed hard.

Closing the front door behind him, Tony leaned against it, relieved. Where had this nightmare come from? Yesterday, his life had been a breeze. Now he had a psycho living next door who'd just threatened him.