Chapter 57
710 Words
57
Tyrone unlocked the main door to the block of flats and headed off down the road in the direction of the boxing club.
He was still nowhere near fully recovered, but he wasn’t the sort of guy who could go long without getting back to action. He figured a few light rounds with a punchbag couldn’t do him any harm. Anyway, he’d stop if the pain got too much.
He’d barely covered thirty yards when he remembered he’d forgotten his phone. Fishing into his pocket for his keys again, he turned and headed back, and saw Elijah — his sister’s boyfriend — letting himself in through the main door.
There was nothing strange in that itself — Elijah had a key of his own — but something didn’t feel right. Rather than call out, he waited for Elijah to enter the building, then jogged up the front steps, waited a few seconds and let himself in. Elijah, like Tyrone, always took the stairs, so Tyrone made sure to hang back a bit to ensure he wasn’t seen on the way up.
Once Elijah was out of view on their floor, Tyrone jogged up the last few stairs and rounded the corner, giving himself a full view of the front door to their flat. He’d expected to see Elijah letting himself in with his key, but what he saw was something completely different.
Elijah was crouched down on one knee, and appeared to be pushing something under the door to the flat.
‘What’s going on?’ Tyrone said, before immediately realising the implication.
Before he could stop himself, he’d launched himself at Elijah the moment he’d spun around and pinned him against the front door, his forearm pressed across Elijah’s throat.
‘It was you, wasn’t it? That message through the door. The texts. It was all you.’
Elijah made a gurgling noise that told Tyrone he was pressing too hard for him to be able to speak. Tyrone loosened his grip.
‘I dunno what you’re talking about, man. I just came back to get some stuff.’
‘Bullshit. I saw you just now, kneeling down.’
‘I dropped my key.’
‘What, so if I open that door right now there’s not gonna be another bit of paper with a threat on it? That what you’re saying? ‘Cos I just left this place not two minutes ago. You know I did, ‘cos you was watching me, weren’t you? You waited til I went out, then snuck up here. That’s how you got out so quick last time, too. You know the place as well as I do.’
Elijah said nothing in response, but Tyrone could see his suspicions were right.
‘Who told you? How’d you find out?’ Tyrone asked.
‘People talk, bruv. You know what it’s like around here.’
‘What, and you’ve got a problem with it? Yeah, I’m gay. So what? And you know what? I don’t give a s**t any more. I’m not going to spend my life pretending I’m something I’m not, just because of little d***s like you. So you don’t like living in the same flat as a gay guy? What, you think I’m going to just bend you over in the shower or something? Let me tell you something, bruv. You’re as likely to get hit on by a gay guy as you are a straight woman. And that ain’t gonna happen either, ‘cos you’re a wasteman. You ain’t done nothing for us. This is my flat, you get me? And you go and treat me like that? You make me sick. It weren’t even you who jumped me, was it?’
Elijah shook his head.
‘No. But you put them up to it. Couldn’t even do your own dirty work. You’re pathetic.’
Tyrone gave Elijah one last shove, then stepped back and wiped the spittle from his mouth with his sleeve.
‘So what now?’ Elijah said, after a few seconds. ‘I can try and find myself a new place. Might not take too long if the council can sort me out. I’d technically be homeless, so I should get priority.’
Tyrone let our a small laugh. ‘Don’t think you’re getting away that easy. There’s no way in hell I’m kicking you out. I’m not taking the easy road, bruv. You’re staying here. You’re going to live in the same flat as a gay guy and you’re going to put up with it. You’re going to bring my nephew up the way he deserves, the way my sister deserves. Whether you tell her what you are and what you’ve done, that’s up to you. That’s up to your conscience. If you’ve got one.’
Tyrone turned around and headed for the stairs. He was just about ready for that punchbag now.
- Writer
