Running A Job

I reached Intel's flat about thirty minutes before the time he asked. I waited around a bit, smoking a cigarette (I bought a pack of tailor-made smokes since I cleaned out the pouch of rolling tobacco I had that day), listening to the radio. I buzzed Intel's flat on the panel by the door. Intel picked up.

“That you Az?”

“Yeah it's me.” He buzzed me through, the lock on the door in front of me clicking open.

Intel was a shady little character. He got his name due to his network of contacts all around the borough, plus he was good at tracking. Word had it his father was ex-SAS, so it didn't surprise me that his senses were tuned so highly. He never said much when the group was together, speaking only when he needed to, normally about some trouble that's gone down.

I reached the door to his flat, three floors up the block. He had left it open, something he rarely does. Must be busy, I thought to myself when I crossed the threshold.

“Intel?” I called out.

“In the living room, Az.” Came his reply. I found him hunched over the coffee table, tapping at his laptop. “You're early, mate.”

“I know, I always am.”

“True that.”

“So, what's your problem?”

He turns around in his seat. “Earlier today, I got a call from a friend of mine in Ruislip, he has been saying that he's got a load of gear to shift, and that he needs help from us.”

“What sort of gear?”

“Hardware, mainly tools, and few bags of grade on top.”

“If that's all, then why call us?”

“Because it's hot.” Here we go, I thought. We get to play mule to some fucker who's done a raid out there, and somehow slipped up.

“Is this a favour, or a job?”

“A job, of course. He wants us to meet up with him at Hare's Field, you know the park opposite the pub?”

“Yeah I know the place.”

“Good, go grab a few blades from the kitchen, just in case something goes wrong.” I went into the kitchen, picking up the big ones out of the pot. “Oh, and grab a beer for me please, you can have one too.” I pulled two beers from the fridge, cracking them open with the bottle opener on my key chain. I head back into the living room, and set the blades down on the table. I passed Intel his beer and took a seat next to him.

We waited for a good couple of hours, not really saying a lot. I was texting K, swapping steamy messages about what we want to do to each other when we would be alone next. Intel was still on his laptop, feverishly tapping away at the keyboard. He was working on some Word document, I didn't know what it was about. I checked the time on the clock. It was 10:30pm, well into the evening.

“When is this guy going to ring?” I asked Intel.

“He said that he will ring when he gets there, he didn't say anything about what time though.”

“Oh, OK then.” I was getting bored, plus the texts from Lady K were giving me the horn. Five minutes later, the call came through. Intel spoke on the phone for a few minutes, then clicked out.

“It's time mate.” He said to me. We headed out to the car, an old 205. Intel had the engine tweaked to give it an extra push. We made our way to Hare's Field in relatively light traffic, so progress was quick. We got to the park where we arranged to meet. Intel called him on the phone. After a quick conversation, he hung up.

“Come, let's move.” Intel said. We got out of the car, and walked into the field. Something didn't feel right, I thought, yet as with all things like this, I'm always a bit paranoid. We found the guy on the far side of the field, near a clump of bushes.

“Charlie, how are ya?” Intel said to the guy.

“I'm alright, just need top get this gear moved. Who's this guy?”

“The name's Azrael mate.” I replied.

“Uh-huh, OK.”

“Where's the gear Charlie?” Intel popped in.

“In the bag, Intel.” Charlie chucks the bag to Intel, who goes through it. He frowns slightly, pulling out a hammer from the backpack.

“Mate, this hammer's stained. You didn't tell me that it was used.” Intel said.

“I didn't think I needed to, I just thought you wanted to know what was in it, not if it was used.” Charlie responded.

“Well, it's gonna cost you extra Charlie, otherwise I ain't doing it.”

“What the fuck do you mean by that?”

“£100 extra, or the deal is off.”

“Fuck off! I ain't doing that! That would mean £500 I would have to pay!”

“Take it or leave it mate, or we walk.”

“Oh, fine then.” He pulls a wad of cash from his pocket, counting out the notes. He offers it to Intel, who refuses.

“Give it to Az, he's holding it.” I take the cash, and stash it in an inside pocket.

“Sweet, now we are off mate, watch yourself Charlie.” Intel said.

“Alright then, see you about mate. Safe Azrael.”

“Safe mate.” I replied.

We broke off in different directions, Charlie heading towards the bus stop, us towards the car. Even though the deal was done, I still felt uneasy about my surroundings, and I was right. A brick flew into Intel's face, knocking him out. I look round, and I see three guys running up. I pull out the blades I was carrying, shouting at Intel to get up. He wasn't responding.

“Ah fuck it!” I shouted. “Come on you cunts!” The first one reached me, a screwdriver in his right hand. I dodged his swing, slashing at his leg. I missed, so I turned around and stabbed his stomach. The guy fell, a yelp of pain escaping his lips. The others reached me at the same time, one had a brick, the other a thin pole. I blocked the brick, pain searing up my arm. The thwack of the pole stung my back. I kicked out, connecting with the pole-wielder's shin. I head butted the other guy with the brick, and swung at his neck. I connected this time, and blood seeped from the gash. He stumbled back, desperately trying to hold the wound. I turned around to face my other opponent, who had grabbed the screwdriver from his fallen comrade. He threw the pole at me, missing me by an inch, and charged at me. I dodged him, and plunged the blade into his back. I felt the blade, which was a chef's knife, hit bone. He fell, screaming in pain.

I picked up Intel, who was still unconscious, and dragged him to the car. I threw him in the passenger seat, pulling his keys from his jacket. I jumped into the driver's seat, starting up the engine. I pulled away from the park, and drove down towards the estate. I got out my phone, pulling up Jimmy's number. It rang, then he picked up.

“Hey, Az, what's up?”

“Jim, shit's kicked off mate, Intel is in a bad way, I'm heading to yours now.”

“Kicked off? What the fuck has been going on?”

“Intel arranged a job, and asked me to come along with him. The deal went fine, but we got jumped on the way back to the car. He got a brick to the face, and I got hit a few times.”

“What about the guys that jumped you?”

“I dealt with them, what else could I do?”

“Ah shit. Alright, get to mine, I'll call K to get her arse over here.”

“OK, I'll see you in a bit.”

The drive over took around ten, maybe fifteen minutes, reaching Jimmy's around the same time as Lady K did. Intel was still under, blood dripping from his nose, which looked shattered. K helped me get him inside. Jimmy opened his door, letting us through. He took the car keys from me, so he could get the car in the drive. I laid Intel over the dining table, K started working on his face. His nose was broken, so K set it straight. That woke Intel up.

“AHH! What the fuck was...how the fuck...what happened Az?”

“We got jumped Intel. You took a brick to the face. I dealt with the guys that attacked us.”

“You see Charlie anywhere?”

“No, last I saw him, he was heading to a bus stop.”

“OK. Ah fuck it woman! Watch your hands!”

“Sorry Intel,” K said. “Let me patch this up, and you should be good.”

“OK, thanks.”

“Don't mention it.”

I headed into the living room, and sat with Jimmy. He started questioning me about what the deal was. I explained the deal, showing him the cash I was given by Charlie.

“Damn, £500?! just for the gear?”

“Yeah, and it's disposal, by the sounds of it.”

“Sounds about right, I'm surprised Intel took you out with that one, he normally has Tame or Shade with him on those jobs.”

“Guess it was my lucky day then mate.” Jimmy laughed at that.

“Come Az, let's get you a beer.”

We went into the kitchen, the sounds of K working on Intel's nose being heard clearly. Damn, I never heard so many sexist things being said in a space of ten minutes. K stayed silent, trying her hardest to fix that nose. Jimmy grabbed two beers from the fridge, throwing me one. I took it, opened it, and drank deeply. I needed it, the adrenaline in my body was giving me the shakes. I went over to the toilet to have a look at my back. Angry red marks covered the middle of it. I had to swear, I felt the pain from the wounds for the first time since the attack. Gonna have to get K to look at that, I thought to myself.

“You OK in there, Az?” I heard Jimmy call out to me.

“Yeah I'm fine,” I replied. I noticed that Intel's shouting had stopped. “Everything OK in there?”

“Yeah, he's patched up now, need anything looked at?” Lady K said.

“Erm...nah, I'm alright.”

I headed back out to the kitchen, the other three already there. Intel held out his bottle. “Thank you, mate, I'm glad I called you now.”

I clinked my bottle with his. “It's alright Intel, shit happens.”

“Sweet, do you have the cash?” Intel gingerly touches his nose.

“Yeah,” I said, chucking the wad of notes on the table. “So now what?”

“Well, Intel will do his usual dumping run later on, but for now, who fancies a curry?” Jimmy said. Trust him to come up with that. That night ended quietly, mainly conversation on the night's events being the main theme. Later, we found out who jumped us in the field that night. Some minor crew that, apparently, attacks anyone they don't recognise. Usual younger attitude to people. This little incident, though, did shed some light on the state of play at home. Rumour was that several of the younger elements of the area were going far beyond what the likes of us would do normally. Attacks on the elderly and random house raids were becoming commonplace. That piece of information alone worried me. Those in my generation did a lot to get things into some natural order, now 'Renegades', as Tame affectionately called them, were abusing that. Still, at least there were distractions to it, like my relationship to K, for instance. Things got intense between quite quickly, so it isn't hard imagine what happened between us. Nearly a month passes almost without incident, with the exception of Arch and Kane getting arrested while out on the tiles one night. Apparently, Kane started arguing with some random bloke over a drink, and Arch jumped in, then they started fighting. Cue the police. They got slapped on the wrists for it and moved on. A month on, and things took a turn for the worse.