You Don't Know Me

I throw their coats at the girls as they head to the back room and then remember something and run after Ki to hand her the Baikal. It’s not as pretty as the Browning but I know mine works. ‘If he even moves,’ I say. Then I run back to help Curt who though he has his whole weight against the table is now straining against heavy kicks to the door. I know we ain’t going to be able to hold it for long. I ain’t even that sure the door ain’t going to split.

I need to think but it’s getting slow again in my head. More jam jamming up the parts. All I can think is that the door ain’t going to hold for much longer now anyway. I know Ki is watching Jamil but I have no idea what Bless is doing. When I caught a glimpse of her face earlier I swear she was looking at me like this might be the last time she ever sees me. The door bounces again and I know we have to do something quick.

‘On three, pull the table away. They’ll come tumbling in. You put your hands up high and surrender. I’ll get behind the door. They won’t be expecting me. I’ll take their legs out,’ I say whispering, showing him the Browning.

Curt nods. He stands and yanks the table back. As they come crashing in, he flings his arms in the air. The two men come tumbling in, tripping over themselves as they do. Their faces are like the perfect picture of surprise as they fall to the floor on top of each other. I am behind the door and they see only Curt with his hands up. Their faces change as they jump to their feet. Binks is holding some fat weapon and has it pointed straight at Curt. The image of it for a second seems almost funny. This skinny guy holding a gun that big makes him look like a cartoon. He’s all edgy and has a look like a person who’s had too many drugs.

‘JC!’ he shouts out, keeping his eyes on Curt but spinning his head round the room frantically.

I aim my gun. They are both moving around the room looking for their boy, making it hard to keep them at the other end of my barrel. Shilo is the easier target. He’s big. Bigger than Curt even and he moves slow like an elephant. He lumbers over to Curt, probably planning what to do to him. It’s going to be seconds, if that, before they see me. Or worse, seconds before they are in the back room where the girls are. Just the thought of them now makes me desperate to go to them. I can’t see them and that’s making me even more nervous.

Binks then comes in my eye-line but he doesn’t see me. I line him up but each time I get ready to fire he moves again. He’s twitchy but all I need is one second of still. I get it when he turns suddenly and sees me. He raises his arm with the huge gun and points it at me. I don’t want to kill him. I just need to stop the guy. I look at his legs and in that split second I pull the trigger. I pull it once but three rounds go off. Bang bang bang. One catches him in the leg and he drops and hits the deck.

Shilo, who by now is nearly at the door to the back room, looks round stunned. Then in half a second, Curt’s huge right hand comes hammering down on top of Shilo’s head like he is dunking a basketball and he goes down hard. It’s like seeing the Hulk knocking out the Hulk’s brother.

Binks’ gun has gone skidding across the floor like a delayed reaction. I run over to it and pick it up. It’s heavy like a hammer. I walk over to Binks who is clutching his leg. There is blood spurting out of it and his screams are filling the air. I have to shut him up or who knows what is going to walk through that door next.

I pistol-whip him across the head and I’m expecting him to go out cold but instead he starts screaming louder and suddenly he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. They go up to his head from the pain of the whack and then the blood from the leg comes squirting out again in jets and they come back down again to stop the blood. I hit him again. Harder. This time though he goes proper out.

Curt starts calling out for tape and I run to the kitchen to get the parcel tape we been using to tape up the windows. Curt starts winding it round Shilo’s arms and legs and then he starts on his face. At first I think he’s taping up just his mouth but then I see that he’s taping up his eyes too. He throws over the tape to me and I start by taping up the bleeding leg. I ain’t trying to save him. I just don’t want blood everywhere. Then I copy Curt and tie up the legs the arms and then the face. It’s not till I have finished off the last of the tape that I suddenly remember the girls. Curt starts walking towards the room as if he has read my mind but then just before he opens the door there is the sound of a gunshot.

I get up and start running to the back room. I can hear Ki screaming. I get there just as Curt has walked into the room. That’s when we see it. Ki is holding the hot Baikal and Jamil is on the floor. Dead.

Long adjournment: 16:45

IN THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT  T2017229