Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:26:36 EST
From: Djedoric58@aol.com
Subject: THE BULL SINGER CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE BULL SINGER
by DJ
CHAPTER ELEVEN

At first I thought he was kidding, then I saw him close his eyes, and tears
trickled down his cheeks. Shocked, I turned to Benjamin and his solemn nod
was confirmation enough. I staggered to the chair Elias had offered me
earlier and collapsed into it as I remembered my aunts mentioning Dad being
involved with a woman when he was first married. Could this be what they
were talking about? No wonder they didn't like Angela. My sister? But that
made Joey my-. "Oh, May God!" I clapped my hands to my face. Joey was my
nephew, and I'd been..." I couldn't breathe. My throat constricted and I
saw slashes of colour across my eyes.

 Elias was speaking to me but all I heard were muffled sounds echoing in my
head. Someone gripped the back of my neck and forced my head between my
knees. That made me fight for breath and I started taking big gulps of
air. My head started to clear and I sat up, and found Benjamin leaving over
me. I stared intently at Elias, feeling the hurt in my heart turn to
anger. "You knew. You bloody knew and you never stopped us. What kind of
monster are you? And you, Benjamin, you knew too." I jumped to my feet and
got ready to hit him. "How can I tell Joey I can't be with him any more?
You knew it was wrong and you never did anything to stop us. You bastards!"
How I kept my hands to myself was a nothing short of a miracle.

Instead I hurried to the door and as I reached it, Benjamin said quietly,
"We're no more monsters or bastards than your father was, Mags. He brought
this on you, not us. He committed the initial crime."

"Yeah, whatever." I opened the door and stormed from the room, ready to do
battle with someone, anyone. I found my way to Joey's bedroom easily enough
and barged into the room, giving Sam a fright. He shot up from his chair,
intending to put the intruder to flight. When he recognized me, he prepared
to leave. "Don't go, Sam, I'm not staying. I've come to say goodbye to the
kid, that's all. How is he?"

"He's okay, just dozing. I'll be getting him up in a bit."

I hurried to the bed and sat down close to Joey, and shook him
gently. "Joey, I need you to wake up and listen to me."

"I don't think he's ready to-."

I waved Sam away.  "Joey?"

He roused and frowned, and then he rolled his head to look in my direction
and he blinked up at me. "Mags? OOHH! My head hurts."  I tried not to let
my shattered feelings show on my face but knew I had failed when he said,
"Mags, something's wrong, what is it?"

"Joey, I..." I had to look away. What a hell of a situation. "I have to go
away for a while."

Joey reared up off the pillow, wincing as his body reminded him painfully
of the fall. "Mags, tell me." He grabbed my head and forced it round,
making me look at his face. "I know something's wrong. I thought we trusted
each other, so tell me."

"Joey, I think it's best if we don't see each other for a while. Your
grandfather is going to see your mother and try to make her stop hurting
you. That means she may retaliate and make trouble for him. If she find's
out we've been here, she may guess what we've been up to and report me to
the police."

"But-."

"Joey, you're underage."

"Only for a couple of months."

"It doesn't matter, anything that happens before your sixteen birthday will
be classed as child abuse, and you could be taken away from me and put in
home; and I'd be carted off to jail. So, I'm going to Flixton for a while,
I have some work to do with the band any way. Now, as soon as you feel
better, I want you to go home and go to school as if nothing's ever
happened. I'll phone Donald Mitchell and tell him why you haven't been to
school. I know you only have three weeks left of this term but it's
important to go back and do some catching up; and get back to Aunt Millie's
group and practice for that show. I wouldn't want you to miss that."

Joey looked stricken. "What about Christmas, will you be home for then?"

"I don't know, Joey. The band is pretty busy around Christmas and New
Year."

Joey looked away with tears in his eyes. "You don't want me any more, is
that it?"

"No, it isn't that." How could I make him understand without betraying my
promise to Elias, and bringing the world down on my father? "Do you want me
to go to jail?" Joey shook his head.

He flung his arms round my neck and I hugged him tight. "When will I see
you again?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure. I'll get in touch as soon as it's safe." We kissed, long and
deep, and I almost folded there and then, throwing risk and danger to the
wind, but I had to think of Joey, and my dad.

 How I got out of that house without being reduced to a blubbering idiot I
don't know. I drove south, trying to make up my mind whether to go and see
Dad or go straight to Flixton. If I went to see Dad, what could I say to
him? "Dad, you've been a naughty boy and now you're saddled with a load of
trouble called Angela, and it's affecting my love life." Oh yes, that would
help a lot! He would go to Elias and rip into him for running his mouth
off, the result of which would be me having a visit from Charlie and his
boys for blabbing and, no doubt, a trip to hospital. Flixton won the toss.

I arrived at my house around seven thirty in the evening to find the place
in darkness. I parked the car in the back and unlocked the kitchen door,
and I went through the house looking for sign of life and found the place
empty. Where was everyone? Then I remembered. It was December the fourth
and I was supposed to have gone with the band to a gig in North
Wales. Damn! Feeling as low as I have ever been I went into the lounge and
flung myself onto one of the settees, oblivious to the chill without the
open fire being lit. Because of my own stupidity I had lost both my father
and my lover. I folded my arms on the settee arm, put my head down on my
arms and sobbed my heart out.

I don't remember falling sleep but I came awake with the jerk and felt a
hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head and saw Rob leaning over me. "Well,
now laddie, ye look as if the w'ld has hit ye on the back of ye
noggin. Care to tell Uncle Robbie?" I sat up and felt fresh tears
gathering. I tried to wipe them away so Rob wouldn't see, but he grabbed my
hands and peered at my face. "Och, now! What's all this, Mags? There's no
one here but me for the moment, so why don't I sit down beside you and you
can till me what's bothering you?" As soon as he sat down, he took me in
his arms and I sobbed on his shoulder. Ten minutes later, I had drained
myself of tears, and of words, and still he held me, rocking me gently as
he would an unhappy child. "Well now, that's a sad tale if ever I heard
one. And you say this Joey is the spitting image of Billy? Och, now, that's
a hard one to take in. So what are you going to do, laddie?"

"I don't know, Rob." I eased out of his embrace and fished for my
handkerchief to wipe my face. "I need to lay low for a bit while I think
things out. I'm really in the shit and no mistake. I've tried to help a kid
and I've made it worse for him. I should have stayed but I just ran. What
will he think of me, Rob? And I've left my dad to take the brunt of any
stick that bitch is likely to fire. And Lord knows what she'll do to
Joey. I think I should get back to them."

"Not till y've had some rest, laddie, and had a wee word wi' Trilby. He'll
know what's best for sure. Now, you get on upstairs. We hav'na been using
y'r room so it's as ye left it. When the boy's get back wi' the van I'll
bring you up a nice hot brew. They're stuck the other side of Altrincham
wi' a sick bus. As ye know, I'm nae use with mechanics so they sent me on
ahead to catch an important phone call. It's a guy who wants to talk to us
aboot a new recording contract and this is the only phone number he knows
to call. No one's called while y've been here, have they?" I shook my
head. "Well, now, off you go. Up to bed."

I wasn't in the mood to sleep, but if it got me away from Rob's fussing, I
would try. Maybe I was wrong to have come back here. I stripped off my
clothes and crawled into bed, the next thing I knew the place was in
darkness and my guts rumbled.

I checked the luminous hands on my watch. Twelve thirty two. Oh fish! I'd
slept for more than five and a half hours! I lay back down and closed my
eyes but I was kidding myself if I thought I would sleep with my stomach
thinking my throat was cut. I got up and searched for a bathrobe in the
bathroom cupboard, put it on and went downstairs. There was a light under
the lounge door. I opened it a crack fearing the whole band were in
there. The place was quiet and I saw no one. I opened the door and thinking
the room empty I went in. Trilby's head appeared over the top of the settee
facing the fire. He blinked sleepily at me. "Hi Mags. Feeling better now?"

I check the room but there was no one else here. "Yes, thanks. I'm going to
get something to eat, do you want anything?"

"I wouldn't mind a cup of tea," Trilby said as he got up from the
settee. "There are sandwiches all ready and waiting for you in the fridge."
He stretched and yawned. "Get the kettle on, I'll be there in a minute." He
headed for the door and disappeared into the downstairs loo.

As I walked into the kitchen, I tried to work out what I was going to say
to the wise old owl, but when he came into the kitchen he made it really
easy to talk. Sitting down at the table he scratched his greying head and
said, "Sounds like you've dug yourself a hole. Rob told us and we're here
to help if we can. The kettle's starting to boil."

I grabbed the teapot and threw a couple of teabags in it. When the water
came to the boil, I filled the pot halfway, knowing Trilby hated tea like
maiden's water. Setting it on the table I sat down across from Trilby. "I
just don't know what to do for the best. If I go to Dad, he'll have a
roaring match with Elias for shooting his mouth off."

"And the old man will not be pleased you told your dad, right? I can see
your dilemma. But which is the worst scenario? You having a visit from this
Charlie, during which we would make sure you were not alone, or this young
friend of yours thinking you've deserted him, and him going home to another
assault, and possibly your dad as well?"

"That's not the worst though. His mother will guess we're an item and bring
the Social Services down on my head."

"Oh." Trilby frowned. "Underage, is he? Rob didn't tell us. That does make
a difference. How old is he?"

"Sixteen in two months."

"What a shame." Trilby filled his mug and stirred sugar into it, thinking
quietly. "Is Elias hinting at a gang war of some kind?"

"With his daughter? Maybe." I took a bite of my sandwich. "Apparently she's
got as many watch dogs and minders as he has. I thought this only happened
in London or in films and TV."

 "Don't kid yourself. Not all of them live in big houses like Elias
Chambers either. A lot of the smaller fry try to stay out of that sort of
thing, unless they're idiots trying to look big, but either side can call
up past debts and then you really have a war. And it's my reckoning the lad
will be in the middle, unless you do something."

"Such as?

Trilby got to his feet and carried his mug and the teapot over to the
sink. "Calm things down as much as you can. Elias won't want you rocking
the boast so, why don't you write to Joey, telling him to lay low about
what happened between you. Give him my dad's address, so he can write love
letters to you if he wants. And give him your mobile number in case he
needs to contact you in a hurry. Then write to your dad and tell him we
have a lot of gigs to do between now and the New Year, which isn't a lie,
and you've decided to go with us. You can tell Joey as well and that will
put them both off the scent and make it a lot harder to find you if anyone
comes looking for you. Then write another letter to Elias, promising him
your silence. Now, I don't know what you're going to do but I'm off to
bed."

I wasn't tired so I tidied up the kitchen and went into the study to find
pen and paper. I took them into the lounge where I got the fire going and
sat down to write the letters. After three attempts I managed to get Joey's
letter written, and it took me four attempts each before I was satisfied
that they made sense and conveyed how I felt about the situation. One I put
them in their envelopes and put the writing stuff away, I found I was still
not tired, so I put my heavy coat on, grabbed a torch, and went for a
walk. My journey down the lane to the post box was uneventful except for a
young cow standing sideways in the middle of the lane. A few good "Ooaghs"
and a swat on her backside got her to shift enough for me to pass her
without stepping into the muddy ditch. When I got back, she was still
there, lowing quietly. She had an udder full to bursting. I looked at my
watch and realized it was near to the five o'clock milking time. "Lost your
way, girl? Okay, let's get you home."  With a lot of shoving I managed to
get her pointing in the right direction then I got behind her and
pushed. Thankfully she got the idea and started to move. Once we were over
the ditch she led me guide her over the field in the direction of the
farm. She heard the noise of the other cows making their way to the milking
shed and she took off at a trot, much to my relief. I didn't fancy having
to negotiate the cowpats even with a torch. I got back to the house, locked
up, made myself a mug of hot chocolate and went up to bed. I'd only drunk
half of it when I woke up to brilliant winter sunshine streaming through a
chink in the curtain, and Indian standing over me with a mug of tea. "It's
eleven thirty on a bright sunny morning and you've got some visitors
waiting downstairs for you. One of them doesn't look too pleased"

Oh Hell! It looked like the war had started, for me at any rate.