One Night Out Stealing Read Free

innocence. You are. And here’s Benny coming our way.
    Hey, Jubesy boy! Puddit here, bud! And Jube no better in going along with the act; anyone’d think they were being filmed for the television, this hand-slapping, hugging, whooping, ain’t seen you in, what, must be going on a year now? Lookin at each other with that self-conscious, hope everyone’s lookin at us manner. It’s the beer does it. Oh, and plus the fact these kinda people are eggs, as they call it in the vernacular here. Sonny at the pair with pity and contempt.
    So where ya been, Benny? You remember Sonny, don’t ya? Hey, Sonny, taking his hand. Howzit? Sonny forced a smile, How ya going, Ben? Long time. Yeow, long time is right, you know how it is – Can I borrow a smoke? Helping himself to the packet before an answer. Yeah, you know, I been around, like. Not as if I been inside or nothin, just laying low, you know? Yeah, we know, Benny; been there done that ourselves. We know how it gets, you know, you feel the fucking world sucks, so ya juss go to ground for a bit, but ya come round, don’t ya? Oh sure, Jube, a man comes around. Not as if I walked around with my eyes closed neither. Benny looking at both of them, then at the jugs just filled, licking his lips, dragging onthe helped-himself smoke and eyeing the beer. And when he smiled his loaded smile, the tattooed spiderwebs round his eyes made him look old and wrinkled long before his time, as he wasn’t more’n the thirty mark, younger than Sonny and Jube. And I did get onto something, I do know that. But it’s, like, it’s bigger’n I can handle, you know?
    Jube leaning forward all ears. Sonny leaned away. (I heard it all before. Next he’ll be wanting a beer, just to get him talking.) This job I seen, it’s – Sonny didn’t listen the rest, turned away, eyes into the crowd. Struck immediately by a question in his mind: My crowd? At the sea of faces, grim, dangerous-eyed, poppy-eyed with the desperates of hanging out for a drug fix, or from too many pills popped, others in exaggerated laughter like they were showing the world how happy they were, when they weren’t. Come to think of it, who in this hellhole was happy, like in deep-down happy?
    Then Jube broke in, asking Sonny to go get Benny here a glass. And Benny thought he saw his chance. A jug to go with it’d be nice. Said to a point just above Sonny’s head. Sonny shot his hand out, It’s Wednesday, bud. Buy your own. Benny shook his head. Just a glass’ll do then. Jube explaining: Sonny gave a jug’s worth to Dangerboy, over there still managing to keep filling his jug. You could say Sonny’s a mug for a jug – hahahaha!! Jube at his own humour.
    Sonny came back with the glass, filled it from Jube’s jug, Here ya go, Benny, get that down ya. Winked cheekily at Jube.
    The scam of Benny’s was a wank. It was a security van, and his plan was taken from a tv crime series; it had everything except the real-life actors to do the job. Sonny dismissed it first, but Jube wanted to hear more, just in case. So the gun came in, which Sonny thought Benny had left out till he tested the waters and filled his glass again, and not from Sonny’s jug pulled close to him either.
    But, Benny, a gun’s worth a minimum five years and they’re handing em out bigger and bigger nowadays – oh, but not that I’m worried about guns. Jube giving his prideful look-around look. I’d use one I had to, don’t you worry about that. I was the best shot at the sideshows, knocking over those ducks they have. Even when the smart cunt started speeding it up when it was my shot, cos he didn’t want me winning all the prizes. You know, teddy bears and that sorta stuff, as if I wanted fucking teddy bears. But, Benny, we get done with a gun involved, it’s a long time in the hole.
    Benny open-mouthed in astonishment at that. But how would we get caught? I’ve been planning this for months. Nah, mate, not for us, Jube’d decided. And the moment was