Should Have Killed The Kid (9 page)

Dave had no idea who Jim was so chose to focus on the biscuits instead. Though they didn't look particularly appetising, he was famished enough to take a crack at them.

'Thanks.' He raised one in a toast to Bruno then took a bite.

The peanut butter coated his mouth like a fungus worsening his thirst, but the first mouthful didn't go down too badly. Bruno kept silent until he'd swallowed.

'So how'd you pull up?'

Dave opted for honesty.

'I feel like shit.'

Bruno barked laughter and Dave flinched as the man moved – though the slap on the back he expected thankfully never eventuated.

'Ha! Well, eat up. Sorry about the fare, but. Marcus's headed into town to stock up. Make up for it. Dinner's gonna knock your socks off, yeah. Gotta get you your money's worth.'

'Thanks.' Dave muttered around another mouthful of biscuit. Though he was pretty sure the number of free pints Marcus had sent his way the previous evening had more than compensated for the lacklustre meal.

'Not a problem. My pleasure, mate. Anyway, I need to get in motion. Time's a wasting and all. Can't all sleep the day away, hey?'

This time Bruno did slap him on the back, catching Dave completely unaware, mid chew. He gagged and almost spat Salada all over the pristinely shiny bar. Bruno didn't seem to notice though and just headed back the way he'd come, chuckling away.

Dave dumped the rest of the biscuit back onto the tray as he awkwardly swallowed the last mouthful. He winced as it scraped across his raw throat and decided that maybe the rest could wait till after a smoke. He swiped his pack from the bar and headed for the door.

At least it wasn't raining anymore.

Dave stepped outside and squinted against the bright sunlight that reflected from the scattered puddles across the car park.
Wow.
He dug his mobile from his pocket and blinked as he flicked the top up, saw that the clock in the corner of the screen read 2:00 and realised what Bruno had been talking about. He certainly didn't feel rested for the extra sleep though. He felt like he'd had all of an hour's rest, tops.

Jeez, must have been a cracker of a night,
he thought while he lit up and took his first drag.
Shame I can't remember most of it.
The first lungful burned but when it didn't trigger a coughing fit, Dave relaxed and settled in a little bit more, puffing away while he closed his eyes and tried to recall the previous evening...

...but they quickly flew open as his memory stalled on Monty's burning gaze and the man's lisping yell sounded in his head. 'YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE HAD TO DO!'

Dave shuddered at the memory and quickly sucked down more smoke to calm the jittery feeling the memory unleashed in his guts

Forget it. The man was just a loon,
Dave tried to convince himself but doubt remained.
Yeah? Then why's he got to you so bad?

It's not like Dave wasn't used to nutters, either. Riding public transport in Melbourne, they were an everyday part of life. Not to mention the chap he walked past every day on the corner of Collins and King on his way to work, raving at the passing cars. None of them had ever bothered him quite as much as Monty had.

It's the eyes,
Dave shuddered again at his memory of them.
They've... They've...
He tried to pinpoint it but couldn't quite put what he was thinking of into words.
They've... FUCK!

Dave gagged as his last draw on the cigarette brought the horrendous taste of filter flooding into his mouth and he realised that while he'd stood thinking he'd let it burn down to the butt. He dropped it to the ground as he spluttered and stamped down hard. Probably a little harder than he had to. But that helped to banish the memory.

Still gagging, Dave heard the purr of an engine. It sounded close but when he looked up there was no one turning into the car park. He was about to head back inside and search out some water when the flash of colour darted past the corner of his eye and the purr of the engine rose to a roar. He turned just as a the blur of colour skidded to an alarming abrupt stop and the engine died down enough that Dave could hear the reverberating thump of bass radiating from the bright yellow car in front of him.

Through the window, dark sunglasses in place, Marcus saluted and Dave, still startled by the unexpected direction of the car’s appearance, shakily waved back.

‘Morning, mate. How are we?’ Marcus sounded even more cheerful than Bruno as the boot popped up and he clambered out and headed around to it.

‘I’ve been better.’ Dave opted for the truth again and Marcus gave a chuckle while he hefted bags from the boot.

‘Pulled up a little rough, did we?’

‘Just a touch. Do you need a hand there?’

‘That'd be swell, mate.’ Marcus grinned at him as bag after bag emerged from the boot and Dave stepped across to collect the ones he’d already put on the ground.

‘Nice car, by the way,’ Dave opined, walking back around to scan across the front end while Marcus finished collecting the bags. He should’ve known it was a mistake. Though the car gleamed and looked expensive, that was the limit of what he could tell about it and the GTS emblazoned on the front grill wasn’t anywhere near as helpful as he’d hoped. He winced as Marcus’s grin spread wider.

‘Monaro man, are you?’

Dave knew he’d been caught out by the way Marcus cocked his head as he watched him fumble for a reply.

Fortunately he didn’t push it when Dave mumbled, ‘Don’t know much about cars. Looks nice though,’ and allowed him to quickly change the subject. ‘Scared the crap out of me.’ Dave felt the flush infusing his cheeks but struggled on anyway though internally he decided that this would be the last time he ever attempted to instigate conversation with anyone. ‘Expected you to be coming in the drive and you came hurtling around…’ Dave petered out and finished up with a limp point toward the corner of the hotel as he realised how asinine his words were.

Marcus chuckled anyway and Dave was immensely thankful as the awkward moment passed.

‘Local shortcut.’ Marcus finished gathering up the bags and, weighed down, Dave trundled after him back through the propped open screen door. ‘Track around back. If you follow it, you can cut through the Pryor’s… cut through the paddock next door. As long as you shut the gates behind, they don’t mind. Turns a thirty-five minute drive to town into a ten minute one. Amazing what a free pint or two can get you, hey.’

Marcus paused just over the threshold as he finished his little speech and Dave started to rue his offer of help. The bags were dead weights on his arms. Through the plastic he could spot a big bottle of oil and an array of vegetables.

As Marcus finally headed through the drop sheet, Dave staggered after him.

‘So what’s on the menu then?’

‘Mate, a feast,’ Marcus called over his shoulder, heading past the stairs where the tradesmen appeared to have congregated for smoko while Bruno stood in front of them waving his arms about like some sort of insane conductor. ‘Gonna knock your socks off, It’s just like me ma used to make.’

‘Are you cooking?’

‘Yeah, but don’t let that put you off. Haven’t gotten around to hiring a chef and all yet but I’m the next best thing. Was even an apprentice there for a while before mum got sick and I had to come and look after her. Love to cook, mate. Love it’

They pushed through the door in the back wall, entering a kitchen that was so heavy with stainless steel Dave briefly had to squint against the glare when Marcus flicked the lights on. He gazed around the ultra modern interior of the room and could only think how out of place it looked when compared to the rest of the building.

Marcus dumped the bags on the large metal bench that bisected the room and, gratefully, Dave followed suit. He sighed in relief as he unloaded his burden and tried not to focus on the fact he now felt infinitely worse than he had only two minutes before.

‘Coffee?’ Marcus asked, heading for a large stainless steel fridge in the corner.

‘I’m right, thanks, but I don’t suppose I could buy some water, could I?’

‘Free out of the tap, mate.’ Marcus chuckled at his own joke as he grabbed a bag of coffee from in the fridge and dumped it on the bench. He shot a look at Dave and must have seen the disappointment written across his face. ‘Ha. Na, I’m just messing with you. Tastes like shit, don’t it? I’m sourcing quotes for purifiers and stuff at the moment. That should hopefully fix it. Till then though.’ The man leaned back into the fridge and hope bloomed inside Dave. ‘Here, on the house.’

He almost felt like weeping for joy when Marcus lobbed the bottle of water across to him.

Dave caught it, tore the cap free and downed half the bottle in the space of a second.

It tasted every bit as sweet as he’d wanted the pints to the previous evening.

‘Better?’ Marcus asked while Dave gasped in relief.

‘Yeah,’ Dave answered before going back for a second slug.

When he surfaced once more, Marcus was rifling through the shopping bags on the counter. ‘Aha!’ he called triumphantly and hefted what looked like a leg of lamb from one of the bags. ‘Well, I better get a move on,’ Marcus checked his wrist watch. ‘Gonna be an early dinner. How’s that grab you? We’ll aim for five. Need to bring it in before the rush is upon us.’

‘Sounds good.’

‘And you’re sure I can’t interest you that coffee? Need my caffeine buzz on if I’m going to
Iron Chef
this lot.’

‘Yeah, positive. Thanks for the offer though. See you at five.’

Dave swilled the last dregs from the bottle and then placed it on the bench and headed for the door.

He already had his time planned out nicely for the couple of hours until dinner.

He was going back to bed.

9.

The first mouthful was delicious. The second even more so. And it had only got more exquisite from there. He’d been a little pissed when Marcus banged on the door and woke him earlier but he thought it was well worth it now. As he sat at the bar next to Bruno, mopping up the last of the gravy with some bread, Dave honestly thought he might have just consumed the single greatest meal of his life.

‘That was amazing,’ he told Marcus who was standing behind the bar with his own finished plate next to him. He’d spent the meal darting across to help the smattering of patrons that had crept in throughout.

‘Thank you sir. I try.’

‘Bit more than try.’ Dave basked in the afterglow of the meal. Freshly showered and with a couple of more hours of sleep under his belt, he’d felt a great deal better. But when combined with the meal… He almost felt like a new man.

Next to him, Bruno lent back and picked at his teeth.

‘Yeah, alright I suppose. Maybe could’ve used a little more garlic.’

‘What! What do you mean more garlic? Any more garlic and it'd be…’ Marcus’ voice rose several notches before he caught the twinkle in Bruno’s eyes. Dave winced at the glare Marcus sent his father’s way when he realised the man was taking the piss. ‘Bah!’ Marcus threw up his hands and headed towards the other end of the bar while Bruno chuckled away to himself.

‘Maria would have been proud,’ he called after his son but Marcus waved him off and started chatting to a huge bear of a man that was propping up the far end of the bar.

Dave shook his head and ran a finger around the rim of the plate, scooping up another little dollop of the fantastic gravy.

‘Ha!’ The older Gallo gave a final chuckle and then drained the last of the red wine from his glass and refilled it from the bottle on the bar. He topped up Dave’s too, even though he’d barely even sipped at it throughout the meal, then turned and leaned over conspiratorially. ‘Couldn’t resist. So easy to wind up. Fiery temper that one. Takes after his old man.’

‘Indeed.’ Dave did his best to keep his voice as non-committal as possible.

Another half-glass of red wine disappeared down into Bruno’s gullet.

‘The poor bastard,’ he said, softer and chuckled to himself once more. Dave laughed along politely although the sort of bantering the pair seemed to enjoy always left him feeling a little uncomfortable. Edgy. Uncertain whether it was as jokey as Bruno was making out.

He took a small sip of his own wine as Bruno nodded to himself. Although he was feeling much better for the nap, he still thought it’d be wise to pace things a little better than the previous evening.

‘Still he’s a good kid, that one.’ Bruno leaned in even closer, suddenly sobering. Dave nodded in response. ‘All through the teen years we thought he was going to be a right shit but when his mum got sick, he came into his own. He was going to be a chef, you know. Gave it up though to come home and look after his ma. I wasn't there and couldn't do it. Cancer is an expensive thing, yeah, had to keep the dollars rolling in. Bah, kid ended up looking after me too. In the wake of it all when I fell in a big heap... Don't tell him I said this but, don't know where I'd be without him...'

Dave, feeling quite uncomfortable, nodded slowly, his mind completely blank of any form of appropriate response.