Fall of Hope (Book 1): Real Heroes Don't Wear Capes (43 page)

“
Don't
talk to her like that, man.”

“
It's
okay, Danny,” she says as she pulls over onto the curb. She
watches as he gets out in a huff and slams the door behind him. He
watches them both jolt inside, but their features are a blur.

“
I
was just trying to help, Bobby. We're worried about you,” she
shouts out the window to him as he crosses the road leading to the
village.

The
car pulls away from the curb when he doesn't reply, and he hears her
speeding off. Before he passes through the houses over the grass, he
sees the car turn into the village. He sighs at the whole experience.
It isn't like him to lose his temper, but he couldn't control it.

•

Bobby
passes the bushes, keeping away from the road.

He
isn't sure whether it was her accusing him of being insane, or the
fear she may have a point that annoys him most. But the weight of her
words are almost enough to break him as they spiral around inside his
brain.

“
I
didn't imagine that painting, and I was in the woods. If it's not
real, then why have I been there before? Mum has even been there, so
how can it not be there?”

“
Oi,
wanker, do you talk to yourself often?”

Toad.
Don't start today, please.

“
I
don't want any trouble.”

“
Who
said anything about trouble?” He speaks with a thick breath as
he jogs to keep up with Bobby. Once he catches up, he slings an arm
over his shoulder as though they have been best buddies since
nappies.

“
What
are you doing?”

“
Well,
remember when you refused to hang out with us?”

“
Do
drugs, you mean?”

“
Ah,”
he sighs with indifference as he tilts his head at the other boy.
“Have you changed your mind yet?”

“
No.”

“
That's
funny because I heard your mum croaked it.”

“
What's
your point?” Bobby shrugs the older boy from his shoulder and
picks up his pace.

“
Well,
it'll help you to forget.”

“
I
don't want any, thanks.”

Toad
slows down behind him and gives a chuckle that sounds less like
humour and more like a direct taunt. Whatever the purpose, Bobby
ignores him and continues on his way.

“
Your
mum was a mug anyway!”

The
insult comes thick and hard. Any chance of ignoring those words
obliterate as he turns to the boy. Toad stands there proud of his
disrespectful mouth with his hoodie pulled over his face to obscure
his features.

“
No
she wasn't!”

“
Oh
come on, your dad was beating the shit out of her, we all know it.
Did he smack you around, too?”

“
You
know nothing about my family!”

“
No?
Didn't she die because of you?”

Bobby
scrunches his face up at that.

Does
everybody know I did nothing to protect her?

“
It's
a
ll
your fault, just like it was your fault your brother died. He was the
only decent one out the lot of you.”

“
Shut
up!” Bobby shouts as he marches back over to the boy who's two
feet taller. The crook in his nose pokes out above the smirk that
spreads across his lips with venom. And Bobby cannot help wanting to
knock that grin straight off his demented face. Perhaps being lost
within the anger, loss, betrayal and despair he will be able to land
a punch without breaking any fingers.

“
Oh,
so there is fire in you, after all?”

Toad
doesn't move out of the way and is still smiling as Bobby's fist
connects with his jaw. The boy doesn't fall back on his ass as they
do in the films. Instead, he stumbles with his hand raised to his
cheek with his lips curling upwards in a nasty smile. The slap of his
knuckles on bone still sounds out in his ears as a shooting pain
drives up from his fingers to his wrist.

“
Oh,
what's the matter? Are you mad because your mummy doesn’t tuck
you in at night anymore?”

Bobby
goes for him again, but Toad dodges backwards with ease. As he does,
the smile widens into a full-blown toothy grin. That only angers
Bobby more, but before he can act further, the voice behind him halts
him.

“
What
have we got here, hey?” Josh sniggers from behind.

“
I
know, check out
Balboa
here”

As
Bobby turns to the voice he detests, Josh lands a punch to his gut.
Winded, Bobby gasps as he grabs at his stomach and sinks to his
knees. The moment his bones connect with the pavement, Josh catches
his cheek with his knuckles hard enough to drop him to the floor like
a bag of shit
. The punch sends a wave of agony straight to the
back of his head to give the unappealing sensation that his skull is
crushing.

“
Don't
think we'll go easy on you just because your mummy got stabbed, you
cock sucking fuck.”

Using
his hands as a shield, Bobby attempts to block the blows that rain
down, but he fails.

From
the direction of his feet, Josh lands his
Fila
trainers into
his stomach. Bobby shifts to shield the kicks to his gut, leaving his
face open which Toad takes advantage of by smashing his nose twice.
Blood spews from his nostrils, and he believes he may black out at
any moment. If if wasn't for the jolt each time a fist connects, or a
foot stomps him further into the floor, he is sure he would. His body
feels as though it is sinking straight into the earth beneath, and
his jaw aches like a rusty hinge.

A
wheezy yelp escapes his mouth as the skin breaks open above one eye
when another punch connects. He swallows the blood that pours over
his top lip and gags. Yet, somewhere between the ringing within his
head and the sorrow, he finds himself wishing they would just make it
end.

Make
me end.

“
What
the hell are you boys doing out here?”

Both
boys looming above Bobby stop to glance toward the voice. Bobby
blinks and attempts to see who's there, but the liquid pouring over
his eyelid obscures his vision. He sweeps his sleeve of the suit over
his closed lid. One boy must have caught him with those hideous gold
sovereigns they wear.

“
Get
out of here now before I call the police, go on, get.” From the
houses opposite, he can hear the soft voice coming closer, coming to
help.

A
final, unexpected blow comes to his stomach, then feet set into
motion. The boys race away at speed and disappear down the street.

“
Bobby
are you all right? I had no idea it was you.” A hand pulls him
to his feet while a warm palm rests against his back. The strain of
his heavy breaths fill the silence as the man holds him while he
struggles to find his balance.

Bobby
swipes away the blood again, but only more spills in its place.
Blinking uncontrollably, she thinks he can make out Mr Woods from the
store.

“
Come
on, Let's get you inside and clean you up.”

Despite
knowing this man cared for his mother, Bobby finds only anger and
bitter tears he can no longer contain pouring out. He hates him
without logic for being such a
damn wuss
.

He
hadn't expected the village to stand outside as the hearse drove by
with their hats in their hands. He didn't expect them all to lock up
their businesses to attend the funeral, yet he hates them for not
having done so. Also, he hates himself for thinking bad of these
people, but as he pushes Mr Woods away, it doesn't matter.

“
Bobby,
come back. Where are you going? You're a mess, look at you!”

Bobby
ignores the pleas and continues walking away with salty trails
streaming down his face. Tears intrude past his lips and mingle with
the nasty copper taste, but it doesn't matter.

Nothing
matters anymore.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Bobby
stares at the dark circles under his eyes and the clouding around his
eyelids in the bathroom mirror. He has tissue shoved up his nostrils,
accentuating the swollen tip. The bridge hurts like hell all the way
up into his skull. Dried, crimson trails remain above his top lip,
but he cannot bring himself to care.

The
gash on his forehead, caused by a sovereign ring, is not as bad as it
feels. It stings around his eyebrow where the blood mattes the thick
hair down. After holding tissue on the skin for ten minutes, the
blood flow ceased. Although it will leave a scar, the pain is worse
than the damage appears.

A
migraine forms behind his eyes like a dead weight. It throbs at his
temples and forces him to squint within the light casting through the
bathroom. A dull ache lies across his knuckles from hitting Toad. He
can confirm it is not something he enjoyed, or will do again as he
shakes away the stiffness.

Pulling
the soaked tissue free of his nostrils, he discards them in the
toilet, rips off two more pieces and replaces the last.

Beneath
the shirt and askew tie, he checks his ribs. The pain is undeniable,
but only light bruising has surfaced so far. He grimaces when he
graces the blue clouding around his navel with his fingertips.

“
You
are a complete mess.”

Bobby
looks past himself in the mirror and spots the pearlescent sheen
shimmering beneath the hood.

“
Where
have you been?” Bobby twists his aching jaw from side to side,
causing the bone to click and grind.

“
I
thought you could use some time.”

“
Time?
Time for what exactly? To cry, or to be alone, thinking I'm going
crazy? Explain why I'd want that.”

“
You
needed to grieve.”

“
Well,
thanks. I feel so much better after being alone. I can't sleep
because I've got a thousand thoughts spinning through my mind. I
can't even walk down the street without getting called crazy, or
being attacked. They all know it's my fault as well.”

“
You
know there is nothing you could have done.”

“
I
did nothing because I'm a fucking coward! Now I'm all alone in this
damn world because everyone thinks I'm cracking up! And to top it off
I think my jaw is broke.”

“
It's
dislocated, that's all.”