Something Else

Chapter 5 - Sandcastles Tavern

It was a wet night. The blue cab and damaged Hi-Ace van had done the rounds of every haunt Joe and his mates were known to hang out in, and after a couple of unlucky hours cruising the streets, they gave up and headed back to where they'd started, the Sandcastles Tavern.

It was nine o'clock.

Pete pulled up beside Lee in the car park and opened his window. 'What do you reckon?' he asked.

Lee shrugged his shoulders, glancing around the car park - there was no trace of them anywhere. 'I dunno,' he admitted. 'This is strange. You can't tell me they all stayed in tonight.'

'Jez's motor is always here,' added Billy. 'He's never out of this place.'

Lee nodded with a frown, biting his lip. 'I know. I wonder where they all are.'
'Well, I reckon we should let 'em know we were looking for them,' suggested Bob.
Lee glanced at him, sitting beside him in the front of his cab. 'You just read my mind.'
Bob cast his eyes up the side of the three-story building when he noticed two open windows on the second floor directly above them. 'Do you reckon they're the bogs?' he asked.
Mick leaned forwards over the front seat and followed Bob's eyes, and nodded.

'Nah!' disagreed Steve. 'The bar's on the second floor.'

'That is the second floor, dickhead!' said Bob. 'Look at the hill we're on. It slopes down to the front.' He pointed out the small barred window at knee level. 'That's The Coffee Shop's kitchen, so those have to be the bogs.'

'Oh, yeah!'

'What're you planning on?' Dave wanted to know.

Lee and Bob were still thinking alike. They both looked at each other and shrugged. 'Nothing else to do,' remarked Lee.

Bob felt under the passenger side seat and found the notorious can of blue spray paint they had vandalised many of these guys cars and properties with in the past. If they couldn't get satisfaction in finding them tonight, personally, then they were going to piss them off by leaving their mark in their pub's toilet.

'What're you going to do?' Dave asked again.
Lee pulled back his hair and re-tied it in the nape of his neck. 'We'll leave 'em a nice little message to let 'em know that we're after 'em.'
Pete rolled his eyes to the sky. 'It's not that important,' he said, fed up with the ongoing 'war' between them and the local Aussie guys.
'They trashed your fuckin' motor!' exclaimed Jimmy, incredulously. 'Of course, it's fuckin' important.'
He chewed the inside of his mouth, fearing further reprisals.

Mick got out of Lee's cab and began organising things. 'Pete, move your van up against the wall, then Lee can jump up and get in through the window.'
'How come?' he wanted to know. 'Why not just walk in through the door?'
Lee gazed at him sarcastically. 'Yeah, right. You wanna do it?' he asked, holding the can out to him.'
'Jeezus!' breathed Jimmy. 'Their cars might not be out here, but that doesn't mean to say that they're not all fuckin' sitting in there, does it!'
Pete ignored him and did as he was told.

Mick, Steve, Bob, Dave, Jimmy, Billy and Pete all stood back and watched as Lee climbed up onto the roof of Pete's vandalised van.
Reaching for the window, he hoisted himself up, pulled open the small window, and peered in. After a quick glance around, he realised this was the ladies.
'Wrong one. This is the bird's loo.'
'So what. Do one in there, too,' suggested Billy.
Lee hauled himself up further, squeezing his shoulders through the small space and pulled one arm through at a time. It wasn't easy. He wriggled through as far as he needed to, and after checking the cubicles were empty, shook the can and aimed at the bit of wall directly below the window.