"No!" Tyler tightened his grip on Corey. "Leave him alone!"

Deano pried Tyler off Corey, and dragged his son kicking and screaming across the lounge.

"Get in there!" Deano hollered as he tried to push Tyler into the bedroom.

Tyler held onto the door frame, yelling, "I hate you! I hate you!"

Corey pulled himself up by the couch, the pain unbearable, but his fear of Deano greater. Gritting his teeth, he limped outside, his right thigh hard to walk on. A door slammed inside, followed by Tyler yelling that Corey was his boyfriend. Corey glanced back. Deano was holding the bedroom door shut, and hollering through the wood that Tyler was lying.

Corey staggered towards the neighbour's door and banged on it. When no one answered, he tried the next apartment. The argument in Tyler's apartment continued to flare, the yelling match so loud he could hear every word clearly. He stumbled to the third door, and banged on it, now screaming out for help. Noise came from inside, but the door remained closed. He started banging louder, crying out in frustration and fear when the owner told him to go away.

He turned around, trying to figure out where to go next. A two-storey Art Deco house across the road caught his attention, the little kids out front staring at him, their expressions a mixture of fascination and fear.

Corey snapped his head around as Tyler yelled at his father to stop. Deano was heading out the front door with Tyler hanging off his arm. Corey started half-running, half-limping down the driveway. The kids across the road ran for the front door, squealing for their mother.

Behind Corey a scream split the air, Tyler calling out his name. Corey glanced back, horrified at the sight of Deano charging him. He went for the road, hope catching him in the chest as he saw a man and woman emerge from the house. The woman's eyes widened, then she screamed, "Watch out!" her words overlapped by the screech of tyres.

Corey turned just as the police car hit him.

26.

Ash Ash jumped out of Corey's car as it slowed down, getting an earful from Juliet in return, his sister yelling at him that he was a dangerous idiot. He turned around and waved at her to leave. She shook her head and drove off with Dante staring out the window at him, his brother's expression almost mournful.

Ash headed onto Tiana's property, eyeing up the white van parked in the driveway, and wondering whether it belonged to the person who'd upset Tiana. He glanced through the lounge window as he pa.s.sed by, hoping to spot the person, but instead got an empty lounge and dining-room in return.

He jumped up the steps and knocked on the front door. When no one answered, he tried the handle, but found it locked. Calling out for Tiana, he knocked again, getting more and more anxious as the seconds ticked by. He jumped down the steps, about to head to the back of the house, when the door finally pulled open. He turned around, surprised to find Aroha looking out at him.

"What're you doin' here?" you vile woman.

"I had to drop off a package for you."

"You could've given it to Juliet to pa.s.s on."

"Juliet wuz here when I got it, and I wuz hoping to catch her before she came home. Naf's acting up again, wanting her to move out cos she hit his brother."

"Sounds like the li'l t.w.a.t deserved it."

"Yeah, but everyone's protective of Corey, so Juliet's in the dog box."

"It doesn't matter, she's coming to live with me, and if Naf even looks at her funny tell him I'll be paying him a visit."

"Naf won't touch her, so you keep away from him."

"Nuthin' you can do about it, so get lost." Ash walked up the stairs, annoyed when she didn't move.

"If you're after Tiana, she popped out to drop off Angelo to a neighbour's. She got really scared when some rough skinhead visited, asking questions 'bout you."

Ash straightened. "A skinhead?"

"Yeah, a Pkeh fella with ACDC tattooed across his knuckles."

Ash's hands clenched. "Deano f.u.c.kin' Jones. How the h.e.l.l did he know where she lives?"

"Dunno. I came just as he wuz leaving. He didn't hurt her, but Tiana still got spooked." Aroha stepped aside. "Anyway, come on in, she said she'll be back any minute."

Ash entered, heading for the lounge. A mug and a cup of tea were on the small table, along with a filter of coffee. Ash walked into the kitchen, dying for a wake me up, because he felt b.l.o.o.d.y exhausted. He opened the cupboard, looking for a mug, but only got plates.

Aroha came up behind him and removed a mug from the cupboard on his left. "Do ya want me to heat up some coffee for you?"

"No." He s.n.a.t.c.hed the mug out of her hand and headed into the lounge. He poured himself some coffee then took a sip, satisfied it was warm enough. He sat down on the couch as Aroha walked past with a cup of tea, her shaking hands making the teacup rattle against the saucer.

"What's wrong with you?" he said. "Not enough booze in your system?"

"No! You're scaring me."

He barked out a laugh. "That's stupid, I've never hurt you."

She placed the cup and saucer on the coffee table. "Both you and Dante are always mean to me."

"What do you expect when you hang round teenage boys? What's the age difference between you and Naf?"

"Naf's legal," she said, moving further away from him.

"Barely. And weren't you after Tama before him? You should stick to people your own age and leave the boys alone." Hating even looking at her, he downed half the coffee, then shifted his attention to the picture of Angelo above the TV. "If my boy wuz eighteen and I found out some old bird wuz sleazing round him, I'd make d.a.m.n sure it stopped instantly."

"I'm not doin' anything wrong, and Naf asked me out."

"He's young enough to be your son." Ash downed the rest of his coffee and stood, agitated even talking to her. "Where's that package you mentioned?"

She got to her feet, looking like she wanted to flay him alive. "You have no right to judge me."

"I have every right, you sleazy perverted freak."

"You are too!"

He sneered at her. "And you're as juvenile as a teenager. Maybe that's why you hang out with them, cos adults are above your comprehension."

"You're an arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d who deserves to be taken down."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And you're a whisper away from being a paedo, so keep your f.u.c.kin' mouth shut."

"You sell drugs, beat up people, including your own brother to the point that he had to be hospitalised, and you're judging me? The world would be better without people like you."

"d.a.m.n right, but you're included in that lot, cos you don't have a thing to contribute either." He shook out his hand as a tingle ran through it, the feeling reminding him of pins and needles.

"You can't cla.s.s me in the same group as you and Dante, and Sledge is just as bad, only Juliet is of any worth outta your d.a.m.n family. You're a bunch of lying b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who hurt innocent people."

"I don't lie, and those so-called innocent people are the ones who come to me looking for their next fix." He shook out his right leg as numbness ran through it. "What the f.u.c.k?" he said, stamping his foot.

"You are a liar!" Aroha shouted. "You and your brother both ruined my ex's life with your vicious lies."

"I don't know what you're talking 'bout, and you're not welcome here, so p.i.s.s off." He went to move around the table, but stumbled forward, his legs giving out from under him. He hit the ground, grunting on impact.

Aroha walked over to him. "What goes round comes round, Ash."

He tried to move his arms to push up, but they remained numb and useless. "I can't..." His words slurred then petered out as his mouth went numb too.

She smiled. "You should be more careful with what you drink."

Ash felt a rush of fear race through him, then it kicked into overdrive as she called out Chaz's name. Ash's silent scream went unheard as footsteps approached him. He tried to move again, but he could've been encased in steel for all the good it did, although his heart pounded at an unnatural rate, like it was going to burst out of his chest and take off on its own.

Chaz pushed the coffee table out of the way and bobbed down next to Ash, giving him a prod. "s.h.i.t, that's pretty strong stuff."

"Yeah," Aroha said. "The dealer told me it would either cause hallucinations or paralyze him, but not permanently." She kicked Ash's leg.

Chaz swiped out at her. "Don't hurt him."

"He won't feel it, they use it on animals. Appropriate really, cos he's a b.l.o.o.d.y animal."

"No, he's not." Chaz brushed Ash's hair back. "It's alright boy, it'll wear off."

Ash flinched inside, although nothing showed. He couldn't even feel Chaz's touch, like his body was someone else's, and he was just a viewer, watching the scene from afar. But what he saw terrified him, something that gripped him by the throat and squeezed hard. He wanted to run, to get out of there, or to at least close his eyes so he didn't see that face again, the one who made him feel like a helpless fifteen-year-old again, a scared boy crying for the pain to stop.

"Close his eyes, Chaz," Aroha said. "He's starting to freak me out, staring up like he's dead."

Chaz lifted Ash's wrist, his expression alarmed for a moment before relief flashed across his features. "b.l.o.o.d.y woman, you made me panic."

"Don't see why, 'specially since you're gonna-"

"Just shut up and help me get him into the van, then you can go free Tiana and the kid. She still thinks I'm forcing you, so you'll be fine to stay."

"But you said I could come with you."

"Only if someone found out our connection."

"But you promised."

"We'll talk about it after we get him into the van. Now grab his feet."

Aroha grunted as she lifted his legs. "He's b.l.o.o.d.y heavy."

"Yeah, he's impressive, just like Dante. It's freaky how much those two look alike now."

"I already told you that."

"Yeah, but seeing them is totally different. It's just a pity that fat b.a.s.t.a.r.d showed up at their place, otherwise I could've gotten Dante too. All I did was ask the p.r.i.c.k to leave, and he went off his head at me. It was his own fault he died. Though, it was a d.a.m.n good idea you had phoning the cops. Now Dante can rot in prison-"

"Ash deserves to be in prison too," Aroha said, her voice sounding strained.

"Not affected by his looks?"

"He's nasty to me, and f.u.c.k he's heavy. Lemme rest for a bit." She dropped Ash's legs onto the kitchen floor.

Chaz lowered him down. "That's cos he's probably too old for your tastes. Once Tama found out you'd visited me, he told everyone 'bout you proposing to him."

"So what? At least Tama wuz eighteen; Ash wuz younger when you did him."

"Doesn't matter, it was consensual."

"I never thought he wuz that way inclined, he seems to like females."

"I like females too, just not as much as males. So, shut up and lift."

"But, he's killing my back. Why don't you just kill him now instead of waiting?"

"Why the h.e.l.l would I wanna kill him for?"

"Cos of what he did to you."

"He did nuthin' to me, it was Dante and their mother who f.u.c.ked things up."

"Eh? But I thought Ash lied 'bout you raping him."

"Nah, I didn't say that, just said they got evidence offa him."

"Yeah, he talked."

"No, I mean "evidence" as in a rape test."

Aroha gasped. "You raped him?"

"Um, well... sort of-"

"You said Dante lied!"

"He did. He said his mother slashed me, but it was that little s.h.i.te who did it."

"I thought you were talking 'bout the rape charge, not who b.l.o.o.d.y slashed your face. And you just said it wuz consensual."

"You're sounding like a broken record, woman. And Ash wouldn't have known anything if his mother and brother didn't come home early. Once the roofie wore off he would've been none the wiser."

"You drugged him?"