Revenger

33

Carver, too, was using the lull in the fighting to make his preparations. He knew exactly what he would do if he was in the rioters’ shoes, and he had little doubt that they would soon come to the same conclusion that he had done.

He reckoned it would take several minutes for the rioters’ grey-haired leader to restore control, work out his strategy and put it in motion. So it was down to Carver to use that time better than his opponent. First he had to secure command and control of his own little band of defenders. Without waiting to be asked or allowing any doubt to creep in he said, ‘Right, I’m going to need the lights on. But let’s make it quick — I don’t want them on for long.’

As Maninder Panu reached for the switch, Carver was already asking Ajay: ‘Is there any other way out of here?’

The big man shook his head. ‘Not really. We’ve got a yard behind the shop we use for storage, but it backs on to someone’s garden and they’ve got a trellis above their side of the fence, with roses growing up it. They’ve got to be seven or eight feet high: big thick bushes. I don’t see the four of you getting over that in a hurry.’

‘What about to the sides?’ Carver asked.

‘More yards like ours for all the other shops and restaurants. And there’s only two ways you get out of them. One: climb into the next yard. Two: go out through the premises—’

Carver finished the thought, ‘And that takes you right back out on to the street.’

‘That’s why we didn’t do it already,’ said Ajay with a grim, humourless smile.

Behind the counter, Chrystal, acting on Schultz’s instructions, had poured vodka over both his entry and his exit wounds and improvised a bandage out of a roll of kitchen towel and some Sellotape. Schultz was reaching for the packets of ibuprofen and paracetamol racked next to the cigarettes behind the counter. ‘Do us a favour, love,’ he said. ‘Go and get us some cling film. A whole packet.’

As she walked off he caught Carver’s eye and gave a sideways jerk of the head, as if to say, ‘Come over here.’

Carver did as he was asked. ‘What’s up?’ he asked.

Schultz leaned close and spoke below his breath: ‘Get out, boss. You can get over a few bloody rose bushes, no worries. We’re fucked here, you know we are. But there’s no sense you copping it if you don’t have to.’

‘Nice try,’ Carver replied, in an equally low voice. ‘But I’m not walking out on you, or the rest of them. Anyway, we can still make it.’

Carver went back to Ajay Panu. ‘Do you have a basement?’

‘Yeah. You get to it through the storeroom. That’s our only hope, I reckon. Just hide down there and pray no one finds us.’

‘It might be our last hope, but it’s not our only hope,’ said Carver. He turned to Maninder. The older of the two cousins was close to tears. Carver felt no anger or contempt towards the shopkeeper’s helplessness. He’d seen trained soldiers fall apart amidst the chaos, the danger and the sheer, all-consuming terror of battle. He didn’t hold it against a civilian.

‘Do you have any more ammo for this shotgun?’ Carver asked.

‘No,’ said Maninder. ‘I was praying I would never even have to use it once.’

That was pretty much what Carver had expected to hear. ‘Then we’ll make do with what we’ve got,’ he said. ‘How you doing, Snoop?’ he asked, nice and loud, so everyone could hear.

Schultz took the hint: this one was for public consumption. He was standing with his right arm lifted up while Chrystal wound cling film round and round his torso, binding his wounded left arm tight to the side of his body. Now he forced a devil-may-care smile to his face and called out, ‘Just a through-and-through, boss. Hurts like a fucker, but don’t you worry about me.’

‘Right, you watch the rear of the property. We have to have control of that storeroom, so we can’t have anyone coming over those side fences into the yard and getting in the back door.’

Schultz nodded. ‘Yeah, boss.’

‘Call me on the mobile, use your earpiece and keep the line open. Then keep me posted if anything looks like kicking off.’

‘Got it.’ Schultz looked down at his shiny, shrink-wrapped body. ‘Christ.’ He sighed. ‘I look like a fuckin’ packed lunch.’

‘Is that all the thanks I get?’ asked Chrystal in mock-indignation.

Schultz laughed, winced at the pain that caused and said, ‘Nah, love, you did brilliant. Job done.’

‘Well, give us a kiss, then, before you go.’

Schultz leaned towards her, she tilted her face up to meet his and they kissed with fierce intensity, both knowing it might be the last, as well as the first, time it happened.

Carver cleared his throat and Schultz pulled away from Chrystal with a sheepish grin. ‘Right then, I’ll be off.’

Before the girl had time to miss him, Carver was handing out her instructions: ‘Can you keep an eye out the front? I want to know exactly what’s happening out there. OK?’

She nodded.

‘Good girl.’ As she took up her position, peering through the perforated shutters, Carver turned back to Ajay: ‘This place is air-conditioned, right?’

‘Yeah — Maninder insisted on it. He really wanted this place to be special.’

‘So where’s the vent?’

‘The unit just behind you, on the wall there.’

‘Good. Do you have a microwave?’

‘Of course, on a shelf behind the counter. We heat up food for customers to take away.’

‘Then get ready for a supermarket sweep because I need the following items, fast, starting with flour, 00-grade if you’ve got it.’

Ajay frowned. ‘You mean pizza flour? Yes, I know where that is.’ He hurried off towards one of the shelves.

‘And a spray can of deodorant,’ Carver continued. ‘Roll-on’s no good to me.’

‘I’ll get that for you,’ said Maninder, like a child wanting to make himself useful.

Carver watched the Panus dash to and fro across the store as he continued reciting his shopping list. ‘Good, and grab me some soap flakes — got to be flakes, not powder… And lighter fluid, while you’re at it — one of those plastic litre bottles people use for barbecues would be ideal… And an open bowl — like a mixing-bowl or something.’

Maninder came to a sudden halt and looked at Carver plaintively. ‘We haven’t any. Home goods you have to get from the hardware store, two doors down.’

Carver thought fast: ‘OK, then I need anything that comes in a tub, like an open plastic tub. I don’t know — ice cream maybe?’

‘Ariel Liquitabs!’ called out Chrystal, from her post by the shutters.

Carver hadn’t a clue what she was talking about, but Maninder’s face brightened at once. ‘Oh yes, yes, we have those, certainly.’

‘Then get them, whatever they are.’

He rushed off to get the last item Carver had requested. The rest had now been piled on the counter. Carver told Ajay, ‘I need a ladder and a screwdriver.’

‘In the storeroom. I’ll get them straightaway.’

‘Good man.’

As one Panu went off to the storeroom, the other arrived with a plastic tub filled with little purple pillows of liquid detergent. Carver took the tub from Maninder, opened it and emptied the contents on to the floor. Then he handed it back.

‘Listen carefully,’ he said. ‘Take that tub and fill it with the soap flakes till you’re about an inch from the top. Got that?’

Maninder nodded eagerly.

‘Good,’ said Carver. ‘Now pour the lighter fluid on top and stick it in the microwave, full power, for two minutes.’

As Maninder got to work, Carver called out, ‘How are we doing at the front, Chrystal?’

‘Nothing yet. It’s like everyone’s vanished or something. Maybe they’ve all gone.’

‘Don’t count on it.’

Ajay arrived with the ladder. Carver took it from him, along with the screwdriver. He placed the ladder beneath the air-conditioning vent, climbed up and unscrewed the grille. Then he called down to Ajay, ‘Hand me that flour. Thanks.’

Carver opened the flour and poured it all into the front of the air-con unit. The fan began wafting it towards him and Carver coughed as the fine flour got into his nostrils and throat. He quickly screwed the grille back on and came down the ladder as a dusty miasma of flour began seeping from the grille into the air all around it. Ajay looked on with the look of a man who was desperate to know what the hell was going on but hardly dared to ask. Before he could say anything, Carver had another question: ‘Is the fan on this thing adjustable?’

‘Yeah. Those buttons on the front, at the bottom. Low power to the left. Full power on the right. You should be able to reach them all right.’

The unit was on low power. Carver pressed the medium button and the flow of flour into the atmosphere became a little stronger.

The microwave pinged. The two minutes were up.

‘Take the tub out,’ said Carver to Maninder Panu. ‘What does it look like?’

‘Like a sort of jelly,’ Panu replied.

‘Perfect. Give it a stir, then put it back in the microwave and stick the can of deodorant into the tub.’

‘I am sorry, but could you please explain the point of all this?’ Maninder asked.

‘There isn’t time. Just trust me. And when you’ve done it, close the microwave, but do not, repeat, do not turn it on.’

Maninder got to work. He was just closing the door of the microwave when there was a stifled cry of alarm from the window. ‘Hey, tough guy…’ Chrystal said nervously. ‘I think you’d better come here.’

‘Turn out the lights,’ Carver said to Panu. Then he made his way to the window. It only took one look to see that his worst fears had been confirmed. The other side knew exactly what they were doing. They were massing for their attack, and as he saw them take up their positions Carver had to admit that he couldn’t have done it any better himself.

He turned to face the others, not letting any of his worries cross his face. In a firm, confident tone of voice he told Ajay Panu, ‘Why don’t you take your baseball bat and go and give Schultz a hand at the back of the building?’

‘Understood.’

Carver gave him a quick, appreciative nod. Panu and Schultz were going to take some beating, even allowing for Schultz’s wrecked left arm. And he didn’t need them to hold out for long — even a minute might be enough. Now he focused on Chrystal and Maninder. ‘You two, take Paula and get down to the basement, quick.’

They propped the shocked, semi-conscious woman between them and carried her off towards the storeroom, Maninder lighting the way with a black rubber torch he’d retrieved from beneath the counter. These days, with power cuts a regular occurrence, everyone kept camping lanterns handy for when the electricity went off. The Panus were no exception, and Maninder gave Chrystal one to carry in her spare hand, too. As soon as they were gone, Carver set the air-conditioning to full blast and turned on the microwave. Through the window he could see the bizarre combination of a plastic tub filled with grey jelly, with a can of spray deodorant sticking out of it, turning round and round. In his earpiece he heard Schultz giving Ajay Panu some instructions and then a crash as something heavy and metallic was heaved over in an attempt to block the door into the yard outside.

Then Carver heard Schultz, very calm, very professional, saying, ‘They’re coming over the fences into the yard, boss. Fuck me, there’s a lot of the bastards, an’ all.’

‘Same this side,’ said Carver. ‘Good luck, mate.’ Then he took up a position behind a shelf, close to the storeroom door, and waited for all hell to break loose.