Thanks to Soli, as usual.
Angelus, in Oz - here ya go.
*
I couldn't care less if it was coincidence, fate, or just blind luck? Take your pick, you can analyse things all you want, I don't care a jot. I don't care what series of events led me to be stood on that street corner when my mother drove past. All I can say is with hindsight; I'm so pleased I was there.
I didn't have a job, I was finding it hard to find one and even harder to keep one when I did. I was just lounging, with no particular place to go and in no hurry to get there. I was just deliberating whether to stop off at Tony's for a hamburger and a game of pinball, or whether I should just go home and do nothing. It wasn't much of a choice for me, home had nothing to offer, this was 1977 and there were no Playstations, computers or satellite TV in those days, not in the Eastern States of Australia at least. I was bored and restless, eighteen years old and with nowhere to go.
I was just setting off for Tony's when I saw Geoff Chambers cruise by in his panel van. This was nothing startling, it was a pretty small town and I'd see Geoff and his van most days, or at least five times a week, but what made this occasion different to all the other times I'd seen Geoff was because my mother was sat next to him in the van.
What the fuck..?
I went to Tony's and ate my hamburger. I wasted a dollar on some pinball without really concentrating on what I was doing, I was too busy mulling over why my mother was in Geoff's van.
My mother was seven months pregnant and my dad had been in Pentridge for the previous five of those months. Now, it could be entirely innocent and Geoff could've been giving Mum a lift home out of the goodness of his heart, but I knew that Geoff had a 'thing' for my mother. There was a little history between them from their teenage years. Mum and Geoff had gone out together, but my mother had gone for the dangerous bloke, my Dad, and had left Geoff in the dust.
Maybe Geoff was just helping out, but I decided to find out for myself. I'm like my Dad physically, big, strong and not to be fucked with. Dad had laid the cornerstone of a reputation and I had already begun to build on it. I'd been the hardest bastard in my school two years before I left and even the oldest kids had steered clear once I'd proven myself in a series of vicious playground confrontations. Since those schoolyard fights, I'd enhanced my reputation by beating a few of the older men in the town as well.
I decided to pay Geoff a little visit to check what was going on ...and I didn't waste any time.
I caught Geoff as he arrived home about an hour after I'd left Tony's. Presumably, he'd been with my mother and was only just now arriving home. I caught him off guard, just as he was opening the door of his one storey, timber fronted house.
My opening phrase: 'Get inside, you fucker.'
Geoff cried out in alarm, but was too slow to react and I had him inside, out of sight, before he even knew what had hit him.
'Whu... whu... what?' Was all he could manage after my violent shove sent him sprawling onto his own hallway carpet.
'Shut your fucking face, you weak bastard,' I spat at him, looming huge as I stood over him, my stance designed to be as intimidating as possible. I gave the pathetic, prostrate figure a dig with my runner and continued with my interrogation. I didn't plan on giving Geoff any time to think; I wanted him cornered and scared.
'I'm gonna give you just the one chance.' To emphasise my point, I leaned down and grabbed Geoff's shirt front, dragging his face up close to my own threatening countenance. 'One chance,' I continued, 'you lie to me and I'll kick your fuckin' face in.'
My clenched teeth, corded neck and sprayed spittle must have had the desired effect because Geoff could only gulp and nod, obviously shit scared of the violence that had burst upon him so unexpectedly.
'Luke?' he asked and I quashed the recovery instantly, remorseless in my quest.
'Yeah, it's Luke,' I answered and then I smashed a bunched fist into his face. 'And that's just a taste of what you'll get if you bullshit me, Geoff.' I pulled him even closer to my own face and grimaced at him. 'So don't you fucking "Luke" me, we ain't mates, and you know I could rip your fucking head off, if I wanted.'
'Sure, yeah, I know.' Geoff made no effort to staunch the blood that was oozing from his nose. I knew from experience that I had him; he was too scared to retaliate... Fuck, if he did, I would've beaten the shit out of him just for my own sadistic pleasure β I was a really bad boy in those days, full of attitude...
I threw Geoff away, almost with contempt, and then hit him with the question. 'Are you fucking my mother?'
I went in straight away, before the shock could wear off sufficiently and Geoff could think. I wanted him scared witless and confused, unable to think straight, so I kept up the pressure.
'You know, Geoff, my mum, Tommy's wife... Well, are you?'
I reached down and lifted Geoff's head by his hair. I punched him once, then again, not hard, just enough to keep his mind spinning.
'Luke...' He began, so I hit him again.
'Tell me, tell me, you cunt.'
'No!' he squealed as I twisted his hair tightly, but he didn't mean he wasn't fucking her; the cry was just a plea for me to stop hurting him.
'I saw you, Geoff; I saw you an' her in your van.' I lifted Geoff up so that his scalp took an increasing load of his body weight. The pain must have been excruciating, not that I gave a fuck, I wanted answers... right fucking now.
'Luke...' Geoff's voice sickened me; it was pathetic, it was weak, and I hated weakness, despised it.
'Listen, cunt. You can tell me and I'll let you go, as long as you end it, but,' and I twisted his hair now, so hard I pulled great chunks of it out by the roots, 'but, if I leave it till my dad gets out...' I let the threat hang, leaving my father's reputation to work at Geoff's mind like a rat gnawing at his soul. 'My dad will pull your cock and balls off and make you eat the lot.'
My words had the desired effect and, although he never actually confessed, Geoff sobbed and swore that he would never see my mother again. Of course, I gave him a good beating, just to make sure he got the message, and I left him bloodied and beat; a pathetic heap just inside his own doorway.
Now it was time to find Mum.