Mechanical Michelangelo part 28
TWENTY EIGHT One Card Trick
head cracked against the sidewalk as he
fell backwards from the blow. His brow throbbed painfully, and blood filled his
mouth, metallic and bitter. He spat it out, feeling it dribble against his chin
as he tried to get back to his feet.
He was pushed back down again by
cruel hands and steel toe capped boots kicked the air out of his lungs, leaving
him gasping. The sky blurred in front of his eyes and the figure hovered over
him, features hazy as he sat on Justin’s chest, trapping his arms at his sides,
as the man started to root through his pockets.
Justin started to
struggle again, kicking his legs up, trying to knee him in the back and dislodge
him before he found the small plastic card in his inner pocket.
It
started to rain as fingers found the lone credit card and pulled it out, holding
it towards the sky and laughing. Justin had one last burst of energy, knowing he
couldn’t let him get away with that and grabbed for the man’s wrists, trying to
get to the card. But he only stood up, laughing harder, pushing Justin away.
Justin clawed at the man’s jumper, trying to pull him off his feet, but
he was weak
from the blow and his fingers wouldn’t grip properly.
“You want some of me, huh?”
Justin knew he’d made a mistake,
should have let him run off into the night and away from him. He’d be without
Brian’s credit card and he’d ache for a day or two, but it would better than
looking into the manic eyes of his attacker.
He was pushed into a dark
alley way and he tried to get away, but he had no strength left, his head
throbbed painfully and his ribs jarred with each breath he took.
“You
like getting roughed up, don’t ya?”
Justin was afraid to talk, unsure of
what he could say to stop the man’s bruising grasp closing his airway as his
other hand reached for his pants. He had to stop that hand reaching
inside.
“Stop,” he croaked, “take the card and go.”
But his
attacker only laughed and pushed him against the wall again.
“You like
blond boy ass?” A strange voice asked. “Then you pay for it. $150 dollars to
fuck or $100 for a blow job.”
Bile rose in Justin’s throat and he
struggled, hoping the man would let him go, that he could get away from both of
them. He’d call Brian, forget his pride, he’d call him and grovel for not
setting the alarm on the loft, he’d do all of these things if he could just get
away from them.
“You want me to pay, man?” He held on to Justin tightly,
one hand still holding onto his jeans. Justin could barely see the other man in
the darkness.
“You pay him, just like you pay every other guy on the
streets, got it?”
The conversation was surreal, Justin couldn’t believe
what he was hearing and when his attacker threw a handful of crumpled notes at
the newcomer Justin struggled again.
“Ain’t no use struggling, little
man.” He was turned around, cheek pressed against rough brick.
“Not
without a fucking condom.” The stranger threw his attacker a small foil packet
and a half used tube of lubrication.
“Not, fucking, at all.” Justin said,
twisting half way around, trying to push him away.
“I can take my money
back, man, can take this for free and then where will ya’ be, huh? It’s your
choice.”
But it wasn’t a choice at all. “The $150 is mine, he doesn’t get
a cent.” Justin glared at the newcomer and was surprised as he came over,
pressing the damp bills into his hand.
Fingers took their time pushing
down his boxers and opening him up. Justin concentrated on the money in his hand
and how he would never plead with God, or anyone, ever again to come to his
rescue, because pleading didn’t work. No miracle suddenly occurred take him away
from this, and as the latex covered cock found his ass he knew he could never
call Brian.
The stranger didn’t last long, and it wasn’t so bad, barely
even hurt. Not pleasure, nor pain, and minutes later he disappeared into the
darkness, leaving Justin to pull up his pants and lean wearily against the wall.
It was a relief really, because now he had more than just a half full
sketch book and a few blunt pencils. He had $150s, whereas before he had none.
Money eased guilt and conscience alike.
He felt numb and he almost forgot
the other man, flinching when he pulled a tissue from his back pocket and wiped
the blood still seeping from Justin’s split lip. “Fuck off.” Justin was so
tired, he just wanted to be left alone, to curl up in the nearest doorway and
block out the rest of the world.
“I’m sorry.”
“ Right,” Justin
said, his throat sore. “You could have helped me,” Justin spat out, he couldn’t
even bare to look at him. He was so angry with this man all of a sudden, angry
because he’d opened the doorway to another life, one he didn’t want, had never
thought of before and instead of feeling disgusted he felt-safe.
“I did
help you.”
“How? By telling him he had to pay me? How fucked up is that?
Especially as he’s fucked off with my credit card in his pocket.” The words were
coming out of his mouth, but they were empty, just sounds vibrating through the
air aimlessly, falling on ears that didn’t believe it anymore than he
did.
“He can get cash anywhere, but a credit card means a luxurious, dry
place to sleep for a night or too. Easy pickings.”
“Honour among
thieves?” Justin said bitterly, moving away slightly as the other man leaned
next to him.
“If you like. You just gotta know how to play the game, make
it work for you.”
“Make it work for me? How the fuck did that help me?”
It put $150 in his pocket, but he didn’t mention that.
The stranger was
suddenly standing in front of Justin, hand gripping his shoulder, face so close
to Justin’s he now got a good look at him. Young, though not as young as him,
with the eyes of an eighty year old, jaded and tired. The rain had turned his
hair to frizz and droplets rolled down his cheeks like false tears. “You make
them pay for it before they can take it for free.”
Justin didn’t need to
be told he was talking from experience.
“Look, we all meet up in a café
around about now, come with me. It’s safe.”
Justin removed the man’s hand
once he realised he wasn’t going to get violent. “No thanks, I don’t like your
kind of *safe*.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry OK, sorry it
had to be like that, but you don’t antagonise guys like him. This way, at least
you’re left with something.” He left quickly leaving Justin alone.
He
laughed, slowly opening his palm and looking at the crumpled bills.
His
empty pocket lay heavily against his heart as he watched the rain soak into the
bills, he was trying to do his best not to panic, and the money helped ease it
some, he just didn’t think about what he’d done to get it.
Bile finally
resurfaced, spurting up into his throat, burning his mouth as he leaned over and
retched, one hand holding the wall and the other holding his sore ribs. Blood
and stomach acids flew out of his mouth in thick strings, hanging from his lips,
pooling on the cold slabs beneath him.
The fine rain drizzled overhead,
seeping into his clothes and settling on his hair, when he stopped heaving he
began to shiver, stumbling further into the alley, trying to look for more
shelter.
Losing the credit card wasn’t about the money, it never was, it
was about Brian using the credit card to find him, how could Brian find him if
he wasn’t the one using his card?