Jakes Dilemma ( Part 1)

February 2002.

“Jake?”

His mother screamed up the stairs.

“Jake?”

She screamed again.

“I’ll kill that little shit, he’s supposed to be up and out by seven and it’s now ten past, he’ll lose that bloody job of his if he’s not careful!”

“All right love, I’ll go up and give him a nudge, no point in winding yourself up about it, he’s nineteen for god’s sake”

Jakes Dad climbed the narrow stairs of the small two bedroom house. Jakes door was shut. He knocked on the door.

“Jake? It’s ten past seven, come on son, up you get!”

No answer.

“Jake, I’m coming in, move yourself”

He entered the bedroom, Jake wasn’t there. His bed was a mess, sheets everywhere, pillows on the floor, worn clothes slung about as though the place had been burgled. Quite normal for Jakes room!

He returned to the kitchen where his wife Jean was giving him one of “those” looks.

“Well, is he bloody well getting up or not?”

“Relax love, he’s already gone, must have had an early start or something”

“Really? He didn’t mention anything yesterday”

“You know what he’s like, he’s a bloody teenager for Christ sake, doesn’t know his arse from his elbow. So, let’s start the day again, how about a nice bit of brekkie!”

For the first time that day Jean smiled at her husband Pete and switched on the kettle. She was relieved about Jake; he’d had this job for two months now and was still on probation for another month. He couldn’t lose it, they couldn’t afford for him to lose it, Pete had been out of work for the past three years after being made redundant from the Gas works up the road. Her little job, cleaning at the local school, was all the money they had coming in. He just couldn’t lose that job, not now.

Four miles away people were clocking on for work at JD Miller & Co, makers of fine Architectural Ironmongery. A young scruffy looking kid called Stevie was putting on his overalls along with four others.

“Anyone seen Jake?”

Another of the team, a small thin kid called Gerry replied.

“Not today, not yet anyway, the Guvnor’s gonna go mad, he told us yesterday not to be late, a big orders come in and it’s all hands on deck for a few days, I told Jake yesterday that he should turn up a bit early, but you know what he’s like, just shrugged and walked off”

“He’s gonna get the sack if he’s not careful, is it me or is he acting even weirder just lately?”

They all agreed. Jake was always a bit of a rebel, but lately he’d been moody, quiet, secretive and a bit paranoid about everything. Stevie took out his mobile from his pocket and ran Jakes number. It rang a few times then went through to voicemail. Stevie left a message.

“Jake, it’s Stevie, get your arse in here asap!”

He put the phone back in his pocket.

“Maybe he’s on the gear, you know, maybe he’s going overboard on the Charlie!”

There was a nodding of heads and then they went their separate ways into the large warehouse and started up their machines.

The Shift Supervisor walked over to Stevie.

“Where the fuck’s your mate Jake this morning?”

“Doctors guv, he got the fist available appointment don't you remember he told you a couple of days ago"

“Did he? I don’t fucking remember, hope he’s not long we’ve got a lot to do today!”

Stevie smiled, he knew the Supervisor well, he was pissed half the time so was always forgetting things. He took out his mobile and rang Jake again. Same as before, it went through to voicemail.

“Jake, it’s me again; I’ve bought you a bit of time. I’ve said you’ve gone to the Doctors, so if pisshead asks, that’s where you’ve been!”

He put his phone away and got back to work.

Jake woke up but didn’t recognise his surroundings. It was dark, not pitch black just dimly lit. He could faintly see three shapes in front of him, as his eyes began to focus he realised that it was three men.

“Jake Roberts, glad to see you have come back to us, sorry about the bruise on the back of your neck, but one of my colleagues here is a martial arts fanatic and loves that particular move. If it connects properly and his always does, it puts the opponent out for anything up to an hour. You were no exception!”

Jake realised that his hands were tied. He was sitting on a chair in what looked like a disused railway arch. He could hear the noise of the trains above his head, water was dripping down the walls, the whole place smelt damp and the light kept flickering as the water trickled down the wall to the light switches. He quickly remembered getting up earlier than usual, leaving the house and walking to work. Then a numbing pain on the back of his neck. That was it, until now! He swallowed hard, his mouth was dry.

“What’s going on, what do you want?”

The biggest one of the three walked towards him. He was massive, bald head, unshaven, a nose that seemed to spread right across the middle of his face. He bent over and put his face close up to Jakes.

“We have a proposition for you Jake, it’s really simple. We want you to do something for us, if you do and all goes well, then you’ll get a few quid. If you decline and thing go wrong then you’ll have a massive problem”

Jake didn’t want to find out what the problem would be, but couldn’t stop himself.

“What would that be then?”

There was a voice from one of the other two men.

“Your dad will never walk again!”