A Good Find by Gary L Beer (chrysanthemum read aloud .TXT) 📕

broadly as he stands up; “I need the toilet.” he informs as he walks towards the kitchen. This was the first time they had seen him standing and Stef is surprised to see that Ian is small, maybe only one and a half metres tall and as he walks Stef notices that he limps. The left leg is stiff and it seems to cause him pain to walk.
“Where are you going once you've left here?” Stef asks Ian as he limps back into the lounge.
“The river is closest, I still need to rest for a couple more days before I do anything too energetic.”
Stef looks across at Simon, the mention of the river sounds alarm bells in Stef's head and by the expression on Simon's face he is having the same thoughts. Stef laughs; “We went down there the other day, that day when it rained really hard and we got soaked.”
“Was there many people fishing?” asks Ian earnestly showing his main concern.
“No we didn't see anyone apart from a few walkers.” Stef lies.
“We can give you a lift to the lake if you want Dude?” Simon volunteers.
“You are not serious are you?” Ian asks with real hope in his voice.
“Looks like you will struggle without some help, what's wrong with your leg?” asks Stef.
“Some of the muscles are dead and its a bit stiff in the mornings, I'll be all right later in the day.”
“Where's this lake then?” asks Stef.
“About twenty miles away; in the Stour Valley.”
“Yeah, I know where you mean, there are six lakes along there and that's on our way, let's do it.” says Stef as he stands and takes his bowl and mug back into the kitchen.
Ian starts to pack his gear away and Simon helps by rolling the sleeping bag up and folding the bed chair. Stef helps take down the tent as Ian puts his fishing rods into a huge rod bag.
Ten minutes later they leave the flat quietly; “What are you going to do about the window Dude?” asks Simon as he steps out into the back garden.
“I've measured it and I'll go down the glass shop and come back later, we don't want anyone else breaking in.” he answers staring at Ian.
Ian looks embarrassed; “I was desperate and I didn't break in really as the window was open.”
“I still want to know who did that.” answers Stef as he locks the back door, picking up the big tent and a rucksack he helps carry Ian's stuff to the car.


Chapter Twelve

“Who is that?” shouts Steve from the bathroom as hears a vehicle pull into his drive.
Curly Pete who was sitting at the table is already looking out of the window; “It's Barney and Dippa.” he shouts up to Steve.
Steve dresses quickly and runs down the stairs as Barney, Dippa, Cheesey and Graham approach the front door. Steve opens the door wide and looks at Dippa; “What do you want?”
“I came to see how you are, quite an exciting day yesterday.” replies Dippa seeming unconcerned that he had shown cowardice by running away.
“What happened to you then?” Steve demands his face starting to flush with anger.
Dippa turns pale; he had been scared of being arrested and admits it to himself. He had hoped that Steve was going to be all right about it.
“Here he is, the one that ran away.” says Curly Pete in a loud voice as he approaches the front door.
Dippa looks ashen and tries to pull himself together; “I thought everyone got out of there fast when we found it empty.” he lies.
“No you didn't, you ran coz you are yeller.” says Steve scornfully. Standing to one side to allow them in, Dippa takes the lead glad to be away from Steve's accusing eyes and walks towards the kitchen.
“You all right Steve?” Cheesey asks looking concerned.
“Yeah I'm fine thanks, come in will you?”
Cheesey stands in the doorway for a few seconds before he realises he is standing in the way, taking a step forward he stands beside Steve as Barney and Graham walk in. Nodding a greeting to Steve and Curly Pete they follow Dippa into the kitchen.
Steve shuts the door and turns and looks at Cheesey; “Something on your mind mate?” he asks softly.
Cheesey goes to speak but looks at Curly Pete nervously, whatever he was going to say it appears he does not want to say it in front of him.
“Can you make sure they are behaving in there please Pete?” Steve politely asks.
Curly Pete looks annoyed, saying nothing he nods his head towards Steve in agreement and with a final long stare at Cheesey he follows the others into the kitchen.
“What's on your mind then Cheesey?” asks Steve as Curly Pete goes into the kitchen.
Cheesey looks at Steve seeming to pluck up the courage to talk; “We heard that Curly Pete weren't on your side anymore and Barry was gonna take over?”
“As you can see Pete's here with me, who told you that?”
“Well we weren't sure, Barney overheard Dave talking to Curly Pete saying that Barry would be in charge from today. We thought we would come and see if you wanted any help.” Cheesey tells him nervously looking around him.
Steve's thoughts are that it is nice of them to think about him though they had left it a bit late if they had wanted to help. He appreciates that Cheesey's concern is real and Dippa, Graham and Barney are more than likely to have come to see who is in charge now; and they wouldn't mind who that is, as long as they got paid.
Steve puts his hand on Cheesey's arm; “Thanks for your concern mate, you still have a job here.”
Cheesey visibly relaxes showing his relief; “I'm here now if you want me to do anything?” he asks hopefully.
Steve assumes that Cheesey has no money, hence the offer; “You only got paid three days ago, you can't have spent that already?” Steve laughs covering his annoyance.
Cheesey looks sheepish and stares down at the floor; “Yeah we made a bit of a weekend of it.”
“I'm amazed you are still alive the state your liver must be in.” Steve exclaims laughing loudly.
“Yeah, well” Cheesey replies nervously and stares Steve in the eyes waiting for him to give him some work. Cheesey is an alcoholic and Steve could see that a lot of the nervousness is probably due to a lack of alcohol.
“You wanna beer? I got some in the fridge.” Steve asks as he pushes past him and walks towards the kitchen.
Cheesey's face lights up at the thought of a drink; “Yeah, I ain't had one yet, Barney said to wait 'till we got here and see what was happening first.”
“Anyone wanna beer?” Steve asks as he enters the kitchen.
“Yes please.” Graham almost shouts.
“Yeah I'll have one.” smiles Dippa.
Barney and Curly Pete appear to be in deep conversation and they look up at Steve, shake their heads and carry on talking.
Steve tries to listen as he opens the fridge and gets out three cans of beer. Handing them to Cheesey he shuts the door and sits down beside Barney as Cheesey hands the beer out.
The sound of the cans opening with a hiss, almost all at the same time shows their eagerness and the contented sighs confirm the alcohol addiction. Barney is telling Curly Pete about a new customer he wants to take on. It appears he has known him for several years and he was assuring Pete that he was good for several ounces each week. Curly Pete interrogates Barney asking what happened to his last dealer, who is friends and family were and even what kind of car the fella drove.
Curly Pete looks Steve in the eyes; “What do you think Steve?”
“Sounds good, as long as he only goes through Barney.”
“When will you be getting some more? That is I assume you are still in business?” asks Barney.
“Yes am still in business, can do you three this afternoon if you want and the rest will be in tomorrow.”
“What time this afternoon?” asks Barney as he looks at his gold watch.
“Be about half two if you can wait that long?”
Barney smiles in relief; “That's good, will give me time to get a decent dinner before I head back.”
“As you are all here I might as well tell you that we are going to do things a bit differently for a while. Me and Pete will be meeting Ingrid for a while, if you want anything your contact will be Natalie or Sheila.”
“Natalie?” sneers Dippa.
“Yeah I know you and her don't get on, maybe you should understand what 'no' means.” replies Steve reminding Dippa as to why Natalie does not like him. Dippa had tried several times to have sex with her and the last time he had tried he had been very drunk and ended up with a slap!
“I don't like her nor Sheila come to that.” admits Dippa.
“Only because they won't have sex with you, I can't see why you want to, them being lesbians.”
“Dippa has to have every female he meets, no matter whether they are lesbians, ugly, old or young.” laughs Barney as Cheesey and Graham nod their heads in agreement.
Dippa's face flushes a deep red; “No I ain't.” he lies looking down at the floor.
“Seriously Dippa you will have to get over it, if you still want to hang around they have come into partnership with me and you will be working for them.” Steve tells him sternly.
“I never thought I would hear you say that, you must be desperate.” sneers Dippa.
Steve's face hardens; “I ain't got a lot of choice mate, with everything going wrong on the last deal and as you can see Barry and his friends are no longer with us, I had to get the money from somewhere.”
“It surprises me that they have that kind of money, I know Barry was pissed off with you but where's he gonna get his from now?” asks Dippa.
“That's his problem all I know is that I gotta meet Ingrid tomorrow and I've got the money now, without him.”
“Yeah but Sheila and Nat? They'll take over and in a few months time and you'll be working for them.” Dippa warns.
“If that happens then that will be my problem.” says Steve firmly.
“Already it's become my problem as I gotta deal with them now, why can't I come to you?”
“Because you have to go and see Natalie or Sheila, it will be the same price as from me as I need to take a back seat for a while.”
“Already they are taking over by the looks of it.” grumbles Dippa “How come Barney gets