Jamie had just been on his first holiday since lock-down. He usually went away to the Philippines or Thailand with his brother once a year but since COVID he couldn't go anywhere, epically not vaccinated. However an old friend had called him up saying he had won some fun in the Sun tickets from that paper, to spend a week down in a caravan park on the South Coast.
He had a good time down there, playing pool and getting drunk each night, it was a great escape from the monotony and boredom of Camberley life in 2021 at the moment.
As he was driving from the pad, he was reminiscing about the good time he had, and realising how little money he had spent compared to the thousands he used to spend going to Mali or Colombia each year. Long haul flights, stop overs, expensive hotels, bribes to cops, and the flesh of the night they always indulged in.
He pulled up outside his pad, and got out his motor. He took the big sports bag of clothes from his boot and walked up to his house. After putting away his stuff he got a call from a punter. He had been happy to escape these rat runs for a few weeks but now he was back it was back to business.
So he went out to the back garden to get his stash. However as he approached the muddy bushes in the corner he could see they had been disturbed. He quickly ran over and started digging with his hands. Where was the box he kept, the wooden container that held all his cash and stash at the same time.
£40k he had managed to save up over the years since his last court appearance where the police had taken almost £200 grand off him for proceeds of crime offences. It had taken a long time to get to £40k, especially in this COIVD drought, and the only other person who knew about his stash spot was his supposedly good friend Steve who hadn't gone on holiday with him but came round nightly to play on the X Box and watch Japanese School Girls dancing in cartoons on YouTube.
The box had gone, shit, what had happened to it. Had the neighbours upstairs seen him go to it and skanked him during his break or had the bussies been in to do an illegal search and just taken it to ruin him. He had no scooby and his mind was racing as he was throwing mud all around himself digging and digging with his hands trying to find the box.
He had always told people he kept his stash in the allotments just a few hundred metres from the back of his house but he was so lazy he couldn't be bothered to go that far.
The money was gone, he was skint, and had no stash. It was at this exact moment that he heard the door bell ring.
He ran inside rubbing the mud crumbs off on the side of his blue denims. He opened the door and was met with Steve.
“Al-right Jamie, how was the holiday?”, Steve asked nonchalantly.
“The holiday was fine, but my stash has gone”, Jamie grunted, eye-balling Steve.
“Really, has it? What about you upstairs neighbour, maybe he has taken it”. Came the reply.
“Doubt it, he's always asleep til 3am, he's never seen me in my garden once”. Jamie was looking at Steve for any sign that he was lying which Steve obviously noticed.
“What are you accusing me?” Steve said, with a look of astonishment on his face. A look of misjudged accusement. “I would never take that from you, I'm your mate”. He pleaded.
“Yeah”, Jamie replied, “but it's always those close to you that stitch you up”, Jamie replied with a spit of disgust and closed the door in Steve's face. He couldn't be dealing with him now, not without evidence.
He had no proof Steve had taken the money, but he was the type who was always skint. Despite working for cash on top of his dole, Jamie was always looking after him, buying him beers and helping him out. He really thought of him as a good friend. A long time friend and he didn't have many.
He walked into the lounge and sat down paranoid and stressed. He looked around the number of ashtrays for a butt to smoke, but they were all empty. He couldn't enjoy even a toke.
He was now skint and with no means to start back up again. It was a mini death, but not the French kind and he almost felt a tear roll down his cheek as he thought of Steve stealing from him, and what he would he do if he found out he had.
Steve had been his best mate for over 30yrs now and if they fell out over this, that was the end, he would be alone and untrustworthy of anyone else. It was always those you thought you could trust in this shit box town that let you down, and the people he mixed with were not exactly trust worthy.
It was at these times he would usually get high, but with his stash gone he couldn't even do that.
Jamie sat back in his chair and just stared at the wall. Even the lure of Japanese school girls dancing in cartoons on YouTube could not pull him out of his trance of disillusionment, he was heart broken. Life was shit.
© 2021 All Rights Reserved Robert Reid
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