ASBO: A Novel of Extreme Terror(11)

Andrew listened to the sound of his own breathing for a few seconds, wishing the whole thing would go away – but it wasn’t going to, no matter how much he wanted it to. He gave his answer: “Frankie.”

The male police officer, PC Wardsley, raised an eyebrow. “Frankie?”

Andrew nodded. “There’s a gang that’s been hanging around the last few days. I think their leader is a guy named Frankie?”

Wardsley scribbled down some notes eagerly, whilst his partner, Dalton, took over questioning. “Why do you think this…Frankie…would want to target you?”

Andrew looked over at his wife and daughter. Both were looking back at him with great interest. Then he turned back to the female officer. “I know, because the bastard assaulted me yesterday evening – punched me in the ribs. I was carrying fish and chips at the time and he knocked them all over the road.”

“What?” Penelope started shouting. “Why on earth did you not tell me? You sat with us all night and you didn’t think to tell us that you’d been attacked?”

Andrew felt ashamed. Bex had started to cry which only made the feeling worse. “I’m sorry,” he told them both. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

Pen folded her arms and shook her head at him. “Worry me? What do you think all this is doing?”

“Okay,” Dalton butted in. “Can you describe this man, Mr Goodman?”

“Teenager,” Andrew corrected. “Barely past being a kid.”

“Okay. What else?”

“He’s muscly – like he works out a lot. Red beanie hat. Has a scar across his lip and a weird facial tic thing.”

“He has a twitch?”

“Yeah,” Andrew confirmed.

“Anything else?”

“The girl that served me at the chip shop said that Frankie had just gotten out of a kid’s prison; warned me he was dangerous.”

“God,” Pen uttered and covered her mouth with one of her hands. “How did you get mixed up in all this?”

Andrew felt a pinch of aggression, but managed to stop it going further. “I didn’t have much choice,” he said. “I had to walk past him on the way to the chip shop. Apparently that’s all it takes to wind the guy up.”

“None of this is your fault, sir,” said Dalton who looked at Pen as she spoke as if trying to mediate. “I’m afraid this is just the way some of today’s youths get their kicks.”

“So what do we do?” Bex asked, sounding frightened. “How do we get this Frankie to leave us alone?”

“I take it you’re going to arrest him?” Pen asked the officers.

Dalton said, “We will question him of course, but without evidence we can’t arrest him.”

“What?” Andrew couldn’t believe it. “You can’t do anything?”

“I didn’t say that. We’ll see what the forensic team brings up when they search the house a little later. If we find his prints then, yes, we can certainly arrest him. Did anyone else see him assault you?”

Andrew shook his head.

“Okay, well, let me make a call to see what I can find out about this Frankie character. In the meantime pop the kettle on to calm your nerves. Things can all seem very overwhelming at this point.”

“Okay.” Andrew nodded. “Thank you.

The police officers left the room and returned to their car outside. Andrew joined his family on the sofa.

“I can’t believe this has happened,” Pen said to him. “That…bastard…was in my home.”

Andrew sat down and put an arm around her. “It’ll be okay. The police will do something.”

“You heard them! They probably won’t be able to do anything.”

Andrew sighed. “Look, let’s just see what happens. No need to assume the worst yet.”

“Are you okay, Dad?” Bex asked from the other side of her mother. “Did you get hurt when they attacked you?”

“What do you think?” Pen snapped at her. “There’s nothing pleasant about being assaulted, is there?”

Andrew hushed his wife. “Calm down. It’s not Bex’s fault.” His daughter was crying again so he gave her a brief smile to reassure her. “I’m fine,” he said. “Just some sore ribs; I’ll live. Will take today off work and rest up a while.”