Tucker Street

Fin Harrison put his navy blue sports bag down on to the smooth sand. He warmed his cold hands over the burning fire. The cool air was setting in as night fell, and winter was not too far away. The crowd gathered in large groups to watch the fireworks at 6 sharp.

Fin was always a bit of a loner. He liked to walk the 2km walk it took to get to the bayside beach. He would always stand alone around the open fire, never speaking to anyone- just to watch the annual event of the fireworks. He would then walk the 2km back home. On this night it was different for Fin Harrison.

He did start to walk his usual journey home. The footsteps behind him came closer. Close enough to smell the stench of booze coming from their breath.

‘’Hey freak what’s in the bag?’’ demanded the guy everybody called Tags.
He was notorious for his graffiti. He liked to tag his name Ronald on fences and lane way buildings. The cops would just call him Ronald. His mates knew him as Tags.

Fin kept walking, not looking back at all and clutching his bag. His boney fingers would have to be fused away for anyone to get any where near it.

‘’Freak, we’re talking to you,’’ said Jonno. Not so bright was Jonno, Tag took him under his wing when he fell out of a tree, and hit his head as well as landing badly on his left arm when his was eleven.

‘’Are you talking to me?’’ asked Fin.

‘’Well is there anyone else around freak?’’ shouted Tags.

‘’Yeah, you heard Tags’’, said Jonno.

‘’Ssh- no names stupid,’’ hissed Tags.

Fin just stared at the pair of hoods, shook his head and kept walking.

‘’Come back here freak. I’ll give you one last chance to tell me what’s in the bag,’’ shouted Tags.

‘’That’s my business,’’ Fin yelled back.

‘’No it’s my business,’’ said Tags picking up a rock and throwing it at Fin, barely missing him.
.
’’ Did you hear him Jonno, saying it was his business.’’

‘’Yeah I heard the freak Tags,’’ said Jonno.

‘’Ssh –no names remember. Do I have to remind you all the god dam time,’ said Tags.

Jonno bowed his head in embarrassment.

The lane way was backed up with rubbish. Rats were feeding off a dead alley cat. The rubbish strike was just one of the problems the community had to deal with. The second problem was hoods like Tags and Jonno.

Fin sat himself down on a cardboard mat. He sat waiting for the footsteps to get closer. The rats had devoured the last remains of the dead cat when Fin spotted Tags and Jonno making their way across the other side of Tucker Street.

Fin, zipped open his bag to see that every item was there incase of a possible set back. His annual walk home from the fireworks event didn’t include scum like Tags and Jonno, but he had to expect the unexpected. Everything seemed to be in order. He put his worn out black beanie on.

Fin emerged from out of the dark lane way and started to cross Tucker Street.

‘’Where’s that freak gone,’’ mumbled Tags.

‘’ I don’t know. I thought he was in front of us and now he has disappeared,’’ mumbled back Jonno.

‘’ That figures, the freak got scared and ran off,’’ scoffed Tags.

‘’Yeah I bet he ran off to cry to his mommy,’’ laughed Jonno.

Fin took off his sneakers to silence his footsteps. The footpath underneath his feet felt hard and damp from the night air. He saw Tags and Jonno loitering outside a two story up market detached house. They seem to be casing the joint. Sirens up the road distracted them. The police car chase turned down Bennett’s Drive.

‘’Run for it,’’ screamed Jonno.

‘’Quieten down’’ said Tags. ‘’We’ll head home for dinner and meet back here in a hour. I’ll bring some tools from the shed. Okay you got that?’’

‘’You can rely on me,’’ said Jonno.

‘’I’ve heard that one before,’’ said Tags.

Fin had heard every word. The special listening device, the spy ear he had in his bag had proved its purpose.
Fin decided to climb the tree outside the house and wait for Tags and Jonno to return.
The tree was the right height for a stake out and more so, it hid him from view in Tucker Street.

Sitting high up in tree Fin was starting to get hungry- even though he ate over the makeshift fire of sausages and marshmallows. Not a great combination, but what he thought was an ideal diet. Usually he would be home right now wolfing down a second helping of sausages with dollops of butter over a mountain of mashed spuds his mom had just whipped up. Knowing his mom would be pacing back and forwards worrying about him made Fin a tad agitated.

Fin heard voices-Tags and Jonno were on their way back to the house. He grabbed another item out of his bag. It was a sawn off shot gun. He worked hard at night out in the shed to get the length just perfect. The gun was his dad’s who kept it in a locked cabinet until he died last year. His dad was suffocated with masking tape over his face.
The autopsy proved he had been murdered. It’s a cold case now. Mystery unsolved, but a witness reported seeing two delinquents running from the scene. They thought they heard the name Tags being called out by the other hood, but they weren’t sure so nothing was ever proven.

With the spy ear, Fin could hear Tags and Jonno planning their big robbery.

‘’ You go around the back entrance Jonno as soon as we scale the wall and I’ll get through the front with my tools,’’ said Tags.

‘’How are we going to get over the wall,’’ asked Jonno. ‘’The wall looks to hard to climb.’’

‘’Do I have to use my brain for the both of us?’’ moaned Tags. ‘’On second thoughts don’t answer that one.

Fin started to get restless. He slithered his way down the tree in a snake like movement.
He pointed the gun at Tags- just touching the tip of his neck. Jonno started to feel cold. He stood shaking and watching Fin with the gun pointed at Tag’s neck. Jonno’s whites off his eyes were bulging in and out of his head. A foul smelling liquid escaped passed his khaki pants.

‘’What are you doing you freaakkk’’ stammered Tags.

Fin spoke like he’d never spoken before. ‘’Sit over near the tree and shut up,’’ ordered Fin.

He opened his bag for the last time that night. He put his shot gun back in the bag and pulled out his last item.

Tags and Jonno were both discovered the next morning with their faces both covered with masking tape. It’s a cold case now.