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The
brass bell
Fiction by Joe
Gallagher
Donald Blake, "Speedy" to his friends, is a 6ft 2"
Jamaican ex-boxer, His large menacing frame stood like a mountainous
lump of muscle. He was now the proud owner of 'The Water front' public
house, a large pub situated on the outskirts of the city centre. The
large brass bell that hung behind the bar was presented to him on his
last bout some 10 years ago, and was one of his treasured things. The
boxing came to an abrupt end, due to the severe beating he’d taken
when contending for the Jamaican championship, a left hook to the
temple and a vicious upper cut to the jaw put speedy into the land of
nod for 5 days, that’s when they found the abnormality on the right
side of his brain. It as left speedy suffering from flash backs to the
ring, and sudden mood swings. He found a happy medium in marijuana,
though to much would bring the nasty side out of him. There was one
story that happened a few years ago, it all started one Sunday morning
when one of speedy's close friends dropped by with a 9" inch space
cake, which he had made for him. He warned speedy to take it easy, as
the ingredients also contained "white widow" a top grade skunk weed
that he had recently brought over from Amsterdam. Speedy had took a
nibble before opening time and was feeling good, there was a small
gathering waiting for him as he opened the door. There was a 1 O clock
kick off at old Trafford and the pub would be packed by then. The
three large T V sets that were strategically placed around the room
gave everyone a good chance of seeing all the action as it happened.
By 4 o’clock the place was completely full and the noise was
deafening, the football had finished with Manchester United thrashing
Arsenal six one and the room was buzzing with excitement. Speedy on
the other hand was beginning to feel the pressure, there was a knew
crowd who Speedy hadn't seen before, and they were getting a bit
rowdy, one lad in his early twenties had been taking the piss out of
one of the many large photographs of Speedy’s fighting days, that hung
around the room. Speedy let it go, he was to busy serving the
customers, but now they were beginning to get to him. He turned to
Billy a short tubby man in his late forty's, and asked him to take
over for a while, Billy often helped out around the pub when Speedy
wasn't feeling well, Billy agreed, telling him to get his head down
for a couple of hours. Speedy decided he would make some food as he
reached the top of the stairs and went threw to the kitchen, and
that’s when he remembered the space cake. Legend as it; that he ate
the full cake, and within minutes the skunk weed began to kick in;
Mean while down in the bar things were beginning to hot up. Billy had
warned the small crowd not to push it, but they weren’t listening. The
place had cleared some what since the football ended, and all that was
left was the locals, as well as the four men. One of them was chanting
like Mohammed Ali, shouting "I’ll kill ya sucker" while another danced
around the room shadow boxing. Legend as it that the room fell silent
like an old wild west film, and everyone looked over to the door of
the vault, and there, standing in the doorway was Speedy, dressed in
full boxing gear, he had obviously been limbering up as his whole body
was dripping in sweat. Legend as it that one of the lads reached over
the bar and rang the bell, the lad said later to the doctor that he
rang it twice, but the third ring shifted up a pitch to the tone of
the ambulance, where he came round some 30 minutes later. He beat on
the rest of the crowd bad style for some twenty minutes before the
police arrived, legend as it that they cried out for there mummy's as
Speedy picked them up one by one from the floor for another beating.
Joe Gallagher
Posted 01/10/2008
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