Monday was an important day for Mr Singh and his three sons because Mr Singh had yet again cut all the prices on his stock. He had banners outside the shop silently screaming out ‘Our Prices have just got lower’. Mr Singh sniggered as he thought of a sign he could put outside Mr Barley’s shop which would have read, ‘Our Prices have just got higher’. Mr Singh thought his fellow shopkeeper’s prices were extortionate and wondered how he brought in so many customers. Mr Singh’s campaign was to get in as many buyers as he could because if he didn’t the shop would be forced to close down. He had Abdul on the door giving leaflets out to people on the street and he had both Arjun Jr and Sanjit packing the customers bags at the checkouts. Mr Singh was having a successful day until Mr Barley and his two sons came in. They had their arms folded and their bottom lip crossed over their top lip, this meant they were angry. Their baldheads reflected the bright lights above, they looked like real thugs.
“I heard you have been getting loads of punters in today. Cutting the prices again are we? Instead of a pound store you’ll soon be called a penny store” Mr Barley’s sons sniggered smugly.
“I am just trying to get more customers, I thought it was a good way”
“ Can I inform you Mr Singh, we’re not in Pakistan where everything’s dirt cheap anymore, we’re in England a highly rich country.”
“ What are you trying to say? That we are cheap?” said Arjun Jr in defence of his father.
“Oi I’d watch your mouth, daddy’s boy!” Arjun tried to pack a punch at Mr Barley but was held back by Sanjit. Mr Barley’s sons were now peering down at the diminutive Arjun, as if to say that he had no chance.
“You leave my son alone you smelly bald headed man!” Mr Singh knew this would get Jason angry.
“What you call me? That was a bad move my son. Come on lads lets trash this place.” Mr Singh’s impeccably laid out shop has been ripped apart in a matter of seconds. All of his stock was damaged and he could do nothing about it. Abdul heard the struggle in the shop and flung open the shop door to see three bald men destroying his father’s shop. He went for one of them but came out the worst as he was thumped in the eye and flung back onto the counter. The three men escaped leaving Abdul with a sore eye and a headache.
“I’ve had enough of this, who does he think he is. We’ve got to get him Dad I know he killed Mom.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions son, I want to find your moms killer as much as you but you can’t go accusing everyone who fits the criteria of a thug.”
“I’ve had enough of this, I’m going clubbing” Clubbing was Abdul’s way of escaping from things he could not handle.
Abdul was sitting at the bar looking depressed and upset. He had just ordered another two shots of vodka and was becoming drunk quickly. The once empty chair beside him was no longer vacant anymore, he could feel it even though he was not looking, he could feel a presence. He took a quick look out of his battered right eye and saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. As she turned to him, Abdul looked away quickly.
“I see you’ve been in the wars then” said the girl next to Abdul. Abdul replied very timidly
“Yeah I was in a bit of a fight” At this moment the DJ cranked up the music.
“Do you want do dance? Because I love this song”
“Of course.”
The music was pumping around the dance floor, Abdul knew this was not the time for conversation but he wanted to know her more so he talked anyway.
“ So what is your name?”
“My name is Claire”
“How old are you?”
“ I was nineteen yesterday, this is my Birthday night out. So what’s your name?”
“ My name’s Abdul, Abdul Singh. You didn’t tell me your last name”
“ Oh it’s Barley, Claire Barley” In Abdul’s own world the DJ spun the record to a stop and there would be a spiralling camera view with a 360o rotation of his face. His expression said it all, and then he popped the question.
“Are…you related to Jason Barley?”
“Oh so you know my Dad then” That changed it all how could he be friends with the enemy, a blood relation of his mother’s killer.
“I’m sorry I have to go.”
“Go? I don’t understand we’ve only just met”
“Do you want to know who gave me this battered eye? It was your Dad, he killed my mother- I can’t be friends with you.” Abdul squeezed through the dancing crowd and slammed the club doors behind him. The surrounding changed from a loud club to the silent nightlife of Dudley in one minute. Abdul thought it was very like his own life, one moment he was on top of the world the next everything was silent as he slowly plummeted to the ground. He spent what was left of the night drowning his sorrows in an empty beer bottle.
Early the next morning Abdul opened the shop feeling very hung over. He looked depressed and under the weather. He did his usual, refill the till, put some new stock out and put the kettle on for his dad who liked an early morning milk drink. One thing Abdul forgot to do was to lock the door, he was totally oblivious to this but soon realised it was open when he heard the electronic ring most newsagents have to notify the shopkeeper they have customers. He was un aware who was at the door but said
“Sorry mate were not open until another half an hour.”
“Well, my son, opening time has just got earlier” Abdul looked up to see Mr Barley who was wearing a black puffer jacket and holding what seemed to be a sawn off shotgun.
“You broke my daughter’s heart last night. No one does that. You said some pretty nasty things about me last night and you’re going to pay for it.” Mr Barley lifted the weapon close to Abdul’s forehead, his finger firmly fixed on the trigger.
“Your mother said some nasty things to me and look what happened to her. Look at what I did to her!”
“It was you.” Abdul was not surprised but was finally relieved he knew who had killed his mother.
“And now you are the only person who knows and that knowledge comes with a price- death!” As he was about to pull the trigger Mr Singh came through the door with his two sons. There was one shot, two shots, 3 shots, 4 shots and then a pause…BANG! A 5th shot.
When the autopsy on the 5 dead was done the faces of the dead could not be recognized there was so much damage the bodies could only be identified by skin samples and the size of the bones. The Final verdict was that man middle 50’s, a young man around 19, and two boys around the age of 13 were among the dead. However the 5th body was that of a Mr Jason Barley who shot himself in the head after killing the family of four. So much terror and unnecessary hurt for such a small thing.
