Page 51 of Indie

Fury frowned. “Tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Really?” I grumbled, knowing how much Emmie needed that car.

“Aye. Apparently another materials shortage. Although I reckon they’re just lazy fuckers and don’t want to fucking work.”

I turned back to Emmie, watching her chew on her lip, her face strained.

“Don’t worry, Spuggy. I’ll be your chauffeur until the car’s fixed.”

“I dunno Indie. My shifts are all over the place these next few days. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Babe, no part of you could ever inconvenience me. I’ll sort it, I promise.”

Fury rolled his eyes, mimicking sticking his fingers down his throat and fake gagging.

“And you can fuck off and get this car stripped. We’ll do what we can till the parts get here.”

Fury put one hand on his hips, lifting his forefinger in the air and swivelling it down the front of him like he was drawing a snake shape.

“Back to work, Princess,” I grumbled, watching him flick his head and spin on his heel. And as he went to move away, I slapped his arse, the sound loud in the cavernous space of the garage.

“Harder, Daddy,” he called over his shoulder.

When I turned to Emmie again, she was watching us wide-eyed.

“What?” I asked her, the grin not quite staying off my face.

“I…err…I’m not quite used to guys doing that to each other.”

“What? Messing around?”

“Yeah. Like that, I mean. Gaz would have had a meltdown if another man touched his bum.”

“Gaz sounds like he’s not sure who he is, Spuggy. And Gaz has never been in the army. It’s pretty normal banter. Means nothing other than we’re mates.” I pushed her elbow gently, turning her away from the knackered car that was starting to sit, piece by piece, in the garage. “Come on. Let’s get a coffee while we point and laugh at Fury on the cameras.”

“Are you not going to help him?”

“Nah. There’s not much of the big stuff to do. Besides, gonna get some paperwork done whilst my hands are clean.”

Fury didn’t stop, sliding in and out on his board as he took off engine parts from underneath and from on top, and soon Emmie’s car had both front wheels removed and half of the engine out on the concrete at the big man’s feet. I should have rolled the car over one of the pits, but every spot was taken up with vehicles, waiting for something, as a national material shortage wracked the country.

“Was Fury in the army too?” Emmie asked suddenly, her lips making a tiny ‘o’ as she blew across the mug of coffee she held in her hands.

“Yeah. It’s where we met. Why do you ask?”

“The tattoos. You both have tattoos.”

“We just like tattoos, Spuggy. None of these are army issue. It’s just the norm these days.” I rolled my sleeves up and turned my arms over. “Besides, kinda helps when your brother’s a tattoo artist.”

“You’ve a brother?”

I nodded. “Half-brother.” He still was, as far as I was concerned. Even if right now he didn’t think so.

“I’ve never seen him at the hospital.”

I felt the frown pull at my lips, a pang of guilt niggle at my heart, and that deep sense of anxiety that I recognised from each time I cooked up some excuse to tell my dad why Demon hadn’t come to visit him.

“He and my dad fell out not so long ago. Dad said some things that upset him, and Demon hasn’t forgiven him yet.” Emmie’s face softened, a look of sympathy, but understanding and I guessed she’d heard that all before.