He continued to walk further down the slope towards another set of garages, his eyes darting around. The tiniest of noises behind him had Alfie spinning around. He stared into the shadows, working out where it was coming from. He listened again – yes, there it was, over by the lock-ups.

Slowly, he walked towards the sound. ‘Alan? Give it up, mate.’ There was no response as Alfie stood by the thin gap between the two garages. He couldn’t see down it; it was too dark, but he could hear that someone was there.

Suddenly, in a hopeless attempt to escape, Alan sprung out, but not before Alfie’s foot booted him hard, tripping him up and causing him to sprawl across the concrete.

‘Going somewhere are we?’ Alfie stood over Alan. He brought back his foot, kicking him in the ribs. ‘Now, I want some answers. Where’s Barry? And where’s my money?’

Alan, who was groaning on the floor, shook, as the kids on the estate – used to regular fights in the area – stood around barely interested, paying more attention to the smashing up of an abandoned car by the lock-ups.

‘You owe me some money, mate. I hope you haven’t spent it on that shit you like to take. You really picked the wrong person to mess with.’ Alfie pressed his foot on Alan’s back as he squirmed underneath him.

Covered in dirt, Alan stuttered. ‘Listen, I’m … I’m sorry, mate.’

‘I’m not your mate, and how about I show you just that, you piece of scum.’ Alfie kicked Alan in the side again, the sound of cracking ribs echoing around the underground car park. Alan screamed out in pain, staggering for breath before curling up in a ball.

Alfie prodded him with the piece of metal scaffolding. ‘That was just for starters, and if you don’t tell me what I want to hear, you’ll see what the main course is like. Do you understand?’

Alan nodded his head as he whimpered. ‘Yeah, but I don’t know much.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that. So, my first question is, was this just a setup to mug me off? Is this what you and him do? Get some punter and rip them off? Is that your game?’

‘No … no. He did send me, but … but not to take your money. I was desperate.’

Alfie jabbed the pole in Alan’s ribs. He yelled out in agony. ‘Just answer the question! I ain’t interested in any hard-luck story, you got me? I mean, where do you get off taking my money and going off to score?’

He stared down at Alan. He wasn’t going to risk going into his pockets, knowing that there was a good chance he might have a dirty needle in them.

‘Turn them out.’ Alfie prodded his foot against Alan’s pockets.

‘I swear I’ve got nothing, I spent it all.’