Jai lifted his head at the sound of this unexpected late arrival. The intended response was etched large upon his bloodied features: a mixture of confusion and despair as he tried to work out how this was possible then calculated the implications for his own chances. He said nothing, incredulity at the revelation of this unholy alliance giving way to a grim resignation as the true nature of things made itself unforgivingly clear. Jai thought he was the one who had been fly, doing secret deals with his boss’s enemies, but now he was seeing who was truly fly, and why his boss was the boss.

Jai truly, inescapably, knew the score, and that should have been enough. But not for Wee Sacks. He pulled out a gun, even though that part was meant to be left to Big Fall’s crew. He was using it as a prop, milking Jai’s fear as he started spelling everything out, starting with a potted history of their relationship so that he could ham up his claims of hurt at Jai’s betrayal.

He held the gun to Jai’s forehead. Jai closed his eyes, as though he could shut out what was to come. He squeezed them tighter and tighter as the moment endured and the shot didn’t come, tears eventually seeping from them as he broke down. Then the wee prick took the gun away again and started talking some more, further elaborating upon his indignation. He was getting too much from this to have done with it quickly, although not in some sadistically frivolous way. There was boiling fury in him, incredulous outrage at Jai’s temerity. It was as though this moment was not reparation enough, killing him merely the once insufficient vengeance. He would kill him over and over if he could, and this was as close as he could get to doing that. He was an angry wee dog, barking all the louder in rage against his size.

Fall wasn’t having it, though. The big man had heard enough. He took out his own gun and barged the yappy terrier aside.

‘Don’t kick the arse oot it,’ he warned, and shot Jai through the head.

Jai slumped backwards, his head haloed on the ground by a spreading arc of blood as the shot reverberated like a ricochet around the walls of the quarry. It seemed to echo back upon itself, sustained like a feedback loop; then, as the report of the gunshot slowly faded, Wullie became aware that within the reverberation was a second sound: a human scream.

It wasn’t a healthy sign that it took his initial surprise to remind him that most normal people still found this kind of thing shocking.

Jasmine Screws Up