* * *
None of the girls at the party were keen on dancing with Maurice and his companions. A few of the boys including Wal and Ginge attempted to stand up to them again, but the power against them was just too much.
Sheep wanted to try to help, but he was already nursing a swelling jaw, he had received from one of Maurice’s pals. He watched in horror as the guy who did it, dragged Chelsea by the arm out to dance with him. Anger welled up inside of him. Wal tried to intervene, but two of Maurice’s pals ganged up on him. He managed to get one good punch in but then was battered to the ground.
‘Come on Randy Mandy!’ Maurice growled. ‘Dance!’
‘No!’
He grabbed her by the arm as she tried to pull away, yanking her violently.
Dale was almost in tears. ‘Leave her alone, Maurice!’
‘Shut the hell up!’
Just then, the music went off. Silence fell and everyone jerked their heads towards the stereo, sure that nobody was anywhere near it. When Sheep saw who it was who’d switched off the music, he breathed a sigh of relief. The cavalry had arrived. The one-man cavalry - Rex Cassidy.
Rex stepped into the middle of the all the dancers, a grim look on his face. Vanessa had arrived back with him and stood off to the side, looking anxious. He spoke in a venomous tone, ‘What the hell is going on here?’
Immediately, Maurice and his pals surrounded him. Sheep tried to rise to his feet, but one of Maurice’s heavies, shoved him back down.
‘So, he’s finally decided to grace us with his presence, has he?’ Maurice stepped up to Rex. ‘About time you showed. Look Dale, here he is, the guy who’s screwing your girlfriend. You want to come up and smack him around a bit?’
Dale shook his head, his face pale. ‘Let’s just go home, Maurice.’
‘No. We’re staying right here.’
Rex stood there silently for a few moments, not looking at all intimidated by the overwhelming odds he faced. He didn’t even look behind himself as three of Maurice’s goons moved up on him, ready for action.
‘So, Cassidy,’ Maurice sniggered. ‘What ya gonna do? Gonna play the big hero? Rescue the damsels in distress? Isn’t that what you like to do?’
‘Take your boys Havers and get the hell out of here. I’m not in the mood!’
‘Oh, so he’s not in the mood.’ Maurice chuckled. ‘You know, there’s a lot of things in life that we don’t like to do, because we’re not in the mood. On this occasion, it’s you that’s gonna get the hell out of here Cassidy and you’re gonna let us hang out here with your groupies and have some fun.’ He glanced over his shoulder to see Vanessa standing there. A smile appeared on his face. ‘Well, well, well. This party just gets better and better all the time. Hey babe, why don’t you ditch this loser and come and hang out with some real men?’
Rex grabbed Maurice by the shirt and his face darkened. ‘You don’t wanna go there, douchebag!’
Maurice shoved him off and smirked. ‘What ya gonna do, Cassidy? Take all six of us on? I know you’re good, but not that good.’
Rex continued to peer straight at Maurice and then much to Sheep’s surprise, a smile appeared on his face. ‘Would you like to find out?’
Maurice’s smile disappeared. ‘Are you for real?’
‘Yeah, I’m for real. Let’s try it shall we? Give me what you got. I’m always up for a challenge. You’ll probably take me down, after all, there are six of you, but I reckon I can get in a few broken noses and claim a few teeth for the tooth fairy before that happens. In fact, Havers, I can guarantee you personally at least a broken jaw once my foot connects with your face. So, come on, give it your best shot.’
Sheep tensed up, ready to lend a hand if it was needed. Even if he did have a swelling jaw, he wasn’t prepared to let his friend be ganged up on.
Maurice hesitated and suddenly had no slimy remarks to make. Maybe he had planned on Rex backing down, but he obviously didn’t know Rex that well. For Rex, there was no such thing as backing down.
One of Maurice’s pals, the one who had tried to dance with Chelsea made a move. He crept up behind Rex, but Rex must have heard him coming, or sensed it, because suddenly, he spun around sending an incredible windmill kick to his chest. Maurice’s goon went flying close to five metres across the sand and crashed to the ground with an almighty thump.
‘Next!’
One of them swung his fist at Rex’s head, but he ducked under it and sent a sideways blow back to his attacker’s jaw, sending him staggering out of the way and tumbling to the ground.
There was silence once again and none of Maurice’s pals moved. Some of their faces paled as they realised that the odds weren’t as stacked in their favour as they first thought.
Then to Sheep’s shock, Maurice raised his hands in the air, as if surrendering. ‘It’s cool.’ He backed away a few steps, his eyes wide. ‘We’ll go.’
Rex continued to glare at him as he and his pals stepped away, but then spoke in an authoritative tone, ‘Not so fast.’
Maurice turned his eyes to Rex anxiously.
‘You don’t get off that easily, douchebag.’
Maurice’s face paled still further. ‘I’m sorry, man. We made a mistake.’
‘Yeah, damn right you made a mistake. You don’t just get to lay your hands on my friends and get away with it.’
‘I’m… I’m sorry. I really am.’
‘I want each of you to apologise to each of my friends one at a time and get what’s coming to you.’
Maurice stared at him in disbelief.
‘Do it! And you better sound sincere.’
At first, Maurice and his boys were hesitant, but seeing that Rex was serious, one by one, in orderly fashion, Maurice and his heavies went from one of Rex’s friends to the next apologising. Some received slaps to the face. A few of the guys were very happy to deliver a good hard body blow to make up for what they received. Wal was the most heavy-handed.
When Maurice came to Mandy, she slapped him hard in the face. ‘Don’t you ever call me Randy Mandy again!’
He nodded, taking the slap with good grace.
In a short time, they had done their rounds and left the way they came, some of them bleeding, others with bruises. Dale stayed behind though and faced Mandy hopefully. She stared back at him but said nothing. Sheep wanted to grab him hurl him out along the beach after his friends, but he decided to let Mandy take any action that might be warranted. Although that action had to be postponed because three police officers arrived on the beach. On seeing the partiers, they marched towards them.
‘OK, you lot,’ one male officer said. ‘We’ve had a report of underage drinking going on here. We’d like to search your gear please…’
CHAPTER 24
Poetic Justice