my book chapter 21

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i got invited down to a mates snooker club one Sunday night, David rajah's, i had been a couple of times b4. i had built the poker tables for him. dj called me, DJ? yes, he was a man of many names, he was a Pakistani, but likes to be called David, or dj, any how, he said as per usual, lee, i got some lads coming down, and there's a spare seat, count me in. it was one of the few places i could play poker and have a beer, i usually got a lift there and a taxi home. the game was a £50 freeze out, which meant 20 players, there was a £1000 up for grabs, not to be sniffed at. djs club is frequented predominantly by Asians, with i guess only 10% whites, this often put some of my mates off playing there, i knew the owner, so it did not bother me. upon arrival, i was greeted by DJ with the usual handshake, hi lee you having a drink, DJ, I'll have what you're having(dj liked a beer) is Phil and his wife playing?i asked, no they ain't co min. what about mick,lee and Jeff? no, i asked but they were busy, he said. so who's here then? well i'm not sure if you know any of them, you'll be ok.as soon as he said I'll be ok, the alarm bell started ringing.

we got our drinks and walked through to the back room, i went in first, fuck me, 25 guys all eyes and teeth. DJ said we made the draw, you are in seat 5 table 1, DJ gave me a general invitation to the room, which seemed to fall on deaf ears, he then started to tell me the names of individual players at my table. after two names i stopped him, DJ pal its pointless you lot all look the fucking same to me.that seemed to get the bastards attention. come on guys its only a joke, no sense of humour these pakis. dj was a good mate, I'd known him 20 odd year, and i'm sure he had my back. i looked at this game as easy money, i envisaged me and DJ splitting the spoils, he was knocking people out on t2, i was ko ing them on t1. the plan was (without ever mentioning a plan) meet in the middle. after cracking the racist joke early doors, i felt relaxed, i had to tell some of the brothers on my table(on several occasions) English only can be spoken at the table. this bothered a couple of the boys, but i never thought anything of it. i knocked one lad out, as he was leaving the table he started spurting what i guess was pakki for you son of bitch white bastard etc, i sarcastically said, look lad if your gonna abuse me, i've told you English only. seat 2 chirped in, if we wanna speak our language, then why not? i instantly realised who he was,
it was a guy i had sprayed some internal doors for, he lived in a very nice house, in one of the poshest areas in town. when i picked the doors up i knew this guy was into the dark side, he drove a new BM, and had blokes running all over for him, well done that lad.
20 internal doors , yes pal £900 that's £45 a door, you know i am the best, i knew i was never gonna get £45 a door, but this is how these things worked with them, they love to haggle, oh come on man, you did my cousins for £30, yes but your cousin picked up and delivered, plus they were smaller. after 2/3 minutes the price was set at £35, not bad for a days work(£700 sheets) of course i told him three days minimum. i called him on the thursday, to tell him they were done, cheers lee your a star, just drop them off, my uncles there, tidy, is he gonna pay me? no man, I'll sort it tomoz, im in Liverpool, I'll be back tomoz, yeah no worries, I'll drop them off tomoz them. woh, no man, you said today, yes i know, but i'll need payin first. it was at this point relations broke down, this guy was not used to hearing the word no, he entered into a tirade, threatening to kill me, and the old, DO YOU KNOW WHO i am... i am ... i finished his sentance b4 him, which got up his nose, at which point i told him to fuck off, he ain't getting his doors, then hung up.he immediately rang back, i just clicked him to answer. i knew this would get on his tits, but that's my nature. the thing is for the past seven or so years, not once has a Pakistani, said I'll pay you later. its all cash on delivery, they may hate the English, they may be the worst racists around, but they are honourable and pay in time, and this guy ain't gonna buck that trend. i didn't give a flying fuck who he was, i am the man.

anyway decided to call one of my Asian mates, just to get a bit of info on him. did not like what came back, yes he was into big time heroin, and he was used to guys doing as he said. i had ignored several of his calls, so in light of the new information, decided to ring him, the first thing i said was, have you calmed down yet? yes, now get my doors delivered NOW your fucking money is there,if i get chance I'm coming over, cause im gonna check every one to make sure you did a good job. he was grasping at straws. i said, ok its like this, i'll drop the doors off at 4, you pay me, everyone's happy, end of. he agreed, are we gonna have any trouble? no not as long as you give me my doors back.

it was lunch time, i had 4 hours to decide what to do. i needed the money, but knew it was not over. i thought, should i go alone, tooled up? do i call the feds, explain i could be a dead man at 4bells. decided to go it alone. ye, i can do a bit, but driving up the lane, my butt cheeks tensed a bit. upon arrival, there were two cars on the drive, and three older men out side. i parked the van and went over to them, where is he, he will be here soon, please lee, he has a lot in his plate, he gets angry sometimes, we all know you do a good job. two younger blokes came out of the house(mid 20s)on their mobiles whilst, the older guys were singing his praises, a range rover screeched up and blocked the van in, he got out, mumbled to the uncles, ignored me and went in the house, come on lee, lets unload the doors,FUCK THIS, you lot can do as he says, but not me, as i approached the front door he came out. well? are you gonna get them in or what? well are you gonna get the fuck off your high horse? i was immediately surrounded , well semi surrounded by seven Asian males, look, Ive come on my own that's how i work, if you want some fun, its just me and you, after a theatrical... pause he smiles, as if to say you got some balls,look, i have your money here, just get them in, and I'll pay you. me and his uncles got them in,he inspected everyone(thank fuck he missed the runs lol) he then produced the cash, and started counting it out, i stopped him mid count, listen .. i know how much there is there so do you, we dint need to count. on that he handed it over, no hand shake though. that's the thing about the Indians and the pakis, they pay cold hard cash, no qualms
he through his keys at one of his lack's, and i was allowed to leave, never done work for an Asian since

as i said, he was sat in seat 2, and now i recognised him, he was staring right at me. seat seven chirped in, why English only? come on why? because for one, you're in fucking England, and those are the rules of poker. dj turned and told everyone to calm down. i called over, david, i thought this was gonna be a friendly game, wtf?, dj stood up and gave the room a ticking off, he told none players to leave, he explained the rules where english only, and if you dont like that, you know where the door is

i had known dj for over 20 years, well respected part of the community,when he was not drinkin, gambling, chasing women, he found time to go to the mosque, my type of guy. he had his finger in a few pies in the area, you allways felt safe in his company, trustworthy. this was his club, his rules, and i was honoured to be there, however, for the first time i did not feel safe.
players came and went, we were down to 5, the gangstar, had been bullying the table, he pushed players off pots, because they were afraid of the repercusions. an interesting hand, the gangsta, raised my big blind for the 29th time, and i looked down at 4/2 off suit, ok, this time i have a real hand(lol)come on lets do it, of course 4/2 is one of the worst hands in poker, but you never know.its me and him h/u and the flop comes A J 5rainbow, i check, he bets big, i decide to look for a 3. it comes a deuce, i think fec it,if he pushes im all in, i wanna get out of here any way .... sure enough, hes all in, i insta call, thinkin im behind he turns over Q 7, the last card comes an A and i leave him with very few chips. he had steam comin out of his ears by now, and i knew it would not be long b4 it all kicked off, i humiliated him in front of all his boys, the very next hand, he pushed all his chips in, i found AJ called and finished him off, that was it ww3 he threw the poker table and jumped on me(i was still sat down) did not mind him to much, it was his mates coming over kicking me in the head that pissed me off, DJ managed to pull him off, the barman came in to help. look guys leave now or i get the police. i had a tooth missing and the rest of my face was a mess, but i was still alive. gangsta was being restrained by his lack's, but agreed to leave, 6/7 of them pushed past me to get out, gangsta went for me one more time, i saw a flash, i wonder what had happened, all i could see was lots of blood. then i wake up. i had passed out due to the lost of blood, i thought i had been stabbed but he had only slashed mt chest, the flash i saw was the silver blade, 37 stitches later, and i was back home. i had a score to settle, but it could wait, i wanted to do to him what he did to me, never got the chance 6 months later, his house burnt down, with his wife and kid losing their life along with him, it had been the third time in 2 years he had had to move house, because of the business he was in, only a handful of people knew its location, the police suspected arson, he had a list of men, all in line to do this, the police soon ran into dead ends, the case continues.

but i'm in the clear. i have a multitude of Asian friends, as i do white friends, but you get bad apples on both sides, this guy had slashed me, and one of his lack's had hit me over the head with an hammer, well that's what dj said it was, where he got it from god knows. i survived and live to fight another day