A Kind of Hush by Richard A. Johnson

did it happen? Did someone hit you? Did you fall? Does it sting? You tell me who it was and I'll sort them out. Ooh, it does look nasty. Cheffeee! Come and look at Stewart's face.'
    On and on and on she went, but then that's Beryl, her heart's in the right place, it's just that her mouth never seems to stop.
    She dragged me into the kitchen and sat me down. She then got some cotton wool, soaked it in Dettol and proceeded to dab at my face. It stung like hell. She finished by sticking an oversized plaster on it and said, 'Now you take care of that or it will fester and go poison.' She then went and put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

    Chef had come into the kitchen by this time and stood leaning against the breakfast bar chuckling quietly at my obvious embarrassment.
    'Come on, son, I've got some beer in the garden,' he said and walked out of the back door. I followed and still clutching my little bunch of flowers sat down in a deckchair next to his. He handed me a can of lager and looking at the now crumpled posie in my hands asked, 'Were they supposed to be for us?'
    I looked down at them and laughed. 'Sorry Chef,' I said, 'she made them go completely out of my head.'
    He laughed as he took them and laid them on the ground. 'She has that effect on most people, son, don't worry about it.' He then looked serious and said, 'I see that you were busy again last night. You're going to get into big trouble if you don't watch yourself.'
    'What do you mean, Chef,' I said with a grin.
    'Don't piss me about, boy,' he said. 'You know exactly what I mean.'
    'Sorry, Chef,' I said. And I meant it.
    'What happened?' he asked. So I told him. Like I said, I could talk to Chef, he was a bloody good listener.
    After I had finished he sighed and said, 'You've got a bloody good head on your shoulders and a natural talent for your work, you could go a long way if you put your mind to it. It would be a pity to see all of that go to waste just because you haven't yet learned how to deal with your past.'
    'What do you mean?' I asked.
    'Why do you feel the need to keep on doing what you did last night? What do you get from it?'
    'I'm getting even,' I said.

    'What do you mean by getting even?'
    'Just that, Chef, getting even,' I said. 'Stopping those sorts of blokes from picking on innocent kids. Showing them that they can't keep on getting away with it.'
    'Are you sure about that?' he asked. 'Some people would see it as mugging, or even queer bashing.'
    'I know,' I said. 'I've heard that from people before, but it's not. Last night's was a known nonce. No one believed Tony when he told them what that bastard was like and he could have gone on fostering kids and screwing them for ever, he had to be stopped. The social services couldn't and the police either couldn't or wouldn't, so we did. But it's not queer bashing, not in any way. When those blokes proposition Si at the station, they know bloody well that they are talking to an underage boy, if it was a gay bloke looking for a partner for the night, then there are plenty of places that he can go for that. These blokes are after kids and kids only, they're nonces and they have got to be stopped and if we didn't do it, no other fucker would.'
    'That's quite a speech,' said Chef. 'But what happens to you if it all goes wrong? What happens if one of those men goes to the police?'
    'They don't,' I said.
    'They haven't yet,' said Chef. 'But it could happen.'
    'We'll deal with that as and when, Chef.'
    'That's daft,' said Chef. 'Bloody daft.'
    'What do you think I ought to do then?' I asked.
    T think you ought to deal with your own problems before you start taking on other people's,' he said.
    'How d'you mean?'
    'Do something about your own father, you're great at  fighting other people's battles and you're good at telling other people that they mustn't let these animals walk free, but yours still is and he's still got your sisters and maybe even a grandchild or two by now. When are you going to do