Paintshark by Kingsley Pilgrim Page A

I admire you for that,” Apollo replied.
    “Thank God,” smiled Elias. Apollo smiled back.
    “A tad premature I think.” Mr Tidy swung round and punched Elias in the face, the giant pulled his punch at the last moment misreading the nod from Apollo but it was still enough to send a tooth from his mouth and force another through the top of his lip, Elias spat out blood and staggered back towards the wardrobe which was a tacky gift Kay bought for him from the town market. Mr Tidy picked him up and threw another punch, this time lower down, cracking ribs and sending him crashing through the bedroom door and onto the landing outside; even before Elias’s head had hit the floor he was unconscious.
    Apollo walked over and kneeled over Elias’s broken body.
    “Let this be known, I have nothing personal against you; I’m just doing my job and honouring a contract and it seems you aren’t prepared to relinquish your school so we will take you to our boss and let him deal with you personally and don’t worry we aren’t going to touch your daughter, we’ve got better things to do…but you never know, the more the merrier in this business.”
    He turned to his colleague. “I think we’re done here, Mr Tidy, put Mr Glaucas in the car outside please.”
    “Yes, my comrade-in-arms, he is still alive, isn’t he?”
    “Yes, our instructions were to batter him, but make sure he’s breathing, which he just about is and now to the house.”
    “What do you mean?” Apollo took out a lighter from his pocket.
    “We’ve had a battering and now it’s time for a burning…to cleanse this space, if this man does return from Big Man’s complex he shouldn’t be allowed to come back to a house.”
    “But what about his daughter?”
    “She can stay with friends.”
    “What about his sister?”
    Apollo sighed. “She’s travelling.” Mr Tidy knew what was next.
    “Can I go on? Is that ok? Am I allowed to? Do you mind?” Mr Tidy nodded. “Then cleanse away, my friend.”
    Apollo still had his glasses away from his face; he didn’t put them back on yet, he flicked the lighter and threw it on Elias’s bed. The centre glowed red for a while and then a small flame appeared and quickly spread to all four corners. The flames poured from the bed and quickly spread up the walls and cascaded along the floors. The Two men, with Elias slung on the shoulder of Mr Tidy, stood on the landing as the master bedroom burned furiously. Apollo yelled to his friend, “CHECK THE GIRL’S BEDROOM, MAKE SURE SHE ISN’T HIDING ANYWHERE.”
    “The fledgling seeks refuge at her friend’s abode; they seek solace for their agony of youth.”
    Apollo wasn’t convinced. “Agony of youth? What are you talking about? She should be at a sleepover, but go and check, look under her bed and in the wardrobe, you know how kids like to play hide and seek, she may have come back here.”
    “Nobody played with me.”
    “Just look, will you? I will not be responsible for the death of a child, and be quick about it.”
    Mr Tidy hurried off down the landing, while Apollo ran downstairs and outside as the flames grew in size and heat. A small crowd had gathered to watch in awe and neighbours ran from their houses with buckets of water and hoses. When they saw the unconscious Elias slumped over the shoulder of a giant of a man running through the remains of the front door, they assumed he was being rescued and they cheered.
    Apollo had left the house before Mr Tidy and now came down empty handed. He breathed a sigh of relief, he had since returned his glasses to his face and the flames that licked the bedroom were all over the house now.
    The crowd continued to cheer, which confused Mr Tidy until his brain finally caught the severity of the situation and he then began to lap up the applause, but Apollo calmed the crowd down as more people threw more water on the burning house. There was an ambulance sticker placed on front of the car, so the crowd didn’t ask