BYRON: FIRST FLOWER
The back handed slap rocked Byron back, the power of his opponents casual attack catching Byron unawares, another slap sent the young man spinning, then a balled fist bending him double. Byron's stringy 13 year old form hit the ground his breath catching somewhere between his guts and his mouth, unable to draw a breath."Get up and fight you worthless whore-son," Decca cried alerting all the other of Gaedrenn's boys who quickly gathered eager for this nightly entertainment and had effectively fenced the two boys in.
Pain blossomed through Byron as a quickly administered kick connected firmly with his ribs, forcing him onto his back. Decca stood taking in all the adulation of the young and not so young boys surrounding him. Decca a lean but well muscled boy of 15 years dominated the younger boys around him and this regular ritual of beating on Byron or some other poor unfortunate was all part of daily life within Gaedrenn Lamms 'borstal.' The boys surrounding the two were now fervently jeering and mocking Byron as he lay sprawled on the floor, many pleased that Byron had taken their place in this nightly beating.
"Come on you whore-son get up of your back " the older boy snarled, " heard your mother was a sailors bitch and many a drunkards slut so being on your back is the family trade! " Decca laughing at his own joke launched a couple of sharp kicks again into the same tender spot of Byron's torso. Byron rolled away from the attack onto his hands and knees desperately drawing in breath, the pain in his ribs was almost overwhelming.
"What's going on over there,' Gaedrenn's voice like a whip- crack silenced the sound of the excited mob.
"Nothing Gaedrenn just teaching one of the new lads the rules," replied Decca smartly.
"Is that so?". Gaedrenn pushed his way to the front of the eager boys many making space for him as he took his place in the circle of excited onlookers. Byron took the brief reprieve to get his breathing under control as Gaedrenn who looked so deathly pale, so gaunt his hair hanging dirty, lank and loose with a wide brimmed battered hat shadowing his eyes looked on with growing interest.
"Well let's see if he's worth anything or just a delicate little flower." With that Gaedrenn waved his hand for Decca's lesson to continue triggering the crowd. Suddenly the wall stained, damp and dilapidated room erupted with sound as Gaedrenn 's boys cheered and jeered. Realising no reprieve was coming from Gaedrenn and no help coming from the braying crowd Byron got to his feet faced his opponent with fear beginning to take a grip as his bigger older adversary just turned and smiled.
"You're all mine now little flower," and with that Decca swung out a lazy back hand which Byron easily evaded. Again Decca advanced on the smaller boy throwing out two open hand swipes hoping to connect whilst not wanting to appear to have made an effort but Byron was moving now with neither effort coming close. Decca quickly lunged at the boy hoping to envelop him in a grapple, his crowd of sycophants cheering his move, but again the young man quickly sidestepped. Another lunge followed but Byron quickly threw himself to the ground rolling under Decca's reach leaving the older boy clutching empty air.
Decca spun around to face Byron anger clearly evident in his eyes, "You can't keep that all day little flower...you're mine!" And then he charged the smaller boy determined to end this but again Byron rolled under Decca's rush, coming up behind the larger boy. Byron jabbed down with his foot into the back of his opponents knee, not much of a kick but enough to sprawl the bully to the ground.
"Looks like our flower has a few thorns," quipped Gaedrenn eliciting many a snigger from the crowd of eager spectators anonymity of the crowd lending them courage. Decca now smarting from this upstarts efforts at humbling him in front of Gaedrenn jumped to his feet and attacked anger now fuelling his assault. Byron once again tried evade but the larger more muscular boy was relentless this time, not letting the younger smaller boy have any room, pounding him with heavy blows. A fist drove into Byron's jaw knocking him sideways, quickly followed by another open hand slap sending the boy reeling! The crowd erupted at this sudden explosion of violence, with gasps and cheers relishing the sound of sight of blood!
Decca bellowed in triumph relishing the punishment he was now inflicting, his earlier humbling now forgotten, he was once again the master of this gang. Gaedrenn nodded his approval and quietly smiled as Byron began to bleed.
Another punch quickly followed as Decca grabbed hold of the younger boys head and slammed him into the floor. Decca then threw the semi-unconscious boy into the crowd surrounding the fight who in turn administered a few blows of their own before pushing the now stumbling Byron back into the centre of the 'ring' ready for more, their blood lust now up. Decca approached more than willing to finish this lessen.
Quickly the pain that was overwhelming Byron diminished, every hit he was taking inflicting such terrible damage also appeared to stoke a fire that just wouldn't go out. Rather than slip into oblivion Byron just stood there, taking every punch and kick, hearing the cries of the crowd, the inevitability of his being beaten at the hands of this lout all fuelling a growing anger in his gut, a unconscious burning of rage that suddenly his body couldn't contain. It became something visceral, something primal, animal!
With an incoherent scream of rage the small bloodied form of Byron jumped at and clung onto the bigger boy. Decca tried to pull the bloodied stump of a boy of him but it was like he was suddenly caught in grip of iron with Byron's arms and legs wrapping round the bigger boys bulk. All conscious though had fled Byron as pain, injustice and humiliation all drove him on. Gripping with all the strength that he had the enraged Byron bit down hard into his tormentors neck, biting through skin and muscle then ripping his mouth away pulling away globules of flesh and blood and spat the unwanted meat on the floor!
Decca screamed in pain, the crowd cried, cheered and exclaimed, Gaedrenn stood transfixed and Byron just bellowed an animal bestial howl and began to bite deeper and deeper into his preys neck, his hands becoming like claws digging into Decca's back, not letting his victim go. Decca with desperate adrenaline fuelled panic began pounding on this animal that was mauling him but he couldn't get him off. Blood was now covering them both and Decca's blows were failing to connect as the blood caused his now desperate strikes to slip and miss and still the animal that was Byron ripped into his neck. Quickly the older boy slumped to his knees, the younger boy ripping more and more at his victim with his teeth. Blood was now pumping so fast covering them both and the floor that the scene became a macabre depiction of one of the hells that the priests talked about.
Decca's strikes lost their power became more erratic, less focused as more blood seeped out of the growing neck wound. As the light was leaving the mauled lads eyes Gaedrenn having seen enough, walked up to and viciously kicked Byron in the side and with surprising strength for his corpse like frame pulled the raging and bloodied boys apart. Dropping Byron on the floor Gaedrenn pointed to the gored, the injured, the mutilated boy.
"Fix him up and then clean this mess," Gaedrenn ordered the mass of excited and shocked boys around him.
Leaning down Gaedrenn with almost fatherly compassion looked into the now closing eyes of Byron who had seemed to have lost all his vitality and was now descending into unconsciousness and whispered, " sleep Byron my boy you've done well today. "
" What about that one sir, " one of the braver boys asked, "What shall we do with that feral beast?"
" You treat him well, fix him and he's no beast, he's my flower, my first flower. "
Gaedrenn looked hard at the boys around him, "Get on with it you lot or I'll feed you to him!"
