The black beaked Raven perched on the shopping centre canopy, cocked his head to one side as he spotted the piece of bread beneath the feet of the shoppers. Bright eyed he waited for a gap in the crowd, then swooping down he scooped up the discarded crust from the pavement and flew up to squabble with his mate over the crumbling titbit.
Below the canopy, at street level, a small, grey haired woman, laden with carriers, emerged from Kwik Save and tottered over to sit on the wall surrounding the central flowerbed. A grey lady under a grey sky, with a clutter of red and white bags at her feet, she sat amid the swirl of shoppers and was ignored by almost all.
The exception being, the young man seemingly engrossed in the CD collection on display in the window of the Oxfam shop. His name was Stanley Gibbs – Stan the Man – to his mates. A yob that trolled the shopping centres of the north, making a living by using his size to intimidate and prey upon the weak and vulnerable.
He had been following the old lady ever since she got off the bus, he had sat behind her in Sid’s Snacks as she sipped her tea, loitered across the street while she had withdrawn her pension, waited for her, while she shopped at Kwik Save and now he moved in.
Mary, the old lady was rummaging in her bag - checking for the forth or was it the fifth time that her bus pass was still in her purse - when she sensed his presence. She looked up to find a fat faced, spotty yob, dressed in ragged jeans and a black tee shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Gime, Gime', towering over her.
Stan leaned forward and snarled, ‘Hand over the purse.’
Mary delved in her bag, found the tin of Mace and sprayed it in his face. Stan screamed, grabbed Mary and they fell to the floor. Within seconds a crowd gathered, Mary was lifted gently to her feet, a seat was brought for her and she was given a cup of tea. Stan, his eyes’ streaming, was pinned cursing to the ground and someone phoned the police.
Twenty minutes later the police arrived, took Stan into custody and found that Mary had disappeared, without leaving her name and address.
On the number 37 bus, Mary opened her bag, placed her bus pass back into her purse, and gave a low whistle as she counted the money in Stan’s wallet.
