‘Get up!’ Tom dragged him to his feet, knocking the candle and the rest of the pineapple slices to the ground angrily.
‘You’ve got some explaining to do, Leech. Your little game is up. I know what you’ve been up to.’
Leech was quivering all over. The pineapple fell from his mouth onto the dirt.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he spluttered.
‘Oh, I think you do know what I mean. I think you know very well what I mean. This proves what you’ve been up to.’
He held the watch up to Leech’s face.
‘The Japs gave it to you, didn’t they? As a reward for the information you gave them about my friends.’
Leech shook his head, meeting Tom’s eyes. The man was brazen.
‘I found it yesterday. Out on the parade ground.’
‘You’re a liar,’ Tom shouted, his face only a couple of inches from Leech’s. ‘Why else did you avoid coming near me when I was in the hospital? You wouldn’t even look at me, would you? Guilt. There’s guilt written all over your face. And with damned good cause.’
Tom shoved the watch in his pocket and held Leech by the neck, pushing him up against the bamboo wall of the hut. He had his hands around the man’s throat. He realised how easy it would be to apply pressure to his wind pipe and stop his breath.
‘Please.’ Leech’s eyes were bulging, terrified. His face had turned bright red. Sweat poured from his forehead. Tom eased the pressure a little.
‘I just want you to admit it to me, and then I’ll leave you be. I need to know. It was you, wasn’t it? You betrayed us to the Japs, didn’t you?’
Leech shook his head.
‘Don’t lie to me, Leech, you little bastard. You overheard the lad, Archie, ranting and raving about the escape attempt, didn’t you?’
‘No … No,’ he panted.
‘Everyone in the hospital heard it, so you must have too. You’re a liar.’
‘I don’t know what you’re on about. Let me go.’
Tom ignored his plea.
‘Well, knowing what you’re like, you couldn’t resist using the information for your own ends. So you went to the Japs with it, didn’t you?
‘No … I would never do such a thing.’
‘Then, how do you explain this watch? I gave it to Harry just before he left. They must have taken it off him and given it to you. And what about your new clothes, and all the food you have. You’re well fed, aren’t you? Not like the rest of us poor wretches in this camp.’
‘Trading,’ he said trembling. ‘You know that. I trade in the camp, and I trade with the natives. I take risks for that money.’
Tom brought his knee forward sharply and slammed it into Leech’s groin. Leech let out a moan.
‘Be quiet, for god’s sake,’ hissed Tom. ‘Or I’ll put it about the camp that you are a traitor. They’ll tear you apart limb from limb.’
Tom tightened his fingers around Leech’s throat again.
‘You can’t prove anything,’ croaked Leech.
‘I don’t need to prove anything. You’re going to tell me the truth, aren’t you?’
He squeezed even tighter.
‘Please, please don’t kill me,’ Leech was whimpering now.
‘Well, you’re going to tell me the truth then. Or I’m not going to let you go. I’m strong, you know. I survived the pit, didn’t I? Survived being beaten by those bastards.’
Tom dragged him forward and threw him on the ground. For a well-built man, Leech was surprisingly weak. He hardly put up any resistance.
‘You’ve never had a beating from them, have you?’
Tom began to kick him in the ribs.
‘Now, I want you to see what it feels like. It’s not good, is it?’
Leech writhed on the ground, trying to shield himself with his hands.
‘Stop … Stop, please. OK, I did it. I’m sorry. I did it. I sold them out for money. But I had no idea they would be killed. I didn’t think they would die.’
‘You didn’t think they would die? You lying bastard. You were at Changi, weren’t you? You saw those men bayoneted in cold blood because one of them tried to escape from a work party. Did you think things had changed? That the Ripper had mellowed in his old age? What a load of bullshit. You just didn’t give a damn what happened to them.’
Then Tom let his anger loose. He kicked and pummelled the man on the ground as hard as he could. And as he did it he relived the grief that he had suffered for his friends and all the days he had spent in the pit, all the beatings he had taken himself. He took out all his anger and terror and pain and grief onto Leech. He lost control of himself in a frenzy of violence, gave into it. When he had finished, he stood there panting, staring down at Leech. The man was barely conscious, his face swollen and puffy. His body was covered in ugly wheals.
Tom dragged him back to the end of the hut where he knew that someone would stumble on him when they visited the latrines. He bent over Leech.
‘Now, if I find that you have been exploiting people again, making money out of starving men, I really will kill you. I mean it, Leech.’
24
There were no repercussions for Tom over Jim Leech’s injuries. From the looks that people gave him and from the odd comment they dropped here and there, Tom formed the impression that the whole camp knew about what had happened and understood his reasons for hurting Leech.
Tom often went back to the hospital hut
