Convictions (11 page)

‘Her exams seem to have gone well,’ Mary told her. ‘She certainly worked hard enough for them and she seems to have come away fairly confident that she’s done as well as she could.’

‘Can’t ask any more of her,’ Ruth observed. ‘Did you get anywhere with trying to find out what was behind Leanne’s move here?’

Mary settled back in her chair. ‘Yes, I did find out a bit more. It seems that she had some sort of a … crush on one of the other girls. You know how girls can admire someone a little bit older and try to be like them, especially when they’re in such close proximity?’

Ruth nodded.

‘Well, it seems that’s what happened with Leanne and this other girl, but then they had a falling out. They both had supporters and the two sides started fighting, so Leanne was moved.’

‘And that solved the problem?’ Ruth asked.

‘It seems to have. Things there have settled down now, by all accounts.’

‘Who’s your contact?’

‘Jenny Thomas. Would you like her details?’

‘Please,’ said Ruth. She watched as Mary dug out a card from an index system and copied out the information for her.

Mary McCluskey undoubtedly cared about the kids and she seemed to Ruth to be good at her job, but Ruth couldn’t help but wonder if her religion made her blind to certain aspects of the girls’ behaviour and the type of relationships they formed. She planned to contact Jenny Thomas just as soon as she got back to the station to see what else might lie behind Leanne’s relocation.

***

‘Now, Simon Peter, I want you to read this passage and memorise it.’

‘For God’s sake! My name isn’t Simon Peter, it’s Ben. Ben Addams. I live at thirty-four Bankside Gardens, and my mum and dad are—’

‘Stop that!’ The backhander sent Ben reeling. ‘You will not take the name of the Lord in vain, do you hear me, boy? Now, read and memorise that passage. I’ll be back in half an hour to see you are getting on.’

Ben blinked back tears. It was all so random. He didn’t think he even believed in God, he certainly had never spoken to anyone about Him in the street before. If only the blonde girl hadn’t been so friendly and pretty, he’d never have gone along with her to meet her friends. He wouldn’t have had the hot chocolate that knocked him out and he wouldn’t be here now.

He turned to the book with the marked passage that he was to learn. He knew from experience that he had better do it, and do it right. He also knew in his heart of hearts that the man would win, and that sooner or later, he would become ‘Simon Peter’ and leave ‘Ben’ far behind.

***

‘This looks different,’ Ruth said, when she had a look around Tina’s room.

‘It’s much better, I think,’ said Tina. ‘It’s more in line with who I am now.’

‘Your MC Boyz poster has gone,’ Ruth observed.

‘They’re a kids’ band. I’m growing up and I’ve grown out of them.’

‘Who’s that?’ Ruth asked, pointing to the poster of the band that had replaced them.

‘That’s Green Day. Their new album is awesome.’ She pointed to the other pictures on her wall and named the bands for Ruth. ‘That’s Good Charlotte. Limp Bizkit. Linkin Park. And Nirvana.’

‘That’s quite a change from what you were listening to.’

‘I know. I can’t believe how ignorant I was about music.’

‘I don’t see your bunny. Where’s he?’

Tina laughed. ‘Leanne’s got him. We share custody of him now.’

‘You must be very close to let her have your bunny.’

‘Yes.’ Tina smiled shyly. ‘She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.’

‘Better than Hilary?’

‘Hilary’s mum won’t let her visit me in here. I haven’t seen her in ages.’

‘That’s a shame,’ said Ruth.

Tina shrugged. ‘Leanne says it’s typical of the middle classes to try to ignore things and people they consider to be problems.’

‘She sounds like quite the philosopher.’

‘I have my moments,’ came a voice from the doorway.

Ruth started. She hadn’t realised that Leanne was there until the girl spoke. She wondered how much of the conversation she had eavesdropped on. ‘Hello, Leanne,’ she said. ‘And how is life treating you?’

Leanne shrugged. ‘Okay. I just keep my head down and get on with it.’

Ruth nodded.

‘I was just telling Ruth about our music,’ Tina said to Leanne. Then to Ruth, ‘It was Leanne who got me into these bands.’

‘Do you girls have somewhere to go?’ Ruth asked.

Leanne nodded. ‘I just came to collect Christina. There’s something on television we wanted to watch.’

‘Is there?’ asked Tina. ‘I can’t remember. What is it?’

‘It’s on in ten minutes,’ Leanne replied. ‘We should go now.’

‘Well, I have to be going anyway,’ Ruth told Tina. ‘I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.’

‘At the trial,’ Tina said. She fidgeted, suddenly looking very young and very scared.

Ruth took her by the shoulders. ‘It’ll be okay, love. Your defence team are doing a good job, and I’ll be there, and Karen Fitzgerald. Remember Karen?’

Tina nodded. ‘She’s nice.’

‘And your mum.’

Leanne snorted. Tina looked at the floor.

‘She’s still your mum,’ Ruth said, ‘and she might have a funny way of showing it sometimes, but she loves you.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Leanne sneered. ‘Christina, come on, we’ll be late.’

***

As soon as Ruth got back to the station, she dug out the contact details Mary had given her and rang the number for Jenny Thomas. She was in luck: the phone was answered and Ruth explained who she was and why she was calling.

‘Leanne Davidson is a strange one.’ Ruth heard Jenny Thomas settle back in her chair. ‘The family are habitual criminals going back several generations, so her role models haven’t been the best.’ She barked a laugh. ‘To say the least. She’s also a manipulative kid. If you’ve been around her, you’ll already know what a sneaky little thing she can be.’

Ruth thought of how each time she’d visited Tina in the YOI, Leanne had shown up as if by magic. ‘Yes,’ she agreed. She remembered Penny’s description of her. ‘She’s like smoke.’

‘That’s a good way to put it. She almost seems to seep into a room. She does the same with people’s heads, by the way. Insinuates herself into their hearts, minds and lives. Then, once she’s in there, she starts to fuck about with them.’

‘Is that what happened at your place?’ asked Ruth.

‘Pretty much. She attached herself to a girl called Tessa Clarke. Tessa’s a bit older but nowhere near as smart as Leanne. One day she’s hanging around, trying to be a part of Tessa’s gang, next thing you know, they’re having an affair.’

‘Mary McCluskey said it was a crush.’

‘Mary McCluskey’s a bit naïve. It went much further than that. Leanne wanted to be Tessa’s girl because Tessa had a gang and with that went power. Where she tripped up was, she tried to manipulate Tessa and to make her fall out with her close pals. She drove a wedge between Tessa and a couple of the other girls before Tessa realised what was happening. Once she did, she and Leanne had a massive fight and the next thing you know, the girls in here are in two distinct gangs that are at each other’s throats. Leanne was loving it. She feeds on chaos.’

‘How did she cause the rift in the first place?’

‘She’s a little shit stirrer. She’ll say to one girl, “You know, so and so laughs at you behind your back”, then say the same thing or something similar to the other. Next thing you know, the two girls in question are eyeing each other up and spoiling for a fight. What they don’t do is ask each other if it’s true. She plays on people’s weaknesses and sets them up to fight just so she can enjoy watching the show.’

‘She’s very close to a kid in the new place.’

‘Well, if she’s a kid you give a damn about, you want to look for a way to split them up, and soon. Oh, and just so you know, Leanne was also known to be the primary resource for the pill poppers. We think her brother brings them in, but we never caught either of them with anything.’

‘How do you know for sure, then?’

‘Mainly what other girls have told us. She’s clever. Sly, manipulative and clever. Watch her closely, Ruth. She’s rotten to the core and I don’t think Mary McCluskey appreciates just what a little viper she is.’

***

Tina’s trial was brief, as she pleaded guilty, and largely uneventful. She had the good sense to say she hadn’t thought things through and really hadn’t wanted to murder Cotter. A psychiatrist’s report said that when Tina acted, the balance of her mind was disturbed. As a good Christian, George Cotter even forgave her publicly from the witness box.

The judge, however, took a very dim view of a young woman with a grudge taking the law into her own hands and his disapproval was reflected in the punishment he imposed. Tina was sentenced to be detained for thirteen years. The gasp in the courtroom was audible: under the circumstances, no one had expected her to get anywhere near that.

When Tina was led out of the courtroom, the shock was visible on her face. Penny was in tears, being comforted by her sister. Even Cotter looked surprised.

Ruth Crinson and Karen Fitzgerald were quiet as they drove back to the police station. When they broke the news to their colleagues, the mood became very sombre indeed.

‘At this rate she’s going to spend more years inside than Cotter did,’ said Rob Winter.

‘Her team will appeal. The sentence might yet get cut,’ said Ruth. ‘I’ll go and see her, see how she’s coping.’

‘Make it sooner rather than later,’ suggested Fitzgerald. ‘The way she must be feeling right now, she’s going to be an easy touch for that other kid you were telling me about.’

***

‘It’s not fair!’ Penny was sitting at the kitchen table with Ruth and Samantha, a mug of coffee in front of her and a lit cigarette in her hand. She drew deeply on the cigarette and held the smoke in her lungs. When she released it, she muttered, ‘I need a drink’.

Ruth sneaked a look at her watch: it was just ten o’clock.

‘Hang on a while,’ Samantha counselled. ‘We’ll go out for lunch and you can have a glass of wine then.’ She flicked a look at Ruth and picked up her concern immediately.

‘The sentence was harsh,’ Ruth agreed, ‘but we can be reasonably hopeful it gets reduced on appeal.’

‘Oh, you haven’t heard the best of it yet.’ Penny worked on the cigarette again, the tip glowing angrily between her fingers. ‘Little madam doesn’t want them to appeal. Reckons she couldn’t go through all that again.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘No, it’s true enough,’ Samantha confirmed. ‘We spoke with Tina before she was taken back to the prison yesterday, and then Penny was on the phone to her for an hour or more last night. She was adamant that she didn’t want an appeal to be launched.’

‘That’s madness,’ said Ruth. ‘Even if she just gets a couple of years taken off the sentence, at her age that would make a massive difference.’

‘I know, I know, but she knows best.’ Penny blinked back tears, stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray. She didn’t fully snuff it out and Ruth watched her through a plume of blue-grey smoke. ‘Will you speak to her, Ruth? Please? She listens to you far more than she does to me. Maybe you can get through to her.’

‘Of course,’ said Ruth. ‘I’ll try and go this afternoon.’

***

True to her word, Ruth freed up a couple of hours and headed off to Weardale that afternoon. She had spoken to Mary McCluskey on the telephone and so she was expected.

‘She’s not dealing with it very well,’ said Mary. ‘She was ready to buckle down and do her time, but this sentence has knocked her for six.’ Mary rubbed her eyes. ‘Of course, it’s early days and she may well feel differently this time next week, but I’m very, very disappointed that she doesn’t want to launch an appeal.’

‘It certainly smacks of defeat,’ said Ruth. ‘In fact, that’s the main reason I’m here. Her mum asked me to have a word and to try and get her to change her mind.’

‘Good luck with that. The fight’s gone out of her. She needs to find that fire again. Incidentally, I’ve given Leanne something to do to keep her out of the way while you talk to Tina.’ Mary and Ruth stood together. ‘Oh,’ said Mary, ‘and that’s another thing. She’s gone back to being called “Tina”.’

***

Ruth found the door to Tina’s room slightly open, and she could see the girl lying on her bed, her face buried in the bunny toy. She tapped on the door then went in.

‘Hey,’ she said, sitting down on the bed and resting her hand on Tina’s shoulder, ‘how’re you doing?’

Tina took the toy away from her face. Her eyes looked bloodshot and sore. ‘Thirteen years,’ she said to Ruth. ‘That’s a minimum of six and a half. Three years here, then three and a half years on an adult wing. If I’m lucky.’

‘It’s a lot more than we expected,’ Ruth agreed. ‘But that’s all the more reason to launch an appeal. It’s such a big sentence that you’re almost guaranteed to get it reduced.’

‘Appeals can go both ways,’ said Tina. ‘Leanne told me that. She said her mum appealed against her sentence and the appeal judge increased it.’