Fighting for Survival (The Estate, Book 3) (20 page)

But Ruth ignored him and went upstairs. Then she threw herself onto her bed and cried.

The next morning, once she’d taken the boys to school, Ruth climbed back into bed. But at quarter past eleven, she heard someone knocking at the front door. She dragged weary limbs to the window and peeped out. She groaned: Pete Bradley.

He knocked again. She sighed, knowing he wouldn’t go away until he’d seen her.  

‘Hiya,’ he said as she opened the front door. ‘Christ, you look terrible. Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ Ruth lied. ‘I’m just coming down with a cold. What can I do for you?’

‘Nice to see you too,’ Pete grinned.

Ruth gave a faint smile. ‘I’m sorry. Not with it this morning.’

‘Can I come in?’

Ruth paused.

‘You can tell me what’s wrong,’ Pete encouraged. ‘I won’t say anything.’

Ruth held the door open for him. They went through to the living room.

‘Martin left last night,’ she said when it was evident Pete wasn’t going to speak until she told him what was wrong.

‘But he’ll come back, right? I mean, he’d only just arrived!’ 

Ruth shook her head. ‘He was acting all weird, said he wished he’d never come back – and he’d been beaten up.’

‘Beaten up? Did he say who by?’

‘He hardly said a word actually. He just took his stuff and went. He didn’t even stay long enough to clean himself up.’

‘Something must have freaked him, because if I was your man, I wouldn’t leave you.’

Ruth remembered their earlier conversation. ‘This wasn’t anything to do with you, was it?’

‘Of course not!’ Pete feigned shock. 

‘But you said you could make him leave!’

‘You never said you wanted me to.’ Pete looked around. ‘Neat place you have here – much better than the doss-hole I live in. Three women in our house and none of them will lift a finger.’

Ruth smiled a little. She had always been house proud. When she was with Glenn, they’d had the best house in the street.

Pete was in front of her now. He touched her hair gently. ‘I can call again, if you like?’

‘I – I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’m sure Gina would have something to say about it regardless. She has a go at me practically every time I leave the house as it is. I don’t want to antagonise her any more than is necessary. She’ll flatten me.’

‘I’ll tell her to lay off.’

‘And she will?’ Ruth’s tone was doubting.

‘She’ll do exactly what I tell her to do.’ Pete looked pleased with himself. ‘So, that’s that, then. I’ll pop round every couple of days and see how you’re doing.’

After he’d gone, Ruth sat down and rested her head in her hands. She didn’t really want Pete coming around whenever he pleased. She didn’t like him that much, felt intimidated by him, but what could she do? Maybe he’d lose interest in her after a week or so and move on to someone not so close to home.

God, what a situation to be in! As quick as she’d lost one man, another came to take his place. And this one was Gina Bradley’s hubby. Could things get any worse?

But for now, she’d have to play the game. After all, she was in no fit state to do anything else.

Two nights later, Claire fancied some chocolate but Rachel didn’t want to nip to Shop&Save with her. It hadn’t quite been dark so she’d run all the way there and back. As she got into Stanley Avenue, she slowed down to a trot.

‘All alone for a change?’ Stacey said, jumping from the shadows. Before Claire could react, she punched her in the side of her face.

Claire took another punch before she managed to throw one of her own. It missed its aim, catching Stacey on the shoulder.

Stacey took another shot at her, causing her to stagger back against the wall. Then she pulled out a knife. Claire saw the glint of metal. Fuck! Stacey and fist fighting was more than she could take. But Stacey with a knife: she wouldn’t stand a chance.

‘Leave me alone,’ she said, hoping to sound more confident than she felt.

‘Tell that bitch of a sister to back off or else one of you will get it.’

Claire felt the sting of the blade cutting the delicate layers as Stacey brought the knife up to her cheek, pressing it against her skin.

‘This is just a warning,’ said Stacey, ‘because if she doesn’t back down, I’m going to come after you until she does.’ 

Claire squeezed her eyes shut, praying she wouldn’t draw the blade across her face and scar her forever.

But she didn’t. A car door slamming and an engine starting up brought her to her senses. She stared at Claire when she dared to open her eyes.

‘If I have to warn you again, next time I won’t stop before I mark you permanently.’

Before Claire could answer, Stacey punched her in the stomach.

‘Tell her,’ she said. 

Claire doubled over. By the time she looked up again, Stacey was gone. She gathered her senses and ran; Christ, Mum would kill her for getting into this state again.

Rachel was lying on her bed when she heard the pebble strike the glass outside. She went to the window to see who it was, hoping that it wasn’t any of the Mitchell Mob as she didn’t feel like going out that night.

She was confused when she peered down and saw her sister. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m in a mess,’ Claire whispered loudly. ‘Stacey got to me. You’ll have to get me past Mum.’

‘Hang on a moment. I’m coming down.’

Rachel closed the window and crept downstairs. She squeezed herself past the stuff in the hallway, let her sister in and then popped her head around the living room door. Gina was curled up asleep on the settee. Her dad hadn’t come in yet. Quickly, she sneaked through, grabbed a glass, a couple of painkillers and rushed back upstairs.

Claire was sitting on her bed, a mirror in her hand, examining the damage.

‘She had a knife, Rach. Ohmigod, she had a fucking knife on me!’ She started to cry.

Rachel rushed over to her, comforting her while she sobbed. What the hell was going on? This was getting beyond a joke now; they couldn’t compete against weapons and she wouldn’t use a knife to hurt anyone, unless in self-defence.

There was no option to back off now. Even if Stacey reverted to gang leader, she would never let them be members anymore. Rachel needed the backing of the others, as well as Claire, to stand her ground.
 

But she was more annoyed with herself. Why the hell hadn’t she gone to the square with Claire? This had happened because she’d been in a mood and couldn’t be bothered to go out. Stupid, selfish cow.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, handing her sister the glass of water and painkillers. ‘Here, take these.’

Claire burst into tears. ‘What are we going to do, Rach?’ she asked again. ‘We’re in big trouble.’

Rachel tilted Claire’s face up to look at the damage Stacey had inflicted. Claire’s nose was swollen, again. Her cheek was cut, it hadn’t been done to cause any lasting damage, but her right eye was swelling too, bruising already appearing.

‘Smile,’ she told Claire.

‘Fuck off,’ she replied. ‘There’s nowt to smile about.’

‘I want to check your teeth are okay.’

‘Oh.’ Claire smiled, wincing at the pain it caused.

‘Nothing out of place there,’ Rachel confirmed.

Claire looked in the mirror. ‘Shit, I look a right mess again. Mum’s going to mad when she sees me.’

Ruth sat on the settee with her head in her hands. She’d sent the boys to bed an hour earlier, having had enough of them playing up by seven thirty, but she could hear them banging away upstairs as they ran from room to room.

Why did they always act up for her? When she’d lived with Martin, they’d been sent to bed at eight and not a peep would be heard from them. Maybe he had persuasion tactics that she didn’t know about, like the bogey man in the wardrobe or underneath the bed.

Martin arriving and leaving within the blink of an eye had really unnerved Ruth. She couldn’t understand why he’d left so quickly. And why had he said that she was poison? At the back of her mind, she knew it must have something to do with Pete. Martin wasn’t the sort of man to look a gift horse in the mouth when it came to free food and lodgings, and sex on demand whenever he felt like it. And despite the way he’d treated her in the past, Ruth had enjoyed having someone around before he’d thrown her out: someone that she could talk to, look after, see to their requirements. For the first time in a while, she’d felt needed and not just as a mother. She dismissed his rough handling of her: sex was always for his satisfaction; he had no intentions of pleasing her. But just the closeness, the feeling of a man inside her, joined with her, made her feel wanted.

‘Mum, can I have a drink?’ Jamie popped his head around the living room door.

‘If you’re quick.’ Ruth didn’t look up. Emotionally drained from crying all day, she wished she could go to bed and sleep forever. Maybe it would be better if she never woke up, she surmised. The boys would have to go into care but surely that would be better than living with a lunatic for a mother. One minute she was acting the way she should: the next she’d be screaming at them, trying to stop from lashing out at them. The way she felt wasn’t their fault but sometimes she couldn’t help it. It was those times that scared her the most.

Suddenly, she heard muted laughter and then coughing coming from the kitchen. She pulled herself up from the settee to investigate. Opening the kitchen door, she saw Mason holding up a glass of wine to Jamie’s lips.

‘What the hell are you two doing?’ She swiped the glass from Mason’s hand, catching Jamie as she did so. The glass shattered as it hit the floor.

‘We only wanted to taste it!’ Mason protested.

‘It’s not for kids.’ Ruth grabbed him by the arm. ‘Have you any idea how dangerous that could be, you stupid idiot?’

‘But you drink it all the time!’

‘I’m an adult!’

‘He only had a little bit! Ow, Mum! You’re hurting!’

Ruth pushed him away roughly. ‘Get to your room, NOW!’

Mason shot out of the door. Jamie ran behind him but Ruth stopped him. ‘Whoa, little soldier. You’re going nowhere.’

‘Leave me alone,’ Jamie wailed.

She reached for the bottle. There didn’t seem to be too much gone from it; they had more than likely just had a taster. But she couldn’t be sure. She filled a large glass with water and held it to his lips.

‘Drink,’ she ordered. ‘And you piss the bed tonight and there’ll be trouble.’

‘No.’

‘I said, DRINK!’

Jamie knocked her hand away, the water spilling onto Ruth’s feet.

‘Why, you little –’

Jamie took the opportunity to run.

Ruth sprinted up the stairs after him, one time touching his heel. Jamie ran into Mason’s room and slammed the door shut. Ruth pushed down the handle but they held it steadfast on the other side.

‘Get away from the door,’ she screamed. She tried the handle again but it wouldn’t go down enough for her to get in. She banged on the door for a while before dropping to her knees.

Ohmigod, what was happening to her, she asked herself, as the fog began to lift and she started to come to her senses.

Why did she turn into a monster when she was with them? Martin had been right. She was poison and she hadn’t even had a drink tonight. She’d wanted to wait until later. What little wine she had wouldn’t last her long.

She wasn’t fit to be a mother, was she?

She never would be, would she?

As she sat crying, all of a sudden, it came to her what she had to do.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Gina woke up the next morning on the settee. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms above her head and moving her neck from side to side. It was eight fifteen and the third time that week she hadn’t made it to bed after having a drink. It wasn’t good for her bones. She wondered what had woken her. Then she heard movement in the kitchen.

‘You’re up early,’ she said to one of the girls, unsure which twin it was until they turned towards her.

‘Couldn’t sleep,’ a voice said.

Gina sat down at the table, reached for her cigarettes and lit one up. ‘Make us a brew, will you?’ she said.

Another mug was placed beside the two already there, a teabag shoved into it and a spoon of sugar added.

‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing.’

‘For God’s sake, will you turn around so I know who I’m talking too?’

Claire turned around.

Gina jumped out of her chair and across to her. ‘What happened?’

‘It’s nothing, Mum. It’ll heal.’

‘Who did this to you? Was it Stacey Hunter?’

‘I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that’s all.’

‘I bloody knew it. Why didn’t you keep away from her, like I told you?’