Our Vinnie (26 page)

‘And did you go?’

‘Go where?’

‘Did you go
with
him? You said you’d go round with him, remember?’

Now Lyndsey looked properly flustered. She picked the magazine back up and relocated it to the top of her locker before answering.

‘No, I didn’t in the end, I – look Titch, what’s this? Twenty questions? He put the frighteners on him, just like I said he would. And that was that.’ She paused then, and her eyes narrowed. ‘Has he been bothering you again? Is that it? Is that what this is all about?’

Josie shook her head. Did Lynds know or didn’t she? She couldn’t make her mind up.
Oh, well
, she thought,
in for a penny in for a pound
. She swallowed. ‘No,’ she said. ‘No, he hasn’t been bothering me, and it’s not because Robbo’s put the frighteners on him. It’s because he’s been fucking
paying
him, Lynds. Paying him to keep quiet.’

She’d kept her voice low, so not to draw attention of the patients in the nearby beds, but she could feel her voice rising in her throat. And she knew the answer, now. She knew because the look on her sister’s face had told her. She
did
know. She knew all about what Robbo had obviously been up to with Melvin. It was there, it was a fact, it was right there in her face.

‘He’s been blackmailing him, Lynds. How could you let him
do
that? You know, I’ve been thinking and thinking. Lying there all night, just thinking. How could he
do
that? Earn money out of something like that? Get his
fucking gear money
off that perv, on my account!’

Lyndsey regarded her with an expression she found difficult to read. ‘What the fuck do you expect?’ she hissed finally. ‘What the
fuck
do you expect, Titch? Where d’you think you’re living – fucking Hollywood? This is the real world. And what difference does it make to you anyway? He’s left you alone, hasn’t he? So it’s worked!’

‘Christ, Lynds – that’s not the point!’

‘That’s exactly the point, little sister,’ Lyndsey snapped back at her, throwing off the hospital sheet and blanket. ‘That’s
precisely
the point.’

Josie felt tears begin to prick at the back of her eyes. To think she’d allowed herself to believe Lyndsey hadn’t known. That she’d told Robbo to go round and give Melvin a proper pasting and that as far as she’d known that was exactly what he’d done. How stupid had she been? How naïve?

‘You’ve been getting money off him, that’s the point,’ she said, sniffing the tears back. ‘And it’s wrong!’

‘Oh, I get it,’ Lyndsey said, swinging her legs around and putting her feet on the floor. Her skin was all mottled and she was wearing ankle socks that didn’t match. Christ, she looked like a mental patient. ‘Jesus,’ she said, combing hair out of her eyes with her finger. ‘I have to get out of this fucking bed. She didn’t move though. Just glared at Josie. ‘You
want
some of it? You want some of the money? Is that it?’

‘No!’ Titch protested. ‘That’s the last thing I want! It’s sick, it is, doing that. As sick as he is!’

Lyndsey flapped a dismissive hand. ‘Well, that’s just as well, mate, because that ship has sailed now.’

‘I know,’ Josie said. ‘And now
Vinnie
knows as well!’

This failed to stir anything approaching concern in her sister’s face. She leaned across to her locker, opened the door then slammed it shut again. Whatever she was looking for, it obviously wasn’t there. ‘Yes, Titch,’ she said, ‘I already
know
that dear Vincent knows all about it. Took him all of two and a half minutes to know about it, because that div of a bloke of mine can’t keep his fucking trap shut.’

‘And that doesn’t
worry
you?’

‘Worry me? Why should it worry me?’ Lyndsey shrugged. ‘Like I just told you, that ship’s already sailed.’

‘No, no – I don’t mean that. I mean you’re not worried about Vinnie?’

‘About Vinnie? Since when did anyone
ever
have to worry about Vinnie?’

‘About what he might do! Don’t you
get
it? About the fact that he might end up going back to prison! And it’ll be because of
me
! God, I wish I’d never told you. You’ve ruined everything!’

Lyndsey’s eyes widened. ‘Me? What the fuck have
I
got to do with anything?’

Josie sat forward in her chair. Her stupid sister wasn’t even getting it. ‘Everything! You told Robbo, and I let you, and he’s ruined everything. If he’d just done what you promised he’d do, none of this would even be happening! It’d be over. But instead he’s been blackmailing him and shouting his mouth off and now Vinnie knows about it, and now something even
worse
is going to happen. And it’s all
your
fault!
All
of it!’

‘Hold up,’ Lyndsey said. ‘What exactly
is
going to happen?’

‘Vinnie’ll beat him to a pulp. I know he will. You don’t realise, Lynds. You don’t know what he’s like now. He’ll –’

Lyndsey laughed again. Loudly. ‘Trust me, sis, I
do
know what he’s like now. He’s a fucking animal now is what he is. But you don’t need to worry about that in any case. Melvin’s scarpered.’

‘What, gone somewhere? You mean he’s not in his house any more?’

‘No.’

‘But where’s he gone?’

‘Haven’t a clue. The moon? Scunthorpe? How should I know? Just know he’s gone and holed up somewhere else now. Somewhere our “avenging-angel” fucking brother won’t be able to find him.’

‘When? When did he go?’

‘I imagine it was the minute he knew Vinnie was out, don’t you? He’s a lot of things, Melvin, but he’s not a complete idiot. Probably saw him, didn’t he – just like everybody fucking else did – swaggering like Prince Charming down the fucking street.’

‘But he didn’t
know
, Lynds. How’d he know Vinnie even knew anything about it? How did he? That’s what I can’t work out.
How
?’

‘How the fuck should
I
know?’ Lyndsey said. ‘Why you looking at me? For fuck’s sake, can’t you leave it? He’s gone. Vinnie won’t find him. So no harm done. Your precious brother will stay out of clink – well, in
theory
he will, anyway – and that’s the end of it. And you can stop getting on your high fucking horse for a change.’

It was Robbo, then. It had to be that fucking idiot Robbo who’d told Vinnie, and her stupid sister just couldn’t see it. Just like she couldn’t see an inch beyond her nose about anything where he was concerned. End of it? That was hilarious, that was. That was really fucking funny. There would never be an end to it – not for her.

‘I’m not,’ she snapped, hating her now. She really didn’t care, did she? ‘For your information, I came here for a reason.’

Lyndsey had picked up her magazine again. ‘Which is?’ She now looked bored.

Well, not for much longer
, Josie thought,
and she can’t say she didn’t ask for it
. ‘To tell you you’d better discharge yourself, because I’m not going back.’

‘Going back where?’

‘Back to yours.’

Lyndsey sighed. ‘Oh for God’s sake, Titch. Can’t you just –’

‘No, Lynds, I
can’t
. I’m not going back because that fucking idiot of yours tried to feel me up last night. And it wasn’t the first time, either.
That’s
why.’

Now she was interested again. She put the magazine down and looked daggers at her. ‘What the fuck are you on about?’

Josie made herself hold Lyndsey’s gaze. ‘You heard me. And you don’t need the details. But you know what? I was asleep, Lynds.
Asleep
. And he was trying to grope me. That’s why I’m not bloody going back, okay?’

Her big sister had once been so pretty. Long-limbed and doe-eyed and make-the-boys-cry pretty. And now … Now that sister was long gone. It was sad. It felt tragic. But it was true, even so.

‘Oh,
great
,’ Lyndsey said, after what seemed an age had passed. ‘Made you feel better, telling me all that, did it? Great.’ She sat back against the pillows and waved at Josie as if dismissing her. Lying there like some princess and just swatting her away. ‘You go ahead,’ she said, ‘you go ahead and desert the sinking fucking ship, why don’t you? Christ, it’s not even like you haven’t been touched before, is it? But go ahead. Blab all you like. Thanks a
lot
.’

Josie stared at her sister, open-mouthed. There was so much she could have said. About Robbo, about Vinnie, about what Lyndsey would be coming back to. But she decided to say nothing. There was really no point, was there? It was done now. All out there. So she stood up and left.

Lyndsey didn’t say a thing to try and stop her.

Chapter 20

It was Saturday evening, and the Bull was pretty crowded. It wasn’t anything special in terms of Saturdays, but it had been one of those stupidly warm early September days when you were tricked into believing that Bradford was still going to get a proper summer. Everyone kitted out in the warm weather gear they’d almost given up on, which, in the case of the blokes, involved some pretty dodgy shorts. Though in the case of the girls, it meant an explosion of cheesecloth shirts knotted round their midriffs and hot pants, which was reason enough to celebrate, Vinnie reckoned.

It was still hot even now, at half eight in the evening, and Don, the landlord, had a grin on his face that could have stretched all the way to Bridlington, even if he was sweating buckets trying to serve a bar queue ten deep and the ice machine had long since given up.

Most of the pub’s young crowd had spilled out on to the street, and the atmosphere was buzzing outside. Half the estate seemed to be there, which was all to the good, because somewhere there would be someone who knew something about Mucky Melvin; it wasn’t like he was overrun with friends on the estate, was it? Someone would give the address up, Vinnie was sure of it.

‘He might have buggered off altogether,’ Brendan said. ‘I fucking would if I was him, mate. Wouldn’t you?’

Vinnie shook his head. ‘And go where? To sleep under a viaduct? Nah, he’ll be around. He’ll have found some crony or other to take him in. They like to stick together, nonces – that’s what they’re good at. Someone’s taken him in. Someone local. Some other low-life who’s into child-snatching, probably. It’s just a question of finding out who.’

But it seemed like it was going to be Vinnie’s lucky night because another mate, Steve, had come to join them. He was a part-time taxi driver at his uncle’s firm, and he also worked at the local scrap yard now and again. So he got about a bit, and because he had his nose into everything he knew a lot about a lot – including something that might potentially speed up the hunt.

‘You know Debra Nicholson?’ he asked Vinnie. ‘Used to live over on Canterbury Front?’

Vinnie nodded. The name was instantly familiar, even though she was a girl he didn’t know particularly well. She’d been in the year below him in school and he remembered her as being the sort of bird who swanned around with her nose in the air, like the girls from Canterbury Front generally did.

‘What about her?’ he asked.

‘Well, I was just thinking about what you were saying. She’s having a bit of a party at hers later, or so I’m told, and I’m betting there’ll be a fairly good chance Mikey Harris might be there.’

‘Mikey Harris?’ That was a name Vinnie didn’t know.

‘Good friend of hers,’ Steve explained. ‘Going out with her best mate.’

‘Course!’ Brendan said. ‘I know him. Of
course
,’ he said again, nodding. ‘That’s a really good point, mate. He’s Mucky Melvin’s nephew, Vin, that’s who Mikey Harris is.’

‘Not that I think he has anything to do with him,’ Steve added. ‘For obvious reasons. I mean, would you? But you never know. If anyone’s got an idea where he might be hiding out, I’d say he’s a prime candidate, wouldn’t you?’

Vinnie tipped his head back and drained his pint in a couple of swallows. Then he placed the glass down on the already crowded pub window-sill. ‘Right lads,’ he said. ‘Who’s for getting tanked up? I feel a bit of a party coming on, don’t you?’

It turned out that Debra Nicholson didn’t live on the estate any more. She’d moved to one of the roads down at the town end of Little Horton Lane, which was some distance away. It was a good half an hour walk and Brendan was whining about getting a taxi, but with four pints already inside him, Vinnie barely noticed. That was one thing about borstal life, he supposed – and, weirdly, he missed it; the relentless obsession with PE. And much as he moaned about it (everyone moaned about it because moaning was what you did) it sharpened you up being so fit; kept you strong and on your toes. As did having a good reason for going where you were going, and that was one thing he definitely had in spade loads.

His rage about Titch had not abated. It sat there inside him like a low rumbling presence. Like the beginnings of an earthquake or volcano, stirring just under the surface, ready to blow.

She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve any of it. She’d done fuck-all but be nice to everyone – fucking
everyone
. Wouldn’t say boo to a goose and got shat on by all and sundry. He wasn’t stupid enough not to realise how things worked. He was the prodigal fucking son just by virtue of the fact that his mam thought the sun shone out of his arse. Perhaps she wouldn’t think that any more – not if she’d seen some of the rucks he’d got into. But he could see just by the way she simpered round him – specially in public – that his ‘holiday’ at her majesty’s pleasure had only served to make it shine even more.

Which left no room for his little sister. Which was just like it had always been, only worse. She was just there and expected to get on with it. And with that no-hoper, washed-up selfish druggie of a sister, she must have felt pretty lonely, all told.

He knew he’d frightened Titch the other night, and he felt bad about it. But fuck, whenever he so much as thought about what had been done to her, he saw red. He couldn’t help it. He wanted blood. He craved it. So having to deal with that fucker Robbo had actually been a gift. Vinnie held him personally responsible for turning his sister into a smackhead, so he’d had it coming to him since the day he clapped eyes on Lyndsey. So what that she might have been doing dope before she met him? He was a bloke and a decent bloke would have helped sort her out – not get her on heroin, knock her up, spend her fucking family allowance money. Not get so feet-under-the-fucking-table secure that while his girlfriend was in hospital having a fucking abortion, he thought helping himself to a bit of younger skirt was an acceptable fucking way to carry on.