The Feud (22 page)

The headmaster chuckled. ‘I’m afraid they’re not here today, Mrs Mitchell. In fact, we’ve only seen them twice in the last three weeks.’

‘But I dropped them off at the gates this morning.

I drop them off here every morning and I pick them up in the afternoon.’

Mr Redknapp shrugged. ‘Well, I’m afraid your children have been pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes. Maybe you can have a word with your husband, Mrs Mitchell. With their exams coming up, the situation needs to be sorted as soon as possible.’

Seething and red-faced, Jessica stood up. ‘Thank you for telling me, Mr Redknapp. I will speak to my husband and I can assure you that both Francesca and Joseph will be attending on a regular basis in future. It is my duty as a mother to march them into their classrooms if I have to.’

Mr Redknapp nodded. ‘I’ll leave the problem in your more than capable hands, then, Mrs Mitchell.’

Unaware that their mother was talking to their headmaster about them, Frankie and Joey were having a little tipple. ‘Give us a swig of yours, Joey. Mine’s all gone,’ Frankie demanded.

Joey handed her the vodka bottle. ‘You’re such a greedy cow, Frankie. Don’t drink it all, give us it back,’ he said, snatching at it.

Frankie giggled and let out a burp. ‘You’re such an old woman, Joey. Make yourself useful and light me a fag.’

Glancing at his watch, Joey jumped off the park bench. ‘Shit, it’s half-past two. Come on, Frankie, let’s run to the bus stop, else Mum’ll be waiting for us.’

Frankie laughed and gently pushed him. ‘I’ll race you. Last one to the bus stop is a retard.’

Not wanting to upset Eddie at work, Jessica decided not to call him on his mobile, and, instead, wait for him to
get home. Unable to concentrate on any Christmas shopping, Jessica went home and got stuck into the housework. To say she was furious was an understatement. The twins had taken her for a complete and utter fool and they needed to be punished. She wondered where they were spending their days and what they were doing. Maybe they were walking the streets or sitting round at a friend’s house, or maybe they were up to worse.

Feeling as though she no longer knew them, Jessica picked Frankie and Joey up from school at their usual time. As hard as it was, she decided not to let them know she’d cottoned on. Eddie was a much better disciplinarian than she was and he would know exactly how to handle the situation. Filled with fury, Jessica did her best to act normal. ‘How was your day?’ she asked.

‘Oh, the usual, Mum,’ Joey replied.

‘I got top marks in maths today,’ Frankie added.

Jessica felt like screaming. Part of her wanted to stop the car and swing for the devious little toe rags, but somehow she managed to stop herself.

‘We’re going upstairs to do our homework,’ Frankie said as soon as they got indoors.

Jessica was glad. Keeping her temper was difficult and the further out of her sight the pair of them were, the better.

Eddie arrived home at half-past five. ‘Hello, darling, I’m starving. Shall I order the grub? Have the kids picked out what they want?’ he asked Jessica.

‘You’d better sit down,’ Jessica told him.

Explaining the story in full, Jessica expected Eddie to go ballistic and was surprised when he didn’t.

‘I’ll go up and speak to ’em. They’ve got to be punished. I think we should ground them till the New Year. What do you think?’ Eddie said calmly.

Jessica was flummoxed. ‘Is that all you’ve got to say? Aren’t you even annoyed with them?’

Not wanting to cause an argument, Eddie held Jessica in his arms. ‘Of course I’m annoyed and I’ll let them know that. But the thing is, Jess, kids will be kids. I used to bunk off school, me brothers did it too. Gary and Ricky were the same – it’s what kids do, ain’t it?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘I never did it. I was too frightened to do anything like that, I was worried I’d get caught.’

Eddie laughed. ‘You wasn’t a Mitchell though, was you?’

Eddie went upstairs and spoke to the kids, calmly, but firmly. ‘Now, I want to know where you’ve been hanging out. And what you’ve been doing. And don’t lie to me, because I will find out the truth.’

Frankie nudged Joey. ‘We’ve been changing out of our school uniform and going to the café in Dagenham,’ Joey mumbled.

‘And sometimes we sit in the park,’ Frankie added.

‘Well, from now on you’re going to school every day. And you’re both grounded until New Year,’ Eddie told them. He was sure they were telling the truth. He could see it in their eyes.

‘Oh, but Dad. What about our Christmas disco?’ Frankie whinged.

Eddie winked at her. ‘You should have thought of that before you played hookey. Now, get your devious little arses downstairs. I’m starving and I wanna order some dinner.’

Jessica wasn’t quite as forgiving as her husband and she ignored the twins as they sat down to eat.

‘Would you like some more rice, Mum?’ Frankie asked her.

‘No, eat it yourself,’ Jessica replied angrily.

At nine o’clock the twins both yawned. ‘We’re going to bed now,’ they said.

They knew they had got off lightly and they didn’t want to push their luck.

Once her deceitful offspring were out of her sight, Jessica began to relax a bit. ‘Shall we have another glass of wine?’ she asked Eddie.

Eddie stood up to fetch another bottle and was interrupted by the phone ringing. ‘All right, Doug? How’s tricks?’

‘OK, mate. I want you and Jess to come round for dinner on Saturday night. It’s Vicki’s birthday and I’ve got a surprise planned for her. She’ll definitely want your Jess to be there, I know that,’ Dougie said.

‘Yeah, that’s fine. What time do you want us round?’ Eddie enquired.

‘About eight.’

‘So, what you got planned then?’ Eddie asked, intrigued.

Dougie lowered his voice. ‘I’m gonna propose and, as long as she says yes, I’ve booked a holiday for us to go on next week. It’s in the Caribbean, I’ve arranged for us to get married out there. I’m not gonna tell her till we get there. I thought I’d be spontaneous and shock her, for once.’

Eddie laughed. ‘You’re a fucking boy, you are.’

‘’Ere, talking of shocks, you heard about Jimmy O’Hara?’ Dougie asked.

‘I know the old man popped his clogs,’ Eddie replied.

‘Yeah, that’s right, and Jimmy’s got back with his old woman. Moved back in yesterday, Alice did, with his youngest kid, Jed.’

‘Fuck me, that’s a turn-up for the books. You can tell me more on Saturday,’ Eddie said, gutted that Alice had forgiven the bastard.

Eddie ended the call, poured the wine and snuggled up next to his wife.

‘Put the news on, Ed. I still haven’t seen anything about that fire,’ Jessica said.

As Ed switched channels, he was shocked to see a picture of Dickie Pearce flash up on the screen.

‘A man has been found dead in a gangland-style shooting in Birmingham. Fifty-one-year-old Richard Pearce, a father of two, was found in the early hours of this morning. Police are appealing for witnesses.’

‘Poor man. How awful for his children,’ Jessica said sadly.

Eddie felt like bursting out laughing, but instead put on his most solemn voice. ‘I don’t know what this world’s coming to, Jess – my life, I don’t!’

As Christmas approached, Jessica was like a dog with two tails. The festive season was her favourite time of year and she always went to town with it.

‘You’re a fucking girl, you are,’ Ed had told her only last week, as she’d arrived home with yet more lights and decorations.

Jessica sighed. When the kids were young, they had got into the Christmas spirit with her. Now they were fifteen, they had no interest in it whatsoever. They didn’t even want presents any more, they just wanted money. Frankie and Joey had both been spoilt and were more interested in receiving rather than giving and Jessica blamed herself for that. Ever since they were toddlers, she had always given them anything they asked for, and now she was older and wiser, she wished she had been stricter with them.

‘Right, I’m off now, babe. Are you sure you don’t fancy coming with me?’

Jessica shook her head. Eddie was going to visit his family to drop their presents off and she’d managed to wangle her way out of going with him. ‘Honestly, Ed, I would have loved to have come, but I’ve got far too much to do. Mum and Dad are coming at three and I haven’t
even tidied the guest room yet. I’ve got to cook that big lump of ham, vac, polish, prepare dinner and –’

Ed stopped her mid-sentence. ‘OK, I get the message. You do what you’ve got to do and I’ll see you when I get back. I’ll probably pop in the Flag for a Christmas tipple with me dad and brothers this afternoon, but I won’t be late home.’

Jessica hugged him. ‘Don’t rush back. You enjoy yourself, I’m sure I can manage to entertain Mum, Dad and the kids without you.’

Eddie kissed her on the forehead. ‘Oh, you’ve just reminded me, the kids want to go out tonight. It’s only round a mate’s house. It’s OK with me if it’s OK with you.’

Jessica was dubious. ‘I’m not sure, Ed. I want to have a drink tonight and I’m not drinking and driving. Anyway, I’m not sure I trust them any more.’

Eddie disagreed. ‘They’ll be fine. I’ll give ’em the money to get a cab. They’ve been stuck in for nearly six weeks, Jess, we can’t keep ’em locked up forever. We’ll tell ’em they’ve got to be back by eleven.’

Reluctantly, Jessica agreed. Ever since her trip to the school, Frankie and Joey had attended regularly and worked very hard. She had been in touch with Mr Redknapp, their headmaster, and he had organised a homework rota to enable them to catch up for their exams. They were still way behind their classmates, but Jessica couldn’t fault their efforts. They’d worked tirelessly most evenings, so a little break might do them good.

The roads weren’t as busy as Eddie expected them to be and it didn’t take him long to get to his aunt’s house.

‘How’s my favourite nephew? Come inside and warm yourself up by the fire. Bleedin’ taters out there, ain’t it?
I’ve made you a nice bread pudding – it’s just cooling down,’ Auntie Joan said, thrilled to see him.

Eddie made himself comfortable. ‘What you doing tomorrow? You off to your friend’s, as usual?’

Auntie Joan spent every Christmas and Boxing Day at her friend Ada’s house. ‘Yep, Ada’s son is picking me up this evening. I’ve got me little case packed. What about you? Have you and Jess got a house full this year?’

‘Not really, no. Jessica’s parents are coming to stay and that’s about it. Gary and Ricky have sodded off to Tenerife and Raymondo is spending Christmas Day round his new girlfriend’s house. We’ll probably have a house full Boxing Day. Our friends Dougie and Vicki are coming over. They’re the ones that I told you about, the ones that have just got married abroad and I think Raymondo is bringing his posh bit of skirt round to meet us.’

Auntie Joan laughed. ‘I’ll go and pour you a nice cuppa. The bread pudding should be cool enough to cut now.’

Eddie smiled as she handed him a plate and put his tea on the table.

‘What’s your dad and brothers doing?’ Joan asked him.

‘Dad’s going round to Paulie’s for dinner and I’m not sure, but I think Ronny and Sharon are going as well. Reg is going round Uncle Albert’s, I know that. You’re always welcome to come over to mine, Auntie Joan. I know I’m wasting me breath, ’cause I’ve asked you a thousand times, but the offer’s always there. I can pick you up Boxing Day and drop you back home whenever.’

Auntie Joan shook her head. ‘It’s nice of you to ask, love, but you know how set in me ways I am. I like me East London, I don’t do Essex, I’m afraid.’

Eddie smiled. When they made his aunt, they broke the bloody mould.

‘There is something you can do for me though, boy.
You remember old Molly? Lives in the flat over the back here. Molly Jenkins – little woman with grey hair, walks with a limp.’

Eddie nodded. ‘I know who you mean.’

‘Well, I’m really worried about her. Michael, her son, is a bastard to her. Got a drink and drug problem he has, and he keeps turning up at her door asking for money. Poor old Molly only lives on a pension and she’s petrified of him. Twice he’s clumped her now and it’s not on, Eddie. He drinks in the Grave Maurice, always in there, he is. He’ll definitely be in there now. Somebody needs to have a little chat with him, if you know what I mean.’

Eddie knew exactly what she meant. ‘Leave it with me,’ he told her.

An hour later, Eddie stood up. Fishing in his jacket pocket, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Auntie Joan. ‘I want you to treat yourself to something nice, Auntie,’ he told her.

Embarrassed, Joan flapped her arms about. ‘I don’t want your bleedin’ money. What do I need money for at my age?’

Eddie chuckled. They had this same argument every Christmas. ‘Please don’t insult me. If you don’t want it, give it to the fucking dogs’ home or something.’

Auntie Joan hugged him. ‘Me old winter coat’s going home a bit, maybe I’ll treat meself to a new one,’ she told him.

Wishing her a happy Christmas, Eddie jumped into his Land Cruiser and headed towards the pub. The Grave Maurice was literally minutes away on Whitechapel Road. Eddie had no idea who Michael Jenkins was, but he knew Alan, the landlord.

‘Eddie! What a lovely surprise,’ Alan said, shaking his hand.

Eddie accepted his offer of a drink and sat down on a bar stool next to him.

‘What can I do for you, son?’ Alan asked him.

‘I’m looking for a Michael Jenkins. He drinks in here, apparently.’

Alan nodded towards a scruffy-looking geezer who was standing alone at the opposite end of the bar. ‘Local pisshead, he is.’

Eddie nodded. Shame it wasn’t his own fucking money he was getting pissed on, he thought, anger rising inside him. He turned back to Alan. ‘His mother’s a mate of my Auntie Joan. Apparently, the lovely Michael has been knocking her about for his beer money. She’s seventy-odd, his poor old mum, Al. He needs a little wake-up call, don’t you think?’

Alan nodded. ‘Be my guest, Eddie. I don’t like the bloke and he’s a fuckin’ nuisance in here at times.’

Eddie finished his drink. ‘Thanks, Al. I’ll take him outside and speak to him. Take care, mate, and have a nice Christmas.’