The Feud (43 page)

Approaching his Land Cruiser, Eddie took his frustrations out on the driver’s-side door. ‘I’ll kill the little pikey cunt, I’ll fucking kill him,’ Ed yelled as he repeatedly kicked the metal as hard as he could.

Aware of Jimmy watching him out of the window, Eddie jumped in his motor and zoomed off.

Eddie was absolutely livid. O’Hara had almost creamed himself while telling him the story. Loved it, the arsehole had, and Eddie sensed that it was probably true. It all made sense. The secrecy, the lies and an invisible boyfriend with a fucking pseudonym.

As he drove for miles, Eddie felt like he had taken a dozen punches from a heavyweight boxer. He had no idea where he was going, the thought hadn’t entered his head. Spotting a pub, Eddie swung into the car park. He had to catch Frankie red-handed before he could do anything about it, but there was no point in him following her. She was too cute and he couldn’t risk alerting her that he knew.

Making up his mind, Eddie took the business card out of his pocket and punched the number into his phone. ‘Gina, it’s John Smith. I’ve got another job for you, but I need you to do it first thing tomorrow.’

‘I can’t do it tomorrow, Mr Smith. I have another assignment I’m working on, but I can probably do it on Wednesday for you.’

Eddie hated people saying no to him. When he wanted something done, he wanted it immediately. ‘Look, this is
urgent. I’ll give you a thousand pound a day for however long it takes. The house you followed the boy from, I need you to follow his sister.’

Unable to resist the money or the handsome Mr Smith, Gina succumbed to his persuasion. ‘OK, I’ll do it.’

Unable now to stand the sight of either of his kids, Eddie rang Jessica to check whether they were at home or not.

‘They’ve gone out and both of them said they won’t be back till late. Why are you asking, Eddie? What’s wrong?’ Jessica could tell by the sound of his voice that something terrible had happened.

As Eddie walked into the house, Jessica noticed the look of despair etched across his face. ‘Get me a drink and pour yourself one, too. Trust me, you’re gonna need it,’ Ed told her.

Jessica poured Eddie a large brandy and herself a white-wine spritzer. She had never been a fan of drinking alcohol while pregnant, but she told herself that one wouldn’t hurt.

Eddie downed his drink in seconds and immediately got up and poured another. He turned to Jessica, his face contorted with pain. ‘I’ve just found out why our daughter has been so secretive about this boyfriend of hers. Talk about fraternising with the enemy. Guess who she’s dating, Jess. Go on, fucking guess.’

Worried, Jessica shrugged. Frankie told her very little and she didn’t have a clue. ‘I don’t know, love, honest I don’t. Who is it?’

Walking towards the fireplace, Eddie picked up Frankie’s latest photograph and smashed it against the wall. ‘Jed O’Hara. Our wonderful fucking daughter has been staying on Jimmy’s land while shagging his pikey cunt of a son. I’m not having it, Jess, I won’t fucking allow it, and tomorrow, when I have the proof in my hands, I will fucking do something about it.’

A couple of miles down the road, Joey had cheered up immensely since finding out that Dominic had only binned him because of his father’s interference.

‘So, what do you reckon, Frankie? Shall I wait outside Dom’s office tomorrow? Or should I give him a few more days to calm down? What would you do if you were me?’

Not hearing a word her brother was saying, Frankie stared vacantly out of the pub window.

‘Frankie, whatever’s the matter with you today? You’re staring into thin air like a tit in a trance.’

‘I’m sorry, Joey, I was miles away. What were you saying?’

Knowing his sister better than she knew herself, Joey moved next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. ‘What’s up? I know you’re not yourself. Have you had a row with Jed?’

Frankie shook her head. ‘No, it’s not that.’

‘Well, what is it, then? You know we can tell one another anything.’

Without warning, Frankie burst into tears. ‘Oh, Joey, I’m in a right mess. Please don’t tell anyone, but I think I might be pregnant.’

Joey looked at his sister in astonishment. ‘For fuck’s sake, Frankie, please tell me you’re joking.’

‘I’m not joking. My period’s late, and after we were chatting in your room this morning, I was sick twice.’

Joey held her in his arms. Frankie had always been there for him throughout his dramas, and now she needed him to do the same for her. ‘Sssh, stop crying. We’ll sort this, Frankie, I promise.’

‘How? I can’t tell Mum and Dad – they’ll kill me,’ Frankie wailed.

Joey wiped her eyes with his cuff. ‘You stay in here and get us another drink and I’ll walk down the road and find a chemist. I take it, you haven’t done a test yet?’

Frankie shook her head. ‘It was only when I was sick earlier that I thought about it. I checked my diary and my period is over three weeks late. I’m so frightened, Joey. I can’t tell Jed – say he says he don’t want a baby? He might finish with me or something, and I can’t lose him. I love him too much.’

Joey soothed her until she finally stopped crying. ‘Don’t cry, Frankie. You’re probably worrying over nothing and it’s just coincidence. I mean, you’re not stupid. You and Jed have been using something, haven’t you?’

Embarrassed, Frankie averted her eyes and stared at her lap. ‘Not all the time. Jed didn’t like using the rubbers – he said they made his cory itch,’ she mumbled.

Annoyed by his sister’s naivety, Joey stood up. The quicker he went and got this bloody test, the better. ‘I’ll tell you something, Frankie, Jed will have more than an itchy cory to worry about if the test’s positive. Can you imagine Dad finding out that him and Jimmy O’Hara are about to become family? There’ll be murders, Frankie, fucking murders and I hope, for your sake, it’s a false alarm, I really do.’

As Eddie knocked back drink after drink, Jessica vacced up the broken glass. The photograph of Frankie was ruined and she had slung it in the bin. ‘I know this is hard for
you, Eddie, but you won’t find your answers in the bottom of a glass. Who told you all this, anyway? It wasn’t Ronny again, was it?’

‘No, it wasn’t fucking Ronny. I haven’t heard from him or Paulie since that day in the Flag when I found out our son likes taking it up the arse. What have we done so wrong, Jess, tell me? We’ve got two kids, one gay and the other screwing pikeys. They’ve had a privileged upbringing and this is how they repay us. Well, not any more, Jess. I’m putting my fucking foot down from now on and if they don’t do as I say, I want the pair of them out of this house immediately.’

Jessica didn’t know what to do for the best. There was no reasoning with Eddie when he was in this kind of mood and she was afraid what he might do when the kids came home.

‘So, who told you then?’ she asked solemnly.

‘Jimmy fucking O’Hara. I got it straight from the horse’s mouth. I’ll kill that boy of his, on our baby’s life, if he’s touched our Frankie. I’ll fucking kill him, Jess.’

Frightened by Ed’s demeanour, Jessica tried to hug him, but he pushed her away. ‘Please don’t talk like that, Eddie. You’re scaring me. I’ll have a chat with Frankie when she gets home. For all we know, it might not even be true.’

Eddie stood up and snatched at his keys that were on the table. ‘Frankie needs a good hiding, not one of your little chats. All this is your fault, Jess. You’ve been so fucking lenient with ’em, they’ve ended up with no morals whatsoever. I’m off out and don’t expect me home tonight. I’m sick of the sight of this house and I’m sick of the sight of everyone that lives in it.’

As Eddie slammed the front door, Jessica and the glass both shuddered.

* * *

Frankie did the pregnancy test in the pub toilets. Too nervous to get the result for herself, she came out and thrust the stick into Joey’s hands.

‘Urgh, it’s all wet. It ain’t got your piss on it, has it?’ Joey whinged.

‘Stop being such a fucking pussy! It only takes five minutes. You check the result for me, I can’t do it – I’d do it for you.’

The twins sat in silence. The five minutes seemed more like an hour to both of them. Frankie glanced at her watch. ‘Go on, then, check it now.’

‘What exactly have I got to look for?’ Joey asked.

‘If there’s a blue line, I’m pregnant and if it’s clear, then I ain’t.’

As Joey studied the stick, Frankie shut her eyes and said a silent prayer. Her brother’s voice interrupted her before she even had time to finish her conversation with God.

‘Fucking hell, it’s got a blue line. You’re pregnant, Frankie, you’re pregnant!’

Jessica sipped a cup of tea and weighed up all her options. She could stay at her mum and dad’s house, but she didn’t want to involve them in this. Her mum always gave unwanted advice and Jessica knew deep down that her dad had never really taken to Eddie. Another option was to stay around Vicki’s, but again, Jess didn’t want to involve her and Doug either. The problems with the twins were bad enough without the whole world finding out about them.

Finishing her cuppa, Jessica chose option number three. She would ring Raymond and ask him to stay round at hers. Jessica trusted her brother more than anyone and if he came over, at least she wouldn’t be alone in the house.

Raymond was having a meal with Polly and her parents when his phone rang. He excused himself and took the call outside. ‘What’s up, sis?’

‘Oh, Raymond. Please can you come round? Something bad’s happened and I don’t know what to do.’

Raymond sighed. He’d had to shoot away often recently and he didn’t want Polly getting sick of his lifestyle and dumping him.

‘I’m a bit busy at the moment, Jess. Can’t I come round tomorrow?’

Jessica started to cry. ‘I don’t know how to handle this alone, Raymond. Eddie’s found out that Frankie’s been seeing Jimmy O’Hara’s son and he’s gone off his head. I’m frightened to stay here on my own, in case Ed comes back drunk and starts trouble.’

Raymond knew only too well that anything to do with Jimmy O’Hara was enough to tip Eddie over the edge. ‘Stay calm, sis. I’ll be round within the hour,’ he told her.

Ignoring her brother’s advice not to tell Jed about the baby, Frankie rang her boyfriend and told him to meet her at the pub. Finding out the test was positive had prompted her to be straight with him. She loved him and just hoped Jed loved her as much as he said he did.

‘Just get rid of it, Frankie. We’ve still got some of our birthday money left. I’ll help you pay for an abortion. Mum and Dad will never have to know,’ Joey begged her.

Frankie shook her head. ‘No, it’s not fair, Joey. This is as much Jed’s baby as it’s mine. I can’t get rid of it without telling him. I love him and I couldn’t do that to him. For all I know and you know, he might want me to keep it.’

About to plead with Frankie once again, Joey saw Jed walk in and quickly shut up. As her boyfriend walked
towards her, Frankie felt her whole body shake from head to toe. She couldn’t tell him here. The pub had been almost empty earlier, but now was quite busy.

Jed was more perceptive than most boys his age and he immediately clocked the twins’ serious demeanour. ‘Blimey, what’s up with yous two? Look like you’ve seen a ghost, the pair of yous do,’ he said, smiling.

Telling Joey to stay put, Frankie dragged Jed outside. ‘Can we talk in the motor? Where you parked?’ she asked him.

Jed led her to his new pick-up truck and opened the door for her. ‘Do you like it? Four grand, I give for this. Bought it yesterday, I did, off some old grunter.’

Barely noticing the black metal monster on wheels, Frankie nodded dumbly.

Lifting her chin up, Jed was surprised to see tears in her eyes. ‘What’s a matter? Not dumping me, are ya?’

Frankie shook her head. She had never felt so nervous in her life and Joey looking out of the pub window wasn’t helping matters.

‘Jed, I’m pregnant,’ she whispered.

Jed burst out laughing. ‘Is that why you’re crying, you dinlo?’

‘I’m scared, Jed. We’re so young, what are we gonna do?’ Frankie asked, crying even more.

Jed took her into his arms and kissed her tears away. ‘Look at me, Frankie,’ he ordered her.

Frankie did as he asked and was surprised to see him grinning. ‘It’s not funny. You’re acting as though you want the baby.’

Jed chuckled. ‘Of course I want the baby. I love you, Frankie, and we’ll get married, if you want.’

‘Married!’ Frankie exclaimed excitedly.

Jumping out of his seat, Jed ran around the other side
of the truck and dragged Frankie out. He sat her on the tail of the truck and got down on one knee.

‘There’s people watching now, so don’t make me look a cory. Marry me, Frankie – I love you.’

Young, naive and hopelessly in love, Frankie said an immediate yes, without thinking about the consequences.

As Jessica finished explaining the full story, Raymond sat silently, sipping his beer. He knew more than anyone how much Eddie hated Jimmy O’Hara and he couldn’t believe, if true, how Frankie could have been so bloody stupid.

‘He swore on our baby’s life that if it was true, he’d kill this Jed. What am I gonna do, Ray?’ Jessica sobbed.

Hugging his sister, Raymond was more worried about his brother-in-law. Eddie was the most hot-headed person he had ever come across and he dreaded what he was capable of doing to the O’Haras. The problem was, they were no mugs themselves, and if another feud broke out between the two families, everybody’s lives, including his own, would be in danger.

‘Let me have a drive around, see if I can find him, Jess. I tried to ring him on the way here, but his phone was switched off.’

Jessica grabbed hold of her brother’s hand for dear life. ‘Please don’t leave me here alone, Raymond. The twins will probably be back soon and if Ed comes back and you’re not here, I’m frightened of what he’ll do. He could be anywhere. He said he wasn’t coming home tonight, so you won’t know where to find him, anyway.’

Seeing how shaken up Jessica was, Raymond agreed to stay. None of this shit could be doing her pregnancy any good and he was worried if he left and Eddie came home and created a scene, she might have a miscarriage.