The Victim (33 page)

‘No.’

‘It’s an eternity ring,’ Ryan told her.

‘What’s that mean, then?’ Georgie asked, showing her young innocence for once.

Ryan lifted up her left hand and gently kissed the ring. ‘Eternity means that me and you are gonna be together for ever.’

Georgie grinned. She’d captured her man, got a ring to prove it, and couldn’t wait to tell all the other girls on the site. They would be so bloody jealous.

Alice O’Hara was just dishing up her homemade shepherd’s pie when Jimmy walked through the door, looking slightly worse for wear.

‘You must smell me dishing up, Jimmy O’Hara. Nose like an elephant’s trunk you’ve got. Where ya been? I’ve been trying to ring ya all day.’

‘Pub,’ Jimmy replied curtly, as he drunkenly sparred up to Harry.

‘What pub? You ain’t been to that one with the funny name that’s miles away again, have ya? I wish you wouldn’t drink and drive like that. Say the gavvers catch ya? Can’t you drink somewhere nearer home?’

‘I like the Babbity Bowster and I’m fine driving back from there. Anyway, even if the gavvers do catch me, I’ve got me licence in the name of Jones, ain’t I? You worry too much, woman.’

Alice sighed. Apart from their old friends and fellow travellers, who knew who they were, they introduced themselves by the surname of Jones to anybody else they came into contact with now. You could never be too careful, especially when you were on the bloody run.

‘Gotcha, Grandad,’ Harry yelled, as he landed a right hook on Jimmy’s chin.

‘That hurt, you little fucker,’ Jimmy chuckled, as he wrestled his grandson to the floor.

‘He is a little fucker an’ all. Bought home another dead chicken that he’d nicked off the farmers again today. I wish you’d have a man-to-man chat with him, Jimmy. If he gets caught and the gavvers nick him, it might blow our cover.’

‘Of course it won’t. I’ve told you a thousand times, woman, all our documents are cushti and they’re all in our new name. We ain’t Alice and Jimmy O’Hara no more, we are Alice and Jimmy Jones, so for fuck’s sake stop worrying about it.’

‘Your dinner’s getting cold. You gonna stop arsing about and eat it? I don’t slave over a hot stove all day for the fun of it, you know.’

Jimmy playfully slapped his grandson around the head, sat at the kitchen table and greedily began shoving the food into his mouth. ‘Where’s Georgie girl?’ he asked, showing Alice a large mouthful of shepherd’s pie as he spoke.

‘Supposedly went shopping and to the pictures with Josie, but I saw Josie come home with her parents earlier, so I know Georgie’s with that bloody boy again. I wish you’d have a word with Micky Maloney, Jimmy. Ryan might be a nice enough lad, but our Georgie’s too young to be courting a mush of that age. There’s no point me asking silly bollocks to talk to him, ’cause that dinlo’s all for their relationship. He won’t be saying that when she comes home pregnant though, will he?’

Jimmy roared with laughter. He had every faith in Georgie girl. She might only be young, but she was clever, not stupid. He also liked Ryan Maloney. The boy’s father, Mickey, was cakeo and his granddaughter would never want for anything if she married his son.

‘Whatever’s wrong with you today, Alice? Did you get out of the bed the wrong side this morning, my sweet?’

Harry smirked. He loved winding his nan up by being crude. ‘Georgie knows what she’s doin’, Nan. She says she only lets Ryan touch her titties and she’s not gonna touch his cory until he marries her.’

Picking up the tea towel, Alice walloped her foul-mouthed grandson straight around the head with it.

Georgie and Ryan’s love-nest was an old barn that belonged to Ryan’s father. It was where all the groping, kissing and cuddling took place and they’d even put two pillows and an old quilt in there, so they could lie side by side in the warmth if the weather was cold.

Ryan held Georgie’s hand as they took the short walk back to their respective mobile homes. ‘I’ve got to go to Fife with my dad tomorrow to look at a gry, but I’ll be back late afternoon. I’ll get us some cider and I’ll meet you in the barn about six,’ Ryan said.

‘You can ring me again now. I got another phone for my birthday and I got the number written down for you.’

‘Thank fuck for that. I hated it when I didn’t know where you were. You’re my woman now, Georgie. That’s what that ring says and don’t you ever forget it.’

Georgie dragged Ryan round the back of her neighbour’s mobile home and began snogging him again. She put his hands on her breasts and smiled teasingly.

‘You’d better stop that or you’ll get me shot,’ Ryan said, as he heard the familiar sound of the Mitsubishi Shogun’s engine pulling in.

‘The old man ain’t gonna shoot you. He knows we’re a couple and he likes you. Come and say hello to Shelby with me,’ Georgie said.

‘You all right, Georgie girl?’ Lola asked, spotting her stepdaughter appear from the shadows. Lola was only seven years older than Georgie, so they were more like sisters than stepmother and daughter.

‘Is Shelby awake?’ Georgie asked hopefully. She loved her little sister dearly.

‘No, she’s soundo,’ Lola answered, lowering the sleeping child in her arms to prove it.

‘You all right, darling? Been looking after her for me again, have you, Ryan?’

Ryan grinned. ‘Of course! Your daughter won’t come to no harm while she’s with me, so you’ve got no worries on that score.’

Bursting with pride, Georgie couldn’t help showing off the ring that Ryan had given her. ‘This was my surprise birthday present from Ryan. It’s an eternity ring. Do you like it, Dad?’

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Frankie felt bright and breezy when she arose the following morning. The migraine she’d had the previous day had now cleared and she felt ready to face the world again.

‘You look nice. Are you looking forward to seeing Matty?’ Frankie asked her friend as she ventured into the kitchen.

When Matilda had briefly dabbled with heroin, Babs had been devastated and so disappointed with her, but since her daughter had got herself clean their relationship had got back on track again.

‘Yeah, I am. Kelvin’s coming with me and I’m gonna take both of them to Oxford Street. Then later, my mum’s gonna cook us all chicken, rice and peas for dinner. I’m gonna stay at my mum’s tonight. Jordan’s gonna stay at his mate’s house. Will you be OK on your own, Frankie?’

‘I’ll be fine. I’m gonna let Brett have a day off school and Stuart’s gonna take us both for lunch.’

‘Is that the same Stuie-wooie who wants to get into those panties of yours?’ Babs asked teasingly.

‘No, it’s the same Stuie-wooie that we were meant to go out with yesterday, but couldn’t ’cause I was ill. I only said I’d go today ’cause I felt horrible about letting him down.’

‘Pull the other one, it’s got bells on,’ Babs said, laughing.

At the other end of Great Britain, Georgie O’Hara was sitting in Josie’s trailer and was desperately trying to comfort her friend, who had just been told that her mother’s cancer had returned. Georgie wasn’t very good with situations such as these and as Josie started to cry, she desperately searched for the right words to say to her.

‘I know it’s awful, but if your mum did die, you would get over it you know. I ain’t seen my mum since I was four and as far as I know, she could be dead an’ all,’ she said tactlessly.

‘Do you ever think about your mum?’ Josie asked, genuinely interested. It was the first time she had ever heard Georgie actually mention her mother.

‘Not really, but I still sort of remember her. I sometimes wonder if I look like her or if we’re alike in our ways, but other than that, I don’t think about her much at all.’

‘What was she like? What do you remember about her? Was she pretty?’

‘I think so. I know she had long dark hair and she used to give me lots of cuddles, but I don’t remember much else. I never talk about her indoors ’cause everybody hates her. My Nan calls her “the old shitcunt” because she tried to murder my dad once.’

‘Really?’ Josie asked in amazement.

‘Yep, she went to prison and everything,’ Georgie replied.

‘Is she still in prison now?’

Georgie shrugged. ‘Dunno and I don’t really give a shit, to be honest.’

‘So, where we going then? Aren’t we just going to Brentwood town centre?’ Frankie asked, as Stuart took a turn in the opposite direction.

‘Nope. I thought Brett would get bored there, so we’re goin’ somewhere he’ll like for a change.’

‘Where, Stuie? Where?’ Brett asked excitedly.

‘Southend, boy.’

‘What’s there, then?’ Brett asked, bemused.

‘There’s a fairground, amusement arcades and proper fish and chip shops,’ Stuart explained.

‘Yes!’ Brett shouted, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Frankie did not share her son’s enthusiasm. Her last trip to Southend had been with Jed in the early stages of their relationship. They’d gone to a hotel by the seafront and it was there that Frankie had lost her virginity to him.

‘Are you OK? You’re all right with Southend, ain’t ya?’ Stuart asked, aware of Frankie’s sudden silence.

‘Yeah, course,’ Frankie lied. She stared out of the window as all the memories came flooding back. That was the day Jed had bought an old tape recorder for fifty quid off a girl in the reception. He’d then got his cassettes out of his motor and they’d danced to Tammy Wynette’s ‘Stand By Your Man’ before they’d finally fallen onto the bed and made love for the very first time. Oh, how stupid and naïve I must have been, Frankie thought silently.

‘You ain’t ’arf gone quiet, girl. What you thinking about?’ Stuart asked her a couple of minutes later.

Determined not to spoil a day out that she knew her son would enjoy, Frankie turned to Stuart and smiled. ‘I’m just thinking how thoughtful and kind you are. You’ll make a lovely husband to some lucky girl one day, you know.’

Stuart raised his eyebrows. He wanted to tell Frankie that he would like her to be that lucky girl, but as usual, he didn’t have the guts to say anything.

Eddie Mitchell was relieved as he heard Gina’s car pull up outside. Looking after the kids on his own had done his head in and he now realised just how hard women worked when men were out grafting.

‘Mummy!’ Rosie and Aaron screamed excitedly as they ran to greet Gina.

‘Why aren’t you at school?’ Gina asked her son.

‘Had a sore throat,’ Aaron lied.

Gina grinned as Eddie put his arms around her. ‘How’s your mum?’ he asked.

‘Fine. She’s driving me dad mad again, so she must be on the mend. What about you? Did you cope all right with the kids?’

‘Piece of piss. I dunno what yous women moan about,’ Eddie replied untruthfully. Admitting he’d struggled to cope with anything just wasn’t part of Ed’s make-up.

‘Your phone’s ringing, babe,’ Gina told him, hearing his familiar ringtone.

Eddie ran indoors. Raymond and Terry had driven up to Wolverhampton early that morning to check out a gypsy site where Johnny Bullock might be hiding out, and as Eddie saw Raymond’s number flashing up, he hoped the news was good for once. ‘Well?’ he asked expectantly.

‘No joy, Ed. There is a Johnny Barrett living there and also a Robbie Bullock, but neither are our man, mate.’

‘Are you absolutely sure?’

‘Positive. We did some snooping around with the locals before we went there and both families come from Liverpool. We then checked the site out and they all have Scouse accents, unlike our man, who supposedly comes from O’Hara’s neck of the woods.’

‘Fuck,’ Eddie mumbled as he ended the call.

‘What’s up?’ Gina asked, walking into the lounge with her daughter in her arms.

‘Just another lead we had to the O’Haras that’s gone by the wayside.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry, Ed. Shall we go out for lunch? I can’t be bothered cooking today?’

‘McDonald’s!’ Aaron shouted.

Eddie picked his urchin of a son up and dangled him over his right shoulder. ‘Little boys with sore throats shouldn’t eat McDonald’s, so we’ll have to go to a boozer instead.’

‘Says who?’ Aaron asked cockily.

Eddie looked at Gina and laughed. ‘Says me, you cheeky little shit.’

Surprisingly for Frankie, once she got over the initial shock of returning to Southend, she found she actually enjoyed herself. Peter Pan’s was like a proper fairground and watching Brett’s excitement reminded her of when she and Joey were young.

‘Me mum and dad took me and Joey to the fairground once. I think it was the Dagenham Town Show, actually. Oh, it was hilarious, Stu. Joey was a right wimp when he was a kid. He was travel sick and would spew up at the drop of a hat. Anyway, he didn’t like the rides and ’cause my dad was always trying to toughen him up a bit, he forced Joey to go on a scary one with him. I can’t remember what ride it was, but within seconds of them getting on it, Joey sicked up all over my dad’s expensive clothes. You can imagine the old man – he went mental and we were dragged straight home after that,’ Frankie recalled, laughing.

Stuart chuckled and decided to drop one of his regular hints. ‘Your dad’s a top geezer, you know. I would never have got through my sentence if I hadn’t been sharing a cell with him. That’s what you should look for in a geezer, Frankie, someone who has your father’s manner and qualities.’

Frankie linked arms with Stuart. ‘Sod off. Men are off the menu for me, and as long as I’ve got you as a mate, I’m happy.’

Alice O’Hara was not having the best of days. Georgie’s eternity ring had worried the life out of her when she’d set eyes on it this morning. Then she’d done a reading for her neighbour, Mary, and had seen the woman’s husband, Bill, being terribly injured in some sort of accident and, to top it all, Harry had just been driving Jimmy’s truck up and down the road and had accidentally run over Mary’s lurcher dog and killed it stone dead.

‘Get in ’ere now, you little fucker,’ Alice screamed, as Harry studied the dead dog that was lying, mouth open, in the middle of the site.

‘I didn’t mean it – it run out in front of me, Nan,’ Harry said, defending himself.

‘What have I told you about nicking the keys to your grandfather’s truck? You’re too short to see over that steering wheel, you dinlo.’

‘No I ain’t and anyway, it’s only a bloody dog,’ Harry snapped.

‘But it ain’t no stray, is it? It’s Mary’s dog. I wouldn’t mind, I looked into me crystal ball not two hours ago and saw her poor husband having a bad accident.’

‘Well, perhaps you got Bill mixed up with the dog, then,’ Harry said, giggling.

‘Don’t push me, Harry, ’cause I’ll give you such a good hiding you won’t know what day it is. Now, where’s your sister? I ain’t seen her since this morning.’

‘Probably playing with Ryan’s cory,’ Harry replied cheekily.

As Alice lunged towards him, Harry ducked her swipe and ran outside laughing.

Frankie was now sitting in a fish restaurant under the arches in Southend thoroughly enjoying the taste of freshly caught cod and chips. Then, without warning, Brett piped up with the question she’d always dreaded him asking.

‘Mummy, I know Stuart is my pretend daddy, but who is my real daddy? Why don’t I see him?’

Frankie’s hunger immediately vanished and she put her knife and fork down. ‘Why are you asking, darling? Did somebody tell you to ask?’

Brett nodded. ‘Josh, my best friend at school.’

Stuart squeezed Frankie’s hand under the table. ‘Do you want me to help out?’ he whispered in her ear.

Frankie shook her head. Jed was her mistake; therefore it was her duty to explain so to her son. ‘Mummy was very young when she met your daddy, Brett. I was only sixteen when I fell pregnant with your older sister, Georgie, and then eighteen months later I was pregnant with Harry, your brother. As time went on it turned out your dad wasn’t a very nice person, sweetheart, that’s why we split up and that’s why you don’t see him.’

‘Why ain’t he nice?’ Brett asked confused.

‘He used to hit Mummy. He did lots of other stuff as well, which I’ll tell you about when you’re a bit older.’

‘Will I ever meet him?’ Brett asked, picking a chip up with his fork.

‘I don’t think so, love.’

‘What about Georgie and Harry? Can I meet them?’

Seeing Frankie’s eyes well up with tears, Stuart automatically stepped in. ‘One day you will, Brett, but not just yet. Now, no more questions, eat them fish fingers before they get cold, boy.’

After recovering from his earlier annoyance over Raymond and Terry hitting yet another brick wall, Eddie Mitchell had had a rather jolly day. They’d taken the kids to a boozer with a playground and he, Gina and the children had all enjoyed themselves immensely. Gina had offered to drive home so that Ed could have a good drink and as he glanced in the back at his zonked-out children, he had a naughty urge come over him.

‘Stop it, Ed,’ Gina said giggling, as he put his hand up her skirt and moved it towards her thigh.

Ed stared at her excited expression as he ignored her request. ‘Pull over somewhere where there’s no houses,’ he ordered.

‘No, and please stop doing what you’re doing, in case I crash the bloody car.’

Ed found her clitoris with his middle finger and smirked as Gina gasped with pleasure. ‘I said, pull over,’ he said, putting her left hand on his swollen penis.

A mile down the road, Gina was so turned on that she had no choice other than to comply with her husband’s orders. ‘We’re only a short distance from home. I’m not doing anything in the car in case the kids wake up,’ she said maternally.

‘Turn the engine off, lock the doors, and you see that tree over there? I’m gonna fuck your brains out against it.’

‘We can’t leave the kids in the car on their own,’ Gina said anxiously.

‘We’re only ten yards away from ’em, babe and they’re soundo.’

About to argue, Gina smiled as Ed unleashed his rock-hard manhood from his trousers. ‘Come on, then, let’s be quick though.’

On the journey back from Southend, Stuart did his best to cheer Frankie up by chatting away endlessly and telling silly jokes. As she laughed at his latest quip, he glanced at her and could see that her laughter wasn’t quite reaching her eyes.

‘We’re nearly home now. Shall I come in for a nightcap or not?’ he asked her hopefully.

‘Not tonight, eh? That fairground’s worn me out,’ Frankie replied, falsely yawning.

Stuart drove the last few minutes of the journey in silence and only spoke again when he spotted a car parked outside Frankie’s drive, blocking it. ‘Who the fucking hell’s this piss-taking bastard?’ he mumbled in annoyance.

Frankie stared at the black Golf and gasped as she recognised the girl that got out of it.