‘Can I have a word, Lola?’
‘For you Vaughnie, I’ll give you the world. And if you’re a very lucky boy, I might give you something else.’
Lola winked cheekily and cackled loudly as she sat down with Vaughn, but not before he’d glanced in the direction of a tense looking Casey.
‘I’m not asking you to grass, Lola, fucking hell, that’d be like asking you to give up the gear. All I want to know is if it’s true; and if it is, where the girls are. Nobody will know you’ve said anything. I don’t know if I’ll even do anything with the information, but it’ll be worth a bit to you.’
‘What’s a bit?’
‘How about a couple of grand?’
Lola raised her eyebrows and whistled, feeling the soreness of her cheek. What harm would it do? She knew Vaughn well and she knew if he said nobody would know, it was the truth. The only reason she was loyal to Oscar was through fear, nothing else; but what she really wanted was for him to have his comeuppance. Touching her burnt cheek made her decision all the easier, but she didn’t want to look too eager.
‘Let me think about it, Vaughn.’
‘Here’s my number; don’t leave it long.’
Vaughn wrote down his number on a piece of paper. A moment later the cafe door opened and Oscar walked in, just in time for him to clock Lola taking the number from Vaughn and putting it away in her apron pocket. Vaughn turned and saw Oscar. He stood up and walked across to him. It was the first time he’d seen him since their chat.
‘I hope you won’t forget what we discussed?’
Oscar spat out his reply not looking Vaughn in the face, angry and humiliated he was being dressed down in public.
‘As if I could, Vaughn. You made your feelings perfectly clear.’
‘I’m glad I did.’
Vaughn patted Oscar on his chest menacingly before turning to Casey.
‘I wondered if you fancied going for a meal tonight?’
‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’
‘Casey, I’m not asking you to marry me; I’m asking you to come out for a meal with me as a mate.’
Casey softened. ‘I’d like that very much.’
‘Great, I’ll pick you up at eight.’
Vaughn waved goodbye to Lola and Casey, and as Oscar stared after him he was already planning a way to wipe the cheesy fucking grin off Vaughn Sadler’s face.
The restaurant in Greek Street was deceptive from the outside; it was unadorned with a drab blue and white painted exterior, but once inside there was opulent splendour everywhere. Magnificent hand-carved wooden panels went along the full length of the walls, and the red velvet sofas in front of the burning log fire were trimmed with gold. The music was playing softly and each alcove was lit by candles, making it feel peaceful – in stark contrast to how Casey was feeling.
After leaving Lola’s cafe she’d gone back to the flat and got ready, changing her clothes several times and breaking down into tears when the zipper on her skirt had broken. Her immediate thought had been to have a drink, but she knew herself well enough to know when she’d probably end up hitting the self-destruct button to avoid facing up to her problems. She’d had to sit with her head in her hands for the craving to pass and eventually it’d gone.
Twenty minutes later she’d found herself standing outside a tall grey tower block on the outskirts of Soho, just behind Drury Lane. It was on a rundown estate, and the thought of her baby son being brought here sixteen years ago to live with strangers made Casey experience the same sense of desperation she’d felt all those years ago.
The people Casey wanted to see were a Mr and Mrs Simms; foster parents to her son and hopefully a gateway to more information. She needed to know if he was well; if he was happy; if he was even alive. Her last thought startled her and she quickly rang the buzzer, which was engrained with dirt. There was no answer so she tried again, giving up after half an hour.
What had she expected? She’d been so busy building up the courage to go there, it hadn’t once crossed her mind they might be out; and as Josh had reminded her, they might not even be living there any more.
Maybe Josh had been right about everything. She’d been a bitch to him and she hadn’t liked herself for it. After they’d got back from the States she’d found him crying late one night. Casey had looked at him and in that moment she knew he deserved to be loved so much better. He was a good man and he shouldn’t have to suffer because of her. Shortly after, she’d packed her things and left without saying goodbye.
For the next eighteen months she’d drifted from place to place drinking, picking up men and trying not to think; then she’d seen the date on the calendar: it was her baby’s sixteenth birthday. She knew she had to do something about her life; to try to make up for all the mistakes she’d made – but first of all she had to find her son.
Subdued, she’d walked past the club on the way to the restaurant and seen Alfie head to head in deep conversation with Oscar sitting at a table outside. Seeing them together made her feel on edge; it brought back the memory of the women she’d seen in the club, which left her with a sinking feeling each time she thought of it.
As Casey sat in the warm atmosphere of the restaurant she couldn’t help thinking more about the women. There was something not quite right but she wasn’t quite sure what it was, and as much as she didn’t want to get involved in anything, she also couldn’t ignore her unease at the situation. She didn’t know if she was being foolish but she decided to try to talk to Vaughn, albeit very carefully.
‘Can I talk to you? It’s probably nothing and I’m probably being silly, but I saw something at—’
‘Oh god, that’s all I need,’ Vaughn interrupted Casey as he waved to a group of women coming up from the basement.
‘Janine, what you doing here? Does Alfie know you’re up West?’
Janine chortled and slapped Vaughn on his back. She spoke loudly, making the other customers turn round and stare.
‘Eh, what the eye don’t bleeding see, then the heart won’t mind.’
Vaughn smiled, knowing it wasn’t a case of Alfie’s heart minding, more a question of him not wanting Janine to catch him with his dick up some hooker’s arse. But of course he didn’t say anything.
‘I came up here to celebrate my mate’s birthday, but he thinks I’ve gone to see me Auntie Nan in Chigwell. You know what he’s like.’
Vaughn nodded; he knew exactly what Alfie was like. Suddenly realising he was being rude, Vaughn introduced Casey to Janine.
‘This is my friend Casey, Casey this is Janine; Alfie’s wife.’
Casey offered her hand, but Janine looked at it with so much disdain Casey had to take a quick glance to see she didn’t have something on it. Janine continued to talk in between shooting Casey icy glances and laughing raucously at her own jokes. Eventually she said her goodbye to Vaughn and waddled off with her friends.
‘Sorry about Jan, she’s like a tiger. She probably thinks you’re just a …’
Vaughn trailed off as Casey stared at him. She decided to ignore what Vaughn was going to say; there were more important things to discuss than Alfie’s wife thinking she was a whore. Before Casey could speak, Vaughn’s phone rang.
‘Sorry Cass, I should get this. Hello?’
Vaughn listened to the familiar voice of the caller on the other end of the phone.
‘It’s Lola, I’m on my way to the cafe. Can you meet me in half an hour?’
‘That was quick; I got the impression you wanted more time to think about it.’
‘Not me, sonny Jim, I’m a fast mover; thought you’d know that by now.’
Vaughn smiled but moved the phone away to stop the cackle of laughter hurting his ear.
‘No problem, I’ll be there.’
Putting down the phone, he watched Casey take a large bite of her bread roll; he’d wanted to try to get to know her and he felt genuinely apologetic as he spoke.
‘I’m sorry Cass, I have to go. Can you tell me tomorrow what you were going to say?’
She was surprised how upset she felt at his leaving and hoped it wouldn’t show on her face or in her voice.
‘Do you want me to come with you? I can tell you on the way.’
‘No, it’s a bit of business I have to sort out. You stay here and finish munching and I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll leave some money with them for the bill on the way out. Feel free to have whatever you want.’
He went to kiss Casey on her lips but she turned her face slightly to receive it on her cheek instead.
Bateman Street was dark; two of the street lights had been vandalised and the place was deserted, save for a wino drinking from what looked to Vaughn like a bottle of turpentine.
Vaughn put his collar up, feeling the cold of the London air, and continued down the road with the distinct feeling somebody was watching him.
As he approached the cafe, Vaughn turned round at a noise and was relieved to see it was a dog going through the black bin bags left out for the early morning collection. He smiled at how jumpy he was becoming in his retirement. Quickly taking another look round, he knocked quietly on the cafe door.
‘Lola, it’s Vaughn; open up.’
The two grand sat in four neat piles on Lola’s rickety kitchen table. It was the easiest money she’d ever made. All Vaughn had wanted was the nod and the whereabouts of the girls. He hadn’t asked for anything else so it hadn’t felt as if she was grassing anyone up. Hopefully Vaughn would do something about the girls locked up like canaries in a cage.
Pleased with herself, she walked into the bathroom and ran the hot water in the bath. Lola put the radio on full blast and started to hum the tune to a club mix of Rhianna’s ‘Umbrella’.
She hadn’t been on holiday in a long time; maybe she’d go and visit her mate in Wilmslow in Cheshire who was serving a six-year term for firearms offences in Styal prison. She’d been up there before and as much as she was a city chick, a few days amongst the hedgerows might be good for her. If she played her cards right she might be able to pull one of them posh country blokes. She chuckled out loud at the thought of her being a lady of the manor.
‘Care to share the joke?’
Lola nearly wet herself in fright as she heard the voice right behind her.
‘Oscar! Fuck me, you pretty much turned me skin inside out. What are you doing here?’
‘Maybe I should start off by asking what
you
were doing with Vaughn Sadler.’
Lola swallowed hard and felt her heart racing. She’d thought she’d been careful; made sure no one was around. It crossed her mind for a moment that Vaughn had said something to Oscar, but it was probably the least likely explanation. She didn’t think Oscar had seen her take Vaughn’s number when he came into the cafe, but he must have done. The only thing left for her to do now was something her mum had always drummed into her; deny bleeding everything.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, O.’
Oscar glared at Lola, who looked guiltier than a kid getting caught with their hand in a biscuit tin. Living with her, he’d learnt to read the signs when she was lying to him; she folded her arms as she was doing now and she’d unconsciously bite her bottom lip. As Oscar Harding stood in the bathroom, which was filling up with steam, he knew right away his ex-wife was hiding something.
He was starting to get a migraine and he could see the specks of white in front of his eyes. He could feel the anger towards Lola and he was struggling not to smash her face in and let the blood run into her mouth as it choked her.
He wanted to show her the consequences of disloyalty, but first he wanted answers. Oscar was determined to know what exactly she’d told Vaughn.
‘I saw you, Lola; I saw you take his number.’
‘That was nothing; he said he knew someone who could get me a deal on meat for the cafe. Save me a few bob.’
‘And that was all?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t believe you. Funny that.’
Lola wasn’t finding anything about the situation funny; in fact she was downright scared.
‘You see Lola, I couldn’t get the image of you and Vaughn out of my mind; so I came to pay you a visit to discuss things. I waited outside for a while and then I saw you coming out of the flat and I followed you. I saw you go into the cafe, Lo, and then when I was coming away fuck me, what do you know? A few minutes later I saw Vaughn and I followed him and guess where he went? To the cafe. Now don’t try to insult my bleedin’ intelligence and tell me your late night meeting was about sausages and fucking bacon. And I for one know old Vaughnie values his dick enough not to shove it up your rancid fanny, so he wasn’t looking for a taste of pussy. So tell me, what was it all about eh?’
‘I don’t know what to say; it was nothing.’
‘Nothing. Is this nothing?’ Oscar grabbed hold of her face and he brought his knee up to the side of her skull. Lola screamed and started to talk.
‘Okay, okay. He just wanted to know about the girls. He knew about them anyway.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I told him you had a few girls, that’s all, I swear.’
‘That’s all?’
Oscar smiled and as Lola nodded, he brought down his fist and smashed her hard in the face. Picking her up under her arms, Oscar threw Lola head first into the burning hot bath and watched her struggle. He pushed her down with his booted foot. Lola’s mouth filled with water as her face slowly submerged. He wanted her to feel every last moment of a snitch’s punishment. He smiled to himself and rolled up his sleeves; he was going to enjoy this.
Walking through Lola’s kitchen ten minutes later, Oscar stopped to pick up the money, seeing it as payment for his trouble.
Even though she’d eaten alone, Casey had enjoyed the meal in the restaurant. It’d been the best meal she’d had since coming to London and it was certainly a welcome change from Lola’s greasy meals. Her mind had been racing, but she’d been able to decide what she needed to do next. Casey walked home and was about to turn into Dean Street, when she suddenly remembered she was supposed to be opening up the cafe in the morning and had rushed off without taking the spare set of keys.
‘Shit.’
Sighing, Casey pulled out her phone to call Lola. It rang several times, and Casey cursed again as she willed Lola to pick up the phone, hoping she’d agree to do the early morning opening instead. It was no good; she’d have to go round there. Annoyed with herself, Casey turned round and headed off to Lola’s flat on the east side of Soho.