Derek was sitting on the leather banquette, patiently as always, his face a study of earnest concentration. Oh, Phillip liked this kid. He was a pleasure to teach and a fine example of how a young man could be trained if under the right guidance.
‘Did he swallow it?’
Derek smiled, a wide, amiable smile. ‘Hook, line and fucking sinker.’
‘He’s a slippery cunt Jonny P, and he can smile while he cuts your nuts off, so don’t let your guard down even once, you hear me?’
Derek nodded, exasperated at how careful Phillip could be at times, even as he understood why the man was chary. Jonny P was a force in his own right, but not for much longer.
‘Let him stew a while, and get him onside, then we’ll arrange the final meeting.’
Derek nodded his assent. ‘My thoughts entirely, Phillip. Then we can meet our mutual friend and get the deal done sooner rather than later.’
‘It’s going to cause chaos, you know that, don’t you?’
Derek nodded.
‘You can walk away any time you like, son. This is a dangerous operation, and you have a young family.’
‘I know, mate, but I’m in over me head now, and I feel confident we can pull it off.’
Phillip smiled, one of his rare, real smiles. ‘Good lad. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’
‘Well, maybe if you took more notice of him he might not be such a fucking strange one, James. If you didn’t snort up that shit like there’s no tomorrow . . .’
Jimmy Tailor looked at his wife and wondered as he often did what she would do if he slapped her across her lovely mouth. He never would, but it didn’t stop him dreaming about it. ‘Shut up, Cynth, for once in your fucking life, just shut up.’
It was evident that she was momentarily shocked at his words, but she recovered her composure in about three seconds. Her shouting could be heard all over the house and, in her bedroom, Gabby put her hands over her ears. She was sick of it, and she was sick of being held prisoner like she had done something wrong. She could hear James Junior next door, kicking the wall as loudly as possible, and wondered at how she wasn’t as mental as him.
She turned her CD player up to drown out the noise of her family’s madness. She lay on her bed and thought about Vincent, which was all she did these days – even her schoolwork was suffering. But he was like a obssession, growing more powerful by the day. She wondered if he would be at the school gates tomorrow? She hadn’t seen him today and it had worried her. Maybe he was fed up with the situation. Who could blame him? It was all
her
fault. She couldn’t bring herself to use the word mother, or mum. She was just
her
now, and Gabby hated her.
Downstairs, the shouting was reaching its crescendo.
‘You! You’re not a fucking man, James Tailor, you’re a fucking
boy,
an innocent, a laughing stock as well!’ Cynthia was in full screaming mode now, her life as she knew it was in tatters, and this idiot she had tied herself to was as much use as a handbrake on a canoe.
‘He’s fucking going, Cynthia. If it will help him he has to go, can’t you see that?’
Cynthia was swallowing down the urge to smash this man over the head with the nearest chair. He was quite happy for their son, their child, to go into a psychiatric assessment centre, a place where he would be labelled a nut-bag, and he thought she would happily say it was OK. What fucking planet was he on? As always, her mind was not on the poor child, but on what his actions would look like to the outside world, what people would think of her.
‘It’s only for a few weeks, and then he’ll be home, and he’ll get the help he needs.’
‘Over my dead body.’
‘Well, from what the shrink said that’s an option, Cynth. She said he’s on his way to becoming a full-blown Looney Tunes. Or, in her words, he has no idea of the effect his actions have on the people around him. He is only interested in the world as it pertains to him and his wants. He cannot empathise with others, and has no understanding of the needs of others. Quote, unquote. Remind you of anyone, Cynth?’
‘You ponce! Don’t blame me for all this! This comes from your side, all fucking weird your family. Your mother’s about as with-it as a three-legged camel.’
Jimmy sighed heavily. ‘Can’t you see that he has to go away, before he does anything terrible. It’s for his own good as well as everyone else’s. Anyway, we ain’t got no say in it. If we refuse, the social workers will intervene and we’ll have no control over his life at all.’
In her heart, Cynthia knew what her husband was saying was true, but it hurt her to admit that her child was ‘not right’, and she knew that people would blame
her.
They always blamed the mother in these cases. She felt the tears stinging her eyes and blinked them away rapidly. Why was this happening to her? What had she ever done to deserve this?
She needed to see Jonny and she needed to see him soon. He was another one – she could feel he was different, knew that all this with James Junior had pissed him off. She had gone on about it too much but, in all honesty, she couldn’t see what they were up in arms about. He was ten years old, and they were labelling him already. He was highly strung that was all, and now tomorrow morning, they were supposed to take him to a child psychiatric unit in Kent and leave him there. Suddenly that didn’t seem such a bad thing; with James Junior gone all she had left was Gabriella – that had to make life easier surely? He was a handful was young James and, as his father said, he would be in the best place.
She smiled grudgingly suddenly. ‘If you’re sure, James.’
Jimmy sighed with relief. She had finally seen sense and now the boy could get the help he so desperately needed.
He poured them both a stiff drink and, as she took hers from her husband, Cynthia was pondering how she could get rid of her daughter as well. She could do with a break; after all, she was the first to admit, she wasn’t really the maternal type, and now she had her job. She would board her daughter in a good, strict school, where they would watch the little mare like a hawk. That would put a stop to her gallop, and give her the time she needed to pursue her other interests. James Junior killing that cat was like a gift from the gods really, it had turned out to have unexpected benefits. She felt a rush of excitement at having her life to herself once more, and it was very hard not to stop a wide grin from splitting her seriously concerned face.
Jimmy guessed what was really going through her mind; he
knew her better than anyone. But he didn’t say a word, all he could do was make sure his son got the best treatment available and hope against hope that it worked. Being brought up by Cynthia Tailor had to have some kind of repercussions, and he had a feeling this was just the start of them for both his children. He didn’t worry as much about Gabby though. She had a thick skin where her mother was concerned, and he was glad about that. She was going to need that thick skin for a while yet; she was growing up and turning into a beautiful girl and it wasn’t something his wife was going to accept graciously. That Cynthia was jealous of the girl was evident – not that she would ever admit it – but Gabby was really going to be a beauty, and that was something Cynthia was going to find difficult to tolerate. It was her way or no way – how many times had he heard her say that to the kids over the years?
Well, this was the upshot of her mothering and, while he hoped that it taught her a lesson, he doubted very much that it would. Cynthia didn’t care about anyone or anything enough to change her ways, and that thought, along with his kids’ problems, depressed Jimmy further still. He knew he should leave, take his daughter now and go, but where? Cynthia would let them go, of that he had no doubt, but he knew that with his lifestyle and his little habit, he wasn’t going to be much use to his kids. It was a cop out, but he didn’t want the responsibility of those two by himself. Like his wife, he was too caught up in the world he lived in to make those kind of changes. It was a vicious circle, and every one of them was caught up in it. The kids more than any of them, because they lived at the whim of their parents, and he knew he and Cynthia were not parents anyone would choose to be lumbered with.
Still, he consoled himself with the fact he had fought her to get James Junior the help he so desperately needed, so at least he had done that much. A voice in his head was telling him it was too little, too late. But he ignored that, and left the house
quick smart. Cynthia could do the boy’s packing – she was better at things like that than he was.
An hour later he was coked out of his nut, and working on long columns of figures. Only numbers made any sense to him these days, and he lost himself in them like a drowning man grabbing on to a lifeboat.
Vincent O’Casey was waiting for Gabby outside the school gates the next morning and, seeing him, her heart rose in her chest.
‘How’s everything?’ He genuinely cared, and that meant so much to her.
‘I’m on me own today because me mum has to take me brother to some kind of kids’ looney bin in Kent. I’ll skip school, shall I? We can go somewhere and be together.’
Vincent knew he should refuse, but he missed her. Never had he felt like this about a girl before. Gabby was under his skin and, with the certainty of young love, he knew she always would be. She came from a dangerous family, and he was nervous about that, but it was her, Gabby, who filled his days and his nights. If he was honest, she was like a virus infecting every part of him, and he knew that she felt the same about him.
‘I’ve got a motor round the corner, borrowed it off me mate Petey. He’s working for your uncle Jonny actually, and he might get me onboard. I’m thinking of going into the banking business.’
Gabby smiled with pride. Once settled in the rather knackered Ford Capri Ghia, Gabby lit a cigarette and said earnestly, ‘What bank will you work for? Barclays?’
Vincent grinned then and said mischievously, ‘Sometimes, depends what bank we’ll be robbing, don’t it!’
Gabby laughed, but she felt the first fingers of fear inside her belly. She forced it away; he was older than her, and he knew
what he was about. It was too late for her now, he was in her blood, and nothing he did would make her feel anything other than love for him.
‘What, with guns?’
He nodded as he pulled out into the traffic. ‘’Course. Bit pointless trying to rob a bank with a fucking lolly stick!’
‘But what if you get caught?’
‘I won’t get caught, it’s a doddle really. Now, let’s drop that, shall we? Where do you want to go? Victoria Park? How about Barking Park? We can go on the boats.’
She grinned shyly. ‘How about Southend? I love Southend.’
‘Southend it is.’
As they picked up the A13, she was quiet for a few moments. ‘I know this ain’t been easy, Vince, but my mum’s a tough one you know.’
Vincent laughed then. ‘Fucking understatement of the year that! She’s harder than most blokes. I mean, you have to admire her, don’t you? She saved her sister from certain death, girl, and, from what I heard, she took out Kevin Bryant quick as anything.’
Gabby didn’t answer; she had heard the stories, and they all differed in some way. She was astute enough to know that the whole truth had been scrubbed out a long time ago. She also knew her mother was capable of anything. And not in a good way. It occurred to her that maybe Vincent was with her for her family connections. She could see that her family could be a big draw to a certain kind of people. The thought saddened her, and she wondered if this man, this young boy who she loved so much, was seeing her as a way into the firm. She felt she had to say something.
‘I wouldn’t give stories too much credence, Vince. Me mum’s got a hard side, and she don’t like you. So any thoughts you’ve got about getting an in with her and me uncle Jonny through me won’t happen. She thinks you’re leading me astray.’
Vincent was serious now. ‘Listen, Gabby, I’ve got in with a
nice little firm, and they ain’t nowhere in your uncle’s league, or your mother’s come to that. But I can tell you this, I know I won’t be welcomed with open arms by your mum and dad. I’ll sit it out until you’re old enough to make your own mind up, and we can tip them bollocks, OK?’
At his words, Gabby felt the sun come out for her once more. He wanted her for
herself,
she was sure of that. She laughed gently and turned up the radio; Simply Red were singing ‘Remembering The First Time’, and they both grinned.
‘Our record, eh?’
She laughed with him, happy to be beside him, happy to forget that she was playing truant and happy to forget about her mother. Today was just for them, and they were going to enjoy it.
Jonny Parker was pleased with the villa scam. Everyone he had spoken to was of the same opinion – it was a good time for something like this. Package holidays were affordable for most people these days and Spain was booming. From Calpe to Marbella, Brits were flocking in their thousands, and they all wanted a little bit of Spain for themselves. ‘The Dorm’, as Benidorm was affectionately known, was kicking nine months of the year. It was cheap, and it was crowded, and that was exactly what the punters wanted.
So, as he drove to Cynthia’s house, he was a happy man. It was as if he could do no wrong, and everything he touched turned into golden coins. In this case, of course, it was pesetas, but the principle was the same. He was glad they were meeting at her house; it wasn’t far for him to go home from there, and he was knackered.