‘Help, thief!’ he screamed as he fell to the ground.
Aware of passers-by, and a have-a-go hero heading his way, Freddie had no alternative but to leg it empty-handed. Leaping on the back of the stolen motorbike, he grabbed hold of Tommy.
‘Go, go, go.’
Blissfully ignorant of her son’s activities, Maureen was busy preparing dinner. ‘Do yer want me to give yer a hand, Mum? I can peel the potatoes or chop the carrots up if yer want.’
Maureen shook her head. ‘You sit there and rest, love, I’ve got everything under control.’
As she listened to Susan gabble on endlessly about baby names, Maureen couldn’t help but smile. Truth be known, she was just as excited as her daughter by the news that she was expecting her first baby. Susan had only found out a fortnight earlier that she was pregnant and since then they’d spoken about little else. She was already eating Maureen out of house and home.
‘You sure you’re not having twins?’ Maureen asked jokingly.
‘Shut up, Mum. Kevin’ll be too frightened to come to me first scan if yer tell him that.’
James and Tommy were both excited by the prospect of becoming uncles. Even Ethel was overjoyed by the thought of being a great-gran.
‘Be nice to have a nipper in the family again, won’t it, Maur? Shame it’s Kevin’s, though.’
‘Don’t say that in front of Susan. She’s ever so happy with him now and you’ll only upset her if yer open your big mouth,’ Maureen said.
Trust Ethel. She always had to say bloody something.
Kevin seemed a changed man since he’d learned he was to become a father. He’d even got a job painting and decorating for a local company. Maureen now allowed him to stay most nights; she even referred to him as her ‘son-in-law to be’.
‘So whaddya think, Mum? I like Krystal for a girl.’
Putting the lamb stew in the oven, Maureen sat down and smiled. ‘What about poor Kevin? Doesn’t he get a say?’
Susan giggled. ‘We couldn’t agree on anything, so what we’ve decided is that if we have a girl, I choose the name and if we have a boy, Kev picks it.’
‘What does he wanna call a boy then?’
‘He likes all the old-fashioned names. he wants to call it Sid or Harry.’
Maureen laughed. ‘Let’s hope it’s a boy then, so the poor little mite ain’t called Krystal. You know what your gran’s like, she’ll have a heart attack if yer name it that.’
Hearing the bell go, Maureen went to answer the door.
‘Where’s Susan?’ Kevin screamed excitedly. Waving a letter in his hand, he ran into the kitchen. ‘Guess what this is?’
Susan shook her head.
‘We’ve been offered a flat, Suze. Mum opened it and brought it to me at work. They let me have the rest of the afternoon off, so I shot up the council and got the keys.’
Susan leaped off her seat. ‘Where is it, Kev? Where is it?’
Handing her the letter, Kevin waited for her reaction. It wasn’t perfect because it was in a tower block, but it was only ten minutes from her mum’s.
‘I know it’s in a tower block, Suze, but it’s one of the low numbers, so it can only be on the third or fourth floor. I think it’s in the same block where Robert King lives. I’ve been inside his flat and it’s well big. He’s only got a one bed and they’ve offered us a two.’
Susan’s eyes shone, ‘Let’s go and look at it now and if it’s not falling to pieces, we’ll take it.’
James breathed a sigh of relief when Mr Jones called time and collected the papers. Social Studies was his final exam and he was thrilled that his school days had finally come to an end. His mother had been well and truly on his case for the last few weeks. Lectures, revision, early nights – she’d driven him mad. Now it was time for him to enjoy himself, spend some quality time with his brother before he started full-time work with Harold next month. Laughing and joking with his pals, he felt incredibly happy as he left the building for the very last time.
Outside the school gates, he saw Maria climb into the blue cabriolet. Since they’d fallen out, she’d regularly been picked up from school by different blokes. His brother insisted she was doing it on purpose because she always seemed to hang about until she spotted him. They hadn’t spoken since the day she’d slammed the door on him. At first he’d been really upset, but he’d since got his head around it. At least now he was leaving school she couldn’t rub her conquests in his face any more. Living next door to her wasn’t a problem either, because whenever he heard her door slam, he now refused to look out of the window. His brother had come up with that idea, insisting that what James didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. It had sort of worked and now he felt he had a grip on the whole Maria situation.
‘So, James, we’re gonna meet in Kate Odder’s at seven. We’ll have a couple there and, once everyone’s arrived, we’ll go on a pub crawl.’
James nodded, said goodbye to his pals and headed off home.
Tommy and Freddie sat in a pub they weren’t familiar with in Bromley by Bow. They needed to be alone, anonymous, and discuss what the fuck had gone so very wrong.
‘I’m telling yer, Tom, the old cunt knew it was a replica gun. That’s where we came unstuck.’
‘You sure? He looked a simple old fucker to me.’
Freddie knocked back his lager. ‘I’m positive. I bet he’s some gun expert or something. I swear I saw him clocking the shooter and he knew it wasn’t real.’
Tommy lit a fag for both of them. ‘I dunno about you, mate, but we were so close to getting caught, it gave me the willies. Maybe we should have a rethink about what we’re doing. I’m enjoying me freedom and I really don’t wanna go back inside.’
Freddie shook his head. ‘Don’t fuckin’ back out on me now, Tom. We had a deal, remember? Look, we ballsed up today, ’cause we didn’t have a proper gun. Do you honestly think if I’d have fired a shot in the air, Mr Have-A-Go Hero would have chased me?’
Tommy shrugged. ‘Probably not, but what happens if we get caught with a firearm? Do we really wanna take that chance?’
Freddie smiled. ‘Life’s all about taking chances, Tommy. Think positive, we’re not gonna get caught. All right, I admit today was a close shave, but that was due to our own naivety. A, we never had the right tools for the job and B, we never thought in a million years that the old boy would put up a fight. We’ve gotta learn by this and in future be properly prepared.’
Tommy spoke nervously. ‘Where we gonna get a gun from? We’ve gotta be careful, it can only be off someone we trust.’
Freddie moved closer to him. ‘Me uncle Bobby’s the man for that. I’ll set up a meet, we’ll go and see him together.’
Tommy was worried. ‘I dunno, Fred. It sounds a bit heavy to me.’
Annoyed, Freddie looked him straight in the eye. ‘Look, Tom, yer can’t let me down, mate. If yer don’t work with me, what else yer gonna do? Serve silly cunts in Tesco? Or knock your plums out on a shitty building site?’
Tommy knew his mate was talking sense. He’d loved larging it lately with plenty of money in his pocket and there was sod all else he could do. Desperate to redeem himself, he stood up, full of confidence.
‘I’m no quitter Fred. Give yer uncle a bell to arrange the meet. Now, whaddya want to drink?’
Susan couldn’t believe her luck as she ran from room to room. The third-floor flat they’d been offered was not only big, but also immaculate. Her mum and nan had accompanied her and Kevin to view the place and even they were impressed.
‘I can get yer a bit of material from the market and run you up some curtains,’ said Maureen.
‘And you can have my old table and chairs, I don’t bleedin’ entertain any more,’ Ethel chipped in.
Susan clapped her hands excitedly at the size of the smaller bedroom. ‘I can’t believe it doesn’t even need decorating, and won’t this make a wonderful nursery?’ she exclaimed.
Kevin put an arm around her shoulder. ‘I’ll decorate the nursery properly. We can have the cot over there in that corner, a little wardrobe over there. We’ll make it look the bollocks for our little chavvy.’
Seeing her daughter and Kevin kissing, Maureen pushed Ethel out of the room. Dragging her into the kitchen, she turned to her.
‘I’ve never seen our Susan so happy, have you, Mum?’
Ethel pursed her lips, ‘Let’s hope it lasts, eh?’
‘Of course it will. They’ve got a baby on the way, Kevin’s working hard, why shouldn’t it last?’
Ethel shrugged her shoulders. ‘You know the luck the women in our family have, and, don’t forget, it was less than six months ago that he was knocking seven colours of shit out . . .’
‘Ssh,’ Maureen said, as she heard her daughter’s footsteps. Ethel was such a pessimist, she could never look on the bright side of life.
Susan’s eyes were shining, ‘Well, Mum, Nan, whaddya think?’
‘We love it, darling, don’t we?’ Maureen said, nudging her mother-in-law.
‘It’s very nice, dear,’ Ethel said politely.
Kevin beamed as he entered the kitchen. His painting job paid cash in hand, so with his earnings, and him and Susan’s dole money, they’d be fairly well off. ‘We can move in next week if you like, the social will pay the rent for us. The council will be shut now, but if we go down there first thing Monday morning, we can sign the papers.’
Susan threw her arms around his neck, ‘I don’t arf love you, Kevin.’
‘I love you too, Suze,’ Kevin replied, and for the first time in his life, he actually meant it.
James had bathed and was scoffing his dinner on the sofa when his brother arrived home.
‘Where is everybody?’ Tommy asked.
James shrugged his shoulders. ‘Mum left a note about going to look at a flat with Susan or something.’
Tommy opened two beers, handed one to James and sat down next to him.
‘Well, how did your last exam go?’
James smiled. ‘All right I think, but I’m so glad they’re all over. Are you and Freddie still coming out with me tonight?’
Tommy shook his head. ‘I am, but Freddie can’t make it. We had a bit of agg today with a job we were on, and Freddie’s got a bit of running around to do.’
James nodded. His brother usually told him everything – between them they had no secrets. ‘I’m really glad you’re gonna come with us, Tom. Me mates’ll love you.’
Tommy ruffled his hair. He didn’t fancy going out tonight at all. Weeks ago he’d promised Jimmy boy that he’d go out with him at the end of his exams and he didn’t want to let him down.
James put his plate on the table. ‘So what happened today, then?’
Tommy got to the bit where they were sitting opposite the betting shop on the stolen bike, but was interrupted by his family returning.
‘Keep schtum and I’ll tell you later,’ he whispered.
With Kevin up the pub, Susan went for a lie down on the bed. She was tired, but far too excited to sleep. To say she was happy was an understatement. The funny thing was, she had never expected happiness to come to her. Up until now, life had confused her. At school she’d never fitted in, she’d always felt inferior to the other girls. She wasn’t slim or pretty, so she’d become a bully, just to get herself noticed. At home, she had always felt that her mum and nan had favoured her brothers, and even though she had been shown plenty of love, she’d never been able to return it. Now things were different. She had spent years hating the world and its inhabitants, but finally she felt part of it. A loving boyfriend, a baby on the way; she now had a future to look forward to. All she’d ever wanted was love and security, and at long last she had found it. Picturing the flat, Susan smiled. She had just found the last piece of her jigsaw.
Maureen dished up the lamb stew and listened happily while Ethel rabbited on about Gladys. The boys had already eaten and were now upstairs getting spruced up.
‘Oh, look at yous two,’ she said as they came down the stairs. ‘Don’t they look mint in their posh suits, Mum?’ she crowed proudly.
Ethel agreed, but inside she was shocked. James had always been her favourite, but for the first time tonight, he no longer looked like a little boy. Standing next to Tommy all suited and booted, the pair of them reminded her of somebody from the past. She racked her brains. Suddenly, it came to her. They looked like a young Ron and Reg. Not wanting to spoil Maureen’s happy mood, Ethel, for once, kept her thoughts to herself.
SEVENTEEN
James woke up at midday with only patchy memories of the previous evening. He had no idea how he’d got home, but could remember bits of the argument with his father and getting hold of Ellie Phillips. Feeling as sick as a dog, he went in search of his brother, who was already up and about.
‘Christ, you look worse for wear, want me to make yer a nice breakfast?’ his mother asked him.
James shook his head. ‘I feel too ill to eat. Where’s Tommy?’
‘He’s gone out, love. I dunno where he went, he didn’t say. Yous two woke the whole bloody house up when you came in this morning.’
‘I can’t remember coming home. Was Tommy with me?’
‘Yeah, the pair of yer got in about five. Made a right bleedin’ racket.’
Changing his mind about breakfast, James lay on the sofa while his mother cooked him something to settle his stomach. He felt terrible as he remembered what had happened with his old man. It had been awful and he didn’t know whether to tell his mum or not. Choosing not to, in case he got Tommy into trouble, he decided to pay his dad a visit after breakfast, just to apologise and check that he was OK.
Getting hold of Ellie Phillips wasn’t the cleverest move in the world either. She’d been Maria’s best girl mate for years until they’d fallen out over some bloke a few months back. James had never particularly liked Ellie. She was a pretty girl, but had a mouth the size of the Dartford Tunnel. She was bound to make sure that Maria found out he’d gone home with her. James felt really bad – he’d only done it out of spite. When he was drunk as a skunk it had seemed a good idea.