Freddie was relieved when their food arrived. He’d hated telling tales on his pal, but Tommy had left him with no choice.
Finishing his meal, Bobby paid the bill.
‘Right, I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do, lads. Yous two carry on with business as usual and I’ll sort the rest out. I’ll delay my flight, do a bit of detective work. It won’t take me long to get the lowdown on our dear fucking Turkish friend. Once I get the vibes of what’s going on, I’ll know how to deal with it.’
James didn’t like the sound of ‘deal with it’.
‘You ain’t gonna hurt Tommy, are you, Bob?’
Bobby smiled at him. He was a good kid, was James. ‘Of course not, I’ve gotta lot of time for your Tommy,’ he said, with a hint of sarcasm.
Bobby stood up. ‘Best I get going. I’ll be in touch.’
Freddie and James looked at one another as he left the restaurant. Both were worried and neither knew what to say.
‘I had to tell him, James. I know he’s your brother, but I had no choice. Believe me, I love him as much as you do. Bobby ain’t a man to fuck with, James. He’s premier league and not a man to be lied to.’
James smiled. ‘You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I fully understand, honest I do.’
As his phone rang, Freddie handed it to James.
‘It’s Lucy again, she keeps fuckin’ ringing me and I dunno what to say to her. You talk to her, James.’
As James answered the call, he was greeted by hysterics. ‘No, it’s not Freddie, it’s James. Calm down, Lucy, I can’t understand what you’re saying.’
‘Help me! I don’t know what to do, I think the baby’s coming, but it’s not due for ages. I’m all alone with Alfie. Please help me, James, please.’
James did his best to calm her down. ‘Ring an ambulance, Lucy. Me and Freddie are on our way, we’ll be about twenty minutes.’
‘Please hurry, please!’ Lucy screamed.
Freddie drove to Chingford as fast as the traffic would allow. Stuck behind Hinge and Bracket in the fast lane, he kept his hand on the hooter.
‘Fucking Sunday drivers, I hate ’em,’ he said, as he finally dodged past.
James sat quietly during the journey. He’d promised Maria he’d be home early. It was her mum’s birthday and they were supposed to be visiting her. He’d rung her and told her the score, but she wasn’t happy.
‘Your brother is a fucking arsehole, James. As usual, he’s nowhere to be seen and everyone else is rallying around, sorting out his problems.’
‘Get a cab to your mum’s, Maria. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise.’
‘Whatever,’ she said, as she slammed the phone down.
Freddie tried to ring Lucy to make sure she was all right, but got no answer.
‘When is your brother’s baby actually due, James?’
James shook his head. ‘I dunno. He ain’t had much interest in it; he’s never spoken about when it’s due.’
Freddie spotted the ambulance as he pulled into the turning.
‘Thank fuck they’re here! I had visions of me and you delivering the kid.’
As they leaped out of the car, they couldn’t help but hear Lucy’s screams.
‘You go in first,’ Freddie told James, pushing him up the path.
‘Fuck off, I don’t wanna see her with her legs in the air,’ James replied.
‘You’re family, just fuckin’ go in first, will yer?’
A nervous James poked his head around the open door. ‘Are you OK, Lucy?’
He was ushered out of the room by a paramedic, who told him, ‘Just wait outside.’
Freddie and James glanced at one another. Neither of them was Einstein, but it was obvious that something was very wrong.
As Lucy was taken from the house on a stretcher, a paramedic approached them.
‘Which one of you is James?’
‘I am.’
Leading him away from Freddie, the paramedic spoke to him. ‘I know you’re a relative. I take it Lucy is your sister-in-law?’
James nodded. ‘Yeah, she’s me brother’s bird.’
‘I’m very sorry, but the news isn’t good. Your sister-in-law had already given birth by the time we arrived. Unfortunately, the baby was premature and stillborn. We did our utmost, but we couldn’t revive her.’
James felt himself go cold. ‘Did you see her? Was the baby a girl?’
The paramedic nodded. ‘Your sister-in-law wants you to look after your nephew – he’s next door, at number fourteen.’
James thanked the paramedic and watched him walk away. He was dreading telling his mum. No one had known the sex of the baby, and his mum had been rambling on for months about having a granddaughter.
‘Too many men in this family,’ she’d joked. ‘We need a little girl to dress up and spoil.’
Freddie walked towards him. ‘I take it the baby’s dead?’
Tears pricked James’s eyes. ‘Not only have I gotta tell me mum, but I’m gonna have to find Tommy and tell him as well.’
Freddie kicked the wall in temper. He was dreading telling Sarah; her and Lucy were best buddies. ‘Don’t worry about Tommy, this is all his fuckin’ fault, James. It’s the stress of him treating her like shit and not comin’ home for days on end that’s caused this to happen. He may be my best pal, but the geezer’s a cunt. He never wanted this kid and now he’s got his fuckin’ wish.’
James walked up the path of number fourteen and knocked at the door. Thanking the neighbour for her help, he took Alfie by the hand.
‘Where’s Mummy and the baby gone?’
James didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good in this type of situation.
‘They’ve gone to the hospital in the ambulance.’
Smiling, Alfie skipped along happily. ‘Have I got a brother or a sister?’
James glanced at Freddie. ‘I don’t know, Alfie. I tell you what, we’ll go and see Nanny Maureen, she’ll know more than me and she can tell you everything.’
THIRTY-THREE
As the blonde bird nuzzled away at his ear, Tommy did another juicy fat line and offered the straw to Mustapha.
He’d spent the last few days at his pal’s luxurious Docklands apartment. To say they’d had a party was an understatement; a drug-induced orgy was a better description. Tommy had lost count of the number of birds he and Mustapha had rumped, but was sure they’d made it into double figures.
Pushing the bird away from him, he sat up and put his head in his hands. All of a sudden he felt ill, really fucking ill.
‘I’ve lost track of time. What day is it?’ he asked.
Mustapha laughed. ‘It’s Saturday, you prick.’
‘I need to get home and sort meself out,’ Tommy moaned.
The blonde girl knelt down in front of him, pushed his legs astride and took his limp dick into her mouth.
‘Just get off me, will yer?’ he said, kicking her as hard as he could.
He was fucked and couldn’t raise another gallop if his life depended on it.
As he gingerly got dressed and searched for his keys, Mustapha couldn’t stop laughing.
‘You are fucking lightweight, Tommy Hutton.’
Tommy left the flat and clambered into his BMW. He was dreading going home to face Lucy. What he was going to say, God only knew, and his head wasn’t clear enough to think of any feasible excuses. Starting the engine, he headed towards Chingford. It was time to face the fucking music.
Maureen sat her grandchild on her lap and did her best to comfort him.
Unlike Johnny, who was round at hers on a daily basis, Maureen rarely saw Alfie. Their lack of contact didn’t stop her thinking the world of the cheeky little bugger and it broke her heart to see him so upset. The news had been an awful shock to her and Ethel, but they were trying to hold it together for the sake of the child.
Seeing that his tears had now subsided, Maureen smiled at him. ‘Shall Nanny get you a nice bowl of ice cream?’
Alfie nodded. ‘Can I have chocolate?’
Ethel followed her into the kitchen. James had left to go in search of Tommy, but he’d told them the score before he’d gone.
‘No one knows where Tommy is. He’s been on the missing for a few days. Lucy’s been frantic and Freddie reckons that’s why she went into labour so early.’
Ethel closed the door. She didn’t want Alfie to hear what she had to say. ‘That son of yours needs a fucking good doughboy. Surely even you ain’t gonna stick up for him this time?’
Putting the ice cream back in the freezer, Maureen turned to her. ‘We don’t know what’s happened to him yet. Say he’s been arrested, or something?’
Ethel shook her head. ‘Don’t talk bollocks. We’d have heard if he’d been banged up. He’s out enjoying himself, probably with some old scrubber. When are you gonna wake up and admit what he’s really like, Maur?’
Saved by the bell, Maureen answered the door and was shocked to see a dishevelled-looking Susan standing there. Johnny was stood next to her, with two bin liners, one in each hand.
‘What the fuck do you want, Susan? I thought I told you never to darken my door again.’ Selling Johnny’s wedding outfit had been the final straw for Maureen.
‘Mum, I’m in trouble. I owe people money and they’re threatening to hurt Johnny. I need you to take him until it’s sorted. He’ll be safer with you.’
Johnny let out a sob and clung to his nan. As Maureen ushered them inside, she noticed that Susan looked terrible. She couldn’t have weighed more than seven stone, her teeth were beginning to blacken and she had dark rings around her eyes.
‘Go and sit in the kitchen for a minute, while I go and check on Alfie.’
Seeing that Alfie had crashed out, and was sound asleep on the sofa, Maureen put his ice cream on the table beside him and quietly shut the door. ‘Go upstairs and have a bath, Johnny, while I talk to Mummy,’ she ordered.
Ethel explained to Susan what had happened with Tommy’s baby, but she was far too wrapped up in her own problems to be bothered with anyone else’s.
Seeing the lack of interest written across her face, Maureen changed the subject, ‘How much do you owe, Susan? And who do you owe it to?’
Susan looked at the floor. ‘Three hundred pound to a bloke called Frank. I used to buy me gear off him and I ran up a tab.’
Maureen thought long and hard about what she should do. She had about £500 hidden in a tin box under her mattress. It had taken her years to save for a rainy day and maybe that day had just come. She made her decision and turned to face Susan.
‘If I give you the money to clear your debt, I need you to promise me something.’
Susan looked hopeful, ‘I’ll promise you anything, Mum.’
‘I want you to promise me that Johnny lives permanently with me. Tell him whatever you’ve got to tell him, but I don’t want him at your flat no more. It’s not safe for him living in your world. He’s a lovely kid and I can offer him a much better life than you can.’
Susan readily agreed. This was turning out to be much better than she’d expected.
As Maureen left the room to fetch the money, Ethel turned to her granddaughter. ‘Yer might fool her, but yer don’t fool me. There is no debt, is there? You just wanna buy drugs, don’t yer?’
Susan looked her in the eye and shook her head. She’d become that good at lying, she could look God in the eye if she had to. ‘I’m telling the truth, I swear,’ she said.
‘Lying little cunt,’ Ethel spat at her.
Maureen returned and handed her the money. ‘Promise me, Susan, you won’t go back on your word. If you wanna see Johnny, you can visit him here.’
Susan snatched the money and stood up. ‘I promise. He’s all yours, Mum.’
As she left the house, Ethel looked at Maureen in amazement. ‘You’re so gullible, she ain’t in no trouble. She’ll inject that three hundred quid by tomorrow, you mark my words. If she was a daughter of mine, I’d knock her into next week.’
Maureen shrugged. ‘The money’s a small price to pay if it means Johnny can live here. At least he’ll be looked after and safe with me.’
Ethel shook her head. ‘What type of mother sells her own son for three hundred quid? It makes me wonder what we’ve raised between us, Maur. Susan and Tommy are both fuckin’ wrong ’uns. All I can say is, thank God for James.’
Susan ran towards home with a massive grin on her face. It had been Dave Taylor’s idea to spin the yarn about the debt. She’d known that her mother would take the boy, but she’d never expected to get the money out of her as well. She couldn’t wait to tell Dave – he’d be over the moon. What a result!
As Tommy opened the front door, he was shocked to be greeted by silence. ‘Lucy! Alfie!’ he shouted.
Maybe she’d had a gutful of him staying out and left him. He was such a bastard to her sometimes, he wouldn’t blame her if she had.
Running upstairs, he checked the wardrobe. All her clothes were still there, so she hadn’t gone far. Checking Alfie’s room, he was relieved to see that all his stuff was still intact. He went back downstairs, took a beer out of the fridge and walked into the lounge. As he saw the stain on the carpet, he froze. It was blood, he was sure of it. Guessing that Alfie had had an accident, he frantically searched for his phone. Locating it in his jacket pocket, he stuck it on charge. The bastard thing had been dead for days and he was annoyed with himself for not charging it at Mustapha’s. He hadn’t bothered at the time, as he knew Lucy would be on his case.
Downing his beer, he immediately opened another. He was desperate to mellow himself out, he still felt out of his head. Overcome by paranoia, he feared the worst. If Alfie was critically ill or dead, he’d never forgive himself.
Hearing the doorbell go, he ran to answer it. ‘All right, Jimmy boy? What you doin’ here? Do yer know where Lucy and Alfie are?’
Clocking the state of his brother, James pushed him into the hallway. His pupils were dilated and he stank of a mixture of booze and sweat. ‘Do I know where Lucy and Alfie are? You having a laugh, you cunt? Shall I tell you where they are? Shall I?’
Tommy nodded. He’d never seen James so angry before.
‘Your son’s at Mum’s house. The poor little fucker had no one to look after him, and Lucy’s in hospital. The worry of you goin’ missing sent her into an early labour and she gave birth on the carpet in the living room.’