The Deal, page 15
Macy felt her heart race, panic escalating. ‘You’re right. I need out of here, Bobby. They want money, they will be back, I know it. I need to get Alex out of here. Help me, Bobby. Give me a minute, let me grab some stuff together. I’ll tell my mam the bailiffs are knocking, threatening to boom the door in, she should buy that.’
Alex looked unimpressed. ‘I’m not going to my nana’s. She won’t let me take my PlayStation and I’m going nowhere without it.’
‘You’ll do as I say, cheeky bollocks. I’m not letting you stay here to get killed over a bleeding game. Stop giving me more pressure when I’m trying to keep you safe. These men will be back and, if they can do that to a kid, imagine what they are capable of next.’
Alex rubbed at his cold arms, hairs standing up on the back of his neck. Their voices still fresh in his mind, the destruction, the punches, his life flashing before his eyes. He knew it made sense to go. He was a sitting duck here. ‘Well, phone my nana and tell her I’m allowed to bring my PlayStation. The last time I was there with her she made me watch all the soaps.’ He raised a faint smile.
Bobby was curtain-twitching, uneasy. ‘Right Macy, if you two are following my advice and shifting, I’m getting off too. Who’s the guy who Jayden’s working for?’
She followed him into the hallway, her voice low. There was no way she was letting her son know any names. The less he knew the better. ‘It’s Terry Dolan, I bet you know him.’
Bobby nodded; of course he knew Terry. A flash bastard who drove around the estate in his new whips and always dressed in designer clothes. ‘Leave it to me. Let me ask around. Just get out of here and I’ll bell you later.’
Macy walked him to the door. ‘I’ll get Alex gone, but then I’ll get the door fixed before I go anywhere. I’m in no rush to get to my mam’s, it will be like the Spanish Inquisition once she gets wind of this. Plus if they come for me – I’ll show them never to come near a mother who’s kid they’ve hurt…’
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leanne sat downstairs waiting for Gino to get up. He’d come home late, buzzing, and she’d had to pretend she was asleep. And now it was morning he hadn’t stirred. All she seemed to do these days was sit about twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to say jump. This was no life, just sat in this house all the time. How on earth she had let herself get in this position was beyond her. She was a strong, hot-headed young woman who’d had a voice once, but he’d silenced it. Made her timid, made her weak. She’d lost who she was. She was fuming inside, wondering where he had got to the night before. A few hours, he’d told her he would be, not all bloody night. Plus, there were new girls knocking about on the Square lately, and she knew he’d have clocked them. If she heard one little whisper that he was playing about, she would leave his sorry arse, she told herself. Yes, she would tell him straight that she was nobody’s fool. That was the trouble with the girls these days: they had no respect for nobody. They didn’t even care if the guy was in a relationship, they seen them as a meal ticket for anything they could get out of them. So she’d got free booze from lads, and cigs and even weed, when she’d been single. But since she’d met Gino she would never do that again.
Gino’s mother walked into the room and smiled at her. It was nice to see her when she wasn’t rushing about to get ready for work, or cleaning. She was like a stick insect, cheeks drawn in at the sides. Usually, it was a quick hello and goodbye, never a full conversation.
But this time Leanne was eager to talk, to have a conversation with a person instead of sitting here watching TV on her own. ‘Is it your day off today, Jean?’
Jean joined her on the sofa and pulled her light blue housecoat around her body tighter. She was all skin and bone. ‘It sure is, and I’m not moving a muscle. I’m going to watch a film on Netflix and eat crap.’
Leanne chewed on the side of her nail, not sure what else to say. It’s not like she’d met her more than three times. There was an awkward silence, neither of them speaking.
Jean lit a fag up and turned to face Leanne. ‘Where’s lord of the manor? Still in bed, I bet?’
‘Yeah, he didn’t come in until late and you know he likes his kip,’ Leanne chuckled.
‘You can say that again. I think he’s bleeding nocturnal sometimes. He’s always been a sleeper, late to bed and late to rise. Mind you,’ Jean raised her eyebrows. ‘He won’t be doing that when the baby comes along, will he? Babies need twenty-four-hour care. You can’t take the batteries out of them when you’ve had enough.’
Leanne placed her flat palm on her stomach, rosy-cheeked, smiling. ‘I think Gino will be a great dad. He’s not really said a lot about it, but I think he’s getting his head around it, like I am.’
‘I hope he’s better than his own dad was at the father role. Waste of space, that wanker was. He was never there when I needed him, always out on the town. A womaniser too, always some tart hidden away.’
Leanne’s eyes were wide. ‘I’m so sorry, Jean. Gino hasn’t really mentioned a lot about his dad, only that he never saw eye to eye with him when he was growing up.’ She didn’t know how to tell Jean she knew about the beating her ex had given her. She couldn’t even think of the words without thinking of what Gino had done to her and she’d sworn to herself that, now the baby was on the way, she mustn’t even think about that night. He was her man, wasn’t he? He couldn’t have forced her – she told herself she’d been over-dramatising things. Then blinked away the panic that always rose in her when her thoughts wandered that way.
Jean took a long hard drag from her ciggie. She kept her voice low, checking the door was closed behind her. ‘He was an evil bastard. He liked to see me suffer, sick in the head, he was. I’m so glad I got away from him. Our Gino helped me do that.’ She chewed on her bottom lip, nodded her head slowly, fist curling. ‘I should have finished him off when I had the chance. He was on the floor once, pissed out of his head. Our Gino had punched him a few times to get him off me and had put him on his arse. It would have been so easy to whack the twisted sod over his head. It would have been goodnight Vienna then, wouldn’t it?’
Leanne tried not to feel shocked. She wanted to know more. ‘Does Gino still have contact with him?’
Of course she knew the truth but wanted to know if his mother knew.
‘He did a few years ago. He turned up on the Square, Gino said, with his cap in hand trying to build bridges, saying he could help him make money.’ Jean squashed her fag out in the ashtray and flicked her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. ‘The man is all about himself, he’s never given a fuck about anything else. I knew that if he wanted Gino back in his life it would be for his own selfish reasons. Anyway, let’s talk about you and the baby. A little ray of hope this baby will be. Have you got any morning sickness yet?’
Leanne snuggled into the sofa. She’d not really had chance to open up to anyone about how she felt about being pregnant. Cooped up here at Gino’s house, there was no one to chat to normally. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. And she wanted to talk about giving birth and what it felt like. ‘Yeah, I’ve spewed up a few times, especially in the mornings. It can be anything that sets me off too. I hope it passes.’
‘And what does your family think about you being pregnant?’
‘My mam was shocked at first, and I suppose disappointed I’m so young, but I’m sure when she gets her head around it she will be buzzing for me. It’s not like she was any different. I’m dreading telling my nana though, she’ll go to town on me. She’s like that, she holds nothing back, she says what she sees.’
Jean sniggered. ‘Yes, once you get older you have no filter. My mam’s the same. I think it comes with age, because some of the things my mam says to people, I could curl up and die.’
Leanne twiddled her hair at the side of her face. ‘I just want us all to be happy. Me, Gino and the baby.’
Jean pulled her shoulders back in surprise. ‘Erm, and me. Our Gino has already said you will be staying here long-term. He’ll never leave home; he likes to make sure I’m safe.’
Leanne went bright red. ‘Yes, we will stay with you until we get our own place. But we will want to start out on our own once we get enough money saved for our own place.’
Jean folded her arms tightly in front of her, sour expression. ‘Not on my watch, lady. This is the first I’ve heard about my son moving out. I’ll pull him about this later, shocked I am.’
Leanne realised she’d put her foot in it and tried to backpedal. ‘Jean, we are staying with you. I’m only saying we can’t live with you forever. No need to speak to Gino, is there? We don’t want to upset him.’
Gino got up about three o’clock in the afternoon, the day already half gone. Leanne had ended up watching films with Jean and she was doing her best to get on the good side of her. She’d rubbed her up the wrong way for sure and she wanted the beef forgotten before Gino got wind of it.
Gino sat on the sofa and yawned. ‘Mam, do me a brew please.’
Jean sprung up from her chair and headed to the kitchen. ‘Do you want a bacon sarnie while I’m up on my feet, son?’
‘Yeah, go on then, plenty of brown sauce on it too.’
Leanne’s stomach rumbled and hoped her name might be called, but it never came. She was eating for two, but no one ever offered her anything and she knew Gino would think she was trying to get away if she went to the shops herself. Although it wasn’t like she had two pennies to rub together, even if she could get out somewhere. So much for living the life of luxury. She was surrounded by all this show home bling, a world away from her mam’s kitchen – but at least no one ever went without there. Macy would have gone without rather than not offer a guest something. To be fair, even Jayden and Alex would have been ashamed at that – there was no way any of her family members would make something to eat and sit there filling their faces when someone else was sat there with nothing.
Gino flicked the TV over and started to watch the boxing. He loved Tyson Fury and Leanne knew he often watched him in the early hours of the morning when he was fighting. He was like him, she thought: unpredictable, driven, ready to do anything to win. The smell of bacon lingering in the air distracted her. She licked her lips. Jean marched into the front room holding a plate in one hand and a cup in the other.
‘There you go, son. The bacon is just how you like it, crispy.’
Gino didn’t thank her or even take his eyes from the TV. He just reached over and took it from her hand. She went back into the kitchen and came back holding another plate. Leanne looked hopeful but Jean walked past her and sat down. Leanne didn’t know where to look. She couldn’t watch them eat, could she? Her temper was bubbling, and she wanted to say something – but she didn’t know if this was a deliberate dig or whether they both just saw her as unimportant, not even worth noticing.
Gino licked his fingers and slid the plate onto the coffee table near him. ‘Mint that, Mam.’
Leanne was still fuming, eyes fixed on the television, wondering whether, if she offered to wash up, she might be able to sneak herself something.
Jean coughed and thumped her chest which sounded like an old boiler, rattling and spluttering.
Gino was alert, watching her. ‘Mam, you need to get to the doc’s with that chest, it’s not right. And smoking like a trooper isn’t doing it any good either.’
She was gasping to get her breath. ‘Nothing wrong with me. My food went down the wrong way, that’s all.’
Gino smirked over at Leanne. ‘On my life, she would never admit that she needs to give up smoking, it’s always something else that’s causing her to cough.’
Leanne agreed. ‘Yes, everyone will have to watch their habits when the baby comes along, I suppose. I can’t believe people didn’t use to think twice about smoking near babies.’
Gino shot a look at Leanne. A look that told her he wasn’t happy. Jean was taking deep breaths and getting ready to reply, but Gino beat her to it. ‘Oi, don’t ever tell my mam what she can and can’t do in her own gaff. My queen does what she wants, isn’t that right, Mam?’
‘That’s right, son. I smoked in the same room as you when you were a baby and it never done you any harm, did it?’
It was only Leanne who didn’t see the funny side of it. There was no way any kid of hers was inhaling smoke and tobacco fumes all day long, not an earthly. She felt more trapped than ever in this place.
When Jean went upstairs, Leanne snuggled closer to Gino. ‘I need to go home and get some stuff. My mam will be going sick trying to reach me, check on how the baby is doing. My battery has died and I don’t have a charger for my phone here. I think it would be nice for you to come and meet her anyway. After all, you are family now.’
Gino looked down at his hands and cracked his fingers. ‘Nah, not today. I’m busy.’
‘Gino, you have to meet them sometime, so it’s better sooner rather than later. My mam said she wants to meet you before I move out, so it’s polite, isn’t it? To come and tell her you are going to look after me and the baby.’
He bolted up, staring at her. ‘Are you deaf or what? Man’s got places to go, people to see. And tell your mam straight you don’t need her permission to move out. You’re not a kid.’
‘Gino, I’m not saying things like that to my mam. I have respect for her, you know.’
‘You don’t need her anymore. You’ve told me yourself how much hard work she is – giving you curfews, calling up to see where you are. Forget it – I’ll get you a new phone, new number. You’re free of her. Plus it’s me and the baby you should be thinking about now – not your old life.’ His voice was firm, told her not to carry on speaking.
She twisted away from him, trying not to let him see how much his words stung. He got up out of his seat and stretched his arms over his head. ‘Right, I’m going to get ready. Work calls. You better give my mam a hand cleaning up. It will be nice for her to get a bit of help around this place.’
Leanne turned to face him, words pushing from behind her teeth. ‘I’m supposed to be resting. I’ve read it on the internet.’
He span round to face her. ‘You cheeky bitch. Here’s my mam running around after us and all you want to do is sit on your arse. I’ll tell you something for nothing, should I? Things are going to change if you are living under this roof. There will be no more sitting down being waited on. In this house, the women look after the men, and the young look after the old. That puts you at the bottom of the heap but you’d better deal with it. It’s time to grow up and fast.’
She hesitated, trying to get up the nerve to challenge him, tell him she was going home and never coming back. Her mouth was moving but no words came out. Her heart was beating like a speeding train. It couldn’t be good for the baby. No, she backed off, not ready to pull the pin out of the grenade this time. He slammed the door as he left the room. A ball of emotions climbed up her throat and her eyes flooded with tears. She collapsed back onto the sofa and held her head in her hands. She was trapped, not just by him, but by his mother now too.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex sat in the chair with his arms folded tightly. ‘Nana, you are not watching the TV, so why can’t I set my game up? I’m bored out of my head sat here doing nothing.’
Grace wobbled over to him and snarled. ‘Laddy, I want to know what really happened to your face. Until you tell me the truth, you’re not getting any favours under my roof. Because I wasn’t born yesterday. You would have to get up early in the morning to get one over on me, sunshine. Been there and worn the bloody T-shirt.’
‘I’ve told you. I fell off my bike. I come in with a few scratches and black eyes and you’re like bloody Vera, wanting to know the ins and outs.’
Grace studied her grandson, and she knew he was lying: no eye contact, shuffling about and messing with his fingers, like he always did when he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. She sat down, leant forward with her old hands on her knees. ‘And why has your mam sent you here? Come on, I’ll get to the bottom of this, so you may as well tell me everything before she gets here. If I hear you’ve been giving your mother a hard time again then I’ll bloody flatten you myself. I might have a walking stick, but I can still give you a clout. Your mam said something about the bailiffs coming but I’m not buying that story. I believe in tough love – so come on, spill…’
Macy locked the front door behind her. Her neighbour had fixed it the best he could, and she’d bunged him twenty quid for his time. She started to walk down the path and she could hear a car pulling into the close. It screeched to a halt at the end of the path and the back door opened on a black Mercedes. Whoever it was didn’t wait about – dumped something, revved the engine and sped off again. Macy couldn’t even catch the number plate; her eyes shot to what they’d left on the grass verge. It didn’t look like the kind of usual white van you saw dumping rubbish, or someone offloading an old mattress. Her eyes squinted as she tried to make out what it was. Slowly, she approached it with caution. Her jaw dropped, her heart in her mouth.
She ran to Jayden and rolled him onto his side. She could see instantly he was in a bad way. Dried blood clung to his cheeks, his nose still trickling blood, even his knuckles were full of cuts and bruises. But he was still warm to the touch and breathing, even if shallowly.
‘Jayden, can you hear me, Jay, who did this to you?’ she sobbed. She’d cursed him for bringing trouble to their door but she’d never wanted to see him hurt.
Jayden moved slightly. His voice was low. ‘Get me inside, hurry up before they come back.’
She scooped her arms under his and tried her best to move him. He was like a dead weight. ‘Jay, you’re going to have to help me. I can’t move you on my own. Wait here and I’ll see if anyone’s about to give me a hand.’
‘No, don’t get anybody else. I’ll try and move, just give me a minute.’
Macy stood over him, quivering, bottom lip trembling. ‘You’re in a right state. I need to get you seen by someone.’
Alex looked unimpressed. ‘I’m not going to my nana’s. She won’t let me take my PlayStation and I’m going nowhere without it.’
‘You’ll do as I say, cheeky bollocks. I’m not letting you stay here to get killed over a bleeding game. Stop giving me more pressure when I’m trying to keep you safe. These men will be back and, if they can do that to a kid, imagine what they are capable of next.’
Alex rubbed at his cold arms, hairs standing up on the back of his neck. Their voices still fresh in his mind, the destruction, the punches, his life flashing before his eyes. He knew it made sense to go. He was a sitting duck here. ‘Well, phone my nana and tell her I’m allowed to bring my PlayStation. The last time I was there with her she made me watch all the soaps.’ He raised a faint smile.
Bobby was curtain-twitching, uneasy. ‘Right Macy, if you two are following my advice and shifting, I’m getting off too. Who’s the guy who Jayden’s working for?’
She followed him into the hallway, her voice low. There was no way she was letting her son know any names. The less he knew the better. ‘It’s Terry Dolan, I bet you know him.’
Bobby nodded; of course he knew Terry. A flash bastard who drove around the estate in his new whips and always dressed in designer clothes. ‘Leave it to me. Let me ask around. Just get out of here and I’ll bell you later.’
Macy walked him to the door. ‘I’ll get Alex gone, but then I’ll get the door fixed before I go anywhere. I’m in no rush to get to my mam’s, it will be like the Spanish Inquisition once she gets wind of this. Plus if they come for me – I’ll show them never to come near a mother who’s kid they’ve hurt…’
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leanne sat downstairs waiting for Gino to get up. He’d come home late, buzzing, and she’d had to pretend she was asleep. And now it was morning he hadn’t stirred. All she seemed to do these days was sit about twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to say jump. This was no life, just sat in this house all the time. How on earth she had let herself get in this position was beyond her. She was a strong, hot-headed young woman who’d had a voice once, but he’d silenced it. Made her timid, made her weak. She’d lost who she was. She was fuming inside, wondering where he had got to the night before. A few hours, he’d told her he would be, not all bloody night. Plus, there were new girls knocking about on the Square lately, and she knew he’d have clocked them. If she heard one little whisper that he was playing about, she would leave his sorry arse, she told herself. Yes, she would tell him straight that she was nobody’s fool. That was the trouble with the girls these days: they had no respect for nobody. They didn’t even care if the guy was in a relationship, they seen them as a meal ticket for anything they could get out of them. So she’d got free booze from lads, and cigs and even weed, when she’d been single. But since she’d met Gino she would never do that again.
Gino’s mother walked into the room and smiled at her. It was nice to see her when she wasn’t rushing about to get ready for work, or cleaning. She was like a stick insect, cheeks drawn in at the sides. Usually, it was a quick hello and goodbye, never a full conversation.
But this time Leanne was eager to talk, to have a conversation with a person instead of sitting here watching TV on her own. ‘Is it your day off today, Jean?’
Jean joined her on the sofa and pulled her light blue housecoat around her body tighter. She was all skin and bone. ‘It sure is, and I’m not moving a muscle. I’m going to watch a film on Netflix and eat crap.’
Leanne chewed on the side of her nail, not sure what else to say. It’s not like she’d met her more than three times. There was an awkward silence, neither of them speaking.
Jean lit a fag up and turned to face Leanne. ‘Where’s lord of the manor? Still in bed, I bet?’
‘Yeah, he didn’t come in until late and you know he likes his kip,’ Leanne chuckled.
‘You can say that again. I think he’s bleeding nocturnal sometimes. He’s always been a sleeper, late to bed and late to rise. Mind you,’ Jean raised her eyebrows. ‘He won’t be doing that when the baby comes along, will he? Babies need twenty-four-hour care. You can’t take the batteries out of them when you’ve had enough.’
Leanne placed her flat palm on her stomach, rosy-cheeked, smiling. ‘I think Gino will be a great dad. He’s not really said a lot about it, but I think he’s getting his head around it, like I am.’
‘I hope he’s better than his own dad was at the father role. Waste of space, that wanker was. He was never there when I needed him, always out on the town. A womaniser too, always some tart hidden away.’
Leanne’s eyes were wide. ‘I’m so sorry, Jean. Gino hasn’t really mentioned a lot about his dad, only that he never saw eye to eye with him when he was growing up.’ She didn’t know how to tell Jean she knew about the beating her ex had given her. She couldn’t even think of the words without thinking of what Gino had done to her and she’d sworn to herself that, now the baby was on the way, she mustn’t even think about that night. He was her man, wasn’t he? He couldn’t have forced her – she told herself she’d been over-dramatising things. Then blinked away the panic that always rose in her when her thoughts wandered that way.
Jean took a long hard drag from her ciggie. She kept her voice low, checking the door was closed behind her. ‘He was an evil bastard. He liked to see me suffer, sick in the head, he was. I’m so glad I got away from him. Our Gino helped me do that.’ She chewed on her bottom lip, nodded her head slowly, fist curling. ‘I should have finished him off when I had the chance. He was on the floor once, pissed out of his head. Our Gino had punched him a few times to get him off me and had put him on his arse. It would have been so easy to whack the twisted sod over his head. It would have been goodnight Vienna then, wouldn’t it?’
Leanne tried not to feel shocked. She wanted to know more. ‘Does Gino still have contact with him?’
Of course she knew the truth but wanted to know if his mother knew.
‘He did a few years ago. He turned up on the Square, Gino said, with his cap in hand trying to build bridges, saying he could help him make money.’ Jean squashed her fag out in the ashtray and flicked her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. ‘The man is all about himself, he’s never given a fuck about anything else. I knew that if he wanted Gino back in his life it would be for his own selfish reasons. Anyway, let’s talk about you and the baby. A little ray of hope this baby will be. Have you got any morning sickness yet?’
Leanne snuggled into the sofa. She’d not really had chance to open up to anyone about how she felt about being pregnant. Cooped up here at Gino’s house, there was no one to chat to normally. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. And she wanted to talk about giving birth and what it felt like. ‘Yeah, I’ve spewed up a few times, especially in the mornings. It can be anything that sets me off too. I hope it passes.’
‘And what does your family think about you being pregnant?’
‘My mam was shocked at first, and I suppose disappointed I’m so young, but I’m sure when she gets her head around it she will be buzzing for me. It’s not like she was any different. I’m dreading telling my nana though, she’ll go to town on me. She’s like that, she holds nothing back, she says what she sees.’
Jean sniggered. ‘Yes, once you get older you have no filter. My mam’s the same. I think it comes with age, because some of the things my mam says to people, I could curl up and die.’
Leanne twiddled her hair at the side of her face. ‘I just want us all to be happy. Me, Gino and the baby.’
Jean pulled her shoulders back in surprise. ‘Erm, and me. Our Gino has already said you will be staying here long-term. He’ll never leave home; he likes to make sure I’m safe.’
Leanne went bright red. ‘Yes, we will stay with you until we get our own place. But we will want to start out on our own once we get enough money saved for our own place.’
Jean folded her arms tightly in front of her, sour expression. ‘Not on my watch, lady. This is the first I’ve heard about my son moving out. I’ll pull him about this later, shocked I am.’
Leanne realised she’d put her foot in it and tried to backpedal. ‘Jean, we are staying with you. I’m only saying we can’t live with you forever. No need to speak to Gino, is there? We don’t want to upset him.’
Gino got up about three o’clock in the afternoon, the day already half gone. Leanne had ended up watching films with Jean and she was doing her best to get on the good side of her. She’d rubbed her up the wrong way for sure and she wanted the beef forgotten before Gino got wind of it.
Gino sat on the sofa and yawned. ‘Mam, do me a brew please.’
Jean sprung up from her chair and headed to the kitchen. ‘Do you want a bacon sarnie while I’m up on my feet, son?’
‘Yeah, go on then, plenty of brown sauce on it too.’
Leanne’s stomach rumbled and hoped her name might be called, but it never came. She was eating for two, but no one ever offered her anything and she knew Gino would think she was trying to get away if she went to the shops herself. Although it wasn’t like she had two pennies to rub together, even if she could get out somewhere. So much for living the life of luxury. She was surrounded by all this show home bling, a world away from her mam’s kitchen – but at least no one ever went without there. Macy would have gone without rather than not offer a guest something. To be fair, even Jayden and Alex would have been ashamed at that – there was no way any of her family members would make something to eat and sit there filling their faces when someone else was sat there with nothing.
Gino flicked the TV over and started to watch the boxing. He loved Tyson Fury and Leanne knew he often watched him in the early hours of the morning when he was fighting. He was like him, she thought: unpredictable, driven, ready to do anything to win. The smell of bacon lingering in the air distracted her. She licked her lips. Jean marched into the front room holding a plate in one hand and a cup in the other.
‘There you go, son. The bacon is just how you like it, crispy.’
Gino didn’t thank her or even take his eyes from the TV. He just reached over and took it from her hand. She went back into the kitchen and came back holding another plate. Leanne looked hopeful but Jean walked past her and sat down. Leanne didn’t know where to look. She couldn’t watch them eat, could she? Her temper was bubbling, and she wanted to say something – but she didn’t know if this was a deliberate dig or whether they both just saw her as unimportant, not even worth noticing.
Gino licked his fingers and slid the plate onto the coffee table near him. ‘Mint that, Mam.’
Leanne was still fuming, eyes fixed on the television, wondering whether, if she offered to wash up, she might be able to sneak herself something.
Jean coughed and thumped her chest which sounded like an old boiler, rattling and spluttering.
Gino was alert, watching her. ‘Mam, you need to get to the doc’s with that chest, it’s not right. And smoking like a trooper isn’t doing it any good either.’
She was gasping to get her breath. ‘Nothing wrong with me. My food went down the wrong way, that’s all.’
Gino smirked over at Leanne. ‘On my life, she would never admit that she needs to give up smoking, it’s always something else that’s causing her to cough.’
Leanne agreed. ‘Yes, everyone will have to watch their habits when the baby comes along, I suppose. I can’t believe people didn’t use to think twice about smoking near babies.’
Gino shot a look at Leanne. A look that told her he wasn’t happy. Jean was taking deep breaths and getting ready to reply, but Gino beat her to it. ‘Oi, don’t ever tell my mam what she can and can’t do in her own gaff. My queen does what she wants, isn’t that right, Mam?’
‘That’s right, son. I smoked in the same room as you when you were a baby and it never done you any harm, did it?’
It was only Leanne who didn’t see the funny side of it. There was no way any kid of hers was inhaling smoke and tobacco fumes all day long, not an earthly. She felt more trapped than ever in this place.
When Jean went upstairs, Leanne snuggled closer to Gino. ‘I need to go home and get some stuff. My mam will be going sick trying to reach me, check on how the baby is doing. My battery has died and I don’t have a charger for my phone here. I think it would be nice for you to come and meet her anyway. After all, you are family now.’
Gino looked down at his hands and cracked his fingers. ‘Nah, not today. I’m busy.’
‘Gino, you have to meet them sometime, so it’s better sooner rather than later. My mam said she wants to meet you before I move out, so it’s polite, isn’t it? To come and tell her you are going to look after me and the baby.’
He bolted up, staring at her. ‘Are you deaf or what? Man’s got places to go, people to see. And tell your mam straight you don’t need her permission to move out. You’re not a kid.’
‘Gino, I’m not saying things like that to my mam. I have respect for her, you know.’
‘You don’t need her anymore. You’ve told me yourself how much hard work she is – giving you curfews, calling up to see where you are. Forget it – I’ll get you a new phone, new number. You’re free of her. Plus it’s me and the baby you should be thinking about now – not your old life.’ His voice was firm, told her not to carry on speaking.
She twisted away from him, trying not to let him see how much his words stung. He got up out of his seat and stretched his arms over his head. ‘Right, I’m going to get ready. Work calls. You better give my mam a hand cleaning up. It will be nice for her to get a bit of help around this place.’
Leanne turned to face him, words pushing from behind her teeth. ‘I’m supposed to be resting. I’ve read it on the internet.’
He span round to face her. ‘You cheeky bitch. Here’s my mam running around after us and all you want to do is sit on your arse. I’ll tell you something for nothing, should I? Things are going to change if you are living under this roof. There will be no more sitting down being waited on. In this house, the women look after the men, and the young look after the old. That puts you at the bottom of the heap but you’d better deal with it. It’s time to grow up and fast.’
She hesitated, trying to get up the nerve to challenge him, tell him she was going home and never coming back. Her mouth was moving but no words came out. Her heart was beating like a speeding train. It couldn’t be good for the baby. No, she backed off, not ready to pull the pin out of the grenade this time. He slammed the door as he left the room. A ball of emotions climbed up her throat and her eyes flooded with tears. She collapsed back onto the sofa and held her head in her hands. She was trapped, not just by him, but by his mother now too.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex sat in the chair with his arms folded tightly. ‘Nana, you are not watching the TV, so why can’t I set my game up? I’m bored out of my head sat here doing nothing.’
Grace wobbled over to him and snarled. ‘Laddy, I want to know what really happened to your face. Until you tell me the truth, you’re not getting any favours under my roof. Because I wasn’t born yesterday. You would have to get up early in the morning to get one over on me, sunshine. Been there and worn the bloody T-shirt.’
‘I’ve told you. I fell off my bike. I come in with a few scratches and black eyes and you’re like bloody Vera, wanting to know the ins and outs.’
Grace studied her grandson, and she knew he was lying: no eye contact, shuffling about and messing with his fingers, like he always did when he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. She sat down, leant forward with her old hands on her knees. ‘And why has your mam sent you here? Come on, I’ll get to the bottom of this, so you may as well tell me everything before she gets here. If I hear you’ve been giving your mother a hard time again then I’ll bloody flatten you myself. I might have a walking stick, but I can still give you a clout. Your mam said something about the bailiffs coming but I’m not buying that story. I believe in tough love – so come on, spill…’
Macy locked the front door behind her. Her neighbour had fixed it the best he could, and she’d bunged him twenty quid for his time. She started to walk down the path and she could hear a car pulling into the close. It screeched to a halt at the end of the path and the back door opened on a black Mercedes. Whoever it was didn’t wait about – dumped something, revved the engine and sped off again. Macy couldn’t even catch the number plate; her eyes shot to what they’d left on the grass verge. It didn’t look like the kind of usual white van you saw dumping rubbish, or someone offloading an old mattress. Her eyes squinted as she tried to make out what it was. Slowly, she approached it with caution. Her jaw dropped, her heart in her mouth.
She ran to Jayden and rolled him onto his side. She could see instantly he was in a bad way. Dried blood clung to his cheeks, his nose still trickling blood, even his knuckles were full of cuts and bruises. But he was still warm to the touch and breathing, even if shallowly.
‘Jayden, can you hear me, Jay, who did this to you?’ she sobbed. She’d cursed him for bringing trouble to their door but she’d never wanted to see him hurt.
Jayden moved slightly. His voice was low. ‘Get me inside, hurry up before they come back.’
She scooped her arms under his and tried her best to move him. He was like a dead weight. ‘Jay, you’re going to have to help me. I can’t move you on my own. Wait here and I’ll see if anyone’s about to give me a hand.’
‘No, don’t get anybody else. I’ll try and move, just give me a minute.’
Macy stood over him, quivering, bottom lip trembling. ‘You’re in a right state. I need to get you seen by someone.’
