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‘Do you think so? I know it’s a little girl, Jed, I do,’ Alice said excitedly.
Jed laughed. ‘Well if it is, I’m relying on you to bring it up for us, Mum. My Frankie’s only young, she won’t have a clue.’
Watching her son walk away, Alice beamed. Sod the cookery lessons, they meant nothing compared to bringing up a child, especially when that child was a beautiful little girl.
As Jed walked back inside the trailer, Frankie smiled at him.
‘Well?’ she asked expectantly.
‘Sorted. Now why don’t you give your grandparents a ring and tell ’em about the meal next weekend? Don’t forget to tell ’em I’m paying,’ Jed said.
‘I’ll ring me nan tomorrow,’ Frankie said immediately. She wanted to speak to her alone, not with Jed listening to her conversation.
Jed handed her her mobile. ‘I’ve just spoken to me mum for you, so now I want you to ring your grandparents for me.’
Frankie felt awkward as she dialled her old home number. She hadn’t spoken to either her nan or grandad since the night of her mum’s funeral.
It was Joyce who picked up the phone. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said as she heard Frankie’s voice.
‘How are you, Nan?’ Frankie said nervously.
‘I’m fine now, thank you. And to what do we owe this pleasure?’ Joyce asked sarcastically.
Frankie took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry I never visited you in hospital, Nan. I’ve really missed you and Grandad and I was wondering if we could meet up?’
Joyce’s voice softened. ‘That would be nice, Frankie. Have you spoken to your brother today? Has he told you about the house being signed over to me?’
Frankie hadn’t spoken to Joey since yesterday, so had no idea what her nan was on about. ‘What do you mean the house has been signed over?’
Annoyed with herself for presuming that Joey had spoken to Frankie, Joyce explained what had happened. ‘So it was all your dad’s idea, Frankie. But as Raymond told your brother, when anything happens to me and your grandad, you and Joey won’t go short of a few bob. Anyway, forget all that. When are you coming to see us?’
‘Actually, I wasn’t going to come to the house. Jed wants you and Grandad to come out for a meal with us. Jed’s paying, of course. We was thinking maybe next weekend, if that’s OK with you?’
Joyce felt her blood start to boil. In her eyes the little bastard Frankie was with was the cause of Jessica’s death. ‘That won’t be possible, Frankie. Your mother would still be alive if it weren’t for that boy. Me and your grandad want nothing to do with him.’
Frankie looked at her boyfriend. She could sense he knew that the conversation wasn’t going too well and it was her duty to stick up for him. ‘How can you say stuff like that, Nan? It was Dad that murdered Mum, Jed ain’t done nothing wrong.’
As Joyce slammed the phone down on her, Frankie burst into tears.
Jed took his girlfriend in his arms and rocked her from side to side. ‘See what I mean, Frankie? You’ve gotta forget about your family. They’re not nice people and we don’t want our chavvie getting involved with the likes of them, do we? I love you, you know that. I’ll always look after you. You don’t need anybody else.’
Frankie clung to him. Jed was right, her family were no good. Wiping away her tears, Jed kissed her on the nose. ‘What was your nan saying about the house, babe?’
Still snivelling, Frankie shrugged. ‘It’s nothing important. She just said that my dad felt guilty about what had happened, so he signed the house over to my nan. Her and grandad can stay there for ever now, I suppose.’
Jed laughed. ‘You’re so naive, Frankie. That’s your family’s way of erasing you out of their lives. Can’t you see that?’
As Frankie shook her head, Jed continued. ‘They hate you, Frankie. That’s your dad, nan and grandad’s way of telling you to fuck off. It’s obvious they blame me and you for everything, ain’t it?’
‘I suppose so,’ Frankie agreed. She hadn’t really thought of it that way.
‘Now I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that you’ll never contact them arseholes again. I’m not having you upset like this, Frankie, it ain’t good for your pregnancy.’
Frankie clung to her hero. ‘I promise, Jed. I’ll still speak to Joey, but other than that, it’s just me, you and the baby from now on.’
Jed held her tightly. ‘How do you know you can trust your brother? He might be in on it with ’em. I bet that cunt of an uncle of yours is something to do with it as well.’
Shocked, Frankie pulled away. ‘My brother would never betray me. You don’t know Joey like I do, Jed, he’s not like them. Anyway, he’s not even living there any more.’
‘Where’s he living then?’
‘With his friend, Dominic. He’s living in Islington,’ Frankie replied.
Jed chuckled. ‘Why don’t you just admit to me that he’s gay? I ain’t no dinlo. The first time I met Joey I knew he was as queer as a nine-bob note.’
‘So what if he is? It don’t make him a bad person, does it, Jed?’
Deciding it was time to be nice again, Jed reverted to the softly-softly approach. ‘Why don’t we invite your brother and his boyfriend round for dinner one night, eh? Or if you’d prefer, we can take ’em out. I’ll pay, of course.’
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Frankie managed a smile. ‘I’d love that, Jed. I promise I won’t have no more to do with the others, but if I still see Joey at least I’ve got some family left.’
Jed pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘Go and sort your face out, then let’s do that shopping. I’ll take you out for a meal when we’re done, then tomorrow you can ring your brother and arrange a night for us to see him.’
As Frankie started to walk away, she glanced back at him. ‘I love you, Jed.’
Winking at her, Jed smiled as she disappeared into their bedroom. From his point of view, the conversation she’d had with her nan couldn’t have ended any better.
Yesterday, when she’d threatened to leave him, Jed had seen the fire in her eyes. He hadn’t liked it, not one little bit. Now she had nowhere to go once more and that suited Jed O’Hara down to the ground.
Eddie Mitchell acted like cock of the walk as he strutted into the canteen. Clocking Baz’s friends, he ordered his food and sat on the end of their table.
‘All right, lads?’ he asked boldly.
The three petrified men nodded simultaneously. They’d all seen what Eddie Mitchell was capable of and were truly shit-scared of him. As Ed munched away on the dry bit of bread-crumbed cardboard that the authorities had the cheek to call fish, he decided to mutter a few special words.
‘Get word to your mate, if he grasses me, I’ll kill him, then I’ll kill you,’ he said threateningly.
Seeing a screw clocking him, Eddie smiled.
‘He won’t say a word. We’ll make sure of it,’ the shortest guy insisted.
When the three men hurriedly made their excuses and left the table, Eddie began picking at their dinners. All the more cardboard for him. For the first time in ages Ed felt incredibly hungry and he was thrilled that his appetite had finally returned. If he was to make a success of his time in nick, he needed every ounce of strength he could muster.
With her anguish from earlier now long forgotten, Frankie felt extremely happy as Jed pulled up outside the trailer. Their shopping trip had been a great success. They’d bought babygros, toys, a highchair, a pushchair and Jed had insisted on buying her some ultra-modern maternity clothes for when she got bigger.
‘Choose what you want, Frankie. You’re showing now and, another couple of weeks your clothes won’t even fit you,’ he told her.
Frankie giggled as Jed struggled to unload all the bags from the truck.
‘Shall I make us a cup of tea?’ she asked.
Jed dropped the bags, grabbed her hand and pulled her close. ‘Why don’t we go in me mum and dad’s for a cup of tea? Me mum would love to see all the baby stuff we’ve bought.’
Frankie agreed. She knew that she had to start making more of an effort, for Jed’s sake.
Alice O’Hara was in her element as she pawed over the purchases for her unborn grandchild. ‘Look at that little suit, Jimmy. Ain’t it pretty?’ she said to her husband.
Jimmy nodded, cracked open a couple of cans and handed one to Jed.
With his mother and Frankie sitting on the carpet rabbiting about babies, Jed couldn’t help but smile. Once his mum and girlfriend bonded properly, his life would be a damn sight easier and he could go out partying more.
Just lately Frankie had become too clingy for his liking. He loved her and all that, but hated feeling trapped, and that’s how Frankie had made him feel recently. He felt like a poxy bird stuck in a wire cage. It was for that reason and that reason only that he’d copped off with that pretty little filly the other night.
Sally was her name. She was twenty-one years old, a right little goer and, as Jed thought about her, he could feel his cock rising to attention in his trousers.
Watching his mum look at his dad like a lovesick teenager, Jed smiled. He’d only been a nipper when his mother had caught his dad knobbing some bird in his salvage yard, but he remembered it like it was yesterday. At the time he was too young to understand, so he’d sided with his mum, but years later his dad had explained the situation and given him a good man-to-man talking-to.
‘Jed, take my advice. Find yourself a good woman, a loyal one. Once you’re sure she’s the one for you, chain her to the cooker and the bedroom. Whatever she cooks for you, even if it tastes like shit, tell her how nice it is, then, once she gives birth to your chavvies, that woman is yours for life. Never forget to enjoy yourself though, son. Us men are grafters: we put the food on the table, therefore we’re entitled to have some fun. A travelling man will always be a travelling man, in more ways than one, boy.’
As his dad handed him another can of beer, Jed again clocked his mother looking adoringly at his father.
‘Cheers, Dad,’ Jed said, clicking cans with him.
‘To you and Frankie,’ Jimmy said.
As Frankie squeezed his hand, Jed smiled. ‘To me and Frankie,’ he repeated.
CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_dd4fcb87-cfaa-5a55-b779-290b5dd8a57c)
As visiting time approached, Eddie felt his stomach start to churn. He hadn’t seen Raymond since the night he’d murdered Jessica, and even though he was desperate to see him, he was also incredibly nervous. Ed knew that Raymond understood what had happened was a pure accident. Ray had sent him quite a few letters and there was no sign of anger or blame in his words.
‘You OK, Ed?’
Eddie smiled at his young cellmate. ‘Not bad, Stu. I’m a bit apprehensive, I suppose.’
‘Don’t worry. Ray’ll be fine with you, mate, I just know he will.’
It had been just over two weeks since Eddie had attacked Big Bald Baz and got away with it. Five days after that, young Stuart Howells had become his new cellmate. Ed hadn’t particularly wanted to share with anybody, but he’d somehow taken to Stuart immediately.
At twenty-two years old, Stuart was only a nipper compared to Eddie. He was from Hackney and was awaiting trial for stabbing a black lad who had later died.
Within days of Stuart’s arrival, both cellmates had opened up to one another.
‘The police tried to make out it was racial, but I ain’t like that, Ed. Jonesy had it coming to him and there was no way I was letting him get away with it. I had him as soon as the police released him on bail,’ Stuart admitted.
Eddie admired the kid’s morals, attitude and bravery. Stuart had been with his girlfriend, Carly, for two years when she had been dragged into a block of flats on the way home from a night out and brutally raped.
It had taken the police six months to find the culprit. They finally arrested and charged a local lad called Michael Jones, whom they later released on bail.
Stuart’s girlfriend, Carly, had been petrified when she found out that her attacker was back on the streets. She was afraid to go out of the door, and she couldn’t bear Stuart coming anywhere near her. Sex was a definite no-go. The rape had been so violent it had left Carly with severe internal injuries.
With their relationship inevitably breaking down, Stuart decided to get his own back for his girlfriend. It had taken him two weeks to find out exactly who Michael Jones was and where he hung out of a night.
Armed with a six-inch blade, Stuart headed to the bar on a Friday night with his pal, Dan. The bar was small inside, played reggae music, was full of black guys, and Stuart didn’t have a clue if he’d be able to spot his girlfriend’s attacker amongst the crowd.
As luck would have it, he recognised him within minutes. Michael Jones was standing with another black guy talking to two white girls on the edge of a very small dancefloor.
Telling his mate Dan to stay at the bar, Stuart approached Jones from behind. Overcome by the need for revenge, Stu pulled the knife out of the inside of his jacket and repeatedly stabbed the bastard in the back.
‘That’s for my Carly, you cunt,’ he screamed, as her rapist fell to the floor in a pool of blood.
Stuart had tried to run away from the bar, but was held on to by a crowd of black geezers until the police arrived. They kicked and punched him and called him every white motherfucker under the sun. He was badly beaten by the time he was arrested, and if the police had arrived any later, he’d have probably been killed himself. Dan had tried to help him, but Stuart had told him to leg it. He didn’t want his pal getting banged up as well. This was his problem and he wanted to sort it alone.
Michael Jones had clung to life for almost a week. He had many internal injuries and was rushed straight into intensive care. Stu was informed eight days later by a police officer that he had died. He felt no remorse whatsoever.
After Stuart had opened up about his arrest, Eddie told him his own story. He explained in detail about that fateful night in Tilbury, leaving no stone unturned.
The two cellmates had somehow formed a bond for life. Ed adored Stu – he was like another son to him – and Stuart adored Eddie. Stuart had never had the pleasure of having a father figure around, his own dad had fucked off when he was a toddler and he’d never seen him since.
As soon as the screw unlocked the cell door, both Eddie and Stuart stood up. Stu’s mate, Dan, was coming to visit him and he hoped that Ed would be sitting nearby so he could introduce them.
Stuart slapped Eddie on the back. ‘Good luck, mate,’ he whispered.
Over in Rainham, Frankie had just heard a car pull up. Full of excitement, she flung open the trailer door and ran outside to greet her brother and Dominic. She couldn’t wait to show Joey how happy she and Jed were. She’d got all the baby stuff out to show him and Jed had promised that he would take them for a ride on the horse and cart later.
It had been Jed’s idea that they visit her at home. ‘You want your brother to see where you’re living, Frankie. He needs to know that I’m looking after you properly. Let him come here, then later on we’ll all go out for a nice slap-up meal. My treat, of course.’
Joey hugged his twin sister tightly. He’d missed her immensely and it was great to see her again.
‘Look at you! The baby’s really showing now,’ he said, patting her tummy.
Frankie giggled. She was now almost five months gone and had put on tons of weight since she’d last seen Joey. While Frankie turned her attention to Dominic, Jed stepped outside the trailer. He held his right hand out to Joey.
‘Good to see you again. It’s cold out ’ere – come inside and we’ll have a beer,’ he said awkwardly as they shook hands.
Glancing around the land surrounding the mobile home, Joey clocked a goat staring at him and heard some dogs barking. ‘Look at all these animals. It won’t be safe to bring a kid up here, will it?’ he whispered to Dom.
Dominic shrugged. His boyfriend’s father had once attacked him and nearly cut off his manhood, and since that had happened he tried to keep his nose out of any business that involved Joey’s family.
When Joey sat down he was surprised but pleased by how clean the trailer was inside. ‘Do you do all the housework yourself, Frankie?’ he asked, impressed.
Jed answered the question for her. ‘Don’t be silly – me muvver does it,’ he said laughing.
Frankie squeezed her brother’s hand. Joey looked so well, he was almost glowing. ‘So how are things going? What’s it like living together? Do you two ever argue?’
Dominic put an arm around Joey’s shoulder. ‘No, not at all. We get on really well, don’t we?’ he said lovingly.
Jed smirked as he took in the scene in front of him. He considered himself to be a red-blooded male and he found the whole situation highly amusing.
