by Kerry Kaya
Tommy got up from his seat, leant forwards and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Let me worry about that. Like I said, I’m earning good money now, Stace, and it won’t take us long to save up for a place.”
“I really wanted us to have our own place before the baby arrives, though.” Stacey rubbed her hand over her ever growing bump.
“And we will. In fact, I thought we could start looking for a place this weekend.”
Stacey’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah, of course. So, stop your worrying.”
Watching as her husband walked from the room, Stacey couldn’t keep the smile from her face. The house two doors down from her parents’ house was up for sale, and with three bedrooms and a lovely little garden for the kids to run around in, it would be perfect for them. She just hoped Tommy would think the same, though she already had her heart set on it.
After nudging Gary awake, Tommy shouted up the stairs for Jimmy to get up and get dressed. He needed his brothers to go out and collect the debts for him, whilst he drove over to Soho to pick up Mad Dog. He had a busy day set out. He had a meeting arranged with Danny McKay around lunchtime, and with a bit of luck, McKay would be a lot easier to deal with than Freddie Smith.
“I’ve already told you I ain’t working with him.”
“You don’t have a fucking choice. Now get up and get dressed, you lazy little fucker.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t know what he is.”
“I don’t give a shit what he is or isn’t. Now, fucking move yourself, before I end up dragging you up the stairs myself.”
Gary opened his mouth to speak, before biting down on his lip. He knew better than to argue with his eldest brothe. Instead, he rolled his eyes in annoyance, as he began to make his way up the stairs.
“Oi! And take this shit up with you! It ain’t Mum’s job to run around after you anymore.” Grabbing up the pillow and blanket, Tommy held them out toward his brother.
Snatching the bedding out of Tommy’s hands, Gary raced up the steps before he ended up getting a clout around his ear.
Stood at the bottom of the stairs, Tommy sighed. He could see himself losing his rag with Gary before the day was out.
Stepping off of the train at Tottenham Court Road, Stacey made her way out of the station. She’d never been to London before, and she looked around her with a mixture of fear and excitement. She grasped a tighter hold on her handbag, and followed the signs pointing toward Soho.
What was the name of the club where Beth worked? Stacey was sure her friend had mentioned it before. She walked the streets, looking up at the buildings as she did so, hoping to see something familiar. In her naivety, she’d thought she would be able to step off of the train and find the club straightaway. Now, as she looked around her, she realised it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. The sheer volume of pubs and clubs was enough to tell her that.
Stacey paused outside one of the clubs. There was only one thing she could do, and that was to go into all of them and ask around. Surely one of them would know Beth. She took a deep breath, then pushed open the heavy door. She could feel her heart begin to beat wildly in her chest, and knew her cheeks would be flushed. She was in half a mind to turn around and go back to the train station, but she’d gotten this far. She couldn’t let her fear of the unknown force her away now.
The atmosphere between Jimmy and Gary was frosty to say the least. They’d jumped on a number sixty-two bus heading toward Chadwell Heath, in Romford, both of them sitting at either ends of the bus.
Jimmy stood up and moved along the bus. He jerked his head toward Gary, indicating it was time for them to get off.
They walked along the street in silence, before coming to a halt outside The White Horse public house.
“Remember, let me do the talking.” Jimmy’s tone was harsh.
Gary screwed up his face in annoyance. “I’m not stupid. I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, if you say so.” Pushing open the door to the pub, Jimmy barged Gary out of the way, allowing himself to enter first. Quickly scanning the bar area, he strode purposely toward the barman. “Where’s the guvnor, Ted Marsden?”
Aiden Coleman eyed the two men in front of him, before setting his sights on Jimmy. “He’s not in the bar today. It’s his day off, but you’ll more than likely find him upstairs in bed, lazy sod he is.” Coming from Cork in Ireland, he had a soft Irish lilt. He tilted his dark head toward the back staircase. “You’ll need these,” he said, holding aloft a set of keys.
Jimmy averted his eyes from Aiden’s face as he snatched the keys out of his hand. He then shoved Gary forwards, and pushed him toward the door leading to the staircase.
“Bent as a nine bob note, that one,” Gary hissed. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Jimmy’s reaction closely.
“Just fucking move yourself.”
“Fancy him, do you?”
Coming to a halt, Jimmy dug his fingertips into Gary’s shoulder. “I’m seriously warning you. I’ve had enough of this crap from you. Now, shut your fucking mouth and move.”
Jimmy unlocked the heavy wooden door, and pushed Gary through the doorway, before glancing over his shoulder at Aiden. He caught a glimpse of the man wiping down the bar and swallowed deeply. He could feel his cheeks begin to blush at the stirrings inside him, and he closed his eyes for a moment in a bid to clear his thoughts. He needed a clear head. Now wasn’t the time to be eyeing up random bar men, yet despite this, Gary’s remark about the man being as bent as a nine bob note raced through his mind, and he couldn’t stop the mixture of both fear and excitement that had begun to bubble inside him.
Ted Marsden was in a lovely sleep, laid out on his back with his mouth wide open. He was dead to the world. His wife, Maggie, had dutifully climbed on top of him an hour earlier, and given him the ride of his life. Feeling satisfied, he’d drifted off back to sleep, blissfully unaware of the two young men making their way up the staircase toward his flat.
“Look at the state of this fat fuck.” Gary wrinkled his nose up in disgust, as he stared down at the naked man.
“Oi! Wakey, wakey. Rise and shine.” Jimmy poked Ted’s thick fleshy thigh with the steel capped toe of his heavy boot.
Groggily, Ted began to stir. Opening one eye, he looked up to find Gary stood over him, and scrambled up the bed in alarm. “What the fuck?” he began, as he hastily pulled the bedsheet over his nakedness. “Who let you in here?”
“You owe our brother money. Now, pay up.”
“Otherwise, we’ll smash up your boozer. That’s after we’ve smashed in your face, of course.”
Dumbstruck, Ted looked from Jimmy to Gary, as he tried to take in what they were saying. “How did you get in here?”
Jimmy rolled his eyes in irritation. “We flew through the fucking window. How the fuck do you think we got in?” Dragging the man off of the bed, he curled his fist into a ball. “This is the last time I’m gonna ask you. Where’s my brother’s money?”
Despite his large frame, Ted wasn’t a fighting man. Clearly terrified, his body began to shake. “It’s in the safe downstairs.”
“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, get fucking dressed, and get the cash out for us.”
“Okay, okay.” Ted quickly dressed. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face, and he hastily wiped it away with the back of his hand. “I was gonna pay Tommy the money. I swear on my life I was. There was no need for any of this.”
“It’s Mr. Carter to you, and you haven’t paid him for the last two weeks you lying fuck. Now, fucking move yourself. We haven’t got all day.”
Ted shoved his bare feet into his shoes, whilst hastily tucking his shirt into the waistband of his trousers. He hadn’t moved this fast in years, and could feel his breath becoming laboured. “Let me catch my breath first, son,” he wheezed.
Ignoring the man’s plea, Jimmy roughly shoved Ted in the small of his back, pushing him out of the flat door and down the stairs. “Pay up, and the
n you can go back to bed, you lazy bastard.”
Half running across the pub floor and out to the back office, Ted wheezed even harder as he knelt down onto the bare concrete floor and fumbled to open the safe. “It’s on a timer. If I get this wrong, I’ll have to wait another hour to try again.”
“Well, you’d best make sure you get it right then.”
His heart in his mouth, Ted began to turn the dial on the combination lock. Sweat poured profusely from his forehead and underneath his armpits, where it had begun to pool, staining the white shirt he wore. “You’re crowding me,” he complained.
Never one with much patience, Gary kicked out toward the older man. “Just open the fucking safe.”
Twisting the dial, Ted’s mind had drawn a blank. In his terror, he could no longer remember the combination. He looked up at Jimmy, his eyes beseeching him. “I can’t remember it. I told you not to crowd me.”
“What’s fucking wrong with you? Just open the poxy safe.”
Ted stared down at the lock. He tried desperately to think. Was it a four or a six? With a final twist of the lock, he set it to four, and with baited breath, waited for a click signalling the safe was unlocked. There was nothing but silence.
“Well?” Jimmy demanded. “Is it open?”
Ted shook his head, before cowering from the two young men stood over him. “I can’t remember the code.”
Throwing up his arms, Jimmy battled to keep his temper under control. “So, now we have to wait another hour? Fucking brilliant.”
“We should batter this prick for wasting our time.”
Jimmy chewed on the inside of his cheek. Battering the bloke wasn’t the answer. They needed the cash, otherwise Tommy would go ballistic. “Okay, let’s all calm down. I’ll get us a drink from the bar, and you,” he said pointing toward Ted, “sit there and think about the combination. Once you’ve remembered it, write it down. Do you understand?”
Ted furiously nodded his head. He had no other choice but to do as they had ordered him to do.
Cold and tired, Stacey was close to tears. The small of her back had begun to ache, and she could feel blisters forming on her heels, from where her new shoes were beginning to rub. She’d just about had enough, and was ready to call it a day. She stopped to catch her breath, leaning her hand against the wall of a building for support. She wanted to chastise herself. How stupid she must be, to think she would easily find the club where Beth worked. Dozens of pubs and clubs she’d entered, and not one of them had any idea of who her friend was.
Straightening up, Stacey looked up at the building in front of her, aptly named The Soho Club. She forced herself to push open the door and walk inside. This would be the last club she went into, she decided. After this one, she would make her way back to the train station. All she wanted to do was take the weight off of her feet and sit down.
Looking up from behind the desk, Lillian Chambers did a double take. The young woman in front of her wasn’t the usual type of girl who would totter through the doors, wearing dangerously high heels looking for work. “Can I help you, darling?”
Stacey gave a small smile. The scent of stale sweat and cheap perfume hit her nostrils. She felt out of her depth, and she looked across at the blonde woman nervously. “I’m looking for my friend, Beth. All I know is that she works in a club around here somewhere.”
Lillian gave a chuckle. “Well, if that’s all you’ve got to go on, it’ll be like finding a needle.”
“In a haystack,” Stacey interrupted, finishing off Lillian’s sentence. Her mouth curled down at the corners, and she sighed, realising how stupid she must look to the older woman.
“Listen, darling, half the girls in here don’t even give their real names, and I don’t know of any Beth working here.”
Exasperated, Stacey’s shoulders dropped. “She has long dark hair, green eyes, and is a few inches taller than me.” She was clutching at straws, she knew that, but someone must know her friend.
Lillian pursed her lips. The only girl fitting that description was Kitty Mae, and no one had seen head nor tail of her for weeks. “We did have a girl here. She went by the name of Kitty Mae. She had long dark hair and green eyes. It was her eyes that made me remember her. Vivid green, they were. I’m not saying it’s the same girl mind, but it could be your friend.”
Stacey’s heart leapt. This was the closest she’d got to anyone having any recollection of Beth. “Do you have contact details for her?”
“These girls don’t stay long enough to give out contact details, darling.” Lillian began to laugh, before stopping herself. Her heart went out to the young woman in front of her. She could see she must be at least six months into her pregnancy, if not more, and she looked done in. “Listen, darling, you look shattered. Can I get you a drink before you leave, maybe a cup of tea?”
Stacey shook her head. “No, thank you.” All she wanted to do was go home. She began to walk to the door before pausing. “Why did Kitty Mae leave the club? Did she give a reason?”
Lillian cleared her throat before answering. “Let’s just say she was getting a little bit too close to the boss.”
“Oh.” Stacey nodded her head. She could feel her heart sink once again. Beth had never mentioned any men to her. She began to realise she hadn’t really known anything about her friend after all.
Jimmy walked through to the bar area. He blew out his cheeks, before resting his forearms across the sticky wooden bar top.
“What can I get you?” Throwing down a tea towel, Aiden made his way over toward Jimmy.
“Two pints of larger and whatever your guvnor drinks.” Jimmy battled to keep his nerves at bay. He could feel his cheeks begin to blush once again, as the barman smiled at him.
“I’ve seen you around, I’m sure I have.” Aiden placed the first of the pints he’d pulled in front of Jimmy.
“Nah, I don’t think so. I’ve not been in here before.”
Aiden shrugged his shoulders. “Ah well, I never forget a face. And yours, I definitely remember.”
Jimmy ignored the remark and stuck his hand into his pocket, fishing around for some loose change.
“These are on the house.” Aiden lifted up his hand, indicating for Jimmy to keep his money. “Let that lazy fucker back there pay for them. He usually waters down the beer anyway.”
“Cheers!” Jimmy grabbed the drinks, and avoiding eye contact with Aiden, he made his way back to the office.
Smiling to himself, Aiden returned to drying the glasses. Jimmy Carter was just his type, and even though he’d lied about recognising him, he certainly wouldn’t forget him now.
“Well, have you remembered the combination yet?” Placing the drinks down onto the wooden desk, Jimmy passed a pint across to Gary.
Ted shook his head.
“For fuck’s sake,” Jimmy groaned. By the looks of it, this was going to be a long day.
Out on the pavement, Stacey crossed over the road and began to make her way back toward the train station. She stopped on the corner of the street and eased off her shoe, before lifting her foot toward her, so she could gently rub her blistered heel. She couldn’t wait to get home and to sit in the armchair with her tired feet in a bowl of warm water.
Slipping her shoe back on, Stacey glanced back at The Soho Club. What a waste of a day, she sighed, and she had nothing to show for it either. She just hoped Tommy didn’t ask to see what she’d bought with the money he’d given her earlier that morning.
She was about to begin walking once again, when a car pulling up outside the club caught her attention. That looked like her Tommy’s car? She thought to herself. She lifted her hand up toward her face in a bid to shield the sun from her eyes. As if in slow motion, she watched the driver’s door open and a figure step out. She gasped in astonishment. That was her Tommy.
Stunned, Stacey began to hobble toward him. She almost cried in relief at the thought of being able to kick off her shoes and to get a lift back home in comfort. The smile fro
ze across her face as she came to a halt. What was Tommy even doing here? She felt her heart sink as she remembered he owned a club in Soho, a gentlemen’s club he’d told her.
Lillian’s words now echoed through Stacey’s mind. “Kitty Mae had been getting a bit too close to the boss.” A sudden wave of sickness spread through her body and tears sprang to her eyes. What a fool she was. Beth had never been her friend. She’d only used her to get close to Tommy.
And as for her husband, how many other lies had he told her? Had him and Kitty had a fling? Was it still going on? No wonder he’d been so off with Beth. It must have been a shock for him to come home and find his mistress and wife sitting together.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Stacey began to run toward the train station. A hard lump had formed in her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow. Angrily, she swiped away the tears that filled her eyes, blinding her vision. She didn’t want to break down, not here, not out on the street, but it was no use. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling. She couldn’t stop her heart from breaking.
Chapter Fourteen
Janet Carter was horrified. She’d listened to Stacey’s story about Tommy and Beth, and had clasped her daughter-in-law’s hand tightly in hers. She couldn’t believe her son would be so stupid. He had a lovely little family. Why would he throw it all away for some little tart who worked for him at the club?
Every now and then, she glanced down toward the tattered suitcase Stacey had placed beside the front door, and knew instinctively there would be no use trying to talk the girl out of leaving. In fact, she didn’t blame Stacey at all for wanting to leave her son. If Janet were in her shoes, she would do the exact same thing.
She sniffed back the tears that threatened to glisten her eyes. Despite her earlier reservations, she had grown to love Stacey. And as for little Karen, well, she was the apple of her eye. A fresh set of tears filled her eyes and slipped down her cheeks, as she thought of her granddaughter. She would miss the little girl if Stacey left. “I just can’t believe he would be so stupid.”
