by KERRY BARNES
No answer. She knocked again but there was still no answer.
With a cool breeze in the air, she wished she had worn her jacket. She decided to see if Gloria was in and perhaps wait there until her mother returned. But, when she knocked at Gloria’s, she found no answer either. She thought maybe Jesse had popped to the local shops – a small parade just around the corner.
It was a strange set up. The café, off licence and small grocers were underneath a tall block of flats surrounded by other blocks. It made it appear quite daunting, due to the lack of light in that area and the amount of graffiti and towering, steel dustbins.
Ruby stood for a while, contemplating going into the café alone. She noticed four girls, including one with a pram, standing outside the grocer’s. One girl, a very tall Jamaican woman, looked over and glared. Instantly, Ruby recognised her from a week ago. Jacob had walked Ruby to the station to say goodbye. They had been in the middle of a long kiss when this woman tapped him on the shoulder and asked who Ruby was. He shifted around uncomfortably and replied, “Jesse’s daughter.” Ruby had hoped, at the time, he would have introduced her as his girlfriend. The girl was unusual in her appearance. She had a very long weave in her hair, pulled back so far, her forehead went as far as her crown, and her eyes were slanted. Ruby had admired her looks. She thought that maybe she was a catwalk model like Naomi Campbell.
Ruby caught the woman staring back and waved to her quite innocently. The tall Jamaican leaned towards the other Jamaican, a very pretty-looking girl who resembled a tomboy and dressed in a tracksuit and trainers, whispering in her ear. Ruby sensed unease about the situation and thought it best to spin on her heels and head towards her mother’s. As she turned, she heard a voice call after her. “Oi, I wanna fucking word with you!” Noreen shouted.
Ruby panicked. Normally, she would have confronted her aggressor, back in Sevenoaks. But not here. And certainly not four black girls who sounded as though they wanted a piece of her. She ran down the street, the cold air burning her lungs, aware of footsteps chasing her.
When she reached her mother’s door she banged hard, hoping that Jesse would open it and she could be safe inside. But there was no answer. She spun around to face her pursuer and was shocked to find all four girls there. Even the girl with the pram had arrived. Ruby, in a panic, backed into a corner, with the girls surrounding her so she had no way of getting away. Her legs were like jelly and her heart hammered. She could fight when it was fair, one on one, but not four. This was new territory for her: not only a rough estate but four angry-looking black women. Looking more closely, she saw that they were women, not kids.
“Think you can fuck wiv me fella then, you silly little slut!” screamed Noreen in Ruby’s face. Ruby felt like a cornered rat, with no way of escape.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t know what you’re on about.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, you fucking whore!” spat Noreen, who had just been informed by her best friend, Denise, the tall woman.
“I saw you with Jacob at the station, remember,” shouted Denise, who now looked menacing.
Ruby’s eyes widened. This couldn’t get any worse. Jacob, who had used and abused her, was also this woman’s boyfriend.
“She’s Jesse’s daughter,” said Denise, smirking.
“Oh yeah, don’t surprise me. The mother’s a two-bit fucking brass. Like mother, like fucking daughter. I’ll smash her head an’ all! The smack-head cunt!”
Noreen, angry that Jacob had been seeing a schoolgirl – and a very pretty one at that – behind her back, with a quick move, punched Ruby in the side of the head. Ruby was completely stunned and rooted to the spot. Her brain just could not take in what was happening to her. The next thing she knew was a second punch landing considerably harder than the first. Her lips took the full force because her head had nowhere to go as she was up against the wall. The pain wasn’t bad – she just felt numb. The voices in the background goaded Noreen on and the chanting sent a chill of fear through Ruby. The only way out was to fight back. Her eyes glared and her nostrils flared. All the hard work in the gym would be needed to get out of this in one piece. She grabbed Noreen by her weave and yanked as hard as she could to pull her to the floor. With a quick jolt of her knee, she crunched the cartilage in Noreen’s nose, and with a clenched fist she punched her in the face. Noreen fell away, utterly shocked that this kid had lashed back. Denise watched in horror as Ruby kicked Noreen with a mighty impact to her stomach. She gasped, knowing Noreen was pregnant. Instantly, like a cat on a hot tin roof, she steamed in, pounding Ruby on the top of her head. In a frenzy, she snatched Ruby’s hair and launched her face into the brick wall. One of the other girls, Shelley, who didn’t really have a hard reputation herself, decided she would also put the boot in. As soon as Denise and Noreen stepped away from the crumbling mess, Shelley took a step back and ran up with a forceful fly kick to Ruby’s chest, sending her to her knees. When Noreen got her breath back from being winded, she grabbed Ruby by the hair and bit into her cheek – so savagely, the blood instantly appeared. With a final blow, she punched Ruby’s eye socket, crushing it – and knocked her clean out. Before the four of them walked away, each one gave a cowardly and excruciating dig to the ribs.
“That will teach you to fuck with my man,” said Noreen, in-between gasps of breath.
Jesse remained inside the flat, listening to the fight and waiting for the commotion to end before she opened the door. She had been asleep when Ruby banged hard the first time and also pretty pissed off her daughter had come over again. She was pleased with the money and thrilled with the drugs she’d bought, but she didn’t want the whole parent thing. Now, though, she had Ruby bringing trouble to her doorstep and she was having none of it. She was well aware of those girls’ reputations, especially Denise. No way was she going to cross her path. The girl was known all over the estate for bullying. She was from a big Somalian family. Most of them had been moved to Woolwich but she and three of her brothers had been offered a move, and they were not happy about it. Consequently, the slightest provocation could spark their anger, as it was obviously doing now. Noreen, she knew, could also ruck: she had given Jacob a couple of black eyes; and the other girl, a lesbian by the name of Shelley, was Denise’s sidekick. The three of them together were lethal and Jesse always took a wide berth, even avoiding eye contact.
Most of the neighbours stayed inside when there was any trouble. It was just not worth the aggravation, either getting hurt yourself or having to spend hours down the cop shop writing a statement. Jesse didn’t want attention drawn to her. It always meant the police could pop around and get nosey. Worse than them were Denise’s three brothers, as they didn’t have any morals or boundaries. They would hold a knife to your throat for a pound coin and slit it for a tenner.
She stood in her dirty night dress, with a fag in the corner of her mouth, and looked down at the bloodied and bruised girl. Even Jesse gasped at the state she was in. She winced at the gruesome mark on her cheek. The teeth marks were indented in the very swollen pillow of her face. Her eyes were mere slits and her lips were split open. The blood oozed from other places – her ears and her nose. Jesse was afraid that Ruby might be dead. After all, she had seen no one beaten up so badly. She didn’t know what to do. Should she call an ambulance? That would mean police as well. She couldn’t call Ruby’s father. He would hold her accountable and no doubt have her buried.
Ruby tried to lift her head, to Jesse’s relief. Not that she cared for Ruby, but it meant no police sniffing around.
“All right, my girl, let’s get you inside,” urged Jesse, as she peered up and down the street, making sure no one was looking. She slid her arms under Ruby’s and dragged her into the flat backwards, quickly pulling her into the living room and onto the couch. She hurried back to the door, slamming it shut. Ruby was still unconscious when Jesse placed her on the sofa, but she was reassured, by her moans and groans, that she wasn’t dead.
Nursing
was never one of Jesse’s ambitions and so this would be a real challenge. She stared at the state of her daughter for a while and wasn’t sure how she felt. It was sad, she had no sense of love for her child and, really, the person sorting this shit out should be Sam, but she hated him more than anyone – well, except his sister, of course. If she sent Ruby home in this state, it would cause mayhem.
Jesse got a saucepan, the one with the burnt handle, and some warm water. She had just bought toilet paper, so that would do to clean her up.
As she tried to wipe the blood away from the gaping hole in her cheek, Ruby came to, but the gruesome wound made Jesse want to vomit. She let Ruby flop back on the sofa, rushed to the toilet, and heaved.
The pain and soreness were unbearable. Her head was pounding and Ruby felt sick. It was the first sign of concussion. She emptied the contents of her stomach onto the living room carpet. Not knowing where she was or what had happened, she closed her eyes and hoped the pain would disappear.
Jesse took deep breaths and braved the sight again, making a feeble attempt to wipe the blood with the tissue.
“Ruby, can you hear me?” whispered Jesse, who was trying not to look at the blood and the open wound which had somehow, in the space of five minutes, appeared to have doubled in size. She screwed her face up in disgust when she viewed the sick all over her carpet.
“Um,” replied Ruby.
Jesse couldn’t cope. It was simply too much to deal with. Quietly, she walked to the kitchen, where she rolled a fat joint and lit the end, puffing furiously. As the sense of relaxation hit her, she decided that the best thing for Ruby was to have a good sleep – she would feel so much better in the morning. She had sleeping tablets lying around somewhere but the effects of the skunk were causing a massive memory blank. So she wandered from room to room, looking for something and then forgetting what she was searching for. Then, suddenly, there they were, on her bedside table. She grabbed them, fumbled with the cap, and emptied the contents onto her sweaty palm. Two strong sleeping tablets should do the trick.
She hurried back to Ruby; she was still moaning and groaning, not yet fully conscious.
“’Ere, girl, try to swallow these. You will feel so much better.”
Ruby had no idea who was speaking to her. She thought maybe she was in hospital and so, slowly, she opened her mouth as much as she could, but she was struggling to do so because of the pain.
Jesse winced when she saw the bite marks peel open even more. She pushed the two pills inside Ruby’s mouth. She watched her daughter try to swallow and realised she needed a sip of water to wash those big bastards down. She filled an old cup with no handle and tried to dribble some water into Ruby’s mouth. It spilled down the sides but enough went in to ease the tablets down her throat. She knelt on the floor and watched with curiosity as her daughter gradually stopped moaning and her head drooped to the side as she fell into a deep sleep. She returned to the kitchen, where she had left the joint. Relighting it, she sat on the chair and drifted off into another world. It was still early and she thought that once Ruby had woken up she could probably call her a taxi and send her home. Perhaps she would even go with her, to show that she was the caring, dutiful mother who had come to Ruby’s rescue when she was viciously attacked by a mob. But, then again, Sam might not see it that way.
Once the swelling had gone down and the wound had healed up, she wouldn’t appear so bad. She would just have to get Ruby to call her dad and say she was staying for a while.
The skunk was not helping her at all. What she really needed to help her think straight was a good line of Charlie. She fumbled underneath her bed until she found a soft bag containing her secret stash of cocaine. She opened it very carefully over a mirror on the floor and cut two lines. After rolling up a five pound note, she snorted one after the other and instantly sprang to life, clear-headed and ready to get to work.
She grabbed her blanket off the bed and headed back to the living room to cover Ruby. She stared for a while, not comfortable with how Ruby looked – her head was at an odd angle and white foam was bubbling from her mouth.
“Ruby, wake up!” Jesse was really panicking now.
She opened her eyes but closed them again.
“Ruby, can you hear me?” said Jesse.
“Yeah…” Her voice was slow and almost a whisper. But at least she was alive, thought Jesse. The tablets were obviously working. She wiped the foam away from her face and felt her forehead to see if she had a temperature, but even if she did Jesse wouldn’t have a clue what that meant or what to do. Leaving Ruby covered and warm, Jesse decided to go to the pharmacist to get some bandages and antiseptic cream.
She pulled on her jeans, tucked her night dress inside, and threw on an old, baggy sweat shirt. She slammed the door shut and headed off, with the intention to do the right thing.
Ruby lay unconscious now. Her heart rate was slow, three of her ribs were broken, her kidney was damaged, and her brain had a small bleed. The air was cold and the heating in the flat had run out. The blanket gradually slid away from Ruby and her body temperature, which had been steadily falling, had now reached a dangerously low level.
Jesse crossed over the main road to the other half of the estate where less people lived, a part which was even more run down, but the pharmacist was still open. After she bought witch hazel, a few plasters, and some ibuprofen, she headed back.
“Hello, darling, and how are you doing? I haven’t seen you for a while,” called a deep, gruff Scottish voice.
She turned to face Barry, her old dealer. He was still as big as ever, with an enormous beer belly and a long, snowy white beard. He looked like an ageing Hells Angel.
Jesse nodded. “All right, Barry.”
He waddled over and put his meaty arm around her shoulders.
“I’ve missed you.”
Jesse knew exactly what he meant and she wasn’t interested. Those days of sexual favours for a couple of joints were over. Now she had a serious amount of money she could buy her own drugs.
“Yeah, yeah, look, Barry, I’m in a rush, mate. Maybe next time, eh?”
He laughed. “So, Jesse, you wouldn’t want to try my latest gear then? Only, I wanted my regulars back. I’ll tell you this. There’s never been a finer powder in these parts since 1988.”
Coming down off her Charlie, she could do with another line, and if old Barry was serving up clean shit she would be interested, especially now she had the cash flow.
Jesse looked at the bag she got from the chemist. She decided that it would be best for Ruby to sleep before she applied any witch hazel and plasters. She had left her warm and comfortable and guessed the tablets would knock her out for at least four hours.
“Oh, go on then, I’ll have a taste.”
Barry knew she had come into some money. She hadn’t been exactly quiet about buying decent shit.
His flat was in the heart of the estate. He had bars up at the window and ten chains which crossed his front door. Jesse entered, eager to try the top class cocaine as he’d promised.
Ruby held on to life by the skin of her teeth. It was dark when she slowly opened her eyes and she had no idea where she was, or even who she was.
Her face was burning and her head hurt beyond belief. Tentatively, she lifted her hand to feel her cheek and was surprised to find it so bloated. The air was like icicles, stabbing her body. She was shivering uncontrollably and yet her face was on fire. Trying to sit up to see where she was, she was gripped by an immense pain in her ribs and quickly she lay back down.
She closed her eyes and was back in the world of sleep.
*
Jack was thrilled to see his aunt again. She was always good for conversation, showing so much interest in his life. Sam was dishing up the roast chicken when she knocked at the door.
At thirty-seven years old, Francesca was still every bit a beautiful woman. Her figure would make most women green-eyed and the thick black waves, which bounced on her shoulders, shone l
ike ravens’ wings.
She entered, hugging her nephew as if she hadn’t seen him for a year, yet it had only been a few weeks. Not having any children of her own, she loved Jack and Ruby as if they were her own and they knew it.
“Where’s Ruby?” asked Francesca, as she looked over Jack’s shoulder.
Sam heard her and called out, “All right, sis. Ruby’s over at Sophie’s doing her science homework and she said she would catch up with you later.”
Francesca’s heart sank. She had been so looking forward to seeing her niece and getting their relationship back on track. She hated that the last time she saw Ruby there had been an awful row. She thought maybe she would hang around and wait for her to return.
The roast chicken was slowly being devoured by the three, in between chatting. However, when Sam told his sister that Ruby had been to visit Jesse, Francesca nearly choked on her wine.
“Why would she do that?”
“She was probably just curious, but don’t worry, she hasn’t been again,” Sam replied quickly.
“Yeah, she must have seen the old slag for what she is!” mumbled Jack.
“Are you sure she hasn’t been back… What did she say about it?” Francesca was angry. She had done everything in her power to keep her niece and nephew away from Jesse and now, out of the blue, Ruby was doing just as she liked.
“She didn’t say anything, actually. To be quite honest, I think she was embarrassed by the whole episode and hasn’t spoken another word about it since,” said Sam.
Francesca looked at Jack. After all, he would be the one Ruby would confide in.
“No, she ain’t said a word.”
There was a bang at the door.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, if Ruby forgets her key one more time!” shouted Sam as he walked to the hallway.
Francesca was quite pleased, thinking that Ruby had come home, but was rudely awoken when a thin, blond girl entered the room, stood with her head down, looking as though she was in serious trouble.
