by KERRY BARNES
Kizzy’s spirits were lifted for a moment. There she was, being fussed over by a Vincent, the club owner. She turned her head to the side slightly and blushed.
“Let me buy you your first drink. It’s obvious this is your first time here,” offered Jack as he led her to the bar.
Kizzy didn’t refuse. After all, he was a very attractive man with a kindness about him and she was single now.
“What would you like, err…” He waited for her to tell him her name.
“Oh, yes, may I have a vodka and orange, please?”
He said no more but carried the drinks over to a table. Kizzy, more confident now, sat with her back to the bar, facing Jack.
He had broken a golden rule: never drink with a customer, but he couldn’t help himself. He was attracted to the stranger with eyes he had seen before.
“So, what’s your name?” he asked.
“Kizzy.”
“That’s pretty, where’s it from? Surely it’s not English?” he asked.
She wanted to say ‘It’s a silly gypsy name which I got lumbered with,’ but she took his compliment and replied, “I think it’s Spanish.”
For a minute, she forgot the reason for her being there, but then good old reality came bouncing back.
“Hey, Kizzy, what’s wrong, you look upset?” He stared into her smouldering eyes. His sensitivity made him susceptible to people’s moods.
She hadn’t planned on this: a drink with Jack, and it all being very nice. She took a deep breath. “I am here because I have a message to give to Ruby.”
He leaned his head to the side, a Vincent trait.
“I’m sorry, but I have some bad news for her.”
“Go on, sweetheart, what is it?”
“She has married a man called Ocean, and he is a traveller. It was supposed to be a secret.” Her voice cracked.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he replied.
“Am I the last one to know then?” she almost cried.
“Kizzy, I’m lost here, darling. What’s all this got to do with you?” His tone remained soft and sweet but with an air of urgency.
“Sorry, Jack, to be the bearer of bad news, considering you don’t even know me. Ocean was supposed to be marrying me.” She watched Jack’s face. It changed from a sweet expression to anger and his eyebrows began to narrow in the middle.
“So how do you know my name?” he asked.
“Because when I was young, I trained at your family’s gym and, this is going to sound totally off the wall, but I was a pole dancer at your uncle’s other club when I was fifteen, so I do know who you are.” She looked at the floor in embarrassment.
“Hey, we all have a past and, come to think of it, I do remember an incident with a young pole dancer. So that was you then?”
She glanced up to check the expression on Jack’s face and was surprised to see a smile.
“So, Kizzy, tell me this. Why did Ocean suddenly, and I mean suddenly, want to marry Ruby? He didn’t even know her!”
“The excuse I was given was he wanted to get his hands on the club.”
Jack stared for a short while before finishing his drink. He looked around, his mind racing. How was he going to tell his sister and how the hell could he remain calm? He was sick to death of people trying to take advantage of Ruby. Tonight, if that Ocean turned up, he was going to show the man what it was like to go a few rounds with no headgear on with a champion boxer. Ocean was an evil monster and Jack was as bitter as his seething father.
He looked back at Kizzy.
“So I take it you’re a…” He didn’t want to say traveller.
She nodded shyly. “Well, actually, I am only half a gypsy, and I am partly ashamed of that too.”
He grabbed her hand. “Not everyone comes from an ideal family.” He was referring to his mother.
“Kizzy, is there any doubt in your mind? Are you sure that Ocean is only after Ruby for the club?”
“I can’t be one hundred per cent sure, but that’s the rumour.”
“Kizzy, why have you come to us? What’s in it for you?” he asked.
She was annoyed now. He had assumed that because she was a gypsy – well, part gypsy – she was out for what she could get.
“Jack, I have made a mistake in coming here.” She got up to leave. “And, just to let you know, there was nothing in it for me. I don’t want Ocean back, or him to hurt anyone. I just thought it was wrong what’s going on. Like I said, I’m not all gypsy. We are not all like the O’Connells.”
Tears filled her eyes and she stood up gracefully and walked away. Jack was totally blown over. His emotions were all over the place.
“Oi, wait!” he shouted.
Kizzy carried on, weaving through the crowd, with tears streaming down her face.
Eventually he managed to grab her by the arm and swing her around. He saw the cheap mascara smudged over her cheeks and he pulled her into his arms.
“Hey, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to judge you. I just wanted to understand if there was any more to this mess.”
Kizzy didn’t pull away, comfortable in his embrace. She had been lonely for such a long time, and not even the odd visit from Ocean had changed that.
He walked her to the back of the club and into the office. It wasn’t as big as the office at Dan’s Palace, which Kizzy had imprinted in her memory, but it still had a Vincent vibe. She wasn’t afraid now. Jack had relieved her of her anxiety and she was beginning to trust him. She sat on the leather chair and Jack perched himself on the table.
“Well, girl, when Ocean and Ruby walk in here tonight, they are gonna have a fucking shock, I can tell you.”
Kizzy smiled, her black mascara still streaking her cheeks.
He pulled some wipes from the drawer and cleaned her face as if she was a child. She didn’t say a word but just looked admiringly into his steel-blue eyes.
“Maybe this time my rebel of a sister will fucking listen this time!”
Kizzy laughed. “Is she a rebel then?”
Jack raised his eyes to the ceiling. “I’m the boxer in the family, but she’s the bloody fighter. Always been the same.”
As she laughed her face lit up and captivated Jack’s attention. He enjoyed her company, finding her charmingly attractive.
The back door slammed shut and, like a gust of wind, Sam marched in, followed by Fred. “Well, Jack, has she turned up yet?” Sam had completely ignored the young woman sitting on the leather chair.
“No, Dad, but there’s something you had better know.” He nodded at Kizzy.
Sam looked her way but was so wound up about his daughter he didn’t recognise who she was. Fred, however, stared for a while and then, like a light coming on, he remembered. “You’re that Kizzy girl!”
Her eyes lowered to the floor. She began to shake. Her fear of the Vincents was genuine. She may have exaggerated what they did to her but, nevertheless, she was now frightened for her life. She hadn’t realised then that they were only pretending.
Instantly, Jack jumped to her defence. “Kizzy has come here to tell us that Ocean is only after Ruby for the club. He was supposed to be married to her!” He gently rubbed her arm.
Sam looked at Kizzy and then back at his son.
“Is this some kinda joke? You’re fucking listening to another pikey. Whatever ‘as got into my kids?” exclaimed Sam, throwing his hands in the air.
Kizzy jumped up from her seat, visibly trembling. “Please listen, Mr Vincent, I am not lying. Ocean and my cousins have been after the clubs for years now, and I guess they have stooped to the lowest depths to get there. I will leave you alone. I don’t want any trouble, but just be warned, that’s all.”
Fred was amazed by how Kizzy had changed so much – from a rebellious, mouthy teenager, to a sophisticated young woman with no obvious scruples.
“Hang on a minute, you ain’t going nowhere!” snapped Fred.
Jack was outraged and shouted, “Leave it out, she is doing us a favour!”
&n
bsp; Fred didn’t mean to shout and sound so sharp. “No, sorry, love. I meant, don’t go yet. Have a few drinks on us, and I’ll call you a cab when you’re ready.”
Sam’s head was so full of shit, he took a deep breath and sighed.
“Well, it just gets fucking better,” laughed Sam falsely.
“Right then. When she arrives, pretend all is sweet and take her into the office. I’ll drag Ocean outside.” Fred was ready to take the gypsy far away and give him the pasting of his life.
Sam nodded, along with Jack, eager for Ocean to have a taste of the Vincents.
“How thick are those London pikeys? He can’t really think that our Ruby owns the Palace? The fucking idiot. Don’t he know you and your sister just run it, and that it’s owned by the Vincent empire?” spat Sam.
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “It’s probably Rubes showing off that got her into this mess.”
Chapter Twenty One
Ruby bit her bottom lip before she announced to Ocean she was going to go to her father’s first to break the news there. But he couldn’t hide his feelings.
“For fuck’s sake, what is it with you? Are you afraid of your own family or ashamed of me?”
Ruby shook her head. “No, no, it’s not like that, I just think it’s fair, all around, if I tell my dad alone and not at the Palace. It makes sense not to cause a scene!”
Ocean sighed. He had gone this far and thought it best to go along with her wishes.
“Okay, Ruby, do it your way. I will meet you there in an hour. I’ll be in the car park.”
She nodded and set off in her own car.
Ocean tore out of the car park, with smoke billowing from the exhaust, almost blowing up the engine. He dialled Billy’s number. One ring, and Billy answered, “Yeah, Oshi, where you at?”
“I am on me way to the club. The malts gone to her farver’s to tell him we are wed, and I’m joining her later. Cor, I would love to see his fucking mush when she tells him.” He laughed.
Billy laughed more than he should, to the flummoxed Ocean. “What’s so funny?”
“Noffin, Osh. You, me boy, will be in for a surprise!”
Ocean ignored Billy’s comments which were usually full of shit. He was nervous but knew Ruby wouldn’t have her family disrespect him. He had worked too hard brainwashing her; he was very confident she saw things his way. Billy sat back and sadistically smiled at Farley and Levi as he dialled a number. A woman’s voice answered. “Where is she?”
“Okay, girl. Ruby is on her way to her farver’s. My guess is you will be there before her. Ya know what ya doing?”
A disgruntled voice on the other end replied, “I’m one step ahead of you. I’m already here. The ol’ man’s gone. Just gonna be me and her!”
Ruby was concerned with getting to her father’s house before he left for the club. Luckily, there wasn’t too much traffic on the road and she managed to reach there in record time. She pulled into the drive and hoped the reason for her dad’s motor not being there was because Jack had borrowed it. The house was in darkness except for the porch light.
Ruby stepped out of her car and hastily marched to the door. As she fumbled in her bag for the key, she heard a rustling sound from the thick bushes which lined the drive. Funny, she thought – normally any action in the front garden, even a fox, would set off the sensor. She found the key and let herself in.
“Dad, are you in?” she shouted, as she headed for the kitchen at the back of the house.
“Jack?”
The front door slammed shut and she realised she had left it open. She was always being told off for not shutting it properly.
“Dad, is that you?” There was no answer. The wind must have blown it shut.
Ruby felt comfortable. She missed her home; the smells, the soft carpets, in fact, all the luxuries.
Climbing the stairs to go to her room, she stopped midway. There was an unusual smell of cheap perfume. She thought maybe Jack had a girlfriend with no taste or, worse, her dad may be dating. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. There was something not quite right. The silence seemed threatening. In the depths of quiet, she thought she could hear someone breathing. Ruby froze for a few seconds, trying hard to listen. There was a menacing stillness. She took a deep breath and concluded she was being paranoid.
Her bedroom door was open and gingerly she walked in. The curtains were closed, which was unusual. The smell of cheap perfume was stronger; it was so bad that it almost burnt the insides of her nostrils. The door slammed shut behind her and Ruby jumped. As she turned around, a nauseous feeling swept over her: a foreboding feeling which sent a tingle through her jaw and down her neck, tightening every muscle, constricting her from moving. There, in the shadow, was the outline of a woman.
With a dry mouth she mumbled, “Mum?”
Jesse stepped out of the darkness and stood in front of the door, dressed in black jeans and a black top. Her hair was tied back and she was fatter in the face than Ruby remembered. Her grin revealed a set of white teeth instead of the black and rotting mess they were before.
“That’s right, Ruby, it’s me.”
Both women stared at each other. Ruby noticed the glint of a shiny object partially hidden behind Jesse’s back. She tried to think of a way out and all that came to mind was to offer Jesse a cup of tea.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“No, Ruby, I haven’t come here for tea.” She appeared so different that even her voice had altered.
“It’s good to see you, Mum. How have you been?” Why did she ask such a stupid question?
“I’ve been good, no more drugs, no more drink. In fact, Ruby, I have never felt as clear-headed as I do right now. Amazing, how years in the nick can change your appearance and sober your thoughts.” Her voice was hostile and intelligent.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” She tried to sound confident but inside she was petrified.
“I came to give you something you deserve.” There was no expression on her face.
“Dad will be back in a minute, and won’t be too pleased to find you here.” She was almost hysterical.
Jesse rolled her eyes. “Ruby, your dad has gone to work with your precious brother, so don’t worry. I’ll have you all to myself for hours.” She was calm and collected.
“Mum, I need a drink, let me get you one!” She stepped forward towards the door as she kept her eyes on the shiny object.
Jesse laughed and with one great clout across Ruby’s face she sent her reeling along the floor.
“You, my girl, ain’t going nowhere!”
There was a moment of stillness as Ruby looked up at her mother. Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, the concrete blocks which held back those horrific memories crumbled and the truth of the past flooded back. Ruby saw her mother’s hand coming towards her. She was three, it was cold, and she was afraid. ‘Jack,’ she silently cried for her brother, her saviour.
Fear gripped her, but she wasn’t afraid of her mother, not now, not at twenty-one, surely not? She was a good fighter, whereas Jesse was a mere waif of a woman and older. But her mind would not escape from the past, when she was a toddler, and her mother was the boogie man.
The room was dark and damp. She was so hungry and her ear was burning from the hard slap which had caught her mouth and those long fingers which had ripped at her tiny earlobes. She bled. She vividly recalled the suffering, the torment and cruelty. The fear which clutched her then was controlling her now. Her courage and confidence were being sucked out of her. Jack had been right. Her mother had abused her, mercilessly beat her, and deprived her of love. No wonder she had never remembered it at all. It was for her own sanity that she had blocked it out. The helplessness was consuming her and, weak with dread, she was powerless to fight back. Jack, where are you? He was always there, trying to stop the slaps, stealing food, keeping her warm at night, his hand always gripping hers. She saw him standing in front of her. They cowered from the mother who was tow
ering above them. She was shouting and swearing and clouting them so hard they were sent reeling across the floor.
She had to get a grip. She wasn’t three anymore, but the imbedded terror wouldn’t leave her.
Jesse grinned. She was empowered by the fear on her daughter’s face. That same pathetic expression as when she had been slapped for wetting the bed.
Ruby tried to get to her feet but a sharp, hard kick knocked her back.
“Why?” she screamed at her mum. “Why did you hate me so much?”
There was a long pause as Jesse stared at Ruby. There was a mix of emotions. First, she was elated her daughter was suffering, but then, secondly, she was confused. Why did she hate Ruby, really?
The very first time she had laid eyes on the baby she had felt sadness, not for Ruby but for herself, knowing that the probability of this child being Sam’s was high. The blue eyes and mop of black hair instantly took away the doubt and the hope. Her heart sank. She had wanted to throw the baby against the wall, pretend she had died at birth, but she didn’t; she had taken the kid home and suffered in silence.
Kenneth knew that there was a chance he was the father and had promised Jesse the world. He would leave his wife, give Jesse partnership in the clubs, and look after her and their daughter, even little Jack. Celia couldn’t have children, he thought, and he had wanted what was missing in his life: a child, his child.
She swallowed hard. Kenneth had been the light in her life, the road to a better future. He was older and, while not as good-looking as Sam, she loved the way he loved her, and her only hope was that the child was his. There had been clarity from the beginning. ‘If she’s mine, I’ll marry you; if not, then sling your hook’.
She wasn’t his, though; she was her father’s daughter all right. She was a Vincent. If only she’d been born with a slight red or even fair tint to her hair. If only her eyes had been brown or green. But they weren’t. They were that bright and shiny blue, just like Jack’s, like Sam’s. In fact, they were the same as every one of the damned Vincents.
Along with the disappointment came the unsightly stretch marks, the crumbling teeth, and the sleepless nights. Of course Ruby was difficult: she was an addict at birth. But was it really Ruby’s fault? Jesse didn’t care. Her failings and hardship were all down to her daughter, so she anchored her feelings of hate on her.
