When Trevor Carter arrived at school, he walked away from Georgie, leaving his brother on his own as soon as they passed through the school gates. He knew he would be safe enough in the playground. Trevor might have a duty to look after his little brother, but there were limits.
“Do you want to play Bulldog?” Georgie called out as Trevor turned his back.
“No,” Trevor snapped. “Sometimes you’re such a baby, Georgie. Nobody plays that anymore. And besides how are we supposed to play British Bulldog with only two of us?”
Trevor walked away, shaking his head. He had business to attend to.
Over on the other side of the playground, nearest the railings, was Ronnie Patterson. Patterson had been the ringleader for the attack on Georgie, and though he knew his father would be dealing with things in his own way, Trevor was going to make sure his presence was felt.
Patterson was in the top class, and a whole year older than Trevor. But Trevor was tall for his age, and had filled out well, and he was confident he could take Patterson in a fight if it came to it.
But like most bullies, Patterson would probably back down as soon as he was confronted.
Patterson had his little group of friends gathered around him. They were mostly younger kids, Trevor noted, apart from the boy in Patterson’s year who walked with a limp.
Trevor didn’t pay the other boys any attention. His eyes were fixed on Patterson.
Trevor was nearly on top of them before Patterson realised he was approaching, and for a moment the boy looked flustered, and then tried to regain his poise by jutting his chin out and looking at Trevor through narrowed eyes.
“What do you want, Carter?”
Trevor stood still and put his hands in his pockets as he looked at Patterson with a smirk on his face. “So, you do know my name. I take it you know who my father is, too?”
Trevor was gratified to see the blood flood Patterson’s cheeks.
Trevor jabbed a thumb in the direction of Georgie. “And he’s my little brother. Did you know that?”
By the way Patterson started stammering and looking around for his friends, Trevor guessed he was now regretting messing with the Carter family.
Trevor took a menacing step forward and enjoyed the fact that Patterson flinched and seemed to shrink back against the railings.
He shook his head. “I didn’t know he was your brother. I would have never touched him otherwise.”
Lying bastard, thought Trevor. Patterson had known exactly who Georgie was and tried to impress his friends by beating up a Carter. Trevor jerked forward, and Patterson let out a little yelp as his friends scattered.
“It doesn’t look like your pals are going to stick around and help you out, does it?”
Patterson put his hands up. “Sorry. I really am sorry.”
As Trevor raised his fists, ready to plant a punch straight in the middle of Patterson’s face, he heard a sharp cry and turned around.
Well, wasn’t that typical?
There was never usually a teacher in sight at break time. They were all too busy inside, drinking tea and keeping warm while the poor kids shivered outside. But there was Mr. Barnet, standing a few feet away, watching Trevor closely.
Patterson breathed out in relief.
“Don’t get too comfortable, Patterson. There’s always after-school,” Trevor said.
Patterson looked down at the ground, and his lower lip wobbled just like a baby. Trevor thought it was pathetic.
He turned around and grinned at Mr. Barnet. “Morning, sir,” he said cheekily.
He started to walk towards the school building as the bell rang out for lessons and noticed little Georgie was over on the other side of the playground, and he was no longer standing on his own. Georgie had a habit of playing on his own and making up imaginary friends. Whatever made him happy, Trevor supposed. He didn’t feel much of a bond with Georgie. Not the sort of bond his father wanted him to have anyway, but Trevor supposed deep down he loved the little sod. He probably loved him more than anybody else in his life.
Georgie was standing next to a tall boy with scruffy dark hair and skinny legs.
“Oi, Patterson,” Trevor jerked his head in the direction of Georgie. “Do you know who that is with my brother?”
Patterson looked over Trevor’s shoulder and then gave a nod. “Yes, that’s that stupid pillock, Jimmy Diamond.”
In response to Trevor’s blank expression, Patterson continued, “You know. He is the orphan. The one whose mother was murdered and dumped in the canal.”
Trevor nodded slowly.
He looked at Jimmy with dislike.
His father had raved about Jimmy intervening and saving poor Georgie from a beating, but Trevor didn’t see it like that. In his opinion, Jimmy had just done it to make him look bad. And Trevor didn’t like that at all.
He walked swiftly over to Georgie, tugged on the little boy’s jumper and glared at Jimmy Diamond. “Come on, Georgie. Don’t be late for your lesson. And be careful who you’re mixing with.”
Trevor gave Jimmy a look that would have made anyone else take a few steps back. Anyone with half a brain would have got the message pretty sharpish, Trevor thought. But Jimmy seemed oblivious.
He smiled at Trevor and held out his hand. “I’m Jimmy,” he said.
Trevor sneered and looked down at Jimmy’s outstretched hand. Who the bleeding hell did this kid think he was? Some kind of old-fashioned country gentleman? Whoever heard of boys shaking hands?
Trevor ignored him, turned his back and escorted Georgie into school.
* * *
At lunchtime, Babs was sitting at her kitchen table staring at Tony and listening to yet more excuses as to why the club profits were down.
She shook her head in frustration. “I’m sorry, Tony. But something isn’t right. When I went in there yesterday, the place was heaving. Profits should be rising not falling. I need you to show me the books.”
Tony leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers behind his head as he stretched out his legs in front of him. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world much to Babs’ annoyance. “You don’t need to worry about that, Babs,” Tony said. “Old Mo deals with all the finances.”
Babs scoffed at the mention of Martin’s old accountant. She had long suspected the man was a crook. She didn’t understand why Tony was so oblivious to the possibility. Was he really that stupid?
Babs took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Tony, but I’m going to have to insist on seeing the books.”
“But Old Mo has been with us for years. Surely you don’t suspect he’s on the fiddle?”
“I’m not accusing anybody,” Babs said slowly, feeling her patience evaporate. “But Martin is not going to be happy if I tell him profits are down yet again.”
Tony sighed.
“I’m going to see him next week, Tony, and if he asks me why the profits are down, I can’t tell him without seeing the books, can I?”
With some reluctance, Tony nodded. “I suppose you’re right. But sometimes it’s better not to rock the boat, Babs.”
Rock the bleeding boat? If somebody was stealing from the Mortons, Babs was going to do more than rock the boat. She was going to bloody sink it.
She opened her mouth to snap at Tony, but she was saved from her own temper by a knock at the door.
Babs slapped her hand on the table in frustration, making the teacups rattle. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she said and walked off to answer the door, leaving Tony at the kitchen table.
She opened the door and saw a middle-aged man standing on her front step, blinking up at her expectantly.
Babs folded her arms over her chest. “Yes?” she prompted when the man didn’t say anything.
She didn’t have time for this. She had a business to save.
“Mrs. Morton?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Babs snapped, eager for the man to get on with it.
“Ah, sorry. I wasn’t expecting Derek and Ruby’s mother to
be quite so young.”
Babs found herself warming to the gentleman, and she chuckled. “All right. There’s no need for you to try and charm me. What is it you want?”
“My name is Mr. Barnet,” he said, and Babs did her best to smother a smirk.
That was a most unfortunate name because he didn’t have much of a barnet to speak of. The man was as bald as an egg.
“And what can I do for you, Mr. Barnet?” Babs asked, trying not to laugh.
“I’ve brought some school work for Ruby to complete,” he said, and for the first time, Babs noticed the man was clutching a collection of papers.
“I’m the English teacher at St. George’s. I’m concerned she’s going to fall behind.”
“Why on earth would she fall behind? She is a bright girl. Don’t let her pull the wool over your eyes.” Babs wouldn’t put it past the little madam to be trying to get out of her school work.
Mr. Barnet blinked in surprise. “Well, because Ruby hasn’t been at school this week.”
Babs’ jaw dropped open. The sneaky, conniving little cow. She was going to throttle that girl when she got her hands on her. Babs felt her cheeks flush crimson.
“Right,” she said and reached out to snatch the papers from Mr. Barnet’s hands.
“Perhaps I could see Ruby and explain some of the lessons?”
Babs felt her cheeks flame an even deeper red with shame. She was not about to admit to this teacher that Ruby wasn’t at home, and she had absolutely no idea where her daughter was.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Mr. Barnet. Ruby is sleeping at the moment, but I will give her the work, and she’ll be back in school tomorrow.”
“Ah, I see.” Mr. Barnet pushed his spectacles back on his nose and then said, “Actually, there was one more matter… I don’t seem to have received a reply from the letter I sent last week.”
Oh, for goodness sake. What was this man talking about now? What letter?
Babs’ forehead creased in confusion. “Letter? I’m sorry. You’ll have to jog my memory.”
“About the fight Derek got into last week. I’m afraid-”
“Fight?” Babs practically roared the word, and her response caused Tony to rush out into the hall to see what was going on.
“Is everything all right, Babs?” Tony asked, putting a hand on her shoulder and glaring at the man for upsetting her.
Babs put a hand to her forehead. “This is Mr. Barnet. He is the English teacher at St. George’s. Apparently, Derek’s been in a fight.”
Mr. Barnet nodded gravely. “I’m afraid it wasn’t just the one fight. That’s why I wrote the letter. I needed to talk to you about Derek’s suspension from school.”
Babs let out a little cry of shock. “Suspension? You can’t suspend him!”
Mr. Barnet gave a smug smile that made Babs want to give him a slap. Any warmth she’d felt toward Mr. Barnet earlier had quickly evaporated. Now she couldn’t wait to get the horrible little man off her doorstep, and she certainly wasn’t about to invite him in.
“I’m afraid we can suspend him, and we will. Derek is disrupting the other pupils to the detriment of their education. It really isn’t fair on them. I’m sure you understand.”
“No, I bleeding don’t understand. You come here to have a go at me for Ruby not being in school, and my Derek wants to go to school, and you won’t let him!”
Mr. Barnet frowned. “I thought Ruby was sick?”
“Never mind all that now,” Babs said. “Look, I’m busy. I’ll talk to my children, and they will both be in school tomorrow.”
Mr. Barnet shook his head urgently. “No, Mrs. Morton, Derek is not permitted to come back to school. His suspension starts today.”
But Mr. Barnet ended up talking to the front door as Babs had slammed it hard in his face.
“Well, I never,” Mr. Barnet said to himself as he straightened his jacket, lifted his chin and walked away from the house.
Inside the house, Tony was trying to persuade Babs that it was all just a bit of spirited fun. “Boys get into fights all the time. Besides Derek hasn’t got long left at school. He’ll be part of the family business in no time at all.”
Babs sank into the wooden chair beside the kitchen table. She shook her head in disbelief. Her children had been getting up to all sorts right under her nose, and she hadn’t had a clue. It was the last straw. She was going to straighten out those little bleeders even if it killed her.
There was no way in hell she would allow Derek to come into the family business next year. The boy was a liability, and she clearly couldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.
No, Babs had a much better idea in store for her children. They weren’t going to like it, but the little sods would just have to lump it.
CHAPTER 7
When Jimmy let himself in after school, he stopped dead in the hallway. What was that smell? He sniffed the air and then grinned. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was stew and dumplings. His stomach rumbled as he hurried through along the passage towards the kitchen.
His nan was quietly whistling away a cheerful tune, and Jimmy felt happier than he had done for ages. It was good to see his nan back to normal.
“Hello, Jimmy, love. I thought we’d have an early tea, and I’ve made an apple dumpling for afters.”
Jimmy nodded eagerly and rushed upstairs to wash his hands ready for dinner.
When he’d stepped close to nan, he’d still been able to smell the gin, but it wasn’t so bad. At least she was cooking again, and he hadn’t found her asleep in the armchair.
Dinner was lovely, and it was just like old times.
Jimmy loved his nan desperately, and he hated it when she was drunk. Although she’d always been partial to a drink while he was growing up, she’d never gotten as bad as she had over the past few months, but now Jimmy hoped she’d put it behind her, and things could get back to how they used to be.
Jimmy told her all about his day at school as his nan served him a second portion of the beef stew and dumplings.
She barely touched the food on her own plate, though, and Jimmy tried not to flinch when he saw her reach for a bottle of sherry.
“I think I deserve this today,” she said. “I’ve been working hard in the kitchen.”
He found it hard to swallow his next mouthful of stew past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. But he tried to ignore it. It was just one sherry.
The alcohol made his nan maudlin, and when she was in that sort of mood, she liked to talk about his mum, Kathleen.
Jimmy didn’t mind that at all. He loved hearing her memories of his mother. They hadn’t had any photographs, and the only way he felt he could get to know his mother was through his nan and people like Linda, who had known his mum before she gave birth to him.
“I saw Linda the other day, Nan,” Jimmy said as he polished off his final mouthful of stew. “It was when you’d fallen asleep in the armchair,” he added awkwardly. “She gave me some money for chips.”
The benign expression left his nan’s face in an instant, and she pursed her lips together, looking furious as her cheeks flooded with colour.
“Did I do the wrong thing? She was really nice, and I was hungry.”
His nan’s hand tightened around her sherry glass, and she closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head.
“No, you didn’t do the wrong thing. I know I’ve been a little under the weather lately, but that’s changed now. We don’t need anybody’s charity, and after dinner, you are to go straight round to Linda’s and give her back the money. How much did she give you?”
His nan stood up, walked to the small cupboard beneath the stairs and pulled out her handbag.
Jimmy told his nan what Linda had given him, and his nan took the appropriate coin out of her purse and set it on the table.
“Linda is a lovely girl,” his nan said, sitting down at the table again. “She used to be a bit in your mother’s shadow, but that was only
to be expected. Kathleen was such a beauty.”
Jimmy rested his chin on his hands and leaned forward, eager for more information. He liked it when his nan was in a talkative mood.
“What was she like, Nan?”
“She was a beauty. Everyone thought so. She had lovely dark hair, and she had the same dark blue eyes, almost violet, just like yours.”
His nan sat back in her chair as if lost in her own memories. “Of course, she wasn’t perfect, and she gave me the runaround from time to time. She definitely had a bit of mischief in her, but she adored you, Jimmy. After she had you, it was as if she blossomed. She would have made such a lovely mum.”
His nan’s eyes filled with sadness as she looked down at the table, and Jimmy felt guilty. He didn’t want to upset her.
From Mary’s descriptions of his mother, Jimmy thought Kathleen must be practically an angel. He imagined she must have been very like Linda, only even prettier.
He’d only asked his nan a couple of times about how his mother had died.
Growing up around here, Jimmy couldn’t escape the whispers. He knew she had been murdered but no one knew who had killed her.
He’d been teased at school, but it wasn’t only children who talked about it. Sometimes he overheard adults, who cruelly spoke about him as if he wasn’t there.
Every time he thought about the body of his beautiful mother being dumped in the cold water of the canal, Jimmy shivered.
He was only a boy now, but he had already made up his mind he would one day track down the person who had killed his mother and get revenge.
“I know somebody killed her, Nan. And when I’m older, I’m going to find out who it was.”
His nan’s eyes widened in shock, and she shook her head. “Let’s not talk about that now, Jimmy. You know I find it very difficult to talk about Kathleen.”
Jimmy nodded sadly as his nan slid the money across the table to him.
“Go on then, Jimmy. You go off to Linda’s and give her back the money with my thanks.”
* * *
Tony had left long before the kids were due home from school. So Babs had taken the time to give the downstairs of the house a quick once-over and sweep out the kitchen.
East End 02-East End Diamond Page 5
