The house seemed too big for one. Carl spent Sunday morning watching old videos of the three of them when Carly was a baby. Happy days. Well, in all honesty, they weren’t, Marie’s ambition left him behind from the day they were married. Carl switched off the video and went to meet Colin and Frank down the pub. Three hours and five pints later he weaved his way back home. Getting slightly pissed had been OK but telling his brother that he was a boring, big headed bastard had not been too conducive to a fun session.
No sooner was he home, he heard the doorbell ring. The door and his mouth opened simultaneously, but no words came out.
“Is Carly in?” Nathan asked, seemingly oblivious of the consternation he was causing by his appearance on Carl’s doorstep.
“What the fuck are you doing here? Are you mad?”
Carl took a step forward and Nathan backpedalled.
“I’m here to see Carly. I sent her a text this morning and she wants to see me. So what’s your problem?”
Carl could feel the blood rushing to his face. Furious, he wanted to smash this cocky lad’s face in, and five pints encouraged the aggressive inclination. He might not be the biggest bloke in the world, but he was well built and more than a match for Nathan, who, although more or less the same height, was lacking in physical bulk. But Carl was no bully and not in the habit of hitting kids – unless pushed, as Carly could testify.
Nathan tried to push past, but Carl shoved him back.
“What you doing, old man? She wants to see me, let me through.”
“She isn’t here.” Carl blocked the door. “She’s at her Mum’s. Phone her if you don’t believe me and fuck off now.”
“I bet she’s here.” Nathan tried again to push past. “OI! CARLY...CARLY. I still reckon she’s here. You probably want her for yourself, don’t you, you dirty fucker?”
Carl’s self control snapped. He hit Nathan, only the once on the face, but the youth reeled back in agony.
“You fucking cunt,” he howled, holding his face. “You’ve broken my jaw. Bastard. Pervert. Child abuser.”
Trembling with rage, Carl went back inside and slammed the door. Nathan stood outside, swearing at the top of his voice. Then he stormed off, clutching his cheek, and still ranting.
* * *
Nathan did not want to go home and argue with his mum again. Because of the state of his face, he would have had to explain that he had been to see Carly. And Carl was his mum’s ex-boyfriend as well, so he didn’t want her involved. He sent Carly a text and she texted straight back. The old perv had been telling the truth. She was at her Mum’s. But she was still into him and he’d see her soon. Then he sent Michael a text and was pleasantly surprised when his mate arranged to meet him at Waddon Park. The same place where he had met Kelly a week or so back, in happier times. He wanted to see his mate, chill out around the streets. Hopefully, the other night had been forgotten, or at least forgiven.
Nathan walked through the gate and into the park. It started to rain. Always rains in November. He sat on a bench and swapped a few texts with Carly, but wasn’t alone for long. They came from out of the bushes and from behind the trees. First Michael, then Jamie, and Mark, and Duayne and Billy.
Michael planted himself in front of him, flanked by the others.
“You didn’t think I’d come on my own,’ Michael snarled. ‘We all wanted to see you. Need to sort things out. Sort you out.”
Shaken, Nathan got to his feet.
“Ah, come on, bruv. We’re mates. Best mates.”
“Best mates don’t get the Feds round like you did at Charlotte’s.”
“My Dad’s a fucking Sergeant – he nearly killed me.”
“And I’d already been charged for the fireworks shit, I could go down for this.”
Billy was a knob. Nathan couldn’t resist a sarcastic jibe.
“For a splif – who do you think you are Bill – Pete Doherty?”
With that, Billy punched him on the same cheek as Carl had hit earlier. As Nathan fell to the ground, Mark and Jamie each kicked him in the face.
“That’s enough, boys. Leave him where he belongs. In the shit,” Michael spat in contempt.
The boys ran off. Nobody saw the attack but five minutes later a middle aged woman arrived in the park, walking her dog. She might not have noticed the prostate teenager but the lab staff cross ran over to him, and began licking his face. She rang 999 on her mobile.
Chapter 33
Monday November 15th
Marie left Gary’s house at 7.00 to drive Gemma to her mother’s, then took the long drive to Carly’s school. The aim was to drop off her elder daughter, go back to her Mum’s to pick up Gemma – who would have been fed and changed for school – and then take her younger daughter to school. Marie had appointments set up with her solicitor, the estate agent and six telephone calls planned to clients.
With her life crammed with appointments, listening properly to Carly as she drove her to school, her return after three days’ suspension, was always going to be difficult.
“Mum, we only seem to get to talk in the car. You were on the phone all day yesterday.”
Marie stepped on the accelerator to beat a red light.
“What’s that, love?”
“See what I mean? You aren’t with it, Mum.”
Marie felt the need to defend herself.
“Wait a sec here, young lady, you were texting on your mobile for hours yesterday, and then you were on MSN for the rest of the day.”
“Bebo actually, Mum, and I was only doing that because you weren’t talking to me. Gemma was driving me mad to play with her. It was so boring, I might as well be at Dad’s.”
It was difficult for Marie to conceal her irritation.
“Sorry you feel that way about your sister. I thought you’d enjoy spending some time with her.”
“You mean, so that, like, you don’t have to?”
Marie pursed her lips and didn’t answer.
“MUM, stop ignoring me.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you that time. I had to concentrate on the junction.”
Carly slapped her own forehead, muttered unintelligibly under her breath, and looked out the window at a group of lads walking past. She spoke whilst still looking outside.
“Not that time maybe. Mum, I’ve decided, I want to go back to Dad’s.”
“Don’t be silly, Carly. You’re not going back there.”
Carly diverted her attention from the lads outside back to her mum.
“OK, Mum, you want me to be honest? It’s not going to work out with you, is it? I don’t hear you saying you’ll try to be home more. It’s all about work with you. Me, Gemma, whoever your man of the moment is, we all take second place. Me, I’m well behind Gemma anyway, until she turns bad like me. You want the truth? I want to go back to Dad’s. At least he’s there most of the time and I’ve got my friends.”
Marie couldn’t believe her ears.
“After what he did…”
“He won’t do it again. You know he isn’t that bad. Mum, I’m not going to be happy living miles away from all my friends and we can’t keep on doing this journey to school and back every day...”
“OK, OK I get the picture.” Marie groaned. “Look, I’ll go along with whatever you want. I’m here if you need me though. And Gemma will be disappointed.”
Carly demonstrated her new found maturity.
“Don’t do that to me, Mum, trying to make me feel guilty. Anyway, I’d soon be shouting at her.”
Nodding, Marie had to accept that her daughter was making sense.
“I’ll still get a three bedroomed place anyway. So you can always stay with us. I’m hoping Gary will let me keep the house.”
“Cool, I…” Marie’s phone rang which abruptly ended the conversation.
Whilst Marie tried in vain to secure a new contract, Carly was texting Bethany, Jacquie and Nathan. Only Bethany and Jacquie sent her repli
es though.
* * *
It was not clear which element of the beating Nathan received on Sunday at Waddon Park caused him to bleed for several hours. By Monday morning, he was sitting up in a hospital bed, eating chocolates that his Mum had brought in.
He was almost cheerful, relieved that the inevitable revenge from his mates was over. He would be able to stop looking over his shoulder now. Conversely, his jaw hurt every time he bit into a chocolate, his head felt worse than it did after he had been out on the piss and, upon catching sight of his reflection in the mirror, he feared whether he would ever be able to pull again. The bruise under his left eye was multi-coloured with a predominant purple. His mouth was swollen and his lip looked liked he’d had one of those collagen implants that goes badly wrong.
“How are you feeling now, Nathan?”
“Much better, thanks, Mum.”
“The police are coming to see you. They phoned and I said it would be OK.”
Nathan moaned. “Did you have to, Mum? Couldn’t you…”
“You’ll have to talk to them sometime. Might as well get it over with.”
Glancing up, Nathan saw the large man in uniform at the nurses’ station.
“Fuckin’ hell. It’s Mark’s dad.”
Sergeant Ellam walked over, his hat tucked under his arm.
“Hello. Nathan, you remember me, Mark’s dad?”
Nathan watched him, his eyes wary and suspicious.
“Yes, of course.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad, thanks.”
“You’ll be fine in a few days. A strong lad like you. Looks worse than it is. Now, I do have a few questions for you.”
Sergeant Ellam stood on one side of the bed, his Mum on the other side.
“I understand that you must be scared, Nathan. But you were beaten up in broad daylight in the middle of a park. You must remember some details. How many attackers there were and what they were wearing, at least?”
Nathan’s eyes moved between his Mum and the Sergeant.
“I…I don’t remember.”
“He told me he couldn’t remember, Sergeant. Maybe he has memory loss. I understand that often happens after an accident.”
“Maybe so, Mrs. Richardson, but the doctors advised me that Nathan suffered a nasty blow to the head, but the CT scan has now come back all clear.” He nodded at Nathan. “Good job you have a thick skull, son.”
“What about shock or post traumatic stress?” Janice persisted.
“Anything is possible, but it’s more likely that Nathan is scared of his attackers.”
At that moment, Frank Richards turned up with Jason, the photographer, in tow.
“Hello there. Wow, you look like you have done a few rounds with Ricky Hatton, don’t you boy? Do you mind a few photos – not silhouettes this time? This will make the front page.”
Sergeant Ellam bridled at being ignored. “I was taking a statement from this young man,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Got the tip off from one of my contacts at your place, Sergeant. Hasn’t his mum told you? Nathan here has been off from school for months because of school bullies. He’s been beaten up again – real human interest.”
“OK that’s enough,” the beefy cop barked. “Go before I arrest you. Go on. Get out of here.”
As the journos left whingeing about free speech, Sergeant Ellam turned to Janice again.
“Interesting that, wouldn’t you say, Mrs. Richardson? Neither of you saw fit to mention that Nathan was being bullied at school. You didn’t think this might be relevant information?”
Janice swallowed hard. “It isn’t relevant, Sergeant. Nathan would have told you if he had recognized the bullies.”
The Sergeant now addressed Nathan.
“OK, Nathan, you don’t know who beat you up yesterday but these lads who have been making your life a misery, you must know who they are. So at least give me their names.”
Nathan’s eyes darted nervously to his mother. She shared his concern.
“Look, Sergeant, I don’t want Nathan being a hero who gets beaten up again. If he wants to keep quiet, I’d rather leave it there.”
Sergeant Ellam shook his craggy head in sorrow.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Richardson, but if bullies aren’t stopped, they will keep going. You’ve been off school for months and that hasn’t stopped them, so nothing will, until you start naming names. Don’t worry though, because bullies are cowards. Once they are arrested, the beatings will stop and you won’t need to live in fear anymore.”
“It wasn’t bullies, I’ve told you I didn’t see who it was.”
“If you didn’t see, it could have been them. Give me their names. Please, Nathan, don’t be scared. They won’t start with you again. I’ll make sure of that personally.”
Nathan ground his teeth in frustration.
“I’m not scared of nothing. Look it wasn’t the bullies; it was someone else, not them.”
“How do you know, Nathan?”
“Sergeant, you’re starting to bully him. Please leave him alone. He needs rest.”
Sergeant Ellam looked at Janice quizzically.
“Why don’t you want this sorted out, Mrs. Richardson? I hope you two aren’t hiding anything.”
Nathan was struck with a cunning plan. His Mum’s reaction would help.
“OK, Mum, I have to tell him. It wasn’t bullies from school. Nobody bullies me anymore. It was Mum’s ex-boyfriend, Carl Price.”
Janice reeled in shock.
“Carl! Carl did this! I don’t believe it. Why?”
“I didn’t want to tell you, Mum, but it’s true.”
The Sergeant took out his notebook and began writing. “This is obviously a serious allegation. Can you explain why this Carl Price beat you up son?”
“I went out with his daughter and he didn’t want me to see her. I went round there yesterday…”
Appalled at the revelation, Janice stared, open mouthed, at her son.
“You went to see Carly again, after…”
“After what Mrs. Richardson?” the Sergeant prompted.
“After they had an argument and broke up. We all had a big argument on Friday and …”
Sergeant Ellam was keen that Nathan continued his evidence.
“OK, Mrs. Richardson. Might need the details of that later. If you could finish telling me what happened yesterday, Nathan.”
“I went to see Carly but she wasn’t in. I argued with her dad. He hit me and I left, but he followed me to the park and beat me up.”
The Sergeant stopped writing and scratched his head. Nathan’s tale involved Carl following him for 20 minutes to the middle of Waddon Park.
“What were you doing in Waddon Park?”
“I needed a walk, to clear my head.”
Sergeant Ellam finished writing and closed his notebook. Before he could ask anything else, Janice, her voice shaking with emotion, questioned her son.
“Nathan, are you sure about this? Carl did this?”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me, Mum. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything.”
“Yes, but…”
“OK Nathan. Many thanks. We’ll leave it there. I’ll need Carl Price’s address but I will speak to you both later. Here’s my card should you remember anything else.”
“Are you going to arrest Carl?”
“We will continue our enquiries Mrs. Richardson, but don’t worry, any developments, I’ll let you know immediately.”
Sergeant Ellam left the ward and radioed in. “We have a named suspect for the Waddon Park assault, but I need to follow up a couple of things before I make an arrest. Doesn’t quite smell kosher.”
Chapter 34
Tuesday November 16th
Yesterday Carl had enjoyed his first day as Acting Financial Controller. A few people made a point of saying how pleased they were for him, n
otably Marion. It was she who told him that Janice had phoned in to say that she would not be in all week – Nathan had had a nasty accident, though he wasn’t seriously injured.
Not having to face Janice so soon after their breakup was a relief, Carl still liked her and genuinely hoped that Nathan would soon be well, and that he might be able to redeem himself in her eyes.
That evening he had been given a boost when Carly phoned, saying that she was coming back home. She must have forgiven him. Maybe what he had done was not that bad. Not that he would ever do it again. He had been weak and sexually frustrated. Besides, Carly would make sure he never made another mistake like that.
Anyway, in spite of today only being Carl’s second day as Acting Financial Controller, he was not going into work. Martin Miller’s funeral was being held, five days after he had been found dead in his flat. Dressed in black suit and tie, Carl arrived at the church just before the service began.
Martin’s parents’ local Church, in an East Sussex village, was modernized and surrounded by a village green. Charming and rural, a nice place to be buried. But to die happily, you would want hundreds, or at least tens, of mourners. Carl was shocked to see only eight people attending Martin Miller’s funeral. His parents were there, his mother in tears, but they were isolated in grief. His wife, Sarah, attended but either she kept their children away or they hated their father so much that they chose not to attend. His ex-girlfriend, Sue, had a new boyfriend and did not turn up, nor did anybody else from Crouts Furnishers plc.
Martin had been at Crouts three years but had no friends in the Finance Department. Those who worked closest to him were Carl, Janice and Marion, who would have gone but she had arranged to meet her daughter for Christmas shopping that day. Janice was still off work. Jeffrey Parker might have attended, but he had arranged to meet his lawyer that day to assess what monies might be due to him should Crouts sever his three year contract. Similarly the board were busy, discussing with their lawyers the financial implications of terminating Jeffrey’s contract.
The other attendees were two middle aged couples, presumably uncles or aunts, who talked during the service. No friends. 32 years old and no friends. The vicar talked about a fine, professional, family man, and about how sad it was that his life had been taken at such a young age. Carl supposed he could hardly describe Martin as a nose picking, lecherous creep who failed in both his personal and work life.
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