‘The court will decide what is best for the children, Mr O’Hara. You will receive a letter in the post confirming the date and time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must dash, as I’m running late for an appointment,’ Carol said. She didn’t like Jed O’Hara one little bit.
‘What Daddy doin’?’ Harry whispered to Georgie.
Georgie turned to him. ‘I don’t think Daddy wants us to see Mummy, but the lady will take us to see her.’
Eddie Mitchell smiled as Stuart sauntered towards him. He’d got to Ford Open Prison early and just staring at the building brought back awful memories of Wandsworth, which mainly involved Jessica.
‘It’s great to see you, boy,’ Eddie said, as his old cellmate flung his arms around him. Stuart was like a son to Eddie and had been a wonderful comfort to him while he was inside, trying to come to terms with his fatal mistake.
‘I hope no one’s watching us. We must look like a right pair of soppy pricks,’ Stuart joked as he pulled away.
Eddie sized his pal up. ‘Christ, you look like a brick shit-house.’
‘I took a leaf out of your book, Ed. I was bored shitless after you got released, and since I got moved, I’ve spent every spare minute training. I thought it would help with me new career.’
Eddie chuckled. ‘Oh, it will, mate, I can assure you of that. I thought we’d stop for a beer then grab a bit of lunch on the way home. Gina’s got all your room ready and she ain’t expecting us back till teatime.’
‘Sounds perfect! I could kill a nice juicy fillet steak.’
‘Get in the motor and I’ll fill you in on all the gossip. You won’t believe the shit I’ve had with them O’Haras and rest assured, once my Frankie’s out and gets them kids back, we’ll have more than fucking fillet steak to kill.’
Frankie Mitchell sat opposite her solicitor and twiddled her thumbs nervously. Larry had just informed her that Jed was contesting the appeal for Frankie to have visiting rights with her children.
‘So what happens now?’ Frankie asked miserably. She had been so looking forward to seeing Georgie and Harry and she couldn’t believe, after everything that had happened, Jed would have the balls to try and mess it up.
‘Jed has appointed a solicitor by the name of Malcolm Thompson. I don’t know the man personally, but his reputation is of high quality. We still have a great chance of winning this case Frankie, especially with Carol Cullen on our side. Carol is very highly respected in her field and her evidence will be very much taken into consideration. Obviously, the end decision will be made by the judge or magistrate, but I’d say we have the edge with this one. As for your trial, I spoke to your QC over the weekend. He is positive that he can get you a not guilty, but he needs you to dish some more dirt on Jed. Both you and I know that you haven’t yet told us why you did what you did, and the quicker you start spilling the beans, the better. The truth might hurt, but surely it’s better than being stuck in prison and losing your children.’
Frankie’s lip trembled, so she bit it to stop herself from crying. The truth did hurt, but if she admitted what had really happened, it would cause absolute bloody mayhem. ‘I’ve told you the truth already. There is nothing else to add,’ Frankie lied.
Disappointed at his client’s lack of co-operation, Larry stood up. He was sick of trying to help people who had no intention of trying to help themselves. ‘Goodbye Frankie, and if I were you, I’d think very deeply about admitting the truth. You can be your own worst enemy at times and in the end that could cost you severely.’
To lighten his mood, Jed O’Hara had taken the kids and his parents out for lunch to a boozer in Basildon that had a children’s play area.
‘So, tell me everything that old whore said again,’ Alice asked as she sipped her Guinness. She and Jimmy had been out food shopping when Carol Cullen had dropped by, and Alice wished she had been at home, so she could have given the stuck-up tart a piece of her mind.
Jed repeated word for word what Carol had said. ‘If Frankie gets visiting rights, I’m gonna fuck off somewhere and take Georgie girl and Harry with me. No court in the land is gonna tell me what’s best for my chavvies and if they can’t protect them from their shitcunt of a mother, then I will.’
Alice nudged Jimmy. ‘If he goes, then we’re going with him.’
Jimmy nodded, then smiled as he spotted Harry thump some little boy. He had been teaching Harry how to box earlier in the week and his efforts had obviously paid off. ‘He’s shaping up a bit, Harry boy, ain’t he?’ he stated.
Jed and Alice both chuckled as the little boy hit Harry back and Harry retaliated once more.
‘Yeah, he’s becoming a proper little bruiser now. He used to spend too much time with Frankie and she used to baby him. He would have turned out to be a right nancy boy if I hadn’t split with her.’
‘Harry, come over here,’ Jed shouted.
Harry ran towards his father and was surprised to receive a cuddle. ‘What happened with that boy?’ Jed asked him.
‘He hit Georgie, so I hit him,’ Harry replied.
Jed smiled and kissed his son on the forehead. Since Lukey had died, Jed had grown fonder of Harry with every day that passed. ‘For being such a good boy, Daddy will take you to the toy shop when we leave here and buy you whatever you want.’
‘Can I have Mr Blobby?’ Harry asked excitedly.
Jed laughed. He was desperate to turn Harry into a proper little travelling lad and the cost of that didn’t matter. ‘You can choose whatever you want, boy.’
Eddie treated Stuart to a nice slap-up meal in a steak-house in Canning Town, then drove towards the Flag. He had no intention of going in there. His pal, John, had retired years ago and the pub itself brought back so many memories of his dad, Harry, that any time Ed had been in there since his death, he’d felt like bloody well crying.
‘See that boozer, Stu? That’s the Flag where me, me dad and me brothers used to frequent. The old guvnor, John, ain’t there no more, but we had some top nights in there years ago. It was sort of our headquarters in a way, I suppose.’
Stuart nodded. Eddie had mentioned the Flag a few times in prison and he remembered the name. ‘Have you found out any more news about your dad, Ed?’
Eddie shook his head sadly. Even after six years, his dad’s murderer still hadn’t been found. ‘No one knows fuck-all, mate. I sent Gary and Ricky sniffing around again a few weeks back, but it’s a stone-cold trail. As for the Old Bill, they won’t admit it, but I’m sure they’ve closed the case. My old man was a thorn in the filth’s side for years and I personally believe they were glad to see the back of him.’
Stuart put a comforting hand on Eddie’s shoulder. Even in the nick, Ed had found talking about his dad’s death difficult and Stu could see how upset he was now. ‘Let’s find a quiet pub and have a beer, eh, mate?’
Eddie took the handbrake off and pulled away. He shouldn’t have come here, but he had wanted Stuart to see the gaff. ‘There’s a whore house down the road. Shall I take you there?’
Stuart looked at Eddie to see if he was serious or mucking about. He was serious. ‘Fuck off, Ed. I could do with letting off a bit of steam, but I ain’t that desperate. To be honest, I’m quite choosy when it comes to birds and I’d rather bide my time till I find one I like. Made a right ricket with the last one, didn’t I? And I can’t afford to do that again. I’d rather just concentrate on work from now on.’
Eddie glanced at Stuart and was glad to see him smiling. Stuie had done bird for killing a geezer who had raped his ex-girlfriend, Carly. The boy had expected to do his bit of bird then spend the rest of his life with Carly, until one day she’d sent him a ‘Dear John’ letter telling him she’d met someone else and was up the spout by her new beau. Stu had been devastated and it had taken him a while to snap out of his depression, but he seemed OK about it now, thank God.
‘Do you know what, Ed, why don’t we just head back to yours and have a beer indoors? That champagne at the restaurant has already ma
de me feel a bit light-headed and I wanna enjoy my first day out. I like a beer and that, but I’ve never been one for getting shit-faced.’
Eddie grinned and headed towards home. Stuart was extremely sensible and with an attitude like that, he would definitely become a valuable asset to the firm.
Since her conversation with Larry, Frankie had felt as though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Babs was a great listener and Frankie had just explained to her what had happened earlier.
‘So, what do you think I should do? I mean, if I had evidence, like the tape, I would have told the truth in the first place, but say they don’t believe me? Also, even though me and my dad have fallen out again, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. If he finds out Jed killed my grandad, he will lose the plot, I know he will.’
Babs hugged her friend. ‘If I was you, sweet child, I would get in touch with Jed and tell him to back off. You tell him if he stops Georgie and Harry from having contact with you, then you are gonna tell everyone, including your dad, what he did to your grandfather. Threatening him should do the trick, I reckon.’
‘I can’t ring him. My dad always told me never to talk about anything untoward on these prison phones and I can’t write to him, ’cause he can barely read.’
‘Well, you’ll have to get a message to him via someone else,’ Babs suggested.
‘But who? I can’t expect Kerry to go round there on her own and, apart from you, she’s the only one that knows the truth.’
‘You can get Kerry to ring him or, if you don’t want to involve her at all, see if that travelling girl in here can get a message to the bastard. She didn’t look like no monster and she was no fan of Jed’s, was she?’
Frankie thought of her chat with Katie and shrugged. ‘She sounded like she hated him, but how do I know I can trust her? I’ve never met a decent traveller yet.’
Babs smiled. ‘You don’t know if you can trust her, but that’s the chance you take. Listen, lots of white people swear that all black people are bad, but not all of us are. The same probably goes for travellers or gypsies, whatever they’re called. There is good and bad in every race, Frankie, and if I were you I would see if that Katie girl can get a message to Jed for you. I mean, if you can’t ask your family or Kerry to do it, what choice do you have?’
Frankie nodded. ‘OK, I’ll ask her if she can do it.’
* * *
Jed dropped his parents back in Rainham, then took the kids to Lakeside to get them some toys. Both kids were currently obsessed with Mr Blobby, a character that had become famous on Noel’s House Party, a Saturday-night variety show, and since Mr Blobby had released a song the previous week, both Georgie and Harry had done nothing but sing it constantly.
‘Please can we have the record, Daddy?’ Georgie begged.
Jed had already bought the kids three toys each in the first shop they’d been in, but he liked to see them happy, so agreed. Jed had a CD player over at his mobile home in Wickford, but since he’d been stabbed, he hadn’t been back there. His cousin Sammy owned the trailer next door, they shared the piece of land, and Sammy was keeping an eye on things for him in his absence. One day Jed would return there, but at the moment he needed all the help with the kids that he could get, so staying with his parents suited him.
‘Blobby, blobby, blobby,’ Harry sang happily.
Crouching down, Jed smiled at both of his children. ‘I’ll make you a deal. Nanny has only got a cassette recorder, so I’ll buy you a CD player that you can take up to the bedroom. But I don’t wanna hear Mr Blobby, neither does your nan and grandad, so you only play it upstairs, OK?’
Georgie and Harry both nodded.
Hearing his mobile ring, Jed stood up and answered it. It was Sammy. ‘What? Are you sure?’ Jed asked in shock.
‘Yeah, I had to take the boys back to Kerry and she was proper going into one. Apparently, Sally got taken into hospital yesterday and she’s definitely lost the baby. Her father’s blaming you, apparently, so is Kerry, obviously.’
Jed ended the call and sat down on a nearby bench. Luke dying had broken his heart, but he felt nothing over this miscarriage. How can you be upset over something that wasn’t even properly formed yet? he thought. It wasn’t as though he could picture the kid’s face or had memories of playing with it like he had of Luke.
‘What a matter, Daddy?’ Harry asked him. His dad had been nice to him recently and Harry decided he rather liked him now. When they’d lived with Mum, his dad used to ignore him a lot, but he didn’t do that any more.
Jed ruffled Harry’s hair. Sally losing the kid was a blessing in disguise, he decided. He could now concentrate on Georgie and Harry more. Just lately, Sally had felt like a fucking albatross hanging around his neck, anyway. Lukey’s death had ruined any closeness between them and in Jed’s opinion, it was definitely time to move on with his life and find himself another bird.
‘Come on, let’s go and find Mr Blobby,’ Jed said, grinning.
Georgie and Harry held hands and skipped along. ‘Blobby, blobby, blobby,’ they chanted happily.
Gina hugged Stuart and told him to sit down, put his feet up and make himself at home. ‘I’ll crack open some champagne, shall I?’ she said.
‘I ain’t much of a champagne drinker to be honest. Do you mind if I just have a lager?’ Stuart asked. He loved the cottage. He had always lived with his mum in council accommodation in Hackney and he was already liking the serenity of Rettendon.
‘Of course you can have a beer, love, but trust me, it won’t be long before you get a taste for the bubbly stuff, especially if you’re going to be working with Champagne Charlie over there,’ Gina joked, pointing at Ed.
Eddie smiled. ‘So, whaddya think of the place?’
‘Oh, it’s lovely, Ed. I’ve never been to this sort of area before.’
Eddie chuckled. Stuart was very blinkered, like Ed’s Auntie Joan, and had rarely ever set foot outside London.
‘Do you wanna see some photos, boy? I got the albums out ready for ya.’
Stuart thanked Gina for the lager and nodded. ‘I can’t wait to see the photos, but do you mind if I give my mum a quick ring first?’
‘You take your time. There’s a phone in the hallway and you can shut this door so you’ve got a bit of privacy.’
When Stuart left the room, Eddie turned to Gina. She’d seen Stu in the nick before when she’d visited Ed, but she’d never really had a chance to speak to him properly.
‘Whaddya think? He’s a nice kid, ain’t he?’
‘He seems lovely and he’s so handsome, bless him. I bet he’ll have girls falling at his feet in no time.’
Eddie grinned. Being a bloke, he’d never really taken much notice of Stuart’s looks, but he had to admit that since he’d toned up, he looked like a man rather than a boy, which is what Ed had always classed him as.
‘Well, he’s tall, dark and muscly, so once I get him in a suit and show him a bit of the old Mitchell charm, I’m sure he’ll do all right with the chicks,’ Eddie said, laughing.
Stuart grinned as he came back into the room ten minutes later. ‘My mum’s fine and she’s so relieved that I didn’t go back to Hackney. She asked me would it be OK if she comes and visits me in a week or so?’
‘Of course. She can stop over, there’s enough room. You can even invite her over for Christmas, if you want. Now, you gonna look at these photos or what?’
Stuart sat down next to Eddie and listened as he explained who was who. ‘Look at the size of your dad’s cigar. He looks as though he were a real character, Ed. He reminds me of one of them old-style villains, a bit like the Krays or Freddie Foreman.’
Eddie chuckled. ‘He was more than a match for any of them, boy.’
‘Was he really that famous?’ Stuart asked innocently.
‘I should coco,’ Eddie replied proudly.
‘Who’s that?’ Stuart asked, pointing at a pretty girl with long dark hair.
‘That’s my
Frankie. Get that other album out the drawer, Gina,’ Ed urged.
Stuart was taken aback as Ed showed him lots more photos of Frankie and Joey. Stu had never seen Frankie before. She had visited Ed in prison a few times, but Stu had never had a visit himself on those particular occasions and Ed had always moaned how she’d put on weight and let herself go since she’d been with Jed. Studying a picture of Frankie standing next to her mother, Stuart smiled.
‘They’re both beautiful, aren’t they? Is that Jessica?’
‘Let me get yous boys another drink,’ Gina said tactfully. She could tell that Eddie wanted to speak about Jessica and she didn’t want to make him feel awkward.
Eddie stared wistfully at the photographs, then turned to Stuart. ‘My Jessica was beautiful inside and out. She was a real head-turner and I felt like a king when she agreed to marry me. I loved her dearly and we were so happy together, but shit happens in life, don’t it?’
Stuart put an arm around his pal’s shoulder. ‘It’s time to move on now, mate.’
‘I have and I love Gina very much. She’s my life now,’ Eddie replied, with tears glistening in his eyes.
Stuart turned the page and stared at another photo of Frankie.
‘You like my daughter, don’t ya, boy?’ Eddie said knowingly.
‘Don’t be silly. She’s very pretty, but I would never think of her anything other than your daughter, Ed. I’m not like that, you know I’m not.’
Gina walked back into the room and handed Ed and Stuart a beer each.
Eddie chuckled. ‘Stuie’s got the hots for my Frankie, Gina.’
‘No I haven’t,’ Stuart said, blushing.
Eddie laughed and threw his arm playfully around his pal’s neck. ‘If my Frankie had ended up with a bloke like you, I’d have been truly fucking elated. Instead the silly little mare ended up with that pikey piece of shit, and with three kids by him, she’ll be lucky if a decent geezer ever looks at her again.’
The Victim Page 12
