The Exes' Revenge

by Jo Jakeman

A sudden bang from the top of the stairs made us all jump. I wasn’t the only one on edge.

  “One of the dogs,” said Ruby. “Must have brushed against the door and closed it.”

  I could hear the clack-clack of dog paws on the tiled hallway floor and relaxed a little.

  “Okay, then,” I said. “I’ll unlock your cuffs, but I’m not going to lie to you, Phillip—I’m scared that you’re going to do something to punish me for doing this when you know that I didn’t feel I had any choice and—”

  He put up his hand to stop me. “I get it. Really. I don’t know what I can do to convince you—any of you—that I’m not as bad as you think I am.”

  There was a flicker of humanity behind his eyes. I wanted to believe that the cancer had changed his outlook, that the last day and a half had convinced him not to mess with us, but I wasn’t as trusting as I used to be.

  He rubbed his hands together and his dry skin hissed like a snake passing over dried leaves.

  I crouched by the side of the bed and Phillip sat so that his shoes touched the floor.

  I fumbled with the key a little, on purpose, and then I felt the click of the lock springing free. I let the chain and cuffs drop onto the floor without taking my eyes off them. It was difficult to back down before Phillip.

  I waited for him to get up, but I couldn’t look him in the face.

  And that’s where I was, crouched on the floor, when Phillip cracked the bridge of my nose with his heel.

  CHAPTER 17

  10 days before the funeral

  I fell to the floor, with my hands over my face. The pain was instantaneous and blinding. I blinked rapidly against blurred vision and touched my hands to my nose. It was tacky with blood. Warm, salty liquid coated my lips. My head was spinning.

  “Pip, no! What are you doing?” Ruby’s voice came from far away.

  Even through my pain I wanted to say, I told you so.

  I was right. We couldn’t trust him.

  I squinted up at Phillip, who was now standing taller than I’d ever seen him. His foot smashed into my ribs and I skidded sideways. If I hadn’t been sprawled across the floor, I would have laughed. How could I have let Ruby talk me into thinking that he would go quietly? Which one of us was more stupid?

  Naomi screamed and I looked up to see her on Phillip’s back with her arms clamped around his shoulders. She was stronger than she looked, but it didn’t count for much. It took Phillip little effort to pry her off him. He turned, held her arm, and slapped her around the side of the face. The sound bounced off the walls. It sounded like a Christmas cracker being pulled, but there would be no party hats.

  Naomi fell on Ruby and both toppled onto the bed. Naomi scrambled to get up but kept falling. I pulled myself backward across the floor, away from the nightmare. Phillip was on a rampage, beating anyone in his path, and all I could do was watch.

  My breath was catching in my chest. The familiar feeling of panic-tightened lungs causing me to wheeze. Phillip had Ruby’s hair in one hand and Naomi’s in the other. He dragged them off the bed, taking sheets and pillows with them. Ruby’s hands were on his forearms, trying to get free. Her bangles were jangling again. Naomi was swearing and kicking out, but the impact made no difference to him and he pushed her to her knees.

  Ruby began shouting, “Pip, no! Think about what you’re doing!” She was alarmed, her eyes wider than I thought possible. Now do you see? I thought. Do you?

  He threw Ruby at my feet, where she cowered into a ball. It was one thing for Phillip to be the person you always knew him to be, but to Ruby this must have been a shock. Phillip pivoted and kicked Naomi hard in the stomach. She groaned as the air left her body and she doubled over, leaning her forehead on the floor. I felt like I was watching something too ludicrous to be true, a bout of theatrical wrestling.

  Phillip turned in my direction, but it was Ruby he was looking at. He picked the cuffs up and smacked one side over Ruby’s wrist and squeezed it tight. The other end he attached to the radiator.

  “See how you like it!” he said.

  Ruby’s mouth fell open, and she stared at her wrist.

  Naomi was on her feet again with a hand on her stomach. She circled the bed, not blinking. Before she could reach him, Phillip pushed out with two hands into her chest. She flew backward, tripping over the arm of the chair, and fell with a thump. Phillip laughed as he went to straddle her, pinning her arms with his knees.

  He tightened his hands around her smooth throat. His shoulders tensed and his head vibrated with the pressure he was exerting. Naomi’s legs bucked as she tried to kick him off her, but he was too heavy. Too strong.

  Ruby was screaming over and over, “Pip. No! Stop it! Pip! For God’s sake, no!” She was straining at the cuffs and trying to reach them.

  I could taste my own blood in my mouth as I pushed myself up against the wall. I was at the bottom of the stairs trying to think in a straight line. To run and get help or to stay and be help. I didn’t know anything other than that I couldn’t leave Naomi and Ruby alone with this monster.

  I looked around the room for something to use on him, but I’d been careful to take away anything that he could use as a weapon. Quickly but quietly I ran behind him, scared that he would turn around, but he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of Naomi’s gasps.

  Her face was deep red and her eyes were bulging. I picked up the side table, holding a table leg in each shaking hand, took a deep breath, and smashed it across the side of his head. The noise shot through the cellar. Ruby stopped screaming and Naomi sucked in deep breaths.

  I let go of the table and covered my mouth with the back of my hand. Phillip had let go of Naomi but was only momentarily stunned. He turned to face me slowly. He was angry but not surprised. At that moment, I was as scared of Phillip as I had ever been. His eyes were hard disks and his mouth was curled into a sneer. Before he could move, I grabbed a handful of his hair and smashed my knee into his face. I missed his nose, but his eye socket cracked under my knee. I called out in shock even though the cry should have come from him.

  He should have stopped. He should have gone down, hurt, realizing that he was outnumbered, overpowered, that we weren’t to be messed with, but he grabbed my arm as he fell. We tumbled together in slow motion. I smacked my head on the side of the bed and was jerked out of his grasp. He rolled away and sprang to his feet in one easy movement. He wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

  Naomi was coughing and sucking in shallow breaths. Ruby sobbed. The dogs barked in distress behind the closed door.

  Phillip pulled me to my feet by my hair and smashed my head on the wall. I spun away from him too stunned to feel pain, too disoriented to do any more than stagger toward the bed.

  He took the second set of cuffs from the radiator, rolled Naomi onto her front, and fastened her right wrist to her left ankle. I fought to stay alert. The ground swayed. I blinked my eyes open as Phillip’s face swam in front of me. My head was throbbing and the pain from my nose was radiating across my cheeks.

  “Immie, Immie, Immie.”

  He shook his head.

  “Look what you’ve made me do.”

  He sat on the bed and pulled me up beside him. My neck hurt and my ribs stabbed me with every deep breath. Tears were already on my cheeks. He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. I audibly sucked in air through clenched teeth against the pain.

  “Take a look,” he said, gesturing at the scene around us.

  “Poor Ruby. Did she deserve this? And Naomi—she’s just a kid, and now look at her. Lucky to be alive, I’d say. And that’s all because you thought you could get the better of me. You did this, Imogen.”

  “It’s not my fault.”

  “No? Then who was it who shut me down here? Eh? Who made me angry? Was it Ruby? Was it Naomi?”

  I shook my head. I wouldn’t let him lay the
blame for this on me. I couldn’t let him get in my head.

  “I’ve known you for a long time, Immie, and yet your stupidity still astounds me. When will you learn that you can never outsmart me?”

  “Let them go.” I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “You said it yourself. It was all me. They didn’t agree to this. Both of them told me to let you go,” I said. “It’s me who locked you down here. It’s me you’re angry with.”

  I couldn’t breathe through my nose. Phillip noticed; keeping one hand around my shoulder, he put the other over my mouth and pushed hard. I knocked his hand away and he laughed.

  “Too easy,” he said. “I could end your life if I wanted to, silly bitch. Now tell me, where’s Alistair?”

  “What?”

  “My son. Where is he?”

  I thought I’d misheard him, couldn’t understand why he’d want him. We both knew that his illness meant he wouldn’t get custody. My mind was in turmoil, I could hardly think straight, but I still knew that I wouldn’t let him near Alistair. Not in this state. Not ever.

  “He’s out. A friend’s house.”

  My heart was racing.

  “What friend?”

  I said the first lie that came to mind. “A friend from school. Thomas.”

  In my head, over and over again, ran the words Stay away from my son. Would he take him just to hurt me? Did he hate me enough to hurt Alistair? I wouldn’t put anything past him.

  “And where does this Thomas live?”

  “They’re . . . they’re out . . . bowling.”

  “What time will he be back?”

  “He’s staying overnight.”

  “What’s their address?”

  Naomi had gone quiet and there was no noise from Ruby. No sounds from the outside world could reach us down here.

  “I don’t have their address,” I said evenly.

  “Lies!”

  He took a handful of my hair and pulled it back so that my chin pointed upward.

  “You expect me to believe that you don’t know where they live? You, who never lets the boy out of your sight? No wonder he’s such a bloody wimp. Time to cut the apron strings, Imogen. Now where the fuck is he?”

  His voice was getting louder, and I’d already seen what he was capable of. I’d always known that he could be cruel and had recently seen his anger boil over, but the man next to me was unhinged. I’d fallen for his lies too many times and now it was time to make him fall for mine.

  “I don’t know his address, I swear. I dropped Alistair off at the bowling place this morning and Thomas’s mum said she’d bring him back here tomorrow. They’ve got my number if there’s any problems. Yes, it’s out of character for me to let him out of my sight, but so is having my husband in a cellar. I was desperate, Phillip. I wanted him out of the house while we spoke to you, and when Thomas invited Alistair over it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

  Phillip let go of my hair and said, “Why isn’t he with your mother?”

  At last something I could give an honest answer to.

  “She blacked out and dislocated her shoulder. Naomi’ll tell you—I bumped into her at the hospital after I’d seen Mother. That’s how I knew about the stiches. I swear it’s the truth.”

  “If I find out that you’re lying . . .” He left the threat hanging in the air.

  “Is all this about Alistair?” I asked. “Because if you really want the best for him, Phillip, you have to let us go. The more reasonable you are now, the more likely you are to be able to see him more often.”

  “I can feel him pulling away from me, no doubt because of the rubbish you fill his head with. You’re not fit to be a mother,” he spat. “I’d been thinking that there’s nothing more important than family, that it was time I had more of a hand in Alistair’s upbringing, but I’ve had some time to think, thanks to you, about what I really want. And do you know what I’ve decided? That there’s only one thing more important than family. Can you guess what it is?”

  I shook my head.

  He slapped my face. “Guess!”

  My hair fell over my eyes and I looked up at him through strands of knotted brown.

  “The only thing you care about is yourself,” I said.

  “Try again.”

  He grabbed me by the back of my neck and pulled my face to his.

  “I don’t know. Please, Phillip, you’re hurting me.”

  “Try again.”

  “Money? I don’t know . . . Love, maybe?”

  He leaned into me and smoothed my hair off my face so that I could feel his breath in my ear. He said one word.

  “Revenge.”

  His eyes held mine and I felt my breath start to quicken. The adrenaline was starting to leave my body and now my overriding emotion was fear.

  Naomi wasn’t moving. She had rolled onto her side but was facing away from us, and I couldn’t tell whether she had her eyes open or closed. Phillip blocked my view of Ruby, but I could hear her sniffles and knew she was okay. I lowered my head.

  “If I were you, I’d leave while I could.”

  “What would you do,” he asked, “if I took Alistair away so you never saw him again? We could go anywhere in the world. We might be in Saint Lucia or Stoke. You’d never know.”

  “I won’t let you take him.”

  “It’s time to toughen him up,” he said. “Make him a man.”

  “If you touch him, I’ll kill you.” I meant it. I shook his arm off me and sat as straight as my throbbing ribs would let me.

  “I’d like to see you try,” Phillip said.

  “It’s a matter of time. If I don’t kill you, the cancer will, and . . .” My words died in my mouth as I saw his slowly spreading smile.

  “You bastard!” I said.

  I saw it then, the truth. “You don’t have cancer, do you? I should have known it was another one of your lies.” Even as I said it, I hoped I was wrong, but I knew by the look on his face that I wasn’t.

  “Ah, yes,” he said. “The cancer.” He gave a false little cough.

  “I’ve got to thank Naomi for that one. That little story was only meant for her ears. I intended to buy some time and to stop her from reporting me. I knew that not even Naomi would leave a sick man to fend for himself. I had no idea that it would play so nicely into my hands. Admit it, Imogen. You felt sorry for me after our little heart-to-heart the other night, didn’t you?”

  He was smug, and I was stunned. Lately, I’d held Phillip in low regard, but this seemed beneath even him.

  “You let us think you were going to die just so that you could . . . what? Find somewhere else to live? Is that why you wanted me out of the house? Because you want to live here?”

  He held his hands up like it couldn’t be helped.

  “Don’t you think Naomi would’ve noticed when you didn’t bloody die?” I said, my voice rising.

  “But by that time, I’d have made sure she couldn’t get her hands on my money and I’d have made plans to leave her. You should know by now that you only get to leave if I say so. Hands behind your back!”

  I did as I was told, still too shocked to do much more. I kept my face turned to his. I wanted him to read in my eyes how much I hated him.

  “So, you asking Naomi to marry you . . . ?”

  “A distraction. Girls and white dresses, eh?”

  Ruby sniffed loudly. I’d almost forgotten she was there. By the look on Phillip’s face, he had too.

  “Pip?” she said. “Pip? You don’t have cancer?”

  “Thought you’d be pleased,” he said gruffly as he used her scarf to tie my wrists.

  “What a rotten thing to tell people. I understand why you lied to Naomi, but why didn’t you tell me the truth? I could have he
lped you.”

  “Nothing personal,” he said, not looking at her.

  “You should leave,” I said.

  “But we’re only just starting to have fun, you and me. Remember fun, Immie? It was something we used to have before Alistair came along. Back before you became a miserable bitch. We used to have a laugh, you and me. Didn’t we? Eh? Oi! I’m bloody talking to you!”

  “Yes,” I said. “Yes.”

  “Tell me what was fun,” he said.

  “Erm . . .” I studied my feet, trying to remember something, anything, but struggled to recall memories that had been formed outside of this room. He lied to me. He was after my son. I couldn’t let him leave.

  “‘Erm’?” he mocked. “Cat got your tongue? Go on, Imms, we had lots of fun times. You said so yourself. Come on! Good times. Tell me!”

  “The . . . thing. The bike rides?”

  “The Suzuki? Now you’re talking. Your mother’s face when I turned up with my bike. Remember? I thought she was going to have a coronary. Where did we go that day? Was it Scarborough or somewhere? It was the beach anyhow. The weather was shit. You said you may as well be grounded for staying out all night as for getting on a bike. What else? I bet you can do better than that.”

  “Holidays?”

  “Which one?”

  I closed my eyes, conjuring up sunshine and suitcases.

  “The time we went to Italy,” I said. I began moving my wrists against the fabric of Ruby’s scarf. The more I wriggled, the tighter it got, but I thought I might be able to tear the whole thing apart if I could make a hole in the material.

  “Nah, I didn’t like Italy. It was full of bloody mopeds and ponces. Didn’t I get my wallet stolen in Pompeii? It was an absolute shithole. Try again.”

  “The, um . . .”

  “Yes?”

  My mind was blank but I needed more time.

  “I don’t know. You’re putting me under pressure. There’s too many things. I can’t think of just one.”

  “You do disappoint me, Immie. What d’you want to go and do that for?”

  He shook his head and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.