The Graft

by Karen Woods

  The market traders watched Tony and Mickey like hawks as they passed by. They knew them well and they were on their guard. These two were thieving bastards and the moment their backs were turned they would have anything away. An Asian man spoke loudly in his native tongue to another trader across the way from him. He must have been warning him that Tony and Mickey were about. The news spread like wildfire because in minutes the market traders were all stood at the front of their stalls protecting what they owned. Tony nudged Mickey and sniggered. “Muppets. If I wanted to nick something, they couldn’t stop me. Clowns they are.” He shouted over to them with a smirk on his face. “Take it easy lads. We’re just passing through. No need to flap.” Mickey kept his head low. There was no way he wanted any beef today, no way in this world. Tony was a right cheeky fucker and sometimes he just went over the top. Mickey had taken many a dig because of Tony and his uncontrollable mouth. Round the next corner Asda’s entrance was ahead of them. Every time the sliding door opened Tony could see the boxes of TVs just to the left of the entrance. This mission was child’s play.

  “Mickey, you need to cover me. You go inside first and start looking at the clothes on the other side of the store. Once they clock you all their eyes will be on you and it should leave the coast clear for me to get in and out.”

  Mickey let out a deep breath. He hated the way he felt before he committed a crime and his heart was pumping inside his ribcage. “So, you’re just going to run in and get a TV then?”

  “Yes, well, I will if you get a move on.”

  Mickey was relieved. At least he didn’t have to get his hands dirty. If this plan got foiled it would be Tony facing a charge and not him. There was no way he wanted to be banged up all day down the local police station. He’d been down this road before and knew if he got his collar felt the dibble would be here in seconds. They’d warned him to keep away from this shopping centre and if he was being honest, he had a life time ban from the store for all the crimes he’d committed in the past. Mickey flicked the collar on his coat up and pulled his hat down, it was show time.

  Tony watched his partner enter the store. Within seconds of him entering Tony could see the security following him. They were like flies round shit, ducking and diving behind him. The plan was working. He had to keep his head and stay focused. Tony sucked hard on his gums and inhaled deeply. He rubbed the end of his nose with a flat palm and in he went. Sweat was pumping from every pore in his body, he was trembling from head to toe but he had to keep his cool, waste no time, straight in and out like he’d planned. Tony walked straight up to the TVs and picked one up. Fuck me, they were heavy. Maybe, this wasn’t going to be plain sailing after all. Using all his strength he yanked the box from the shelf and held it closely to his chest. Here it was, the time when all this could go wrong. Mickey was watching eagerly from the other side of the store. He could see Tony ready to leave. This is where it could go tits up. Thinking on his feet he marched down to the bottom of the aisle. He picked up a couple of shirts and smiled at the two security guys who were positioned so they could see his every move. Right, he had to be fast. He folded the blue shirts over his arm and started to run to the other end of the store. It was a cat and mouse game now and people were starting to look at him. The coast was clear, Tony made his move.

  He struggled at first to carry the box, but once he was near the exit, he seemed to find some inner strength. If he didn’t get his arse into gear, he’d be spending his night in the local nick roasting his nuts off. Tony was out of the store and motoring as fast as he could through the market stalls, bumping into people, screaming at them at the top of his voice. A few members of the public were watching him but none of them dared approach him. This was none of their business and nothing they wanted any part of. If the police were looking for witnesses, then they were wasting their time here. There was a code of conduct around these parts and everybody kept their traps firmly shut. Nobody wanted to be labelled a grass, no way in this world. Names like that stuck and as soon as the cat was out of the bag and they found out who had blabbed, their houses would be torched, bricks launched through their windows and paint would be sprayed all over the brick walls outside, with a message that would never go away.

  GRASS

  Tony stumbled down the stairs that led to the estate. He never looked behind him once. His breathing was rapid and at one point it looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Running into a cul-de-sac he looked one way then the other. Resting his body on a fence he picked the TV up and placed it into a nearby garden. He had to sit down, his head was spinning, and he looked like he was going to keel over.

  Mickey was still in the store. He smiled at the security guards as he walked back to the place where he’d picked up the shirts and placed them neatly back on the rail. There would be no arrest here today and the security guards knew it. What was this man playing at? They stood looking bewildered scratching their heads. Had they missed something? Mickey gripped his baseball cap from his head and flicked the balls of sweat from his forehead to the ground. He was dripping in it. He walked confidently passed the store detectives and smirked. “Just making sure you two are on the ball lads” and with a bounce in his step, Mickey left the store.

  “Oi, over here,” Tony whispered as he spotted Mickey speeding past. Tony reached over the garden fence and yanked the TV with his two hands. “Fuck me pal, this was heavy. I nearly dropped the fucker a few times. Honest, I was going to leave it at one stage. My back is in pieces.”

  Mickey patted the top of his shoulder as if he’d scored the winning goal in a cup final. “A job well done, Toe. I’ve had them wankers running up and down the aisle in there. Honest, they didn’t know what fucking day it was.”

  Tony scanned the area. “We need to sell it now. One of us is going to have to wait here with it because like I said, it’s a heavy fucker.” Tony had already made his mind up that Mickey would be the one staying put with the stolen goods. He’d already put his neck on the line once today and now it was Mickey’s turn. “I’ll go and see Lance on the Two Hundred Estate. He has a few quid and he’s always looking for a bargain.”

  Mickey wasn’t sure. “Don’t be selling it to him for peanuts. He’s a tight fucker and the last time I went to him selling swag he took the piss. He had my eyes out for it. Fifty quid he gave me for a gold chain. I know it was worth a lot more than that and he knew it too.”

  Tony was agitated. “Just chill the fuck out will you. My head’s going to explode in a minute. I know what I’m doing and if he thinks he’s getting this for fuck all then he has another thing coming. I want one and a half ton for it. There’s a ticket on the box and it says three hundred pounds. So, that’s bang down the middle, half price.”

  Mickey nodded. His body was shaking more than ever now, and he needed to sort himself out. They both did. The gear was calling. “Hurry up then before it starts pissing down. If this box gets wet then it will be worth fuck all.” Tony zipped his coat up and headed out of the cul-de-sac onto the estate.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Elsie was at the kitchen table moaning about her husband to her best friend Tina. Her head was in her hands and she was stressed out. Nothing was going right and in her own words, life was shit and it couldn’t get any worse. Tina shot a look over at her friend. She was well known for her openness and never held anything back. She folded her arms and began the usual lecture. “How many times have I told you that Tony brings you down? You never listen, and you carry on putting up with it all. What did you expect?”

  Elsie lifted her head up slightly and sighed. “It’s not what I need to hear right now, Tina. Fuck me, I’ve come here for a bit of support, not to hear you telling me what I already know. Do me a favour and shut up about Tony. I can’t even stand to hear that man’s name. My temper is boiling, and I just need to calm down before I bite someone’s head off.”

  Tina flicked the invisible dust from the top of her shoulder and picked her cup of coffee up towards her mouth.
She was only telling the truth here, what did Elsie expect? “I’m just saying what I see that’s all. You know me love, I tell it like it is, don’t blame me for being honest.” Tina ran her index finger around the white mug and looked out of the window. She eased off the pressure slightly. “So, what are you going to do then? I’m not dictating what you should do, I’m just asking that’s all.”

  Elsie rolled her eyes. “Fuck knows. I’m going to see if he comes back with the money today. If he doesn’t, he’s getting flung out. He knows I mean it too. If I’d have got my hands on the bastard this morning, I would have strangled him, on my life he would have been in a body bag.”

  “Good, he deserves it, the wanker.”

  Elsie blushed and pressed her lips tightly together. She looked uncomfortable as she spoke. “I need a borrow Tina, twenty quid if you’ve got it. I need gas and some bread and milk. It’s only until Wednesday until I get my benefit.”

  Tina never flinched. She’d lent her friend money on more than one occasion and she knew she would return it as soon as she got paid. A lot of the residents lived from hand to mouth on the estate and they all helped each other to keep their heads above water when they were skint. “Yeah, no worries. I’ll come down to the shops with you anyway. I need to pick a few bits up myself.”

  Elsie reached over and touched the top of Tina’s hand. Her heart was low, and she was filling up. “I appreciate all that you do for me, you know. God knows where I would be if I didn’t have you?”

  Tina smiled and patted the top of Elsie’s hand. “I care about you Elsie and I hate it when you get yourself into a fix. I’ve told you before. Just do a few nights with me a week and you’ll always have money. Nobody needs to know. Just tell them at home that you have a cleaning job at night.”

  Elsie was alarmed and folded her arms tightly in front of her chest. “Fuck off Tina. I can’t do that. Tony would go sick if he knew I was working in a brothel.”

  “You can just work on reception. It’s not like you would be having sex with the punters. And, sometimes they ask you to watch, so you could earn a few extra quid there, stop being so prudish.” Tina knew Elsie had pulled a few tricks in the past when she had no money, but it was all hush, hush and she hated ever admitting it. Tina had been doing it for years. She was a pretty woman and you could tell that in her day she’d been a right looker. “Thanks Tina but no, I have the kids to think about. It’s alright for you. You don’t answer to anybody. It would ruin the kids if they knew I was involved in anything like that.”

  Tina shrugged her shoulders and smirked. “Just think about it that’s all. It’s not like Tony is looking after you, is it? We all need a bit of extra money sometimes, don’t we?”

  Elsie nodded. “Thanks, but no thanks. If I change my mind, then you’ll be the first to know. Our Jordan bungs me a few quid extra each week, so if I’m stuck, I can always ask him to help me out.”

  Tina melted at the mention of Elsie’s son. “Oh, he’s a good- looking lad. I can’t believe he’s Tony’s son. He’s bleeding gorgeous. If I was a few years younger, I’d ruin him.”

  Elsie chuckled, and her mood seemed to be lifting. “I know; he gets all the girls. He’s never at home. He’s always out at some bird’s house. I’ve told him it will fall off if he carries on sleeping about. He’s like a bleeding rabbit.”

  “You can’t blame him love,” Tina sniggered., “if there’s a hole he’ll fill it. He’s like most men. They can’t say no when it’s offered on a plate.”

  Tina passed Elsie a cigarette and flicked the lighter underneath it. A large thick cloud of grey smoke filled the room as they carried on talking. “Are you still seeing that Henry who you met the other week?” Tina cringed and shuddered.

  “You mean the guy I met at work?”

  “Yeah, the one who was buying you all the flowers and chocolates.”

  Tina rolled her eyes and chugged hard on her fag. “He’s a bit of a crank. You need to remember he’s one of my punters too. I’d never have a man in my life who was into paying for sex. I bet he’s got a wife at home and a few kids. He’s not someone who’d make me happy. It would always be in the back of my mind that he was a punter.”

  “As long as he’s treating you well, what does it matter? Get it while you can. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, take him for every penny he’s got! Rinse him!”

  Tina shook her head slowly and her voice was soft. “It matters a lot Elsie. Just because I’m a brass it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have someone who loves me by my side each night. I want that too, you know,” her eyes clouded over as she carried on speaking. This subject had really hit a nerve. “I’ve always wanted it, but I always fall for the wrong kind of bloke who treats me badly. I’m a good person, you know, and I deserve to be loved. I have a lot to offer a man.”

  Elsie was the one comforting her now. “I know you do love but your job is not the best place to meet a decent guy, is it? You need to get out of the area and meet someone decent. I know my Tony is a prick most of the time, but I know he loves me. He would go to hell and back to protect me.”

  Tina raised her eyebrows, “I never said he wouldn’t. I just said he should realise how his actions affect his family life, that’s all.”

  Elsie was reminiscing now as she sat back and folded her arms. “Tony was the boy everyone wanted to be with when he was younger. On my life, you wouldn’t think it now, but he had it all going on back in the day. Sexy he was.”

  Tina’s expression changed, and she was finding it hard to believe that Tony Clayton had ever been a good-looking man. He was ugly in her eyes. Elsie shot her eyes over at Tina and she could see she was having difficulty ever imagining her man to be a heart throb. She was excited as she carried on talking. This was her love story, the memory of times when her relationship was good. She continued and snuggled into her body. A nice warm red glow appeared on her cheeks. “Every girl on the estate wanted to be his girl and he picked me. I was no oil painting and I couldn’t believe my luck when one night in the Queen’s on the Monsall estate he asked to walk me home. Honest, all my mates couldn’t believe it either. They actually told me straight that I was punching above my weight with him. I’d never been so nervous in my life. Everything about him made me tingle from head to toe. I knew then that he would always be the love of my life. Sometimes, I still have too pinch myself to believe I’m his wife,” Elsie shot a look over at Tina. Her friend squirmed as a shiver passed through her body. She looked like she was going to puke. The man was disgusting, and never in a month of Sunday’s would Elsie ever change her mind. She carried on reminiscing about the days gone by. “When we got back to my house we sat and talked all night long, we just clicked. It was such a strong connection, a bond that nobody would ever break. They say you can fall in love in the first few seconds of meeting somebody and that’s what happened with me and my Tony. I was head over heels in love with him after just a few hours, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. The first time he kissed me I knew I would never ever feel this way about another man. Honest, I fell in love there and then, hook line and sinker.”

  Tina pretended to gag into her hands and chuckled out loudly. “Oh my God. Stop it! Your making me feel sick. How could Tony Clayton ever make a woman weak at the knees?”

  Elsie sat up straight. “He was the man Tina. Remind me the next time you come around to our house to get the old photographs out and then you’ll see with your own eyes how sexy my husband was.”

  Tina sat back in her seat, she enjoyed a good love story, even if this one was about Tony Clayton. “So, what happened next, you kissed him and then what?”

  Elsie started to blush, she opened the top button on her coat and blew a warm breath downwards towards her breasts. “We were inseparable. He used to come to our house every night after he’d finished work and we spent all our time together. His home life was shit and he hated going home. My dad hated him from day one though. He said there was something about him that he couldn’t put his finger on.
My dad didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him.”

  “What about your mam and your sister? Did they like him?”

  “Oh, our Gina was all over him like a rash. You know how jealous of me she used to be. Everything I had she always wanted, and she made no exception where men were concerned either. She used to flirt with Tony all the time. I knew her game from the off and nipped it in the bud. I got her by the scruff of the neck and told her if she carried on flirting with my man, I would rip every hair out of her bleeding head. I’ve never snapped like that before, but she could see it in my eyes that I meant business. Oh yes, I’d have scratched her bleeding eyes out if she thought I would take her flirting lying down.”

  “Bloody hell, was you that in love with him that you would fall out with your sister over him?”

  “I was Tina. He was my world and I wasn’t letting him slip through my fingers, for love nor money.”

  “So, did your mam like him?”

  “Of course. Tony had the gift of the gab and he could win anybody over. My mother was putty in his hands. She thought he was the dog’s bollocks. He would do anything for her. A proper brown-noser he was.”

  Tina sat in disbelief. “Well fuck a duck. Who’d have ever thought your mam had a heart. I’m glad you have those happy memories of him. It’s nice to remember the good times.”

  Elsie was digging deep into her memory bank and she recalled another time when she was happy. “He was romantic too. He used to write me love letters and buy me flowers. I think he robbed the flowers if I’m being honest though, because on one bunch he gave me I found a small card saying, ‘We’ll miss you forever Sally. Rest in peace. From Natalie’.”

  Tina burst out laughing and covered her mouth with her hand. “Now, that’s more like the Tony I know. What a cheeky bastard. I would have whacked him over the head with them.”

  Elsie nodded and smirked. “I know but I was in love and never saw the bad in him. His heart was always in the right place. The night he asked me to marry him went down in history as one of the most special times in my life. I’ll never forget it as long as I live. He’d set it all up and everyone knew about it except me. Even our Gina was in on it. It was my birthday and my mam had planned a meal at the Indian restaurant on Rochdale Road for us all. I think it’s still there now, but I think it’s changed its name. Anyway, we were all having something to eat. I think we had just started with the first course when Tony started choking,” her expression changed, and she became serious. “I shit my knickers I thought he was going to die. His face was turning blue and we were all trying to dislodge whatever it was he had stuck in his throat. He was lying on the floor and I had him held in my arms. I thought he was taking his last breath. Then he lifted his hand up to his mouth and pulled out a diamond ring. He smiled and looked directly into my eyes and then he said it. Those magic words.”