Schemer

by Kimberley Chambers

  About to deny the accusation, Angela welcomed the distraction of her sister arriving home. ‘Mum reckons I’ve stolen money out of her purse, Steph. Tell her I ain’t. I borrowed a pound off you, didn’t I?’ she lied.

  After the day she’d had at school, Stephanie couldn’t help but lose it with her little sister. ‘You’re a liar, Ange. I never lent you a penny, and not only that, you lied about Jacko an’ all, didn’t you?’

  ‘Who’s Jacko?’ Pam asked, perplexed.

  Angela stared at her sister with a look of pure hatred on her face. Steph had promised not to divulge her secret to anyone and she had obviously been making herself busy. ‘You bitch! I told you to keep your mouth shut,’ Angela screamed, as she flew at Stephanie.

  ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Pam yelled, as a full-scale argument began.

  ‘She told me she’d been raped, Mum. She’s an evil, wicked liar,’ Stephanie shouted, as her sister tried to drag her around the room by her hair.

  Pam knew that her girls had always bickered, but she had never seen them as bad as this before. ‘I said, stop it,’ she yelled, barging her way into the ruckus, while trying to pull them apart.

  Angela took a deep breath when her mum made her sit on one side of the lounge and Stephanie on the other. If her humiliation over the Jacko episode hadn’t been bad enough, her sister had made it a whole lot worse by opening her big mouth at school and snitching on her to her mum.

  ‘Now, what’s going on? And what’s all this about a rape? Don’t lie to me, the pair of you, because if you do, I’ll have your guts for garters,’ Pam shouted.

  Angela knew that there was only one way to worm herself out of this difficult situation and that was to turn the tables.

  ‘Can I just say something first please, Mum?’ she asked, in a childlike, innocent-sounding voice.

  ‘Go on, but don’t you dare lie to me, Angela,’ Pam replied, in a threatening tone.

  Smirking at her sister, Angela turned back to her mother. ‘You know that old slapper over the road, Mum. Stephanie’s going out with her son.’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Angela’s revelation left Pam temporarily dumbstruck, but suddenly she found her voice again. ‘This had better not be true, young lady. If I find out you’ve been within one hundred yards of that old slapper’s son, you’re grounded for life.’

  ‘It ain’t me you wanna be worrying about, it’s her. At least I ain’t been having sex with boys and then accusing ’em of raping me,’ Stephanie screamed. She was furious that her sister had betrayed her trust.

  ‘You lying bitch! I ain’t never had sex with anyone, Mum, I swear I ain’t,’ Angela yelled.

  Pam felt physically sick. Angela had only just turned thirteen years old, and the idea of some boy taking advantage of her innocence was almost unthinkable. ‘Who is this boy?’ Pam asked Angela.

  ‘He’s no one. I just liked some boy, that was all, and pretended to Steph that I was going out with him. He’s fifteen, Mum. As if he’s gonna go out with some silly kid like me. I only told Steph ’cause I wanted to see if I could trust her not to tell you. It was a test and she’s failed it.’

  ‘You are such a wicked liar. I can prove it, Mum. Wayne Jackman thought Angie was fifteen ’cause that’s what she told him and she pretended that she went to Parsloes Manor. She also told him that Dad was still alive and he beats her up.’

  When Angela leapt off her chair and flew at her sister again, Pam started to weep. ‘Stop it! Just bloody stop it,’ she screamed, grabbing Angela around the neck.

  ‘I hate you,’ Angela spat at Steph, as her mum bundled her into the hallway.

  ‘Get up them stairs now. And you’re going back to school in the morning, young lady. Taking no more of your crap, I ain’t.’

  When Angela ran up the stairs sobbing, Pam marched back into the lounge. ‘So, have you been knocking about with that old slapper’s son? And don’t lie to me ’cause I’ll find out the truth,’ she told Steph.

  Unlike her sister, Stephanie was not a good liar, so decided it would be in her best interest to come clean. ‘Barry’s lovely, Mum. He’s nothing like Marlene. He’s the complete opposite and he is so kind to me.’

  Pam was furious. ‘You are not seeing that boy again, do you understand me? I’ll be the laughing stock of the street if anyone finds out you’ve been knocking about with Marlene’s son. Ain’t you got no respect for yourself? You silly little mare.’

  ‘Me have respect for myself! What about Angie? At least I ain’t done nothing with Barry. At least I don’t have sex with boys.’

  ‘Your sister has just turned bloody thirteen. She hasn’t had sex with anyone yet. She makes these stories up to try and impress you. As for your behaviour, disgusted I am, Steph, and you’re grounded until further notice. No more going out gallivanting until I know I can trust you again.’

  ‘But I ain’t done nothing wrong,’ Stephanie cried out.

  ‘That’ll be for me to decide. Now get upstairs and say sorry to your sister. I’ve got enough on me plate without yous two at one another’s throats. I’ve given the pair of you far too much leeway and now it’s all going to stop.’

  When her mum walked into the kitchen, Stephanie let out a huge, racking sob.

  Barry Franklin stood on the corner of Ford Road the following morning. Within seconds of spotting Steph walking towards him, he just knew that there was something wrong. ‘What’s up, babe?’ he asked, genuinely concerned.

  ‘Everything. I had a big row with Angie and then she grassed me up to Mum. She told her that me and you were going out together and me mum went mad. I’m grounded now. I ain’t allowed out no more,’ Steph explained, her eyes welling up with frustration.

  ‘Don’t worry. We’ll still find a way to see one another. What about if I have a word with your mum? I’m sure if she meets me, and realizes I’m no monster, she’ll change her tune.’

  ‘No! That will just make things worse. I wouldn’t mind but Angie ain’t even been grounded. If she hadn’t had sex with Jacko and then cried rape, none of this would have happened.’

  Barry held his tearful girlfriend in his arms. ‘I’m gonna jib school today and shoot up to Bethnal Green again. My dad’s trial starts on Wednesday and he’s having a going-away bash in the Bishop Bonner. Jacko’s coming with me, I’m meeting him at the Heathway. He remembers me dad well and he ain’t seen him for yonks.’

  Stephanie looked at her boyfriend in dismay. The thought of being near Barry all day at school was the only thing that had got her out of bed this morning, and now he wasn’t even going to be there. ‘Can I come with you?’

  ‘Course you can. But what about your mum? Say she finds out you ain’t gone to school. I don’t want to get you into even more trouble.’

  Furious with her mother for siding with her sister rather than her, Stephanie shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Bollocks to my mum. I’m coming with you, Bal.’

  Unaware that her sister had decided to play truant, Angela Crouch had to suffer the humiliation of facing Tanya MacKenzie again.

  ‘Look, girls. The silly slag’s dyed her hair blond so we don’t recognize her. How’s Jacko, Crouchie? Seen him lately, have ya?’ Tanya asked, gloating.

  Instead of retaliating like she usually would, Angela held her head high and, with her nose in the air, walked past Tanya and her childish mates. She was still gutted that she and Wayne weren’t together, but after spending two days moping about and crying, Angie had now decided it was time to move on. Wayne Jackman might be as fit as a butcher’s dog, but he wasn’t the only fit boy in the world and, with her stunning beauty, Angie was confident that she could get virtually any boy she wanted.

  ‘Why weren’t you at school yesterday? Was it because of Jacko? I heard what happened. That slut Tanya’s told half the school,’ Chloe asked, catching up with her friend.

  Angela smiled. Chloe was her only true mate, but even though they were close, Angela had no intention of admitting how devastated she’d been over the Jacko
saga. ‘I had a sore throat yesterday, so me mum told me to stay home,’ she lied.

  ‘So, has Jacko packed you up now? That’s what Tanya’s been telling everyone.’

  ‘No one’s packed no one up. I just don’t wanna go out with Jacko no more. He’s a bit boring, to be honest,’ Angie replied, untruthfully.

  Chloe linked arms with her pal. ‘You’ll never guess who’s asked me out?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Darren O’Brien, and Dal reckons that his older brother Jason fancies you.’

  Angela Crouch could barely believe her luck. Jason O’Brien was in the year above her and Chloe. Not only was he extremely hot, but Angie knew for a fact that Tanya MacKenzie had recently got one of her mates to ask him out for her, and he’d said no.

  ‘I’ll go out with Jason. Arrange it for me,’ Angela said, her eyes shining with glee. Her mum had always said that when one door shuts, another one opens and Angie couldn’t help but think what a wise mother she had.

  The atmosphere between Stephanie and Wayne was somewhat icy on the train journey, but by the time they’d had a few drinks in the pub, the frostiness had all but thawed.

  ‘I always knew yous two would get along just fine. Can’t have me best mate and me bird hating one another, can I now?’ Barry said, happily.

  Stephanie looked at her boyfriend and raised her eyebrows. ‘So how come this pub is open at ten o’clock in the morning then? I didn’t think pubs opened till lunchtime,’ she remarked, changing the subject. She had been ultra-polite to Wayne for Barry’s sake, but she still wasn’t sure of him.

  ‘Pubs open whenever you want ’em to in this neck of the woods, especially if you’re loaded like my dad is. This boozer’s owned by a famous footballer, you know,’ Barry informed her.

  ‘Really! Where is he?’ Stephanie asked, expecting to see the man in question serving behind the bar.

  Wayne and Barry both chuckled. ‘He don’t bloody work here. He plays for Tottenham and his family run the pub for him,’ Barry explained.

  ‘What’s his name then?’ Stephanie enquired. She didn’t know the first thing about footballers, but was hoping it was Glenn Hoddle because she knew who he was and thought he was lush.

  ‘His name’s Steve Archibald. Look, I’m just gonna have a quiet word with me dad outside. Yous two will be all right for a bit on your own, won’t ya?’ Barry asked.

  Glancing at one another, Wayne and Stephanie both nodded. When Barry walked away, Stephanie felt her earlier awkwardness suddenly return and, not knowing what to say, stared at her glass of cider.

  Wanting to put things right between them, it was Wayne who decided to say something first. ‘Listen, I’m sorry about what happened with your sister, Steph. I swear I wouldn’t have gone out with her if I’d known her proper age. She told me she was fifteen, I swear she did.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ Stephanie replied, meaning it. The way she felt at the moment, she hated her bloody sister, and any trouble Angie might have got herself into was all her own doing, nobody else’s.

  ‘I’m also sorry about the way I spoke to you an’ all, and your mate, Tammy,’ Wayne said, honestly.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. We all say silly things at times, me included. I’m sorry for calling you a rapist,’ Stephanie said, feeling incredibly stupid.

  Sensing that Steph felt a bit embarrassed, Wayne grinned at her. ‘Don’t worry about that either. I’ve been called a lot worse things in me time. I’ll get us another drink, shall I? What do you want, another half of cider?’

  Stephanie nodded and studied Wayne as he sauntered up to the bar. His bark seemed far worse than his bite all of a sudden.

  ‘There you go,’ Wayne said, handing Stephanie her drink. He sat back down opposite her and raised his pint glass. ‘To new beginnings, eh?’

  Stephanie smiled. ‘To new beginnings.’

  Angela Crouch spent the entire maths class doodling on the cover of her exercise book. Angela loves Wayne had now been scrubbed out completely and had been replaced by Angela + Jason with a love heart surrounding it. As the bell rang for lunchtime, Angie grabbed Chloe’s arm. ‘Where do Darren and Jason go at lunchtime?’ she asked her friend.

  ‘I don’t think they hang about together at school. Darren goes to the tucky, I think, then goes round Gel Parker’s house. He only lives in Ridgewell Close.’

  ‘Well, let’s go to the tucky. I want to ask him if Jason wants to go out with me myself.’

  Chloe nodded then, arm in arm, the girls walked giggling towards the tuck shop.

  ‘There’s Jason. Look!’ Angela squealed, excitedly. Unlike Wayne Jackman, who was blond, lean and tall, Jason O’Brien was dark-haired, stocky and short. He was quite handsome, though, and in Angela’s eyes looked a bit like George Michael.

  ‘Go and talk to him then,’ Chloe urged her pal.

  Jason was standing on the corner of School Road, smoking a cigarette. He had two pals with him, neither of whom Angela knew.

  ‘I can’t go over there while he’s with his mates. You go and speak to him, Chloe. Tell him to meet me outside the tucky in five minutes and I’ll talk to him there.’

  Knowing how headstrong her friend could be, Chloe knew she would never hear the last of it if she didn’t comply with Angela’s orders.

  ‘Wait till I’m out of sight,’ Angela hissed, as Chloe went to march straight over to the boys.

  As Angie half ran towards the tuck shop, she came face to face with Tanya MacKenzie and her smarmy-faced sidekicks.

  ‘Excuse me, please,’ Angela said politely, as they tried to block the pavement to stop her from getting past them.

  ‘If you’re looking for Jacko, don’t bother, ’cause he’s got a new girlfriend now. Really pretty, ain’t she, girls?’ Tanya hollered, urging the fellow members of her four-strong gang to join in with her torment.

  ‘Yeah, well pretty she is, and she’s sixteen,’ piped up Sharon Jones, Tanya’s best friend.

  ‘I ain’t bothered. I’ve got a new boyfriend myself,’ Angela replied, determined to wipe the self-satisfied smile off Tanya MacKenzie’s face.

  ‘You all right, mate?’ Chloe asked, appearing by Angela’s side.

  ‘No, she ain’t all right. She’s off her head if she thinks we believe she’s got a new boyfriend. We know what a liar she is,’ Tanya said, laughing.

  ‘Well, for your information, Angie ain’t lying. She’s going out with Jason O’Brien if you must know,’ Chloe replied.

  Tanya MacKenzie stood open-mouthed. For the past eight months she had been besotted with Jason O’Brien’s dazzling good looks, and had recently plucked up the courage to ask him out. Jason had said no, and Tanya was sure he had only knocked her back because she was in the year lower than his, so how could he now be going out with Angela bloody Crouch?

  ‘You’re lying. You’re only saying that ’cause you’ve heard that I like Jason. You keep your hands off of him, Crouchie, do you hear me?’ Tanya spat.

  Seconds later, as if by magic, Jason O’Brien walked around the corner and made a beeline for Angela.

  ‘Do you fancy coming to the chippy with me?’ he asked, grinning at her.

  Clocking the look of jealousy on Tanya’s face, Angela smirked. ‘Yes, I’d love to, Jase.’

  Stephanie Crouch had had such a brilliant day out with Barry and Wayne that she felt no guilt at all about bunking off school. Unlike her sister, Steph had never played hooky before, and she knew if she forged a letter in her mum’s handwriting, none of the teachers would bat an eyelid.

  ‘You enjoyed yourself today, babe?’ Barry asked, as they stood on the platform at Mile End station waiting for the District Line train.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve had a fab day. Why did Jacko shoot off?’

  ‘Jacko wanted to see some old pals while he was in the manor,’ Barry replied.

  He waited for the commuters to get off, then led Stephanie over to two empty seats in the corner. ‘Jacko and me are both cut from the same cloth, babe – that’s wh
y I have so much time for him. He’s a go-getter, just like I am. I mean, one day me and you might have kids and stuff and you want the best for ’em, don’t you? I dunno about you, but I don’t wanna be stuck in Dagenham for the rest of my life, or Bethnal Green for that matter. I plan to buy a big house in a posh area and then, one day, when I do have kids, I wanna give them all the stuff that I never had.’

  Sort of understanding what Barry meant, Stephanie beamed from ear to ear. Barry must obviously really like her if he was mentioning them having kids one day. ‘That’s what I want too,’ she gushed.

  Much to the disgust of the two old ladies sitting opposite, Barry kissed Steph passionately.

  ‘Bloody disgusting! No wonder our birth-control rate is going mad in this country,’ one of the old ladies said to the other.

  Totally besotted with one another, Barry and Stephanie carried on kissing as though they were the only two people on the train.

  ‘Why don’t we jib school tomorrow an’ all? Me mum’s going away for a week with her new bloke. She’s going to Spain and is sodding off first thing in the morning. Me sister won’t be about tomorrow either, ’cause her bloke’s coming out of nick and they’re having a do for him round at his brother’s house. It might be the only day we can have the house all to ourselves. What do you say?’

  Stephanie felt her stomach immediately tie itself up in knots. She liked Barry, really liked him, but she wouldn’t be fifteen until another few months, and certainly wasn’t ready to take their relationship to another level yet.

  ‘What’s up?’ Barry asked, noticing her reluctance to answer his question.

  ‘I dunno. I suppose I’m just worried if someone catches me coming in or out of your house and I’m worried about the other stuff. You know?’

  ‘What other stuff? All we’re gonna do is drink, smoke and play music. I’ll never make you do anything you don’t wanna do, babe.’