Angie had been back in the UK permanently for just over a year now. Roxy had married a Geordie fella she had met, who had been working as a holiday rep in Greece, and she now lived in Tyneside. Angela had discovered true love for the first time herself while working in Greece. She had fallen head over heels for the extremely wealthy son of a Greek shipping tycoon. Theodore was five years younger than Angela. His name meant ‘Gift of God’ in Greek mythology, and to Angela that is exactly what he was. Theo, as she liked to call him, was six foot two, had jet-black greased-back hair, an air of power about him, and a body to send shivers down any woman’s spine. As a lover, he was a genius, and Angela would have married him at the drop of a hat – if only he didn’t already have a Greek wife and two small children.
Their affair was intense and extremely passionate, and even though Angela had ended it twice, neither she nor Theodore could keep away from one another. It had been Theo’s idea that he buy Angela a flat and she move back to England. He said that if his parents were ever to find out about their relationship, his mother would disown him and would force his father to sack him from the family empire.
Angela was reasonably happy with the way things had turned out. Theo flew over to England at least twice a month and would spend at least three or four days with her at a time. He also paid her rent, bills, and gave her two thousand pounds a month living allowance. Obviously, being so in love with Theo, Angela would rather be with him every day of every week, but she could not live without him and beggars couldn’t be choosers. At thirty-three years old, Angie was far too old to be doing erotic dancing any more, and she now quite enjoyed being a lady of leisure. Whenever Theo was in London, he would take her to Harrods or Harvey Nic’s and buy her whatever she wanted. He had also bought her a brand-new Mazda sports car for her to cruise around in.
‘Shall we order some food now? And I don’t want no arguing about the bill, tonight is on me,’ Aidan said in a manly tone.
Angela smiled. She might have her mum to thank for bringing her son up, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still be proud of him. Aidan was eighteen now, and with his jet-black hair and bright green eyes, was an extremely handsome boy. He had a very Irish look about him, but unlike Jason, who was a shortarse, Aidan was just under six feet tall. He was also a gym freak, and for a young boy had a wonderful physique. Whenever Angie went out with her son, she was well aware of the admiring glances from groups of young girls, and that made her as proud as punch. Aidan had left school at sixteen and had taken a job as a trainee mechanic. The company he worked for had sent him to college two days a week and he had recently passed his exams with flying colours. He was no longer an apprentice now. Aidan had been offered a permanent position just last week, which was why he’d insisted on taking his mum out for a meal tonight.
‘I’ll let you pay for everything, but only if you let me treat us to a bottle of champagne first. It’s my way of saying how proud I am to have you as a son,’ Angela said, jovially.
Aidan beamed from ear to ear. He knew both his nans were rather vexed over how close he now was to Angela, but he didn’t care. For years he had craved his mother’s love and attention; now finally he had it.
Pam got off the Central Line train at Loughton and walked towards Stephanie’s house. Her daughter’s beauty business had been such a roaring success that Steph had managed to buy herself a posh four-bedroom house just a few minutes’ walk from the station. Pam was extremely proud of her eldest daughter’s achievements, but she would never stop wishing that Steph would find a nice man to share her life with also.
Tyler was a real bloody handful and, in Pam’s eyes, the guidance of a level-headed man was exactly what her grandson needed at this point in his life. Pam let herself into Steph’s house with her own key. ‘Sorry I’m a bit later than I said I’d be. I waited ages for both bleedin’ trains. Where’s Tyler now? What happened with the woman?’
Stephanie and Dannielle were seated side by side on the red leather sofa. ‘Let me get you a drink, Nan? Do you want a cup of tea?’ Dannielle offered.
‘No, we’ll have wine,’ Stephanie replied, her face etched with worry.
When Dannielle returned with a bottle of Chardonnay, Stephanie urged her daughter to go upstairs and get herself ready. Danni had finished her final exams this week and had now officially left school. She had chosen to follow in her mother’s footsteps and go on to beauty college, which Stephanie was extremely pleased about. Her daughter already worked in her salon as a Saturday girl and had a natural talent and interest in the job. Dannielle was tall, slim, sexy, and stunning, and when she finished her college course, Steph planned to buy her daughter her own little salon. She might even surprise Dannielle with the keys on her eighteenth birthday if all went to plan.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind me going out, Mum? I’m happy to stay in, if you need me here?’
Stephanie smiled at her daughter’s thoughtfulness. Danni’s best friend, Mimi, had extremely wealthy parents who had organized a big bash for the girls’ leaving party this evening. It wasn’t a school prom – Danni had that to look forward to in a couple of weeks’ time – but this was a lovely gesture and an important night in her daughter’s life. ‘Go and get yourself glammed up and off you go. Nanny’s going to stay here tonight, so she’ll be with me when your naughty brother decides to show his face.’
‘So, what happened then?’ Pam asked, when Danni left the room.
‘Oh Mum, it was awful. That Mrs Woodcock was such a nice woman. She said that she’d heard that Tyler had behavioural issues due to an illness and that was the reason she’d come here rather than involve the police. Tyler had the knife with him at school, apparently. Mrs Woodcock’s son, James, is in the year above Tyler and she said they accidentally bumped into one another in the corridor yesterday. James admitted that when Tyler was abusive towards him, he swore back at him, but he said that although there was a slight bit of pushing and shoving, no real violence actually occurred. Mrs Woodcock said that James thought that was the end of the matter, until Tyler waited outside the school for him today with a knife in his hand. He followed James, then told him that if he didn’t apologize, he would stab him until he did.’
Pam put her hand over her mouth. ‘Gordon Bennett! That’s awful! Is this woman gonna tell the school?’
‘No, but she has told me if Tyler threatens her son in any way in the future, she will involve the school and the police. She has another son who was in Dannielle’s year called Jack. Danni said that her and Jack are quite good friends, so perhaps that’s another reason why Mrs Woodcock didn’t involve the authorities. I know if one of my kids was threatened by someone with a knife, I’d be straight on the phone to the Old Bill, wouldn’t you?’
Pam nodded. ‘So where do you think Tyler is now? Has he not been home at all since this afternoon?’
‘No. The little bastard probably knows he’s in trouble, that’s why he’s avoided coming home.’
‘Do you think we should go out and look for him?’ Pam asked, concerned.
‘Not yet. I rang around his friends’ mums. Tyler was round his mate Brad’s house earlier, but they’ve gone out again. He’ll be home around ten. The little sod always strolls in about that time when he’s done something wrong,’ Stephanie replied confidently.
Pam’s heart went out to her daughter. She knew what it was like to have one good and one bad child. ‘Don’t worry about things too much, Steph. When Tyler gets home, me and you will give him a proper good talking-to. He’ll grow out of this violent stage he’s going through. It’s probably just his hormones playing up. He is a teenager now, ain’t he?’
Stephanie sighed. The learning difficulties Tyler had experienced as a young child had improved immensely over the years. He was by no means as bright as most of the boys in his class, but his teachers had told Steph that he had a real talent for drama and art. Unfortunately for Steph, the domineering side of her son’s nature seemed to be getting worse. This was the fourth time
in the past year that she had suffered the humiliation of another child’s parent knocking on her door to complain about his behaviour. Tyler bullying other children was something Steph had got used to hearing about but, to her knowledge, he had never threatened anybody with a knife before.
Pam put her arm around around her daughter’s shoulders. ‘Chin up, babe. Ty ain’t all bad, you know that.’
Stephanie shook her head in total despair. ‘I hope you’re right, Mum. For all our sakes, I do.’
Marlene checked her appearance in the full-length mirror and, not happy with the red miniskirt, decided to change her outfit once again. She was fifty now, and if there was anything she despised in life, it was getting bloody old. Marlene had been living back at her old house opposite Pam for over two years now. Chantelle had got back with her Indian boyfriend, Ajay, and they now lived in Wolverhampton where Ajay had family. Rumour had it, Ajay had upset a few big-time drug dealers around the Ilford area, and he and Chantelle had scarpered for their own safety. Marlene rarely saw her daughter these days, but once a week they would chat on the phone. Chantelle’s eldest two children, AJ and Tyrone, were both now banged up. They had been part of a robbery that had gone dreadfully wrong and a man had died in the tussle that followed. Both lads had been sentenced to three years in a young offender’s institution and were only three months into their stretch. Chantelle’s other son, Daryl, was twelve now, and was by all accounts an extremely talented footballer.
Deciding to go with the red miniskirt after all, Marlene quickly got changed again. Hearing her phone ringing, she ran to pick it up.
‘Hi baby. So sorry, but I’m running about half an hour late. Is that OK with you?’ Dennis asked politely.
‘Yep, that’s fine. I’ve not even started dinner yet, so you just get here when you can.’ Marlene had only been seeing Dennis for the past fortnight and this would be his first visit to her house. That is why she had offered to cook, and had cleaned the place from top to bottom this morning. Years ago, Marlene had been quite happy to live in squalor, but not any more. Having a cleaner whilst living with Jake the Snake in Spain had given her a taste for cleanliness, and since her son Barry had bought this house off the council for her to live in, Marlene was determined to make it look as nice as she possibly could. She hated those nosy pair of cows, Pam and Cathy, who lived opposite her, and making her house look better than theirs was something that now pleased Marlene greatly.
Turning her attentions back to her evening with Dennis, Marlene grinned with expectation as she pictured his handsome face. Dennis was ten years younger than herself, six feet two; as black as coal and as fit as a butcher’s dog. They had been introduced by Marge’s other half, Frederick, and had hit it off almost immediately. Many years ago, when she and Marge had flown off to Barbados on holiday, they had joked that they would both find themselves husbands. Marge had. She had met Frederick, but he hadn’t lived in the Caribbean. He was over there on holiday visiting family. He lived in bloody Tooting. Marlene poured herself a drink and sat down to touch up the varnish on her false nails. It had been nearly a year since she had last had sex with a man, and Marlene had a very strong feeling that tonight was the night she would finally end her long celibacy.
While waiting for her dysfunctional son to show his innocent-looking face, Stephanie and Pam chatted about most things bar the weather. Linda was at the forefront of their conversation, and when Pam blurted out the concerns she had over her sister and nephew’s welfare, Stephanie came up with a suggestion. ‘Why don’t you ask Lin and David to move in with you? Obviously, Lin’s probably only drinking again because she’s grieving for Keith. She must be lonely. I hate that estate in Barking where she lives. It’s such a shithole, and it can’t be much fun for her and David being cooped up in a flat on their own there.’
Pam paused before answering. Aidan had moved in with his father on a permanent basis just under a year ago. Jason now had his own council flat up at the Fiddlers in Dagenham and, because it was only a ten-minute walk from where Aidan worked, that had been her grandson’s excuse for moving out. Pam had been gutted at the time to lose the boy she had all but brought up single-handedly, but Aidan was all grown-up now and Pam could understand why living with his gran wasn’t such a cool option for him any more. ‘I don’t know, Steph. You know what Lin’s like, she’ll probably bite me head off if I as much as suggest her moving in. Not only that, I’m too old and set in me ways now to be having young kids in the house again. I’ve already done my fair share of bringing up nippers, don’t you think?’
‘Lin hasn’t got to give her flat up, Mum. The social pay all her rent for her, so she can just stay with you until she gets her head together again. David’s a good boy. I’d swap him for Tyler tomorrow if I could,’ Stephanie said, half jokingly, half serious.
Pam mulled over her daughter’s suggestion. When Keith had first passed away, Linda and David had stayed with her for over a fortnight and Pam had thoroughly enjoyed looking after them both. She had been born to be a mother hen. But, even though she now enjoyed having the house to herself at times, unless Cathy popped in of an evening, Pam did find it a bit boring. ‘OK, I’ll bell Lin tomorrow and put the idea to her. At least it’ll save me worrying about her if she stops with me for a bit. I shall watch her like a bleedin’ hawk … ’Ere, you know what I forgot to tell ya.’
‘What?’
‘The old slapper has just had new windows put in over the road. Lairy Mary told Cathy that the house belongs to Barry now. Mary reckons Barry bought it for Marlene to live in.’
The mention of Barry’s name made Steph feel rather queasy. The thought of him always sent shivers of terror down her spine. ‘Didn’t Dannielle look beautiful when she went out, Mum?’ Steph said, changing the subject completely.
‘She looked like a model, bless her little heart. Ain’t she got herself a boyfriend yet? With her looks, she must have ’em queuing up.’
Stephanie chuckled. Dannielle had plenty of boy mates, who Steph could tell were besotted by her daughter. Thankfully, Dannielle didn’t seem that interested in them. ‘I want to be a successful businesswoman like you, Mum. One day I would love to settle down and have kids, but not until I’m at least thirty. Anyway, the boys at my school are so childish, I would much prefer to meet an older man, someone who’s already successful and has their own business. I don’t see why I should have to scrimp and save if I don’t have to in life,’ was Dannielle’s take on matters. Stephanie was thrilled by her daughter’s maturity. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about Danni getting pregnant young, like she bloody well had, and if her daughter ended up with a rich man five or ten years older than her, who was Steph to judge after the mistakes she had made? ‘No, Mum. Danni is far more clued-up than me and Angie ever were,’ Steph replied, honestly.
‘Did the kids mention Wayne’s birthday yesterday, love?’ Pam asked.
‘I took ’em both for a meal, like I do every year on Wayne’s birthday. We only went for a pizza, and to be honest they barely mentioned him. Tyler doesn’t remember him at all and I think Danni’s memories of Wayne have faded as well. I made them say a little prayer for him as I always do on these special occasions, but that was about it really. To be honest, I rarely think of Wayne myself now. He’s been missing so long, I don’t see the point of keep going over old ground. The only thing I do wish is that the police would find his body so that we could give him a proper funeral. It would be nice for the kids to have a grave where they could visit him and lay flowers and stuff, especially now they’re older.’
‘But, you don’t even know if he’s actually dead,’ Pam reminded her daughter.
Thinking of Barry’s evil face, Steph gave a solemn half-smile. ‘Oh, Wayne’s dead all right, Mum. I just know he is.’
Tyler Jackman said goodbye to his pal, Brad, and dawdled towards home. He could picture the scenario now. Either his mum and sister would be sitting on the sofa waiting for him, faces like thunder. Or, even more likely, his
mum and his nan. Tyler didn’t deem himself to be a bad person. He had a vicious temper, he knew that, but if he saw an old lady struggling with her shopping bags, he would offer to help her. His mum had always drummed it into him how important it was to respect his elders, therefore he did. What Tyler couldn’t bring himself to respect was anybody who tried mugging off him, his friends, or his family. Since moving to secondary school, Tyler had got himself a reputation as being the hardest boy in his year. It was a reputation that had certainly made him popular with both sexes. Boys were desperate to be his pal and girls were desperate to become his bird. Tyler enjoyed his new-found popularity. As a youngster, his learning difficulties hadn’t enabled him to make friends or socialize in the way that the other kids had. Therefore, he’d been picked on and had few friends.
Spotting an empty beer can, Tyler kicked it along the street as though he were playing with a football. James Woodcock had spoken to him like he was a piece of shit in front of all his friends the other day, and Tyler had no regrets over the way he had dealt with the matter. Woody had grovelled, screamed and cried like a baby when Tyler had pointed his knife at him. Walking into his mother’s driveway, Tyler hid his flick knife in the bush where he always hid anything he didn’t want his mother to find. Whether it be items he’d nicked from local shops to sell on, porn magazines, or even the odd can of lager, he would stash it in his secret hidey-hole. Creeping up to the front door, Tyler got his key out. As he put it in the lock, he heard the exact words he had been fully expecting to hear.
Schemer Page 36
