Fighting Back

by Cathy MacPhail

  They would all be as glad to be rid of her as she was to be rid of them.

  ‘So when are you moving?’ Ming asked me. I was on the balcony drinking my tea when he came out on his. Just like old times, I thought. And soon we’d never be able to do it again.

  ‘I don’t think it will be that long. Mum’s already measuring for curtains.’

  ‘Everybody’ll be glad to see the back of her,’ he said.

  ‘That’s not fair. You never gave her a chance. And she has every right to ignore you after all the things that have happened to us.’

  He smiled then. ‘Aye, life’s going to be really dull round here without you.’

  I looked out across the hills. The sun was just going down over the Sleeping Warrior as he lay, arms across his chest, on the horizon. An absolutely magnificent sunset that was gradually turning the sky, the river, the buildings, the whole world, brick-red. It was so beautiful, I didn’t say anything for a minute. Ming followed my gaze.

  ‘Brilliant, innit?’ he said.

  And I agreed. ‘Brilliant.’

  He turned his eyes on me and I was sure I saw a little bit of admiration in them. I must have been mistaken. Then he said, ‘Aye, things have been really exciting since you moved in.’

  I smiled back at him. ‘Well, it’s all over now … ’

  He shook his head very slowly. ‘No, Kerry. It’s not over. Ma Lafferty’s like an elephant. She never forgets. While you’re still here, you be careful, Kerry. Because she’s up to something, you can be sure of that.’

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Ming’s warning niggled at me, but with the sun shining and my mum so happy it was easy to put it to the back of my mind.

  ‘Not many of these days left, Kerry.’ Mum was throwing sheets into the laundry basket as I came in from school. It was Tuesday, washing day. ‘Goodness, that reminds me, I’ll have to see about a washing machine. There’ll be no laundrette at the new flat.’

  ‘Do you want me to come down with you?’

  She waved that suggestion away. ‘Not at all. I’m just going to throw it in a machine and come back up.’ She was getting quite an expert in the laundrette. She screwed her face up. ‘Her next door will be there, and I have absolutely no intention of talking to her.’ She thought about that. ‘Or any of them, in fact.’

  That would make things simple, I thought. Since none of them were talking to Mum anyway.

  ‘You can put the kettle on, we’ll have a cup of tea when I come back.’

  She left the house singing ‘You Take the High Road and I’ll Take the Low Road’ and I heard a voice from one of the houses call out, ‘Aye, and the sooner the better!’

  Mum didn’t answer them. Thank heaven. All I wanted now was to leave the estate in one piece.

  I switched the kettle on and got the cups ready, and took my magazine out to the balcony to read.

  I was only there a couple of minutes when Sandra appeared. She was pinning up a massive bra on her line. I hadn’t spoken to her since the Laffertys’ arrest, but I had to now.

  ‘Hello, Mrs Ramsay,’ I said.

  She jumped at the sound of my voice and turned to me. Her face was still swollen and I hoped I wasn’t looking too hard at her eye, still black and blue.

  ‘It’s a lovely day.’ I expected some kind of answer, but all she did was stare at me. She kept blinking and little beads of sweat were forming on her lip. What on earth was wrong with her? I wasn’t that scary!

  I even smiled to assure her I was really trying to be friendly.

  ‘Is everything all right?’ I asked her.

  She was twisting one of Ming’s shirts between her fists nervously. But what had she to be nervous about? Something was wrong. A warning bell began to ring in my head – and suddenly, it struck me.

  Why was she hanging her washing out today? This was Tuesday, her day for the laundrette. Why wasn’t she there?

  ‘Aren’t you going downstairs to do your laundry, Mrs Ramsay?’

  It was as if I had hit her with a brick. She gasped and stepped back. I jumped up. ‘Why aren’t you down there?’

  She spoke at last. ‘Don’t go down there – stay here – just stay –’ She was reaching out to me, and I could hardly believe what she meant.

  I knew I was ready to cry. I knew I was panicking. Because suddenly, I knew what was happening! ‘Ma Lafferty … she’s waiting for my mum down there?’

  ‘Just stay here!’ Sandra shouted.

  I screamed back at her. ‘NO!!!’ My chair toppled over and clattered against her satellite dish. ‘No one’s going to do THAT!’ I gestured to her face. ‘To my mum!’

  And I was off and running. I pulled open the front door so hard it almost banged shut on me again. I punched at the lift for a moment before I realized it wasn’t working. That at least meant Mum would have to walk down too. She wouldn’t be in a hurry. Maybe, just maybe I would be in time. It wasn’t too late. Please don’t let it be too late!

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The laundrette, deep in the bowels of the flats.

  Mum had thought it a scary place that first day we had found it. With no windows, no escape. I could remember her words, almost like a prophecy. ‘I wouldn’t like to be caught in here by myself.’

  Now, she was.

  I bet Ma Lafferty had warned all of the usual Tuesday afternoon regulars to stay away. How easy to know Mum would be there every Tuesday. How easy to trap her there. Easy peasy.

  Why hadn’t I thought of it? And what was I going to do when I got there? If only someone would help me.

  On the tenth floor, breathless, I bumped right into Ming on his way up. He grabbed me by the shoulders but I struggled to get free of him.

  ‘Hey, hey, what’s going on?’

  I pushed him away from me. ‘You know. Just like everybody else. You’re all the same!’

  ‘Know what? What are you talking about?’

  ‘You know! You all know. Ma Lafferty’s got my mum trapped in the laundrette. She’s all alone. No one to help her.’

  He tried to grab me again, but I pulled myself free. I didn’t have time to argue with him. Mum was in trouble.

  ‘Kerry! Come back!’

  ‘NO!’ I screamed back at him, not caring how cruel it was going to sound. ‘I’m not going to let her do to my mother what she did to yours!’

  He stood back as if I’d hit him. I hoped I had hurt him. I almost hoped that I might have shamed him into running down alongside me, to help me now.

  He didn’t. He didn’t come after me. He didn’t even call after me. He was probably on his way up to his flat to sit in beside his mother. Doing nothing! I hated him! I hated them all!

  I pushed open the basement doors and ran inside. It was always alive with people in here. Women talking, men fixing bikes, people coming and going.

  Now, it was silent. There was a stillness here. An eerie stillness.

  I held my breath and listened. There were no machines whirring, no sound of the tumble driers. Nothing but quiet. I called out.

  ‘Mum? Are you there?’

  A voice answered me. But it wasn’t Mum’s.

  ‘Aw … are you looking for your mammy?’

  Tess Lafferty! And as I turned the corner to the laundrette door there she stood, barring my way.

  She grinned viciously. ‘She’s just having a wee conference with my mother.’ She pointed to the door. ‘In there.’

  And suddenly, I could see that years from now, if nothing was done to stop it, Tess Lafferty would be the woman who ran the estate, just like her mother. Tess would be the moneylender. She would be the one threatening people. And she would have a daughter just like herself, ready to take over. A never-ending circle of fear.

  If nothing was done to stop it.

  I threw myself at her, pushed her hard. She jumped back, still on her feet, laughing.

  ‘The police are on their way!’ I lied. She only shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘We’ll be long gone by
the time they get here. And my maw’s already got her alibi – she’s always got somebody ready to lie for her. We weren’t here at all!’

  I pushed her again and began to pound on the door. It was jammed shut. Tess grabbed me and tried to throw me back, but I held my ground. Kicking at the door now. Screaming, hearing nothing from the other side.

  ‘MUM!!!’ I had to help her. I just had to.

  I was almost crying now, couldn’t stop myself. ‘You’re not going to get away with this! You’ll never get away with this.’

  ‘Aye, we will,’ Tess said with the assurance of her mother. ‘No one’s going to speak up against us.’ She swaggered and I could have hit her. ‘My maw’s got them all, right under her thumb!’

  Then suddenly, we weren’t alone. A voice spoke, from just round the corner.

  ‘Not any more she hasn’t.’

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Mr McCurley’s big frame came round the corner from the stairs. But not just him. Behind him was Sandra, standing taller than I’d ever seen her. And others, so many of them, all thundering towards us.

  Tess tried to sound threatening. ‘My ma won’t be happy about this!’

  Mr McCurley pushed her back from the door and with one kick he had it off its hinges and down. He was inside before me, but I could see Mum right away, pressed against the wall, steeling herself for the onslaught of Ma Lafferty. Ma Lafferty turned as the door came crashing down. Her mouth fell open, but all I could see, with horror, were the knuckle-dusters she was wearing on her hands.

  I rushed to Mum. One moment later, just one moment and … I couldn’t bear to think about it. I grabbed her and hugged her. ‘Oh, Mum! I was so scared!’

  ‘What do you lot think you’re doing?’ Ma Lafferty was saying.

  It was Sandra who answered her. ‘What we should have done a long time ago. We’re not putting up with you any more.’

  Ma Lafferty sniggered at her. ‘You?’ she said, as if Sandra was dirt.

  ‘Not just her – every last one of us.’ This was from one of the Hippo Brigade, edging forward to let her see her. There was a murmur of approval for what she said.

  ‘You all owe me. You’re going to be sorry.’

  ‘Maybe this time, Mrs Lafferty,’ Mr McCurley spoke with a gentle assurance, ‘they just won’t keep quiet for you.’

  She began to curse and threaten, and didn’t stop even after the police arrived on the scene only a few minutes later.

  As she was being led away she turned to my mother and spat at her.

  ‘I’ll be back for you, hen … don’t you ever forget it.’

  Only then did the crowd start to shout abuse at her as they followed her out to the police car.

  ‘I don’t know who to thank,’ Mum said looking round them all, trying to make up to them for being such a pain in the neck.

  Mr McCurley answered. ‘Sandra’s the one,’ he said. ‘She pounded on all our doors, got somebody to phone the police and had us belting down here like the cavalry.’

  Sandra was shaking her head. ‘You can really thank Ming, you know,’ she told me. ‘When he came up the stairs he made me feel so ashamed. I remembered how I’d felt that day – I could never let anybody else feel like that, even … ’ I saw a blush appear on Sandra’s puffy cheeks.

  Mum was smiling and blushing too. ‘Even someone as snotty as me?’

  Sandra grinned. ‘Well, you are a bit of a pain.’

  Mum was laughing but still ready to put in her wee bit. ‘I did have good cause, be honest.’

  But everyone fell silent as Tess Lafferty was led out, a policewoman guiding her by the elbow. ‘Don’t think this is over,’ Tess spat the words at me, ‘ ’cause it’s not!’

  ‘Yes, it is, Tess,’ I told her. ‘It’s finally over.’

  The policewoman tried to pull her away, but Tess stood her ground. Trying still to make me afraid. I remembered all the threats she’d made, all the times she had made me afraid. And I couldn’t resist saying it.

  ‘You see, Tess, you just didn’t know what you were up against when you tangled with me and my mum.’

  If she could have jumped on me then, she would have. Her face went bright red. I’d never seen her so angry.

  And Ming laughed like I’d never heard him laugh. ‘Good one, Kerry!’

  Epilogue

  A couple of weeks later we were invited to Sandra and Tommy’s engagement party. Sandra was resplendent in shocking pink and Tommy had a new set of false teeth.

  ‘Pity he didn’t get a set that fitted,’ I whispered to Ming.

  He only giggled. ‘Och, he’s not so bad, Tommy. He’s good with the pocket money.’

  ‘Where is your mother?’ Sandra asked for the third time. I think she was getting a wee bit fed up waiting for her. She and Mum were now on talking terms. But friendly? I don’t think they would ever stretch to that.

  ‘She’ll be here in a minute, Mrs Ramsay.’ I had been saying the same thing for the past fifteen minutes. What was keeping my mum?

  ‘Maybe she’s changing into something more comfortable,’ Ming suggested in a whisper. He laughed. ‘A human being, for instance.’

  In spite of everything that had happened, Mum was still getting on everybody’s nerves. Ali had given her a job in his shop, though how long it would last was anybody’s guess. She would refuse to serve anyone who didn’t ask for what they wanted in perfect English.

  ‘I think I was sent here for a purpose, Kerry,’ she told me, as if she was Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

  Everybody else thought the purpose was to drive people up the wall.

  I still had high hopes that Ali fancied her. Half the estate hoped so too. They saw it as a way of getting rid of her.

  Because we weren’t moving. Not yet, anyway.

  Just when everyone on the estate was ready to bring out the banners and wave us goodbye, Mum had discovered that someone had died in the other flat too.

  ‘I mean, Kerry!’ she had told me, disgusted. ‘Is that all they ever offer us?’

  Funny. I didn’t mind staying. Not now. Not with the Laffertys gone.

  And gone for good.

  The Laffertys were finished.

  For a while, I had thought Ma Lafferty would come back and begin her reign of terror again. However, at the same time as she had been holding my mother in the laundrette, others on the estate had taken advantage of her empty house and ransacked it. The stack of benefits books she had taken from people who owed her had been left for the police to find, and had led to more charges against her. But, more important, Ma Lafferty’s little black book, the one with all the names of the people who owed her money, had disappeared, and along with it her power on the estate.

  She was gone, her and Tess, all of them. And it was as if the estate breathed again.

  While she awaited trial, Ma Lafferty was being temporarily rehoused far from here. Soon Tess Lafferty would be like me, a young girl moving to a new area with her mother. I hoped she fared better than I had.

  ‘What on earth is keeping her!’ Sandra brought me back to reality.

  ‘You did say she could bring a friend,’ I reminded her.

  Ming nudged me. ‘I didn’t think your mother had any.’

  At last the doorbell chimed. ‘She’s here.’ I leapt to my feet. I wondered who her friend was too. She had refused to tell me.

  I would never have guessed who it was. Not in a million years.

  Mum looked really pretty. She’d had her hair highlighted and she was wearing a new dress.

  And with her … ?

  Sergeant Maitland!

  It was the first time I’d seen him out of uniform and he looked rather handsome.

  ‘Hi, Kerry, Ming,’ he said, quite casually.

  Mum was looking up at him in a way I’d only ever seen her looking at Dad, or a photo of Harrison Ford. And they brushed past us and went into the living-room.

  I was amazed. I didn’t even think he liked Mum.

  ‘Bet you’re
glad it wasn’t the other one,’ Ming said.

  ‘What other one?’ I snapped.

  ‘You fancied the blond.’

  ‘I did not!’

  ‘You did so! See that stupid expression your mother’s got? Well, that’s the expression you had on your face every time he appeared!’

  ‘Take that back!’

  He put his hands on his hips. ‘Make me. ’Mon, just make me!’

  ‘Think I couldn’t?’

  Suddenly a voice bellowed from the living-room.

  ‘Are you two ever going to stop fighting?’

  I looked at Ming and grinned. And together we shouted back.

  ‘Never!’

  Also by Cathy MacPhail

  Run, Zan, Run

  Missing

  Bad Company

  Dark Waters

  Another Me

  Underworld

  Roxy’s Baby

  Worse Than Boys

  Also:

  Nemesis 1: Into the Shadows

  Nemesis 2: The Beast Within

  Nemesis 3: Sinister Intent

  Nemesis 4: Ride of Death

  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney

  First published in Great Britain in 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  50 Bedford Square,

  London, WC1B 3DP

  This electronic edition published in October 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Copyright © Catherine MacPhail 2003

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  All rights reserved

  You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library