by Martina Cole
‘Christ Almighty, this is a fucking nightmare!’
Roy was completely thrown by the revelation, and as he looked at Angus he said, ‘This is like a fucking Hammer Horror. This is something that can’t be settled easily, because she is saying that he raped her. God forgive me, but I believe her, mate. His Carly is a tiny little thing – she only looks about twelve – and, from what I’ve heard, she’s a bit of a brain-box, a clever girl. He had great hopes for her. He won’t swallow this, even knowing that he’s your son, Angus. And who can blame him?’
Angus didn’t answer his friend because he really didn’t know what to say. Like Roy, he instinctively believed the girl’s claim that his Angus had forced himself on her. It wouldn’t be the first time his son had been accused of something like that. Look at his recent actions with Tania Rafter! He could feel the shame burning through him, and he wondered where his own son – his flesh and blood – could have got his deviance from.
He was a womaniser himself, he knew that, and he would hold his hand up if questioned. He had romanced them, he had happily talked bullshit to them, but he had never once forced any woman into sex against her will. It was the unwritten rule, because rape was up there with the nonces, the child molesters – and from what Roy had just told him, this girl was like a child, a fucking innocent.
‘I’ll kill him myself, the filthy cunt. I’ll fucking stab him, the dirty piece of shite.’
Sean went to his father and, pulling him close, he said seriously, ‘Let Jamie do it, Dad. We can deliver Angus to him and give the man the satisfaction of paying him back for what he did to his daughter. We owe him that much at least.’
Roy was nodding his agreement, and Angus knew that his son was speaking sense. It was the only way to save face in this situation.
He had to let Jamie have his revenge, because at least that way he could regain some kind of respect from his peers. He would have to live this down until his dying day, and he could never forgive his son for that.
The humiliation was already burning inside him like the Olympic flame. Just knowing that he had produced a predator, a man who preyed on women and children, was like a knife through his heart. The shame was already taking root inside him – he didn’t think he would ever be able to hold his head up again.
Roy put another drink into his hands, and Angus drank it gratefully.
Sean stood up saying, ‘I’m going to go and arrange the flights. The sooner we are back in the UK, the sooner we can sort this shit out, once and for all.’
Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen
Gabriel and Diana were sitting with Jamie Thomas’s long-term girlfriend, Jamilla. Although he called her his wife, they had never actually sealed the deal, because Jamilla had never bothered to formally divorce her actual husband, Clovis.
Jamilla and Jamie Thomas were a genuine love match, and everyone who knew them was aware of that fact. They fought like cat and dog but no one could get a fag paper between them, they were that close. Jamilla was small in every way, from her feet to her hands. She was so slim and petite whereas Jamie was built like the proverbial brick shithouse.
He was handsome and he was enormous, and his full head of dreads just added to his height. He was respected and liked in equal measures because he was a decent man who was known to be as straight in business dealings as he was in his home life.
His mother, Arbelle, lived with him and his family in a huge house in Blackheath. She had come over from Jamaica for the birth of her first grandchild and she had never gone back. It suited everyone concerned to have her there, especially Jamilla, who loved her mother-in-law with a passion. She was the mother that she had never had, and Jamilla was the daughter that Arbelle would have killed for. They were closer than close, and they both adored Jamie and the children.
Her sons were two huge, strapping young men who were quite happy to go into their father’s business, as neither of them were the academic type. But her baby, her Carly, was just like her mother – pretty and tiny, like a little bird. But she had the brains of a scientist, she was reading by three, and she had begun writing soon after. She was a natural student and she soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Her nature was quiet, and she wasn’t known to push herself forward. She was a good girl in every way. Now, at just fifteen years old, she was over five months pregnant, and she didn’t know what she was supposed to do about it.
Jamilla looked at Diana and shook her head in despair. ‘She’s a baby, Diana, she hasn’t really even developed yet. She takes after me, I was a late bloomer. She’s still a child.’ Her voice broke and she began weeping.
Arbelle took a long drag on her cigarette, before saying, ‘I was fifteen when I had Jamie. His father was a local boy and he skedaddled when I told him the news. I thought my world had ended, but it hadn’t. It had just changed its path, that’s all. Whatever happens, we will cope with it, because the Lord makes the back to bear the burden.’
Normally, Arbelle got on Diana’s tits and she avoided her and her Bible-thumping, if possible. But today she was grateful for the woman’s determination to see some kind of light at the end of this dark and frightening tunnel.
Jamilla looked at her mother-in-law and said pointedly, ‘But you weren’t raped, were you? Carly was a virgin when he gave her a lift home from school. He talked her into going to the scrapyard with him, because he had some urgent business to attend to, and then he took her into the Portakabin and he raped her. She trusted him. She had believed that she would be safe with him because he was her dad’s friend, she had known him all her life.’
Diana felt physically sick as she listened to her grandson’s crime being discussed out loud. The worst thing was that she had never once doubted that he had done it, that he was capable of it, because she had always known that Angus Junior had a dark side to him.
Yes, he could be violent if the situation called for it; she understood that kind of controlled violence – it was what was needed in the world they inhabited. But the issue was that he was capable of being violent even if the situation didn’t warrant it. He was a bully and full of exaggerated bravado. He had spent his whole life on his dignity, looking for slights where there weren’t any, and he could find an excuse to fight with anyone he saw as a threat to him.
She had once heard that he had been rough with some of the girls that they employed, but she had not really wanted to believe it then. After all, these were girls who could more than look after themselves if the need arose. But as time went on it became clear that there was something radically wrong with that fucker, and she blamed Lorna. He had always been her blue-eyed boy, her baby, her firstborn. And he had been like an animal let out of a cage when he had finally broken away from her influence.
Those three children had grown up in a house where they were isolated and indoctrinated with Lorna’s strange take on the world.
As Gabriel had once remarked to her, as they were driving home one New Year, ‘That house is like visiting a fucking cult, Di.’
She had agreed with him, because it was so true – except, unlike Gabriel, she had not found it amusing. His description had depressed her because of its accuracy.
Gabriel got up and replenished their Bacardi and Cokes, and Arbelle accepted hers from him with a small smile.
‘You know that my Jamie is going to kill him, don’t you?’
Diana nodded, the shame of her grandson’s crime enveloping her once more. ‘I know that, and I don’t blame him.’
Arbelle took a long draught of her drink, before saying conversationally, ‘This is good, you know, all of us here, making sure that justice is served to the satisfaction of everyone concerned. Let’s not forget we’ll be welcoming a new baby into our families. It will be my first great-grandchild, and your first great-grandchild too, Diana.’
Gabriel closed his eyes at that, because he knew it was the last thing that Diana would need to be reminded about, on this day of all days.
Jamilla wiped her eyes and said resolutely,
‘It’ll be my first grandchild, and no matter how it came into this world, the child itself is an innocent.’
Diana understood that Jamilla was going to bring the child up, so her daughter could resume her studies and her life – though after what she had experienced, Diana had a feeling it wasn’t going to be as easy as Jamilla seemed to think it would be. She wondered how she herself would feel about the child, knowing it had been born as the result of a violent act perpetrated by her grandson. She hoped she could be as forgiving as Jamilla and Arbelle, because the way she felt now, at this minute, she wouldn’t care if she never laid eyes on it.
Carly came into the room and sat beside her mother; Jamilla automatically put her arm around her and pulled her close.
Diana looked at the young girl and saw the belly that appeared so swollen on her thin frame and the face that was haunted and frightened. She wished that the ground beneath her would open and just swallow her up.
Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen
‘I swear to you, Mum, that I did not rape her, she fucking came on to me!’
Lorna knew that, no matter how many times he swore his innocence, she couldn’t bring herself to believe her son, even though she wanted to so desperately.
Angus was watching his mother’s reaction closely. He had to convince her of his innocence, so she, in turn, could convince his father. With his mother on his side, it would improve his chance of being believed.
‘She wasn’t the wilting virgin she is making out. I could bring ten lads she’s slept with here, and you could ask them yourself. It’s not my baby! I swear on my life that I used a condom. I’m not fucking stupid, Mum, I wouldn’t have unprotected sex, especially not with a whore like her. Who knows what she might have picked up?’
Lorna looked at her son, and she felt a crushing sorrow in her chest. ‘You swear to me, Angus, that it’s not true, you swear on my life?’
Angus felt the urge to smile in victory, but he knew that it was too soon. So, instead, he walked to his mother and he gripped both of her hands in his. Looking into her eyes, he said passionately, ‘I swear on your life, Mum – may you drop down dead this minute if I am lying – that I did not rape that girl, and you know that I wouldn’t say that unless it was the truth.’
Lorna was well aware that this son of hers had got a lot of her in him, and where once that knowledge had pleased her, now it just depressed her. If it had been anyone other than little Carly Thomas, she would have been open to suspending her disbelief. But even she could see that Carly was just a little kid.
Now her own son had just stood there in front of her, bold as brass, and sworn her life away, without a second’s thought. He had not even needed a few seconds to build himself up to the lie – it had come as naturally to him as breathing. He had been a bit too quick off the mark for her liking. She would have worked with him and helped him, but not now.
She forced a smile at him, and he smiled back.
‘You pour us both a drink, son. I need to visit the little girl’s room.’
As she rang her husband, to tell him where their son was, she wondered at her life.
It had not turned out in the least like she had planned.
Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen
Diana and Gabriel were sitting together on her sofa, and they were both quiet.
Gabriel took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.
‘Look, Di, it will all be over soon, and all we can do is front it out.’
Diana nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. She knew her grandson was going to suffer for what he had done, and she just wanted it over – for his sake as much as hers. Even after everything he was still her grandson.
Gabriel lit a joint, and he took a deep toke on it before handing it to Diana.
‘I admire your Angus being there with Jamie Thomas, and I get why he did it. This story will come out and everyone will hear about it at some point. As we know, stories get stretched in the telling. So this way, your Angus being there at the last moment shows everyone that he was as disgusted as everyone else. It’s great PR really, Di. I take my hat off to him.’
Diana didn’t answer him.
She was picturing the beautiful grandchild that she had held as a baby and she was wondering how he had ended up dying like a dog in a lock-up garage in Southend.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty
Eilish was drinking a vodka and tonic at the bar in her club and waiting for the last of the punters to go home, when she saw her father walking towards her.
She could see that he wasn’t himself, and she understood why. She went behind the bar and told the last of the staff to get off home, and then she poured her father a large Jameson’s because she had a feeling he would need it. She had felt like the sword of Damocles was hanging over her head all night, because she had been given a heads-up about what was going down with her eldest brother. Angus took the drink from her gratefully, drank it and placed the glass on the bar for an immediate refill. Eilish could see that he already had a load on, but she knew better than to point that out, tonight of all nights.
Her father sipped the next drink and, after sipping her own, Eilish eventually said softly, ‘So it’s over then?’
Angus nodded.
Eilish lit a cigarette and drew on it deeply. As she blew the smoke out, she laughed grimly. ‘Well, he has been asking for it long enough, and he finally got it. Fuck him! He deserved everything he got, I just hope it was painful.’
Angus looked at his daughter as she carried on smoking her cigarette and he wondered at how she could be so cavalier about her brother’s death. ‘You don’t care at all, Eilish?’
She shrugged nonchalantly. ‘No, Dad, why would I? He was a bully and a mummy’s boy all his life, and poor Carly wasn’t the first he had forced to have sex with him. He thought that the girls here didn’t matter, because they were lap dancers, and I threw him out over it. He blacked one of my girls’ eyes when she refused his advances. Well, I say “advances” loosely. He would push them up against the wall in the ladies’ toilets and just go for it. I caught him in the act, and we had a hell of a fucking row over it. He said to me, “Why do you fucking care about this scum?” I think that pretty much summed up his attitude. What he did to that child – because she was a child, Dad – was fucking outrageous, and now that poor little mare will have a reminder of what he did to her around her, day and night, for ever.’
Angus could understand his daughter’s anger and disgust, but it still grieved him. Neither Eilish nor Sean seemed to care that Angus had died a terrible death.
‘It will be your niece or nephew, remember. The child will be a part of our family – your mum is already decorating a room for it.’
Eilish lit another cigarette, before saying sarcastically, ‘Well, of course she is. Her golden boy’s gone; his child will be the next best thing. Let’s hope she does a better job with this one, eh?’
Angus sighed, took her cigarette from her and had a cheeky puff.
She laughed delightedly. ‘Don’t let Mum see you smoking, she will go fucking spare.’
Angus grinned at her, and she was reminded of just how good-looking her father was.
‘Fuck that! Why do you think I only go home once or twice a month?’
They laughed together now, trying to behave as normally as possible, both pretending that Angus and his death didn’t really matter to either of them. As her granny had always told her, if you act happy you will eventually feel happy. But the shame he had brought on them all would never really go away, and they both knew the truth of that.
When Angus saw Davey Proctor walk into the bar, he smiled his most benevolent smile and, waving him over, he said jovially, ‘I hear you are courting my only daughter, Davey, so I hope you are treating her right, otherwise we will have to have words.’
Davey took it in good humour. But they were all more than aware that it was a threat, and not even a veiled one.
As Eilish poured Davey a drink,
she wondered at how a day like this would ever be forgotten.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-one
Angus Davis Junior was still alive when Jamie Thomas finally tipped his body into his grave.
He had put him in the garden of a house he now owned in Essex. It was a beautiful cottage in Dunton, and it had over two acres of land with it. They had originally rented it for a holiday. Jamilla loved it, and he was going to surprise her with the news he had decided to keep it as a weekend getaway.
He could look at this spot and remember this night, over the years to come, knowing that his daughter’s rapist would always be nearby.
He had revelled in seeing Angus panic when he had finally realised what was happening to him.
Jamie opened another beer and sat in a garden chair. As he rolled a joint, he relished hearing Angus as he tried to fight the inevitable.
He wasn’t fucking going anywhere.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-two
Lorna was walking through her house, and she stopped to watch the sun come up.
Whereas she had once longed for quiet, now she hated the silence since the kids had grown up, and she wondered why she stayed on. But she had put her heart and soul into this property and she still loved it, because it was her home.
There were always security men around, so she wasn’t completely by herself. But they were only employees, and she disregarded them because she couldn’t be bothered to make boring small talk. She was Angus Davis’s wife, and she had to be treated with the respect she deserved.
She pondered going for a long run, but she didn’t want to get changed – and she didn’t feel she was in the right place mentally for a long run anyway. She went through to the kitchen and poured herself another glass of wine. The bottle was empty, and she smiled. She had been going through the wine tonight; she had finished her second bottle.
