by D. S. Butler
“Come in, Charlie,” Dave said, opening the front door wide.
“I’m ever so sorry to hear about Sandra, boss. You know if there’s anything I can do for you, Trevor and Georgie, you only have to ask.”
Dave nodded, feeling weary. He led Charlie into the kitchen, not bothering with the front room. The front room was for people who were putting on an act, or trying to impress, but he didn’t have to do that with Charlie.
Charlie knew full well that Dave’s marriage hadn’t been a happy one in the last few years, and Dave guessed that Charlie, along with Brian Moore and most of the men close to him, would have been expecting Sandra’s death for a long time. It didn’t take a genius to see it coming.
“Georgie’s taken it hard,” Dave said, spooning tea leaves into the teapot without even bothering to ask Charlie if he wanted a drink. He just wanted to keep his hands busy, and his mind occupied.
“Poor lad,” Charlie said. “What about Trevor? He found her, didn’t he? That can’t have been easy.”
Dave felt his shoulders tense and forced himself to relax as he filled the kettle.
He’d gone off at Trevor. It had been his gut reaction to lash out. He wanted to hurt someone and make them feel as bad as he did, but he knew he had been in the wrong. It wasn’t Trevor’s fault any more than it was Georgie’s. If anyone was to blame, it was Dave himself. He knew he had been unfair, and he would have to talk to Trevor about it, but there was some kind of disconnect between Dave and his eldest son. When Trevor wasn’t around, Dave knew the things he should say, and how he should reach out to his son to reassure him, but soon as Trevor showed his face, it set Dave off again. Something about the boy wound him up the wrong way, and he couldn’t hold back his sharp tongue and cruel words.
“Trevor didn’t come home last night,” Dave said.
Charlie looked concerned. “Do you want me to put the word out? Or have a look around for him myself?”
Dave shook his head. “He got drunk in The Lamb and then went home with Gary. Barney, the landlord, told me. He popped around last night after closing to let me know. In case I was worried about him.”
Charlie relaxed back into a chair at the kitchen table and nodded. “Life can be cruel sometimes. She was so young.”
Dave chucked the teaspoon on the counter. He didn’t need social niceties, least of all from one of his most trusted men. At least with Charlie, they should be able to be honest with each other.
“I think we both know it was only a matter of time. Sandra was an accident waiting to happen.”
Dave caught the shocked expression on Charlie’s face, but the man quickly hid it. “They’re evil things those pills. A friend of my mum got hooked. They ended up sending her to the funny farm.”
“Did it do any good?” Dave asked. “Maybe I should have got Sandra committed.”
He couldn’t stop thinking about all the things he could have done. He should have tried harder to help Sandra kick the habit.
Charlie shook his head. “No, the doctors just put her on even stronger pills. She was a gibbering wreck for the rest of her life.”
Dave finished making the tea and then put it on the kitchen table and sat down opposite Charlie.
“I’m going to have to organise the funeral and get in touch with Sandra’s relatives. Her parents can be a pain in the neck, so I’m going to be busy for the next week. I need you and Brian to keep the workshop running.”
“Of course, boss, you can rely on us.”
Dave nodded. “Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate it. I don’t say it enough, but you are a good worker.”
Charlie was one of the few people in the world who Dave came close to looking on as a friend, but he didn’t say as much. It wasn’t possible to have friends in this business. You had allies and enemies, and that was just the way Dave Carter’s world worked.
They caught sight of Georgie standing in the doorway. He’d obviously been woken by their voices.
“All right, son?” Dave said, pulling out a chair for Georgie.
Georgie blinked. He still looked distraught, but at least he’d stopped crying.
“Hello, Georgie,” Charlie said. “I’ve just come around to tell you and your dad how sorry I am.”
Georgie bent his head and nodded before sitting in the chair his father had pulled out for him.
“Where is Trevor?” Georgie asked.
“He stayed at Uncle Gary’s last night,” Dave said.
He could not understand it, but Georgie seemed to worship the ground Trevor walked on
“Why?” Georgie asked.
It was a good question, and one Dave had asked himself. Gary had never really been an integral part of their family. He existed on the periphery and for a good reason. There had been a time when Dave had wanted to cut him out of his life permanently, but in the end, he had softened and forgiven him. But that didn’t mean he’d forgotten. Gary had always been and would always be a liability, one that Dave needed to keep a close eye on.
It was too complicated to try and explain to Georgie that Trevor had been drinking and got so inebriated he couldn’t make it home, so instead Dave just said, “I’m sure he will be home soon.”
Dave made Georgie a cup of tea as Georgie sat and talked to Charlie. The boy was now in his teens, but despite that, he still had the mind of a young boy, and though Dave had tried his best to protect Georgie from any kind of hurt or upset over the years, there was nothing he could do this time. The boy’s mother was dead, and Dave couldn’t change that.
He set a cup of tea down on the table for Georgie and then sighed and looked at the window. Rain splattered against the window pane.
He would miss Sandra for what she had been once upon a time. He was sorry she was gone, of course, but after the death of his beloved Lillian, he had put up a wall around his heart. He saw Sandra’s death as a problem to be solved, and although he could do without the aggro, he knew he would cope.
The only thing he had to make sure was that both his boys got through this. He knew how to comfort Georgie and make the lad feel safe, but with Trevor, he had no idea where to start.
The telephone in the hallway rang, and Dave sighed.
No doubt that would be Sandra’s parents, anxious to know the funeral arrangements.
Yet another problem he had to deal with.
Chapter 24
Ruby Morton arrived in Southampton just after lunchtime. She’d eaten a slightly stale sandwich on the train and drank a cup of tea that had far too much milk.
She’d disembarked the train at Central Station and didn’t think Southampton looked too bad at first glance. She asked a kindly looking woman, wearing a headscarf, for directions to the halls of residence.
“Ah, it’s a bit of a walk, lovey. You’re better off getting the number five bus. The bus stop is just at the top of the hill.”
Ruby thanked her and set off striding up the hill. It was busier than she’d expected. She’d assumed Southampton was somewhere in the sticks, but there were plenty of shops and people about; of course, it didn’t come close to London.
Given a choice, Ruby couldn’t understand why anyone would want to live anywhere other than London. She certainly could not figure out why Derek wanted to stay away.
When they had been sent away to school, all Ruby could think about was getting back to the big smoke. She just didn’t understand the attraction of the countryside.
She’d scribbled down Derek’s address before she’d left home, but she couldn’t find the scrap of paper she’d written on. She knew it was something like Boulder Wood. That was a creepy name for a place if ever she’d heard one.
At the crest of the hill, she studied the bus timetable and saw she shouldn’t have to wait too long for the next one. She only hoped the driver would tell her where to get off because she didn’t have a clue where she was going.
Sitting on the train for an hour and a half, she’d had time to think about how she and Derek had drifted apart. They’d had
their fair share of disagreements when they were young. Uncle Tony was right when he said they used to fight like cat and dog, but she missed her brother.
For a long time, Derek had been the only one who understood what it was like. There weren’t many people who had grown up with their father in prison, closely followed by their mother taking an extended stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure. The difficult times had bound them together and made them grow closer.
Their father could be difficult, and so she could understand Derek wanting to have his own space. In many ways she envied him, being born male gave him many more opportunities.
Ruby smirked as she imagined how her father would react if she told him she wanted to go to university. Not that there’d be any chance of that. She left school as soon as she was able to, the complete opposite of Derek in every way.
She had to hand it to her brother. He had thrived in his new environment and done very well in his exams. Ruby didn’t resent him having a life outside their family, but she wished he’d include them a little more and visit home more often.
She straightened up as she saw the number five bus come into view and held up a hand, signalling to the bus driver she wanted him to stop.
She climbed aboard the back of the bus and waited for the conductor to come around and take her fare money. Luckily, he understood where she wanted to get off, and promised to let her know when they got there. So she settled back in her seat, next to a lady in a long raincoat, and pulled Derek’s letter out of her handbag to search for the address once more.
Her fingers clutched a scrap of paper, and she smiled triumphantly. She hadn’t lost it after all. She read the address, frowning. Halls of residence sounded like something out of a Victorian novel.
The lady behind tapped her on the shoulder and made Ruby start.
The woman smiled. “Do forgive me, but I couldn’t help notice the address on that letter. Is that your sweetheart at the University? You must be ever so proud.”
Ruby shook her head. “Oh, no. It’s my brother. I’m paying him a visit.”
“Well, I can hear from your accent that you’re not from around here. Is this your first visit to see him?”
Ruby nodded and tried to smile, but the woman’s words had made her feel even more like a duck out of water. Somehow, Derek managed to fit in, but Ruby never would.
She listened to the woman chatter on as she stared out of the bus windows and noticed the rain starting to fall.
It turned out the conductor didn’t need to tell Ruby when to disembark because the woman behind her let her know when her stop was approaching.
When Ruby got off the bus and shivered. The road was dark, and there were huge trees everywhere.
Ruby didn’t mind a few trees, as long as they were in an appropriate place, such as a park, but these trees lined the pavement and completely blocked out the sky. Their branches were like witches fingers clawing the air above her.
It was a cold, wet day, and she was not best pleased as the rain trickled down the collar of her blouse.
She marched up the hill, hoping she was going the right way.
Derek better not give her the runaround because she certainly wasn’t in the mood to play games.
Just when she thought she would never find the stupid place, there was a clearing in the trees, and she saw a little pathway with a tiny sign for the Halls of Residence.
“Finally,” she muttered and stomped around the puddles in the middle of the single track road.
She hadn’t gone very far, but she heard the roar of a car engine behind her and the toot of the horn.
She quickly jumped to the side, fearing that she was going to get a soaking from the car as it passed. But instead, the car slowed to a stop, and the passenger door opened.
Curious, Ruby stopped walking and leant down to look in the car.
Her first thought was that it might have been Derek, but no such luck.
A good-looking man, with dark-blond hair, had his hand on the wheel and smirked as he looked up at Ruby.
“Can I give you a lift?”
Ruby gave a sharp look to put him in his place. She wasn’t the type of girl to get in a car with a strange man.
“No,” she snapped. “I’m quite happy walking.”
“But it’s raining.”
“I’m quite aware of that Einstein,” Ruby said sarcastically.
“Who are you going to see?” the man asked, smiling now because he knew he was getting under her skin.
Ruby ignored his question, shut the passenger door and continued to walk. He idled the car slowly to keep up with her.
“You do realise it’s a male-only Hall of Residence? Are you going to visit your boyfriend?”
Ruby was tempted to tell him she was. At least that might make him leave her alone.
“That’s really none of your business,” she said.
She didn’t think much of these toffs. She wouldn’t be surprised if they thought a girl like her would melt into a thankful puddle as soon as they looked at her. She supposed he thought she should be grateful for the attention. Well, he could think again.
There was no way she would be interested in someone like him.
“I can’t think of any other reason you would be going to our Halls of Residence. Unless you work there? Are you our new cleaner?”
She could feel his eyes on her, raking up and down, and she was tempted to tell him to bugger off.
Instead, she took a deep breath and turned to lean on the car.
Looking into the passenger window, she said, “As a matter of fact, I am going to see my boyfriend. And he won’t be happy if he knows you’ve been trying to pick me up in your car. So do me a favour and sling your hook.”
“Fair enough,” the blond-haired man said grinning. “I’ll sling my hook as you so eloquently put it as long as you tell me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Name of the man you’re going to see.”
“I don’t see that’s any of your business,” Ruby snapped.
“You’re right. But it’s your choice, either tell me, or I’ll continue to annoy you all the way up the drive, and I warn you, it’s quite a long way.”
Ruby fought the urge to kick the door of his car. “Fine,” she said. “It’s Derek Morton.”
Ruby was gratified to see the smile leave his face. Finally, she’d managed to put him in his place. Unfortunately, the effect was only temporary.
“Derek Morton?” He roared with laughter. “Good luck with that, darling,” he said and then put his foot down on the accelerator and pulled away.
Ruby swore under her breath. What an irritating man.
She had no idea what he meant by that, but it made her wonder. She hoped Derek wasn’t like that man. She knew deep down he was still an East End boy. He had to be. No matter how much he tried to hide it.
It took Ruby another fifteen minutes to walk up the stupid single track road to the Halls of Residence, and when she got there, she was cold, wet and angry.
There was a sign on the door clearly stating that this was a male only hall, but Ruby ignored it, burst through the main doors. She knew Derek’s room number from sending him letters, and rather than asking anybody for directions, she walked down the narrow corridor and then took the stairs up to the first floor.
She drew a few startled looks from a series of young men wandering the corridors, but she ignored them all, marching forcefully up to room eighteen.
She knocked hard on the door and waited. She didn’t get an answer straightaway, so she knocked again.
She could hear a voice inside; it was muffled, but she knew it was Derek’s.
He then shouted out, telling whoever it was at the door to go away.
Ruby gritted her teeth. After the journey she just had and the interaction with that snobby bastard in the car, she wasn’t in any mood for Derek’s shenanigans.
She put a hand on the door handle and pushed. It wasn’t locked.
&nb
sp; She flung the door open and opened her mouth to give Derek a piece of her mind.
But she didn’t get far.
The sight that greeted her wasn’t her brother’s face. It was his bare backside.
She let out the distressed gurgle of horror.
“Oh, my God.”
Derek sat bolt upright in bed.
He whirled around with his eyes wide. “Ruby!”
She was sure the look of shock on his face was echoed on her own. In fact, she wasn’t sure who was more surprised, her or Derek.
Because if the sight of his bare backside hadn’t been enough, she noticed he wasn’t alone in bed.
Chapter 25
Red-haired Freddie was sitting in his favourite high-back chair, counting down the hours until the pub opened. He had nothing to do. His daughter, Jemima, kept the place spotlessly clean, so he couldn’t even keep himself busy doing a little housework. It had just been him and Jemima since his wife had died, and they got along well together, but he missed the old days.
Truth be told, Freddie was bored. He’d knocked off early today because Martin didn’t have any work for him. He still got paid the same wages, even though he wasn’t doing any work, but to be honest, his heart wasn’t in the job anymore.
At one time, Freddie had been proud to be part of the Morton group. Even when Martin went to prison, Babs and Tony had done a good job keeping the business afloat, but in the last few years, Martin had gone off the rails. He was losing it. Everyone could see it, but nobody wanted to say so.
What they needed was someone fresh to lead things in a new direction, but there wasn’t anyone who would dare to take Martin Morton on.
As long as Dave Carter ruled the East End, Martin would never make a comeback. Dave simply wouldn’t allow it.
Martin was like a tiger who’d had his claws and teeth removed.
It was a sad sight to see. Martin Morton had been formidable in his time. No one could come close to him. It was true most people considered him an evil bastard, and Freddie had to admit that at times, he scared the life out of him, but at least Martin had held respect. Now, he was just trading on his old reputation.
