by Martina Cole
The phone rang and she picked it up, saying in a tired voice, ‘Hello.’
Lily was amazed to see her drop the phone a few seconds later, then lean back in the chair with her hand over her mouth, rocking herself back and forth. An awful wailing sound was coming out of her, and as Lily was to regale to her family later that night, it sounded like nothing on this earth. It was frightening to see her employer reacting so strangely to what was obviously bad news of some kind, and poor Mrs Jackson had had more than her fair share of bad news these last few months.
A few minutes later she was relieved to see Mr Jackson come through the front door. He rushed to his wife and, as Lily later told her gobsmacked family in as dramatic a tone as possible, Mrs Jackson clung to him as if her life was dependent on him being there. Though Lily Small didn’t know it, that was a very true and accurate statement.
Rox was still trying to hold on to the contents of her stomach, and Dicky was holding her tightly while at the same time trying to drive the car to Maggie’s house. Dianna and Kimberley were in the back with poor Lena who should never have had to witness the sight of her daughter dead in her bed, her wrists cut and a plastic bag over her head.
What was it with this lot and fucking plastic bags? First little Jimmy, and now her.
Dicky was starting to get a bit shirty now. These Jacksons made fucking Job look like a lottery winner. Now Rox was in the club, he was working for Jimmy, her favourite uncle, and who also happened to be the local Mr Big, and he was starting to think that they were all fucking jinxed. He was now wondering if he should have given himself a bit more time before he got so involved with them all. But he could hardly walk out on Rox now she had a belly full of arms and legs.
As much as he loved her, this was all getting a bit too mad for him, and he considered himself a hard nut, able to deal with anything that life threw at him. Well, it was throwing fucking missiles at this lot at the moment, and he was not happy about putting himself in the line of fire.
He was gratified to see Jimmy’s car on the drive. At least another man would be there and he could get himself a few more Brownie points with him, so the whole day wouldn’t be fucking wasted.
Poor old Lena, though, his heart went out to her. She had shown no real reaction at all, and he hoped that old Joe arrived soon because she looked distinctly iffy. All he needed now was for her to drop down dead with shock and they could keep the match ball.
This was fucking outrageous, the most outrageous day of his life. Dicky had never really experienced the Jacksons’ intricate and dangerous family connections, and now he was getting an insight into them he was wise to be wary.
Maggie was crying when he brought Rox indoors. The girl was still clinging to him for dear life and it was only when she peeled herself off him and sank into her aunt’s arms that he could finally have a fag in peace and rub his aching neck muscles. His watchword for today was definitely fucking outrageous. It was all he kept saying, over and over again.
Epilogue
Ozzy was pleased that the visit had gone so well the day before, because he knew his time was nearly up. If he was offered parole because of his illness, he would cheerfully kill again to make sure that never happened. It was weird really. He had taken to this life, and he knew that was because something deep inside him was off kilter, was broken.
But now his time was drawing near he was happy. He had enjoyed these years, the solitude, the camaraderie of his fellow prisoners, and the excitement of making a fortune while ostensibly being punished by the Queen.
He liked the Queen. When the younger lads cunted her over being pursued and eventually convicted in her name, he had always pointed out that she was only a figurehead, she was not the scab involved. She left all that to the scabs on the police force and in the law courts. They should remember that, and respect her for winning the fucking case against them, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. If they had used their loaf, they would not have got a capture in the first place.
This was urban warfare as far as he was concerned, us against them. Them being, of course, anyone who had the nerve to uphold the law when he was trying to earn a crust by breaking it.
Even Ozzy expected them to put fucking gas-meter bandits in jail. And fucking muggers, they were a stain on society. But he saw himself and others of his ilk as businessmen, which of course they were.
Now he was seeing that young lad happy again and for that he would have given the last few days of his life. The Jackson family had been decimated. All their problems had stemmed from one member, Freddie Jackson, and Ozzy felt at times responsible for all the trouble that Freddie had caused over the years. It was he who had given Freddie the dreams of the big time, and his first big take, and it was also he who had gradually worked him out, and young Jimmy in.
So he had inadvertently caused the chaos that had ensued, and he would always regret that. But Jimmy had looked good today and he was happy with his life, and for that alone, Ozzy would be eternally grateful.
He had never wanted a family, even his sister Pat got on his tits, but Jimmy had somehow touched a chord inside him. He knew that Jimmy had never once tried to collar a penny over and above his wedge, because for years he had made sure the books were looked over in private. He had known in his heart that Jimmy would not touch a bean that wasn’t his, but you never could be a hundred per cent sure about anyone. He was now, though it had taken many years before he had finally admitted that the boy was completely straight.
This knowledge pleased him. When he finally shook off this mortal coil, Jimmy Jackson was going to be a very rich man indeed, and he deserved every penny he had coming to him.
Ozzy felt he was paying him serious compensation, because by raising him in their world, he had inadvertently given Jimmy a powerful enemy, and this enemy was twice as dangerous because he was related to him by blood. Family, he knew, could be far more treacherous and far more vengeful than any other adversary you might have acquired along your merry way. Their strength lay in the fact that they knew you so well, and knowledge, as they say, is power. And you had no reason not to trust them, until it was too late of course and they had tucked you up big time.
Ozzy sat in his cell, and he congratulated himself for having the sense to leave the outside world alone. Inside he didn’t have to deal with anything too pressing unless the fancy took him. He turned on his little portable TV. Richard and Judy were on and he loved the way they interacted with each other. He enjoyed this little bit of contact with the outside world through the glass screen of his antiquated black-and-white TV.
He had only one thing left to do and he had arranged that a few weeks earlier. He was going to give the nod for that to go down tonight, when a tame screw brought him in his mobile as usual so he could make any necessary calls in relative peace and quiet. He also brought him in a bottle of Glenfiddich every few days as well. It was a lovely treat last thing at night with a drop of hot water and plenty of sugar.
He wouldn’t tell Jimmy what his last act for him was going to be, he would be far better off never knowing anything about it. But it would be worth more than all the money in the world because it would help Jimmy Jackson to sleep better at night. And it would make Ozzy feel that he had done everything in his power to compensate young Jimmy Jackson, the new Face of London.
Glenford Prentiss was smoking a joint as was usual, and smiling at a young coffee-coloured lap dancer with high breasts and a very expensive smile.
His phone rang and he answered it with a frown. ‘Hello, Ozzy.’
The girl could hear the respect in his voice and the sound alerted her to the fact that everyone had someone they answered to, no matter who they were.
‘Of course it’s all arranged. The boy checks out tonight.’
Libby, as she was known, watched as Glenford turned the phone off, then put it down on the table with a sigh. He then drank his Bacardi and Coke in record time before saying, ‘Now, where were we?’
But she was sensible enough
to know that he had a lot on his mind. ‘You OK, Glenford?’
He shrugged. ‘’Course I am, girl.’
She smiled then, and he smiled back, happier than he had been for a long time.
Maggie was actually laughing, really laughing, and the sound made Lena and Joe smile at one another.
‘He is a lovely fella, old Jimmy, eh?’
‘A blinder. Fuck me, Lena, pour that tea out before the Christmas rush starts, eh.’
Lena grinned. They spent a lot of time at Maggie’s now, as did the girls. Jimmy didn’t mind, but she guessed that sometimes he would have liked his wife to himself. He would get his wish sooner than he thought.
The girls were gradually starting to accept what had happened, and she knew they were stronger than they thought. Jackie’s suicide note had not helped them, she knew. She had just written plainly, to no one in particular:
Sorry. But I can’t live without him. Be happy one and all.
It had been so short, so poignant and so lonely she had wanted to die herself. Her poor daughter, who even in death remained in the grip of the man who had deliberately and systematically chipped away at her until she had forgotten how to be happy, forgotten how to live her life.
Lena prayed every day that her poor Jackie had found some kind of peace at last.
‘Here they come, Lena. Go and refresh that tea, girl, it’s older than I am.’
Joe loved Maggie, and he loved Jimmy, but as they walked into the large conservatory and placed the baby in his arms, his face lit up like a Belisha beacon.
This was the miracle child as far as they were concerned, and the family had been brought closer together with his birth and his cousin’s birth.
Rox had also been blessed with a boy child a few months earlier, and they looked like two peas in a pod. Both were strong and dark haired, and sometimes a shadow crossed over Lena’s face because they looked like Freddie and Jimmy all over again.
But these two were not going to be like that. Jimmy would ensure that they were brought up properly, and little Dicky was gutted that Rox had given theirs her maiden name so they were both Jacksons. Rox had decided that marriage was out of the question now, she wanted to wait until her life was back on an even keel. The papers had had a field day, and they had all had to suffer the humiliation of their private lives being played out on a daily basis, and being branded criminals and anything else that guaranteed sales for the gutter press.
Lena looked at the two little Josephs and she knew that the names of these boys had given her old man more pleasure than anything in his life before.
‘The girls coming over tonight?’
Maggie shook her head. ‘No, they are all going out, and about time too. What do you think of their house, Mum?’
Lena smiled again at her daughter and she said earnestly, ‘It’s beautiful, and they love it there. You are very good you know, you two.’
Jimmy shrugged. ‘What can you do, they are family.’
Joseph nodded his head in agreement. ‘What’s left of it anyway, eh?’ He held his grandson tightly as he said it and he prayed that this boy, and his great grandson, had inherited nothing from Freddie Jackson.
Family was a blessing and it was also a fucking curse. He knew that better than anyone else in the world.
Joseph had taken a call that morning from the secure unit that housed his other grandson and it seemed Little Freddie had hung himself in the night. He had felt a wave of joy wash over him at the news. He still loathed the boy and the news he was dead had cheered him up no end. That was another mad bastard out of the way.
He would tell them all eventually, when the time was right. Until then he would let them enjoy the lovely summer days.
Maggie lay on the chaise longue at the end of her bed and breast-fed her little son. It was her favourite time of the day. She counted her blessings now. God had seen fit to give her this child and she was not going to let anything mar her happiness.
She would never forget her little Jimmy, but Joseph was like a life belt and she had held on to him for dear life, until now, at long last, the fear was gone. Freddie and his poison was in the past. He had ruled too many lives and it was time for them to stop allowing him to dictate their feelings and their thoughts.
She was still young looking, she knew. Her body was not as good as before but she didn’t care and neither did Jimmy. He still took her with the same passion he had taken her with when they had first come together.
Jackie was often in her mind. She missed her, but she knew the girls were always going to be there for her in the same way she had always been there for them.
It felt strange, this return to normality. It had been so long since she had felt like this, she had forgotten what it was like to just sit and think like other people.
Just to be.
She was happy again, but this was a happiness based on the truth. Like her Jimmy had said, all that time ago, sometimes things are best left unsaid, and she was now a devotee of that herself.
She kissed Joseph’s head as she swapped breasts, and the smell of him alone filled her with delight. She was happy, really happy and no one was going to interfere with that.
Jimmy never tired of this spectacle. He could watch Mags feed his Joseph all day and all night, it was to him the most beautiful sight in the world. They had been given a second chance and they were determined to make it work.
Freddie Jackson had blighted all their lives in one way or another and now he was long buried and the wounds he had inflicted on them all were healing over.
He felt the difference more and more every day. Even the girls were coming to terms with the devastation that had passed for their lives. They were closer than ever before, and they were gradually fleeing the nest that he had provided for them with Maggie.
He had achieved so much in his life, he had worked for his family, he had tried to live a good life, and it was his duty now not to let Freddie Jackson spoil his happiness in any way.
If Freddie had left a legacy, it was to push the remaining family closer together. As Ozzy had always told him, find a positive instead of a negative, and you will find your life is much easier to bear. The Jackson clan was still strong and new recruits would be added all the time. Rox had already started the ball rolling for the girls.
The Jackson empire would live on, and he was determined to pass it over to this little lad here. Otherwise, what the fuck was it all for?
He smiled at his lovely wife and basked in his own happiness, because being a Jackson he had learned the hard way that you never knew how long this feeling was going to last.