As his eyes brimmed with tears, she held him to her chest. ‘Nanny wants you to live with her, Johnny, and she will always love and take care of you.’
Johnny looked at her dubiously. He didn’t know whether to believe her; he was too used to his mum’s lies. ‘Do yer promise never to give me away, Nan?’
Maureen smiled. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’
THIRTY-FOUR
James sat in the corner and stared at his empty glass. After leaving Tommy’s, he’d stopped at the first boozer he’d come across. The place was empty, a shit-hole, and it matched his mood perfectly.
Going straight home to Maria after what Tommy had just said was totally out of the question. He needed to sort his head out, work out whether to confront her or not. He felt ill, sick to the stomach. Standing up, he walked back to the bar.
‘Give us another brandy, and make it a treble this time.’
The fat, tattooed barmaid smiled at him. The blokes that usually came in were pig ugly; James was a bit of eye candy and she was desperate to get chatting to him.
‘You having a bad day, love?’
James shook his head. The last thing he needed was polite conversation. ‘Nah, I’m fine.’
‘You don’t look fine. What you done to your face? You been fighting?’
James usually prided himself on being polite to all and sundry. Today, was an exception though. ‘Just give me the fucking drink, will yer?’ he yelled.
Surprised by his own rudeness, he snatched the glass, apologised, and quickly sat back down. This whole situation was fucking his head up and he needed some answers quickly.
Maria was fuming as she studied the takeaway menu. So much for their big night out at a posh restaurant. They’d be lucky to get a few manky leftovers from the local chinky at this time of night. Throwing the menu down in temper, she tried James’s number once again. His phone had been switched off for hours and each time she tried to get through to him, she became more and more infuriated.
‘How dare he turn his fucking phone off? He makes himself look such a knob, chasing around after Tommy like some fucking Joey. I’m not putting up with it any more, Mum. I swear on my life, I’m putting my foot down from now on.’
Janet put an arm around her daughter. ‘Now calm down, Maria. James has got a heart of gold, and if Lucy’s gone into labour and Tommy can’t be found, then he’s bound to help out. You’ve got to remember, he didn’t know that you’d booked the restaurant. He just thought we were eating at home.’
Maria burst into tears. She’d planned tonight with such precision. Her big news would be delivered on her mum’s birthday, in the beautiful restaurant, and now, thanks to Tommy, everything had been well and truly fucking ruined.
As Bobby Adams pulled up outside Tommy’s house, he was surprised but pleased to see his car on the drive. He hadn’t been able to contact him by phone, the bastard hadn’t been answering. Bobby was well pissed off with Tommy and he’d had visions of driving around all night looking for him. Thank God he’d struck gold by trying the house first.
Bobby banged on the door and waited patiently for an answer. It didn’t come, so he looked through the lounge window. Seeing Tommy sprawled face down on the sofa made his blood boil. Probably out of his nut again, he thought angrily. Getting more wound up by the second, Bobby pounded on the glass with his fist and caught his diamond ring against the lead.
‘Tommy, I know you’re in there. Answer this fucking door before I break the bastard thing down.’
Bobby Adams was not a man to be kept waiting.
As Tommy opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure where he was. He could hear banging and shouting and wondered if he was still at Mustapha’s. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and recognised his own living room. Seconds later everything came back to him. Lucy, James, the baby – he remembered the whole caboodle. Guessing that James had come back to either kick off again or apologise, he staggered to the front door. Seeing Bobby Adams sent shivers through his spine.
‘You took your fucking time,’ Bobby said, as he pushed him into the lounge.
About to tell him to fuck off, Tommy noticed the colour of his face and shut his mouth. Bobby’s nose and cheeks were beetroot red and that was never a very good sign.
‘What’s up, Bob?’ he said, in a grovelling voice, as he was shoved onto the sofa.
With a look of pure disgust on his face, Bobby stood over him sneering. ‘Look at the fucking state of you, and you’ve got the cheek to call yourself a man, Tommy Hutton? You had everything, boy, and you fucked up big time. You’re now a junkie. How clever are you, eh?’
Tommy shook his head. He needed to dig himself out of this one, fast. Arms spread in innocence, he tried to excuse himself.
‘You don’t understand, Bob. Me baby was born today, it was premature and it died. A little girl, it was, and we lost her.’
Bobby stared at him with revulsion. How dare he blame the poor baby? The cunt had been out of his nut for months and hadn’t given his unborn child a second thought. ‘I’ve no time for sob stories, Tommy. In fact, I don’t care if you’ve lost your mum, nan, or virginity. I’ve come here tonight for one reason only and that’s to tell you you’re out of the fold. I don’t want you working for me any more – you’re a fucking liability.’
Tommy was shocked. He might have fucked up a bit lately, missed a couple of runs, but he’d always been loyal to Bobby, fucking loyal. Knees shaking, he stood up to face the man.
‘Look Bob, I know I’ve messed up a bit recently, but I’ll get meself sorted. Why are you binning me? What have I done to deserve that?’
Unable to stop himself, Bobby grabbed his neck with his goalkeeper-sized hands and shoved him against the wall. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, Tommy. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out that you were knocking about and selling smack with that filthy fucking Turk?’
As he squeezed Tommy’s neck, Bobby laughed at his fear. ‘Well, answer me. Did you?’
Tommy could barely breathe, let alone talk. As Bobby let him go, he slid down the wall.
‘I’ll make it up to you. I’m sorry,’ he croaked.
Bobby shook his head and walked towards the door. As he opened it, he turned around. ‘Oh, and there’s a couple of other things. Number one, don’t even think of grassing us up, ’cause I’ve changed the whole set-up and, number two, stay away from Freddie.’
Tommy was shell-shocked. ‘Whaddya mean, stay away from Freddie? He’s me best fuckin’ mate.’
Bobby smiled. ‘Not any more, he ain’t. I mean it, Tommy, stay away from my nephew. If I find out you’ve been within ten foot of him, I promise you, I will fly back from Spain and personally kill you with my bare hands. Understand?’
Tommy nodded. He didn’t have the guts to disagree.
Cursing that the kitchen door was locked, James gave a gentle tap. After half-a-dozen large brandies, he’d realised that the only person in the world he wanted help and advice off was his mum. Knowing that Maria was probably still next door, he’d parked his car in the street behind and hopped over the fences. He couldn’t face seeing her, not yet anyway. He’d toyed with the idea of ringing Freddie and demanding if he knew the truth, but he decided against it. Freddie had been friendly with Tommy ever since their Feltham days and it wasn’t fair to put him in such an awkward position. Not only that, James wasn’t sure whether he wanted to know, or could handle the truth himself just yet.
Having put Alfie and Johnny to bed earlier, Maureen was unable to concentrate on the telly and had chosen to have an early night herself. It had been a truly awful day, full of drama and upset. Even now, her mind couldn’t rest. She’d spent the last hour tossing and turning. Hearing a noise outside, she sat up. She’d heard something a few minutes ago. She was about to get up and investigate, when there was a thud against her window that sounded like a stone. Nervously, she peeped through the curtains.
James stood by the big plant, frantically waving his arms at her. She opened the window, ‘Wh
atever’s the matter, love?’
‘Ssh,’ he said, holding his forefinger to his lips. ‘Open the door, I need to talk to yer,’ he whispered.
Maureen put on her dressing gown and did as she was told. Surely there wasn’t another drama on the horizon. With the day she’d had, she couldn’t bloody stand it.
As she opened the door, she saw the state of his face. His forehead was red raw, his nose looked as though it had taken a clump and his eyes were starting to blacken. In fact, he looked like he’d run into a brick wall.
‘Oh, James, my poor baby. Whatever’s happened to you?’
The tenderness of her voice and the concern in her eyes was all too much for James. Throwing himself against her chest, he clung to her and sobbed like the baby she had just called him. Maureen stroked his hair as though he was a little boy all over again. Her James had never been a fighter and she hadn’t seen him cry for bloody years. She knew whatever had happened to him was serious, and she dreaded hearing the truth.
James felt a right wuss as he pulled away from her. He was twenty-five years old, and here he was crying like a fucking newborn.
Maureen forced a smile. ‘I’ll make us a nice cup of tea, shall I?’
James shook his head. ‘I need something stronger, Mum. Beer, brandy, whisky, anything’ll do.’
Maureen handed him a lager. She didn’t want to encourage him to drink spirits.
Sipping his beer, James launched into the story from the very beginning. He told her about Lucy giving birth to the baby, about the ambulance men who did their best to save the child and about Lucy’s piercing screams on hearing her daughter was dead.
As his mum wiped her eyes and blew her nose, James changed the subject. It was time to tell her about Tommy.
‘You should have seen the state of him, Mum, when he answered the door. He looked like a fuckin’ tramp, he was totally out of his head. I took one look at him, saw red, and gave it to him. I told him his fortune and he lost the plot. He went mental, he did, and started head-butting me.’
Maureen gasped. She’d never imagined in a million years that James’s injuries came from his brother. How could his own flesh and blood do that to him?
‘I’ll never have him darken my door again, James, and I mean it this time. I can’t believe he’s done this to yer. If I get my hands on him, I’ll fuckin’ marmalise him.’
James carried on – he needed to get to the Maria bit. ‘I wasn’t gonna hit him back, Mum. I was gonna walk away, but he started calling Maria a slag and I went apeshit and clumped him. It was awful Mum, really awful.’
Maureen rubbed his arm. ‘I’m glad you fuckin’ hit him and I hope you walloped him hard. He’s no good James, he’s . . .’
‘Shut up, Mum, let me finish. When I was about to leave, he was laughing at me, then he said he’d slept with Maria. He said she’d lost her virginity to him and he started saying some really nasty stuff about her. I’d have killed him if I’d have stayed there, so I ran out, jumped in the car and went straight to the pub. I couldn’t think straight and I needed a stiff drink to calm meself down.’
As tears began to roll down his cheeks, Maureen held him close. For years she’d had a feeling that something had happened between Maria and Tommy. She’d clocked the atmosphere, heard the remarks and smelt the hatred. She’d never said a word, not even to Ethel, but she’d always, always known.
‘How am I gonna find out the truth, Mum? Do I confront her? Beg him to tell me? Ask Freddie? What should I do?’
Taking the brandy out of the cupboard under the sink, Maureen poured two large glasses. Lager was no use to the poor little sod with the shock he’d just had. Handing one to James, she sat opposite him and sipped her own. ‘Do nothing, boy. If Tommy was drugged up he was probably talking rubbish. Can you imagine how poor Maria would feel if you went home and accused her of something she’d never done? It could ruin your marriage, love.’
‘But I need to know if it’s true, Mum, I can’t live a lie.’
Maureen took a large gulp of brandy. She’d lived a lie for years and was an expert on the subject. ‘Only you can decide what to do, James, but my advice would be to let sleeping dogs lie. It’s just Tommy being vindictive, that’s all it is. If I was you, I’d forget all about it.’
James sipped the rest of his drink in silence. Part of him wished he could take his mum’s advice, but he knew he couldn’t forget. He had to know the truth and the only person who could provide him with that was Maria. He finished his drink and stood up.
‘I’m going next door, Mum, and if she ain’t there, I’m going home to ask her. She’ll tell me the truth, I know she will.’
Maureen plastered on a fake smile. ‘You do what you think is best, love.’
Wishing him luck, she shut the front door. It was time to cry her own tears now.
Maria put her book down and stared at the ceiling. She’d left her mum’s and come back to the flat hoping that he’d be there, but he wasn’t. Her mum’s birthday surprise had been totally ruined. She wasn’t worried about that any more; she wasn’t even annoyed. Something had happened, she could feel it in her bones. It was so out of character for James not to contact her. Even if he was still at the hospital with Lucy and his phone was dead, he’d have called her from somewhere.
Her eyes followed a fly leave the ceiling and walk down the wall. Either he’d had an accident or Tommy had opened his poisoned mouth; there was no other explanation. Guessing it was the latter, she prepared herself. She couldn’t lose James – not now, not ever.
As she heard his car pull up, her stomach lurched. Hearing the door open, she took a deep breath. One look at his face told her all she needed to know. He knew.
‘I’ll make us a coffee and you can tell me all about Lucy and the baby,’ she said brightly.
James waved away the offer of the coffee and walked towards her. ‘I need to talk to you, Maria. I saw Tommy earlier and he said something about you and him. He –’
Maria had no choice other than to interrupt him. She had to drop her bombshell before he could drop his. ‘Guess what, James?’
‘Can’t you just let me finish for once, Maria?’ he said angrily.
She shook her head. ‘No, I can’t. Whatever you’ve got to say is not as important as what I’ve got to say, and I’ve been waiting all day to say it. I’m pregnant, James, me and you are gonna have a little baby.’
James felt like he’d been shot in the back. Rooted to the spot, he was totally unable to show any emotion.
Maria smiled at him. ‘Well, say something, then.’
James was dumbstruck. He could hardly drop the accusation that Tommy had made now.
Maria threw her arms around his neck. ‘I thought you’d be ecstatic. Please say something, James.’
James responded to her hug and held her tightly. With tears in his eyes, he smiled at her. ‘Ecstatic is putting it mildy – I’m over the bloody moon!’
Maria looked him straight in the eye. ‘Now, what did you want to tell me that was so important?’
James shook his head. ‘I can’t remember now.’
Maria smiled. ‘Well, it obviously wasn’t that important in the first place, then.’
James turned his head away. If only she knew.
THIRTY-FIVE
2005 – Ten Years Later
‘So, what you doing tonight, Johnny? There’s a crowd of us going down to that new soul club in Ilford, if you fancy it.’
Johnny stepped out of the communal shower. ‘Nah, I’ve got plans for tonight. Let us know if you’re going out again next week.’
‘I’m sure he’s got some little bird on the go,’ one of the lads shouted.
‘I bet she’s a right fat minger. Go on, admit it, Johnny, you’re dating a dog,’ shouted another.
Johnny smiled as he dried himself off. He was used to his team-mates ribbing him. Banter was a part of their match-day ritual, and he always gave as good as he got.
‘See yer later, tossers!’
he shouted as he left the changing rooms.
‘Wanker!’ the lads yelled back.
Johnny got into his van and drove out of the car park. The lads were right in one sense: he was seeing a bird, but what they didn’t know was that bird was his mum. None of his current pals knew much about his upbringing. They knew he lived with his nan, but little else. In his eyes, his past was his past, and it was no one else’s business.
Unable to concentrate on the film because of Ethel’s snoring, Maureen decided to tackle the ironing. As she walked into the kitchen, the phone rang.
‘All right, Nan? I’m just shooting round me mate’s and then I’m going straight round Mum’s. I’ll probably stay there the night. We’re gonna have a couple of beers and a takeaway.’
‘OK, Johnny, I’ll see yer when I see yer. How did the game go, by the way?’
‘We won and I scored two goals. I’ll tell yer about it properly tomorrow. I wanna hurry up and get round Mum’s before The X Factor starts.’
Maureen smiled as she replaced the receiver. She was so pleased for Johnny’s sake that his mum had finally got her act together.
Susan had been clean for just over a year now, and was doing really well. She’d come to Maureen for help after a prison stint for shoplifting. Maureen had been dubious about trusting her at first – another false dawn was the last thing that Johnny needed. Maureen had gone to the doctor with her, not holding out very much hope, but her GP had been fantastic and had got her into rehab. On completion of her treatment he had demanded that the council move her away from her old area and temptation. The authorities were told that she had a son who wanted to stay with her, and after deliberation with Barking and Dagenham council, she was offered a two-bedroom house in Becontree Heath.
Maureen offered to view the property with Susan and they had both fallen in love with it on sight. The corner house of a cul-de-sac, it was in immaculate condition and had a pretty little garden.
The Betrayer Page 27