The Know

by Martina Cole

  ‘Go on, love.’

  ‘He saw me, and called me over. He wanted her at a party. Said to tell Kira that he knew you, that he knew her mum like.’

  She looked full at Joanie for the first time.

  ‘You see, I couldn’t not do it. Pippy would have hurt me, Joanie, I know he would, and even though I wanted to tell her to run, I was too scared.’

  She started to cry again.

  ‘You don’t know what he’s like, Joanie. One minute he’s all over you, telling you how lovely you are, and then he turns. If you won’t do what he tells you, he goes berserk. He hits you, spits at you. Pulls your hair out and you have to do what he says. It’s easier that way.’

  Pippy Light terrified adults. He must have laughed his head off at the naivety and easiness of these poor kids. But not her Kira. She had taught Kira well about her body and who owned it.

  Bethany looked into Joanie’s eyes, begging for understanding.

  ‘You can’t tell him no, Joanie. You just can’t.’

  She heard her doorbell then and sighed. It had to be Monika. The last person Joanie wanted to see.

  ‘Is that me mum?’

  Bethany’s fear was all too plain. Monika would go mad to find her here, and the worst of it was she would go mad for all the wrong reasons.

  ‘Stay here and keep quiet. I’ll sort it out, OK?’

  Joanie walked from the room with a heavy heart. She knew now beyond a doubt that her baby was dead. And she knew who was responsible.

  It still didn’t occur to her to call the police.

  This was personal: who needed them ballsing it all up?

  Pippy Light had the money for good briefs and a blinding defence based on witnesses he had bought and paid for. She couldn’t let this come to court. What chance of justice was there then?

  Jon Jon was rolling another joint as he listened to Big John fill him in. He knew the man needed to talk about it, needed to say it out loud to someone to get it off his chest.

  Jon Jon understood that, he would have felt the same.

  Of all the things that could have happened to Big John McClellan, this was the worst. He could have taken anything except the knowledge that his own son was a beast. In their world that was something you could never live down. It was a taint, a stain on the character of everyone related.

  ‘When he was a kid, see, she gave him whatever he wanted. So did his brothers.’

  Like many a father before him John was trying to explain his child’s actions.

  ‘He was only nine months old when I got me capture so he only ever saw me on prison visits. He was twenty-one when I finally came home. I never knew him, I realise that now. How could I, banged up all that time? In fairness to my old woman she did the best she could and the others have turned out blinding. It’s a kink of nature, I reckon, don’t you?’

  Jon Jon nodded. He knew Big John had to believe that or he would never sleep another night in his bed in peace.

  ‘He’s twenty-four years old now and he likes having sex with little kids. What’s all that about?’

  He was genuinely bewildered.

  Jon Jon didn’t know what to say.

  ‘They reckon it’s a quirk in them, Nature playing tricks. At least you’ve found out in time to put a stop to it. Imagine if it had got out, John.’

  Big John nodded; he was sweating at the thought of it.

  ‘You know something else as well?’ Jon Jon said.

  Big John looked at him quizzically.

  ‘They’ll all have to go, won’t they? Everyone who knew about Kieron will have to be deleted. It’s fucking game over, ain’t it, in more ways than one?’

  Big John relaxed.

  This boy knew exactly what was required of him; Big John didn’t have to labour the point. And he trusted him, really trusted him. That fact amazed him more than anything else. What you saw was certainly what you got with Jon Jon Brewer. Big John would see him all right after the deed was done. This boy would be royalty in waiting, he would see to that himself. He would give Jon Jon a living that most men of their ilk only dreamed of; in fact, he was going to give him a hefty wedge of Paulie’s empire.

  After all, Paulie wouldn’t be fucking needing it, not where he was going anyway.

  He wouldn’t give him all of it, of course, he wasn’t that fucking grateful. But he was grateful enough to see to it that this kid never knew another poxy day in his life. He also wanted to keep him close. Keep his eye on him. Jon Jon Brewer was going to be the keeper of his biggest secret; Big John would need him close by.

  Jon Jon was relaxed enough to cut the coke himself this time without asking first.

  He snorted and said, ‘Stop beating yourself up, John. Kieron was a one-off, mate, a fucking mutant. Just concentrate on minimising the damage, not just for yourself but for your other kids. I mean, the last thing you need is him stuck in prison on a section for being a nonce, right? So you have to make sure he’s put out to grass soon as. That way everyone wins. He’s gone, your old woman has a grave to visit, and you save the family name. It’s simple.’

  ‘You are one clever little bastard, boy.’

  Jon Jon smiled.

  ‘I have a score to settle as well, remember? I’ll do this for me sister, the poor little cow. She wasn’t all there either, you know. Not a mong or nothing like that, but she wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. But she was my heart. From the minute she was born and I held her, she was my heart.’

  He sighed, the tears as usual never far away.

  ‘I’ll wipe the cunt who killed her off the face of the earth and enjoy every second of it. If I get banged up for twenty, thirty, forty years, it will be worth every second of the time.’

  He passed the mirror with the lines piled on it evenly to Big John as he said quietly, ‘So. What you going to do about those photos of him? You can guarantee they’re on the computer’s hard drive. They could even be winging their way around the Internet.’

  He sniffed loudly before continuing, ‘Those pictures were printed off his computer. Who knows who else had access to them? Who Kieron sent them to? Because that’s what paedos do, you know.’

  Big John, though full of cocaine and Bourbon, suddenly saw the real scale of his problem.

  ‘The Internet’s bigger than the world, mate. Filth like this lives on. It could be on someone’s screen every day for the next fifty years.’

  ‘Oh, dear God, Jon Jon. I never thought of that. We’ll have to bring someone else in, I suppose. One of them computer kids. I’ll have to sniff around, find someone I can get a handle on. God, this just gets worse.’

  ‘First I’d like to see all the pictures Kieron has on his computer, and his mates’ computers as well because I have a feeling I might see a member of my own family there and unlike you I won’t be ashamed of that fact. Kira never went far, I’m convinced of it. I’ve always known in me heart it was someone close. She wouldn’t have gone off with just anyone, she knew better than that. It had to be someone she knew.

  ‘I thought it was Tommy or his dad but now, after seeing that lot and knowing what I do, I ain’t so fucking sure. The fat little black girl shagging with your son is Monika the Mouth’s daughter - you know, her from my estate? Works for Paulie. Me mum’s best mate when they’re talking, her biggest enemy when they ain’t. But that’s her Bethany all right, and she was my little sister’s best mate. So what does that tell us, eh?’

  Big John was staring into his glass; they were Waterford crystal, a hundred pounds each they had cost him. He had bought a dozen of them. The cut glass was catching the light from the spotlight above. The spectrum of colours was beautiful, warm-looking.

  He threw the glass and its contents across the room full force, enjoying the sound as it smashed into hundreds of little pieces.

  ‘I’ll talk to Kieron, find out the score. You just have to finish the job, deal?’

  Jon Jon nodded.

  ‘Be an honour, mate. But I want to be there and hear it all fo
r meself. I need to know about Paulie Martin as well as my sister. You understand that, don’t you?’

  Big John nodded his agreement.

  ‘Better than you realise, son. I thought he was my mate and all. Thought he was sound. It just shows you, don’t it?’

  They smiled at one another, united in their grief.

  Then Big John stood up and said seriously, ‘Come on, we’d better get our arses in gear. I know where my boy will be this time of the night.’

  Jon Jon got up quickly and waited while Big John took a couple of wraps from inside one of the kitchen cupboards.

  ‘We’ll find out what we need to know tonight, I promise you. I’ll kick it out of him if necessary.’

  Jon Jon didn’t answer him.

  He honestly didn’t know what to say.

  But one thing was for sure: Kieron’s own father thought he was capable of killing Kira and that had sealed his death warrant.

  Paulie was buzzing with energy, smiling and rubbing his hands together as he stood on the doorstep. Joanie felt the familiar pull of him as he stepped inside her flat.

  ‘All right, girl?’

  He kissed her on the mouth and she responded as she had always responded to him.

  ‘Any chance of a quick flash and a bacon sandwich!’

  It was an old Cockney term used by people who had been married for years. She laughed, but he could see her heart wasn’t in it.

  ‘You all right?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Just tired, and I’m expecting Monika round in a minute.’

  ‘Baxter told me. That was a touch, eh, girl?’

  She smiled then.

  ‘Thanks, Paulie, I know it was you who set it up.’

  He hugged her to him.

  ‘Least I can do for me best girl, ain’t it?’

  It was wonderful for her to hear him talk like this. It was so rarely he let anyone see the real Paulie. The kind, good man she had loved for so long.

  ‘Me and you go back years, Joanie. No one else has ever affected me like you.’

  She was shy suddenly at his words. Normally he only spoke like that in the dark of night.

  ‘Where’s Jon Jon? I tried his mobile and I can’t get him.’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Don’t know. I ain’t seen him and I’m surprised. I expected him to be waiting for me so he could read me the Riot Act.’

  ‘Jeanette in?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Only I thought I heard her telly.’

  Paulie smiled as he spoke but his eyes were darting round the flat as if looking for something. For some reason Joanie decided not to tell him what she was doing, not yet. He would just lose it with Bethany and then it would all be shouting and recriminations. So she said gently, ‘I was in there. I sometimes get into her bed and cuddle up. I feel closer to her that way.’

  He smiled nastily.

  ‘You’re a fucking terrible liar, Joanie.’

  He watched in fascination as her pupils dilated with shock at his words.

  ‘You what!’

  ‘Is Jon Jon in there?’

  His voice brooked no lies.

  ‘What’s going on, Paulie?’

  ‘What’s going on? Are you having a fucking laugh, Joanie? That little bastard Jon Jon has only been round Jesmond’s and slaughtered him, with fucking Loony Bernard as his bleeding sidekick! Now do you understand why I’m going to slap him until my arms ache when I get my hands on him? What the fuck is he up to?’

  ‘I don’t know, Paulie. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  He pushed her away from him.

  ‘Oh, don’t give me that old fanny, Joanie, your kids don’t shit without consulting you first. And now he’s with Big John McClellan, so fuck knows what’s going on because none of them are answering my fucking calls! What am I then, a Muppet all of a sudden?’

  But he knew she was no wiser than he was about her son’s whereabouts. It was written all over her face.

  He walked into the girls’ bedroom anyway and she followed him, pulling on his arm to make him turn and face her.

  ‘What on earth is your problem? You come in here all smiles and camaraderie and then you turn on me like that! You can fuck off, Paulie Martin. I don’t need all this, not tonight.’

  ‘What exactly is going on tonight then?’ he snarled.

  Joanie was staring at him as if she had never seen him before, and this side of him she definitely hadn’t. He looked wild-eyed, frantic with anger and impatience and something that looked like fear. But why? What had Paulie got to worry about even if Jon Jon had got himself into more trouble? He’d never turn on his boss, thought too much of him for that.

  Paulie stormed into the little bedroom.

  It was empty.

  Then he ransacked the flat, hauling clothes out of wardrobes, ripping the curtains off the shower.

  When he had finished he turned and faced her. Poking a finger into her chest, he bellowed, ‘You tell that son of yours I want him. He’d better come to me as soon as he can because if I have to go on looking for him it will be much worse once I do get my hands on him. I had a meet with him at nine o’clock and he didn’t show. He’d better have a fucking good reason.’

  He left without saying goodbye, slamming the door behind him.

  Joanie stood there in shock, staring at the front door. This was outrageous. Who the hell did he think he was? And more to the point, where was Jon Jon and what was he playing at anyway? If he wasn’t with Paulie, who was he with?

  She walked back into the bedroom with a heavy heart, and helped Bethany out from under the bed. The world had gone mad, there was no doubt about that.

  Bethany clung to her and Joanie hugged the girl tightly.

  ‘All right, love, he don’t mean the half of it, OK? He’s just upset.’

  Joanie wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, Bethany or herself.

  Kieron was with Pippy Light in a private members’ club in Holborn. Two of his elder brothers had just come in and he was smiling as they walked over to him.

  The club owner hated him and he hated Pippy. There was always trouble when they showed. Piss-taking, always too loud. When he saw the two McClellan brothers he breathed a sigh of relief. Kieron and Pippy always got their heads together when the brothers were around, acted like someone else. He automatically poured two vodka shots so they would be waiting when the boys finally reached the bar.

  First there was an elaborate pecking order they had to go through. If they said hello to everyone on their way in then no one would hassle them when they finally sat down to have a drink.

  He also knew that Pippy Light would be as welcome to the other McClellans as a condom in a monastery so he would shoot off as soon as he could. One thing about Pippy, he could take the hint.

  Gerald, the oldest brother and a clone of his father, grinned matily.

  ‘All right, Kieron?’

  Kieron grinned back. He was higher than a 747 over the Atlantic and it showed.

  ‘Yeah, you?’

  He had the glassy-eyed look of a smack head except he was seriously buzzing. Gerald guessed it was a mixture of coke and Es. It usually was. He was annoyed by his brother’s condition but didn’t say anything. Pippy was studiously ignored, but he was used to it. The McClellan brothers were a force to be reckoned with and he understood that he had to take their knockbacks in his stride. He would bide his time. Pippy had an agenda, only unlike this lot he kept it to himself.

  James McClellan was on his mobile, staring at Pippy as he talked. Then he was nodding his head. He turned off the phone and went over to Gerald who gave him his shot. He downed it and then said something to his brother, which seemed to make him frown as well.

  The music was loud and pumping even though the place was only a quarter full. Pippy, who prided himself on having a shit detector on a par with an F14 fighter pilot’s, felt maybe it was time for him to leave this company and go on the missing list. K
ieron was oblivious as usual.

  Pippy’s worst fears were confirmed when he was included in the next round of drinks, something he had never experienced before in this company. He smiled, though, as he accepted the large Jack Daniel’s and Coke. He knew how to play the game.

  Kieron was swaying to the music. It was one of his favourite tracks: Tiga singing ‘Hot in Here’. It was a provocative song and Kieron was mouthing the words to a young girl standing with a large black man nearby. She had blonde hair and small breasts and was obviously no more than sixteen if that.