by Woods, Karen
Maxine welcomed the youths into her house. She’d been with them to store the plants. Her hands were covered in soil and she chuckled as they all seated. “Come on the lads lets sample this weed.” Barry had kept one of the plants and pulled it from the black bin liner. Once he’d sorted it out, he passed the Rizla papers to his wingman to skin up. Maxine now grabbed the video camera from the side and held it with a smile on her face.
“Sandra will be buzzing with this lads, well done. I’m sure she’ll have more grafts for you in the future.”
Barry sat with his legs apart and nodded. “Any graft she’s got, we are the men for it aren’t we lads?” The group nodded and loved they were earning some cash. Maxine now spoke to them about getting the money and how they would all split it. With a joint now being passing about they all laughed about the moment Kevin would find out he’d been robbed. They had covered their tracks well and now they were safe in Maxine’s house no one would ever know Barry and his mates were the culprits.
Tracy lay in her bed and looked through her window into the night. She wanted Kevin more than ever and planned a way to get him to be with her forever. If the reason he wouldn’t leave her sister was that they had children together, surely if she had a child to him he couldn’t leave her either. With her palm she stroked her tummy with a cunning look on her face. Reaching in her handbag she squeezed every contraceptive pill from the silver foil. Placing them in a small tissue she planned to flush them all down the toilet the following morning. Placing her earpiece inside her ear she lay listening to her iPod. Her feet could be seen moving underneath the bed covers as her head nodded to the beat of the music. As her eyes closed she planned to take her sister’s husband forever.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sandra sat at work behind her nail station. The client was talking to her and she just nodded her head every now and then. She wasn’t really listening and apologised a few times to the customer for making her repeat herself. Her mind was all over the place and she constantly stared at her mobile phone at the side of her waiting for the call from Kevin telling her his world had fallen apart.
Maxine had phoned her on the way to work and told her she had the video evidence. They had arranged for Sandra to call after work so she could watch it. The client screamed in pain as Sandra filed her nails roughly. She’d cut her.
“Oh I’m so sorry love” she pleaded. Reaching for a tissue she placed it over the bleeding finger. Her thoughts had been with Kevin at the time and her anger must have seeped through into her work. “I just don’t know what’s up with these new files they are so coarse. I’m sure they’ve changed them.” The client didn’t reply and you could tell by her face she wasn’t impressed. With an angry tone she sucked the blood from her finger and sat back in her chair for a minute.
Once the bleeding had stopped she placed her hand back on the table. Sandra now offered her some free designs on her nails to make up for her error. The lady smiled and accepted. She didn’t want the cheap design, she wanted something top of the range that would take Sandra a lot more time to complete. Sandra reached over to her mobile phone and plonked it in her bag. It was making her nervous and she had to concentrate.
Once the client was gone there were just another two appointments that day. They were only for waxing so they shouldn’t take her long. Sandra popped outside for a cig after she finished with her client. She needed it desperately to calm her nerves. With each drag she felt better. The sound of her phone ringing could be heard. Quickly she ran in the shop and grabbed it, leaving her half smoked cig still alight on ledge outside.
“Hello Yeah I’m alright. Maxine has got that video” she quickly walked back outside the shop and picked her cig up and continued speaking. “I know Tina, I’m shitting myself. Tell you what, meet me at Maxine’s after work. Alright speak to you later.” Holding the phone in her hand she sighed. This was going to be the moment that changed her life forever. How would she feel seeing her husband for the first time shagging her sister? Flicking her cig onto the pavement she smiled at her next client and led her to the back room where all the waxing was done. The lady was foreign and didn’t speak much English.
The beauty room was calming. There was a massage bed in the middle and lots of different coloured pots were scattered on the shelves across the back wall. Sandra now asked the lady which part of her body she wanted waxing - the client wanted her legs, bikini line and tash doing. Sandra heated the pot of wax and told her to lie down. For fucks sake, she moaned as she went inside the small cupboard at the side of the room, why didn’t she just want her eyebrows waxing or something simple? She began waxing.
Once the legs were done she asked her what kind of waxing she would like on her bikini line. The woman spoke in broken English and told her she wanted all her pubic hair off. Watching her slide her pink knickers off, Sandra stood looking shocked. “Fucking hell” she whispered under her breath. She had never seen as much monkey fluff in her whole life. The lady’s pubic hairs were growing all down her inner thigh and her pubic mound looked massive. Rolling her sleeves up she started to wax the overgrown motty. The woman was screaming in a foreign language and Sandra stopped a few times to ask her if she was okay. Her client was now biting on a towel and nodding her head. Sandra could see her full fanny as her legs hitched up higher. Sandra was disgusted and she couldn’t help but stare at what looked like a chicken’s napper. The woman’s vagina looked like nothing she’d ever seen before. Sandra decided she would check her own lady garden out in the mirror later on that night to see if hers was like that. It was a disgrace.
The screams went on for a while longer and she didn’t hear her mobile phone ringing in the other room. Once the client was finished she helped her down from the bed. The woman was walking as if she’d shit her knickers and Sandra turned her head away from her as she chuckled. “What us women go through for beauty ay,” she muttered. Her client made no comment and searched her purse for the money to pay for Sandra’s services. Once the cash was taken the woman left the shop still walking in a peculiar manner.
Clock watching, Sandra pulled her phone from her bag. She hadn’t looked at it in ages and when she saw Kevin’s name on the missed calls list she panicked. Sucking on her bottom lip she knew she had to remain calm. Taking deep breaths she went into the toilet and dialled his number. Sitting on the pot she waited for him to answer. His voice was loud and Sandra could be seen holding the phone from her ear.
“Just calm down Kevin. I can’t make out a word you’re saying.” Her head nodded as a smile appeared across her face. She looked mischievous. “Orr no way, Kevin what are you gonna do, I mean Zac and that are gonna want their money from you now aren’t they?” She held the phone from her ear again and you could hear someone ranting at the other end of the line. The call ended after a few minutes. Suddenly she punched her clenched fist into the air. “Get in there! You dirty bastard. I’ll show you who can take the piss. Let the games begin” She sat for a moment just nodding her head. She could hear someone shouting her from outside. Quickly she opened the door and saw the smiling face of her work mate.
“Are you alright love? I heard shouting”
Sandra smiled. “Oh it was me moaning at Kevin on the phone.” She held her phone out in front of her to show her friend his name on the screen. Her friend smiled and left the doorway. Sandra was like a new woman now and she had a spring in her step. She wasn’t the underdog anymore and to hear Kevin upset was enough to make her smile from ear to ear.
Sandra lit yet another cig, she had been smoking like a trooper all day long. As she pulled into Maxine’s estate she felt her stomach churning like a washing machine. Once the car’s engine was turned off she sat with her head resting on the steering wheel. Her head slightly lifted as she looked at Maxine’s house. Her fingernails tapped on her teeth. Springing from her seat she opened the car door and left. “It’s now or never,” she whispered. Her face looked worried and you could see her searching her bag. Once she pulled her twen
ty cigs from it she knocked on the door.
Maxine looked sympathetically at her. She must have watched it already otherwise why was she looking so sheepish. “Come in love. I won’t be a minute I’m just sorting this woman out and then we can sort you out.” Maxine led her to the front room and as always, all the knocked off stuff was spread across the furniture. Maxine could be seen rolling all the clothes together and shoving them into black bin liners. Once she’d taken the cash from the woman, who looked rough as fuck, she escorted her out. Sandra lit a cig as she phoned Tina to ask her where the hell she was. Tina told her she was on her way and she wouldn’t be long. Sandra needed her now, her heart was pounding inside her chest and she thought she was going to pass out. Maxine could see she looked hot and offered her a cold drink. If she would have had some Whisky at hand, she would have poured her a large glass of it, after all she was going to need it.
Sipping at the orange juice Sandra chatted with Maxine. She told her the weed was now sold and they would all get payment later that night. They were now arranging a big celebration for later. After all ten grand was the kind of money Sandra had never seen in her life and she was sure as hell going to enjoy it.
Tina arrived at last. She was wearing a pink vest top and at the side of her foot you could see a large white plaster stuck to her skin. It was obvious she couldn’t wait to show the girls what was underneath it. Peeling the plaster away from her skin she looked squeamish. Once the last bit of sticky tape was off it she shoved her foot into Sandra’s face. “I’ve had a tattoo, it didn’t even hurt much either. Steven said I was so brave, as he’d seen grown men cry before when they were having tattoos. I’m a warrior aren’t I?” The tattoo was in dark blue ink and it read “Carpe Diem.”
Maxine was now stroking the design as Sandra chirped in “What does fucking ‘Carpe Diem’ mean?”
Sandra now stood to look closer and smiled. “Ya fucking mad head.”
As Tina slowly replaced the protection her voice was jolly. “It means seize the day.” Her face was smiling as she continued. “And that’s what I’m going to do from now on ladies, seize the fucking day.” They all giggled and Sandra shook her head. Tina was truly a couple butties short of a picnic.
All the doors were locked by Maxine now and she set the video camera up for them to watch the footage. Tina sat by Sandra and held her hand in a tight grip. She looked like death warmed up. Maxine now sat down and they all stared at the TV screen waiting for it to start. The picture was dark to start with and Sandra squeezed her eyes together to try and make out what was happening. She could now hear talking and recognised Kevin’s voice. There it was right in front of her eyes, her husband’s infidelity for all to see. The sex scene began and Maxine offered to turn it off.
“Don’t you fucking dare turn it off!” Sandra screamed. She sat on the edge of her chair now and bit into her knuckles. Maxine took the abuse from Sandra quiet well. If anyone else would have talked to her like that normally she would have twisted them up big time, but this woman was upset and she backed off.
The noises of sex could be heard. Tina could be seen squeezing Sandra’s arm and dipping her head away from the TV. They all listened now as they heard Tracy speaking about the baby she aborted. Tears streamed down Sandra’s face. There were no sobbing noises, just heartbroken tears gliding down her cheeks.
Once the footage was over they all sat in silence for a moment. Tina passed the cigs around and they waited for some of reaction from Sandra. It took a while but when it did come she was frothing at the mouth.
“Dirty cunt, both of them are. I’m going round to my mam’s now to kick her fucking head in. Do they think they can take the piss out of me?” Tina stood up with Sandra and grabbed at her arm.
“Don’t you dare give her the satisfaction! Your mam will only protect her, the little slag. And at the end of the day she’ll say it was just once that she shagged him. Just take a minute and think about it.”
Maxine agreed and joined in the conversation. “You can hurt him in other ways, love. Think about it, you’ve just had his grow away and he’ll be devastated. Do you think Zac is just gonna let him get away with it. They will torture his sorry arse until he pays every single penny back. Believe me. You just need to chill ya beans for a while and think about it. It’s a lot to take in, I know.” Maxine shot Tina a look as Sandra paced the front room. She paused at the window and slowly sank to her knees as if she was melting. Her friends were by her side within seconds. Sandra was a broken woman.
Like witches sat round a cauldron the three of them sat planning Kevin’s fate. Oh, they were evil bitches. Some of the things they were saying would have made them spend a long time in prison if they were ever caught. Maxine was the brains behind the discussion and she made them both be quiet as she sat back down with a cig drooping from the side of her mouth.
“What’s our motto now?” she chuckled, “Don’t get angry, get even.”
Tina smiled, she loved that saying and it reminded her of her deceased father. Tina now made the sign of the cross on her body and looked up towards the ceiling. “You always said it to me. Didn’t you dad?”
Maxine now planned out step by step how Sandra would deal with her situation. Sandra hung on her every word and liked her tactics. She was right revenge was sweet and Sandra was going to make sure her cheating husband would be sorry about this day for the rest of his life.
After sitting for a few hours Sandra picked up the video evidence. She held it in her grip as if her life depended on it. She’d arranged to meet the girls later on that night for a good piss-up. Tina was just about to decline when Sandra grabbed her by the shoulder. “And don’t think you’re backing out of it. It’s my treat. You can see lover boy later on okay?” Sandra stared at her as Tina sighed. Her friend knew her so well and she agreed to join them later on, under protest.
There was a karaoke night in The Hip pub on Monsall and everyone was saying it was set to be a top night. So that’s where they planned on going. Hugs and kisses were exchanged between them all. Sandra was leaving the house when Maxine pulled her back. “Let’s sort it girl. Don’t worry it will all turn out for the best.” She looked cunning as Sandra thanked her. Maxine was one dangerous woman.
Sitting in her car, Sandra watched Tina go in the opposite direction. She’d offered her a lift but Tina had other plans. Turning the engine over Sandra sat for moment in deep thought. The kids playing nearby were waiting for her to move as she was parked in their goal area. One of the kids was now getting impatient and you could see by his face he was getting angry. He waved his arms in the air and urged her to move.
“Little shit” she mumbled as she pulled away. Her mind was working overtime and she didn’t want to go home ever again. Her life would never be the same now and her husband had hurt her in the worst way possible. Her phone was ringing and as she glanced at the number she saw Kevin’s name flashing in the window. Screwing her face up Sandra spoke to the phone resting on the passenger side. “Oh you want me now don’t you? You selfish cunt. Every time you’re in trouble it’s always the same. Well fuck you arse-hole. I’m going to show you just how much you’ve hurt me.” Heading home she listened to the radio. Why the fuck did they always seem to know when you were upset, because all that they played on the radio was depressing love songs. She switched it off and sat driving in silence.
Sandra’s house stared back at her. The front door seemed to be smiling at her and taking the piss out of her situation. Grabbing her belongings she trudged toward it. The curtains could be seen moving and as she looked closer she could see a hand holding the net curtain back slightly. Searching for her keys she entered the house.
There he was, stood right in front of her and he looked a mess. All his hair was stuck up and he looked white in the face. He grabbed at her arm dragging her inside. “Quick, get away from the door. Zac wants to see me and he’s not stopped phoning me all day. He knows the drugs have gone missing and I’m sure he thinks I’ve had them
away.” She pulled her arm from his. Her face looked angry. “Well you need to sort it out then don’t you, instead of hiding away like a coward. Just phone him and arrange to meet up.” Sandra held her hands out in front of her. “Fucking hell what’s the worst that can happen. Just be honest and tell him the truth.”
Kevin grabbed her face in his hands. His knuckles were white as he screwed his face up. “Oh do you think he’ll believe me. He’s a fucking nutter. He could kill me. Don’t you care about me dickhead?” Sandra didn’t give a flying fuck and her face told him that. As she jerked her face away from him he lost his temper. Dragging her by the hair he threw her to the floor. Her face was pinned to the ground and held against the carpet. As he stood over her he let rip. “You’re never there for me, are you? You’ve always been the same. All for your fucking self. That’s you. The one time I really need you and all you’re doing is giving me grief.” He launched his fist into her face. Sandra was used to the beatings he gave her and just took it as usual. Once he walked away from her she pulled herself up from the floor and headed to the kitchen. Kevin could be seen walking in and out of each room panicking. He tried to speak to her.
“Do us a drink Sandra.” He stood at the kitchen door and looked sorry for his actions. Walking towards her he gripped her waist. She cringed as he kissed her and apologised before heading back into the front room. She was alone. The fridge door was now opened and his precious chocolate milkshake stared at her. Now was the time to start putting into action all the things she had discussed with Maxine.