When she heard the beginnings of her parents’ drunken love-making in the next room, her thoughts drifted to Adam. After today, she would never tell Aiden that she and Adam were serious. He had destroyed all her trust in him now. In fact, she was determined not to trust Aiden with any of her thoughts, feelings, fears or pleasures ever again. Their relationship was destroyed as far as she was concerned.
She touched her cheek and felt a surge of anger welling up inside of her. She was tired of being treated like a kid! She was a young adult, a woman. Adam had seen to that. Losing her virginity to him had changed their relationship: they were closer; they had a connection. Adam was slowly turning into the love of her life, and she could only hope he felt the same way about her. She wanted Adam with her now. To have him there would make the memory of earlier bearable. He would cuddle up to her and tell her everything she needed to hear. He was a calming influence over her and, one day, she would offload all of her life’s worries onto him and he would ensure that things got better for her.
As she listened to the sluggish thudding of her parents’ love-making, she analysed her very first experience of intercourse. It had been painful and she had not been aroused to orgasm, but that didn’t matter, because she had felt something even more special. She had, at last, felt like a woman.
Chapter twenty-two
Laughable as it was, Duggie was furious when he had seen Kate’s cheek the next morning and Kate now relished in his concern. “Who did this to you?”
“Aiden.”
“That little cunt!” Duggie growled.
“Why?” Vivien intervened, all wide-eyed and fretful.
Kate basked in their affection. Her parents were united in their anger over her plight, fussing over her. She was in her element, until Aiden walked in the door. He took in the scene before him with wariness initially, then he felt a rising anger as he processed what must be going on. Kate was between their mother and father; their mother grasping her arm, Duggie with an arm around Kate’s shoulders, looking like the ever-concerned parents that they were not.
Vivien spoke first, not to Aiden’s surprise. “How dare you raise your hand to your sister!”
Aiden glared at Kate and, all of sudden, she found herself enjoying her parents’ affections no longer. She stared back at her brother and gulped, opened her mouth to speak, then shied away at the last moment.
“What’d you hit her for?” Duggie demanded.
He was enjoying the commotion; any chance to form an attack on his son. Aiden was totally aware that both his mother and father were using their daughter’s grief as the day’s entertainment. He looked from father to mother, knowing that they didn’t really give a toss, and the knowledge made him sick to the stomach. He actually felt sorry for the little grass that was his sister. She honestly believed this little act was for her benefit, but he knew it was really for theirs: an excuse to fight with him. He bet they had lit up inside when Kate had revealed that he was the one who had struck her.
Aiden shook his head slowly. First, he would teach his little sister a thing or two about the consequences of grassing. He replied, “Kate was taking acid with that twat Curtis Mahar.” He paused and, cocking his head to one side, he smirked, staring directly at Kate as if to say ‘fuck you’. “I straightened her out then I straightened him out.” Vivien pursed her lips and Duggie’s mouth tightened into a hard line. Aiden went on, “And as for your parents’ concern, Kate… they don’t give a flying fuck what has happened to you. It’s just an excuse to kick off at me.”
Vivien’s mouth dropped open. She had been caught out and she didn’t really know what to say. Duggie, however, flared up. Grabbing Kate’s arm, he swung her round to face him and struck her across her swollen cheek. “You stupid little cow!” he bellowed. Kate cried out hysterically and all hell broke loose.
Duggie pushed her away and he and Aiden all of a sudden lunged at each other, gripping onto one another’s clothes and dragging each other to the floor. Father and son rolled around the carpet, laying into each other with all their might. Vivien was shouting alongside a hysterical Kate as both men slammed and crashed, threw and barged each other around the small room. Aiden managed to pull himself free first, and getting to his feet, he began landing hard blows to Duggie’s ribs with his feet. Vivien cried out, but it was of no use. Aiden had seen red and he was in for the kill.
Duggie shielded his face from Aiden’s blows as he used the couch behind him to pull himself up. He managed to throw himself onto the couch as Aiden kicked him about as if he were kicking a football against a wall. With sheer determination, Duggie found his footing and bounced up into a standing position, forcing Aiden backwards.
Fists up, ready, he limped on his good leg, waiting for his son’s next assault. He breathed heavily, watching him warily and trying to predict his next move. Aiden’s fists went up, and he too breathed deeply, surveying his father, both suddenly looking as though they were in the ring together.
“I bet you wished Grant hadn’t taken the time to train me up now, eh, Duggie?” Aiden goaded, wiping the blood and sweat from beneath his nose.
“That’s enough!” Vivien shrieked.
She was ignored, as she knew she would be. “You haven’t been in a ring for three years,” Duggie retorted breathlessly.
“And you, Duggie, haven’t been in the ring for fifteen years, so let’s see who remembers their training the most.”
“Aiden, Dad, stop this, please!” Kate begged, tears streaming down her face, her hands shaking violently as she attempted to wipe them away.
Vivien reiterated her daughter’s plea but, again, she was ignored. Yet her screams could be heard distinctly as Aiden landed the first punch, spawning the beginnings of the brutal fight that was to be the motive for her son’s permanent departure from 22 Carlton House.
“I’m out of here! I can’t live like this anymore!” Aiden bellowed at his mother, tears threatening to invade his bloodshot eyes.
His nose was streaming with blood, both eyes swollen, cut and bruised. His knuckles were red-raw and bleeding, and his ribs screamed with pain. Kate was whimpering in the corner of the room. Vivien was wide-eyed, still utterly shocked by the events of the morning. Once again, she was backed against a wall: imprisoned between the members of her family, confused and frightened, not knowing what to do or who to console first.
Duggie had stormed out. He hadn’t emerged from the fight unscathed, and Vivien was sure that she would bear the brunt of his temper when he returned home later, inebriated and tremendously pissed off.
“Aiden, I…” Vivien shook her head. She was honestly lost for words. She could say that her boy deserved all that he got, but even she had to admit that, today, a line had been crossed.
Aiden stormed out of the room and up the stairs. Flying into his bedroom, he pulled out his old kit bag from under the bed and, wrenching open his chest of drawers, he pulled out his underwear, tshirts and jeans and stuffed them into the bag.
Vivien appeared at the doorway. “Aiden, what you doing?” she quavered.
“I told ya. I’m fucking off… getting out of this shithole,” he replied flatly, avoiding her eyes as he strode over to his wardrobe and began frantically packing his shirts and trousers.
Leaning under the bed, he prised up two floorboards. Vivien watched him with intrigue, not daring to voice the complaint she was about to make about the damage to her floor. He dipped his hand down into the hole and pulled out a metal box with a combination padlock and stuffed it into the top of the bag.
“What was that?” she asked suspiciously.
“Money.”
Vivien didn’t respond. Zipping the bag up, he barged past her and entered the bathroom. Opening the cabinet, he took out his toothbrush, razor and shaving gel and stuffed it into the side pocket of the kit bag. Vivien stood out in the hallway. When Aiden reappeared, she followed him back down the stairs.
“Aiden…”
He ignored her. He ignored Kate too as
he stormed past her. She stood when her mother entered the room again, her expression pleading with her to do or say something to change his mind. When Aiden reappeared, he had a can of cider in hand and his kit bag over his shoulder.
“Aiden, where you going?” Kate asked desperately.
He strode to the door leading out to the hallway. Vivien stepped aside before he could knock her again. Turning to his sister, he spat sardonically, “Now you’ll have them to yourself. Good luck!”
“Aiden!” Kate screamed, but he did not turn back.
Chapter twenty-three
Aiden pounded on the door of Roy and Gina’s flat with such conviction that Gina thought it was the police coming to arrest her father over something or other. When she swung open the door, she was initially relieved to see it was Aiden, but then she took in the state of him. “Jesus!” she gasped, her wide green eyes searching his swollen and blooded face. She pulled him into the flat and closed the door. “What happened?
“My cunt of a dad and I just had a fight… I’ve walked out…”
“Well, you can’t stay here! My dad would flip his lid!”
Aiden’s swollen eyes narrowed. “Thanks for your fucking sympathy, G…”
She sighed. “You know what I mean… I’d have you here in a heartbeat, but…”
“Where is he?”
She rolled her eyes. “Early doors at the pub, I expect. I’ve just got in…”
“Got in from where?” he asked, narrowing his eyes further.
“The shop… God, you’re bossy! Have you been taking lessons from Roy?”
Aiden smirked. “We weren’t blessed with the greatest of parents, were we?”
This small disclosure took her by surprise. Aiden wasn’t one for voicing his private thoughts and it warmed her heart that he would confide in her, if just a little.
The substandard quality of their parentage was something they had in common, something they could relate to and agree on. She revelled in moments like these, when Aiden opened up to her. “What happened?” she whispered.
“Kate happened…”
Gina frowned but then she recalled the events of the previous day and Aiden’s distress over the party. “What did she do?”
Aiden turned on his heels and walked into the kitchen. “You got anything to drink?”
“Top cupboard, on the right…”
Gina watched him pull out a bottle of whisky from her father’s extensive collection of spirits and pour himself a large glassful. “Want one?” he offered.
She shook her head. It was only 11am. “So?” she pressed.
He took a large gulp of whisky, hesitated, then announced, “I hit her.”
“Oh.”
“Then she blabbed and Duggie went off on one.”
“I can’t imagine that he’s in any better state than you.”
Aiden’s lips twitched into a smile of gratification. “I think I broke his nose.”
Gina let out a puff of laughter. Smiling fondly at him, she reiterated her point from before, “I would take you in, Aiden, if it wasn’t for me dad. You know that, don’t you?” He drained his glass and nodded. “Do you want something to put on that?” She gestured to his cut lip.
“Nah…”
“Let me look after you, at least before Roy gets home,” she urged affectionately.
Aiden stared warily at her for a long moment. He wasn’t used to people wanting to take care of him, but the thought of being fussed over for a while was sort of appealing to him. He could just relax for a couple of hours. Gina would provide him with whatever he wanted. She was good at looking after people, having had to look after her father practically all her life. He had his mother to do that for his father, stupid cow that she was.
He surrendered. “Alright, I’m yours to fuss over.”
He looked contrite, embarrassed even, and despite the bruising and the swelling, this rare vulnerability and his shy smile made him look more handsome than ever. Gina’s heart skipped a beat and she grinned. “Go and lay on the couch and I’ll get some Savlon for that lip!” she instructed enthusiastically, and, spinning on her heels, she jogged into the hallway and headed for the bathroom.
Aiden’s mood suddenly and unexpectedly lifted, and he had Gina to thank for that. Smiling to himself, he grabbed the whisky bottle to help himself to another large shot. He was just twisting off the lid when he heard Gina’s gut-wrenching scream. Frowning, he placed the bottle back down on the counter and walked into the hallway.
“G? What’s going on?” he asked, then tailed off as he halted in the doorway to the bathroom and was met with the lifeless body of Roy Watson.
Roy was lying on his back in a bath filled with murky red water. His head was slumped to one side, his tongue hanging out a touch over his bottom lip, and his eyes were closed but rimmed with red blemishes – evidence that he may have been crying before his death. A bottle of vodka floated by his feet. The bottle had been smashed in half, leaving jagged shards of glass around the rim. Roy’s arms rested on either side of his round stomach and, through the diluted bloodied water that masked his naked body, Aiden could see deep slashes in both of his wrists.
“Fuck!” Turning to Gina, he grabbed her and pulled her out of the room. She was limp in his arms, a trembling mass of delirium. “G, look at me.”
Gina did not look up. Her head drooped towards the floor as he held her in his arms. She was sobbing quietly, hopelessly, shock setting in deep and ferociously. Aiden juggled her limbs until she was facing him. Holding her up with one arm, he used his other hand to lift her chin so that he could look into her face. She was ashen and utterly bewildered. Her skin was wet with tears, her mascara-stained eyes red-rimmed and showing the strain of what she had just witnessed.
“G, we have to get rid of the body. We need time. When the authorities realise Roy’s dead, they’ll come for you and put you into care. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She did not stir. Aiden lifted her into his arms and, taking her into the living room, he laid her on the couch then located the phone in the hallway. He returned minutes later to find her sitting up, cross-legged and staring at the wall ahead of her. “I’ve called Kamal. He’s sending someone round to take care of Roy,” he announced quietly, sitting down beside her.
Gina nodded and wiped her nose with the cuff of her sweatshirt. “Suicide…” she muttered.
“Yeah, looks like it.”
Aiden placed his hand on her knee. She felt the pull of him even then, and longed for him to comfort her. Her father was finally out of her life and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that yet. Part of her wanted to feel a sense of relief, as with Roy gone, it was finally over: his abuse, his cruelty. Yet, on the other hand, she had lost a constant in her life that would never return to her.
Turning to Aiden, she whispered, “I have no one left…”
Aiden placed his hand over her damp cheek and immediately she responded to his touch, sinking her cheek into his palm. “You have me,” he said.
It was exactly what she had wanted to hear, and her heart swelled with affection and an acute yearning that only Aiden had ever been able to satisfy.
Chapter twenty-four
Roy couldn’t have an official funeral, so, eight days after his death, Gina, with Aiden in tow, had planted an unmarked cross in Upton Park in remembrance of her father, all the while trying to avoid dwelling on the fact that his body had been disposed of somehow by an associate of Aiden’s boss. They wouldn’t be able to conceal Roy’s disappearance forever, but they hoped to be able to hold off their announcement that Roy had done a runner over some large debt for the next couple of months leading up to Gina’s eighteenth birthday. After that, the authorities wouldn’t be able to touch her. So far, no one had even questioned why Roy hadn’t been seen around, but when they did, Gina had been told by Aiden that, for now, she was to tell them that he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
Having returned from Upton Park, Gina entered
her flat with silent resignation. Aiden followed her in and, closing the door behind them, led her to the living room by his hand. “Sit,” he instructed.
Leaving the room, he left Gina to remove her black suit jacket. When he returned, she couldn’t help but marvel at him. He too had decided on a black suit to mark the occasion, which apparently he already owned. She secretly wished he would wear it more often, not that there was really any occasion to wear it on a council estate, but he looked so damned gorgeous in it. Aiden Foster scrubbed up well. Really well. He looked so dashing. He wasn’t wearing a tie, so his two top buttons were undone – a casual yet smart approach that was a heady combination when applied to Aiden.
He held two glasses, one filled with whisky, the other with brandy. He handed the brandy to Gina and sat beside her. Turning to face her, he held up his glass and said, “To a new life.”
Gina smiled timidly, and, mimicking his salute, they clinked glasses and took a welcome gulp of alcohol. Gina swallowed hard, savouring the burn as it melted away all the tension of the day. She inhaled a deep breath, exhaling slowly and composing herself for what she was about to say. “I want you to move in here… with me,” she announced. It had been something she had been considering all week, and she wanted Aiden there tonight. She needed him.
Aiden frowned. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
“It’d only be until I find myself somewhere…”
Gina nodded. She didn’t want to think about that right now. “I know… but you can’t keep sleeping on Ricky’s floor and… I need you here.”
She watched him warily, fearing he might shy away from this declaration. She was relieved to see he was smiling at her; no wall to break down, no shutters going up. She smiled back. The words ‘I love you’ were etched onto her tongue. It seemed to be the perfect moment to say it, and in a perfect world she would have, but she knew she couldn’t, for fear of being rejected. She took another sip of brandy to stifle the urge.
Human Conditioning Page 16