The Mark

by Heather Burnside

  Maddy agreed to let her daughter watch TV for half an hour before she got ready for bed. Then she went through to the kitchen to grab herself a quick bite to eat. While she was buttering a sandwich she heard the phone ring and went to answer it.

  ‘Hi, Clare. How are you?’ asked Maddy on hearing her best friend’s voice at the other end of the phone.

  ‘I’m good, thanks. How are you?’ asked Clare.

  ‘Good. You’ll never guess what I’ve been doing today.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Clare.

  ‘Interviewing prostitutes in a run-down pub for an exposé I’m writing.’

  ‘Wow! I bet that was interesting.’

  ‘Oh, it was, and definitely a bit of an eye-opener.’

  ‘And how are you apart from that?’ asked Clare.

  ‘Not too bad, getting on with things at last.’

  ‘So, you’ve finally got him out of your system, have you?’ asked Clare, referring to Maddy’s ex-boyfriend.

  ‘What? Rob? Oh, yeah. You can’t keep a good woman down for long.’ Maddy laughed, but even to her own ears it sounded a bit forced.

  Maddy’s relationship with Rob had ended two months previously. She had only seen him for eight months but, nevertheless, he had made his mark. She had given him her all, secretly hoping that she had finally met ‘the one’ but, unfortunately, as time had gone on his jealousy and possessiveness had been more than Maddy could handle.

  To the people around her it seemed that Maddy had it all: good looks and intellect, a beautiful home, great career and a lovely daughter. But, despite her outwardly confident nature and great life, Maddy had one weakness: men, and usually younger ones.

  If she were to analyse the situation she would probably come to the conclusion that her ex-husband’s infidelity had left her more vulnerable than she was willing to admit. The upshot of that was a penchant for younger men, attempting to prove to herself that she was still young and attractive enough to bag one.

  But Maddy chose not to acknowledge her true feelings. Instead she put on a brave face while her love life lurched from one brief and disastrous relationship to another. And, in between, she feigned female liberation through a series of meaningless one-night stands, which left her feeling hollow when the stark difference between sex and love hit her over and over again.

  Clare probably knew Maddy better than anyone, having been her friend since university, but even she hadn’t fully penetrated the protective armour that Maddy wore so well. Clare was also single but, unlike Maddy, she didn’t hide the fact that she was longing to meet her Mr Right.

  ‘Well, I’m glad you’re getting over Rob,’ she said, ‘because I’ve got an idea that will cheer you up.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Maddy.

  ‘A wild night on the town.’

  ‘Sounds great!’ said Maddy, giggling. ‘We’ve not been into Manchester for ages.’

  ‘Well, it’s about time we did.’ Clare laughed. ‘We deserve a bit of fun. And, you never know, one of us might just meet someone special.’

  ‘That’ll be the day,’ said Maddy. ‘When is it, anyway?’

  When Clare named the date Maddy said, ‘Go on, then. I’m sure Andy will be able to have Becky. If not, I’ll ask my mum.’

  When the call ended and Maddy put down the phone, she had a smile on her face. Even though she suspected it would be a let-down, she found herself looking forward to it already. Maybe it would be just the tonic she needed after her ill-fated relationship with Rob.

  3

  It was lunchtime and Gilly was sitting in a corner of The Rose and Crown waiting for Crystal to arrive. He had a pint of lager in front of him and was surreptitiously smoking a roll-up, hoping the landlord wouldn’t notice it was cannabis, but the sweet, pungent smell gave him away.

  ‘Turn it in, Gilly,’ said the landlord as he passed by, collecting empty glasses. ‘Last thing I need is to lose my fuckin’ licence.’

  ‘All right, keep your hair on,’ said Gilly, extinguishing the roll-up and putting it back in his pocket.

  He kicked out his legs and relaxed back in his seat, smiling at the women on the next table.

  ‘You being a naughty boy, Gilly?’ laughed one of the women, a peroxide blonde with a plunging cleavage.

  ‘Not, me.’ Gilly laughed back. ‘I’m one of the good guys.’

  ‘Like hell you are!’ said the woman.

  They shared a few minutes of friendly banter until Crystal arrived. She looked harassed, her red hair messy and her top lopsided as though she had thrown it on in a hurry.

  ‘You took your fuckin’ time!’ said Gilly, deliberately speaking loudly for the benefit of the people sitting close by. He liked to keep up his reputation as someone who shouldn’t be messed with.

  ‘Sorry, I overslept. It was late when I got to bed cos of my last punter,’ said Crystal, pulling up a seat next to him. ‘I couldn’t get rid of the bastard.’

  ‘Well, I hope you charged him fuckin’ extra for taking up so much of your time.’

  Crystal’s forehead puckered and stress lines appeared round her mouth, displaying her discomfort. She spoke hesitantly. ‘Not really. It took me all my time to get the money out of him as it was. He was a nasty piece of work.’

  ‘Really? Well, if you ever see the bastard around, make sure you point him out to me and I’ll sort him. No one fuckin’ takes the piss with my girls!’

  He could see Crystal preen at his reference to ownership. Silly cow! Some of these women made it all too easy.

  Gilly stuck his hand out, palm upwards. ‘How much have you got anyway?’ he asked.

  Crystal withdrew a bunch of notes and passed them to him. He counted them out.

  ‘Bit fuckin’ short, aren’t you?’ he asked.

  ‘Sorry, it was a bad night,’ she said, looking down at the floor.

  Gilly’s hand shot out and grabbed hold of Crystal’s chin, squeezing it tightly and turning her face up till her eyes met his.

  ‘You’d better not be fuckin’ pocketing any of it!’

  ‘No, course I’m not,’ she said, her eyes wide with fear.

  On the next table the women kept their eyes averted and pretended to be deep in conversation even though they had seen his aggressive treatment of Crystal. So had the landlord. But none of them were willing to get involved. There was an understanding in The Rose and Crown: what went on between a pimp and his girls was his business and no one else’s. As long as his pub stayed open and the customers continued to spend large amounts of money, the landlord wasn’t interested.

  ‘You must be losing your fuckin’ touch, then,’ said Gilly, letting go of Crystal’s face before giving it a sharp slap. ‘All of the girls earnt more than you last night and they weren’t fuckin’ late either. It wasn’t so long ago that you were a top earner but now you’re a waste of fuckin’ space. Just look at the state of you! You need to smarten yourself up a bit. Try taking a fuckin’ iron to your clothes before you put them on in future.’

  Crystal covered her smarting cheek with her hand and her eyes wandered to the crumpled top that Gilly was referring to. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I was in a bit of a rush today with getting up late.’

  Gilly took five pounds from the wad of notes in his hand and flung it at Crystal, who quickly grabbed hold of it. ‘I suppose you’d better get yourself a fuckin’ drink now you’re here,’ he said.

  Crystal stood up. ‘I’ll have to give it a miss,’ she said. ‘I can’t stay.’

  ‘Why not?’ he asked, holding out his hand for her to pass him the money back.

  Crystal reluctantly placed the five-pound note back in Gilly’s outstretched hand. ‘I’ve got to pick Candice up from my mam’s,’ she said, referring to her three-year-old daughter.

  ‘Go on, then. Fuck off! I’ll see you here tomorrow, but you’d better not be fuckin’ short again.’

  Crystal hesitated before walking out of the pub. ‘Can you spare us a tenner, Gilly?’ she asked.

  ‘You’v
e got a fuckin’ nerve, haven’t you? After what you took last night! And I only just gave you a load yesterday. What the fuck happened to that?’

  ‘It’s gone. I had to pay the leccy. I got a red reminder.’

  Gilly tutted and leaned back even further in his seat, giving her a cold, hard stare.

  ‘Please, Gilly. I need to get some food in for Candice coming home.’

  ‘All right, shut yer fuckin’ whinging,’ he snapped, chucking a ten-pound note towards her and watching with satisfaction as it floated down to the floor. As Crystal bent to retrieve it, he slapped her hard on her backside. ‘Go on, fuck off,’ he repeated. ‘And don’t forget what I said.’

  She was about to walk away when he stopped her. ‘By the way,’ he said, ‘when are you seeing that fuckin’ journalist again?’

  ‘One night this week but it’s all right, Gilly, I’ll cancel it if you want,’ she said, and he could tell she was worried about how he would react.

  Gilly grinned, thinking about the stunning, self-assured woman from the previous evening. ‘No, it’s OK,’ he said. ‘Let the meeting go ahead. But let me know if she steps out of fuckin’ line.’

  He was still interested in Maddy, despite his suspicion that she might be a police officer. The woman was a looker, the sort of woman he rarely came across in his everyday life. There was also something about her that fascinated him. Her mere presence was so out of place inside the drab interior of The Rose and Crown. It gave him a weird kind of kick knowing that her work had led her to a place like this where she was forced to sit amongst all the low-life scum.

  But at the moment he didn’t know what he wanted to do about the classy blonde. All he knew was he looking forward to seeing her again.

  4

  Crystal was completely in awe of the woman called Maddy who was once again sitting next to her in The Rose and Crown. Not only was Maddy beautiful, but she wore nice clothes and had a lovely, friendly way about her. But, although Crystal was envious of Maddy, she didn’t aspire to have what Maddy had, readily accepting that it was well out of her reach. Crystal’s life experiences had brainwashed her to the extent that she almost saw Maddy as belonging to another world; a distant world that wasn’t attainable to people like her.

  ‘OK,’ said Maddy, ‘I’d like us to go back to where we were at our last meeting. I was asking you and the girls about your earnings and how much your pimp takes.’

  Crystal shuffled uncomfortably, conscious of Gilly standing at the bar. Maddy followed her eyes to the back of the tall man in a baseball cap. ‘Are you OK to talk?’ she asked.

  Crystal recalled how Gilly had condoned her meeting with Maddy and tried to relax. ‘Yeah, but can we be a bit quieter?’ she asked, lowering her voice.

  ‘OK,’ said Maddy, with an amiable smile on her face. Then she asked quietly, ‘What percentage does he take?’

  ‘I dunno about percentages,’ whispered Crystal. ‘I dunno how he works it out but I know he has most of it.’ Then, noticing the concerned expression on Maddy’s face, she quickly added, ‘Oh, but it’s worth it. I mean, he looks after us. There’s some right weirdos about and if it wasn’t for him they’d well take advantage.’

  ‘I see,’ said Maddy, scribbling down some notes. ‘What about unwanted pregnancies? Does that happen often or do the girls protect themselves from that?’

  Crystal’s jaw dropped as she thought about her daughter, Candice. Although Crystal hadn’t planned to have her, she didn’t like to think of her as unwanted because she wasn’t, at least, not as far as she was concerned anyway. It was a different matter when it came to Candice’s father though. Crystal had always known that it was Gilly, but he refused to acknowledge her.

  When Crystal had first become pregnant and told him he was the father, he had gone berserk, calling her a lying bitch and telling her the baby could belong to any one out of hundreds of men. But Crystal knew she was his. He was the only man Crystal allowed near her without using protection so he had to be the father. Every time she mentioned it to Gilly though he turned nasty, yelling at her and slapping her around, so she learnt to keep quiet and join in his pretence that Candice was nothing to do with him.

  There was no way she was going to explain all that to a journalist, especially with Gilly watching, so Crystal decided instead not to mention Candice at all, saying, ‘A few of the girls have been pregnant, those that don’t use protection.’

  ‘And what happens to them?’

  ‘They either get rid or they have to find a way of bringing the kid up.’

  ‘I suppose that must mean they’re unable to work as well?’ asked Maddy.

  ‘What, you mean, cos they’re pregnant?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Depends. Most punters don’t mind. In fact, some of the kinky bastards prefer it.’

  She thought back to that period when she was carrying Candice, and how difficult life had been, even more so after she had given birth. Gilly had made sure that she went back to work as soon as possible.

  Crystal became aware that she was letting her thoughts run away with her when she heard the journalist ask, ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘What? Yeah, course I am,’ said Crystal. ‘I’m just thinking about the time, that’s all. I need to get back to work soon.’

  *

  Gilly was standing at the bar watching Crystal and Maddy through the mirror on the back wall. The difference in the appearance of the two women was striking and Gilly noticed again how refined the journalist appeared. Her clothing was obviously quality and her hairstyle and make-up had probably cost plenty too. Alongside her Crystal looked just what she was: cheap.

  As Gilly watched he wondered again whether the woman might be an undercover police officer but, somehow, he didn’t think so. Nevertheless, he was curious and wanted to find out more. He was attracted to her, for sure, but he knew he didn’t have a chance with someone of her class. Would it be worth his while wasting time on someone who would only knock him back? He wasn’t sure; especially as he knew he could have as many women as he wanted. Sex was on tap in his line of work.

  Gilly also knew that a woman like Maddy could present him with all kinds of opportunities – from blackmail to extortion and even kidnap. There must be numerous ways of making money from her.

  At the moment he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about her. Nevertheless, when she rounded up the meeting and left the pub, Gilly felt compelled to follow.

  ‘Where you going, Gilly?’ asked Crystal as he dashed towards the door.

  ‘What’s it to you?’ he replied, gruffly.

  ‘I just wondered if you might want to come back to mine later, that’s all,’ she said, winking saucily.

  ‘Nah, not tonight,’ he muttered. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’ He answered without stopping to look at her as he sped through the door.

  Gilly walked onto the street just in time to see Maddy rounding the bend at the end of the narrow side street where The Rose and Crown was situated. As he followed her round the corner he saw her getting inside a flash blue Audi. He dashed back into the side street where his own car was parked, then quickly got in and started the engine.

  As he zoomed out of the side street he saw Maddy’s car driving up the road with three other cars between them. He quickly overtook two of the cars and edged into the space behind the car nearest to Maddy’s Audi. He was near enough not to lose her but not so close as to arouse suspicion. As he tailed the blue Audi he felt a buzz of excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time…

  5

  It was late evening and, because the roads were quiet, it took less than thirty minutes for Maddy to arrive home, with Gilly following close behind. As he parked a few doors down from the three-bedroomed detached home where Maddy’s car was parked, Gilly eyed the tree-lined road. It was around ten miles from the city centre, but it felt as if it were a million miles away from the dingy interior of The Rose and Crown, where Gilly had just spent the best part of his evening watching her.

  Flixton. He wa
s familiar with the area, and, although it wasn’t the best district in Manchester, it was still seen as desirable. Flixton was the sort of area occupied by the middle classes. As well as teachers, civil servants and bank employees, the area housed a lot of medical professionals due to its close proximity to Trafford General. Although the consultants were more likely to live in nearby upper-class areas such as Hale and Altrincham, many of the lesser qualified medical staff opted for Flixton and the surrounding areas.

  Gilly watched Maddy step out of her car and walk up the drive of the nearest house. Her confident air was still apparent but she also had a sexuality about her. It wasn’t blatant like Crystal and the other girls’; instead it was subtle, which he found more alluring. As he watched her firmly rounded hips smoothly swaying in her tight-fitting jeans he could feel himself becoming aroused.

  He switched his attention to the house, which was presumably hers. It was an immaculate, 1930s-style home with large bay windows and an archway over the wooden front door, and it was obvious to Gilly that the house had been well maintained. The leaded windows had frames that appeared to be natural wood, but which Gilly suspected was the more modern wood-effect uPVC.

  Large wrought-iron gates opened onto a sizeable, weed-free block-paved drive. At the head of the drive was a garage attached to the house, which had an up-and-over door painted a gleaming white. Glazed planters stood to either side of the front door, each housing a small conifer. There was a low brick wall at the front topped by a neatly trimmed hedge.

  Gilly guessed that while Maddy wasn’t exactly loaded, just what her circle would describe as ‘comfortable’, nevertheless, her world was far removed from the one he inhabited. She had the type of life he might have had if things had panned out differently for him.

  He was tempted to get out of the car and take a closer look at the house, maybe catch a glimpse of the inside, but he decided against it. Instead Gilly started his engine. He’d seen enough for one evening. Besides, he wanted to get back home. But at least he knew where she lived now, and he had all the time in the world to decide what he was going to do about it.