Sarah did not see the palm of Michelle’s hand but she certainly felt it as it slammed into her cheek. She managed to stagger out of range before Michelle could land a second blow and Simon grabbed her wrist as she made to swing again.
In a frighteningly cool voice Michelle spoke. ‘How dare you speak to us like that. I’ve just helped you, been kind to you and you try to curse us. You’re pathetic. You look and smell like a rat, so why don’t you crawl back down into the sewer where you belong? If our paths ever, ever cross again Sarah you won’t find me to be so charitable. There will only be one person who dies a painful death, who leads a miserable life, and that’s you as you die a typical drug user’s death in a foul bedsit with a needle hanging out of your arm. You are truly pathetic Sarah and I hope I never, ever see you again.’
Michelle shook off Simon’s hand and stormed into the department store. He stared at Sarah, trying to control himself, to which she responded by raising her middle finger at him. He took a step towards her and then shook his head, mouthed the word pathetic at her and then followed Michelle into the store.
Sarah raised her middle finger again and jabbed it into the air behind him. Then with a wild cackle she strolled off along the street towards her home.
*
Sarah took a long time to walk home that day wanting to make sure her mother was totally drunk before going home. Eventually though she entered her house at dusk and the first thing Sarah noticed was the smell. During her seizure, her mother had lost control of her bodily functions and soiled herself with faeces. It was this smell that struck Sarah as she opened the door to the house.
Coughing a little as she walked into the lounge area, she was surprised to see her mother’s chair unoccupied. Presuming she was on the toilet she turned to go upstairs. It was then she saw her mother’s twisted body. Sarah let out an ear piercing scream and she was still screaming as she ran out of the house and she was still screaming as she banged on her neighbour’s door.
‘Bob! Oh my God! Bob help me!’ She pounded the door, pounded and pounded it, while she continued to scream. ‘Bob! Please Bob!’
Sarah noticed a light being turned on and the curtains were opened so she pounded the door harder, screaming louder. She saw Bob’s face press against the window and a look of surprise as he registered it was Sarah. He moved the couple of steps to the door and flung it open. Sarah did not appear to have noticed the door was open or perhaps did not care. Her pounding fists now landed on Bob’s chest and it was some moments before he could grab her wrists and restrain her. ‘Sarah! Sarah! What the hell is wrong?!’
She did not stop screaming though so Bob in one huge hand held both her wrists and gently, well for him it was gently but for Sarah it definitely did not feel gentle, twice slapped her across the face. This action shocked Sarah into silence.
‘Sarah, are you with me? Nod your head if you can hear me.’ She hesitated and then nodded. ‘Good. Now, what the hell is wrong? You’ve got me scared senseless and it takes a hell of a lot to scare me honey.’
Out of breath she managed to mutter, ‘My mum.’
‘Your mum? Margaret? What’s wrong with Margaret?’
‘She’s fallen downstairs. Her head. I think she’s…’With this Sarah burst into tears and collapsed against Bob.
He wrapped his arms around her and called upstairs. ‘Clare! Clare! Come down and help me with Sarah.’ Bob’s wife came down the stairs still clutching the baseball bat that she had grabbed when she heard the commotion downstairs. ‘Put the f’ing bat down and take her into the lounge while I go next door and look.’
Placing the bat behind the front door, she put her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and gently led her into their living room. Bob picked up the bat and went into Sarah’s house.
Like Sarah he first noticed the smell and he flicked on a light switch. Cursing as it did not work; he tried the switch a few more times and then gave up. He took the same route that Sarah had taken a few minutes earlier, and it was only when peering through the gloom did he see the twisted body. He took a few strides and stood over her, looking at the un-natural angle of her head.
During his time in the Marines and Special Forces, he had used his almighty strength to snap many an enemy combatant’s neck so he knew instantly that this was a mortal injury. In more hope than expectation, he checked for a pulse in her neck. He did not expect to find a beat and was therefore not disappointed when he did not. He reached up to her eyes and closed them.
Chapter 32
The funeral of Sarah’s mother was a sombre affair with only a few attendees who were mostly neighbours. No family attended the funeral, including the deceased’s own daughter.
Once the body was removed by the authorities, she returned to the house closing all the curtains. In the week leading up to the funeral she was not seen by anyone, neighbours or the authorities except very late at night when she would sneak out of her house and scamper through the alleys to the red light area to spend the last of her mother’s money.
When the police came to question her she did not answer the door. They returned numerous times and on all occasions she did not answer. They left cards asking her to call but the police were not persistent. They learned from neighbours that the deceased was a severe alcoholic and from the post-mortem they had learned that she had suffered a seizure before the fall. They presumed, incorrectly but close enough to close the file, that the seizure struck when the victim was at the top of the stairs, sending her to her death.
On the morning of the funeral, Bob pounded every door and window he could reach to get Sarah to attend the funeral. But Sarah knew when the funeral was taking place and she had not returned home that day. Instead she had spent the day taking the last of drugs she had been able to buy with the last of the money in the pipe under the railway.
Later that day she slowly walked home, still slightly high from her last hit, quietly humming to herself. As she reached the bottom of her street she approached her house from the other side of the road, checking that Bob was not waiting for her. Noting that he did not seem to be around, she skipped and hummed across the street to her front door scrabbling in her pockets for her keys. Eventually finding them she placed the key in the lock only to hear a couple of loud steps behind her. She turned around and gasped as Bob approached her along the garden path. He had been attending the wake in another neighbour’s house and had been looking out for Sarah. ‘Where’ve you been Sarah?’ She did not reply. ‘Sarah, it was your mother’s funeral today. You know that don’t you?’ She shook her head but Bob was of course not convinced. ‘Your mother’s funeral Sarah and you didn’t come. Why didn’t you come?’ Sarah dropped her eyes so she was staring at her feet. ‘Look at me Sarah, please look at me.’ Slowly, reluctantly, she raised her head. ‘I know you’ve been going through a bad time, but please, I’m here to help. Please, what can I do to help you?’
Sarah appeared to contemplate the question for a few moments before responding. ‘Nothing.’
‘You need to go and see the solicitors tomorrow and sort out your mum’s estate. I can run you down in the morning.’
‘What estate Bob? She, we, have nothing.’
‘There are some formalities you need to organise.’
‘No, there isn’t. She had no money, no insurances. The house is council. There is nothing she could have left me.’
‘Please Sarah. Come with me tomorrow. I want to help you.’
‘Bob, I don’t want your help. I just want to be left alone, totally alone.’
‘That’s fine Sarah, for now. Grief drives us away from people, but remember where I am when you’re ready.’
‘I won’t ever be ready. Please, leave me alone.’
With that Sarah turned away from him and entered the cold empty house. Slowly she made her way through it and climbed the stairs into her bedroom. She collapsed onto the mattress and suddenly tears started to run down her face. Quickly she wiped them away and reached into pocket and pulled out a
small, folded up piece of tin foil which she proceeded to unwrap. Inside was a small portion of white powder. The tears continued to drop from her eyes as she contemplated the powder until she reached across to the other side of the mattress and retrieved a small tray with a teaspoon, matches, a syringe and other items she would need to cook up a hit. And that’s exactly what she did, cooked up a hit with her last portion of heroin.
*
The next day Sarah searched through her bedroom trying to find anymore heroin that she could take. Quickly though the usual withdrawal symptoms descended upon her and by evening had become unbearable. Now hardly able to think with the cravings driving her to the brink of insanity, she searched through the house opening every drawer and cupboard, lifting and moving every chair and table, hunting for any money that might still be in the house. All she was able to find were a few coppers under the cushions of a chair in the living room.
Cursing she went back upstairs and rooted around in her drawers until she found some lingerie that fitted her perfectly a few months ago, but now hung off her body like old rags. Her breasts that used to fill the bra and be pushed up into an attractive cleavage now sagged against its cups. From the back of her wardrobe she took a very short skirt and slid this on. Again, the skirt used to fit her exactly, showing her hour glass figure off and her long sexy legs. Now it sat on her skinny hips merely accentuating the thinness of her body. For a top she chose a simple white blouse and then made her way into the bathroom where she still had a few cosmetics left over.
To hide her pale, gaunt, yellowy skin and the dark circle around her eyes, she thickly plastered the make up onto her face, finishing it off with a bright red lipstick. Looking deeply into her once sparkling brown eyes in the cracked mirror, she laughed and said out loud that she looked sexy. Not bothering with a jacket, she left the house hiding her key under a pot in the garden. From here she walked quickly into a specific area of the town.
It was dark when she reached the area of town and she stood on a corner waiting expectantly. Shortly she was joined by a few other women who stared at her until one of them approached.
‘You new honey? Never seen you before.’
‘Fuck off or I’ll chop off your face!’
‘What?! I’m only trying to be friendly honey.’
‘Fuck off and leave me alone!’
‘Well fuck you bitch!’
It was not long before Sarah noticed some of the women being approached by men in cars. Some of them got in and were driven away to return usually about half an hour later. One of the women Sarah noticed was very popular and she kept on being picked up and dropped off throughout the night.
After an hour of standing on the street Sarah was about to give in when she noticed a car approach so she decided to wait and see what happened. Slowly the car crept along the kerb until surprisingly it stopped next to Sarah. The window slid down and Sarah did what all the other girls had done and leaned through the window, smiling her best smile.
‘You’re new.’
‘Yes, I am. New and fresh and ready for you.’
‘How much?’
‘For what?’
‘What do you mean for what? For sex. How much?’
‘Fifty pounds and I’ll blow your mind!’
‘Fifty pounds?! I could drive into the city and get myself a quality whore in a brothel for that much, not some drug addicted dirty whore!’ He started to drive off.
Sarah did not give up that easily though. ‘Wait, wait! What do you usually pay?’
‘I won’t go no higher than twenty-five for half an hour with a street walker.’
‘Okay. Twenty-five it is then.’
With that Sarah flung open the passenger door and flopped herself down into the passenger seat. ‘Where do you want to go?
‘Well I’m not going to my place. I don’t think my wife would like a threesome with a dirty whore. I presume you’ve got a room somewhere like all the other women?’
‘I’ve got a house. Will that do?’
‘Fine. Where is it?’
Sarah gave him directions and quickly they arrived at her house. Taking his hand, she led him into the garden picking up the key as they made their way past. As soon as they entered the house Sarah removed her clothes and stood in front of her customer in just her lingerie, then she took him by the hand and led him upstairs.
After they had finished he dropped her off back at the place he picked her up from and for the rest of that night she was picked up by another two men. These two men came back the next night and soon Sarah had a regular clientele who came to her near enough every night. She worked every night for a month, usually being used for sex three times a night. Sometimes she was busier, other times she was quieter. All of her earnings, bar buying a little food, were spent on heroin.
Chapter 33
While Sarah was spending her thirtieth night in a row sexually pleasuring another random stranger, Michelle was at Sally’s mansion the night before they were due to fly to Nice on Sally’s father’s jet. It was a gloriously perfect early summer’s evening and they were sat on a balcony overlooking the gardens, sipping champagne, chatting idly about anything and everything. ‘Just remind me Sally, where are we going?’
This was the fifth time one of them had asked this question to the other in the last hour but neither of them was tiring of answering it. ‘We’re flying to Nice in my dad’s jet. From there we are going to get a helicopter to Saint-Tropez where my dad’s yacht is moored.’
‘Bliss.’
‘I haven’t finished yet! We’re spending two nights cruising around the Med before returning to Saint-Tropez to pick up my dad. Then we’re making our way to our berth right next to the track in Monaco harbour just in time for practice on Friday!’
‘Bliss!’
‘I haven’t finished yet! Friday we have access to the garage so we’ll meet the drivers. Friday night we have numerous parties to attend. Then on Saturday we have access to the garage again and then Saturday day, after qualifying, we get to drive sports cars around the track! Saturday night, yes, you’ve guessed it, more parties and then a private function in the Casino where I’m going to persuade my daddy to let me blow a million pounds on black!’
‘Bliss!’
‘I haven’t finished yet! On the Sunday we have track access to the grid and then before the race we will whisked back to the yacht and we’ll watch the race from the comfort of my luxurious yacht! Sunday night we’ll attend the after race party and be surrounded by the drivers and all the teams!’
‘Bliss! Put your father’s jet on standby and let’s go now!’
‘Minor problem. The jet is still in Madrid where my father is and only gets back early tomorrow morning! Sorry honey!’
‘Damn! I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait! Let’s buy another jet and we can go now!’
‘My dad does allow me some leniency with my bank account, but even he would draw the line at me buying a jet!’
‘Damn again! Remind me, where do our respective boyfriends think we’re going?’
‘Your aunt’s hen party in Benidorm!’
‘Suckers! I almost feel guilty about lying to them. Almost!’
‘Me too. More champagne darling?’
‘Oh go on then darling, you’ve persuaded me!’
Sally topped up both their glasses and as they relaxed back into their loungers they both let out a sigh of contentment while they watched the sun slowly sink below the distant horizon. The night descended so they both reclined even further and in the clear evening sky they watched for shooting stars and passing satellites while sipping their champagne and dipping fresh strawberries into fresh whipped cream.
Soon though the temperature dropped and even the cashmere wool blankets that a maid brought them could no longer keep them warm, so they retired to one of the rooms in the mansion where they finished the bottle of champagne, both of them feeling tipsy when they had finished it. Stumbling and giggling their way through the hou
se, they reached their respective bedrooms and called their boyfriends before eventually they both fell into a restless, excited sleep.
Early the next morning a maid woke them both who helped them finish packing and preparing for their journey. Exactly on time Alfred summoned them down to the Rolls-Royce which took them on the short drive to the private airfield where the jet had just arrived back from Madrid.
It was being refuelled and from a window of the car Sally saw her father walking towards the waiting helicopter. As he saw the Rolls approach he stopped and started to walk towards them. Before the car had stopped moving Sally and Michelle both leapt out and ran the short distance to where he was stood. ‘Daddy!’ shouted Sally and she leapt into his arms. He swung her round a few times as she kissed his cheeks. When he put her down Michelle threw her arms round him and planted a few kisses on him too.
‘Thank you so much for allowing us to go with you Mr. Gallagher!’
‘Nonsense. I couldn’t think of two people I’d rather spend my time with!’
‘Thank you anyway daddy. We can’t wait to see you in Saint-Tropez!’
‘Me too angel, but I need to go now and close this deal or I won’t be able to come at all!’
‘Sod the business and come now!’ Sally stamped her foot and for a fleeting moment the I-want-line appeared on her forehead.
‘If I sodded the business there would be no trips to Monaco because we’d be bankrupt!’
Everything to Nothing Page 31