The Driver

by Mandasue Heller

  Sincerely doubting that anyone would ever find him boring – any woman, at least – Cheryl carried the coffees to the table. After popping her head around the living-room door to check on Frankie she sat down.

  ‘So, what have you been up to?’ she asked. ‘Haven’t seen much of you since you moved in. Have you been working?’

  Joe shook his head. ‘Nah. Seems there’s not much call for crap painters and decorators round here.’

  Cheryl tried to envision him in paint-splattered overalls and decided that she’d much rather see him in gym gear, all pumped up and sweaty.

  ‘My last place went bust a couple of years back,’ Joe went on. ‘So I’ve been signing on ever since.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with that,’ Cheryl said kindly, sensing that he was a bit embarrassed about it. ‘No one works round here. Well, apart from that lot in the yellow block, but they seem to think that makes them better than the rest of us – snobby tossers.’

  ‘They sound like my ex,’ Joe said with a hint of bitterness. ‘It was all work work work, money money money with her. Makes me wonder how we lasted so long when I think about it, but you just get in the habit of someone being around, don’t you?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know,’ Cheryl replied, with a soft snort. ‘Even when I lived with Frankie’s dad he stayed out more than he stayed in. But at least I got to keep this place when we split, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I take it you were living at her place?’

  ‘Yep. Her place, her mates – so she got to keep the lot.’

  ‘God, don’t you just hate all that taking-sides crap? That happened to me once, with this lad I was seeing a few years back. I got sick of him pushing me around and putting me down all the time, so I finished with him. Then he went and told all our mates he’d finished with me ’cos I’d been sleeping around behind his back, and they believed him and fell out with me.’

  Guessing from her indignant expression that it still annoyed her, Joe said, ‘I know what you mean. Angie told ours all kinds of crap about me, but I moved straight back here so they didn’t get the chance to fall out with me.’

  ‘Moved back?’ Cheryl gave him a curious look. ‘Were you living abroad, or something?’

  ‘Nah, Angie’s from Birmingham. And she already had the flat when we met, so it made sense for me to move in with her down there.’

  Cheryl’s expression told Joe exactly what she thought of that. ‘So you left your friends and family for her, then she just kicks you out when she’s had enough? Sounds like a right bitch.’

  Amused that she’d already taken sides, despite professing to hate that, Joe smiled. ‘It wasn’t all her fault. Trust me, I’m no saint. But I suppose it helps having a couple of hundred miles between us ’cos I don’t think I could be as civil as you if I had to put up with seeing her and her new fella around all the time.’

  Cheryl narrowed her eyes, wondering how he knew about her and Shay, because she definitely hadn’t told him anything about it. Then she remembered that Joe had seen Shay and Jayleen on the morning he was moving in – and the biggest gossip on the block had been right there to fill him in on all the gory details.

  ‘Molly,’ she said flatly.

  Sensing that it might not have been something that she’d wanted him to know, Joe said, ‘I didn’t ask – honest. And she didn’t tell me much ’cos she got picked up practically as soon as you went.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Cheryl assured him wearily. ‘It’s not exactly a big secret round here so you’d have heard about it sooner or later.’ Standing up, she reached for a pack of cigarettes off the shelf above their heads. ‘Truth is, I caught him cheating and kicked him out, so he moved in with her. But I’m dealing with it. Want one?’

  Joe shook his head when she offered the pack to him. ‘No, you’re all right.’

  ‘Oh, sorry, I just assumed you’d be a smoker,’ Cheryl said, sounding surprised. ‘I’ll go outside if it bothers you.’

  ‘It’s your flat,’ Joe reminded her. ‘Anyway, it’s not that I don’t smoke,’ he went on cagily. ‘Just not like that.’

  Cheryl was confused – but only for a second. ‘Ah, I get you.’ She gave him a knowing smile. ‘Me, too – but only when Frankie’s out of the way.’

  ‘Christ, am I glad to hear that,’ Joe exclaimed. ‘The way Angie went on when she caught me you’d have thought I was a raving junkie. Makes you a bit wary of mentioning it.’

  ‘This ex of yours sounds like a right stuck-up cow, if you ask me,’ Cheryl said bluntly.

  ‘Just a bit,’ Joe chuckled, liking that she didn’t censor herself before she spoke. ‘Do you mind me asking where you get yours from?’ he asked then. ‘Only I haven’t had any in ages. Most of my old mates moved on after I left and you can’t just walk up to someone on the street and ask for the local dealer, can you?’

  ‘Not unless you want your head caving in,’ Cheryl agreed. ‘They’re a bit suspicious of strangers around here – in case you hadn’t noticed.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve noticed all right,’ Joe told her. ‘I’ve had some proper bad looks.’

  ‘Ah, don’t worry about it, they’ll soon get used to you,’ Cheryl assured him unconcernedly. ‘But if you’re after something, I’ll get it for you. You should have just said.’

  ‘Yeah, right. And risk having you grass me up?’

  ‘No way are you saying I look like a grass?’ Cheryl spluttered.

  ‘If I knew what a grass looked like I’d be able to answer that,’ Joe teased, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. ‘But if you’re serious I wouldn’t mind a tenner bag.’

  Promising to drop it round as soon as she’d got it, Cheryl took the money and slipped it into her jeans pocket. Leaning back to check on Frankie again and seeing that he was absorbed in Fifi and The Flowertots on the TV, she reached past Joe and opened the window an inch.

  ‘Don’t take this the wrong way,’ she said. ‘But can I ask how come you got a place so fast if you’ve only just moved back from Birmingham? Only you’ve usually got to be on the housing list for a good five years before they offer you anything.’

  ‘I actually got back a few months ago,’ Joe said, amused that, once again, Cheryl had come straight out with what was on her mind – although her face said that even she thought she was being nosy now. ‘I stopped at my mum’s for a bit, but we had a row about the fella she was seeing so she kicked me out and I had to go into the homeless. They sorted it.’

  ‘Ah, that’s why you ended up in this dump,’ Cheryl said, having heard from friends who’d been in homeless units that it was a case of take-it-or-piss-off when they offered you a place. ‘Bet you wish you’d stayed in Birmingham.’

  ‘No way,’ Joe replied without hesitation. ‘I knew me and Angie were on the skids, so I’d been wanting to come home for ages. Just didn’t have the heart to walk out on her, so I had to wait till she’d had enough of me.’

  Cheryl wondered if this ex of Joe’s had any idea what she’d lost when she’d kicked him out, because it was nigh on impossible to find a man who was both gorgeous and nice. Round here it was either one or the other: gorgeous, but guaranteed to be a bastard; or nice, but you wouldn’t want to be seen in public with them. Shay, for example: he was fit, but he didn’t half know it, so you could never let your guard down because you were always having to keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn’t slipping some other girl his number. Not that watching him had done her any good because he’d still screwed around behind her back. But at least he was now doing the same to Jayleen – ha!

  Seeming to want to get it all off his chest now that he’d started, Joe said, ‘Angie was ashamed of me not working, so she told her mates I was a freelance computer something or other. Bit stupid considering I don’t know the first thing about computers and some of them know a lot,’ he added with a sly chuckle. ‘But it made for some interesting dinner parties – them quizzing me about RAMs and hard drives, and me talking shit ’cos I didn’t know what the hell they were going on
about.’

  ‘Dinner parties?’

  ‘Hey, if you think that’s bad, you should have seen her wine and cheese parties.’

  Cheryl pulled a face. ‘That’s so crap. You can’t just drink wine and eat cheese and call it a party.’

  ‘Oh, it’s not any old wine and cheese,’ Joe informed her with a straight face. ‘It’s got to be specially imported. And your guests have got to be really intellectual, so you can have amazing conversations about really, really interesting shit.’

  Catching the glint of humour in his eyes, Cheryl narrowed her own. ‘You’re having me on, aren’t you?’

  ‘All right, so she didn’t actually import the cheese,’ Joe admitted. ‘But the rest is true – honest.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ Shaking her head, Cheryl lit her cigarette and sucked on it thoughtfully. ‘You know, I can’t remember the last time I went to a party. You get so knackered when you’ve had a baby you end up making up excuses when your mates want to go out, so in the end they stop asking and go without you.’

  ‘Can’t be easy,’ Joe said sympathetically. ‘But you must be doing okay – your lad seems happy enough.’

  ‘Yeah, he’s a good boy.’ Cheryl smiled fondly. ‘What about you? Have you got kids?’

  ‘Me?’ Joe drew his head back in horror. ‘Christ, no.’

  ‘Not met the right girl yet?’ Cheryl ventured, wondering how he felt about girls who already had kids.

  ‘Just don’t want kids,’ said Joe emphatically. ‘Hard enough looking after myself, never mind a little ’un. Way too much responsibility for a selfish slob like me.’

  Well, that’s me told, Cheryl thought disappointedly. Then, forcing herself to smile, she said, ‘You all say that but I bet you’ll end up doing it one day. Anyway, never mind that. Let’s talk about the party.’

  ‘Party?’ Joe wondered if he’d missed something.

  ‘The one I’ve just decided to have,’ Cheryl informed him excitedly. ‘I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it before, but it’s a great idea. And it’ll give you a chance to meet everyone – stop them giving you evils.’

  ‘That would be pretty good,’ Joe agreed. ‘When are you thinking of?’

  ‘Why? Need to check your diary to see if you’re free?’

  ‘Yeah, ’cos I’ve got such a busy life, me.’

  They were both laughing when a hand snaked through the window and unlatched it all the way, letting a blast of cold air in. Glancing up in surprise, Cheryl felt a guilty blush spread across her face when Shay popped his head around the net curtain.

  ‘Shay!’ she squawked. ‘What the bloody hell are you playing at? You nearly gave me a heart attack, you stupid idiot!’

  ‘Aw, shut up moaning,’ he grunted, cocking his leg over the sill. ‘Least I’m here, aren’t I?’ Dropping down into the kitchen now, he started dusting his jeans down but stopped abruptly when he spotted Joe. ‘What’s this?’ he demanded, staring at Cheryl accusingly.

  ‘I’m having coffee with a friend,’ she told him, reminding herself that she’d done nothing wrong.

  ‘A friend?’ Shay looked Joe up and down with open suspicion. ‘That what you’re calling it these days, is it?’

  Annoyed with him for having the cheek to have a go at her when he was the one who’d gone off with someone else, Cheryl said, ‘Don’t come round here trying to dictate who I can and can’t have in my own house. It’s got nothing to do with you any more. You moved out – remember?’

  ‘Is that right?’ Shay held her gaze, his expression giving little away.

  Standing her ground, she folded her arms. ‘Yeah, it is. And if you don’t like it you know what you can do, don’t you?’

  ‘Yo, don’t be mouthing off just ’cos you’ve got an audience,’ Shay warned her.

  ‘I don’t need an audience,’ Cheryl retorted defiantly. ‘I’m just not having you telling me what I can and can’t do.’

  ‘Hey fool!’ Mr T’s distinctive voice suddenly boomed out. ‘Pick up the goddamn message, fool – and don’t make me have to tell you again!’

  ‘Sorry.’ Joe grimaced, pulling his phone out of his pocket. ‘It’s my text tone. Keep meaning to change it, but you know how it is.’ Glancing quickly at the screen, he said, ‘Oh, shit, gotta go.’ Standing up now, he smiled at Cheryl. ‘Got some mates coming round, didn’t realise it was so late. Thanks for the coffee.’

  Ashamed that he’d witnessed the argument and was obviously using his text as an excuse to escape the horrible atmosphere, Cheryl couldn’t bring herself to look at him. ‘You’re welcome,’ she said. ‘And thanks again for fixing the machine.’

  ‘Machine?’ Shay repeated. ‘What machine?’

  ‘The washing machine,’ she informed him tartly. ‘It got blocked and Joe fixed it, so I made him a coffee to thank him.’ She finished with a tight smile, hoping that he felt guilty now for jumping to conclusions.

  ‘Could have asked me to do it,’ Shay muttered, noticing the wet towels that were still spread across the floor and realising that she was telling the truth.

  ‘Oh, yeah, ’cos I’m always welcome to come knocking on her door, aren’t I?’

  Shay sucked his teeth, irritated that Cheryl was using the situation as an excuse to have a dig about him cheating on her when she was the one who’d been caught red-handed with another dude. Not that this dude was any kind of serious threat, mind. He might have a pretty face, but the cruddy trainers and label-less clothes marked him out as just another no-hope estate rat, destined to live a hand-to-mouth existence until he died in bed with a dribble of Special Brew running out of his gob.

  Catching the look that Shay was giving Joe, Cheryl’s hackles rose. How dare he waltz in here and throw his scorn about like he was God’s gift to women everywhere. He’d do well to get some of Joe’s manners, in her opinion, never mind strutting around like the big I-am.

  Thinking about manners, she realised that Shay had no intention of introducing himself so she thought she’d better do it.

  ‘This is Shay, by the way,’ she told Joe. ‘And this,’ she informed Shay frostily, ‘is Joe. He’s just moved in across from Carl and Mel.’

  Joe held out his hand but Shay ignored it and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. ‘Met the nonce yet?’

  ‘Your next-door neighbour,’ Cheryl explained when she saw the confusion in Joe’s eyes. ‘Shay kind of caught him spying on a little boy last year.’

  ‘Perving over him,’ Shay corrected her, a glint of disgust flashing through his eyes. ‘Cunt wants locking up, if you ask me. And see if he ever so much as breathes near Frankie, he won’t just get a kicking, he’ll be going head first off the balcony.’

  ‘All right, you’ve made your point,’ Cheryl admonished him quietly, wondering what Joe must be making of all this. He’d seen Shay twice now and both times her ex had been acting like a lout.

  ‘Just letting the man know what we think of nonces round here,’ Shay drawled, cracking his knuckles loudly and heading for the living room. ‘My boy up yet?’

  ‘What do you think?’ Cheryl muttered, rolling her eyes. He knew damn well that Frankie got up at the crack of dawn every day. Not that it affected him, seeing as he wasn’t the one who had to get up to see to him.

  Turning to Joe when they were alone, she whispered, ‘Sorry about that. He just gets a bit funny if he comes round when someone’s here.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m thick-skinned,’ Joe reassured her. ‘But I’ve really got to go. Will you be okay?’

  Cheryl nodded. She knew he was really asking if she would be safe on her own with Shay, but while she was grateful for his concern she was also deeply ashamed that he’d witnessed the argument in the first place. She was just glad that it hadn’t turned into one of their real fights because they could both be vicious when they got going, so it always ended up looking and sounding much worse than it actually was.

  Sighing when Joe went to show himself out, Cheryl reached for another cigarette. She usual
ly couldn’t wait for Shay to come round but she wished he hadn’t bothered today. She’d been having such a nice time with Joe, and it had been great talking to a man who actually listened and who answered questions without jumping down your throat and accusing you of interrogating him. But, even if Joe hadn’t already made it clear that he wasn’t interested in having kids of his own, never mind someone else’s, she knew that nothing could ever come of it because no man was ever going to come within a mile of her while Shay was still strutting around acting like he owned her.

  Nodding when Joe said goodbye, Shay scooped Frankie out of the playpen and got down on the floor with him to play with the toy cars. Coming into the doorway when she heard him making brum-brum noises, Cheryl felt tears welling up in her eyes. Frankie idolised Shay but the poor little sod didn’t understand that Daddy was only paying attention to him for Joe’s benefit. And now that he’d pissed on his territory and warned the competition off, Shay would be gone again in a flash – leaving Cheryl to try and comfort their son.

  Glancing up when he felt her watching, Shay said, ‘I’ll have tea, if you’re brewing.’ Winking, he added, ‘And why don’t you see if he’s ready for a little nap, eh?’

  Cheryl knew exactly what he meant by that and she felt like telling him to piss off back to his tart if that was all he’d come for. But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Much as she wanted to hate him for what he was doing to her and Frankie, she still loved him – and he knew it, which was precisely why he thought it was okay to keep flitting back and forth.

  But Shay was wrong if he thought she was going to let him carry on doing it for ever, because the longer he stayed away the easier she was finding it to wake up without him. And one of these days he was going to get the shock of his life when he came knocking and found the door firmly closed.

  But that day hadn’t come quite yet. So, sighing resignedly, Cheryl turned back into the kitchen and reached for the kettle.

  Joe thought about what had just happened as he made his way home. He wasn’t stupid; he’d sensed that Cheryl liked him. But she was fooling herself if she thought that she was ready to start a new relationship, because she clearly wasn’t over her ex. Despite acting coolly towards Shay when he’d arrived, her eyes had told a different story and Joe suspected that she’d been pleased by his show of possessiveness, because it proved that he still had feelings for her.