by Jason Ayres
“That’s better,” said Kay.
He looked terrified, like a naughty schoolboy, caught red-handed and sent to the headmaster for punishment. And so he should. Kay now had him exactly where she wanted him.
He led her through to the kitchen, where the coffee pot was brewing and the radio was playing “Fairytale of New York”. The place looked the picture of domestic bliss. At least she keeps the house tidier than the garden, thought Kay.
Having got over her initial element of surprise, Lucy was returning to her normal bitchy self, a look of utter contempt on her face as she saw Kay enter the room.
“What have you let this old slapper in for?” she said to Alan. “I don’t want her in here, spoiling our Christmas.”
Looking Kay straight in the eye, she added, “Sorry, love, it’s Christmas Eve and there’s no room at the inn.” She looked pleased as pie with this remark, smirking at Kay from her cruel little face.
“Shut up a minute, Lucy,” said Alan, moving over to join her. “This is serious.”
Kay couldn’t help but smile, looking at the two of them in their matching his and hers towelling robes. Her smile didn’t go unnoticed by Lucy.
“Oh my God, look at her teeth!” exclaimed Lucy, who hadn’t seen Kay since the incident that had caused their unfortunate removal. “You skanky cow!”
Kay didn’t mind the insult. It would just make what she was going to deliver in return that much sweeter.
“Little girl, you should listen to your sugar daddy here and shut up,” replied Kay. “Not that there is going to be much sugar coming your way in the near future, I fear.”
Lucy was silent in response, but fixed Kay with an evil glare.
“Come on, then, out with it,” said Alan. “Let’s get this over with. What do you want?”
“Well, as I said at the door, I know all about your secret Swiss bank account.”
“So you say,” said Alan, “but you could be bluffing for all I know. If you think you’ve got something on me, then let’s see the evidence.”
“Oh I’ve got plenty,” said Kay. “Let me spell out the details.”
And she did just that, giving him the account number, sort code, and the dates and amounts of the transactions.
“And just in case you were wondering, I have copies of all the documents safely tucked away,” she said. This was a lie, but he had no way of knowing that. “I’m quite sure that Nigel would be very interested to see them, what with all the rumours going around about financial irregularities. Don’t you agree, Lucy? You do work in the accounts department, after all.”
It was clear from the guilty look on Lucy’s face that she knew all about this. It was as she had suspected all along. The two of them were in it together up to their necks.
“Then there are the police, of course. I’m sure they’d be very interested to hear about all of this.”
“You fucking idiot!” shouted Lucy, straight at Alan with a look of fury on her face. “You said you’d covered your tracks. How did she find out about this?”
“Yes, how did you find out, Kay?” asked Alan.
“How I found out isn’t important,” replied Kay. “It’s the fact that I have found out is what you should be worrying about. And more importantly, what I am going to do about it.”
“If you were going to tell the police about this, you already would have,” surmised Alan, correctly. “So what are you after – some of the spoils? How about we cut you in?”
“What the fuck?” exclaimed Lucy. “We’re not giving this toothless hag any of our money!”
“Do you want to go to prison?” said Alan to Lucy. “Because that’s what we could be looking at here. Now just shut up and let me deal with this.”
Seeing the two of them turn on each other added nicely to Kay’s sense of satisfaction at how well events were proceeding.
Turning back to Kay, Alan asked. “So, how much do you want to keep quiet? Fifty grand? Will that make this all go away?”
“Fifty grand!” exclaimed Lucy. “She’ll only waste it on booze and fags. Look at the state of her. What about that Caribbean cruise you promised me?”
“For the last time, Lucy, shut up!” shouted Alan. “And turn that fucking radio off.”
Slade had begun belting out their Christmas classic, which was completely inappropriate for the moment. Shocked at being shouted at by Alan like that, Lucy complied and switched it off.
“I don’t want your dirty money, Alan,” said Kay. “You can keep it. If I touch that I’ll be as tainted as you are.”
“So what do you want, then?” he asked.
“I want a clean and quick divorce. And I want this house and everything in it, furniture and all. I did buy most of it in the first place, after all. It’ll be easy enough to arrange. We’ve no mortgage and no other complications. You just sign it over to me, and I’ll make sure all the evidence of your fraudulent behaviour is destroyed.”
“You must be joking,” he said. “This house has got to be worth about 400 grand.”
“Well, the last time I looked, you had the best part of that in your dodgy account, so I am sure you won’t go hungry.”
“You can’t expect me to up sticks and leave just like that,” he protested.
“Oh I can,” said Kay. “I’ve got you over a barrel and I can do exactly what I want.” She walked over to the fridge and opened the door. It was stacked with festive goodies, the highlight being a large turkey crown from M&S.
“That turkey looks lovely,” she said appreciatively. “I think I’m really going to enjoy that tomorrow,” she said.
“You must be joking,” said Lucy. “You’re not having Christmas dinner here.”
“I think you’ll find it’s you that won’t be here,” replied Kay. “What was it you said to me earlier? No room at the inn? Well, there’s no room at the inn here for you – either of you. You can pack your bags this morning and leave. I said I wanted everything in the house. Well, that includes the food in the fridge as well.”
“Haven’t you forgotten something?” asked Alan. “What about Maddie? She’s driving down from Durham today for Christmas.”
“I’m glad you mentioned Maddie, because that’s another thing,” said Kay. “I’m disgusted with the way you’ve poisoned her mind against me. So you are going to speak to her today and put that right. You are going to tell her I’m not the bad mother you made me out to be and that everything you said to her was fabricated out of spite. I fully expect her to be here tonight and for things to be right between us. If you do that, then I will be happy to add her to the list of people that I am not going to tell about your fraudulent behaviour.”
“How are you going to explain to her that you’ve kicked us out on Christmas Eve?” asked Alan. “That’s not going to look very good, is it?”
“Oh that’s simple enough,” replied Kay. “You’re going to do it for me. You just need to tell her that you and Lucy have decided to go away for Christmas and now that the divorce is going through, you’ve decided to give me back the house as part of the deal. Just make sure it sounds convincing, because don’t forget, I’ve got Nigel’s number on speed-dial.”
“Alan, you’re not really going to let her do this to us, are you?” asked Lucy. “She can’t throw us out like this, can she?”
“I think you’ll find she can,” said Alan, resignedly.
“But where are we going to go?” replied Lucy, barely able to grasp the reality of the situation.
“Well, I’ve got a lovely little flat in town you can have,” said Kay, barely able to conceal her giggles. “It’s got all mod cons, en suite bathroom, the lot. It even has its own in-house restaurant. I recommend the three-day-old fish cakes – a house speciality. And the landlord is a lovely chap, like a real-life Father Christmas.”
“It’ll be OK, Lucy, we’ll get a hotel for tonight,” said Alan, ignoring Kay’s sarcasm.
“But what about all our stuff?” asked Lucy, looking distraught. Sure enough
, she began to cry.
Kay nearly felt sorry for her at that point but willed herself to be strong, remembering how nasty Lucy had been to her when the boot was on the other foot. She had reaped what she had sown.
“You can take all your clothes and personal effects today,” said Kay. “As for anything else, you can come back after he’s signed over the house to me. But everything that was in here before I moved out stays – furniture, TV, you name it. And I’m having that turkey. It won’t be any good to you in a hotel, will it? Now I suggest you go and get dressed and start packing, while I make myself a nice cup of coffee with my coffee machine.”
She had missed her Tassimo machine. It would make a nice change from the budget brand of instant coffee she had been reduced to drinking in her flat.
“You’ve not heard the last of this!” shouted Lucy at her, as she got up and headed out of the kitchen.
“Oh I think I have!” shouted Kay after her. “Now what was the number of the police again? Ah yes, 999, that was it.”
Alan lingered in the kitchen a while longer after Lucy had headed off up the stairs.
“Kay, it doesn’t have to be like this. Maybe we can work something out. I do miss you, you know.” He walked over towards her, a conciliatory look in his eye. To her horror she realised he was about to try and put his arms around her.
“Get away from me,” she said. “You miss your money is what you mean. Just be thankful you’ve still got your job and your secret stash of ill-gotten cash. This could have turned out a hell of a lot worse for you. And let me make one thing clear – you and me are finished – full stop. Now I suggest you salvage what dignity you have left and go upstairs and patch things up with her – that’s if she still wants you. She looks like a bit of a gold-digger to me.”
With a look of total defeat on his face, he turned about heel and followed Lucy up the stairs, while Kay sipped her coffee in triumph. Had she done enough? Should she have pushed for more? No, the house and getting her daughter back would more than suffice. She wouldn’t be rolling in money, but her wages were due in and hopefully she would still have her job. With no rent or mortgage to pay, she should be able to manage, even on minimum wage.
This was just the beginning. She was only forty-three and this was her big chance to start over. For the first time in years, the future was something to look forward to, rather than fear.
Chapter Sixteen
December 1985
When Kay woke up on Christmas morning, all was well with her world.
Alan and Lucy had departed swiftly the previous day, stuffing what they could into three suitcases. Making sure they both handed over their keys, Kay took great pleasure in escorting them from the premises. They were arguing furiously as they left, blaming each other for the unexpected mishap that had befallen them.
They were both as bad as each other as far as Kay was concerned. If they fell out with each other, that suited her just fine, remembering that old expression, divide and conquer. He would be weaker without her to help fight his battles, that was certain.
Once they were gone, Kay set about removing all trace of them from the house.
She bagged up the remainder of their clothes in black bin liners and took them out to the garage. The same went for all of Lucy’s make-up and most of the toiletries, though she couldn’t resist keeping some of her posh Molton Brown stuff for herself. Alan had never allowed Kay to have expensive toiletries like that, so it was payback time for all his years of penny-pinching.
Once that was done she set to work cleaning the house from top to bottom. The thought of flakes of Lucy’s skin and bits of hair all over the house disgusted her, particularly when she discovered the shower tray clogged up with ginger pubes. She didn’t even want to think what part of her anatomy they had come from, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t her head.
The worst part was changing the bed. It obviously hadn’t been done for a while and Kay recoiled at the crusty yellow stains on the sheets, the source of which was obvious. It was a set of sheets that Kay had bought a couple of years before, but she really couldn’t face sleeping in them again, even after a boil wash. Stripped off the bed, they went straight in the dustbin, leaving Kay to replace them with a fresh set from the cupboard.
Remarkably, little had changed around the house in the nine months Kay had been away. It didn’t look as if Lucy had made the slightest effort to put her own stamp on the place. The vast majority of things, from the curtains to the towels, were just as Kay had left them. It took no time at all for her to settle back in.
At 4pm, just as it was getting dark, she heard a key in the lock and the front door opened. Her daughter was home.
It had been a while since Kay had seen Maddie, and her appearance had changed considerably. She had been going increasingly gothic over the past year or two, but it was still a shock to see her blonde hair dyed jet black, not to mention the tattoos and piercings she was now adorned with.
Things were awkward between them to begin with. Alan had called her daughter, as per Kay’s instructions, but Maddie was still struggling to understand the situation. Over tea and mince pies in the living room, they had a long heart-to-heart about the events of the past year.
Kay was careful not to slag Alan off, even though that was exactly what he had done to her. In her eyes, that was the worst thing any parent could do during an acrimonious divorce. She simply explained the situation as best she could. It transpired that he had done as Kay had asked and admitted to Maddie that the vile stories he had told her were lies. Clearly he was taking Kay’s threat to expose his illegal activities seriously.
Kay decided that it was time she was honest about a few things, too, including the truth about how she had lost her teeth. Yes, she had been foolish and shouldn’t have slept with a married man, but when she explained how crushingly lonely she had been, Maddie seemed to understand.
It seemed Kay hadn’t been the only one having a hard time of late. Maddie had a few tales of woe to tell about her somewhat underwhelming first term at university. These were problems that she had not felt able to discuss with Alan. Grateful to have her mother back in her life, she explained what had gone wrong for her at Durham.
Maddie had suffered a bad experience with another student who sounded remarkably similar to Glen. It seemed that making bad choices of men was something that Kay had passed down to the next generation. Empathising with her daughter’s problems, she shared the story of what had happened in her past, not leaving anything out, including the abortion. Thankfully, in Maddie’s case, she hadn’t fallen pregnant.
The wedge that Alan had driven between Kay and her daughter continued to melt away as they talked. There were more than a few tears and a little laughter, too. Most importantly, there were hugs. Mother and daughter were reunited at last.
In the evening, Maddie went out to catch up with her old school friends, advising her mother not to wait up. Remembering the boozy Christmas Eve pub crawls of her own youth, Kay imagined her daughter wouldn’t roll in until the early hours. This gave her a chance to relax and reflect on all she had achieved so far through her travels and where else she might like to go.
She had no intention of going to the pub tonight. She had only just got the house back, and whilst she didn’t imagine that Alan might try and return, she wasn’t going to risk leaving the place unattended just yet. Besides, she felt tired. The events of recent days had been quite exhausting, and she could really do with a quiet night in.
Now that she was back in the comfort of her own home, a night in would be a pleasure, compared to the confines of the cold, lonely flat. Enjoying the luxury of hot water again, she treated herself to a long, hot bath. Lighting some of her candles that were still on the bathroom windowsill, untouched during her long absence from the house, she sank down into water, relishing the warmth.
Soaking in the bubbles, she closed her eyes, indulging herself in a favourite fantasy or two, as she indulged a little of what she liked to refer to
as “me time”.
After her bath, she sat down in front of the TV and cracked open a bottle of Baileys that Lucy had kindly left in the fridge for her. After coping with the tiny portable in the flat for months, the 50-inch screen seemed enormous. There wasn’t anything on it that she particularly wanted to see, it was just the usual festive tripe. Kay was sure that Christmas TV used to be much better when she was younger. She would find out tomorrow.
A programme counting down the greatest Christmas hits of all time provided mild amusement and provoked more than a little nostalgia. Long before midnight, she fell asleep on the sofa. Waking up around 1am, she took herself up to bed, noticing Maddie was not yet home. She quickly fell back into a deep sleep.
Now it was Christmas morning and a low sun was shining into her bedroom window. Getting up, she cast a look outside into the back garden. There was not even a touch of frost to be seen, let alone any snow. So that was another Christmas that had come round without so much as a sniff of the white stuff.
It was almost 9am. She had slept naked the previous night, realising when she got to bed that she had no nightwear. Unlike in the flat, where she had frequently slept in her clothes just to keep warm, it was lovely and warm in the house so she had no problem with sleeping au naturel.
Kay remembered bagging up some nighties when she had done her big clear-out, but they were in the garage. She wouldn’t have worn them, anyway. She might have been drinking Lucy’s Baileys, and washing her hair with Molton Brown shampoo, but there was no way she was wearing any of the bitch’s clothes.
Kay had only the clothes she had arrived in the previous day which meant she was going to have to brave a trip back to the flat. Most of the clothes she had at the flat were old and worn out, but they would have to do for now. She would go out get herself some new stuff as soon as the shops reopened after Christmas, but for this morning, perhaps she could borrow some clothes from her daughter.
Leaving the bedroom, she walked along the landing, enjoying the luxurious feel of the soft, cream carpet beneath her feet. Opening her daughter’s bedroom door, she peeked inside to see that Maddie was dead to the world, still half-dressed and snoring softly on top of her quilt. She had clearly crashed out from a skinful the night before and probably wouldn’t wake up for hours yet.