Respect (Mandasue Heller)

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘You should have asked before you ordered it,’ Tracey argued. ‘Anyhow, you invited me round, so don’t start having a go just ’cos I’ve had a few.’

  ‘God, stop arguing,’ Chantelle said, pulling a £10 note out of her bag. ‘I’ll pay. Here.’

  ‘Wow, wonders never cease!’ Mary leaned over and snatched the money out of her hand. ‘Never thought I’d see the day when you coughed up. Best hope you didn’t disturb the moths, or they’ll be eating us alive in a minute.’

  Chantelle gritted her teeth as Tracey got up and lumbered out into the hall to pay for the pizza. Her mum had a cheek making out like Chantelle never contributed when she had been keeping Leon the whole time her mum had been gone. And she would tell her so – tomorrow, when Mary was sober.

  A loud bang in the hall shook the pictures on the wall behind the couch. Shocked when Tracey let out a terrified yelp, Chantelle jumped to her feet just as the living-room door flew open and Ricky Benson strode in.

  He paused in the doorway and looked around. Then, smirking when his gaze landed on Mary, he said, ‘Well, well. Someone said they’d seen you, but I said, nah – she wouldn’t have come home without telling me. Not when she knows I’ve been looking for her.’

  ‘I was going to call you,’ Mary said, sliding off the arm of the couch. ‘But I—’

  ‘Don’t bother.’ Ricky cut her off. ‘I can’t be arsed listening to lies – just give me my fuckin’ money.’

  ‘Tomorrow.’ Mary licked her lips. ‘I’ll get it tomorrow, I promise.’

  ‘Ain’t good enough.’ Ricky cracked his knuckles and walked slowly towards her.

  ‘Leave my mum alone!’ Leon yelled, jumping up and running at the man, the beer bottle raised in the air.

  ‘Behave!’ Ricky lashed out with the back of his hand and laughed when the boy went flying into the wall.

  ‘How dare you!’ Chantelle cried, rushing to her brother and squatting beside him. ‘Get out before I call the police!’

  ‘Oh yeah?’ Ricky stalked over and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her back up to her feet. ‘Thought we’d already had this conversation, darlin’?’ he hissed, pushing her up against the wall and staring down into her eyes. ‘Forgot already, have you? Need me to remind you, do ya?’

  ‘What is this?’ Miguel asked, walking in just then.

  ‘Get him out!’ Mary cried, rushing to stand behind him. ‘He’s just burst in and started hitting the kids. I don’t even know him!’

  ‘Lying bitch!’ Ricky spat, glaring round at her as he held Chantelle up against the wall. ‘You know damn well why I’m here. I want my money, and I ain’t going till I get it.’

  ‘Let her go and get out,’ Miguel ordered, squaring up to him.

  He was a little taller than Ricky, but he looked ill and weak, and Ricky figured he could easily take him if he had to. ‘If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of this,’ he sneered. ‘It’s got nowt to do with you.’

  Miguel still felt sick but he wasn’t about to let another man order him around in his woman’s home. ‘I told you go,’ he snarled, rushing across the room and throwing an arm around Ricky’s neck.

  Buzzing when Miguel dragged Ricky off Chantelle and they started scuffling on the floor, Mary jumped up and down, crowing, ‘Not so fucking tough now, are you? Quick enough to push me and my kids around, but you ain’t got the balls to stand up to a real man, have you?’

  ‘Shut up, Mum!’ snapped Chantelle, her stomach churning as she stood back against the wall with her arm around Leon. ‘You caused this.’

  ‘Oh, here we go,’ spat Mary. ‘Fucking goody two-shoes, sticking up for anyone but your mam. Least my Leon tried to protect me – innit, son?’

  Leon didn’t answer. Right then, he was on his sister’s side.

  Ricky had built his rep on verbal intimidation but he was nowhere near as tough as he liked to make out, and he hadn’t bargained for a fight when he’d pushed his way in here tonight. He’d expected to find Mary alone with the kids, and had intended to scare the crap out of her, because that was what he did best. Most of the scumbags he dealt with were drug-addled and feeble, and they invariably crumbled at the slightest hint of intimidation. But this crazy foreign bloke was stronger than he looked and, no matter how hard Ricky tried, he couldn’t shake the bastard off. Already exhausted, his nose bleeding, he cried out when the man raised his fist to punch him in the face.

  ‘All right, all right, I’ll go! I just want what I’m owed.’

  ‘You’re getting nothing,’ said Mary, smirking as she looked down at his flushed face. ‘And if you ever come near me again he’ll have you, ’cos he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be.’

  ‘You stop?’ Miguel peered down into Ricky’s eyes.

  ‘Yeah.’ Ricky nodded and clutched at his chest, his breath raspy and harsh. ‘I need me inhaler.’

  Satisfied that the man had conceded defeat, Miguel stood up. Hands still fisted, he jerked his head when Ricky also rose unsteadily to his feet. ‘Go, and don’t come here again.’

  Humiliated, Ricky stumbled towards the door. Pausing there, he gave Mary a hate-filled look and hissed, ‘Watch your back, bitch,’ before going on his way.

  ‘Woo hoo!’ Mary whooped, throwing her arm around Miguel’s neck. ‘That showed the bastard! Thinks he can force his way in here and push me around like that? Well, he’ll think twice before he tries any of that shit on with me again, ’cos my hero will punch his fuckin’ lights out. Innit, babes?’ She planted several kisses on Miguel’s cheek.

  ‘Stop,’ he snapped, pushing her away. ‘I no like have to fight stranger. What was for?’

  ‘Why you having a go at me?’ Mary protested. ‘I only owe him a bit of money, but anyone’d think it was thousands the way he’s going on.’

  ‘You say you no know him,’ Miguel reminded her. ‘You say he hit you and kids for nothing, but you lie.’

  ‘Still didn’t give him the right to barge in,’ Mary retorted indignantly. ‘Anyhow, it’s about time you did something for me, after everything I’ve done for you.’

  ‘You’ve changed,’ said Miguel. ‘You come here and act different. Not like at home.’

  ‘Oh, what, just ’cos I’m having a bit of fun for a change? It’s all right for you, innit? You’re out all day; I’m the one who’s locked in twenty-four-seven with your mam and dad. Youse have got me running round like a skivvy.’

  ‘Is your job. You my woman, you look after family. I’m man, I work.’

  ‘I’m no one’s woman,’ Mary retorted angrily, pushing him in the chest. ‘I do what I want, and no man’s ever gonna tell me different.’

  ‘I warn you.’ Miguel’s dark eyes flashed as he pointed a finger in her face. ‘You push, I explode like volcano.’

  ‘Go on, then,’ Mary challenged, raising her chin. ‘Hit me, if you dare. But don’t think you’ll get away with it, ’cos you’re in my country now.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, pack it in,’ Chantelle blurted out. ‘Haven’t we had enough drama for one night?’ She looked down at Leon now, and said, ‘Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.’

  For once, Leon didn’t argue. Muttering, ‘Night,’ he went to his room.

  ‘Thanks for helping,’ Chantelle said to Miguel. ‘But I’m sorry you had to get involved. It wasn’t your fight and you shouldn’t have had to do that.’

  ‘Is okay,’ Miguel said, backing away from Mary and flopping down onto the couch as the sickly feeling stole over him again. ‘I do for you and brother. Is not right have man hurt you.’

  Chantelle looked down at him and felt a bit guilty for having dismissed him as a slimy loser. He’d already shown that he had more about him than most of her mum’s previous boyfriends, and he clearly wasn’t impressed that her mum had manipulated him by lying about her involvement with Ricky. But, if the past was anything to go by, he wouldn’t be in her mum’s life for too much longer, because the better men rarely stuck around once Mary started her n
onsense.

  A knock came at the open front door just then, and a man’s voice called, ‘Pizza.’

  Tracey still had the money to pay for it, but she was nowhere to be seen when Chantelle walked out into the hall. Irritated that she was being forced to pay for food that she didn’t even want, she took another £10 note out of her bag and handed it over. She closed the door when the man had given her the change, and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Tracey hiding amongst the coats behind it. ‘God! What are you doing there?’ she gasped. ‘I thought you’d gone?’

  Tracey didn’t answer; she just stared at Chantelle and pressed herself further back into the shadows.

  ‘She’s on a speed para,’ Mary declared, walking out into the hall. ‘Just leave her; she’ll be all right once it wears off. Me and Miggy are off to bed,’ she said then, smiling when the man walked out into the hall behind her. ‘He’s got some making up to do, so try not to disturb us in the morning, ’cos it’s gonna be a long night. Oh, and I’d best take that.’ She snatched the pizza box out of Chantelle’s hand. ‘Haven’t eaten all day; gonna need it for energy.’

  Chantelle grimaced as her mum and Miguel stumbled into their bedroom and slammed the door. Then, casting a look of despair at Tracey, she shook her head and went to her own room.

  She was exhausted, but she doubted she was going to get much sleep because she could already hear sex noises coming through the wall. She and her mum were going to have to sit down and have a serious talk tomorrow. She was sixteen now, and that meant she was old enough to make her own decisions. If she decided not to go back to school when the summer holidays came to an end, for instance, then it was her choice. Just as it was her choice not to go to Spain. It wouldn’t, however, be so easy to stop her mum from taking Leon, and that worried Chantelle. As badly as she had thought she’d been doing these last few weeks, she had always loved her brother and tried to give him stability, which was a damn sight more than their mum had ever done. He was growing up fast but he was still a kid, so there was no telling what kind of trouble he might get into without Chantelle to keep an eye on him.

  As a feeling of despair began to settle over Chantelle, she climbed into bed and pulled her quilt up over her head. She had been dying for her mum to come home, but now that it had happened she was beginning to wonder if they might not have been better off if Mary had stayed away.

  15

  Tracey had gone when Chantelle got up the next morning, and her mum, Miguel and Leon were still in bed. The living room stank of smoke, so she opened the window to air it out and then set about clearing the empty bottles and emptying the ashtrays. That done, she moved on to the bathroom.

  She wrinkled her nose in disgust when first she smelled, then saw the puke that was on the toilet seat, down the side of the bowl, and puddled on the floor beneath the sink. It had to have been Miguel, and she really wanted to leave it for her mum to deal with. But, knowing it would probably never get done if it was left to her, she swallowed her revulsion, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and set to it.

  She had finished the bathroom and moved on to the kitchen when Leon came out of his room at 10.30. Halfway through washing the dishes, she smiled back at him over her shoulder. ‘Sleep okay?’

  Leon nodded and reached for his jacket off the hook behind the front door.

  ‘You’re not going out, are you?’ she asked, wiping her hands on a tea towel and walking out into the hall. ‘Don’t you think you’d best wait till Mum’s up?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘’Cos she’s not seen you for ages, so she’ll probably want to spend some time with you.’

  ‘I’ll see her later,’ Leon grunted, walking out.

  Chantelle shook her head and went back to the kitchen. She’d thought that he would be made up to spend time with their mum and Miguel, especially after they had let him have beer last night. But the night had ended with him getting a slap, so she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that he was in a mood with their mum.

  Leon pulled his hood up when he got to the foot of the stairwell and, sliding his hand inside his jacket to make sure the plastic bag was still safely tucked under his jumper, he quickly walked over to Damo’s estate.

  Damo and Acky were sitting on the wall at the side of Damo’s block of flats, and Acky gave him a dirty look as he approached.

  ‘Took your fuckin’ time, didn’t you? Where is it?’

  ‘Sorry, had a late night,’ Leon said, pulling the bag out.

  Acky snatched it off him and weighed it up in his hand. ‘Have you been helping yourself? Feels lighter to me, this.’

  ‘I haven’t touched it,’ Leon said honestly. ‘It’s probably just squashed ’cos it’s been under the mattress.’

  ‘You’d best not be a bed wetter,’ Acky snarled, tossing the bag to Damo. ‘I’ll cut your fuckin’ cock off if we get any complaints about it tasting of piss.’

  Damo smirked and shoved the bag inside his own jacket, then jumped to his feet. ‘Let’s go. We’re gonna miss all our customers at this rate.’

  Chantelle had finished cleaning and was carrying a loaded bin bag to the front door when her mum emerged from her room fifteen minutes after Leon had gone out.

  ‘Christ, don’t you ever stop?’ Mary snorted, shaking her head as she looked round and saw how spotless everything was. ‘I’m gonna make an appointment at the doctor’s, see if they’ve got any pills to cure that OCD of yours.’

  ‘Ha ha, very funny,’ Chantelle drawled, dropping the bag by the front door and wiping her hands on her jeans. ‘Are you going somewhere?’ she asked when her mum reached for her jacket.

  ‘Yeah, round Trace’s. Why?’

  ‘I wanted to have a talk,’ Chantelle said, flashing Miguel a side glance when he lumbered into the hall in his underpants, with his hair hanging greasily down around his love-bitten neck.

  ‘I feel sick,’ he groaned, rubbing at his stomach and giving Mary a self-pitying look. ‘You make breakfast?’

  ‘In your dreams,’ she snorted. ‘If you’re not coming you can make yourself a butty, but I’m not stopping in to look after you. Me and Trace have got some shopping to do.’

  Miguel muttered something unintelligible and went into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

  ‘Serves him right,’ Mary scoffed when the sound of retching filtered out. ‘He knows he can’t handle his booze, so he shouldn’t have tried keeping up with me and Trace last night. Got a good shag out of him, though,’ she added, grinning lewdly.

  Chantelle struggled to keep the revulsion off her face and folded her arms. ‘You’re not going shoplifting, are you?’

  ‘What do you think?’ Mary smirked, opening the door. ‘This wedding ain’t gonna pay for itself.’

  ‘Are you sure you really want to get married?’ Chantelle asked quietly. ‘All I’ve heard you do since you got back is argue.’

  ‘Ah, that don’t mean nothing.’ Mary flapped her hand dismissively. ‘Me and Miggy are the real deal, babes. Anyhow, best go and see if droopy drawers is ready. See you later.’

  ‘Yeah, see you,’ Chantelle murmured, disappointed that she was going to have to wait to have that talk. At the sound of yet more retching, she pulled a face and went to her room, closing the door firmly behind her.

  Leon’s eyes were swivelling every which way as he, Damo and Acky walked through Chorlton. He’d never ventured this far into the area before Damo and Acky had brought him here, and he still felt edgy about being so far out of his own territory. Damo was obviously feeling cool about it, though, because he’d been swaggering around like he owned the place since Big T had set him up a spot to deal from down on the Mersey Bank Estate.

  They had been at it for a few days now, and had made a pretty good start. But Leon doubted they would be rolling in it any time soon, as Damo seemed to think, seeing as they had to hand whatever they made over to Big T, then take whatever cut he decided to give them. Leon hadn’t seen a penny of it so far, so he didn’t know how
much they had made, but he suspected they would have done it for free if it meant keeping in with the big boys.

  Their ‘spot’ was at the far end of the estate, in a little copse of overgrown bushes facing a run-down sheltered-housing complex and several scruffy blocks of maisonettes. A wildly overgrown field stretched out behind them, beyond which ran the canal. As Damo and Acky took up their positions now, way back from the road and hidden from view by the foliage, Leon pulled his hood down around his face and scuttled across the road. He ducked into the tunnel-like walkway between the maisonettes and stood in the shadows beside the huge communal wheelie bin, from where he could see the road clearly and would be able to warn the others if he saw the police coming their way.

  It wasn’t too bad a day; the sun was shining, and there was only a light breeze. But it was much colder in here, and Leon stuffed his hands into his pockets as the chill air seeped through his jacket. He hoped Damo and Acky weren’t planning to stay too long, or he would be frozen stiff by the time he got home.

  He saw a movement across the road and glanced over in time to see two young lads heading into the bushes. They came back out a couple of minutes later, obviously satisfied with what they’d bought, because they were grinning as they raced off up the road. As more customers came and went, Leon went back to watching out for the police, but his mind soon wandered and his eyes glazed over as he started thinking about what had happened at home last night.

  Like Chantelle, he had almost given up on ever seeing his mum again, so he’d been shocked when she had walked in with her new man and Tracey in tow. They had all been half-cut, but that hadn’t bothered him because he was used to adults being drunk around him. He hadn’t been too happy about the boyfriend at first, because his mum’s fellas tended not to be too nice, but he’d soon cheered up when Miguel had given him a bottle of beer. It had taken him a while to understand what the man was saying, because his English was so bad and his accent so thick, but his ears had pricked up when Miguel had told him what life was like in Spain. Apparently, it was all blazing sunshine and near-naked girls. And, best of all, Miguel worked in a beachfront bar and had promised to take Leon to work with him so he could enjoy the view all day long. It sounded like paradise.