by D. S. Butler
What was the crazy boy talking about now? “That’s ridiculous. Don’t be stupid, Georgie.”
Jimmy smiled cockily and annoyed Trevor further. He didn’t like the way Jimmy Diamond acted. He was an orphan, and everybody knew his mother had been killed. It was also common knowledge that his nan was a drinker, so why did he think he was something special?
“Georgie is right. Your dad gave me a job after school, washing the motors,” Jimmy said, keeping that infuriating smile on his face.
Trevor narrowed his eyes. “That’s not true.”
There was no way his father would give Jimmy a job here at the workshop. If he needed somebody to wash the motors, surely he would have asked Trevor. Why would he give a job to this orphan boy and ignore his own son? It didn’t make sense. Jimmy Diamond had to be making it up.
“It is true! Georgie said stamping his foot and then picking up the wet sponge and throwing it at Trevor. “And I’m n…not stupid!”
Trevor’s jaw dropped open. He couldn’t believe it. Georgie had just thrown something at him. Georgie, who had always worshipped the ground he walked on, was now talking back to him. Trevor shook his head in disbelief.
“Watch yourself, Georgie. Pick that up,” he said, pointing to the wet sponge that had narrowly missed him.
“Pick it up yourself,” Georgie said, grinning, but Trevor noticed he took a step closer to Jimmy.
The little sod. After everything Trevor had done for him. Trevor reached down, picked up the wet sponge and threw it as hard as he could at Georgie. It hit his little brother right between the eyes, and Georgie let out a scream.
He was shocked rather than hurt. After all, it was only a wet sponge, but unfortunately for Trevor, his father picked that moment to return to the workshop.
“Trevor, leave your little brother alone,” he roared.
Trevor turned to protest his innocence, but when he saw his father’s angry face, he gave up before he’d even opened his mouth. There wasn’t any point. His father never took Trevor’s side in anything.
Hurt and confused, Trevor turned away, preparing to go home, but as he did so, he caught sight of the smirk on Jimmy Diamond’s face, and it filled him with rage. “What’s he doing here?”
“We’ve been washing the cars,” little Georgie lisped.
Their father didn’t contradict Georgie, and Trevor realised his little brother had been telling the truth. Their father had chosen some horrible little orphan boy to work for him over Trevor.
Trevor bit down on the inside of his mouth so hard he tasted blood.
He hated his father, and he hated Jimmy Diamond.
He turned to go but then remembered the purpose of his visit. “Mum wanted you to pick up some more of her tablets.”
His father didn’t even bother to reply but shook his head in disgust.
As Trevor turned and walked away, he could hear little Georgie and Jimmy laughing as they picked up the buckets of water, and resentment burned deep within him. He had no idea what he had done to deserve a father that hated him so much, but he was determined not to care. He’d show him one day. He’d show all of them that Trevor Carter was worth more than all of them put together.
* * *
Dave Carter watched his eldest son walk away with a heavy heart. He found it so difficult to communicate with Trevor. Little Georgie was a different story. He was sweet and naive, and Dave couldn’t help feeling protective of him. Trevor hadn’t had it easy, though, and Dave would have liked to have had a better relationship with his son.
When he was younger, Trevor had gone through a phase where he refused to talk to anyone, and Dave had found it very hard. Although Trevor grew out of it, he was never a talkative boy, and Dave found it difficult to work out how he was really feeling.
It seemed like every time he spoke to Trevor these days, he was telling him off for something.
Dave was absolutely furious with Sandra for sending their son to ask him to get her more pills. They’d had a huge bust up last night over her constant pill popping. It had to stop. It had reached the point where Dave was doing most of the jobs around the house, including preparing all the family meals. He didn’t have much time, and he had never been talented in the kitchen, so both Georgie and Trevor were suffering.
He’d employed old Betsy to come in and give Sandra a hand with the housework, but the main reason for giving her the job was so she could keep an eye on his wife. Dave was terrified he would one day come home and find Sandra had overdosed. According to Betsy, Sandra did nothing all day but sit at the kitchen table and stare into space.
Dave ran a weary hand through his hair and turned to watch Georgie and Jimmy packing up their cleaning gear. He couldn’t help smiling in response to their happy laughter. He was very grateful that Jimmy Diamond had befriended Georgie, both boys hadn’t had the best start in life.
“The motors are all inside now, boss. Shall I lock up?” Big Tim asked as he approached Dave holding the keys.
Dave held out his hand. “No, don’t worry. I’ll lock up today. How did you enjoy your first day at the workshop?”
Big Tim looked at him through bleary eyes and nodded. “It was good, boss.”
He handed Dave the keys, said goodbye and then headed out of the yard. When Tim had approached him for a job, Dave had been in two minds about it. On the one hand, there was no doubt that Tim was past his best. Physically, he was still intimidating. But mentally, he had lost his edge. Dave had decided to take him on because of his past experience with Martin Morton. He was sure one day it would come in handy.
Martin had only a couple of years left on his sentence. If he was sensible, when he got out, he would keep a low profile. Dave was more than happy to let the Mortons run their small operation on the fringes of his turf. But Martin Morton had never been sensible. Dave knew he would have a battle on his hands when Martin was released. The man had a huge ego and prison wouldn’t have changed that.
When Martin was out, Dave had no doubt he would try to reclaim this corner of the East End. But Dave was prepared and was building up his defences.
A key part of that was to sabotage the current Morton operation. It was a shame. They had stayed within their boundaries and hadn’t caused him any aggro, but Dave had been at this business for a long time, and he knew the best defence was an early attack when the enemy were least expecting it.
* * *
Trevor left the workshop and stormed home. He was furious with his little brother and his father, but the person who had him really seeing red was Jimmy Diamond. Why was Jimmy hanging around their family anyway? He didn’t have his own family, and now he was trying to steal Trevor’s.
He let himself in through the front door and wandered through to the kitchen. He wanted to tell his mother everything that had happened and yearned for her to put her arms around him and tell him everything was all right. But when he walked into the kitchen, she was sitting beside the table with her head in her hands. Her hair was askew, and her face was red and blotchy because she never bothered to fix her face in the mornings anymore. When Trevor was younger, his mother used to be proud of her appearance and would never leave the house without applying some face powder and lipstick. These days she just didn’t bother to leave the house. Sometimes if she remembered, she would send Trevor to the shops and would ask him to help fix dinner. Most of the time now, though, his father prepared the meals.
Trevor stomped up to the kitchen sink and made himself an orange squash. His mother didn’t even look up.
Sometimes, he tried to convince himself he didn’t care. It was nice not to have his mother nagging him all the time. He could pretty much do whatever he wanted after school as neither of his parents cared, but today it all felt a bit too much, and as Trevor looked at his haggard mother, he felt his eyes brimming with tears.
He rubbed his eyes furiously. He would not cry. He wasn’t a baby.
He had a lump in his throat, which made it hard to swallow, so he poured the rest
of his orange squash away and then walked out of the kitchen, hoping his mother might notice and say something to him. But she didn’t.
All at once, Trevor felt he had to get out of the house. He didn’t want to be reminded of how much his parents couldn’t stand to look at him. It had to be because of Lillian. They blamed him for recovering when his poor sister had died.
He dashed out of the front door, slamming it behind him.
He hated feeling helpless, and tried desperately to think of something that would make him feel better. Then Trevor smiled. He knew exactly what would cheer him up. He would lie in wait for Jimmy Diamond and make the boy pay.
Chapter 25
Trevor quickly made his way up along Narrow Street. He hoped he hadn’t missed Jimmy. They’d been about to pack up when he left the workshop so Jimmy could be home already. Trevor’s hands curled into fists, and his fingernails dug into his palm. He needed a release, somewhere to channel all his anger, and right now, his fist hitting Jimmy Diamond’s face was the only thing that would make him feel better.
At the end of the street, he leaned back against the brick wall. There was no one else about apart from two little boys playing with some kind of home-made wagon attached to a piece of string.
He peered around the corner. There was no sign of Jimmy yet. Trevor chewed on a fingernail. If he didn’t manage to sort it today, he would have to deal with him tomorrow. Jimmy needed to be put back in his place.
As Trevor remembered the cocky look on Jimmy’s face, he gritted his teeth. He wanted to turn that cocky smirk into a look of fear.
He heard Jimmy coming before he saw him. He was chattering away, and so Trevor poked his head round the corner and saw to his annoyance that Jimmy was walking towards him with little Georgie.
Georgie should have gone straight home. Jimmy Diamond was influencing everyone, and not in a good way as far as Trevor was concerned.
He kept himself hidden around the corner, so he could jump out and surprise Jimmy. He didn’t really want to give Jimmy a battering in front of little Georgie, but it wasn’t his fault. If Georgie wanted to hang around with Jimmy, he didn’t deserve Trevor’s protection anymore.
He held his breath as Jimmy and Georgie got closer, and finally when they were only a couple of yards away, he made his move. He stepped on the pavement in front of them, spread his legs and folded his arms across his chest as he stared down at the youngsters.
“Get home, Georgie. Now.” Trevor didn’t often shout at Georgie because he was a silly little baby and would cry when people raised their voices, but now Trevor was too annoyed to care.
Georgie’s lower lip wobbled. “Why are you s…shouting at me?”
“Because you’re a stupid little idiot. Go home!”
Georgie smothered a sob, and Jimmy Diamond put a hand on the little boy’s shoulder. He was in the same year as Georgie at school, but Georgie was very small for his age. Seeing Jimmy trying to comfort his little brother when it wasn’t his place to do so made Trevor furious.
“Don’t call him stupid. He doesn’t like it,” Jimmy said.
That made Trevor see red. How dare this little upstart tell him how to speak to his own brother?
Trevor strode forward and shoved Jimmy firmly in the chest, making him stagger backwards. “Don’t you dare tell me how to talk to my brother. I’ll talk to him how I like.”
“No, Trevor, don’t!” Georgie wailed, watching his older brother grab a handful of Jimmy’s shirt.
But Trevor barely heard him. All he could see was Jimmy’s mocking, dark blue eyes. If he looked scared or remorseful, Trevor would have probably let him go, but he didn’t.
Not flinching, Jimmy met Trevor’s gaze as though he wasn’t bothered in the slightest that the older boy was about to give him a beating.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jimmy asked. “What have I done to make you so angry?”
Trevor had never been much of a talker, and he’d much rather let his fists do the talking. Jimmy questioning him added to his anger. Too many thoughts were rushing around in his head, and he couldn’t think straight. All he knew was that his parents didn’t like him, and now even his simple little brother was taking somebody else’s side over Trevor’s.
He raised his fist and brought it down hard on Jimmy’s face. He’d been aiming for his nose, but Jimmy turned his head just in time, and Trevor’s knuckles grazed his cheekbone.
Jimmy’s dark blue eyes didn’t look so cocky anymore. They blazed with anger. Instead of backing away from the fight, he pushed up close and brought his forehead down hard on the bridge of Trevor’s nose.
Dazed, Trevor staggered, feeling very unsteady on his feet. The street seemed to swim before his eyes, and he could hear Georgie’s voice echoing from far away.
He leaned back on the wall and sunk down until he was sitting on his backside.
Holding his hands to his nose, he realised he was bleeding. The sodding bastard had head-butted him. He blinked up at Jimmy through watery eyes. It was so unfair. He hadn’t been expecting a dirty fight.
“What did you do that for?”
Georgie kneeled down beside his brother and tried to wipe some of the blood away with the corner of his shirt. “Oh, no, you’re bleeding.”
Trevor pushed his brother’s hands away and glared up at Jimmy.
Jimmy stepped forward and held out his hand, offering to help Trevor to his feet. “You did start it, Trevor.”
“Piss off, you horrible little orphaned bastard,” Trevor said spitefully.
Jimmy let Trevor’s words roll off his back and shrugged. “Suit yourself,” he said, withdrawing his hand and putting it in his pocket. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Georgie.”
Jimmy turned and left Trevor sitting on the pavement feeling very hard done by.
He glared at Jimmy Diamond’s back as he walked away and swore he’d get his own back on the little bastard one day soon. He turned and realised that Georgie had stuck by him. His little brother’s eyes were red and watery.
“Are you all right, Trevor? I’m sorry you g…got hurt.”
Trevor felt a rush of warmth towards his little brother, at least the silly little sod had stuck by him. He reached out to put his arm around Georgie’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “I’m fine. Let’s get you home.”
* * *
As Jimmy Diamond walked away, he rubbed his cheek. He would have one hell of a bruise tomorrow thanks to Trevor. He didn’t understand what he had done to the boy to make him hate him so much, but he guessed Trevor was a little jealous of his new job at the workshop. He didn’t think Trevor’s blow had drawn blood, but just in case, he didn’t want to go straight home. His nan would have kittens if she saw him in this state.
She had been trying to stay off the drink so hard over the last few days, and Jimmy didn’t want to give her any reason to turn back to the bottle. He thought of popping to Bobby Green’s house and asking his mother if she had any antiseptic, but word would probably get back to his nan if he did that.
As he turned into Whitethorn Street, he realised he wasn’t far from Linda’s house. He was still a little disappointed that Linda hadn’t felt he was old enough to be trusted with whatever she knew about his mother, but he was sure Linda would have antiseptic cream, and she wouldn’t go running to his nan.
He turned right, heading into the narrow alley behind the row of houses. He chose that route because he wouldn’t run into anybody he knew. He counted the backyards as he walked past the individual houses. He knew Linda’s was the seventeenth house in the row. As he got closer to her house, he heard the sound of a disturbance.
There was a lot of banging and what sounded like a woman screaming. Jimmy quickened his step.
When he realised the noise was coming from Linda’s house, his chest tightened.
He didn’t bother to call out. Instead, he unlatched the gate to the backyard and rushed across to Linda’s back door. What he saw in the kitchen made him gasp in horror.
&nbs
p; Linda was on her hands and knees, and in front of her, was a broken plate and what looked like the remains of dinner. Linda’s brute of a husband kneeled over her, clutching her hair and forcing her head down into the food on the floor.
Neither of them had noticed Jimmy’s arrival.
“Eat it, you silly bitch. When I come home, I expect a decent meal on the table, not this muck, and if you weren’t gallivanting off all day, you’d have time to mop the bleeding floor.”
Linda sobbed and tried to pull away from her husband, but he held her too tightly.
Jimmy couldn’t stand it anymore. “Get off her!” he screeched and ran at Linda’s husband with his fists held high.
With a roar, Linda’s husband loosened his grip on Linda’s hair and stood up. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Jimmy Diamond, and if you touch her again, I’ll kill you.”
As Geoff took a menacing step towards Jimmy, Linda scrambled to her knees and pushed herself in front of Jimmy, protecting him. “No, you leave him alone, do you hear me?”
Geoff gave a grunt of disgust. “Clean this place up. It looks like a pigsty.”
He turned and stormed out of the kitchen, heading up the passage and opening the front door.
Jimmy watched him go with his heart in his mouth. When Geoff had left and slammed the door behind him, Jimmy helped Linda to her feet.
He felt like he had hundreds of words jammed at the back of his throat, things he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure what to say first. Linda’s left eye was red and swollen, and she was going to have an even worse bruise than Jimmy tomorrow. Her hair was all messed up from where Geoff had pulled it, and her eyes were red from crying.
Linda wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and then smiled at Jimmy. “It looks like you’ve been in the wars as well. Let me get the antiseptic lotion.”
Silent, Jimmy watched as Linda bent down and pulled out a little first-aid tin from underneath the sink. She placed it in on the kitchen table and pulled out the antiseptic lotion. She put the bright yellow iodine onto a piece of cotton wool and then gestured for Jimmy to come closer.