by D. S. Butler
Linda had a feeling that Jimmy had given in too easily. Was Jimmy only trying to reassure her because she was getting upset?
“So you’re going to stay away from him from now on?”
Jimmy nodded. “I’m sorry for making you worry about me. I know it’s the last thing you need right now.”
Linda smiled, feeling relieved. She was glad she’d managed to persuade the boy to stay away. No doubt he would be curious about his father, and the fact that he’d just been released from prison had come as a major shock.
Linda felt a responsibility towards the boy and wanted to keep him safe. She decided that when Mary got out of hospital, she would do her best to persuade her to take Jimmy back to Romford.
* * *
On Saturday, Ruby’s father was heading to his mother’s house again, and she decided to join him. Although she was enjoying having her father at home, she had recently become aware of some of his habits and noticed the odd way he treated people.
Ruby was old enough now to see that her father and her grandmother had a very strained relationship. Their last visit to Grandma Violet’s house had been awkward, to say the least, and they were only returning so soon because Martin had promised to pop in and give his mother some money.
Ruby thought her grandmother really only wanted her son to sit and listen to her and show her a little respect, but Ruby’s father didn’t seem to be able to do that. On their last visit, he had lost his temper and ended up promising her money, thinking that that would solve everything. He was nothing like Uncle Tony, who would listen to Grandma Violet waffle on for hours.
Ruby wondered if her father knew what Grandma Violet really wanted from him was time and conversation, or whether he really didn’t understand.
She had noticed he seemed completely oblivious to other people’s feelings and didn’t care if he upset anybody.
Like that boy, Jimmy Diamond. Ruby could still picture the look on the poor boy’s face as her father had laid into him. There really hadn’t been any reason to be quite as cruel or callous as her father had been. The boy had just made an honest mistake. He’d listened to the gossips just as Ruby had done herself when she’d been teased in the playground as a child.
Ruby couldn’t help feeling sorry for Jimmy. Although her father hadn’t been around much while she’d been growing up, at least she’d had a father.
Grandma Violet was all smiles when they turned up. She allowed Ruby to kiss her heavily-powdered cheek and ushered them into her front room.
Ruby always felt like she had to be on her best behaviour when she visited her grandma, and she always made sure to be polite and ask how her grandma was feeling, sometimes listening to her grandma moan on about her bunions for half an hour out of politeness, but her father just didn’t do that sort of thing. He was blunt to the point of rudeness.
When Violet launched into one of her long-winded descriptions of her ailments, Martin fished out an envelope full of cash from his jacket and set it down on the coffee table. “Stop complaining, Mum. You’re giving me a headache.”
The change in Grandma Violet was instantaneous. Her face pinched and screwed up into a scowl, and her eyes narrowed. She actually looked more like her son than ever when she did that.
Ruby felt a shiver of apprehension. She had a feeling things were not going to end well today.
“Well, that’s charming, that is. What a way to talk to your poor old mother! I’ve stuck by you through thick and thin, and when I tell you about my struggles, you act like I’m boring you. You ungrateful little sod.”
Martin turned his cool gaze on his mother. “I’m busy, Mum. I’ve got a lot on today. We only popped round to give you a few quid.”
That seemed to irritate Grandma Violet even more. She looked scandalised as she glared angrily down at the envelope on the table.
“It takes more than handouts to be a proper son, my boy. You could take a leaf out of your brother’s book.”
Ruby held her breath. It was really going to kick off now. Tony had always been his mother’s favourite.
Martin stood up. “You always take Tony’s side. But I don’t see him handing you an envelope full of cash.”
Her grandmother was really losing her temper now. Her mouth puckered up, and her cheeks flushed scarlet as she slapped her hand on the arm of the armchair.
“Get out! Get out! And take your blood money with you. I don’t want it.”
Ruby stood up and made a half-hearted attempt to smooth things over. “You don’t mean that, Grandma. Dad wanted to come to see you. But he’s very busy at the moment.”
Ruby soon wished she hadn’t spoken when her grandmother turned her furious glare on her. “That’s the problem with your father, Ruby. He’s always too busy for his family. And one day it will be his downfall. Mark my words.”
Her father gave a grunt of disgust and then reached down, scooping up the envelope full of money. “You’d better stop harping on, or I’ll cut you off without any money.”
Violet reached down and picked up her teacup and then flung it at her son’s head. “Get out!”
Her father ducked just in time as the cup smashed against the wall. Ruby could see there wasn’t much chance of her smoothing things over when feelings were running so high, so she bolted for the front door. Her father followed with a swagger.
As she opened the door, she turned to her father and asked, “You’re not really going to cut her off, are you, Dad?”
“She’s a crazy old bat,” Martin muttered. “I’ll cut her off until she learns to talk to me with a bit of respect.”
As they walked back to the club, Ruby gently tried to suggest how her father could smooth things over with Grandma Violet, but he didn’t want to hear it.
“I’m not going crawling back to her, love. If she wants my money, then she’ll have to apologise. I’m not putting up with her mouthing off all the time. I did enough of that before I got sent down.”
No matter how hard Ruby tried to make him see sense, her father remained obstinately blind to the fact his mother wanted more attention from her son, not his money.
Ruby sighed.
“Come here,” he said, wrapping his arm around Ruby’s shoulder and giving her a squeeze. “Are you still upset about your mum?”
Of course, she was. She had no idea what was going on. Her father refused to talk about it, even though he’d obviously had a huge argument over whatever had happened with Uncle Tony. They wouldn’t even let her go and see her mother, and Ruby had no idea how she was.
They’d always had a difficult relationship, but Ruby loved her and hated the thought of her mother locked away. She’d only just gotten her father back, and now it looked like she was going to lose her mother to prison.
“How long do you think they will give her, Dad?”
Martin smiled and looked far too cheerful considering the fact they were talking about his wife going to prison. “She won’t be sent away for long. She’ll be out before you know it. I’ll tell you what, why don’t I treat you to lunch? Just you and me. That should cheer you up a bit.”
Ruby wanted to tell him what would really cheer her up was going to visit her mother, but she didn’t want to put him in a bad mood again.
Her father had forbidden her from contacting Derek and telling him what had happened to their mother. Ruby was very tempted to disobey him. She’d spoken to her father and Uncle Tony, and they both told her that Babs wasn’t allowed visitors yet. Ruby supposed she’d have to trust them. She didn’t really have much choice.
She had a horrible feeling her father was secretly pleased her mother was in jail. So she wasn’t one hundred percent sure she should believe what he told her, but Uncle Tony was a different story. She was sure that he had her mother’s best interests at heart.
“Where shall we go for lunch?” Ruby said, thinking perhaps he meant to take her up West, or somewhere equally swanky.
“There’s a little Italian cafe that has opened up just off Ch
risp Street,” Martin said cheerfully, and Ruby’s heart sank.
It wasn’t quite the fancy lunch she’d been hoping for, but still, it could have been worse. He could have taken her to Joe’s greasy spoon for lunch.
Chapter 45
Babs Morton was not happy. When the police had shown up at Patterson’s boxing club, she’d assumed she was in the clear and thanked her lucky stars she’d managed to escape with her life. She thought it was only a matter of time before she was out, plotting revenge against Dave Carter.
She’d been sure the police were just going to ask a few questions and then release her. After all, what real evidence did they have that she was involved?
She definitely thought she would be out by dinnertime, but they’d held her all night, and it was at that point that Babs had started to really panic. Luckily, Tony had come through for her and organised a brief, but unfortunately by the time the solicitor arrived, the damage had already been done.
Babs had lost her temper and possibly let a few things slip she shouldn’t have, causing the police to hold her and formally request to the court that she be detained without bail.
Even up until the court hearing, Babs was convinced it was all a load of old rubbish. She assumed the police were bluffing, so Babs had confidently walked into the court. Of course, she wasn’t looking her best after a night spent in a police cell, but she tried to tidy her hair and wiped the smudged eye makeup from under her eyes, smiling pleasantly at the judge.
Her lawyer spoke for her, in some kind of legal gobbledygook Babs couldn’t really understand, but she kept the smile on her face, expecting that at any moment she would be released.
At the end of the hearing when the judge pronounced that she would be detained until her trial without bail, Babs’ calm veneer finally cracked.
“No, that’s not right!” she had screamed out, trying to grab onto her solicitor’s arm. “I’m innocent!” she had screamed as they carted her off.
Now she was in a temporary holding cell again until they could transport her to the main prison population. She supposed it wasn’t Tony’s fault. He’d done his best. At least, he’d bothered to get her a brief. Martin hadn’t been in touch at all. The bastard had left her to rot.
After everything she’d done for him, Babs thought bitterly. She’d visited him every month without fail, and now the shoe was on the other foot, he’d dropped her like a hot coal.
Babs was still in shock. Her solicitor had told her it could be months before her trial, which meant she would be in prison all that time even though she hadn’t really done anything. All right, so she’d been tempted by the drugs. The potential money they could have earned from the sale of so much opium would have tempted anyone, but Babs couldn’t see how she’d actually done anything wrong. Let alone how the police could prove their case against her.
She’d been told she was going to be moved to a women’s prison in a couple of days, and she was absolutely dreading it. All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind, mainly worrying about Ruby and Derek and how they would cope without her. They had to be beside themselves with worry, and Babs could do nothing to reassure them when she was stuck inside.
Now Martin was out, and his horrible mother, Violet, would be trying to dig her claws into Ruby and Derek and turn them against Babs. The old woman had always hated her, and she would be over the moon that Martin was moving on with his life without his wife.
Babs sniffed and tried to hold back the tears.
By the time anyone was allowed to visit her, she would look a state. She was quite sure her dark roots were already showing. Babs took a great deal of pride in her appearance and liked to touch up her roots with peroxide every two weeks.
She doubted they would be allowed bleach in prison, so Babs would have to go back to her normal hair colour of plain brown.
She stared at the wall of the cell and wished she had something she could throw against it. She wasn’t even allowed her fags in there. It was awful.
When the peephole at the top of the door opened, and she saw the eyes of one of the screws peeking inside, Babs felt overwhelmingly tempted to stick a finger through the hole and poke his eye out.
They were all condescending bastards, looking down their nose at her when they had no idea of the real story behind what had happened.
But as it turned out, Babs was quite glad she didn’t poke him in the eye because the screw had come with good news.
“Morton, chop, chop, you’ve got a visitor.”
Babs eased herself off the bed and stood up. Visitor? She’d been told she wasn’t allowed any visitors apart from her legal representative until after she was put in the main prison.
There was a clanging sound as the screw unlocked the door and then pushed it open quickly, beckoning Babs towards him. He looked up and down the corridor shiftily.
“Quickly,” the screw said. “Unless you don’t want to see your visitor.”
Intrigued, Babs scurried out of the cell and followed the man up the corridor. They turned right and then came to a small door with a window. The screw pushed open the door, and as Babs stepped inside, she was surprised to see Tony sitting there, his elbows resting on the table.
He looked up as she walked in and smiled. “Babs, thank goodness. Are you all right?”
Babs was surprised to see him, and as the screw shut the door, giving them some privacy, Babs walked up to Tony to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes. Where the bleeding hell is my husband?” Babs said, her mood going from pleased to angry in an instant.
Tony shook his head. “Don’t get me started, Babs. I don’t understand what Martin is playing at.”
“He’s abandoned me, hasn’t he?” She shook her head. Obviously, she had realised this before now, but as it sunk in, Babs grew more and more furious.
As she began to rant and rave, Tony put his hands up. “I know, Babs. I feel the same way. But we haven’t got long. I had to pay off the officer on the front desk to get in to see you. Apparently, they are moving you to a women’s prison tomorrow. Probably Holloway.”
Babs fell silent. Tomorrow. She hadn’t really believed it before now, but when Tony said the word prison she realised with a jolt that she could be stuck inside for some time.
“How are the kids taking it?” Babs asked.
Tony licked his lips and looked a little bit shifty. “Ruby is very upset.”
“And Derek?”
“Martin thought it best he wasn’t told yet.”
Babs’ eyes widened in disbelief. The sodding bastard.
“Don’t get upset, Babs. I will tell Derek. But I thought I would wait until you were settled in Holloway. He can’t see you until then anyway, so there’s no point upsetting the boy.”
Babs thought about what he said and then nodded slowly. She supposed he had a point, but she was willing to bet that wasn’t the reason Martin hadn’t told her son. Martin just wanted to hurt her.
“And your mother? I bet she is in her bleeding element, isn’t she? Has she moved into the house already?”
Tony looked wounded. “She’s just as upset as me, Babs. She wanted me to let you know she would look after the children, and that you shouldn’t worry about them.”
Babs narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t fooled for a moment. She bet Violet Morton was practically dancing when she heard the news Babs had been locked up.
“You will let Frieda know what’s going on, won’t you, Tony? She’ll be ever so worried.”
Tony covered Babs’ hand with his own. “Of course, I will. I’ve spoken to your brief, and he reckons worst-case scenario you’ll get two years.”
Babs felt the blood drain from her face. Two years! Two years away from her children. “I didn’t even do anything, Tony. I never got the chance! They can’t have anything on me.”
Tony shook his head. “Apparently Gerald Patterson is saying you were in on it from the start. Someone’s gotten to him. Whether it’s Dave Carter
or the Fangs, I don’t know.”
“Well, you need to find out,” Babs said urgently.
Tony nodded and was trying to reassure her when the door opened, and the screw poked his head in.
“All right. That is your lot. Time to go,” he said, addressing Tony.
As Tony got to his feet, Babs felt distraught. Her eyes filled with tears as Tony gave her a weak smile, kissed her cheek and left the room.
The policeman jerked his chin, indicating Babs should follow him back to her cell.
And as Babs walked along the grim, narrow corridor, two words kept repeating on a loop in her head. Two years. Two years.
How on earth was she going to make it through two years in prison?
* * *
As was usual for a Saturday morning, Jimmy was hanging out with his friends. But he wasn’t really in the mood. Since his run in with Martin Morton, Jimmy could think of little else. He knew that Linda and his nan both wanted him to stay away from the man, and Jimmy could understand why. He’d seen it in his eyes. His father was evil, and Jimmy was absolutely terrified that he had inherited the same evil nature.
He couldn’t confide in any of his friends. They just wanted to talk about football and who could jump off the highest step outside the library without getting hurt. They’d already been there that morning, and had been chased off the steps of the Lansbury library by old Mrs. Toberton.
Bobby Green and a couple of the other kids wanted to go back, but Jimmy wasn’t keen. Nothing seemed like much fun anymore.
“What’s the matter with you, misery guts?” Bobby Green sneered.
Jimmy shrugged. He knew he was better off if he tried to act as if nothing was bothering him, but he just couldn’t do it.
Finally, the other lads left him to it, and only little Georgie remained. The little boy had become like Jimmy’s shadow. Jimmy didn’t mind. They spent a lot of time together washing cars at the workshop, and he actually enjoyed Georgie’s company.
There was nothing nasty about the boy, what you saw was what you got. He was a nice kid, far nicer than Jimmy.