by Karen Woods
CHAPTER TWENTY
It was after midnight and it was pitch black. Tony had been planning this graft for over a week now. Mickey had chickened out and wanted no part of it. He’d turned snide lately, always fobbing Tony off, not wanting to spend any time with him. Word on the street was that he had a job, but he’d never told Tony. Maybe he had a new pal, someone else he was grafting with. Tony was dressed in dark clothing and all you could see were the whites of his eyes. He was making small steps forward, ducking and diving. With the slightest of movements, he creaked the side gate open. The night was eerily silent and every time Tony heard a noise his heart skipped a beat. His heart pumping, his feet unsteady, he scrambled towards the back window. Digging deep into his coat pocket he pulled out a large screw driver and lunged it deep into the window frame to prise it open. That was a bit loud, he thought to himself, he had to quieten down before he woke somebody up. The window pinged open after what seemed like forever. Taking deep breaths Tony used the small black drain pipe at the side of him to help him gain entry to the house. He didn’t have long once he was inside, he had to be quick before the alarm went off. His face betrayed his panic, his were eyes looking one way then the other. He gripped the small cupboard open and his fingers were all over it as he tried to press the red light that was flashing. “Quick, quick,” he whispered under his breath. That was close, very close indeed. Another few seconds and the alarm would have been blaring. Tony tiptoed into the hallway. His nose twitched at the smell from the vanilla plug-in freshener. For crying out loud, his nose was sensitive, and he was doing his best not to sneeze. His eyes closed tightly, and he pressed his two hands firmly over his mouth as a blast of air surged through his nostrils. He froze, heart racing, small beads of sweat dribbling down the side of his forehead. Why was he just stood there? After all, he’d never been what you’d call a sneak thief, his crimes were usually petty; shoplifting and car crimes. Tony was unnerved, something didn’t feel right. His feet seemed to be glued to the floor.
Taking one or two deep breaths he continued. He was here now and he needed that ring to pay for the holiday he’d promised his family. He had to see it through. Elsie wasn’t daft and every day for the last week she kept asking him why he wasn’t in work. Of course, he’d lied and made up more excuses. He’d told her Sue was unwell and she didn’t want anybody around at the house. What a load of codswallop. It was wonder she hadn’t uncovered the truth. Perhaps she was too worried about Emily to be bothered tracking her husband. The first stair creaked as his hand gripped the bannister. For crying out loud, he had to be more careful. With the smallest of steps, he slowly made his way up the stairs. He could smell Sue’s perfume, her aroma, her lovely sweet fragrance. Perhaps, he should just own up and beg her forgiveness, she might have some sympathy for him then. Tony dipped his head behind the door, his eyes trying to focus. Nobody was in bed. He entered the bedroom and scanned around, nothing, he was safe. This was going to be his best job ever. Easy peasy, like taking candy from a baby. He walked straight over to the jewellery box and opened it. His hands moved frantically, where the hell was it?
“Is this what you’re looking for? I’ve been expecting you.” A voice echoed from behind him. Sue switched the light on in the bedroom and there Tony stood in his full glory, caught red-handed. “You dirty, no good bastard. How dare you ever come back here! I should have your fingers cut off and rammed up your arse.”
Sue was no longer the sweet innocent woman. She was alert and ready to strike him if he made a move. Tony started to run towards her, he was getting off. She was a woman, what chance did she have against him? “Move out of my way you slapper, before I snap your jaw” he snarled as he ran at her but just before he reached her, a man jumped out from the darkness and whacked him over the head with a plank of wood. Tony didn’t know what day it was as he fell to the ground like a lead weight. A small dribble of red claret seeped down the side of his head. The man booted Tony in his stomach several times as Sue just stood there and smirked. Tony was lifeless on the floor.
“Mickey, thank you for warning me about him. Imagine what he would have done if I’d have been here on my own.” She rubbed at her arms as the goose-pimples started to appear on her skin.
“He’s a wanker anyway. I owed him that for the way he’s treated me over the years. I just couldn’t sit back and watch an innocent, beautiful woman like yourself be robbed like that.”
Mickey was the hero of the hour. What a Judas he was!
“Get him out of here. I can’t stand the sight of him. And, Mickey, when he’s gone come back and I will reward you for your help. Two-hundred pounds we said, didn’t we?”
Mickey was already dragging Tony along the floor; he was pumping with sweat as he replied. “We sure did, my lady. Give me five minutes to launch this scruff onto the streets and I’ll come back for it.”
Tony moved about in the bushes. It was dark and only the street lamp enabled him to see. What the fuck had happened? He wasn’t sure. His body crumbled as he tried to sit up. He looked like he needed medical help, the gash at the side of his head was still pouring blood. There were moans and groans as he rolled onto his side and scrambled over the hedge. He’d had worse beatings before and he was used to this feeling. Tony sat up straight and drew his legs up to his chest, his eyes wide open. He was remembering what had happened.
“Mickey!” he growled as spit hung from his mouth. “Fucking Mickey, you double-crossing twat. Just you watch now. I’ll have you for this, mark my words you’ll pay.”
*
Elsie was watching the clock on the wall. The noise was doing her bleeding head in. In her hand she held a letter, a scruffy piece of paper. Every now and then she re-read whatever was on the letter. Her eyes clouded over every time she read it. Jordan had just come in and by the looks of him he wasn’t having a good day either. “Fuck me, could this day get any worse? I’ll be glad when it is over.”
Elsie lifted her head up and held a puzzled look. “What are you going on about? What’s up?”
“Nothing mam, just forget I said anything. Where’s my dad?”
Elsie gritted her teeth together. “Fuck knows. He’s up to something. All day he’s been sat here on edge. He forgets that I know him inside out.”
Jordan plonked down on the sofa. “Is Emily in bed?”
“No, she’s at Jane’s again. I hardly see her anymore.”
Jordan squirmed; this wasn’t right. He’d seen Jane earlier and she was on her own. There was no sign of his sister. “I don’t think she’s with Jane. I saw her on the estate before and she was on her jacks.”
Elsie was concerned. “Do me a favour, I know it’s late but just bell Jane phone and ask to speak to Emily.”
Jordan held the phone to his ear and waited for the call to be answered. “Yo Jane, I know it’s late, but can you put Emily on, I need to speak to her?” Jordan’s face changed as she replied, his grip on the phone tightening. He walked out of the room and spoke. “How long has it been going on? Where does he live?” He was gathering all the information he needed to get his sister back home where she belonged. The call ended and he stood on the spot for a few minutes. Elsie was on the hunt for him now and when she found him in the hallway, she knew by his face that something was wrong.
“So, what’s going on? Don’t lie to me either because I heard the conversation.”
He walked back into the front room and walked over to the window. Slowly he pulled back the curtains. “She’s not there, she’s with some guy called Mark.”
Elsie was right behind him. “Well, I knew she had a boyfriend so she’s probably just spending a bit more time with him. You know what it’s like, son.”
“Mam, Jane said she’s not been staying there for a few weeks. This guy lives in Bolton. Do you know she met him on the internet?”
This was a whole new ballgame and the colour drained from Elsie’s face. She cracked her knuckles. “Oh my God, I bet he’s a kiddy fiddler. How stupid is she? I thought s
he knew better. I’ve warned her about stuff like this.”
Jordan paced about the front room. Where was Tony when they needed him? It was the same every time there was a crisis, he was nowhere to be seen. What a waste of space. The rage pumped through Elsie’s veins, Emily had changed, she was never a liar. Elsie was breaking down, in a desperate state. “Where the fuck is she then? We need to find out where this peado lives. I’ll cut his balls off and make a necklace out of them if he has so much as laid a single finger on her.”
Jordan was distressed. “Wind your neck in, will you? If you would have kept a closer eye on her none of this would have happened.”
Elsie let out a laboured breath. “Oh, how did I know I would get the blame for this? She’s never had a boyfriend before so how am I supposed to know what she was going to do, the silly cow. Ring Jane back and get an address of where this Mark lives. I don’t care what time it is; I want Emily back home here, where I know she is safe.” Elsie ragged her fat chunky fingers through her tatty hair and plonked back down on the sofa. “I’ll ground her for this, on my life, how dare she lie to me. I’ve always given her my full trust, but she’s fucked it now, she’ll be staying in, grounded.”
Jordan was back on the blower to Jane. This was serious now and he wanted to know everything. How long it had been going on, how she met him and where he lived. Yes, he needed to know everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Emily sat in the corner of the room with her knees held up to her chest. Her body was shaking from head to toe and she’d been crying for hours. The room was in darkness and even though she’d stayed at Alex’s house lots of times before, she’d never been in this room. It was a place under the house, a cellar transformed into bedrooms but they were more like luxury prison cells. Keys jangled outside the door and her eyes filled with fear. She cowered into the corner and closed her eyes. “Please, not again, please, please,” she sobbed. The door opened and the light from corridor outside crippled her eyes. A large shadow appeared. As she lifted her head up, she could see large feet stood near the doorway. A man walked into the room and flicked the main light on. He was foreign and he was talking to someone behind him in his own language. Emily didn’t have a clue what he was saying, it was all gibberish to her. Large hands clawed at her body, fingers like bunches of bananas. The man gripped her cheeks and squeezed at them with force. “Tonight, you work. Get cleaned up.” Emily raised her arms to try and break free and several deep purple bruises were visible on her skin. In fact, she was covered in them; on her legs, arms, stomach, she was in a right state. The man still had a firm hold of her, his eyes drilling into hers. With a swift movement he flung her back against the wall and let out a menacing laugh. “Lizzy,” he shouted behind him. “Get in here and sort this one out. Make sure she’s scrubbed up and ready for tonight. She has three to sort out. And get her smelling nice, she smells like donkey shit.”
Lizzy strolled into the room and shot a look over at Emily. She knew how to handle this guy, she smiled at him and walked to his side. The prick was a control freak and she knew if everything didn’t go his way, they both would get a good beating. “She’ll be ready, don’t worry. Just give me a few hours with her and she’ll look like a new woman.” The man held his head high and nodded. He loved using force to get what he wanted. He turned and left the room. Lizzy held her ear to the door and rushed back to Emily. She pulled the wet strands of hair that were stuck to her cheek and shook her head. “You have to do what they say otherwise they’ll beat you. What’s your name?”
Emily’s shoulders were shaking, she was in floods of tears. “I want to go home, please help me to go home.”
Lizzy remembered how she’d felt when she first come here and sadness filled her eyes. She sat down and placed her thin hand on the top of Emily’s knee. “It’s hard, I’ve been here for months, maybe years now. I’ve lost count. Who got you involved Omar? Mark?”
Emily choked, her breathing struggled. “I’ve been seeing Mark for a few months, he was perfect and then he just,” she burst out crying, hysterical as she tried to speak. “He turned on me and started hitting me if I wouldn’t do as he asked. He told me he was in trouble and he owed money. The only way he would be off the hook was if I slept with a guy to clear the debt for him. I loved him that much, so I agreed.”
Lizzy chewed hard on her bottom lip. She knew the rest of the story without Emily having to tell her. She stopped her dead in her tracks. “And, you slept with a man, and Mark told you he loved you more than anything in the whole wide world.”
Emily snivelled and nodded her head. “Yes, how did you know?”
“Because Mark was my boyfriend too, he promised me the world, told me he loved me, treated me like a princess and did exactly the same thing to me. Mark, Omar and the others are always on the lookout for young girls. They groom them and make them think they’re safe.” The word ‘groom’ smashed against Emily’s brain. She always thought of herself as on the ball with stuff like this. Why on earth had she not seen this coming? Lizzy checked no one was listening and sat back with her thin frame against the wall. “He drugged me at first and I never knew what was happening. When I did find out, it was too late, there was nothing I could do about it. Mark told me how much he loved me and made up a cock and bull story to keep me doing it. He told me we would get a home together, marriage, yep, the prick had me right over.” Emily was having a full-blown panic attack; it was all making sense now. She gripped her knees as tightly as she could and squeezed at the pale white flesh. Lizzy could see she was distressed but it didn’t stop her talking. “I get shipped out all over the show now. They take me to houses where the dirty bastards are waiting for me. Dirty old men mostly who want kinky shit like smacking their arses. I don’t mind that kind though, it’s the ones who want to do the sick stuff to you that I hate.”
Emily had a look of terror in her eyes. What the hell had she got herself into? With a frantic move she clasped hold of Lizzy’s hand, she dug her fingers deep into her flesh. “You need to get me out of here. I’ll do whatever you want, just help me.”
Lizzy sucked hard on her lip. If she had a pound for every new girl who’d asked her the same question, she would have been a rich woman. She couldn’t make promises she couldn’t keep. “Where does your family think you are?”
“My friend’s house. My best friend was seeing Omar but she finished with him, otherwise she would have ended up here as well. She told me something wasn’t right, but I was so wrapped up with Mark I couldn’t see anything other than my love for him. I was such a silly bitch.”
Lizzy stood. “We need to get you ready for tonight.”
Emily was distraught. “There is no way I’m doing it again. They can’t make me. Please tell them I’m not well, say anything but please don’t let them dirty horrible men touch me anymore.”
Lizzy turned on the spot, she wished she could help this young girl but her hands were tied. She never replied, she just walked away.
Emily had been sat in her ‘cell’ more or less all day. Every now and then someone would pop their head inside and just look at her. She was offered food and something to drink but she refused anything they brought. She wasn’t daft, she knew there would be drugs in her food, something to help her relax. The door opened and Mark stood with his hand resting on the doorframe. “You look lovely,” he said.
Emily snarled at him. “Fuck off will you. People will be looking for me soon and guess what, when they find you, you’ll be sorry. I trusted you and you lied to me.”
Mark walked further into the room; he held no remorse for his actions. “I’m doing a job that’s all. Plus, we had a good time too.”
“You told me you loved me, what happened to that? Was that all lies?”
Mark sat down on the side of the bed. He didn’t speak straight away. “Emily, I did love you and most of what I told you was true at the time. I’m in too deep now and there is no way out for me either. You see I had a gambling habit. A big, big,
habit and I owed Alex a lot of money. When I couldn’t pay what I owed, he left me for dead. I didn’t have a choice then, I had to do what he wanted.”
Emily was frantic. “Help me, we can run off together and I’ll never tell anyone what’s happened here. You can have a fresh start, no more looking over your shoulder.”
“No, no. These guys don’t mess about. They know where my family live, they wouldn’t be safe.”
“Stop being an idiot. All this here,” she held her hands out and pointed them around the room. “It will stop soon and you’ll end up in prison for a long time. I’m willing to forgive you, to put it behind us and start again. When are you ever going to get this kind of chance again? Get out now before it’s too late.”
Mark dropped his head low and slowly ragged his fingers through his hair. “Come on, you need to go in the other room with the girls. Alex has some guests coming over tonight and he wants you to entertain them.”
She snapped at him and pushed her flat palm deep into his chest. “So, that’s a no then?” He never replied, he stood up and walked towards the door. “Well, you’re nothing but a coward. You’ll see when all this comes out. I’ll tell them everything I know. Every little detail about you. Go on, fuck off you rat.”
Mark slammed the door behind him nearly taking it from its hinges. She was alone now, left in tears, with nowhere to run.
CHAPTER TWENTY- TWO
Jordan hammered on Jane’s front door in a panic. He stood back and looked up at the bedroom window. Jane’s mother opened the door and held a look of disgust on her face when she saw him. “Hi, can I speak with Jane. I’m Emily’s brother.”
Jane’s mam stepped back from the door and closed it slightly as she spoke. For all she knew this man could have been a thug, a thief, he could have run into her home and nicked all her belongings. “What do you want with my daughter. Is she in trouble?”