Danny left Chelle's house early that evening and headed to his local in Dagenham. He'd given up his job on the market a couple of months ago and hadn't looked back since. He'd been working for a canny old boy, who drank in his local pub. Jimmy the Fish had his finger in many pies and Danny had met him at exactly the right time.
Jimmy's only son, Bobby, had been killed in a car crash two years earlier and Jimmy had taken a shine to Danny immediately because he reminded him of his boy. Jimmy was as hooky as hooky could be and Danny, driven by ambition, had soon become his little sidekick. Some times Danny drove Jimmy around for hours on end, sometimes he handled stolen goods. Now and again it was something to do with the many seafood stalls that Jimmy owned across the East End and Essex, but mainly it was a bit of drug-running here and there. He didn't actually sell the gear personally, he just had to drop off amounts and pick up the wonga. Danny was very happy with his new line of work. No more getting up at three in the morning and freezing his bollocks off all day: that was a thing of the past. Jimmy had also given him a nice motor, a Shogun, and on top of that he was earning between five hundred and a grand a week. With the baby due in the next month and Billie Jo having packed in her job, Danny O'Leary thanked his lucky stars that Jimmy the Fish had taken a shine to him and had taken him under his wing.
Billie Jo handed her friend Carly the plate of spaghetti bolognese and gingerly sat down on the sofa opposite. Her pregnancy hadn't been an easy one. She felt fat, sick and uncomfortable most days and couldn't wait for the baby to arrive to feel normal again.
'That was lovely,' Carly said, putting her plate down. 'So, how's Danny?'
Billie Jo put her empty plate onto the floor and winced as she tried to straighten up and make herself comfortable.
'Danny's fine. He's been working so hard in his new job, saving up for the baby and supporting me, bless him. He does loads of overtime. I wish in a way he'd cut his hours down a bit as I hardly ever see him, but I can't moan as I know he's only doing it for me and the baby.'
Carly smiled at her friend. 'I'm glad things are working out for you. What kind of work is Danny actually doing now?'
Billie shrugged her shoulders. 'I'm not a hundred per cent sure, to be honest with you. I think he does various things. I know he does a lot of work for a bloke called Jimmy. He drives him about a lot. Jimmy is ever so good to him, he's even given Danny a nice motor to use.'
'So you're managing OK?'
Billie nodded. 'We're managing fine. Danny's ever so generous, Carly. He's always asking if I need money and he always gives me whatever I ask for. He's a diamond, he really is!'
Danny O'Leary lay on the double bed that had seen better days and watched intently as the girl's head bobbed up and down on his nether regions. Feeling himself about to come, he grabbed her head and shoved his cock down her throat as far as it would go. Seeing her gag with the ferocity of his thrusts only heightened the pleasure of his orgasm. He didn't let go of her head until the last drop of his fluids had slithered down the back of her throat.
'Go and get us a beer out of the fridge, babe, and I'll do you a line.'
Debbie Jones leapt off of the bed and virtually ran into the kitchen. Danny rolled up a twenty-pound note, smiling at her eagerness. Holding one side of his nostril with his forefinger, Danny snorted the line that he'd carefully laid out on the make-up mirror. As he felt it trickle down the back of his throat, he snatched his beer and handed the rolled-up note to Debbie.
Debbie Jones was eighteen years old. A pretty girl with a slim figure, she had already mothered children by two different blokes, both of whom had run a mile on finding out she was pregnant. Being a single parent suited Debbie down to the ground. As soon as she was old enough to have sex, she had been intent on getting pregnant. Conveniently, she had forgotten the pill and had never looked back from that day onwards.
She had a nice little flat courtesy of the council. She was kept by the social and had family nearby to babysit whenever she wanted. Debbie had recently started working a couple of shifts as a barmaid in a local pub called the Cross Keys. The money wasn't great, but it was cash in hand and enabled her to buy extra treats for herself. Meeting Danny O'Leary had been an added bonus. For the first time in her young life, Debbie Jones was well and truly in love.
It had all started a few months ago, not long after she'd started working at the pub. She'd noticed Danny straight away. With his dark hair, film-star looks and non-stop cockney banter, you couldn't really miss him. He drank with a crowd of fellas who were a lot older than him. Jimmy the Fish was a well-known face in the area, and Debbie had been impressed with the fact that he and Danny were inseparable.
Standing at the bar one Saturday evening, Danny had peeled two fifty-pound notes from the big wad he'd pulled out of his pocket, paid the forty quid that the round came to and told Debbie to keep the change. Later that same evening he'd invited her to a party. Debbie had been fucking his brains out ever since and had fallen head over heels for him. The only downside for her was that she knew he had a bird and a baby on the way. She consoled herself with the fact that he couldn't be happy at home, as he wouldn't be seeing her if his life was rosy indoors. Debbie knew she had to be patient and bide her time. She had to be ready and available when Danny needed her and give him the best blow-jobs he'd ever had. Debbie might have been only eighteen, but she certainly wasn't silly.
'I'm gonna shoot off now, babe.' Danny put on the last of his clothes and picked up his car keys.
Debbie got out of bed, put on her Primark dressing-gown and saw him to the door. She knew better than to ask him when she was going to see him again. She'd done that once and it hadn't gone down too well.
'Don't fucking start all that,' he'd said. 'You'll see me when you see me, all right, and if you don't like it, you know what you can fucking do.'
Debbie had never asked that question again. 'See ya, Dan, take care.'
As Danny drove home, his thoughts turned to Billie Jo. The baby was due to arrive soon and he couldn't wait. He was looking forward to being a dad and was secretly hoping for a son. Debbie Jones was handy, sexy and available. He liked her but he didn't have the same feelings for her that he had for Billie Jo. Billie was classy, naïve, lovable. Debbie was sluggish, common and gave a fucking good blow-job.
The last few months had been awkward for Danny. Billie had had a shit pregnancy and hadn't wanted sex for months. He hadn't wanted to pester her, so had decided to seek solace elsewhere. He didn't feel guilty about what he was doing. He was a man, for fuck's sake, and he had needs just like any other. Billie stirred as Danny got in bed beside her and put his arms around her.
'You OK, babe?' he said, nuzzling her ear and running his hands over her pregnant stomach.
'I'm fine, Dan,' Billie replied sleepily. 'Have you only just got in from work? What's the time?'
'It's three o'clock, babe. Jimmy needed me to work late tonight. I need all the overtime I can get for our baby.'
Billie Jo turned onto her other side so that she could face him. Kissing his forehead, she looked at him lovingly. 'Do you know what? I couldn't have picked a better one than you. You are going to make such a good dad. I love you, Danny O'Leary.'
Danny smiled at her and held her close. 'I love you too, Billie Jo.'
And the funny thing was, in his own way, Danny actually meant it.
TWENTY
Billie Jo lay back on her bed and let out a huge sigh of relief as the pains in her stomach subsided momentarily. Picking up her mobile, she tried Danny's number for what seemed like the hundredth time. Hearing his voicemail, she could have cried with frustration. Where was he? He knew the baby was due anytime and she'd told him to keep his phone with him, no matter what. Feeling the pains come back with a vengeance, Billie realised she was going to have to do something fast, otherwise she'd be giving birth alone. Grabbing her phone, she rang Carly's mobile. By this time she was not only in pain but also petrified.
Carly was sitting in the Pizza Hut in
Hornchurch having a bite to eat with Jamie. She could barely make sense out of what Billie Jo was frantically trying to tell her but finally got the gist of it on her second attempt.
'Just stay put, Bill. Me and Jamie will be with you in ten minutes. I'll call an ambulance for you. Will you be able to get to the front door to open it?'
'Yes, I think so,' Billie sobbed. 'I feel all wet down below, Carly. I think my waters have broken, please hurry up.'
Carly's heart was beating like mad as she rushed out of the restaurant. 'We're on our way, Bill. If I was you, I'd give Jade a quick ring, tell her that you can't get hold of Danny. She's had a baby, she'll help you. At least ring her and talk to her until the ambulance arrives.'
Billie took Carly's advice and rang Jade straight away, telling her that she thought she'd gone into labour and couldn't get hold of Danny.
'Now just breathe deeply, Bill. Honestly, babe, you'll be fine. It's normally quite a long labour, your first one. Look at me, sixteen hours from when the contractions started it took me to have Terry Junior, so you've got plenty of time. Look, I'm going to call my mum and ask her to look after Terry Junior. If you can't get hold of Danny, you're going to need some support, so I'm going to drive down to you. What hospital are you going to, Harold Wood?'
'Yes,' Billie replied, feeling slightly more positive. 'I wouldn't be frightened if you were here, Jade. How long will it take you to get to me?'
'As soon as your ambulance comes, I'll drop Terry Junior at my mum's and drive straight down. If I put my foot down, I should get there in time for the birth.'
Hearing the doorbell ring, Billie thanked Jade, and let Carly and Jamie in. Her hospital bag was already packed, so the pair of them just held her hands and comforted her. The ambulance arrived a couple of minutes later. Carly accompanied Billie inside and Jamie followed in his car. Picking up his phone, Jamie flicked through his contacts and dialled Danny's number. Hearing it go straight to the answerphone, he left a message.
'Where are you, Danny? You no-good bastard. Your girlfriend's gone into labour and no one can fucking get in touch with you. We're on our way to Harold Wood, so you'd better get your arse down there as soon as. Billie's in a right old state. You really don't deserve her, do you know that, mate?'
* * *
Baby O'Leary finally entered the world at 12.33 a.m. and was delivered by Caesarean section. The doctors had felt that the baby was at risk and decided to perform the operation as quickly as possible. The procedure had been quick and efficient. Billie had started panicking at one point on hearing that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck.
'Please, God, let my baby be OK,' she'd repeated over and over again.
The doctor had handed her a consent form, with assurance that she and her baby were in the best possible hands. The anaesthetic made her feel weird. She remembered seeing her baby for the first time, although the drugs made it seem as if she was dreaming.
Jade hadn't arrived in time for the birth, but was now holding Billie's hand while she slept. She was only a kid herself, Jade thought silently. How she was going to manage with a newborn baby, especially with her wanker of a boyfriend, was anybody's guess. Carly and Jamie had now gone home. The nurses had said that Billie needed some rest and they'd best leave her and come back tomorrow. The baby had been whisked away straight after the birth to be checked out and thankfully was in perfect health. He was now lying in a little cot with a nurse keeping a watchful eye on him.
Billie woke up a couple of hours later, and for the first few seconds didn't have a clue where she was or what had happened. Suddenly, remembering, she sat up with a jolt which alerted Jade, who'd been dozing in a chair next to her.
'Where's my baby? Where have they taken my baby?' she asked frantically.
'Ssh,' Jade replied, squeezing her hand. 'Everything's fine, Bill. You've got a little boy and he's wonderful. The nurses are keeping an eye on him.'
Ringing the buzzer to let the nurses know that Billie was awake and wanted to see her son, Jade filled Billie with reassurance. 'He was fully checked out and he's absolutely perfect. He's a big old bruiser, eight pounds twelve ounces. No wonder you was having trouble getting about towards the end, with your small frame.'
Billie took a sip of water. 'Does Danny know? Has he been up here yet? Have you rung him? I left a note for him indoors.'
'No, Bill,' Jade replied awkwardly. 'Jamie rang him and told him where you were. He obviously hasn't got the message yet. Try him again in the morning. Maybe he's lost his phone or something.'
Billie looked worried. 'I hope nothing's happened to him, Jade. I left him loads of messages. Normally, even if he's busy he always rings me back. What if something bad has happened to him?'
'Now don't be silly,' Jade said comfortingly. 'I'm sure he's fine. You know what lads are like. He's probably got drunk and crashed out round a mate's house.'
Billie temporarily forgot about Danny as her baby was wheeled into the ward and handed to her. The emotions running through her were indescribable. She had never felt so much love in all her life as she held the little bundle that had been placed in her arms. She knew within a split second that whatever happened in her life, she would never let this little chap down. Unlike her own mother, she would be there for this child through thick and thin. Both Billie and Jade cried tears of joy as mother and baby bonded immediately.
'What are you going to call him, Bill? Have you decided on a name?'
'Yes, his name's decided,' Billie said, holding him tight and unable to take her eyes off him. 'Danny Junior, we're calling him, or DJ for short.'
Jade's heart went over. She couldn't think of a worse possible start in life for the child than to be named after arsehole of the year. 'I thought you said on the phone that you wanted to name him Charlie?'
'Yes, I liked Charlie,' Billie said happily, 'but Danny insisted the baby had to be named after him. He said the firstborn son is always named after the father. If we were having a girl, he wanted to call her Danielle.'
Jade couldn't bring herself to answer. Billie looked so radiant lying there with her baby in her arms that she couldn't bring herself to dampen her spirits.
Danny O'Leary opened his eyes and wondered where the fucking hell he was. He felt like someone was banging a drum in his head and he had a mouth like a camel's arse. Sitting up, he put his head in his hands and slowly but surely started to remember the events of the previous evening.
'Morning, lover boy. How are you this morning? Sobered up yet, have we?'
Danny looked at the rough old tart lying naked next to him and felt physically sick. Now, he wasn't picky when it came to women by any shot of the imagination, but this one took the biscuit. She was that ugly that you could've paid her to haunt houses! Hoping more than anything on earth that he'd been too drunk to fuck her, Danny leapt out of bed and started rummaging around for his clothes.
At forty-one years old, with a body that had gone home years ago, Sandra Shepherd had thought she'd died and gone to heaven when she'd enticed Danny O'Leary back to her bed last night. Sandra had a front tooth missing, four children in care, and a heroin habit. Pulling blokes wasn't usually easy for her.
'You ain't got to rush off straight away, have you?' she asked, pleadingly.
'Where's the toilet?' Danny mumbled as he ran from the room and chucked his guts up. After retching over a dirty toilet, for what seemed like a lifetime, he washed his face in cold water and ventured back into the stinking bedroom to hunt for his keys and phone.
'Do you know where my motor is? Did I drive us here? What area are we in?' he blurted out, unable to remember anything.
'Your motor's outside and we're in Stratford.' Sandra felt dejected, as she could see by the look on his face that he couldn't wait to get away from her.
Finding his keys under the bed, Danny breathed a sigh of relief and lit up a fag. 'Have you got a mobile so I can ring my phone? I dunno what I've done with mine.'
'I've got no credit,' Sandra answered
truthfully, hoping inwardly that the phone would turn up in her flat and she could chop it in for a bit of brown.
'See ya, then,' Danny said. Without waiting for a reply, he bolted out of the flat as fast as his legs would take him.
It took him ten minutes to locate his motor and another five to find the phone, which had somehow found its way under the driver's seat. The battery had run out so he drove towards home as fast as he could. Looking at his watch, he noticed it was 10.30 a.m. Billie was going to be well pissed off with him. He often came home late, like three and four in the morning. Billie was used to that, but coming home nigh on the next lunchtime, that was a different kettle of fish and he knew he had some explaining to do.
Sitting in the traffic in the Romford Road, Danny went over the events of the day before. He'd had to drive up to Liverpool and deliver a load of ecstasy tablets to an address, pick up six grand and come back home. One of Jimmy the Fish's employees, Leroy Jackson, had gone with him, but when they had arrived there, the deal had gone tits up.
Leroy was a big black six-footer and a proper arrogant cunt. The four geezers they'd been assigned to do business with in Scouseland were out-and-out scallies and the deal had ended in an argument and punch-up. Leroy had stuck a knife in one of the gang and they'd had to run for their lives whilst being chased by the other three. Luckily, although no deal had been completed, they'd managed to snatch the tablets and make it back to the car, where they'd shot off at top speed. After relaying the story on the drive home, Jimmy the Fish had suggested they give Dagenham a wide berth. He insisted they head to Hackney and he arranged to meet them in Leroy's local.
Billie Jo Page 17