by Dani Oakley
“I suppose he can’t help it if he’s got exams,” Ruby said despondently.
Violet gave a little huff. “Exams my backside. Derek is an ungrateful little sod.”
Ruby almost choked on her toast. Her grandmother had always been one for speaking her mind but never quite as bluntly as that.
But Violet wasn’t finished. “Now, I’ve never got along well with your mother, and you know that better than anybody, but she deserves better. The little sod has barely seen her over the past few years.”
Ruby knew her grandmother had a very good point, but despite the distance between them, she still felt some loyalty towards her brother.
Grandma Violet was right, though. Derek was only thinking of himself, and he was long-overdue for a wake-up call.
Ruby folded the letter and stuffed it in the pocket of her dressing gown. “I’ll deal with it,” she said firmly. “I’ll make sure he’s back home when she comes out.”
Violet nodded approvingly. “Good. Because we need to get things sorted before your mother gets out of prison. She’ll expect to see both of you here to welcome her home.”
Ruby nodded. She couldn’t agree more, and she was determined she and Derek would be there to greet their mother. If Derek thought he was getting out of it, he had better think again.
Chapter 12
Less than an hour and a half later, Ruby Morton headed out of the house. She’d arranged to meet her friend Diane Harrison at the cafe on the corner of Market Street for lunch. She wasn’t hungry, having only just polished off the boiled eggs and toast her grandmother had prepared just over an hour ago, but she was looking forward to a chat with one of her closest friends.
She’d lost touch with many of the friends she’d had at school. They all seemed to be settling down and getting married, and Ruby didn’t feel she had anything in common with them.
All they ever talked about was wedding dresses, and Ruby found it incredibly boring. None of the girls her age seemed to have any ambition to do anything with their lives.
Diane was different. Six months ago, all she’d wanted to do was run away, join a cruise ship and become a singer. When her audition hadn’t gone well, she’d changed her mind and decided she was going to be a hairdresser. That idea didn’t last for long either when she found out how much hairdressers got paid. Now she was working at a dress factory called Bevels and earning quite good money.
Ruby admired her persistence; she never let anything get her down. Her parents wanted her to be a secretary, but the last thing Diane wanted was a boring, respectable job like that. Even though she’d suffered setbacks and disappointments, Diane always had a new plan she was working on, and if she was honest, Ruby was looking forward to hearing what she had in mind this time. She couldn’t imagine Diane would be happy working at the sewing factory for long.
She was also looking forward to talking to her friend to take her mind off her own troubles. She was still annoyed with her brother. She had tried to phone Derek twice since opening the letter and had left a message because there was no response at his halls of residence. It was starting to look as though she would have to go down to Southampton and confront him in person.
Ruby quickened her step and hurried along the street, not wanting to be late for lunch with Diane. She knew Diane didn’t get long for lunch at Bevels.
There was a time when Diane had developed quite a crush on Derek. Now that Derek was away doing a university course, they never got to see him. Ruby could count on one hand the times he had returned to the East End since their mother had been locked up.
The whole family skirted around the issue because nobody wanted to say the truth outright. It was almost as though they thought, if they didn’t mention it, they could sweep it under the carpet. But Ruby knew the real reason Derek didn’t want to come back. He was ashamed of them.
Ruby sighed as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled and waved at Frieda Longbottom walking on the other side of the road.
“Hello, sweetheart.” Frieda began to march across the road towards her.
Ruby liked Frieda. She’d always been kind to her, but she really didn’t have time to have a chat now. She was already running late to meet Diane.
Ruby gave her a wide smile as she said, “Hello, Frieda. I’m just rushing off for lunch with Diane.”
Frieda’s face fell, but she nodded, understanding. “Ah, don’t let me keep you then, sweetheart. You must be so excited that your mum is coming home.”
Ruby nodded and clutched her coat tightly around her. “I am. I can’t wait to have her home again.”
“Have you heard from your brother? I hope he’s going to come home to greet your mother?”
From the way Frieda spoke, it was almost as though her mother was returning from an around the world trip, not that she’d been in prison.
But she knew Frieda’s heart was in the right place, and family was family, so Ruby gave a tight smile and nodded. “Of course, Derek will be there.”
Frieda nodded and gave a satisfied smile. “Oh, I am glad. Your mum will be pleased.”
She didn’t know when Frieda had seen Derek last.
The last time Ruby had seen him, she’d been shocked. He looked different now that he was mingling with the toffs. He spoke with a posh accent just like the other boys at the school he’d attended.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she had a feeling that even if Derek did come back, he wouldn’t fit in. Not now.
Ruby turned as Frieda waved her off and she continued to walk quickly towards the cafe. It wasn’t far now.
Finally reaching the cafe, Ruby smiled with relief and ducked inside. It was ever so warm compared to outside, and she quickly unwound her scarf and shrugged off her coat as she spotted Diane at a table in the corner.
Diane waved her over.
“I thought you’d forgotten,” Diane said as Ruby slipped into the seat opposite her.
“Sorry,” Ruby said. “I got held up. Shall I order?”
Diane shook her head. “I’ve already ordered us both a sausage roll and a cup of tea. Is that all right?”
Ruby nodded. It was what they usually had when they met up at lunchtime.
“Thanks. Sorry, I know you don’t get long for lunch. I didn’t mean to hold you up.”
Diane shrugged and smiled, showing her dimples. “That’s all right. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment. Do you know exactly when your mum gets out now?”
Ruby nodded. “The release date is next Wednesday. That is if everything goes smoothly. I can hardly believe she’s actually going to be back home. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
Diane nodded. “It’ll be lovely to see her again. Is your brother coming home?”
Ruby grinned. “Why do you ask do you still have a crush on him?”
Diane flushed and said, “Don’t be daft. I haven’t seen him for years.”
Diane noticed the distracted look on Ruby’s face and leant forward.
“What is it? You’re worried about something. Is it your brother?”
Ruby opened her mouth to answer and then stopped as Doris Williams came over and put their sausage rolls on the table along with two steaming mugs of tea.
“There you go, girls.”
Ruby and Diane thanked Doris, and when she left them alone at the table, Ruby leant forward to explain. “I think I’m going to have to go and see him at the weekend.”
“Derek? Is he still in Southampton?”
Ruby nodded. “Yes, I’m going to have to get the train. I don’t have any choice. I got a letter from him this morning telling me he wasn’t going to come home because of some exam. It’s just an excuse. My mum will be so upset if he doesn’t come home. So I need to go and talk some sense into him.”
Diane’s eyes widened. For all her talk of cruise ships and travelling around the world, she’d never actually gone any further away from London than Essex. “So you’re going to go all the way to Southampton on your own
? Why can’t you just phone him?”
Ruby miserably picked at the sausage roll. “I tried that. They’ve got a telephone at the halls of residence, but he didn’t answer. I think he’s avoiding me.”
Ruby took a large bite of a sausage roll and then noticed there was something different about Diane. She was practically glowing.
Ruby frowned. She had spent enough time moaning about her problems. She didn’t want to be the kind of friend that only talked about herself.
She picked up a mug of tea took a sip and then narrowed her eyes at Diane. “What have you been up to? You look quite pleased with yourself.”
Diane flushed again. Then she admitted she was seeing someone.
Ruby grinned. She didn’t have much of a social life thanks to her father and his reputation, so she liked to live vicariously through Diane sometimes.
“Who is it? Do I know him?”
The smile left Diane’s face, and she hesitated.
“I do, don’t I?” Ruby demanded with a grin. “Come on, you have to tell me. I’m your best friend. You should tell me everything.”
“The thing is, Ruby. You do know him, but I’m not sure you’ll be very happy if I tell you who it is.”
That didn’t make any sense. Ruby frowned. And then it occurred to her she might be talking about Malcolm Wright. She’d had a bit of a crush on him at school, but that was ancient history.
She batted Diane on the hand. “Is it Malcolm? Don’t worry if it is. He is not really my type.”
Diane shook her head and looked uneasy as she picked up and then put down her mug of tea. “No, I don’t think he wants me to tell you, but I think it’s best, to be honest. After all, you’re my best friend. I can’t keep it from you.”
Diane spoke in a rush and Ruby frowned.
Who was she talking about? Who wouldn’t want Ruby to know?
“Of course, you should tell me,” Ruby said, planting her elbows on the table.
Diane swallowed hard and nodded. “It’s Jimmy,” she said. “I’ve been seeing Jimmy Diamond.”
Chapter 13
Later that afternoon, at the workshop, Jimmy was finishing up and putting away the tools. They’d had a long but successful day today, and Brian had managed to finally fix the car they’d been working on.
Brian was trying to keep quiet the fact he’d sourced a part from a stolen motor, and that was making everyone a little nervous. The workshop was legit these days, and Jimmy was worried if Dave found out about the stolen part, he wouldn’t be happy. He tried to convince himself it wasn’t his problem. It had been Brian’s decision, and if Charlie Williams wanted to rat Brian out to Dave that was his decision. Jimmy was determined to keep out of it.
Over the past few years, Dave had expanded his empire and had a lot more people working for him. He still operated in the protection racket but kept his prices low and fair. For gangsters in the East End, this was almost unheard of, but Jimmy was smart enough to realise it was the reason that Martin hadn’t been able to get a stranglehold on the East End again. Despite the fact that Dave Carter was dipping a hand into the pocket of most of the business operators in the East End, people respected him. They probably drew the line at liking him – he was far too scary for that, but they had confidence in him. Dave Carter had safe hands, and he kept trouble away from their door.
Someone like Martin Morton was different. He was almost deranged. Where Dave liked order and rules, Martin liked and thrived on chaos.
Jimmy had kept his nose clean over the past few years, largely thanks to Dave’s influence. There was a time when he was growing up Jimmy feared he would turn out like his father. That thought scared him more than anything in the world.
Though he tried to be as normal as he could, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fight back the burning need to get revenge on Martin for the death of his mother.
Although it had been years since Kathleen passed, he knew that his grandmother thought about her every day.
Things were back on an even keel at home now that Mary didn’t drink any longer, but there was no doubt in Jimmy’s mind Martin Morton had killed his mother and ruined his grandmother’s life in one fell swoop, and would have destroyed Jimmy, too, if he’d had the chance.
Jimmy made sure that all toolboxes were back in their storage lockers, set up against the wall ready for tomorrow and then headed over to the sink to wash up.
Big Tim was already there washing his hands with Swarfega, Brian Moore turned his nose up at that. Jimmy was convinced Brian would have taken readily to the new style of gritty soap if Tim hadn’t done so. But being deliberately obtuse, Brian insisted he preferred the old oil and sandpaper trick to clean his hands after a hard days graft.
Jimmy put his hand in the big bucket of cleanser and pulled out a large dollop of Swarfega before rubbing his hands together over and over and then sticking them under the tap to rinse them.
Little Georgie wandered over to the sink. “Do you fancy a game of pool tonight, Jimmy?”
For the past couple of nights Jimmy had been busy seeing Diane, but tonight she had to have dinner with her grandmother. He’d felt a little guilty about not spending much time with Georgie. They saw each other every day at the workshop, of course, but Georgie didn’t have many friends. People didn’t understand him. They were either terrified of the boy because his father was Dave Carter, or they teased him because he was different.
“All right. Did you notice Big Tim seemed a bit preoccupied today?” Jimmy asked Georgie quietly, looking back at Big Tim, who was scrubbing his hands intently. He had seemed to be on edge all day.
Georgie shook his head. “No. Why? What do you think is wrong with him?”
Jimmy shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
He wasn’t surprised Georgie hadn’t noticed. He seemed to live in a dream world sometimes, Georgieland.
Sometimes, Jimmy thought that might be quite a nice place to live. It would be nice not to have to worry about anything.
Jimmy grinned at Georgie. “A game of pool sounds great,” he said. “Shall I meet you there after dinner?”
Georgie nodded eagerly and then waved goodbye to everyone as he headed out of the workshop.
Jimmy dried his hands on a towel and then noticed that Big Tim was still scraping his fingernails.
“If you carry on like that you won’t have any hands left,” Jimmy said.
Big Tim gave him a broad smile and said, “I need to have clean hands tonight.”
Jimmy leant back against the workbench and frowned. “What’s so special about tonight?”
Big Tim finally rinsed his hands and grinned. He waited till he’d dried his hands and then tapped the side of his nose. “That is none of your business.”
Jimmy opened his mouth to ask another question and felt Charlie Williams’s hand on his shoulder.
As Big Tim walked away, Charlie said, “I think it’s something to do with his lady friend.”
* * *
Big Tim quickly walked along the Princes Road. He was in a hurry to get to the market before the stall owners packed up and went home. To his great displeasure, he saw that he was already too late. The stall owners had already packed up.
Old Bob was sweeping up the odds and sods that had fallen off his fruit and veg stall, and there was no sign of the woman he had hoped to speak to.
Big Tim took a few large strides towards Old Bob. “Where’s Cindy?” he asked.
The look of terror on Old Bob’s face reminded Tim of just how people saw him in the East End.
He felt his shoulders slump. What on earth had he been thinking? He couldn’t live a normal life. People like him couldn’t live normally.
Old Bob straightened up and held his broom in front of him, defensively. Not that it would have helped him if Tim decided he was on Dave Carter’s black list.
Just for once, Tim wished people could treat him like an average person, rather than think the worst of him.
“You’re not in any
trouble, Bob. I just need to speak to Cindy,” Tim said.
Old Bob nodded and licked his lips nervously. “I think she is over at the lock-ups. She’s finished for the day.”
Tim nodded his thanks and then strode off towards the lock-ups that were at the back of the market.
When he got there, there were a few other people besides Cindy locking up. They soon scarpered when they saw Big Tim.
Cindy had been just about to roll down the metal door when she caught sight of him.
She froze as his gaze met hers. She tried to smile and act normally, but he could tell she was nervous.
He tried his best to put her at ease straightaway. “I’m glad I caught you. I just want a bunch of flowers. I know you’ve closed up, but I thought you must have some left.”
Cindy hesitated for a moment before nodding. The flower stall was her new enterprise. She didn’t sell expensive stuff, there was no demand for that around here.
“I’ve got some violets left. I was just going to throw them away. You can have them for nothing.”
Tim shook his head and insisted he pay her. He handed her at least five times too much money, and Cindy was rendered speechless.
After he had picked up the violets, which Cindy had arranged prettily for him in some paper, she dared to ask him who the flowers were for.
Tim hesitated and then shook his head. “That’s for me to know,” he said with a smile.
He didn’t want word getting out around the East End that was for sure, and Cindy wasn’t known for keeping her mouth shut.
Cindy smiled seeming less and less nervous by the moment.
Tim checked his watch and realised he’d needed to get a move on. He thanked Cindy and quickly walked away.
His plan was nearly over before it started, but luckily he’d managed to get the flowers. Now all he had to do was get in front of that factory before she finished work.