by Dani Oakley
Jimmy waited for Diane at the entrance to Bevels so she would see him as soon as she finished work.
She was surprised to see him. “Jimmy! I didn’t think we were going out tonight.”
“We’re not. I just wanted to see you.”
Diane beamed happily. “Ah, you’re sweet.”
“Can we take a walk?”
Diane nodded. “As long as I’m back in time for dinner. My mother will worry if I’m not.”
The winter evenings were drawing in, and it was already dark. Diane looped her arm through Jimmy’s, and they strolled together to the end of Salmon’s Lane.
“Is something wrong?” Diane asked.
Jimmy didn’t quite know how to explain the situation. He didn’t want to scare Diane unnecessarily, but at the same time, he needed her to be aware of the danger. It was different with Nan and Linda. They understood because they knew the history between Jimmy and Martin. Diane only knew half the story.
As Jimmy tried to think of the best way to tell her, he listened to Diane chatter about her day at Bevels.
They’d only just turned the corner into Whitethorn Street when Jimmy stopped abruptly.
At the end of the lane, Martin Morton stood leaning against a lamppost. He was alone.
Although it was dark, it was still early, and there were other people about. Surely Martin wouldn’t try anything now.
Diane looked up at Jimmy when he stopped so suddenly. “What is it?”
Jimmy didn’t look at her. His eyes were fixed on Martin Morton. “Go home, Diane.”
Martin began to walk towards him. He looked even more unhinged than earlier.
“Diane, go home now.”
Her arm tightened around Jimmy’s when she finally saw Martin and realised the danger. Then she let go of his arm, turned on her heel and ran.
It would be easy for Jimmy to do the same. He was young and fit and could easily outrun Martin, but there was no way in hell he was going to back down from his mother’s killer.
Jimmy’s hands were sweaty, and he wiped them on the side of his trousers.
“Jimmy,” Martin said, nodding in greeting as he stopped a mere foot away from where Jimmy stood. “I think we’ve got a little unfinished business to attend to.”
Jimmy knew Martin was talking about the stupid thing with the car again. Jimmy agreed with him. They did have unfinished business. And Jimmy couldn’t wait to finish it. He’d been looking forward to this moment for years.
“We’ve got a whole shed load of unfinished business, Martin,” Jimmy said, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice. “For a start, I’d like to know what you did to my mother.”
Martin swayed a little uneasily on his feet, and Jimmy realised he’d been drinking. “Your mother,” he said with a sneer. “You think she’s some kind of saint, don’t you? You stupid, deluded boy. It’s probably your grandmother’s fault for feeding you lies all this time. She’s as mad as a hatter.”
Jimmy felt fury washing through his veins, but he waited, wanting to hear what Martin had to say next.
Martin shrugged and smiled at Jimmy. “It was her own fault. She was asking for it. I was going to pay her off, but she wouldn’t let things lie. So, I got rid of her. Didn’t have a choice.”
Although Jimmy knew Martin was responsible for his mother’s murder, somehow, hearing it from the mouth of Martin himself was too much. It was overwhelming.
Jimmy launched himself at Martin, throwing punches wildly, and then suddenly he saw a glinting object. The street light was shining on something metal. Martin had a knife.
Jimmy flinched and moved back.
He stared into his father’s face. Neither of them moved, and Jimmy realised this was it. Martin Morton was about to murder him, too.
He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. Martin could try to kill him, but he’d sure as hell put up a fight.
He raised his fists, keeping his eyes fixed on the knife, but before he could make a move, he heard an ear-splitting scream, and both he and Martin turned.
Diane hadn’t run home. She’d gone to get help. Eyes wide, she stood shaking in the alleyway. Behind her stood Ruby Morton.
* * *
When Martin saw Ruby standing in the alleyway, he did a double take. “What are you doing here? This isn’t something you should see, sweetheart.”
Ruby marched forward, and Martin quickly hid the knife before slipping it into his pocket.
Jimmy didn’t dare move.
He was grateful Diane had stayed where she was and hadn’t come any closer to Martin. He wouldn’t have put it past Martin to use Diane against him.
But Ruby’s presence seemed to have calmed her father. “What’s going on, Dad?”
“We were just having a chat.” Martin looked back at Jimmy. “Weren’t we?”
Jimmy met Ruby’s gaze, and he gave a small shrug.
He didn’t want to do anything that might set Martin off, especially not with Ruby and Diane present.
Ruby stepped forward again and put a hand on her father’s arm. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Martin looked back at Jimmy and gave him a glare full of promise.
This wasn’t over.
But Jimmy didn’t need Martin to tell him that. For Jimmy, this would never be over until Martin was in his grave.
He stood motionless as Ruby and Martin walked away, watching their retreating backs until they turned out of the alleyway. It was only then he let out the breath he’d been holding.
Diane rushed over to him, gripping his arm and looking up at him breathless with excitement. Her eyes were sparkling.
He reached out to put an arm around her shoulders, thinking he should try and comfort her. He assumed she would be shaken up by the incident, but her cheeks were flushed and she didn’t look scared. She looked thrilled to have witnessed the stand-off.
“I can’t believe it!” she said. “He could have killed you. It was lucky for you I went and got Ruby, wasn’t it? I mean, if it hadn’t been for me…” Diane drew a line across her neck in a cutthroat gesture, and Jimmy frowned.
This was a bloodthirsty side of Diane he hadn’t seen before.
He let his arm slip from her shoulder. “I’m sorry you saw that,” he said. “Maybe it’s better if we cool things off for a while.”
The gleeful smile left Diane’s face. “You want to cool things? After what I just did for you?”
Jimmy put his hands in his pockets. “I’m grateful, really I am, but everything is unsettled at the moment, and it’s not safe to be around me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Diane grinned. “You don’t have to worry about that. I think it’s exciting. I feel alive for the first time in ages.” She linked her arm through Jimmy’s, pushing her body against his. “You know, I think he’s losing it,” she said breathlessly. “You should think about taking over.”
Jimmy took a step back, frowning as he looked down at her. “What are you talking about?”
Diane’s lips worked upwards with a sly smile. “Well, why not? You’ve got Dave Carter in your corner, and Martin Morton isn’t so tough. You could take him on. Imagine that! Jimmy Diamond, the newest player in the East End.”
Jimmy pulled his arm away from Diane. He didn’t want to be a player. Jimmy wanted a normal life, and as much as he would like to see Martin Morton wiped off the face of the planet for what he did to his mother, he certainly didn’t want to step into his shoes. He was more than happy working for Dave.
“I don’t want to be a player, Diane,” Jimmy said coldly. “I’m happy with my life the way it is, thank you.”
Diane narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have any ambition.”
Jimmy had seen what that type of ambition had done to people in the past. From what he could glean from Linda and his nan, he knew his mother had ideas of bettering herself and moving up the slippery pecking order in the East End. Although he’d never really known her, he felt his mother’s absence keenly and kne
w his nan had never fully recovered after her death.
It was an uncomfortable thing to admit, but now he was older, Jimmy was well aware his mother hadn’t been an angel. No one came right out and said it of course. He’d had to read between the lines, but he was in no doubt that Kathleen had an affair with Martin and had set her sights on usurping Babs.
“This isn’t a game, Diane. People get hurt.”
Diane scowled. “I’m aware of that, thank you. Clearly, I overestimated you. You’re just small-time, Jimmy Diamond, and the idea that we cool things off is the best idea you’ve had in ages.”
Diane whirled around on her heel and then stalked off, her heels clacking on the cobblestones.
Jimmy let out a sigh and then walked slowly behind her, keeping a safe distance, but staying close enough to make sure she returned to her parents’ house safely.
When she was safely inside and had shut the door behind her, Jimmy turned around to walk home, feeling a sense of relief. His relationship with Diane had not turned out as planned at all.
She wasn’t the girl he thought she was.
He wondered how Ruby was coping with Martin. He wished things were different and that they had a closer relationship so he could go and make sure she was okay.
Since the fire, Jimmy had felt like he owed her a debt, and over the years, although they had seen each other many times, they had barely spoken. It was hard to believe she was his half-sister. His blood.
But Jimmy figured Ruby would be okay. Martin had been very drunk, but if anyone could handle him, it would be his daughter. Martin wouldn’t hurt her. Jimmy smiled bitterly. She wasn’t a bastard, like Jimmy.
Chapter 31
Ruby was still trembling. Although she didn’t exactly know what had been about to go down between her father and Jimmy, she had a pretty good idea. She glanced at her father who was stumbling along the road beside her. He’d started to drink more and more over the past few weeks.
Ruby had put that down to stress over the fact her mother was getting out of prison, but now she wondered if there was more to it than that.
She didn’t understand why her father hated Jimmy Diamond so much. It wasn’t Jimmy’s fault he’d been born. He didn’t ask for any of this.
She hadn’t had much to do with him, but he didn’t seem like a bad sort. She hadn’t spoken to him as much as she would have liked because doing so felt like she was betraying her family, her mother especially. Now that she was older, she could see how complicated the situation was.
After the fire at the club, Ruby had seen how badly Jimmy was hurting, and she couldn’t understand why her family didn’t want to give him the support he needed. Now, of course, she realised how humiliating it must have been for her mother and an embarrassment to her father at the same time.
Although her father had never admitted that Jimmy was his son, Ruby was absolutely convinced. There were certain similarities in the way he held himself, even their expressions were similar when they were angry, and he looked very much like Uncle Tony.
She’d been on the phone to Derek, making sure he would be back home tomorrow for their mother’s release from prison, when Diane had hammered at the door.
Grandma Violet had already been in her nightgown and wasn’t impressed at the interruption.
Ruby had left the house immediately without pausing to explain to her grandmother. After seeing the frantic panic on Diane’s face, she knew that something terrible was about to happen.
When she’d seen them, it felt as though her heart stopped beating.
Jimmy was rigid. Whether that was from fear or anger, she didn’t know. Her father tried to hide his knife, but she’d seen it before he slipped it into his pocket. If she’d been just a few seconds slower, she could have been too late…
“What is happening, Dad?” Ruby asked.
“Ah, nothing to worry about. He was just mouthing off, and I was going to teach him a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?”
Martin turned, and the side of his mouth worked up into a smirk. “One he wouldn’t forget.”
She didn’t expect to get much more out of her father tonight, and the last thing she wanted to do was dwell on the subject of Jimmy Diamond, in case he suddenly decided to go and find Jimmy to finish things off.
She changed the subject. “Derek will be home tomorrow. So he’ll be there when Mum gets out. Are you going to be there?”
Martin hesitated before replying, and Ruby felt her mouth grow dry.
“I’ll pop in and say hello. Besides, I haven’t seen that brother of yours in ages.”
Ruby relaxed slightly and smiled. “Good. I’m sure Mum will make an effort, and hopefully, we can all get on.”
Martin snorted. “Make an effort? Your mother?”
“Dad, please, be nice. We haven’t seen her in so long. She is going to find it difficult too.”
Martin stopped walking and turned to face his daughter. “All right. I’ll be on my best behaviour just for you. But if your mother starts something, I won’t be held responsible.”
Ruby linked her arm through her father’s and pulled him across the street towards the club. “It could be a new start for all of us, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” Martin said as though that was the very last thing he believed.
When they were inside, Martin moved to the bar, picking up a whisky bottle.
Ruby frowned. “Don’t you think you had enough tonight?”
“Don’t push your luck, young lady. I’ll drink what I like.”
“I was just thinking of you,” Ruby said with a shrug. “You’ll have to face Grandma Violet and Mum tomorrow, and if you have a hangover, it will only feel ten times worse.”
“You’ve got a point,” Martin said and poured only a single measure into his glass.
Ruby leant back against the bar. She would have to go back home soon because Grandma Violet would be going up the walls with worry after Ruby had rushed out like that. Her father seemed to have calmed down now. She didn’t think he’d be going back after Jimmy Diamond tonight.
“I’ve been worried about you, Dad.”
“Worried about me? Whatever for?”
“You’ve just not seemed yourself recently,” Ruby said struggling to put how she felt into words.
Martin took a sip of his whisky and then said, “I’m fine. I just have trouble sleeping.”
Ruby didn’t say anything. She just watched as Martin drained the glass.
“I have to watch my back all the time. I can’t trust anyone, and it’s doing my head in.”
Ruby frowned. “You can trust Uncle Tony. Freddie would never let you down, and you’ve got me, Derek and Grandma Violet.”
Martin put his drink back down on the bar and looked at his daughter fondly.
“You’re right. I do love you, you know. I probably don’t tell you enough, but you and Derek are the most important people in my life. Even though I never see the little sod.” He let out a sigh. “Sometimes, I think…” He paused to pour another drink.
“What?” Ruby asked.
Martin shook his head. “Never mind. Ignore me. Your old dad is just feeling maudlin tonight.”
* * *
A few miles away, Babs was lying in the darkness, waiting. She could hear the gentle snores of Liz and Jane and knew they were already asleep.
Lights out had been almost an hour ago, and the noise in the corridor had gradually died down.
She should be here by now, Babs thought, gritting her teeth. She’d promised Samuels a large wedge to take her to see Gertie.
She was fast running out of time as it looked like she would be released the day after tomorrow. Babs still half-expected them to pull the rug from under her just before her release. She wouldn’t truly believe it until she was sitting at her kitchen table in Poplar.
It would be just her luck if Mean Maud woke up before Babs’s release date and threw a spanner in the works.
With a sigh, Babs
sat up and crawled as quietly as possible out of her bunk. She tiptoed across the cell and peered out.
She knew Janet and Liz wouldn’t make any trouble, but she didn’t want to deal with their questions right now.
She tried to peer out into the corridor but couldn’t see much.
Babs cursed under her breath. Why had she trusted Samuels? She hadn’t had much choice. She needed to see Gertie and didn’t have people lining up to help.
She’d not seen hide nor hair of Gertie since the incident in the kitchen, and Babs was worried.
She didn’t think Gertie would drop her in it, but she knew how hard things could be in solitary, and she was worried how well Gertie was holding up.
Just as Babs was about to go back to bed, she heard footsteps.
She pressed her face against the cold metal door and waited.
After what seemed like an age, Samuels came into view. She held a torch and a ring of keys.
She peered in at Babs and asked, “Ready?”
“Ready?” Babs whispered back. “I’ve been bleeding well ready for the last hour.”
Samuels rolled her eyes and unlocked the door.
Babs flinched as the key clicked in the lock. The hinges squealed as the door opened. She turned around, but Liz and Jane were still fast asleep in their bunks.
She slipped out of the door and joined Samuels in the corridor.
“Follow me, and keep your mouth shut,” Samuels ordered.
Babs noticed how tightly she was gripping the torch and realised Samuels was worried about getting caught. She supposed she should be worried as well. After all, breaking the rules like this when she had a release date imminent was foolish, but she had to take the chance.
They wound their way along corridors, through the centre of the prison. They took the most direct route, passing the main cell blocks, and then finally they slipped through another locked door into the section that Babs knew led to the sickbay and solitary confinement.
The main block of the prison had been in darkness, but the corridors that led to sickbay were brightly lit and hurt Babs’s eyes.