“Suzanne’s house by any chance?”
“Yes, love. Why?” Rachel stopped spreading the margarine and looked across at her daughter.
“Well, you are spending a hell of a lot of time with her recently mum. I thought you said she was a weirdo?”
“Never mind that. It’s none of your business love. It’s adult stuff.” Rachel returned her attention to the bread.
“Oh, okay, thanks for patronising me.” Britney’s eyes flicked up from the phone for the first time since she’d entered the kitchen. She gave a long, hard stare at the back of her mother before returning her gaze to the phone.
“Don’t be like that love. God, I wish you’d lighten up a bit, you’re turning into a right old nag bag.” Rachel had a slightly angry tone to her voice.
“If I said something like that, you’d do your nut. But it’s alright for you to say stuff like that. It stresses me out. If I answer questions going “oh, its none of your business, it’s teenage stuff, you’d go crazy at me.”
“What is the matter?” asked Rachel, putting down her butter-knife and turning around once again to face her sulky daughter. Britney’s eyes were locked on the phone.
“Forget it.”
“I’m going to Suzanne’s, because I need to talk to her about something.”
“But it’s so important that we all have to have a butty for tea?” Britney still didn’t look up from whatever it was that she was staring at on her phone. Rachel had to remind herself to count to ten. Her daughter was right, regardless of the cockiness and the attitude, Britney had a very valid point.
“Listen, love…”
“Why? So you can tell me a load of lies. I know why you’re spending so much time with Suzanne. I know why you are so angry, and moody and snappy all the time. I know why you’re stood there looking like a bag of bones. You think I’m thick mum, but I’m not.” Britney’s cocky, head-wobbling monologue was delivered without any eye contact being made, which angered Rachel even more as she stood there and listened to the abuse.
“Go on then, clever-clogs. What’s the matter then? If you think you’ve got it all sussed out, tell me. Go on.” Rachel was leaning against the island section in the kitchen, facing Britney. “Come on.” She folded her arms across her chest. Britney just stared at the work surface. Rachel saw that a tear broke loose from her daughter’s eye, which rolled quickly down her cheek, landing on her t-shirt. Another broke free and Britney dabbed at her face with her sleeve.
“What’s up love? Come on, tell me.” Rachel’s voice had softened a great deal, as she walked around the island and put her arms across her daughters heaving shoulders.
“What’s up?” asked Noel as he appeared in the kitchen doorway. Britney began crying more, and Noel’s interest was piqued further.
“Get away from me you little freak!” screeched Britney through her sorrow as Noel walked near, seemingly quite concerned about his older sister.
“Charming!” said Noel as he walked away, back towards the living room. “Can’t be that bad if she is still being as abusive as ever!”
“Close the door please Noel, that’s a good lad.”
Noel closed the glass panelled door with a sarcastic look on his face and darted back into the living room where he was watching television with Shania.
“You okay, pet?” asked Rachel quietly.
“Yes, I’m… I’m fine. I just…”
“What, love? You’re scaring me Britney, what’s up?”
“I saw you kill him.”
Rachel felt her whole body freeze up, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, in one ruthless juddering wave of shock. She felt as though she had been spun around, and she couldn’t stop. It was as if the whole room had started spinning in one direction, and she had begun spinning in the opposite way.
“Wha… you what?” she managed to say as the spinning got faster. She had to clutch tightly onto the work surface. Her legs were weak and she knew that she was heading towards a panic attack.
Breathe. Big breaths. Slow down. Big deep breaths. That’s it. Deep breaths.
“I saw you run across the road, you chucked your fag away as you went, orange sparks flashed on the floor, then I saw him beating Suzanne up in the front bedroom, then I saw you come in the room and smash his head in.” Britney’s voice was very cold, she sounded very detached from the violence and graphic nature of what she was describing.
The spinning began to slow. A cold, freezing sensation hit Rachel’s bowels, and it began working its way up into her tummy. Her heart was beating fast, and very hard against her chest. Rachel’s mouth was wide open as she stared at the back of her daughter. The panic was subsiding, slowly but surely.
“I watched it, you, out of my window. I didn’t know what to do when I saw you hit him. And he fell. And…” Britney started to cry again, this time with much more distress. “I was about to come… I saw you shut the curtains, and I was really scared mum, I wanted to help. I was getting my shoes on, and I was a bit drunk and I was really confused. Then I heard you come in. I was at the top of the stairs. I heard what you said to dad. Everything.”
“Britney… why…”
“I wanted to tell you, I’ve been meaning to say something, but…”
“What, love? You should have come to me. If I’d have known…”
“Known what?”
“If I’d known what you were going through, I could have…”
“I thought I’d get over it. I thought it would get better, but I’m just in a daze all the time. I’m just scared, twenty four seven mum.” Britney broke down completely, and let it all out, the tears, the snot and the big, heavy sobs of sadness and concern.
“I know Britney love, I am too.” Rachel began sobbing as well. Noel appeared at the door and was staring through the glass, his cheeky grin was quickly replaced by a look of concern. He opened the door slowly and popped his head into the kitchen.
“What’s up? You alright mum?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine Noel, we’re fine.” Rachel was wiping at her face as she spoke.
“You’re not, summat’s up. Why are you both scriking?”
“We’ve just been listening to a really sad song, that’s all.” Said Britney. “Now go away before I give you a Chinese burn, you little dick.”
“I’m sick of this, I’m only seeing if you’s are alright. When’s tea mum, I’m starving?”
“In a minute love, just leave us alone for a bit Noel, please mate.”
Noel did as he was told, and left his mum and sister in the kitchen. Rachel passed some kitchen roll to her daughter, and used a piece to dab at her own eyes.
“Come with me, over to Suzanne’s. We can talk about it properly over there. Okay?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it mum. I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“It’s good that you have. It was an accident, love. I was trying to protect Suzanne, that was all.”
“I know, I know all that. But I keep coming home every day thinking you’ll be in prison and it’s doing my head in. I can’t sleep, I can’t think at school. My heads in bits mum. All my mates hate me, they think I’m a stupid bitch.” Britney looked as though she was about to set off again, her chin was quivering violently, and the snot continued to roll down towards her lip.
“Let me do these butties and we’ll go across the road. You’ll feel better when you know everything. Right?” Rachel’s confidence was beginning to return, and the overpowering shock of Britney’s announcement had begun to wane. “Everything’s going to be alright. You’ll see.”
Britney knew her mum well enough to know when she was worried, and she knew her mum’s voice well enough to know that she heard a very frail trace of doubt in what she was telling her, and it filled the young girl with a renewed sense of dread.
*****
“What’s for tea Vera?” Kev was shouting into the kitchen from the back garden, where he’d been sat for most of the afternoon, enjoying the
sunshine.
“Why do you call me Vera?” asked Tania, as she exhaled some smoke through her nostrils and stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray.
“You what?” shouted Kev.
“I said, you fucking deaf bastard, why do you call me Vera?”
“Because it’s funny.” Kev laughed after he’d answered, as though he’d reminded himself of how hilarious his joke was.
“How, how is it? Why is calling me Vera funny?” Tania pulled another cigarette from her pack, put it in her mouth and sparked her lighter. She took a big, greedy draw on it while Kev answered her question, shouting it from the back garden so that the entire community could hear as well.
“Vera, that’s that miserable faced prison officer off Cell Block H, you know, you can remember Vinegar Tits can’t you?” Kev started laughing again to himself.
Tania stood and went to the back door.
“So, now you’ve explained that, I still don’t understand why you call me Vera, you bell-end.”
“Well it wouldn’t be very polite to say what’s for tea Vinegar Tits, would it?” Kev slapped his leg as he laughed at his joke. Tania just looked at him with a look of pity and regret in her eyes. She flicked her cigarette and the ash flew off onto the patio.
“Oh, right. Nice one Kev. You’re wasted sitting around here stinking of meat pies, you should get a job in comedy, you’ll make millions mate. You’ll be amazing - instead of just being a big fat bone idle boring twat here all day.”
“No need for that Vera! Anyway, come on, you haven’t answered my question. What’s for tea?” Kev drained the last of the liquid from his lager can and scrunched it up in his hand.
“I’m going over to Suzanne’s. You’ll have to ring summat.”
“Fucking hell, going over to stuck-up Suzanne’s again? What the fuck do you lot get to talk about so much?” Kev stood and walked slowly towards Tania. “Pass us another can please love.”
“Get your own, you lazy twat. Right, I’ll see you in a bit. Don’t wash those pots love, just leave them there for muggings to do. In fact, why don’t you shove the hoover up my arse and turn it on, I’ll vac the front room while I’m picking all your shit up.”
“You what?”
“You heard.”
“Yeah yeah yeah whatever Vera! Leave us a tenner for mine and Brett’s tea will you?”
“I’ve already given Brett some money for his tea, and I gave you money before!”
“I’ve spent that.”
“On cans?”
“Not just on cans.”
“Well if you haven’t got any money left, fuck ya. You can get a pizza out of the freezer and have that. See ya later.”
“I’d love to know what you fucking slags are plotting!” shouted Kev, as his wife slammed the front door behind herself.
“I’m plotting to fuck off as far away from you as I can possibly get you big hanging mess.” Said Tania as she strode confidently across Fir Trees Grove, and to the front door of Suzanne’s house.
Ding Dong.
*****
“I thought you said we needed to talk?” Tania was being quite aggressive, and made no secret of her irritation when she saw Britney sat with Rachel in Suzanne’s lounge.
“She knows,” said Rachel. “I’ve only just found out.”
“Knows what?” asked Tania, trying her best to look like a gangster, but her face was left hanging down on one side, making her look like she was a drag act suffering a stroke.
“She knows!” said Rachel, doing nothing to disguise her hatred of Tania.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” said Tania, throwing her arms up in the air.
“Are you okay Britney?” asked Suzanne, wrapping her arm around the teenager.
“Jesus! Soon there’ll be more people involved with this than there isn’t!” Tania sat herself down on the settee and tutted loudly.
“Tell you what Tania, can you just shut up for a minute? You’re pecking my head in.” Rachel had suffered a massive shock in the past half an hour, she’d fought off a panic attack and she was emotionally drained. She was in absolutely no mood for Tania and her gob-shite opinions. Tania took the hint and sat right back, holding out the palms of her hands.
“Alright, alright, don’t lose your shit.”
Rachel and Britney explained the situation, and Britney went into detail about what she had witnessed, including afterwards, when her parents had gone back into the house, and Tania had crept over there too, trying to see what was happening. Suzanne became increasingly upset, as the details of the incident were re-told and re-lived by all who were involved, in one way or another.
The small group of people that were involved in the disappearance of Graham Ashworth had now grown by one fifth. There were now five people who knew about the situation. Rachel, Mick and Britney, Suzanne and Tania.
“Have you told anybody about it? A mate, or a boyfriend or anything?” asked Suzanne, kindly holding Britney’s shoulder and talking softly.
“No, no, course not. I’m not a complete knob you know! I know that my mum is going to get sent down for murder, who am I going to tell that to?” said Britney, her eyes gave away her disgust at such a stupid question.
“Are you sure?” asked Tania, with her usual lack of charm and compassion.
“Course I’m sure. Are you sure?” Britney was staring straight at the woman, who she couldn’t stand the sight of anyway, regardless of this event that had now connected their paths.
“Don’t start with me, young lady!”
“Or else what? You’ll paint me bright orange so I look like you?”
“Come on, now, you two. Leave it out.” Suzanne was uncharacteristically forceful as she spoke.
“You should teach your kids some manners,” said Tania in Rachel’s direction.
“Tania, I’m not taking lectures from anybody about my kids love, least of all you.” Rachel shook her head dismissively at the neighbour.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well you’re only allowed one to live with you.”
“You fucking bitch!”
“What? It’s no secret Tania. Your womb has caused more problems in Manchester than the fucking IRA bomb did.”
“Right,” said Britney, practically shouting. “Seriously. Shut up. All of you’s.” The three adults all looked at each other, and seemed slightly embarrassed as they realised how childish their behaviour had become during the past few minutes.
Britney was brought up to speed with the alibis and the agreed version of events so far. After almost thirty five minutes of the discussion, the conversation finally got round to the business that Tania had been called round about.
Rachel and Suzanne explained the policeman’s visit. Once Tania had listened to both sides of the story, she knew pretty quickly which camp she was in.
“Rachel’s spot on,” she said. “Things are about to come on top, no mistake about it. And we had better all get our fucking stories straight.”
“Where’s Mick? At work?” asked Suzanne.
“Yeah, he’s on late shift this week, he’ll be in at about ten.”
“Well, do we need to wait for him, or…”
“No. We need to figure out where we’re up to. Let’s try and suss out if this new development changes the story. If it does, we need to know what changes we’re making, and we need to make it just as water-tight as the first story.” Rachel’s confidence was high, and she was treating this as though it was just a council tax arrears problem down at the Citizen’s Advice.
“Why would the story be any different now?” asked Suzanne.
“Well, that’s what we need to figure out for sure.” Rachel was talking to everybody, but mainly Britney, who had inherited a great deal of information in a very small amount of time. “Our story is set up for a full on police bust, with one of us, or even all of us getting taken down to the police station under arrest. We need to know why that’s not happened. Why hasn’t this copper arreste
d us? Why is he sniffing about, pretending he wants to talk bollocks with Graham? I hate to say it, but it looks to me like the game is nearly up. And so, we need to concentrate, stay strong and of course, main job - stay one step ahead of the police.”
“How?” asked Britney, looking scared, and vulnerable, for the first time that the adults in the room had seen since the cocky, confident teenager had entered.
“Don’t worry about all that now love, we’ve already got all that sussed out. I’ll tell you in a bit.”
“So what’s the plan now then, what’s happening?” Tania exhaled loudly as she sat up, moving her large frame up towards the edge of Suzanne’s settee. She had a look of arrogant disinterest on her face, but to the others, it seemed quite forced and badly executed. If she was trying to suggest that she was an old hand with murder and such like, she was coming across as a fake.
Rachel knew what a snide looked like, she had met with, mixed with and socialised with more fake, insincere people than she had with honest, down-to-earth, trustworthy folk. Tania was fitting the bill perfectly as a snide. In Rachel’s view, the biggest threat to them all, to the entire predicament that they were in was this horrible Tania. She had the very least to fear, and the most to gain. As she sat there, cockily glancing around the group, pushing Maltesers into her mouth like she’d bought them, a thought occurred to Rachel Birdsworth. It scared her instantly, and also made her feel giddy with excitement. A cold sheen of sweat enveloped her forehead and her back, tingling her spine and forcing her to jerk slightly.
“What’s up with her?” asked Tania, through a mouthful of chewed up chocolates, nodding at Rachel as she wiped her head with her sleeve.
I’m going to kill you, thought Rachel. And the tingling sensation started off again, the thrill and the fear was an intoxicating, paralysing mix. It was the only chance they had, and this inspirational realisation of the fact gave Rachel a renewed faith that Graham’s death could remain a mystery. Only Tania would be able to ruin it. Now that Britney was involved, it was obvious to Rachel that Tania needed to be cut out of the picture.
Neighbours From Hell : DCI Miller 2: The gripping Manchester thriller with a killer twist Page 20