Not finding the joke at all funny, Steve nudged Debs. ‘Thanks a lot, babe. I’ll never hear the last of that now.’
Debbie smiled at his annoyance and quickly changed the subject. ‘You staying tonight, Steve, or going home?’ she asked.
‘I dunno, babe, it’s up to you.’
Mickey was still in hysterics. ‘Why don’t I stop at an offie and get some champagne? Mum’ll definitely wanna join in the celebrations. I mean, it ain’t every day a mother learns that her daughter’s marrying a geezer called Steph!’
If Steve had been sitting in the front he would have clumped him. ‘Just stop and get the drink, Mick, you wanker.’
‘What’s all this then?’ June asked, as Mickey walked in carrying a case of champagne followed by Steve and Debbie.
‘Shhh, where’s Charlie?’ Debbie asked softly. She knew how much her son would hate her good news and wanted to break it to him gently.
‘I put him to bed about an hour ago, love. He’s played me up rotten all day. Now don’t keep me in suspense, what’s going on?’ June asked.
Ordering Mickey to go and get some glasses, Debbie ushered her family into the living room and shut the door. ‘Guess what, Mum? Me and Steve are getting married,’ she said happily, flashing her ring.
‘Oh, Debs, that’s fantastic news. I am so pleased for you, darling.’ June’s eyes filled with tears as she fell into her daughter’s arms. Turning her attention to Steve, she hugged him too.
‘Steve, welcome to the family, son.’
June studied Debbie’s ring. ‘Oh, Debs, you are such a lucky girl … it’s beautiful.’
‘I know,’ Debbie said, truly meaning it.
June looked at her children with pleading eyes as she sipped her champagne. ‘I promised Peter I’d be home soon, but I’d rather stay here and celebrate. Do you mind if I ring him, tell him the good news and invite him round?’
Debbie glanced at Mickey who shrugged his shoulders and answered for her.
‘We don’t mind, Mum, but I doubt he’ll wanna come. He don’t usually.’
June picked up the phone. ‘He’s been a lot better since I told him his fortune and has promised to make an effort to be more of a family man. With a wedding to arrange, we have to build some bridges.’
She took the phone into the kitchen so she could speak to her husband in private. Somehow she managed to persuade Peter to come round within the hour. ‘Your wish is my command, my dear,’ he told her sarcastically.
Debbie fiddled with the tuner on her stack system and found Capital Gold. In her eyes you couldn’t have a celebration without a bit of music, and it was her mother’s favourite station.
With June out in the kitchen, rustling up sandwiches, Debbie left Steve and Mickey talking business and tiptoed upstairs to check on Charlie. Opening his bedroom door, she crept into the room and sat on the edge of his little bed. He was fast asleep, bless him, with his arms firmly around Deputy Dawg. She studied him, taking in his handsome face with the slight smile that always made him look so happy as he slept. For some reason his features completely changed on awakening. Once his eyes were open, Charlie’s lack of contentment altered his face and stole his beauty.
After kissing his forehead, Debbie sat down at the top of the stairs, deep in thought. She’d been so swept up in her trip to Marbella and surprise engagement that she’d barely had time to consider her son or his feelings. He hadn’t taken to Steve, that was obvious. All she could do was hope and pray that he would begin to accept having him around the house and, as he grew older, build a relationship with him. Maybe, in time, Steve could take him to football or fishing. And in the future perhaps Charlie would have a brother or sister to play with. Maybe both. She was saved from worrying any more by the sound of the doorbell and the arrival of Peter.
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly and the champagne went down very nicely. Debbie was full of the proposal and the memorable evening they’d had. June asked questions galore. Peter, who still unfortunately suffered from a personality bypass, smiled politely and said nothing.
The sandwiches were eaten in minutes and June, forever the hostess, rushed into Debbie’s kitchen with the empty plates and came back with mounds of cheese on toast.
‘So, any idea when you’ll set the date for?’ she asked excitedly.
‘We haven’t had time to speak about it yet,’ Debbie replied, smiling at Steve.
He turned to June. ‘I’ll leave it all to Debbie to decide. I love her to bits and would marry her tomorrow, she knows that.’
‘Ahhh, it’s so romantic! Do you remember our wedding, Peter? We had a wonderful day, didn’t we, love?’ June said.
‘Yes, dear, it was very nice.’ Peter loved his wife to death, but wasn’t one for showing his feelings, especially not in front of other people.
Hearing ‘Love is in the Air’ come on the radio, Debbie cranked the volume up and danced around the room, doing funny impressions of Fernando.
Charlie woke up and rubbed his beady little eyes. Hearing voices, laugher and loud music, he decided to investigate. ‘Come on, Timmy,’ he said, inviting his imaginary friend to join him. Realising his Uncle Mickey and Granddad Peter were downstairs, he decided to sit at the top of the stairs and earwig. He hated the pair of them and wished them both dead.
‘One day, when we’re big and strong, Timmy, we’ll beat up Uncle Mickey and Granddad Peter and chop their heads off,’ he said.
‘Yes, Charlie,’ he replied in the squeaky voice he always used for Timmy.
Sucking his thumb and sitting still for what seemed like ages, Charlie caught snippets of conversation, but because the music was loud he couldn’t hear anything clearly. As the lounge door opened, he shifted himself out of sight.
‘Thanks, Mum, for looking after Charlie for me,’ he heard his own mum saying.
‘Any time, love. It was worth it to see you so happy,’ replied his silly gran.
About to say something funny to Timmy, the next sentence made Charlie bite back his words as his blood ran cold.
‘Thank you for coming as well, Peter. I know we’ve had our differences over the years, but now that I’m getting married, I’m really glad we’ve buried the hatchet,’ his mother was saying.
‘Me too, dear,’ Peter replied.
Charlie turned to his imaginary friend, his little face contorted in anger. ‘Come back to the bedroom now, Timmy.’
‘Okay,’ Charlie said, his assumed voice filled with rage too.
‘Sit there,’ he demanded once back in his room. ‘My mum is not gonna marry that fat man, Timmy. We have to stop her. We hate him. He’s a bastard, bastard, bastard.’
Timmy stayed silent. Overcome by anger, Charlie flew at him. ‘Talk to me. Please talk to me, Timmy,’ he pleaded, as he kicked and punched his friend.
Timmy stayed schtum.
Charlie got into bed and sobbed, ‘I’m sorry, Timmy. Please talk to me. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please, can we still be friends?’
‘I love you, Charlie. You will always be my friend,’ said a badly shaken Timmy.
Relieved by his friend’s forgiveness, Charlie pulled the Batman quilt over his head. Worn out by his eventful evening, he fell asleep within seconds.
TWENTY-FOUR
DEBBIE TOOK THE tinsel out of the box and wound it round the Christmas tree. She added some baubles, smiled, and turned to Charlie.
‘Why don’t you come and help Mummy decorate the tree?’
Charlie ignored her.
Kneeling down in front of him, Debbie did her best to entice him. ‘I’ve brought you some special chocolate decorations. Help Mummy hang them on the tree and you can have one now.’
‘Don’t want one. Go away. I hate you.’ Kicking her in the shin, Charlie ran out of the room.
Exasperated, Debbie put her head in her hands and cried. Recently, the relationship between her son and her had deteriorated to the point of no return. The situation was slowly but surely breaking her heart. Ever sin
ce Charlie had found out about the wedding, he’d made her life a complete misery. At first he’d begged her not to go through with it.
‘Nooooo, Mummy, nooooo. I promise I’ll be a good boy and never be naughty again. I don’t wanna new daddy. Please, Mummy, don’t marry that man,’ he’d screamed.
Debbie had been really upset by his behaviour. Some days she even toyed with the idea of postponing the event until her son was old enough to deal with it.
‘You will do no such bloody thing. You can’t let your life be ruled by a five-year-old child, Debbie. And what about poor Steve? He’d be devastated,’ her mother had said in no uncertain terms.
Debbie reluctantly agreed with her and carried on planning the big day, but guilt was eating away at her. She was due to get married in seven days’ time and, instead of being excited and full of beans, she was worrying constantly about her son. Charlie rarely left his room except for school. He lived in a little make-believe world he’d created for himself. Apart from the invisible Timmy, he’d talked to no one. Now, hearing the front door open, Debbie frantically tried to wipe away the evidence of her tears.
‘What’s up, babe?’ Steve asked as soon as he saw her.
Sobbing, then, Debbie let it all pour out. ‘It’s Charlie … he still won’t talk to me. What am I gonna do, Steve? I love him so much, but I just can’t get through to him.’
‘Shhh, come on, everything will be okay,’ Steve said, hugging her tightly.
‘I dunno what to do, Steve. This is my big day and I should be so excited, but Charlie’s ruining everything for me. He’s refused to come to the wedding and we’ve no-one to baby-sit him. We can’t leave him with a stranger, he’d terrorise ’em. How are we gonna manage?’
Stroking her hair, Steve spoke to her, quietly but firmly. ‘You’re way too soft with him, Debs, you let him get away with murder. I know you feel guilty ’cause of what happened with Billy, but you’ve gotta try and put that to the back of your mind now. If he ignores you, give him a taste of his own medicine and ignore him. I bet he soon talks to you then. And as for the wedding, we’ll just drag him there, kicking and screaming, if we have to.
Look, Debs, I don’t like to get too involved in the situation between you and him, but why don’t you let me have a chat to him, man to man, like? He’s wary of Mickey, you know. Won’t play up in front of him. He needs a firm hand, Debs, trust me.’
Unable to think of a better idea herself, she agreed. ‘Don’t be too hard on him, though, will you, Steve?’
He gave a little tap and opened Charlie’s bedroom door. Charlie was furious to see who the intruder was. ‘Go away,’ he said as he put his head under the covers.
Steve ignored his command and sat down on the edge of his bed. ‘I think me and you need to have a little chat, don’t you, Charlie?’
‘Nooooo,’ the boy screamed.
Steve grabbed the cover from his face and moved nearer to him. ‘Now shut the fuck up and listen to me. Me and your mum are getting married next week, whether you like it or not. Now, I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but we’re gonna make an effort for your mother’s sake. You will come to the wedding. And while you’re there, you’ll behave yourself and be a good boy. Do you understand me, Charlie?’
‘Won’t. Can’t make me,’ he said obstinately.
Furious, Steve lifted the child off the bed by the neck of his pyjamas and put his own face right next to Charlie’s. ‘You will do as I say, you fucking little shit!’
Charlie wriggled like an eel. Unnerved, he nodded his head.
‘Good. Now, in a minute, you’re gonna walk downstairs and tell your mum you’re sorry. And if I find out you’ve played her up at all in the future, it’ll be me you’ll be dealing with, not her. Do we understand one another?’
Shocked into silence, Charlie nodded dumbly and was relieved to see Steve finally leave his room.
‘How did it go?’ Debbie asked, her voice filled with dread.
‘Yeah, fine, he was as good as gold. He’s coming down in a minute to see you.’
Not quite believing what she was hearing, Debbie was even more amazed when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Standing in front of her, clutching his beloved toy dog, was Charlie and he was actually apologising.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, if I was naughty, and I promise to be a good boy from now on.’
‘Oh, bless ya,’ Debbie said, hugging him.
Charlie pulled himself away from her. ‘Can I go back to my bedroom now?’
‘Of course you can,’ Debbie said, stunned by her son’s change of heart. ‘Whatever did you say to him?’ she asked Steve as soon as Charlie was out of earshot.
‘Just had a little chat. As I said before, Debs, he needs a man’s touch,’ Steve replied, unable to look her in the eye.
Over the next few days, because of Charlie’s turnaround, Debbie was able to concentrate on the wedding. Her mum was a great help and the pair of them spent hours organising the last minute bits and bobs. Debbie had refused to get married in church and opted for a quick ceremony in a Register Office, together with a handful of family and close friends.
‘I don’t want loads of fuss and there’s no way I’m floating up the aisle in a wedding dress, being stared at by all and sundry,’ she’d told Steve.
‘As long as me and you get married, I don’t care if you wear a boiler suit and we say our vows in the middle of Romford fucking Market. We’ll do whatever you wanna do, babe. Just tell me the date and the time and I’ll be there.’
June had been a bit put out at first that her daughter hadn’t opted for the works. ‘Peter and I will pay for it, Debbie. You must have a church wedding, love. It’s the biggest day of your life.’
But Debbie was adamant. ‘Mum, I’m ugly. I’ve got a wonky nose, me hair’s too short and makes me look like a lesbian, I ain’t even got me own fucking front teeth … If you think I’m parading meself about in a church, looking like I do, you can think again.’
June got ever so upset when Debbie put herself down. She was attractive, everybody said so. If only her daughter could look into the mirror and see what everybody else did. Knowing when she was beaten, though, June decided to keep her trap shut from that day onwards and abide by Debbie’s wishes. It was her big day, after all.
The hen night and stag nights were two small affairs because neither Debbie nor Steve particularly wanted them.
Steve held his in a boozer up in Bow and could have throttled Mickey and the lads when some Roly Poly stripogram turned up. Bendy Wendy, she called herself. He nearly died when she got out her massive pair of jugs and rubbed them in his face.
Debbie opted for a sit-down meal in a local Chinese and was joined by a few old school friends, two distant cousins and Susan, her friend from across the street. Her mum was unable to attend as she was the only person on earth capable of baby-sitting Charlie.
The night before the wedding, Debbie sent Steve back home and had her mum stay with her. Steve hadn’t formally moved in with her yet, though he stayed at least five or six nights a week.
On 23 December, the morning of the wedding, Debbie was overcome by nerves and couldn’t get off the toilet. ‘Drink that, darling, it’ll calm you down,’ June said, thrusting a glass of champagne at her.
Debbie’s old classmate, Alison, arrived at ten. A qualified beautician, she’d promised to do her friend’s makeup, hair and nails.
‘Oh, Debbie. I’m so proud of you! You look absolutely fantastic, darling,’ June crowed as she admired the finished results.
Instead of a wedding dress, Debbie had opted for a beige pinstripe skirt and jacket. She accompanied this with a white, wide-collared blouse, high tan suede boots, a small beige hat and a bouquet of cream-coloured flowers. Looking in the mirror, she was surprised to see how nice she looked. Temporarily, her confidence soared.
‘Are you ready to see how cute your little boy looks?’ June asked excitedly, pulling a sullen-looking Charlie into the bedroom by his clammy hand.
As Debbie looked at him in his little grey suit, white shirt and pink tie, she felt as if she was about to burst with pride. He looked so grown up, bless him.
Peter turned up at twelve o’clock and told them that the car was waiting outside. Much to June’s delight, Debbie had agreed that he should give her away. With her brother already snapped up as best man and her real dad six feet under, she hadn’t really had a lot of choice in the matter.
Insisting that Charlie should sit next to her in the car, Debbie squeezed his hand. ‘Are you all right, darling?’
He nodded without answering. His behaviour had been a little odd all this last week, she mused. He’d been polite, but only ever spoke when spoken to and answered with a complete lack of expression. He’d stopped playing up so much, which was one good thing, but spent even more time in his bedroom, talking to his make-believe friend. Concerned for him but not wanting to spoil her own big day, Debbie resolutely turned her thoughts back to her husband-to-be.
As the music played and the ceremony began, Steve glanced around and caught sight of his bride walking towards him. The love he felt for her choked him. Debbie looked so beautiful that he was unable to stop his tears. Seeing his friend’s emotion, Mickey patted him on the back reassuringly.
Peter felt quite honoured to be giving Debbie away. The man he was handing her over to wouldn’t have been his first choice of chap, but he could tell that Steve genuinely loved his step-daughter and that was good enough for him. Peter’s own emotions were running riot. He’d found out only yesterday, by email, that his own daughter Dolores had just got married on a secluded beach in Thailand. Apparently she’d been given away by a complete stranger. He hadn’t told June the news yet. She would be so upset for him and he didn’t want to spoil her big day.
The ceremony was short and sweet. As the happy couple made their vows, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. June, Mickey, Peter … they all shed a tear. Only Charlie showed no emotion. Head bowed, he stared at the floor.
Born Evil Page 17