Untitled Josephine Cox 4

by Josephine Cox

  ‘Who was that?’ Dabbing his face to clear the odd hairs that still clung to his skin after shaving, her bad-tempered husband questioned her again when she didn’t answer immediately. ‘Who was that on the phone? Don’t you dare ignore me!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mike. I was distracted. I can’t help thinking about what Ronnie just told me. There’s been a terrible accident.’

  ‘Don’t give me that! You’re after putting me in a bad mood again, aren’t you? Oh, yes! You’re a cunning little swine, you love to wind me up, don’t you, eh? You get me angry, put me in a really bad mood, and then you have the damned cheek to blame me when I find the need to chastise you!’

  His temper rising by the second, he crossed the room and reached out to grab a hank of her long hair, before roaring at her, ‘What the hell is it with you, eh?’

  He yanked her hair again and again, revelling in her cries of pain. ‘I asked you a question, bitch! Who was that on the telephone? Some fancy man was it, eh? Sneaking behind my back, are you?’ His temper knew no bounds. ‘What are you up to, eh? Answer me, dammit!’

  ‘I’m not up to anything! That was my brother, Ronnie.’

  ‘Liar!’

  ‘No, I’m not a liar!’

  Smiling at her squeals of pain, Mike continued to yank at her hair, while bending down to whisper in her ear, ‘What does your precious brother want then? Got some kind of secret between the two of you, is that it? Cooking something up, some kind of trickery to make me out a fool, is that it?’

  Pressing his face hard against hers, he was enjoying her pain. ‘I know he doesn’t care much for me, but I don’t give a sod about that because as you well know, I loathe him every bit as much as he loathes me.’

  He took her by the shoulders and spun her round to face him. ‘Well, now?’ He smiled wickedly. ‘I want the truth! Out with it – and you know better than to tell me lies – what did he want, eh? Your precious brother, what did he say? I can always tell when you’re lying.’

  ‘I am not … lying!’ Upset after hearing of Cathy’s accident, Beth was slow in answering. All she could hear was Ronnie’s voice in her head, telling her that Cathy was hurt and in hospital.

  ‘Well?’ Mike shook her viciously. ‘Out with it! The truth, mind.’ Leaning down he stared hard into her face. ‘Well … come on then. What did he tell you? Come on then, bitch! Have you gone deaf and dumb all of a sudden or what?’

  Then he had his two hands around her throat. ‘Poor little thing.’ He smiled nastily into her face, ‘I can’t for the life of me wonder why I ever took you on, I must have been crazy. Why the hell did I ever get mixed up with you and your family, eh?’

  Taking hold of her he began shaking her, but with a huge effort she broke away and fled out of the room and along the passageway to the front door. She had to get away, but Mike was close on her heels. Panic-stricken, she struggled to get the door open, he threw her aside and kicked it shut.

  She struggled to get by him but he grabbed her by the arms and fought her back from the door. ‘Woah! Desperate to run off with your fancy man, is that it? Well, who am I to stop you? Go on, bugger off, and good riddance to you. But in future, just keep well away from me, and if you rubbish my name to anyone or cause me any trouble, I swear you will pay for it, believe me. Oh, and don’t forget, it’s me who’s been paying the mortgage these past years, which makes this house mine.’

  His dark eyes smiled as he thrust his face close to hers and told her softly, ‘It’s you who’s leaving, not me! And if you make any kind of trouble, or try taking my home from me, I’ll give you a fight you will never forget. Don’t try sneaking back in here,’ he warned her in a quiet voice, ‘and don’t fight me for this house, because, trust me, you will be fighting a losing battle!’

  Moving even closer to her, he lowered his voice to a menacing hiss. ‘If you and your precious brother try to get one over on me, people will get hurt. You could get hurt.’ His smile was wicked. ‘Oh, you might not care if I planned to hurt you … but I’m sure if it was your precious brother, Ronnie, who had some kind of an accident … well now, you would not like that at all, would you?’

  Beth remained silent. She knew what he might be capable of.

  Enjoying her fear, Mike taunted her with his hands about her throat. ‘Don’t test me, my lovely,’ he purred, and when he leaned forward to kiss her, she backed away as best she could.

  ‘Oh, dearie me! Is your husband so repellent that you can’t even kiss him?’ he leered. ‘Oh my! You really hate me, don’t you? I bet you’d like to see me dead, wouldn’t you? It would be terrible, though, wouldn’t it, my lovely, if your dear brother was attacked one dark night by some people I know – really bad people who owe me big time!’

  When she tried to back away, he clutched her to him. ‘Oh, yes! Bad people who would do anything to keep me sweet.’

  His wicked smile turned Beth’s heart over with fear. She knew he had friends who were capable of anything, and she also knew that if he took a mind to hurt Ronnie, nothing would stop him.

  ‘You know I only have to raise my little finger, and Ronnie is in deep trouble, you understand, sweetheart?’

  When she gave no answer, he smiled and went on, ‘I promise, I will not hang around to pick up the pieces when my people are done with him. And there you would be, homeless and alone, and only what was left of your precious brother, to take care of you.’

  He kept her pinned to the wall. ‘So tell me – or am I not allowed to know what your precious brother told you, eh? An “accident”, isn’t that what you said? Well now that’s a real shame, and what kind of “accident” was it? A bad one, I hope!’

  For what seemed an age, Beth stubbornly kept her ground, refusing to answer and fuel his cruelty until he threw a spiteful, unexpected punch that knocked her off her feet.

  ‘Get up, you’re not hurt!’ He kicked her as she lay on the floor. ‘I said get up!’

  When she tried to struggle to her feet, he yanked her up and slammed her against the wall. With one arm across her neck, he reached for the door with the other. ‘If you say one word against me, I swear your precious brother will be no more. You have my word on that! You and me … we’re done with. Don’t try finding me, because I’m moving away. The house will be sold.’

  Quietly opening the door just wide enough, he looked out to check that the street was empty.

  Satisfied there was no one to witness it, he took Beth by the shoulders, while smiling into her eyes. ‘I do love you,’ he promised, ‘but you have been unwise to underestimate me! We’re done. Finished with. I’ve had enough of your lies!’

  His meaning was clear.

  He grabbed her face between both hands and kissed her full on the mouth.

  When she struggled with him, he held her even tighter. ‘Just remember, you’ll always be my wife, though. Mine. Death do us part. No tricks. And like I say, don’t ever forget, this is my house. It’s in my name and was bought with my money. Don’t ever try coming back here, because you will regret it, d’you hear me? Stay away! Or face the consequences.’

  His dark threats were clear enough to Beth. And now his spiteful smile fell away, and in silence, and without an ounce of compassion, he yanked open the door, and he threw her out into the night.

  By the time Beth had scrambled up from the path where she fell, Mike had already gone back inside and the door was firmly closed and locked behind him. She had nothing, not even a scrap of fight. He’d taken everything.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A SHORT DISTANCE FROM where Beth and Mike resided, Eileen and Tony were settling down to enjoy their hot cocoa before getting ready for bed.

  As a rule, the two of them might have been chatting together, or chuckling about this and that, and generally putting the world to rights. But lately, Eileen had been less relaxed, constantly fretting over the meeting with Marie in Blackpool a few weeks ago.

  Although Eileen still loved Tony after all these years, because of his liaison with Ma
rie she could never quite trust him, and never quite forget what had happened.

  For the sake of her own sanity and the hope of keeping her marriage together, Eileen had stopped asking questions long ago. She wanted the issue closed, and she was ashamed and hurt whenever she thought of how her husband and her friend had betrayed her.

  Thankfully, Marie had kept well away from Eileen. On the odd occasion when she and Marie saw each other across the market stalls in town, or walking in the park, each would simply nod an acknowledgement and move on.

  At home, Tony had never mentioned the night Marie came to call on Eileen, and found only him there, willing to offer sympathy to the widow, and a great deal more. Indeed, on the one occasion when Eileen might have touched on the reasons as to why it happened, Tony had adamantly refused even to discuss it.

  And so, ashamed and angry, she had deliberately pushed the memory of that time away into the dark shadows of her mind in the hope of putting it all behind her for ever.

  Let the past stay in the past – with any hidden skeletons there may be.

  The alternative was to lose her marriage, along with the man she had married … for better or worse.

  Sipping her cocoa and nibbling a digestive biscuit, Eileen wondered, as she had many times over the years, if Marie had actually caught sight of her on that particular night, while hurrying away in shame.

  The back-street route she had taken from Eileen’s house in what appeared to be a panic was badly lit, and frequently occupied by loud drunkards looking for a fight or a loose woman. Why had Marie made such a dangerous and foolish choice, walking alone through that dark and infamous alley? Only guilt or panic could have spurred any respectable woman into taking that alley.

  Eileen was convinced that Marie had caught sight of her and in panic she had turned down the nearest escape route.

  On arriving home from visiting a friend that particular night, she had questioned Tony as to why Marie had been round at their house. ‘What did she want? And why was she in such a panic on leaving that she hurried away down that rough alley? I’m sure it was when she caught sight of me.’

  Tony had given what he imagined to be a quick and simple answer, without even glancing up from his newspaper. ‘I’m not sure, love. Although, she was a bit quiet, I must say. I made her a cup of tea, as you would have done, and we sat and waited for you while chatting about this and that, and then she just up and left.’ He had folded his newspaper and prepared to retire for the night.

  ‘Listen, Eileen, sweetheart,’ he had said, looking nervous. ‘Tell me the truth, you’re not upset at Marie being here alone with me, are you? I mean, I couldn’t just turn her away, could I? She was here to see you, not me. But I do wish you had been here. I hope you’re not angry with me for letting her in, are you?’

  He was gabbling like a man who might have something playing on his mind. ‘I mean, what else could I do but invite her inside? I honestly thought you would be home any minute. What I’m saying is, there was nothing wrong. We just talked for a while and then she up and left in a rush.’

  He’d quickly changed the subject. ‘Anyway, how was your old friend, Gloria, isn’t it?’

  Without waiting for an answer, he had turned and made for the door to the hall, and Eileen had heard his tread on the stairs.

  It had been clear to Eileen that Tony was trying too hard, possibly to convince her that he and Marie had done nothing wrong.

  After that, her suspicions had been confirmed when Marie had come to tell her that she had been pregnant, the baby was Tony’s but that she’d got rid of it. After that, of course, the friendship was shattered and Eileen had barely seen Marie in all the ensuing years even though they lived in the same town.

  When, less than a year after that traumatic meeting, the news was out that Marie’s daughter had given birth to a baby girl, it had raised all manner of suspicions in Eileen’s troubled mind.

  Eileen hadn’t really given it another thought, why would Marie confess to something so awful if she’d planned on having the baby? But that suspicion niggled now as whether the child truly was born of Marie’s daughter. And she now strongly believed that the girl was Marie’s – Marie and Tony’s – but for everyone’s sake, Eileen was forced to put her suspicion to the darkest corners of her troubled mind. She had sworn Marie to secrecy about there even being a pregnancy. Whatever Eileen herself believed, Tony must never know.

  Eileen had been content to sweep all knowledge of Marie’s so-called granddaughter under the carpet. She wouldn’t have recognised the child in the street and nor was she interested in doing so. If she had any natural curiosity in seeing what Tony’s child – if Tony’s she was – looked like, she firmly suppressed it.

  And then, by some quirk of fate, the girl was brought to Eileen’s attention.

  Eileen’s friend, Beth, whom she’d met in the library and who shared with Eileen a taste for historical romances, had a brother called Ronnie. He was a nice young man but a little unsettled in life. He was always popping into Beth’s house, even though he was lodging in a different part of town. He was a very attentive brother to Beth, who was married to a very difficult man, and he was often round to see her and to cheer her up. Ronnie had a pretty young girlfriend – had had for well over a year now – and it looked like Ronnie was crazy about her. He’d brought her round to see Beth a few times when Mike, that unpleasant husband of hers, wasn’t there, and Beth and this girlfriend of Ronnie’s, Cathy, had become good friends.

  Of course, Beth had told Eileen all about this lovely girl that Ronnie was going out with, and Eileen, piecing together the information over a few weeks, realised that, without doubt, Ronnie’s girlfriend was the girl she believed to be Marie and Tony’s love child.

  Naturally she kept this information to herself. At first she was in a panic to think Tony might meet Cathy but then she got a grip of her common sense and decided there was little need to worry, and certainly no need even to mention the girl to Tony. There was no reason why, if he ever heard of this Cathy, Tony should think she had anything to do with him.

  ‘Hey, woman of mine!’

  Eileen’s rambling thoughts suddenly fell away in the wake of Tony’s call.

  ‘Good grief, woman, you were so deep in thought, you seemed miles away.’

  He hugged her tight. ‘I’m really tired. If you don’t mind, I’ll say goodnight and get off to bed.’

  ‘Go on then. I won’t be long behind you,’ Eileen promised.

  With Tony gone, she glanced across the room to a framed wedding photograph of herself and Tony. She would never forget that magical day. She’d been so immensely proud and happy that a fine man like Tony had chosen her to share his life. He’d been so handsome that all the girls at school had wanted to date him. And he’d been kind and funny, making everyone laugh with his witty remarks. The life and soul of the party – that summed up Tony; it was hard to believe now. In the early days they’d been so very happy, although sometimes now Eileen’s one great wonder was never having had a child. If they’d had a child, would he have strayed? Would he still have been that vibrant man she married, not the quiet disappointed man he was now?

  Her meandering memories were shattered as Tony blundered into the room yet again.

  ‘Oh, Eileen, there you are, my love.’

  ‘I thought you’d gone to bed!’

  ‘I did, but I can’t get to sleep with you down here.’

  ‘You get off to bed, and I promise I’ll be up soon, all right.’

  ‘If you say so!’ Crossing the room, he gave her a fond peck on the cheek. ‘Don’t be too long, though. You know I can’t get off to sleep unless I’ve got you beside me.’

  ‘Go on, you big softy. Just go.’ Eileen gave him a playful push. ‘I’ve got a few things to do yet.’

  ‘All right then.’ He was halfway up the stairs when the two of them were startled to hear the telephone ringing. ‘Who the devil’s that at this time of night?’ Tony turned to hurry downstairs, ca
lling out to Eileen, ‘Don’t you answer it, love.’

  Rushing to her side, Tony put the receiver to his ear, wondering who might be calling this late.

  In attempting to stop Eileen chattering, Tony pressed a finger to his lips, and when she fell silent. He said sharply, ‘Hello. Who is this?’ He was concerned the caller might be a prankster.

  Moving closer to the phone, Eileen could hear the person on the other end, but she could not make out who it was or what was being said.

  Tony was surprised to hear it was Beth’s brother, Ronnie, who was calling. They’d met him a good few times over the years, he was such a good brother to Beth.

  ‘Oh, my word, Ronnie! It’s good to hear your voice, but it’s a bit late to call? Not that I’m complaining. We were just off to bed.’ He listened a bit and then asked rather nervously, ‘What’s wrong? Eileen said you were away working?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right and I’m calling from Blackpool,’ said Ronnie. ‘I’m sorry it’s late, but I had wanted to tell Beth some news, but I can’t seem to get hold of her. I’ve called several times, but there’s no one there. Either that, or they’re not answering the phone, and I’m getting worried. I spoke to Beth earlier and I said I’d ring back when I had more news. She didn’t say that she’d be out and it is late for her not to be at home. I’m beginning to get worried. I would appreciate it if you might call round whenever possible, just to see if she’s all right. Would you do that for me, please Tony?’

  ‘Of course I will!’

  ‘Thank you so much!’ Ronnie took a deep breath of relief.

  ‘Can I give her a message if I see her? Pass on this “news” you have for her?’ Tony offered.

  Ronnie took a deep breath and then said, ‘Tony, I’m sorry to have to let you both in on bad news, but soon after she arrived in Blackpool to see me, Cathy – you know, my girlfriend – was caught up in a shocking accident on the Promenade.’

  Tony was visibly shocked and seeing this, Eileen was jumping up and down to be told what had happened.

  ‘What kind of “accident”?’ Tony asked, at the same time trying to shush Eileen.