Lost Angel

by Mandasue Heller

  Johnny narrowed his eyes and peered down at his mother-in-law. ‘You’re right,’ he said, bringing an immediate smirk of satisfaction to her lips. ‘But respect has to be earned – and you haven’t earned it.’

  ‘It’s no wonder she’s turned out so bad with a no-mark like you for a father,’ spat Rita, her eyes flashing with hate. ‘Frankie should have cut your balls off the first time you ever went near our Ruth.’

  Angel burst into tears.

  ‘Ignore her,’ Johnny said, putting his arm around her. ‘I do.’

  ‘No, I can’t take it,’ Angel cried. ‘Not today. My mum’s really ill, and all she wants to do is argue.’

  ‘Stop crying,’ Johnny said quietly. ‘Your mum doesn’t need to see you like this, so pull yourself together. We’ll go and say bye to her, then I’ll drop you round at Lisa’s. You can stay there till I’ve finished down at the yard. Okay?’

  Angel nodded, and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

  Furious that he was rewarding the girl for defying her, Rita said, ‘Don’t think you’re bringing her back to my house if you take her round there, ’cos I’m not having it.’

  ‘It’s not your house,’ Johnny reminded her coldly.

  ‘It’s more mine than yours,’ Rita shot back sharply. ‘But that’s you all over, isn’t it, Jimmy Conroy? You’ve been scrounging your way through this family from day one, and now you think you’re king of the castle. But you’re not. And you’re not fooling me, neither, ’cos I know your game. You’re gonna dump her on that slut, then take off with one of your whores while my Ruth’s too sick to stop you.’

  ‘Stop it,’ Angel cried, covering her ears with her hands.

  ‘You’re the one who needs to stop it,’ Rita turned on her. ‘You need to stop mooning over him like he’s some kind of god when you don’t know the half of what he’s put your poor mother through over the years. Why don’t you ask him about all the other women he’s had behind her back?’

  Johnny had heard more than enough. Steely gaze fixed on Rita, he jerked his head at Angel. ‘Go and say bye to your mum.’

  Icy fear trickled down Angel’s spine when she heard the tone of his voice. Her nan had pushed him too far, and she was scared that he might do something stupid and get himself arrested if she left them alone.

  ‘Come with me,’ she begged, tugging on his arm. ‘Please, Dad . . . you heard what the doctor said. She’s not going to be awake for much longer.’

  Johnny inhaled deeply and fought to bring his temper under control. Rita had been riding him like a dog from the very first time they’d met, and it was high time she got her comeuppance. But he didn’t want to upset Angel any more than she already was so, nodding, he turned his back on Rita and ushered Angel in to see Ruth.

  It was too late. She was already asleep, and the porter was preparing to wheel her up to the operating theatre.

  Rita had gone by the time they came back out into the corridor. Concerned that he might have gone too far and scared the old bitch, Johnny said, ‘Maybe you’d best go home, cupcake. There’s no telling what she’ll do if she gets bladdered while she’s in a state.’

  ‘No, I’m going to Aunt Lisa’s.’ Angel dug her heels in. ‘Sorry, Dad, but she’s already being nasty, and she’ll only get worse if she’s drunk.’

  ‘Okay,’ Johnny conceded. ‘I suppose she’s old enough to look after herself. But I’ve really got to go now, or I’m going to be late for my meeting.’

  Angel gave him a probing look. ‘It’s not with a woman, is it?’

  ‘Behave,’ Johnny snorted, putting his arm around her. ‘Since when have I done business with women?’

  ‘So my nan was lying?

  ‘What do you think?’ Johnny gazed down sincerely into her eyes.

  ‘Sorry,’ Angel murmured, cuddling up to him as they walked out to the car.

  23

  Lisa was surprised when she opened her door to find both Johnny and Angel on the step. Not so much Johnny, because he still came round quite regularly. But it had been ages since Angel had been here, and she looked upset, which made Lisa wonder if something had happened.

  ‘Is everything all right?’ She gave Johnny a questioning look as he ushered Angel inside.

  ‘Ruth’s in hospital,’ he told her. ‘And Rita was playing funny buggers, so Angel didn’t want to go home with her. Can she stop with you till I’ve finished work?’

  ‘Course she can.’ Lisa agreed without hesitation.

  ‘Cheers. I don’t know how late I’ll be back, ’cos I’ve got loads on today, but I’ll ring you when I’m on my way.’

  ‘Why don’t you just let her stay the night?’ Lisa suggested. ‘Then you won’t have to rush.’

  ‘Can I?’ Angel gave Johnny a hopeful look.

  ‘I suppose so,’ he agreed, figuring that under the circumstances she’d be better off here than with her nan. At least he could trust Lisa to keep her mouth shut.

  Lisa smiled at Angel. ‘Go and get yourself a drink while me and your dad have a quick word, babe. And there’s some cake in the cupboard if you fancy it.’

  She closed the door when Angel had gone and went to Johnny for a hug.

  ‘Leave it out,’ he muttered. ‘She might walk in on us.’

  ‘Sorry, didn’t think.’ Lisa folded her arms. ‘So, is our Ruth bad, or what?’

  ‘Didn’t look too good. They were taking her for an operation when we left.’

  ‘Why, what’s happened? She’s not had an accident, has she?’

  ‘No, it’s her stomach. The doctor mentioned something about a rupture, but I wasn’t really taking it in, to be honest.’

  Lisa winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. ‘Sounds painful.’

  ‘Yeah, well, at least they’re on it, so hopefully they’ll get it sorted,’ said Johnny. ‘They’re going to ring when they’re finished, so I’ll let you know what’s going on. Hope it’s nothing serious,’ he added concernedly. ‘Angel’s trying not to show it, but she’s worried sick.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Lisa said reassuringly. ‘I’ll keep her occupied to take her mind off it.’

  ‘Take her out,’ said Johnny, peeling some notes out of his wallet and handing them to her. ‘Go shopping, or whatever you girls like doing.’

  Lisa slotted the money into her pocket and gazed up at him through her lashes. ‘Are you coming round later?’

  ‘Don’t think that’s a very good idea, do you?’ Johnny nodded at the door.

  ‘She’ll be fast asleep by ten,’ Lisa whispered. ‘And I’ve got something special to show you.’

  Johnny’s eyes tracked her finger as she trailed it slowly down between her breasts. ‘All right,’ he murmured. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

  ‘I’ll be waiting,’ she purred, confident that he would come.

  Johnny popped his head round the door and shouted goodbye to Angel. Lisa showed him out and watched until he’d driven away before going back to the kitchen.

  ‘Find everything you wanted?’ she asked.

  Mouth too full of cake to answer in words, Angel nodded and watched as Lisa switched on the kettle and reached into the cupboard for a cup. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand when she’d swallowed, she said, ‘Have you had your hair cut, Aunt Lisa?’

  ‘Trust you to notice.’ Lisa smiled and touched it self-consciously. ‘I had it done a few days ago, but nobody else has said anything. I thought it might be a bit short.’

  ‘No, it really suits you,’ Angel told her. ‘And you look like you’ve lost weight as well.’

  ‘Oh, you’re so good for my ego.’ Lisa laughed softly. ‘Never mind staying the night, I think you should move in.’

  I wish, thought Angel. Her mum and nan hated Lisa and were always talking about her behind her back, but Angel really liked her. She was pretty and easygoing, and she had great taste in clothes. Angel couldn’t imagine her mum wearing any kind of jeans, never mind the sexy hipster ones that Lisa wore. And Lisa always wor
e heels, which made her legs look great, while Angel’s mum slopped around in flats that looked stretched and baggy on her fat feet.

  Disloyal as she felt for thinking it, Angel sometimes wondered how her mum had managed to bag a handsome man like her dad. Wherever he went, women fell over themselves to get near him. And he obviously enjoyed the attention because he was always flirting with them.

  But while flirting might be harmless, playing around definitely wasn’t, and it brought back to mind what her nan had said at the hospital. Angel hoped she’d been lying, because all her friends’ parents had either split up or divorced – and Angel never wanted that to happen to hers. But why would her nan have said it if there was no truth to it? And why hadn’t her dad denied it outright when she’d mentioned it?

  ‘You’re quiet.’ Lisa glanced back over her shoulder as she stirred a sugar into her tea. ‘You’re not worrying about your mum, are you? ’Cos I’m sure she’ll be fine.’

  ‘I was thinking about my dad,’ Angel told her quietly. ‘My nan said something at the hospital and it got me thinking.’

  Lisa rolled her eyes and carried her cup over to the table. ‘What’s the old boot said now?’

  ‘That my dad was only leaving me here with you so he could go out whoring,’ Angel murmured, blushing as she said the last word because it sounded so horrible. ‘But he wouldn’t cheat on my mum, would he? He must love her or they wouldn’t have been married for so long, would they?’

  Lisa gripped her cup hard. Angel was pretty, and clever, but she was way too innocent for this world if she hadn’t sussed out what her father was really like by now. Ruth knew, but she’d chosen to pretend that she didn’t. And Lisa was no better, because she was still entertaining Johnny, despite the fact that he’d had almost twenty years to choose between her and Ruth. She’d known he couldn’t leave while her Uncle Frankie was still alive, but when it still hadn’t happened after Frankie died she’d tried to finish it, only for Johnny to talk her round and promise that he would do it when Angel was old enough.

  So here she was – still waiting, and hoping, and taking whatever she could get of him in the meantime.

  But there was no point hurting Angel with the truth so Lisa smiled, shook her head, and said, ‘Course he wouldn’t cheat on her, babe.’ Then, ‘Anyway, we’d best go and get you a toothbrush if you’re stopping the night. Your dad’s given me some money, so where do you want to go – Arndale or Trafford Centre?’

  ‘I don’t mind,’ said Angel, her worried frown disappearing at the thought of going out – even if it was only for a toothbrush.

  24

  Johnny was in the office with Dave and a client when the call came from the hospital at six that evening. He excused himself and went out to the car to take it in private.

  Dismayed when he heard that Ruth had haemorrhaged during surgery, and that the surgeon had made the decision to perform a hysterectomy, he said, ‘Is she all right?’

  ‘She’s still quite poorly,’ the nurse told him. ‘But we’ve moved her to ICU, and she’ll be closely monitored for the next twenty-four hours, so there’s no need to worry.’

  ‘Any idea when she’ll be able to come home?’ Johnny asked, already wondering how he was going to manage to balance work and looking after Angel.

  ‘The operation was quite traumatic, so, depending how quickly she heals, she might be with us for a couple of weeks,’ the nurse replied. ‘You can visit whenever you like while she’s in ICU, but she’s still pretty heavily sedated, so you might want to leave it for tonight. If you do decide to come we’d advise you not to bring any children with you, because it can be upsetting for them to see all the tubes and breathing apparatus.’

  Johnny thanked her, and then called Lisa. He could hear noise in the background and guessed that they were out shopping. Angel sounded so happy when she came on the line that he decided it would be cruel to worry her all over again, so he lied and said that the operation had gone really well, and that her mum was already sitting up and complaining about the food they’d given her for dinner.

  Angel laughed, and said, ‘Typical!’ But Johnny heard the relief in her voice and knew that he’d made the right decision.

  He wasn’t about to spare Rita the worry, though. After her little tantrum at the hospital earlier, he thought it would do her good to know how serious it actually was. But when she didn’t answer either the house or the mobile phone, Johnny hissed through his teeth with exasperation. Great! Now he was going to have to go round and make sure that the old witch hadn’t drunk herself into a coma and drowned in her own puke.

  Or maybe he wouldn’t bother.

  Maybe he’d just go back in the morning and see if he’d got lucky.

  As well as the toothbrush they had originally set out for, Angel had a new dress, a couple of tops, a pair of jeans, a nightie and her first-ever pair of high-heeled shoes in her bags by the time they got back to Lisa’s that evening.

  Too tired to cook after all the walking around, Lisa ordered a Chinese takeaway. Then, later, she opened a bottle of wine and gave Angel a glass as they cuddled up on the couch to watch a film together.

  Unused to alcohol, Angel was more than ready for her bed by the time the film had finished. When Lisa checked on her a short time later and saw that she was fast asleep, she smiled and quietly closed the door. Then she ran herself a sweet-smelling bubble bath, and started getting ready for Johnny.

  Johnny didn’t arrive until two in the morning – and Lisa was lucky he’d come at all.

  He’d spent the afternoon and most of the evening playing hardball with a Dutch buyer called Arjen, who had seemed to think that Johnny would agree to pick up luxury cars to order and then ship them over to Amsterdam for a much lower rate than he charged his other buyers. In need of food and fun by the time he had finally managed to talk the man around to his way of thinking, Johnny had treated them all to dinner at The Hilton to seal the deal.

  Reformed-character Dave had boringly opted to go home to his wife after the meal, but their new friend was still raring to go, so Johnny took him to a nightclub and introduced him to the delights of Manchester by chucking a load of booze down his neck, powder up his nose, and girls into his lap.

  They ended the night in a Chinatown casino, where Johnny won fifteen grand at the poker table – and promptly lost it again on the roulette wheel. Up for an orgy by the time they left, Arjen invited Johnny and the girls back to his hotel to carry on the party. But Johnny wasn’t into other blokes watching him at it, so he declined politely and hailed a cab for himself and his bird, who had already suggested that they go to her place for a private party of their own.

  And she’d been as fit as fuck, so Johnny had been well up for it. But after a couple of minutes in the back of the cab, with nowhere for her rank breath to go but up his nose, his stomach had started churning and he’d ordered the driver to pull over.

  ‘Where are we going?’ the girl asked, trying to follow him when he climbed out.

  ‘We’re going nowhere, darlin’,’ Johnny said, pushing her back in and closing the door before handing the driver a couple of twenties.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she persisted, opening the window now and giving him a fresh blast.

  ‘Jeezus, love, you need to see a dentist,’ he told her, grimacing as he took a few more notes out of his wallet and thrust them through the window at her. ‘Here, go and buy some mouthwash.’

  ‘Fuck you!’ she snarled, snatching them.

  Quipping ‘Not with breath like that, you won’t,’ Johnny walked away in search of another cab.

  He found Lisa fast asleep on the couch with a sheet draped lightly over her. Grinning when he lifted the corner and saw the red satin basque and black silk stockings she was wearing, he squatted down beside her and put his lips to her ear.

  ‘Hey, sleeping beauty . . . wakey, wakey.’

  Lisa opened her eyes and smiled sleepily up at him. ‘I thought you weren’t coming,’ she said, sliding her arms aro
und his neck.

  ‘And miss out on my surprise? No chance.’

  ‘Do you like it?’ she asked, pushing the sheet off so that he could see the whole of her outfit.

  ‘Love it,’ Johnny said. ‘Go and make sure Angel’s asleep.’

  Lisa wrapped the sheet around herself, tiptoed upstairs and peeped into the spare room. Angel was curled up on her side, her hair fanned out on the pillow around her pretty face, her breathing slow and deep.

  ‘Sleeping like a baby,’ Lisa assured Johnny when she came back down. ‘I think the wine must have really gone to her head.’

  ‘Wine?’ On the couch by now, Johnny frowned up at her. ‘What did you give her wine for? She’s too young.’

  ‘Oh, come on, she’s a big girl now,’ Lisa argued, sitting astride him. ‘One little glass of wine isn’t going to hurt her, is it?’

  ‘I suppose not,’ Johnny conceded, pulling her towards him.

  Lisa closed her eyes when he kissed her, and ran her fingers through his hair before reaching down between her legs to unzip his fly.

  ‘Oh, that’s hard,’ she moaned. ‘Oh, yeah, baby, you can give me some of that . . .’

  ‘Ssshhh,’ Johnny hissed.

  Determined to keep his mind on the job at hand, Lisa grabbed his face in her hands and sucked his tongue into her mouth as she lowered herself slowly onto his cock.

  ‘Oh, Jeezus,’ he groaned when she started riding him in a circular motion, gradually increasing the speed until he thought his balls were going to explode.

  ‘Ssshhh,’ she mimicked, sinking her teeth into his neck.

  ‘Bitch,’ Johnny muttered, both loving and hating the pain. When he could take no more, he flipped Lisa onto her back and gave her what she was asking for.

  ‘Wow, where did that come from?’ she gasped, clinging to him when he’d finished. ‘I won’t be able to walk in the morning.’

  ‘You always get me going, darlin’,’ he told her, grinning as he sat up.