‘Surely your mate will cover for you, won’t she?’ Barry asked.
‘Yeah, Mimi would never dob me in it, but I never asked her to cover for me, so if my mum rings her, chances are she’ll put her foot in it,’ Dannielle explained.
Putting his and Dannielle’s breakfast trays on the carpet, Barry took his young girlfriend in his arms. ‘You don’t think I’m too old for you, do you, sweetheart?’
‘Of course I don’t! I wouldn’t be here if I did.’
Barry kissed Danni passionately, then tilted her chin so that he could look her in the eyes. ‘I think the world of you, Dannielle, you know that, don’t you?’ he whispered.
Feeling as though she was about to burst with happiness, Dannielle grinned and clung to Barry like a leech.
Back in Loughton, Stephanie had just dished her son’s breakfast up and plonked it on the table in front of him.
‘What’s a matter with you today? You look well miserable. You got your period again?’ Tyler asked, cheekily.
Stephanie felt like picking the plate back up and smashing it over Tyler’s head, but instead chose to berate him. ‘I am not in the mood this morning for your obnoxious little comments, Ty, so shut your trap and eat your breakfast.’
‘I was only asking a question, Mum.’
Remembering that her son was the first one to inform her that Dannielle had a boyfriend, Stephanie sat down opposite him. ‘Did you speak to your sister at all and ask her if she had a boyfriend?’
‘I thought you wanted me to shut me trap,’ Tyler replied cockily.
‘Don’t mess me about, boy. I’ve just asked you a serious question, so answer it.’
‘Nah, she ain’t said nothing to me, but I can find out for you if you want me to? I’ll follow her when she goes out.’
‘No, Ty! You can’t spy on your own sister. Not to worry, I’ll speak to her myself when she gets home. Once she knows she’s been caught out she’s going to have to tell me who the bloody boy is.’
‘How has she been caught out?’
Stephanie stood up. ‘None of your business. Now eat your bloody breakfast.’
Dannielle was mortified as she listened to her answerphone messages. She had five in total and they were all from Mimi telling her to ring her urgently. The fifth and last message confirmed Dannielle’s worst fears. ‘Danni, it’s me again. Your mum knows you didn’t stay at mine last night, so you must call me before you speak to her. I’m in Lakeside with my mum, so ring me on my mobile.’
‘What’s up, babe?’ Barry asked, as he noticed the colour drain out of Dannielle’s face.
‘My mum knows I never stayed at Mimi’s house. What am I gonna say to her, Bal? What am I gonna do?’
‘Was it your mum who left you the message?’ Barry asked.
‘No, it was Mimi. She’s left five asking me to call her back.’
Seeing that Danni looked near to tears, Barry bumped the Range Rover onto a nearby kerb. ‘Don’t get upset, darling. Ring your pal back, find out exactly what’s been said and then we’ll think of a plan, OK?’
Dannielle’s hand shook as she held the mobile phone to her ear.
‘Danni, I’ve been so worried about you. Where the bloody hell are you?’ Mimi asked.
Dannielle ignored her friend’s question. ‘Tell me what’s happened?’
Mimi repeated the conversation she’d had with Stephanie virtually word for word. ‘So, are you gonna tell me where you’ve been? I take it you’re with him?’
‘Yes, Barry’s with me. You didn’t mention him to my mum, did you?’
‘No, but you seriously need to get your eyes and brain tested, Danni. Your mum will kill you if she finds out.’
‘I can’t really talk now, but will you be in this afternoon? If so, I’ll pop round after dinner.’
‘You ain’t bringing him with you, are you?’ Mimi asked, defensively.
‘No. Listen, I’d best ring my mum now. She must be going out of her mind with worry.’
Mimi wasn’t usually a sarcastic person, but for once she couldn’t help herself. ‘Ain’t we all, Danni? Ain’t we all?’
When the phone rang, Stephanie took a deep breath as she realized it was her daughter’s number flashing up on the screen. ‘Be calm, be calm,’ she mumbled to herself.
‘All right Mum? I’ll be home in a little while. I didn’t stay around Mimi’s in the end last night. Me and Carly found a new pub that don’t ask for ID, so we had a couple of drinks in there and then I stayed round hers instead,’ Dannielle lied. She had just spoken to Carly, and Carly had agreed to back her story up if her mum didn’t believe her.
Stephanie wanted to scream abuse at her lying little minx of a daughter, but knew that would get her nowhere, so she took another deep breath instead. ‘Just come home now, love, and we’ll chat when you get here,’ she replied as calmly as she could.
‘Are you OK, Mum? You sound a bit out of breath.’
‘Yes, I’m fine. I’m trying to talk to you and mop the kitchen floor at the same time, which is why I’m breathless. How long will you be?’
‘About an hour.’
‘OK, I’ll see you then,’ Steph said chirpily. Seconds later, she burst into tears.
Because he wanted to chat to his pretty young girlfriend for a few minutes and give her a kiss goodbye, rather than drop her at Loughton Station, Barry parked up in a nearby side road. ‘Now, are you sure you’re gonna be OK? Because if you ever want me to speak to your mum on your behalf, I will. She is gonna have to find out about our relationship sooner or later, Danni. We can’t keep it a secret forever.’
Dannielle sighed worriedly. She knew her mother was going to go ballistic when she found out about her secret love and she wasn’t quite ready to deal with that yet. ‘I’ll tell her at some point, Barry, I promise. Not yet though, eh?’
‘It’s entirely up to you, babe. I won’t pressurize you to do anything you’re not ready to do, but your mum and mates are bound to get suspicious if we are spending lots of time together. When am I gonna see you next? You gonna pop round tonight for a couple of hours?’
‘No, I’d best not tonight, but I’ll come round tomorrow when my mum’s gone to work. As soon as she leaves, I’ll call you and you can pick me up from the station. It will probably be about midday.’
‘OK, and would madam like to be taken out for lunch tomorrow? Or shall we have a bottle of bubbly and christen that new bed of mine instead?’ Barry asked, cheekily.
‘Let’s go for plan B,’ Dannielle said, giggling.
Cupping Dannielle’s face with his hands, Barry kissed her passionately. ‘Go on then, you’d better get yourself home.’
‘Bye Barry, and thanks for a wonderful time yesterday. I loved Mamma Mia and staying in that hotel. It was brilliant.’
When Dannielle shut the passenger door, Barry opened the window. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you something.’
‘What?’ Danni asked.
‘That I love you.’
When Barry winked at her then drove away, a gobsmacked Dannielle stood rooted to the spot. She knew exactly how important the L word was. She and her friends had discussed the subject many times and she hadn’t expected Barry to tell her he loved her so early in their relationship. Absolutely thrilled by her boyfriend’s surprise declaration, Danni headed happily towards home.
To calm herself down a bit, Stephanie had opened a bottle of wine and was currently on her second glass. She had been desperate to talk to her mother about the Danni situation, but her mum had gone to the Dagenham Sunday Market with Lin and David and wasn’t home yet. Stephanie silently cursed her mother. She had recently begged her to let her buy her a mobile phone, so she could always contact her in case of emergencies, but Pam had been dead against the idea. ‘What do I want one of them bleedin’ things for? Apart from popping into Romford or up the Heathway, I’m always in-bloody-doors anyway,’ she’d insisted. Downing the rest of her drink in one fell swoop, Stephanie went into the kitchen to put the chi
cken in the oven. She had never felt less like cooking a Sunday roast in her life, but she knew she had to try and carry on as normal. Hearing the front door open and shut, Stephanie felt her heart beating faster. She knew it wasn’t Tyler as he had gone out for lunch with Brad and his parents. ‘Is that you, Danni?’ she shouted, trying to keep her voice sounding cheery.
Dannielle felt sick with nerves when she walked into the kitchen. She loved her mum, hated lying to her, but what choice did she have? ‘Mmm, dinner smells nice. What have we got?’ she asked, not knowing what else to say.
Wanting to scream that she had only just that second put the chicken in the fucking oven, Steph somehow stopped herself. She turned to her daughter and falsely smiled. ‘Chicken. Would you like a glass of wine with me, darling? Then we can sit in the lounge and have a chat.’
Dannielle eyed her mother suspiciously. She was acting really strangely. Apart from on special occasions, she had never encouraged her to drink alcohol before. ‘I will if I’m allowed to have a glass.’
‘Well, you’re not a child any more, are you? Me and Tammy were having a tipple when we were your age, so now you’ve left school, why shouldn’t you?’
Dannielle took a large gulp of the wine just to calm her nerves. She then walked into the lounge and sat on the sofa. She knew she was about to be grilled, she could feel it in her bones.
Stephanie sat down on the sofa opposite her daughter. She felt she had done enough beating around the bush and she now wanted some bloody answers. ‘Look Danni, I know you never stayed around Carly’s house last night and I also know that you have a boyfriend.’ As her daughter went to interrupt her, Steph raised her hand to stop her from doing so. ‘Let me finish before you speak, Danni. I can understand why you’ve been wary of telling me that you’ve got a boyfriend. It’s my fault for coming across as a man-hater and pushing you to concentrate on your studies and career. But, please don’t ever feel as though you have to lie to me again, darling. I am not a fool and I have noticed a massive change in you these past few weeks. I am only thirty-five, remember? I’m not ninety. I do remember what it feels like to fall in love for the very first time. So, who is this lad?’
Dannielle knew she had no choice other than to stick to her original story. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mum. I swear I stayed at Carly’s last night. If you don’t believe me, you can ring her yourself.’
‘So, what pub did you and Carly supposedly go to, then?’ Steph asked, her hackles beginning to rise.
‘I can’t remember the name of the pub, but I know it was somewhere in Hainault,’ Dannielle stammered.
‘Well, if you can’t remember the name of the pub, perhaps you can show me where it is?’ Stephanie said, leaping off the sofa and snatching her car keys off the table.
Wishing she had never mentioned going to a bloody pub, Dannielle immediately went on the offensive. ‘Why don’t you ever believe anything I say? Even if I did have a boyfriend, which I haven’t, I could never let you meet him. You would question him like a police officer and he would think you was mental.’
The sheer annoyance that Dannielle thought she could pull the wool over her eyes – and at the same time call her mental – forced Steph to grab her daughter roughly by the arm. ‘Right, me and you are gonna drive to this pub and I shall ask the guv’nor and all the staff if they have ever seen you before.’
‘I don’t know how to get to the pub from here. Please let go of me, you’re hurting me,’ Dannielle cried.
‘No, of course you don’t know where it is, you lying little mare. Now, who is this fucking boy?’ Steph yelled, with a neurotic tinge to her voice.
Dannielle looked at her right arm and saw blood where her mother had dug her false nails in so hard. ‘Look what you’ve done to my arm. Leave me alone. You’re mad, you are.’
Seeing the marks she had caused, Stephanie immediately let go of her daughter’s arm. ‘Danni, I’m sorry. Where you going?’ she shouted, as Dannielle bolted out of the room.
Ignoring her mother’s question, Dannielle picked up her handbag and ran sobbing from the house.
Pam had really enjoyed her day out with Cathy, Lin and David. Firstly, they had gone to the Dagenham Sunday Market and had a good old mooch around, and then they’d had a few drinks and lunch in a local Wetherspoon’s, which had made a nice change from cooking herself. ‘Didn’t we have a good day?’ Pam said, plonking herself on the armchair opposite Lin and Cathy.
‘Yeah, we did, sis. I didn’t like that bleedin’ roast in that Wetherspoon’s, though. Weren’t a patch on what you cook,’ Lin said critically.
Cathy chuckled. ‘Back to the oven for you next Sunday, Mrs Crouch,’ she said to Pam.
Pam raised her eyebrows in pretend annoyance. ‘I can’t believe I got a top to fit me off the market. I’m shrinking that fast I’ll be able to fit down the drainholes soon,’ she joked. Her diet had gone up the swanny somewhat recently, and on her last three weigh-ins she had put on a total of seven pounds.
Lin and Cath both roared with laughter, and when the phone suddenly burst into life, it was Lin who stood up first. ‘I’ll get it. I wanna get meself another beer anyway.’
‘She seems so much happier since she’s moved in with you, you know,’ Cathy said in a hushed voice.
Lin returned holding the handset. ‘It’s Stephanie. She sounds really upset,’ she mouthed, handing her sister the phone.
‘Whatever’s the matter, love?’ Pam asked, when she heard her daughter’s racking sobs.
‘I’ve got big problems with Danni, Mum, and I can’t handle it.’
Pam took the phone into the kitchen. ‘Of course you can handle it, darling. Now stop all them tears, tell me exactly what’s happened and we’ll sort it out between us.’
Mimi sat down on the bed next to her friend. Dannielle had just admitted to her that she had lost her virginity to Barry the previous evening, and even though Mimi wanted to hide her disgust, she was struggling to do so.
‘Oh, it was wonderful, Mimi, and you know them orgasms that everyone talks about, well I had three of them. It didn’t happen during actual intercourse, though, it happened when Barry kissed me down below,’ Danni said, dreamily.
The thought of an old man kissing her best friend around her nether regions was all too much for Mimi to take in. Not only did the visualization of what had happened make Mimi want to vomit, but she knew it was her duty as a best friend to try and make Danni see sense. ‘Please don’t describe anything else to me, Dan, because you’re making me feel ill, mate. I cannot believe that you have done all this stuff with some old man that you used to call your uncle. He used to sing “Incy Wincy Spider” to you, for fuck’s sake!’
Wishing she had kept her mouth shut about certain things, Dannielle tried to change the direction of the conversation. ‘Barry isn’t my bloody real uncle, is he, Mimi? I only used to call him that because my dad went missing and at the time he was sort of a replacement relation.’
Feeling a bit guilty, Mimi held her friend’s hand. ‘Look, I’m just worried about you, that’s all, and I think you might have hit the nail on the head by what you just said. Perhaps you are with Barry because you crave a father figure in your life, Dan. I mean, I love my dad, and it must have been so difficult for you growing up without one.’
Snatching her hand away, Dannielle glared at her friend. ‘I barely remember my dad, so how can you say that? It’s not as though he disappeared when I was twelve, is it?’
Mimi shrugged. ‘I just can’t get my head around you being with someone that old. It’s not your fault. It’s Barry who should know better.’
‘And what exactly do you mean by “know better”?’ Dannielle asked angrily. She had wanted to tell Mimi that Barry had told her he loved her for the first time this morning, but she wasn’t going to bother now.
‘I mean, Barry’s only two years younger than my dad, Danni. It’s not right, mate, and if you want my honest opinion I think that your wonderful boyfrien
d is one of them paedophiles.’
Absolutely furious by her friend’s horrendous comment, Dannielle leapt off the bed and pointed a finger in Mimi’s face. ‘Don’t you dare call my Barry a paedophile. He is a wonderful person and I love him. As for you, if you can’t accept my choice of boyfriend, then you’re not the good friend I thought you was.’
‘Where you going?’ Mimi asked, when Dannielle picked up her handbag.
Ignoring her pal’s question, Dannielle ran down the stairs and slammed the front door.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Tyler got up and reluctantly took his school uniform out of the wardrobe. He hated school at the best of times, it bored the pants off him, and he especially hated going back after any school holidays. Opening his bedroom door, Tyler trudged dejectedly towards the bathroom. It was then he heard sobbing coming from the direction of his mother’s bedroom.
‘What’s wrong, Mum?’ he asked, opening the door slightly.
Stephanie was seated on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. Her eyes were red raw, and Tyler couldn’t help but think how tired and ill his mother looked. He was so used to seeing her all glammed up, but this morning she somehow looked haggard. ‘Your sister never came home again last night. I asked her if she had a boyfriend, but she denied it and then we had a big row. I’m so worried about her, Ty. I mean, she must be staying at this boy’s house, and it makes me wonder what type of family he comes from. Surely if his parents were decent people they would check with me first to see if it’s OK for Danni to stay there? And say they are letting them share a bedroom with each other? If your sister gets herself pregnant, she will ruin her life. I just wish I knew who this boy was.’
Tyler felt torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. Even though Dannielle had made a mug out of him in front of Brad and he wanted to pay her back, he had only been spying on her because he had planned on confronting her himself. Grassing his sister up to his mum wasn’t something he would relish doing. He might blurt out the odd insult and cocky comment from time to time, but that was about it. On the other hand, Tyler hated seeing his mum in such a state, and he was also now worried about Dannielle himself. The man whose Range Rover she had got into had looked really old, and when he’d had time to properly think about it, that had disturbed him greatly. Tyler was not a touchy-feely kind of boy, but for once he put his arms around his mother and awkwardly hugged her. It wasn’t just the fact his sister had got into an old man’s motor that was worrying him, it was also the quality of the motor. Tyler might not be academically bright, but he was extremely streetwise, and he knew that black Range Rovers with dark tinted windows were usually owned by gangsters or footballers. Danni’s boyfriend had looked too old to be a footballer, therefore Tyler was sure he must be a gangster.
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