by Karen Clow
Inside the apartment she pulled out two white basques which had white silk and lacy bits sewn on to them; along with an L plate on the back. Laughing Monica said, “Which ones mine?” Simone passed her one, before handing Maria the other. “Come on,” said Monica, “Let’s try them on!” The outfits left little to the imagination. Maria said, “I’m sorry Simone I couldn’t possibly wear that, Jimmy would have a fit.” “Well he won’t know will he, wear it Maria I spent half the night sewing the lace on.” “Sorry but I can’t.” Simone could see she was worried, so she smiled and said, “I’ve got some spare material in the bag, what if I make it a bit more descent, would you try it then?” Before she could reply Monica interrupted and said, “Maria it’s our hen night, stop worrying about Jimmy; anyway if Simone makes it so the basque isn’t showing anything, it shouldn’t matter.” Maria sounded nervous as she replied, “But Jimmy told me to wear trousers.” “Cheeky bastard, I can just imagine me letting my boyfriend tell me what to wear,” said Simone. Monica felt sorry for Maria because she knew what Jimmy was like, but on this occasion she too thought he had a cheek. It was their hen night and they were going to enjoy it. Finally, the two girls badgered her into wearing it. Despite not really wanting to, Maria thought the outfit covered enough of her to deem it as decent. By the time Simone had finished adding material all that was showing were her arms and legs. Still nervous about wearing it she said, “I really would prefer to wear trousers,” but they wouldn’t hear of it. Finally she agreed to wear it, because she knew they wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Monica attached a homemade veil to her head and then offered to fix Maria’s. She had just finished when they heard a car horn outside. Simone said, “Our cabs here.” Maria wished she felt as comfortable in her outfit as Monica did in hers, despite Monica’s being far more revelling.
The cab driver joked with them and said, “You all look lovely girls, it’ll be a sad day for all the single blokes when you two get married next week.” The cab stopped at a pub where Simone said they were meeting her friends. Maria was nervous as several men at the bar wolf whistled them as they entered. Blushing profusely Maria felt sick to the pit of her stomach, but she never said anything to her friends. There were two men who came in just after them, Monica thought they looked familiar.
Simone introduced her friends to the girls; there were three of them, Debbie, Dawn and Jayne all single and all out for a bit of fun and it was obvious they had been drinking heavily before the others arrived. Some blokes came over to them and bantered with them, the others girls lapped it up but Maria felt uncomfortable, especially when Simone handed one of the guys a felt tip pen so he could sign his name on their outfits. Leaning over Maria he wrote his name across the material on her chest, she was blushing profusely. Within minutes at least six others had joined in wanting to sign, Maria wasn’t at ease with any of them; unlike Monica who was lapping it up.
Much to Maria’s relief they only stayed at that particular pub for about an hour, it was as they were leaving; some men stopped them and asked for a kiss. Maria declined, until Simone said, “Go on Maria that’s what hen nights are all about, it’s your final night of freedom!” Monica kissed all that asked and some full on the mouth, where Maria tried to get away with a peck on the cheek although some of the guys were insisting it was on the lips.
Within minutes of arriving at the next pub on Simone’s list; it was an exact replay of the first pub. Despite Maria now being under the influence of alcohol, having had two glasses of wine, she was still not really comfortable, although she was by then beginning to relax a little. Monica noticed the two men who she thought she’d recognised in the previous pub had followed them. Moving next to Maria she pointed to them and said, “Do you recognise them?” Shaking her head she said, “No, I’ve never seen then before, why?” “Call me a detective, but I think they look suspicious.” Simone piped in and said, “Stop being a detective Monica, enjoy yourself!”
When one of the men approached Maria, he was promptly offered a pen by Simone. Smuttily he said to Maria, “Bend over gorgeous so I can write my name across your arse.” Horrified with his request she quickly replied, “Sorry I’d prefer you not too.” Sarcastically he said, “Doesn’t your boyfriend mind such a pretty bride to be dressing in such a skimpy outfit?” Seeing that she looked embarrassed, Monica laughed and quickly said, “He doesn’t know! You can sign my arse if you want to.” As he walked towards her she bent over to accommodate his signature, but Maria quickly said, “I won’t be a minute, I’m just going to the toilet.” The moment she stood up the man with the pen moved towards her, grabbing her round the waist he aimed the pen at her stomach; then leaning forward he rested his head on her chest. Instantly she backed away, pulling her back towards him he tried to kiss her. Not wanting him to make a scene she offered him a peck on the cheek, but he tried to kiss her on the mouth. Feeling sick and trembling she was relieved when another couple of guys interrupted them and asked if they could sign.
When they moved on to the next pub, again the same two men followed them, although this time the one who had been friendly before didn’t speak to them. Monica was suspicious when she saw him taking photos on his phones. Despite having drunk several shorts, she seemed to remember that one of them had been taking photos at the previous pub, but due to the fact that she was quite tipsy and couldn’t really be sure, she never said anything.
The time was approaching midnight and Maria was only slightly tipsy, unlike the others, who were well and truly merry. Not wanting to be a party pooper or upset anyone, especially Simone as she’d gone to a lot of trouble, Maria said, “What time are we likely to finish?” She wasn’t happy when Simone replied, “Ages yet, when we leave here we’re going on to the Denbigh to see the male strippers.” Maria knew if she went and Jimmy found out there would be hell to pay, so the last thing she wanted to do was go, so she said, “Sorry Simone, but I’ll probably call it a night after the last pub.” Simone wouldn’t hear of it. Maria was hoping that Monica would back her up, unfortunately she didn’t. Desperately Monica said, “Monica I really should go home, Jimmy wouldn’t like me going to see male strippers.” Monica laughed and slurrily replied, “Its women only, so how will he know? Anyway you’re going, even if I have to drag you. We’re not doing anything wrong, it’s our hen night and we’re going to have fun, regardless of whether your Jimmy likes it or not!”
Walking into the Denbigh, Maria could feel butterflies in her stomach; she really didn’t want to be there, especially as they stuck out like sore thumbs in their outfits. Thankfully the front tables were all taken so they had to sit at the back which suited her.
Five male strippers were gyrating on the stage. Maria watched with disbelief, as a group of women tried to grab at the men’s bits, especially when a couple of them even managed to get up on stage. Watching them she thought it was disgusting the way they rubbed themselves up against the strippers. Secretly wishing that her friends would stop shouting things out, she felt relieved an hour later when the show finished and they made their way home. Maria asked the cab driver to drop her and Monica off first. Although she wasn’t falling over drunk, Monica had definitely had enough.
Once home Maria suggested her going straight to bed. Fortunately Monica was too drunk to argue. A couple of minutes later she was out cold on the bed, still wearing her outfit.
With her friend retired for the night, Maria made herself a coffee. Sitting drinking it she wondered what their future husbands were doing. If she’d have known, she wouldn’t have felt so guilty about going to the Denbigh. All the lads had taken them to a strip joint where all evening naked girls had been sitting on their laps and slobbering all over them. At one point, two girls had turned up dressed as police women. They had handcuffed the two grooms and told them the only way they would release them was if they could take the girls garters off with their teeth. Neither man had any objections even though they knew Shane was taking photos, which he intended to hang at the club once
they were developed. There had been one point during the evening when Mickey thought there might be some trouble. They had run into a couple of blokes they hadn’t seen for a while, cousins John and Dave Marchant, they were well known within the London criminal world. They had done business with Nick on occasion, but since Nick’s demise the others had been reluctant to continue doing business with them. It was while the stag party were drinking earlier on, that they ran into the cousins. When John had asked why they hadn’t been in touch, Mickey had tried tactfully to convince him that since taking over the business from Nick they were keeping things low key. Obviously feeling that he was being fobbed off, John had got a bit mouthy; had Jimmy not have opened his mouth the situation probably would have passed without any bother, but Mickey knew the moment John said he couldn’t believe that Jimmy was marrying the whore that Nick kept, all hell would break lose. Ten seconds after saying it, John was picking himself up off the floor, because Jimmy had head butted him. Had it not have been for Shaun, the situation would have quickly spiralled out of control, even though the cousins were outnumbered it could still have turned nasty, but with Shaun’s intervention five minutes later they were all shaking hands and drinking together.
Fortunately there were no more incidents, although Mickey had been annoyed over Jimmy’s quick outburst, he could understand it; Maria was anything but a whore and had they have said anything about Monica he would have done the same.
It was gone four that morning by the time they got back to Mickey’s place, both men in a drunken stupor they simply collapsed onto the sofas.
CHAPTER 46
It was two o’clock the following afternoon before either man stirred. It was only Jimmy’s mobile ringing that woke them. Mickey noticed when Jimmy took the call he was very coy, answering just said “yes” and “no” and then ended the call by saying, “I’ll call in for them later.” Mickey had a look of curiosity as he said, “Who was on the phone?” Noticing that his friend seemed secretive, as though he didn’t really want to tell him, he decided he would ask again later after Jimmy replied, “Just a mate.”
Thirty minutes later as they sat drinking coffee Mickey said, “You never did tell me who was on the phone earlier.” Jimmy didn’t like keeping things from him; although he would have preferred not to have been asked, he replied, “One of the blokes I paid to follow the girls on their hen night, they took a few photos for me.” Mickey looked annoyed and said, “You shouldn’t have done that, how would you feel if Maria did it to you?” Not in the mood to debate it, he simply replied, “I was worried, they’re good looking girls, I thought some blokes might try and take advantage of them.” Unconvinced of his friend’s reason for doing it, Mickey replied, “I trust Monica and you should trust Maria, regardless of what they might have got up to. Let’s face it Jimmy it was probably nothing compared to what we did. So can I assume it’s the photos you were talking about picking up later?” Looking a bit sheepish, he replied, “Yeah.” Mickey looked angry as he said, “You’re lucky to have someone as lovely as Maria, you shouldn’t have done it.” Wanting to avoid an argument with Jimmy, he added, “I’m going to phone Monica, check they’re ok.” “Don’t mention about the blokes.” “Why would I, I can’t believe you did it.” Taking his phone he called Monica. A few moments later she answered and said, “Hi darling, you survived your stag night then?” “Just about, we haven’t been up long.” “You lazy gits, we’ve been up ages!” “So how was your hen night?” Sounding happy she replied, “Oh we had a brilliant time.” She didn’t go into detail over where they had been, just in case Jimmy was within ear shot. “I’m glad you had a good time babe,” said Mickey, “I’ll pick you up sometime in the next hour.” “Ok darling, I’ll see you soon.” No sooner had Mickey put his phone down when Jimmy said, “Did they have a good time?” “According to Monica they really enjoyed themselves.” “Good, I’m glad they got home ok.” “Yeah,” said Mickey sarcastically before adding, “Alright if I take a shower first, then we’ll think about going back to your place.” “Yeah, that’s fine.”
Forty five minutes later; they were on their way back to the apartment, Mickey pulled up outside the pub where Jimmy had arranged to meet the two men so he could pick up the photos. It was as Jimmy began exiting the car Mickey said, “You’d be better off leaving well alone Jimmy.” Grinning he replied, “I’m only curious,” and then he tried to justify his actions by adding, “I’ve got no intentions of telling Maria about them, so don’t say anything.” Mickey didn’t have a problem with that; he would prefer not to have any part in it.
He waited in the car while Jimmy went in. When he returned a few minutes later he was carrying an envelope, which he put in his pocket before getting into the car. The photos weren’t mentioned as they drove, Jimmy didn’t even take them out to look at them.
Fifteen minutes later the two friends entered the apartment. Monica called out to them, “We’re in the lounge.” Mickey walked over to her and kissed her as Jimmy said, “Where’s Maria?” “She’s just popped into the bathroom,” replied Monica when she finished kissing Mickey.
From the bathroom Maria could hear them talking, her stomach was churning for fear that Monica would let something slip, the strip club being foremost in her mind. Plucking up the courage to finally greet them, she walked out into the lounge with a smile on her face. Jimmy pulled her to him and said, “Hello sexy, did you have a good night?” “Yes thanks,” she replied nervously. Then changing the subject quickly, she added, “Can I get you all a drink?” “Yeah please, I’ll have a coffee babe.” Mickey said, “Thanks for the offer, but we’re going back to my place to crash out.” She felt relieved as she replied, “Oh ok then, if you’re sure.” Monica nodded and replied, “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
After they left Maria said, “Would you like another a drink Jimmy?” “Yeah coffee, my mouth feels like the bottom of a budgies cage, it’s because I’ve got a hangover.” With Maria in the kitchen, he took the envelope out and opening it glanced at the photos. Every one enraged him, especially when he saw what she had been wearing. Not wanting her to see them, he quickly put the envelope back in his pocket before she returned.
Five minutes later they were sat drinking their coffee when he said, “So where they did you go last night then?” Despite feeling nervous she tried to stay calm as she replied, “Just a few pubs.” Trying hard not to look guilty, she felt sick when he replied, “What did you decide to wear in the end?” Unable to look directly at him she replied, “Trousers.” Fortunately she had put the wedding outfit in a bin liner and thrown it in the bin. She felt quite unnerved as he continued to question her, especially when he said, “So you’re sure you wore trousers?” Wanting to change the subject she replied, “Yes, so tell me about your stag night?” Coldly he stared at her but didn’t answer. With that look she knew something was very wrong.
Taking the envelope from his pocket he threw the photos at her and said aggressively, “So who the fuck was this then!” Picking one up and looking at it she felt panic stricken. It was of a man signing across her chest. Trembling she started to cry. Looking menacing he said, “Stop fucking crying, did you listen to what I said last night! Or are you that fucking stupid you didn’t understand!” Feeling real fear she said; “Please Jimmy let me explain.” He wasn’t interested in her explaining. Standing up he pulled her to her feet and shouted, “Where’s the outfit you wore?” “Please Jimmy don’t be angry.” “Where is it Maria and don’t fucking lie to me!” Physically shaking, she nervously replied, “In the bin.” Towering over her he aggressively said, “Fucking go and get it!” Feeling her stomach knotting up, she was sobbing as she said, “Please leave it Jimmy let me explain.” Aggressively he walked over to the bin. Again she begged him to stop; but he ignored her and tipped the contents of the bin onto the floor. Picking out the bin liner which had white material sticking out the top he threw it at her and shouted, “Fucking put it on!” Too afraid to do as he’d asked she tried to run to the bathro
om but he grabbed her by the hair; causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards onto the floor. Ripping the bin liner open he pulled the dress out and threw it down on her. Now in a terrible rage he shouted; “Now fucking put it on!” At that moment she was truly afraid of what he might do.
As she fumbled to dress he said “You’re a fucking liar Maria; you fucking knew all along what you intended to wear! What do you take me for; some sort of prick!” “I swear Jimmy, I didn’t even know about it until Simone turned up with it, she made them as a surprise for me and Monica. I told them over and over that I didn’t want to wear it, but they insisted.” Coldly he stared at her and said, “Fucking hurry up and get it on!” Feeling felt sick as she stood in front of him, shaking with fear she began putting it on. Grabbing her he began trying to read the signatures; as he did he said, “You look like a fucking whore!” Suddenly she felt angry toward him; she hadn’t done anything wrong, so again she said, “Please Jimmy I swear I didn’t know.” “If you don’t fucking shut up I’m going to belt you!”
She remembered when he had promised her that he would never hit her, how quickly he had forgotten that. Raging with anger he shouted, “Did anyone fuck you!” Without thinking she slapped his face and shouted back, “How dare you ask me that!” Immediately realising her mistake, she tried to run. Grabbing her he punched her in the face so hard it threw her against the wall, hitting her back against the door frame she collapsed onto the floor. Sitting astride her he grabbed at her dress and the wedding basque she had on over it, almost tearing it in half. She was screaming, her arms and legs frantically hitting and kicking him as she desperately she tried to fight him off; but he was too strong. Grabbing her by the hair he banged her head on the floor.