Rotten to the Core

by Casey Kelleher

  Emma had to work that bit harder when she was out with Kate to let the men know where the real action was: it generally worked, she had slept with so many she had lost count. She’d even managed to get herself a bit of a reputation, but she didn’t care. It was like a competition, which Emma was winning and in which Kate wasn’t even aware she was participating.

  The girls danced for what seemed like ages, then: “Em, babe, I need the loo, you coming?” Kate shouted over the banging music.

  “Yeah, babe, I could do with a break, this guy behind me is getting right on my tits now, keeps groping my arse every five seconds.”

  They both looked round to see a nerdy-looking guy smiling at them whilst putting his arms out towards Emma’s waist.

  “Urgh, get off you fucking loser,” Emma shrieked.

  Kate led her friend by the hand off the dance floor. “Ha, bet you thought you’d pulled some real fit bloke until you turned around,” she laughed. “Come on.”

  The bathroom was done up to look like a posh boutique, with ornate mirrors and cosy expensively upholstered furniture; there were a couple of beauticians on hand to touch up the girls’ makeup. Whoever had set this up had a bit of class, Kate thought, looking around.

  The toilets were packed. “Why is it that the women’s loos always have a really long queue even though we have more bogs than the men?” Emma moaned impatiently, as they waited for the cubicles to become free.

  “Probably because we’re all so busy standing around in here talking about the fellas and doing our make-up,” laughed Kate.

  She was right though you could hardly move in here for there were so many girls hogging the mirrors and gossiping about so-and-so being pregnant and so-and-so cheating, it was worse than a playground: girls can be so bitchy, Kate thought. Just then, right on cue, a big feisty girl wearing a dress at least two sizes too small for her came marching up behind them, shoving Emma so hard in the back that she went flying and landed in a heap on the floor.

  “You cheap little slag, I hear that you think you have a chance with my Jake,” the girl snarled.

  Everyone was watching. Kate glared at her friend, unsure of what was going on. Emma seemed to be a magnet for trouble, what had she got herself involved in now?

  Emma picked herself up from the floor, trying to look at least a little bit dignified. Jake, she thought, oops. She knew she had a chance with him, or had already had her chance, she thought, remembering the drunken shag they’d had last Friday. He had been well up for it, she had recalled. She had been out with the girls from work and had bumped into him in a bar in the high street. He invited her to join him and a few of his mates at their table and they had bought her drinks all night. Jake was quite a giggle, she had thought at the time, and flattery had got him literally everywhere. He had put his hands up her skirt and whispered in her ear, telling her how hot she was making him. He told her how much he wanted her as he had slid his hands higher up her thigh and she had felt his fingers probing inside her knickers; he had made her feel so horny that she hadn’t cared if he had a girlfriend. They didn’t even make it back to her place, she thought, remembering how hard he had taken her on the back seat of his car and how he had kept groping her breasts like they were his brand new toys. He was a good-looking fucker too, she remembered, but he didn’t really do it for Emma, too busy getting his own pleasure she recalled, all four minutes of it. It had all been a bit disappointing, really, and not worth this amount of shit.

  “Oh, so you’re Jake’s girlfriend,” Emma smirked, as she smoothed down her skirt. “Listen: I don’t know what you’ve heard, but let me tell you – I wouldn’t touch ‘your’ Jake with someone else’s fanny, let alone my own.”

  There were a few shocked giggles and a now-confident Emma took that to mean that she had the upper hand. She also had centre stage, which was just how she liked it. If this girl wanted a ruck, Emma wasn’t going down quietly.

  “Jake isn’t picky, love, let’s face it, I mean: look at the state of you! He’d probably shag his own nan if the room was dark enough,” Emma continued.

  “You nasty bitch,” shrieked the girl, as she once more lunged for Emma, dragging her down on the floor again. The girl began raining blows on Emma with her fists. Kate tried desperately to pull the girl off of Emma, but the girl was too heavy and too angry, she was still walloping Emma.

  Kate jumped on the girl’s back, trying to do anything to make her leave Emma alone. She had the girl’s greasy hair in clumps in her hands and got a slap herself in the process. Luckily at that moment two bouncers came in and dragged the girl off Emma, who now looked awful, her face red and puffy where the girl had repeatedly hit her. Her top was ripped and a whopper of a fat lip was just beginning to show. She managed to get off the floor, shouting to the girl who was being led away: “He was a crap shag anyway, love, don’t know why you’re so bothered.”

  The girls who had been standing around watching were now going off to do their own thing, the entertainment was over. Emma looked in horror at her battered face in the mirror. Then she grinned.

  “Fuck it!” Emma grinned as she turned to Kate, as she wiped the dripping blood from her nose, “she’s only gone and smudged my bloody makeup.”

  “You’re not funny, Emma.” Kate was fuming. “She was going to bloody batter you, you’re lucky that those guys pulled her off you. I think we should leave, too; you look like shit and I’ve got a thumping head from that slap she gave me.”

  They got their coats. Kate was glad the night was over. Sometimes you just have crap ones, she thought, what a waste of a new dress.

  As they walked to the door, to leave, Kate noticed one of the bouncers that had come to her friend’s aide earlier; he was definitely giving Kate the eye. She smiled at him, wishing that she wasn’t so shy when it came to blokes. It was her brother’s fault that she never had any confidence with men. No man wanted to know her once they found out who she was related to, and if anyone did let on they were interested, they were soon warned off when Billy found out about it.

  She didn’t really have any experience with men; not unless one sloppy kiss with a boy at a school disco four years ago counted. Back then, at sixteen, she was the only girl she knew that hadn’t even slept with a boy, let alone had any sort of relationship with one. Oh well, she had thought then, I’m going to save myself for somebody special, and so she had. She wasn’t short of offers, but they were all the same, little clones of her brother, wannabe thugs. She could see them coming a mile off and had no interest in that kind of life: she wanted more.

  “You off then?” the bouncer asked. He was looking at Kate close up now and liking what he saw, appreciating the beauty before him.

  “Yeah, I’m really sorry about all that trouble, thanks a million for helping us out,” she said, feeling herself blush; this guy was gorgeous, and Kate couldn’t help but notice how his eyes roamed her body as he spoke to her.

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he smiled. “I’m Jay.”

  “Hi… I’m Kate….” Her cheeks were burning, she felt like an embarrassed little kid.

  “See you again Kate, I hope.” Jay gave her a wink, as he turned back to the long queue of people waiting to get in.

  “Oh… my… God!” exclaimed Emma, linking arms with her mate, as they tottered down the road towards the taxi rank. “You’ve only just gone and bloody pulled, Kate.”

  “Really, do you think so?” Kate asked.

  “Duh: he was practically dribbling over you; he was well fit too, you jammy cow.”

  Maybe tonight hadn’t been such a waste, after all, Kate thought, as she lent her head back onto the seat in the warmth of the taxi, daydreaming about the man that had made her heart beat louder than a drum.

  3

  Tanya couldn’t sleep; she had been lying in bed for over an hour tossing and turning, unable to switch off. She was used to being on her own; she was an only child who had been left alone by her parents all the time when she was growing up. It wa
s a pattern in her life, and she had grown to enjoy her own space.

  She could stay in her house for days and see no-one and it wouldn’t bother her. Although she had been feeling a bit lonely lately, she admitted to herself. She had wondered a lot over the last few weeks what it might be like to be part of a proper family. She wasn’t particularly maternal, but she guessed that that would be something that would come to her naturally if and when she ever did get pregnant. She wondered what it would be like to have someone call her mummy, to wake up in the morning and have someone to tend to, other than herself, for once.

  She could not imagine what it would feel like to be needed. She herself had stopped needing people a long time ago, her parents had seen to that. During her childhood she had been left with nanny after nanny. People who had been paid to spend time with her, as her parents had been far too busy. She had spent many a birthday and even a few Christmases feeling disappointed and unloved. It had become the norm for her, and she knew it was the reason why she often distanced herself from people.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise at the front door, and she worried for a second that somebody was trying to break in; she listened harder and she could definitely hear the sound of metal scraping against her front door, was it a screwdriver perhaps? She quickly reached for her mobile so that she could call someone if she needed to, when she heard the door slam and Billy’s familiar footsteps stomping through the hallway. He must have been trying to use his keys, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked over at the clock, two thirty, and she smiled to herself. As he was unexpectedly turning up at this hour of the morning, he must have been missing her.

  Billy had bought the house for Tanya. It was small, but she had done it up well and it was now very classy-looking. She knew that he had bought it as another of his investments; he owned properties all across London. He had invested well and even if the purchase of the flat was primarily to make a bit of money in the future, she wouldn’t be complaining anytime soon, as it felt like it was hers.

  When she had first moved in, she had put flowers in every room. Billy had said that it was hers to do as she pleased with, so she had been able to decorate it herself, which she had thrown herself into. Every room was different, all neutral colours and gorgeous textures. It was of course filled with designer furniture and accessorised with lots of funky lamps and vases. It was just like the pages of any good home interiors magazine, and she adored it. Her very own place all bought and paid for, who’d have thought?

  Tanya had tried on many occasions to get Billy to move in to the house, but he kept putting it off, especially since his mum had died, last year, and he said he needed to look out for his sister, Kate. Tanya didn’t have much time for Kate; she was a nice-enough girl, she supposed, but it pissed her off how Billy went on about her all the time. She knew it was silly, but sometimes she felt Kate was almost like ‘the other woman’ in her relationship. Kate was always Billy’s first thought, and Tanya knew that on that score that she could never compete. She had to put on a front when Kate was around or even talked about, she was well aware that if Billy even suspected her dislike of the girl he would choose Kate over her in a heartbeat. Resentment bubbled inside her about it. The way Tanya saw it, Kate was the only thing stopping Billy making a proper commitment to her. She just wanted them to be a proper couple, to cook nice dinners for him and snuggle up on the sofa watching television in the evenings. He always said he liked to come and go as he pleased and didn’t want to have to answer to anyone. She loved him, and would bide her time; in the meantime she would take whatever he was willing to offer her.

  She threw on her gown over her tanned, naked body and went towards the lounge to see him.

  Billy was sitting slumped in the armchair and the room was in total darkness. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge her when she came into the room.

  “Babe,” Tanya said quietly, “are you okay?”

  Billy was staring straight ahead with a real glare. Something had really rattled his cage, she thought, although she had seen him in worse states in the past.

  “Do I fucking look okay, Tan?” he grunted.

  Tanya could smell drink on him, knew that he had been out with the lads earlier because he had rung her from The Dog. Something must have pissed him off, because he had sounded fine then, quite cheerful for a change.

  “Kate is up the duff,” he said, turning to look at Tanya, trying to gauge her reaction.

  Tanya was surprised to hear that Kate was pregnant. She knew immediately who the father was. Everyone knew about Kate and Jay, the pair of them behaving like love’s young dream. They had been an item for almost a year and even though they both thought no-one knew, they had been seen about here and there and Tanya had known about them for a while.

  How Billy hadn’t got wind of it sooner was a miracle, as far as Tanya was concerned: he knew everybody and everything. She had been waiting for Billy to find out about Kate’s little romance, hoping it would cause merry hell. It certainly wouldn’t hurt the soft cow to know how it felt to have somebody interfering in her relationship, Tanya thought.

  “Guess who the fucking daddy is?” he asked, still clearly fired up.

  If he found out that Tanya had known about his precious sister’s little relationship and not told him, he would go ballistic. She leant down to light the half-smoked joint she had left sitting in the ashtray from earlier that evening, hiding her face with her hair to mask her expression.

  “Jay Shaw: the snide little fucker!” Billy’s fist clenched as he spat Jay’s name.

  “Oh my God, Billy.” She knew she was going to have to blag it now; she hoped that she sounded more convincing than she felt. “I didn’t even know that they were seeing each other. How’s Kate? What’s she going to do?”

  “Funnily enough, Tan, I didn’t stick around long enough to sort out a fucking birthing plan with her,” he said. “Shaw has really got it coming to him now.” He took the joint and took a long drag, then blew a stream of smoke through his nose.

  He couldn’t believe the news that his sister was having a baby. He was going to have to think long and hard about how he would deal with Jay.

  He looked up at Tanya, as if he had only just remembered that she was there. Although her hair was a mess and she had no makeup on, she was still stunning-looking. They’d been together for two years, and even though Billy tried to keep it as casual as he could Tanya had stuck it out for longer than any other bird he had been with. Okay, so Tanya was a bit high-maintenance, always demanding only the best for herself and the house, and could be demanding, but weren’t most women? On the plus side, Tanya never questioned his whereabouts. She wasn’t the clingy, possessive type, and she knew exactly how to please him in the bedroom. Tanya was naturally pretty, with long brown hair, green eyes, a toned body and immaculate nails. Most girls could only wish to look that good, thought Billy; she was the perfect woman in that respect. He loved having her on his arm for all to see: his bit of arm candy.

  Billy grinned, his mood softening slightly; yeah, he was a lucky bloke. He could see her nipples pressing on the slinky material of her dressing gown and felt himself getting hard. He stood up and groped her breasts as he kissed her hard.

  “Come on, Tan, let’s go to bed. I’ll deal with this shit tomorrow.”

  Smiling, as Billy led her upstairs by the hand, Tanya couldn’t wait to get into bed and snuggle up with her fella. She had fallen for Billy the second she had met him. He was as cocky as they came, and this, mixed with his confident boyish grin and the air of danger that surrounded him had been a heady combination for Tanya. The fact that he seemed to be doing well for himself and had an endless flow of cash had also played a part. Billy was hers, but it narked her the way he always kept her at arm’s length and wouldn’t let her get too close.

  She knew half his anger was because he bottled everything up inside. Tanya knew there was history between Jay and Billy: it had been going on for years. She had started dig
ging for information once, intrigued by how Jay rattled Billy’s cage so much. She had more than learnt her lesson: he had gone mental at her. She had never mentioned Jay to him again.

  Only Billy knew the real reason why he hated Jay with such a passion, Billy had never told a soul. There was no way on this earth Billy would be letting that piece of scum anywhere near his sister: that was for certain. Kate must never find out the truth.

  4

  It had just gone three in the morning and Jay had finished his shift at the club, which had once again been maniacally busy. His mobile had been ringing for almost an hour and he had been trying his hardest to ignore it, as it was Kate: again.

  He switched it off and shoved it into his coat pocket. He wasn’t in the mood for Kate and her clinginess. He had had a long old evening and what he was in the mood for now was a nice bit of light relief. Getting into his new Beamer, his pride and joy, he knew just where to get it from.

  Jay enjoyed working the door: Goldie’s was the only place to be these days and he really felt part of it all. He got on well with the other men and despite a little bit of trouble here and there, the place certainly had its perks. In the year he’d been working there, he had taken advantage of as many of those perks as he could physically manage. It was like a meat market, and he could have his pickings, his phone was over-flowing with women’s numbers.

  Jay was a typical player; he had an attitude of treat them mean, keep them keen, and it worked a treat in his book. There were two types of woman as far as Jay could see. The cheap tarts who thought that they were something special: able to tame any man and stop any wandering eye. They were the ones who thought that their drunken one-night stand was the start of a beautiful relationship and that they could suddenly have a say in his life. The others were the more desperate type. The ones who were grateful for any attention you threw in their direction, always eager to please, and then counted themselves lucky that Jay had even so much as looked at them in the first place, when he decided it was time to walk away after he got what he wanted. Both types, as far as he was concerned, were more trouble than they were worth in the long run. Women, generally, were all grief.