by Edie Baylis
When she’d finished work Seth had surprised her dressed in his suit and looking gorgeous. He’d packed for her, including a beautiful red velvet dress he’d bought and then he’d whisked her away to a stunning manor house with beautiful grounds in the country. Their room had a four-poster bed and the thickest, most luxurious carpet she’d ever seen. Although they’d planned to go to the restaurant for dinner, they hadn’t got that far - just ordered room service with copious bottles of champagne.
Even though it was cold, they’d strolled hand in hand in the hotel grounds where Seth had placed flowers in her hair. Pulling her to the ground, he’d taken her on the river bank in the broad daylight. She’d fallen in love with him all over again that night and the weekend had served to remind Jane why they belonged together. So much so, she’d even finally agreed to a date for the church wedding.
Sparking a fag up, Jane glanced at the ashtray full of red-lipstick tipped butts balanced on the duvet cover. Her sixty-a-day habit was getting out of hand. Taking another long gulp of vodka, she brought her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.
Why were they so fucked up? Couldn’t they just be normal?
Maybe neither of them were capable of it. Since they’d returned home and despite all of their joint promises, things had gone back to normal. Well, that wasn’t true. Things hadn’t just gone back to normal, they’d got a lot worse.
Looking at the mildew-stained ceiling Jane felt sick. Life had been even more of a huge blur than usual. Even by her standards, she knew their drinking and quest for obliteration had gone from ludicrous to one step beyond.
Reality had taken a complete back seat. Half the time they didn’t even get to bed and just crashed out wherever they were. Furthermore, she couldn’t remember the last time they’d eaten anything and had lost count of the number of times they’d woken up with no knowledge as to what day it was, let alone month. How she was managing to work was a mystery being as she could never remember going, let alone what she’d done whilst she was there.
Their world had turned into an ever present loop of madness and she just couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of foreboding that had lurked on her shoulder like a succubus for the last few weeks.
Maybe she’d got PMT? When was she due? Peering at her packet of contraceptive pills, a wave of fear washed over Jane as she realised it should have been three weeks ago. Reality slowly dawned through her drunken mind.
Oh no. NO FUCKING WAY!
“WHY DON’T YOU JUST shut the fuck up?” Seth screamed, upending the coffee table across the room.
Stuart stared at him in shock. “I was only trying to help,” he lied.
“What by telling me my wife’s shagging everyone else? Just get out.”
Lee nudged Stuart’s arm. “Come on mate. Think it’s time we made a move.”
Seth turned on his heels and stormed down the hallway, kicking open the bedroom door. “Is it fucking true?”
Jane drained the last drop of vodka from the bottle before lazily raising her eyes. “Is what true?”
Stepping towards her, Seth whacked the bottle out of her hands. As it smashed against the wall, Stuart and Lee let themselves out of the flat. Neither he nor Jane noticed the satisfied smirk on Stuart’s face as he walked down the steps into the night.
Their argument moved from the bedroom into the lounge, with Seth ranting about the guy with the brown hair. Jane had no idea who this bloke was, but was sick to the back teeth of hearing about him. She launched a clock which crashed through the window and sailed five storeys down to smash on the high street below.
Seth climbed out the window, teetering on the edge with a bottle of whisky in his hand and a wild look in his eye. “Why don’t I just kill myself for you? You want my death? I’ll die for you Jane, shall I? Maybe that’ll prove how much I love you?”
Jane smiled. “So you’d die for me? How nice.”
“Would you die for me, Jane?”
Raising her eyes slowly, she locked them on to his. “You’re not special. I’d die for anyone.”
The front door was soon kicked in by the police and they swarmed into the lounge, wrestling Seth back through the window. Jane and Seth were both arrested for drunk and disorderly along with breach of the peace.
“This is the third time in two weeks,” an officer muttered with complete disgust as they were dragged into the police van.
As the cell door slammed shut, Jane shook her head and stared at the muddy footprint on the dirty white ceiling.
She turned over on the hard metal ledge that served as a bed and pulled the itchy blanket over her, trying to ignore Seth roaring in rage from the cell next to her and mindlessly wondered what excuse she’d give at work for being late this time.
THIRTY ONE
AS JANE FINISHED WORK for the day, she realised she really had to get another job. She just couldn’t stand it anymore. Rounding the corner towards where her car was parked, she was surprised to see Maggie sitting on the wall outside.
“Can I come back to yours for a bit, babe?” Maggie asked nervously, twiddling her hair.
“Course you can,” Jane smiled. “We’ll go down the Dragon later as well if you fancy?”
Maggie faltered, her nerves showing. “Oh I don’t know....”
“Look,” Jane said sternly as they walked to the car. “Have you seen him since?”
Maggie shook her head. “No...” It was true she hadn’t seen Ian since the night he’d grabbed her. Jane had said he wouldn’t be bothering her again, but how did she know for certain?
Glancing sideways, Jane was aware Maggie was ignorant of most of the stuff that went on behind the scenes, but Digger had a one hundred percent success rate in getting through to people. No one yet had disobeyed him and being as he’d had a word with Ian, she was confident he’d keep his distance.
The trouble was Maggie just wasn’t made of the same fabric. She’d die a death if she knew what really went on, therefore it was hard to reassure her without having to explain everything.
Firing the car engine into life, Jane slammed the accelerator down and veered the car heavily off the kerb.
“Bloody hell!” Maggie shrieked and grabbed hold of the hand grip near the car’s roof, only for it to come away in her hand.
Laughing, Jane sped down the road and then braked sharply as a green Metro trundled out of a side street. Temper flaring, she drummed her fingers impatiently and pressed down on the accelerator.
As they shot forward and steered sharply into the right hand side of the Metro’s bumper, Maggie wondered what else she could hang on to inside the car. The green car span violently to the left and Jane swerved out of the way, barging past and leaving the other car to mount the kerb.
“BABE!” she screamed. “What are you doing?”
Lighting another cigarette Jane smiled, “Getting home. What do you think I’m doing?”
Maggie squirmed in the seat as they floored it towards the flat.
SITTING ON THE SOFA, Digger absentmindedly stroked the dog as he waited. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but he’d had a message from Seth to be here for 7.
It was only 6, but he figured Jane would be back from work soon and if he was lucky he could cadge some grub.
He frowned. Those two had gone completely off the rails lately. He knew something had happened a few months back which had put the cat among the pigeons, but when he’d asked what was going down he’d got his head chewed off, so he’d left it.
Maybe Seth had found out about what had happened with him and Jane? Digger shrugged his huge shoulders. Seth was a loose cannon at the moment and a very dangerous one at that, but he’d just have to cope with that if it happened.
Stomach rumbling, Digger glanced at his watch and hoped Jane would hurry up.
STUART WANDERED TOWARDS his flat with a smug smile on his face. He’d just met up with Paul and explained things were going well with the latest part of the plan. Judging by the other night and what he’d heard t
hrough the wall, it looked like Seth had finally begun to show signs of cracking.
He peered towards the door of his flat as he walked up the third flight of steps leading to the courtyard. What the fuck was that?
Continuing across the concrete quadrangle, Stuart stared in disbelief. No, it couldn’t be? It bloody was! Was this a joke?
He stared closely. It was definitely a chicken. Some fuckwit had nailed a chicken to his door. Peering at the head hanging limply on its long neck with a six inch nail sticking directly through its chest into his wooden door, he grimaced and poked the chicken with his finger. It was fucking horrible.
“Oh that’s classic that is!” Jane laughed, unable to contain her amusement.
Spinning around on his heels, Stuart glared at her. He’d been so busy scrutinising the mangled bird, he’d failed to notice Jane and Maggie crossing the courtyard.
“You think its funny do you?” Stuart took a step forward, snarling. “Is this something to do with you, you silly bitch?”
The laughter froze on Jane’s face as she glared at him with hatred. “Don’t talk to me like that, you piece of shit!” She smiled nastily, enjoying the rage bubbling up on Stuart’s face as he tried to think of a suitable retort. “I’d say that’s a fucking warning. Who’ve you upset now or is the list too long to narrow down?”
“You nasty little tart!” Stuart spat. “Seth will eventually see you for what you are.”
Maggie paled when Jane stepped forwards and jabbed her finger hard into Stuart’s arm. “Fuck you. From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re the one that’s been exposed for what you are.”
Stuart pulled his arm away sharply with a smirk on his face. “Get your hands off me. I don’t know where you’ve been.”
Jane glanced at Maggie. “Come on, let’s leave this dickhead to fester with his thoughts. That’s if he’s capable of having any!”
Quickly scuttling across the courtyard, Maggie tried to avoid looking at Stuart. Her legs were still shaking from when Jane had purposely rammed that car on the way home. And now this.
“BITCH!” Stuart screamed, only to be rewarded by sarcastic laughter.
Maggie felt a shiver of apprehension run down her spine and risked a quick look at the dead chicken. She didn’t like that sort of stuff. It gave her the creeps.
SETH WASTED NO TIME trussing up the man. He would give Jane the chance to tell him the truth and nail this crap once and for all. By the look of this bloke, he’d quite easily spill the beans. Especially when given a little persuasion.
He smiled, his dimples showing. He’d get the cunt to admit exactly what had been going on in front of her so she couldn’t deny anything. She wouldn’t be able to make a fucking fool of him then would she?
Feeling better than he had in a while, Seth accelerated, happy the coke was working and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel along to AC/DC. He hoped Digger had got his message because when he’d finished with this twat in the boot, Digger could get rid of him, freeing him up to deal with Jane.
He raged inwardly. Did Jane really think he wouldn’t find out she’d been fucking around? It made sense now why she’d been acting funny. This trying to cause arguments all the bloody time was just a fucking excuse!
A rush of cold dread ran through Seth’s body. Jane was planning on leaving him and binning him off for this bastard wasn’t she?
Over his dead fucking body would he let her. He’d kill her first.
With his concentration elsewhere and his mind out of control, he overshot a junction narrowly missing a red car.
Shav. What sort of fucking name was that anyway? He was going to fuck the bastard up. Psyching himself up into frenzy, the vein in Seth’s neck throbbed at a dangerous pace in line with his heart crashing in his chest.
Seth hit the steering wheel with his fist. ‘I will not let you go Jane!’ he roared.
JANE SAT NEXT TO DIGGER on the sofa and handed him and Maggie their plates. It was only a bit of chicken and rice, but that was all she’d had. Besides, it was quite apt given tonight’s theme of chickens.
She’d been surprised to find Seth absent, but when Digger explained he’d been asked to come at 7, she’d put some tea on for him as well, leaving it in the oven to keep warm.
Hearing the theme tune of ‘Emmerdale’ start, Jane sat back in the chair and began to relax. At least Seth had replaced the smashed TV with one of the many stacked in the spare room. Bloody things had finally come in useful. Well, one of them at least!
Digger rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you watch this crap!”
“SSSHHH!” Jane laughed, nudging him in the ribs whilst shovelling a forkful of rice into her mouth. Despite her best efforts, her mind wandered back to the issue burning in her mind.
She’d missed a second period and the test she’d done the other day had confirmed what she already knew. She was definitely pregnant. Deciding she’d worry about that tomorrow, Jane cracked open another can of lager.
STUART WAS ON EDGE and paced silently around his flat, unsure what to do. He stared at the bin in the corner of the kitchen where he’d put the chicken and admitted he was a bit worried.
Actually, he was very worried.
Rage seethed inside him. How typical that stupid cow had turned up just at that moment. She’d be loving this. Walking to the cupboard he grabbed a can of lager and yanked at the ring pull with shaking fingers. He plonked himself down on a wooden chair and tipped the can into his mouth.
He knew he shouldn’t have been saying things about the Hanson brothers, but he was pissed off running around all over the city at all times of night for them and never getting any thanks. Besides, all he’d said was they’d get replaced the way they carried on, treating everyone with such indifference.
Anyway, it wasn’t like they’d send someone down this neck of the woods for him was it? He was just being stupid.
Finally relaxing, Stuart leant back in the chair.
MAGGIE WAS SO ENGROSSED watching Zak Dingle, her plate nearly shot off her lap as the sound of the front door slamming took her off guard.
“Seth’s back then,” Jane muttered, feeling Digger’s body tense next to her.
As Seth kicked open the lounge door dragging a man with bound wrists and ankles into the room, Maggie jumped out of her chair screaming.
Jane frowned as Maggie’s plate and its contents smashed noisily on the floor. She’d only bought them the other week to replace the ones she’d launched at Seth. Sighing, she looked back at the television and continued to eat her dinner.
Maggie stared at Seth. He looked feral. His eyes gleamed and sweat ran down his face. Looking at Jane she felt panic rising quickly in her chest. Wasn’t she going to say anything? What on earth was going on here?
“Calm down Maggie,” Digger said quietly before turning to Seth. “What’s going down?”
“This,” Seth pulled the man further across the lounge, his bound ankles dropping noisily with a thud at Jane’s feet, “is the bloke my wife’s been fucking behind my back!”
Jane nearly choked, her head shooting up. “What?”
“Don’t try and deny it woman.” Seth roughly ripped a piece of duct tape off the man’s mouth, taking the top layer of skin with it.
“NO! NO!” Shav howled and stared up with frightened eyes. “I haven’t done anything!”
“Babe?” Maggie screamed. “What the hell’s happening?”
Jane stared into Seth’s manic eyes as he stood behind the man on the floor. “What the fuck is this about?” Sighing, she looked back down to her tea and then across to the TV. “I’m trying to watch the bloody television!”
Maggie stared at Jane as if she was mad. Watch the television? Was she serious?
Lurching forward, Seth swiped the plate from Jane’s lap and it smashed into the wall. “You’d best start telling me the truth.”
Jane was angry. Her tea was bloody ruined and now another plate was knackered. “Oh fuck off, Seth. You’re off your
rocker.”
Digger sat forward in the chair, confused. He’d expected a normal job, not this.
“Let’s hear from him shall we?” Seth roared, giving Shav a heavy kick to the ribs. “Well Shav, how long have you been shagging my wife?”
Shav? Did he say Shav? With horror, Jane recognised the man to be the brother of one of the factory girls. She’d chatted to him several times down the pub and suddenly it all began to make sense. This was the guy with the ‘long brown hair’ Seth had been badgering her about for weeks. Absolutely nothing had gone on with him and she had no idea where he’d got it from.
Stepping forward, Jane grabbed Seth’s arm. “Don’t be bloody crazy! I haven’t been shagging him.”
Yanking away, Seth narrowed his eyes. “Not what I’ve heard.” He leant in Jane’s face. “You must think I’m fucking STUPID!”
“Calm down mate.” Digger stood up and reached towards Jane.
Seth spun around. “Don’t touch her and keep out of it. She needs to give me some fucking answers.” He glared back at Jane. “You’re planning on leaving me for him aren’t you?”
“Leaving you?” Jane asked incredulously.
“Oh my GOD!” Maggie screeched as Seth delivered another swift kick to the man’s face and blood and teeth sprayed over the floor. She backed herself up against the far wall.
“That’s why you’ve been acting fucking weird. Because of him!” Seth pulled the sawn-off out of his inside pocket.
“NO!” Jane shouted. “You’re totally wrong! Fucking leave it!”
Seth pointed the gun at the man. “Start talking to me Shav,” he lowered his voice. “Last fucking chance.”
“I-I haven’t touched her!” Shav garbled. “I haven’t laid a finger on her.”
“He hasn’t!” Jane interjected. “Who the hell said otherwise?” Pulling Seth’s arm sharply, the sawn-off veered blindly across the room. Maggie let out another high-pitched wail as the barrel passed across her.
“Stop this NOW!” Jane shouted as Seth pointed the sawn-off back at Shav.