Life of Crime

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really. Steer clear of him, Jason. I mean that.’

  ‘Will do. I need to use the bathroom.’

  ‘It’s the first door on the right,’ Melissa joked. ‘I’ll pour us both another drink.’

  Jason ran the tap and switched his phone on. Four abusive text messages threatening all sorts flashed up.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, face etched with worry. He would have to pay that bitch a visit. She needed silencing, quickly.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Cringing as his phone rang, clocking it was her, Jason snatched at it. ‘What now?’ he hissed.

  ‘I just wanted to say sorry for all those horrible things I said. I didn’t mean them.’

  ‘You can say that a-fucking-gain. Had you been drinking?’

  ‘No. I was angry. Got every right to be, haven’t I?’

  Jason rolled his eyes. She had no right to be anything, the nut job. ‘Is that all?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Apology accepted. But don’t ring or text me no more.’

  ‘Got no intention of.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Oh, do you know what? I’m not sorry after all. Go fuck yourself, Jason.’

  ‘I got a bad feeling about this. Like my mum is going to kill us both,’ Donte said, chewing at his fingernails.

  ‘Stop worrying and chill. The school must’ve read the letter yesterday. They would’ve rung your mum immediately if they were suspicious,’ Shay replied. She’d been the one who had written the letter explaining Donte would not be in school on Thursday as he had to attend his uncle’s funeral. She had also written one for herself.

  ‘So, what are we going to say again if we get caught? My mum usually calls the school if I’m ill, you know.’

  ‘That you really missed seeing Elton and Kyle and I arranged the meet because you got emotional after speaking to them on the phone. Both your mum and my dad’ll buy that story. They’ll also be happy we’ve got one another’s backs. We’re not going to get caught though, so just relax. Train’s here now, come on.’

  ‘You sounded stressed when I called, so I thought this might come in handy,’ Tracey said, waving a bottle of red wine.

  ‘Come in, mate. Meant to be being good, but I could do with a drink.’

  ‘So how did it go with Jason?’ Tracey asked. She was dying to know all the gossip.

  ‘We got on OK. Although he did say some hurtful things.’

  ‘Like what? He’s got some front, saying hurtful things after what he did.’

  ‘He said I bleed him dry at times. I don’t agree. Apart from my new car, I’ve asked him for nothing in over eighteen months. The Cartier watch was a birthday present. He reckons we live above our means and I need to be more careful with money in future.’

  ‘He’s trying to turn the tables, Mel. You know what he’s like – anything to dig himself out of a hole. There you are. Drink that, and calm yourself down,’ Tracey said, handing Melissa a glass.

  ‘My mother never paid for a thing when she was married to that bastard who I no longer call my father. I thought that’s what real men did, Trace. You know, kept their wives. Did you pay for anything when you was with Kieron?’

  ‘No. But I did used to treat him to stuff when I went shopping. I’d buy him a nice shirt for work, or something more trendy to wear at weekends.’

  ‘But where did you get the money to do that?’

  ‘Erm, Kieron’s bank account.’

  Melissa waved her hands in the air, chuckling. ‘I seriously rest my case.’

  Donte Brooks was having a very exciting day. Even though Shay was sort of his sister, they’d never done much stuff without their parents being involved, and Donte was finding the whole experience enlightening. First they’d got on a Central Line train to Mile End. Then they’d hopped off, changed out of their school uniforms and into the casual clothes they’d brought with them. Now they were on the District Line to Dagenham Heathway and were waiting to be picked up.

  Shay grinned at Donte. ‘You seem more chilled now. Enjoying yourself?’

  ‘Yes, I am actually. Thanks for arranging this, Shay. It’s cool.’

  When Donte squeezed her hand, Shay felt the first pang of guilt. He wasn’t a bad lad and did not deserve what she was about to do to him. However, she had the life of Riley living alone with her father in Buckhurst Hill, could come and go as she pleased, and Shay had no desire to move back to Repton Park and live with that nutter Melissa again.

  ‘So, did you end up going clubbing the other night?’ Melissa asked Tracey.

  ‘Nah. Couldn’t be arsed, in the end. I wasn’t well after I left here, was sick on the way home all over myself in the bloody car.’

  ‘Not pregnant, are you?’ Melissa joked.

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing. I haven’t slept with anybody since Simple Simon.’

  ‘Aw, don’t call him that. I think he’s lovely and he certainly isn’t bloody simple. Jason reckons Simon’s the best accountant he’s ever had.’ It had been Melissa’s idea to fix Tracey and Simon Champion up in the first place. Jason hadn’t been keen, had said Tracey was a gold digger and Simon deserved better. Simon was a jolly chap who was fun to be around, but Tracey was hard to please when it came to men. She’d dumped him after a few months when they’d first dated in 2001, then done the same when they’d got back together briefly earlier this year.

  ‘If the spark isn’t there, it isn’t there, Mel. I know Si’s a nice guy, but looks-wise he’s not my type. Too square.’

  ‘So why did you let him shell out for that expensive cruise earlier this year? You must have known you didn’t fancy him then.’

  ‘Because I’d never been on a cruise and he offered to take me on one. I didn’t ask, or beg him, did I? Anyway, enough about Simon – let’s talk about you instead. Decided if you’re taking Jason back yet, have you?’

  ‘No. But I’ll have to make my mind up soon,’ Melissa lied. She had already arranged a date for Jason to move back in. ‘His contract runs out on the flat end of next week and his landlord wants to know if he’s staying.’

  ‘That’s not your problem, Mel. Let him rent somewhere else if you’re not ready.’

  ‘Between you and me, I think he’s got a bit of a cash-flow problem. We’re mortgaged up to the hilt here and both our cars are on the never-never. The kids’ school fees cost a fortune, and no way do I want Donte changing schools.’

  ‘I thought Jason’s pawn shop was doing really well. Has something gone wrong?’

  ‘Not as far as I know. Jason says it’s a temporary problem and that he has something big in the pipeline. I suppose it makes sense financially to allow him to move back in. It’ll be a long time before I allow him in my bedroom though.’

  ‘I thought you wanting another baby was the reason you were thinking of taking him back. Gonna be a bit difficult to conceive if you’re sleeping in separate rooms, isn’t it?’

  ‘That’s before I found out he’d slept with two more tarts other than Charlotte. Both one-night stands and both slags. He doesn’t even remember their names, said they meant nothing to him.’

  Tracey put her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh my God! You so can’t take him back. You’ll never be able to trust him. He’s a fucking wrong ’un.’

  In a recording studio that was actually a big shed at the bottom of somebody’s back garden, Donte was having his first taste of MCing and alcohol.

  Elton was fifteen now, Kyle thirteen. Both were good-looking lads who kept up with the latest fashion by stealing whatever they desired. They looked alike, had the same number three haircut with three shaved lines on the right-hand side. All the Invincibles did. That was the name of the gang they’d recently joined. Most of the members were from Barking, so if they weren’t in the recording studio these days, they tended to hang out there.

  ‘Have a puff on Elton’s joint,’ Shay urged Donte.

  ‘No. I better not.’

  ‘Wi
mp,’ Shay laughed.

  Elton took Shay to one side. ‘He’s only a baby. Leave him be. You’ll get the boy into trouble.’

  ‘It won’t hurt him and I have my reasons. Melissa hates you and Kyle and she hates me. No way am I living with her again.’

  ‘They back together?’ Elton enquired.

  ‘Not if we do things my way, they won’t be.’

  Elton chuckled and walked over to Donte. ‘Wanna try some? It’ll make you feel good.’

  Not wanting to seem like a stupid kid in front of the three people he looked up to the most, Donte took the joint, put it to his lips and puffed. Seconds later, he nearly choked to death.

  ‘All right, Jase?’ Deano grinned, picking up an old Atari games console off the shelf. ‘How much for this? I used to have one of these but it broke.’

  Jason’s heart sank, as it always did when Craig’s sidekick paid him a visit. There was only one reason he was here. ‘Price is on it, thirty quid. But if you want it, just give me a tenner. That’s what I paid for it.’

  ‘Cheers, pal,’ Deano grinned, slapping a tenner on the counter. ‘I’m a true wizard at Pac-Man.’

  ‘What can I do for you?’ Jason asked.

  ‘In a nutshell, two slaughters, one in Dagenham and one in Barking. Six clean mobile phones and a van. Transit kind of size. Nothing old or pikey-looking. Low mileage too. We don’t want it breaking down.’

  ‘When do you need all this by?’

  ‘End of next week at the latest. Oh, and the boss says to give your estate agent mate eight grand this time. I think he wants to keep him sweet,’ Deano said, pulling a large envelope out of the inside of his jacket. ‘There’s fifty grand in there. Pay for everything out of that and the boss says keep the change.’

  Jason mentally did some maths. He could get a proper van at the auctions for four grand, eight to his pal Paul, so that made twelve. And the mobile phones, deposits and a month up front on the slaughters was peanuts. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll be in touch next week.’

  ‘Sweet. Oh, and the boss says he’ll be in touch soon. I think he wants you to meet his son, Harry. Cute little baby he is, Jase. Half Chinky, ain’t he?’

  Jason smiled politely. Deano wasn’t the brightest of lads and he couldn’t be bothered to tell him that the child’s mother actually came from Thailand. ‘OK, mate. Tell the boss, I’ll see him soon.’

  When Deano left the shop, Jason sat on the chair he kept behind the counter and put his head in his hands. He hated being involved in this set-up, but how could he say no? Not only did he owe Craig big time, with the current state of his finances, the thirty-five grand he’d be left with was a hell of a lot of dosh.

  ‘No more, Shay. That boy gonna be proper ill,’ Elton warned as Shay handed Donte another joint. After his initial choking session, the lad had been puffing away like a sailor and the poor little sod’s eyes had started rolling in his head. Kyle thought it was hilarious to see ‘Posh Boy’ pissed and stoned, but Elton didn’t find it amusing. Donte was only ten and making him ill wasn’t part of the plan.

  When Donte began to MC again, slurring his words, Kyle put his hands inside his bright red Adidas tracksuit bottoms. ‘Go, Posh Boy, go,’ he roared, trying not to wet himself.

  Sensing they were all going to be in big trouble, Elton walked over to the deck and took the needle off the record. ‘Enough. We need to straighten him up, then get him home. My mate Tyler will drive us. I’ll give him a call.’

  ‘You OK?’ a concerned Melissa asked, tapping on the bathroom door.

  Tracey wiped her mouth with a tissue and flushed the toilet. She opened the door. ‘I think I must have a bug. Sorry, mate.’

  ‘You sure you’re not pregnant?’ Melissa asked, in earnest this time. She’d been extremely sick all the way through her pregnancy with Donte. So much so, her racist of a father had insisted it was because different races did not mix and she was ill because she had got up the duff by a black man.

  Tracey was about to joke that, if she was, she hoped the child didn’t look like Simon, when the doorbell chimed. ‘You get that. I’m fine now, honest.’

  Melissa was shocked to see her son and Shay on her doorstep. Both were wearing shorts and T-shirts instead of their school uniforms.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ Donte mumbled, putting his hand over his mouth and bolting to the safety of his en-suite bathroom. He had never felt so ill in his entire life.

  ‘What’s wrong with him? Why aren’t the pair of you at school? Where are your uniforms?’ Melissa was gobsmacked. They didn’t even go to the same schools. Donte’s was in Chigwell and Shay’s in Wanstead.

  Shay rarely cried, but knew how to turn on the waterworks when it suited her. She did feel a bit bad. Donte had trusted her and she’d betrayed him. ‘I’m so sorry, Mel, I really am. Blame me, not Donte. It’s not his fault.’

  Alarmed now, Melissa grabbed Shay by the arm. ‘Just tell me what has happened,’ she shrieked.

  ‘When we were upstairs playing music the other day, Donte said how much he had missed Elton and Kyle. I put him on the phone to them and they invited us to go to a music studio today where they were recording a track. Donte was really upset because he hadn’t seen them, so I wrote him a letter getting him out of school for the day.’

  ‘You did what!’

  ‘I’m sorry. But I didn’t know there’d be loads of other lads there. He picked up a couple of drinks and I think they must’ve had vodka in them. We thought we were drinking Coke.’

  ‘My boy is drunk! That what you’re telling me, is it?’

  ‘Well, yeah. But he’ll be OK. I made him eat a Big Mac.’

  Grabbing Shay by her skinny shoulders, Melissa literally pushed her out the door. ‘You stupid little mare. Get out, go on, get out! And you’re not welcome back, not ever!’

  Shay couldn’t help but smirk as she walked around the corner to where Elton’s pal Tyrone had promised to wait. Mission accomplished, she thought smugly. Her dad was bound to be pissed off with her, but she was sure she could win him round – she always did.

  Shay’s smirk was swiftly wiped off her face when she turned the corner and discovered they’d left her stranded. She had spent all her money on kitchen roll, detergent and air freshener for the car after Donte had puked up in it, so what the hell was she meant to do now? Buckhurst Hill was miles away.

  Always happy to be of assistance and get away from the small two-bedroomed house she’d purchased in Collier Row with what was left of Kieron’s money after she’d spunked the rest, Tracey Thompson topped Melissa’s drink up. It grated on her immensely that Mel lived in such a beautiful property and she lived where she did. Why was life so unfair? She would’ve lived in a mansion by now and been treated like a queen had Kieron not died. She still had her looks. Men would wolf-whistle at her on a daily basis, even more so since she’d had her breasts enlarged. So how was it that plain, overweight Mel had ended up with Jason and a luxury property in Repton Park? ‘No way can you take him back after this, mate. Scum – the whole family are, and you have to put your Donte first.’

  Tears streamed down Melissa’s face. She’d been checking on Donte every ten minutes to make sure he was still breathing. She’d even contemplated taking him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped, but what sort of mother would that make her look? If they involved Social Services, she would die of shame. ‘That’s Jason ringing again. I can’t speak to him again tonight, Trace, I really can’t. He’s livid though. I can tell by all the messages he’s left. He reckons he’s taking Shay out of her private school. Bet he don’t though.’

  ‘Not the school’s fault, is it? Jason, Shay, the lot of ’em are from that bloody shithole. Told you you should have never married him, Mel. You can take the family off the Mardyke Estate, but you can’t take the Mardyke Estate out of the family.’

  Jason strolled inside the Crown and Crooked Billet. It was Steve the mechanic’s local. He spotted him immediately. Steve was playing pool with another bloke. ‘
You got a minute, mate?’ Jason asked, gesticulating for him to follow him outside.

  Reluctantly, Steve did as he was asked. Jason didn’t seem angry, and Melissa had sworn to him when she’d dumped him that she would never admit to their fling.

  Steve’s worst fears were confirmed when Jason grabbed him by the throat. ‘Mel said you and she were dead in the water, mate. I’m sorry, OK? But I’d never have gone there otherwise,’ Steve gabbled.

  The day from hell had taken its toll on Jason. He grabbed Steve’s jaw and smashed the back of his head repeatedly against the wall. ‘I ain’t your mate, and you ever go near my old woman again, I swear I will break every single fucking bone in your body. Got that?’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Shay Rampling was bored. She was also furious that her father had cancelled the holiday she’d so been looking forward to in Marbella. ‘Dad, can we talk please?’ she pleaded. It had been two days since Donte had got drunk and she knew he was OK as she’d heard her father talking to Melissa on the phone.

  ‘Get dressed. We’re going out,’ Jason snapped.

  ‘Where we going?’ Shay asked. She hadn’t been allowed out the door these past couple of days, not even to go to school.

  ‘We’re paying Melissa a visit and you are going to beg for her forgiveness.’

  Shay shook her head. ‘No. Not doing that.’

  Jason grabbed his daughter by the arm. ‘Yes, you fucking are.’

  ‘No. I don’t want to live with her again.’

  ‘Why?’

  Shay burst into tears. ‘Because she isn’t my real mother.’

  Tracey arrived at Melissa’s house with a big box of chocolates. She handed them to her friend.

  ‘Thanks, mate. But I’m meant to be on a bloody diet.’

  ‘I know, but I also know how much you love Thorntons. How is Donte now?’

  ‘A bit shaken still, not his usual bubbly self, but he’s not ill as such. I let him have the week off school so his body recovers properly. He’s currently in his room playing computer games. How about you? Are you over that bug?’