Life of Crime

by Kimberley Chambers

  For a split second, Jason had thought she’d cottoned on, but thankfully she hadn’t. ‘All babies look alike,’ he’d insisted, and was relieved when she’d agreed.

  ‘Bet you can’t wait to flog the you-know-what, can you?’ Simon chuckled.

  Jason grinned at his pal. It was the thought of his prized possession and the life he would lead once he sold it that had got him through the dark days inside. He hadn’t planned on telling a soul where he’d hidden it. But his prison sentence had forced him to tell Simon. The painting was hidden amongst a couple of dozen worthless paintings and some antiques in a storage unit in West London. The idea was, if the Van Gogh had come on top, Jason would’ve played dumb and said he’d bought a job lot off a geezer who’d come into the shop and had no idea of the worth. He’d even got a proper receipt printed out to cover his arse. He’d only paid a year’s storage fee up front, so he’d had to involve Simon to keep up the payments. There was only one key though and nobody knew where that was, bar himself. ‘I’ll speak to my contact tomorrow, set the ball rolling.’

  ‘Yeah. The quicker you get rid of it, the better. What you gonna do with the dosh? You can’t go splashing the cash you know, putting stuff in your own name.’

  ‘I know that. Listen, I appreciate all you’ve done, mate. I’d have been totally fucked without your help. I owe you a good drink out the proceeds.’

  ‘I’m sure you’d do the same for me. That’s what friends are for, Jase.’

  ‘Does that look all right, Mel? Or does it look lopsided to you?’ Shay asked. Mel had insisted on putting a massive WELCOME HOME JASON banner on the front of the house. She insisted word would get round the estate that Jason was a bloke coming home from a long stretch and that would hopefully keep all the louts away. Many a night they were woken up by cars screeching, arguments and fights, especially at the weekends.

  ‘That’ll do. It hasn’t got to be perfect. It’s the thought that counts.’

  ‘OK,’ Shay mumbled as she climbed down the ladder.

  ‘You all right, love? You seem a bit quiet. I thought you’d be upbeat today, what with your dad coming home. Not worried we’re going to argue again, are you?’

  ‘No. If I tell you something, Mel, will you promise not to say anything to my dad?’

  Hoping Shay wasn’t pregnant, Melissa said, ‘I promise.’

  ‘You know I’ve recently joined Facebook?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I met a bloke on here and we’ve been out a few times. He’s ever so nice and he treats me well. His name’s Luke and he works in finance.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  ‘He’s older than me.’

  ‘How much older?’

  ‘He’s thirty-four.’

  ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, Shay. That’s a big age gap, love. Don’t be telling your father just yet. He’ll go apeshit and will be back in prison before we know it.’

  Tracey turning up was a welcome distraction for Melissa. She had guessed there was a lad on the scene by Shay’s recent behaviour, but was shocked that it was a fully grown man. Perhaps with Jason inside, Shay had craved a father figure in her life. ‘There’s drinks in the kitchen, Trace, help yourself. Don’t touch the food or champers yet though. We’re saving that until Jason arrives. Where’s Greg? Or should I say Brad?’ Melissa grinned.

  Tracey chuckled. ‘Playing golf. He’s coming later.’

  Tracey crouched and ruffled her son’s hair. ‘How’s my boy? Have you been good for your Auntie Mel?’

  ‘Yes, Mummy.’

  Melissa smiled. ‘He’s been a little angel, bless him. And he can’t wait to finally meet his Uncle Jason, can you, Toby?’

  Tracey couldn’t help the rush of adrenaline. She had written to Jason in prison, sent photos of Toby, but the bastard hadn’t even bothered to reply. Well, he could go fuck himself now. She had met the man of her dreams and Jason would have to stand by and watch Simon and Greg playing Daddy. She could not wait to see Jason’s face when he was finally introduced to the kid. It was bound to be the ultimate picture. Her handsome boy was his father’s little double.

  ‘Where we going?’ Jason asked.

  Simon winked. ‘I am under strict instructions not to get you home until three. So I booked a table at Beppe’s. Thought I’d treat you to a slap-up lunch and we can talk business. I’ve got a couple of propositions for you.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We’ll discuss it over a drink. We’re nearly there now.’

  Simon shook hands with the waiter, who ushered himself and Jason to a table in the far corner. ‘Bring us a bottle of your finest bubbly, Dino. We’re in no rush to order food. We want to have a chat first.’

  Jason looked around the classy establishment. It felt weird being out of prison. He half expected a screw to bark an order at him any second. ‘Not been here before, have I?’

  ‘No. This is the restaurant I told you about. It opened not long after you first went inside. Family-run business. Nice people. I use it a lot. Was in here last night with a certain lucky lady.’

  ‘Oh? You never mentioned you’ve got another bird on the firm,’ Jason grinned.

  ‘It’s early days. I only met her a fortnight ago. Sally-Ann, her name is, but I think she might be a keeper. I haven’t introduced her to Toby yet, as I don’t want to confuse him.’

  ‘How do you feel about Toby being around this new bloke of Tracey’s? Greg, isn’t it? Mel told me all about him last time she visited.’

  ‘Toby hasn’t been around Greg and I haven’t met the bloke yet either. Mel says he’s nice, but I don’t reckon he’s very child-friendly. He hasn’t got any kids himself and whenever he sees Tracey they do stuff alone and either Mel or I babysit. That suits me though, to be honest. My son only needs one dad.’

  The waiter brought over the champagne, poured two flutes and Simon raised one. ‘Welcome home, mate.’

  Jason chinked flutes. ‘Cheers, pal. Seems surreal, sitting here with you. So, what are these business propositions then?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking long and hard how to help you cover your tracks with the money you’ll be getting and I’ve come up with a couple of solutions.’

  ‘Tell me more,’ Jason grinned.

  ‘Well, as I said in the car, you can’t be splashing the cash. You start buying big houses and flashy cars in your name, the Old Bill are gonna be bang on your case and you’ll be back inside.’

  ‘True. So how do I get round that?’

  ‘I spoke to a good friend in Jersey. He’s willing to invest the money for you and launder it over time. He wants two hundred and fifty grand for his services though. Reckons he’s putting his neck on the line.’

  ‘How’s he going to make it look legal? I’ve not even got a job.’

  ‘He never went into detail and neither did I. He knows nothing about the painting either. I just said we needed a favour and that was the deal he offered. We can arrange a meet with him soon, if you’re interested.’

  ‘A quarter of a mill is well steep. What’s the other solution?’ Jason enquired.

  ‘Me helping you out. You and Mel are going to need somewhere decent to live. Once you’ve got the readies, I can put a property in my name for you. Nobody will bat an eyelid if it’s me splashing the cash. I can get you a car the same way an’ all. I don’t know why you don’t have a look at that gaff I’ve had refurbished in Upshire. It’s nearly finished and will be going on the market soon. It’s a real beauty. Nice and secluded too.’

  ‘I think I would rather just deal with you than involve your friend in Jersey. Whatever we buy, we’d have to get something drawn up legally though, saying it actually belongs to me. You never know what’s around the corner, do you? I might die or we have a fallout.’

  ‘I’m not trying to shaft you, Jase, I can assure you of that. I’m only trying to help you. I can’t see how else you are going to be able to spend your windfall. And you don’t want to live like a poor man, do you? That’s a rough
estate Melissa’s currently living on. A tidier-looking version of the Mardyke.’

  ‘So what’s in it for you?’

  Simon grinned and refilled their flutes. ‘You know me far too well. What’s in it for me is seeing you and Mel happy again and fifty per cent of any sell-on profit. Property is going up all the time, so I view this as helping my pal and an investment for my future. I’ll have something legal drawn up that covers us both if you’re happy to go ahead. A document that states if one of us wants to sell the property, then it has to be sold and we split the profit equally between us.’

  The bubbly had gone to Jason’s head and he couldn’t think straight. ‘This all sounds good, Si, but I’m a bit all over the place today. Can I have a chat to Mel about it over the next couple of days and then we’ll speak again?’

  ‘Yeah. Of course. You’ve got to sell the painting first anyway, so there’s no rush. Racked my brain over your situation, and these were the only two things I could come up with. I’ll put my thinking cap back on, though; see if I can come up with another way.’

  ‘OK, mate. Thanks. I really do appreciate your help.’

  ‘Jesus wept! Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is,’ Jason said as he spotted the banner. He hated surprise parties and guessed that bunny-boiler Tracey would be there.

  ‘Just go with it, mate. Mel wanted to do something special for you,’ Simon urged.

  Melissa opened the front door. ‘Welcome home, Jason,’ she grinned, throwing her arms around her husband’s neck.

  ‘Welcome home, Dad,’ Shay beamed.

  Jason hugged his two favourite girls close to his chest. ‘Well, this is a nice surprise, I must say,’ he lied.

  Seconds later, Tracey Thompson bowled over with his son in his arms. ‘Toby, this is your Uncle Jason we’ve been telling you all about. Don’t be shy. Say hello,’ she said in a false sickly sweet voice.

  Wanting the ground to open up and swallow him, Jason had no option but to hold the child in his arms. ‘Hello, Toby. Nice to meet you,’ he said awkwardly.

  ‘Doesn’t look like Simon, thankfully, does he?’ Tracey said in a loud voice. She was already inebriated, had decided to knock the booze back when Greg had texted saying he couldn’t make the party after all.

  Simon chuckled. ‘No. Luckily, he’s a looker like his mother. But he’s inherited his dad’s clever brain, haven’t you, boy?’ Simon said, tickling Toby’s chin.

  Kissing the boy on the forehead, Jason put him on the floor. There was none of his family here. Apart from the obvious, he didn’t recognize a soul. ‘Where’s Donte?’ he asked his wife.

  Melissa shrugged. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’

  ‘Yo, Posh Boy. Want a toot?’ asked Elton Rampling.

  Donte wasn’t a lover of cocaine. It made him hyper and he preferred being stoned. But he took the rolled-up ten-pound note and snorted the fat line anyway. The lads had been ribbing him all day about his mother turning up yesterday and he didn’t want to look even more of a wuss in front of his girlfriend, Kayleigh.

  Dressed in a dark Adidas hooded tracksuit, Kyle Rampling stared out the window. They were holed up on the Hart’s Lane estate in Barking today, waiting for a rival gang to show their ugly faces.

  ‘I think we should go to Jason’s party. Wasting our time ’ere when we could be drinking free booze,’ Elton suggested.

  ‘That bitch Mel won’t even let me and you in, Bro. Anyway, I wanna sort these motherfuckers out. Nobody makes a pass at my woman and gets away with it,’ Kyle hissed. He was dating the sister of Donte’s girlfriend. Both girls lived with their mother on the Hart’s Lane estate and members of another gang had been coming on to them.

  ‘Don’t call my mother a bitch,’ Donte spat. That was another effect cocaine had on him. It made him braver than usual.

  Kyle pushed Donte. ‘I call your mother what I want. She is a bitch, turning up round ours threatening to grass us to the filth. She’s a wrong ’un.’

  ‘That’s them. Well, some of ’em. That’s Tyrone Dark in the red hoodie.’ Kayleigh pointed to a group of black lads walking towards the flats. Dubzman, their pal, lived in the same block as her.

  ‘Let’s do this,’ Kyle bellowed.

  All the gang members flew down the stairs and as they ran out the front of the flats, the other gang, realizing they were outnumbered, scattered in different directions.

  ‘Donte, dis way,’ Kyle yelled.

  Instead of following the rest of the gang, who were chasing the bulk of the other firm off the estate, Elton changed direction and followed his brother and Donte.

  Tyrone Dark was only fifteen but was a tall lad. Running out of options to escape, he stopped dead in his tracks and produced a knife. ‘Come on then,’ he yelled.

  Donte put his hand inside his tracksuit bottoms. He knew some of the other lads had sliced people up, but he hadn’t been a member of the gang for long, therefore had not had a chance yet to prove his worth. Donte flicked the knife open. ‘Kayleigh is my woman. You go near her again, I kill you.’

  Elton rounded the side of the flats just in time to see Kyle grab Tyrone Dark in a headlock from behind. ‘No,’ he shouted as Donte lunged at the lad’s stomach with the knife.

  Kyle stared at Tyrone Dark as he fell backwards and landed with a thump on the pavement. His eyes were rolling backwards in his head.

  ‘What da fuck,’ Elton hissed.

  Kyle turned to Donte, who was frozen to the spot. ‘Why did ya do that? We said, no knives.’

  Ordering Donte to pull the knife out of Tyrone’s stomach, Elton had a good look around to check the coast was clear. ‘Come on. We need to get out of here.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  ‘Good morning. How’s your head?’

  Jason put his arms around Melissa and kissed her on the lips. ‘Still attached to my shoulders, just.’ He’d loathed the party. Melissa had invited her counsellor, fitness instructor and lots of their chavvy neighbours. Tracey Thompson had got slaughtered and showed herself up as per usual. The stupid bitch had even joked that Toby looked like him at one point. Thankfully Melissa and Simon hadn’t heard her.

  ‘I’ll make us some breakfast. Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Not bad. I’d have slept even better if I was lying next to you,’ Jason replied wistfully. He had never seen Melissa look so good. She looked radiant and sexy.

  Feeling her husband’s erection rub against her, Melissa lifted his hands off her buttocks. ‘I’ve already explained why I don’t want to rush things, Jason. You’ve been away for a long time and I need to know you’re not going to let me down again before we start sharing a bed. I can’t go through any more trauma. I’m too long in the tooth for it.’

  ‘I understand, but I won’t let you down again. I love you. You’re my rock.’

  ‘I love you too.’

  ‘Still no sign of Donte?’ Jason asked.

  ‘Nope. He never came home last night. Will you visit your brothers, Jase? Find out what they’re up to. I’m sure Donte is taking drugs of some kind. His eyes look vacant.’

  ‘Simon’s picking me up at ten to collect his spare motor, so I’ll shoot straight over to the Mardyke and find out what the hell they’re up to.’

  ‘What else you got to do today? I’ll make a start on tidying up all this mess soon. State of the place. I wanted to give you a decent homecoming though.’

  Jason smiled politely. Seeing Toby had been emotionally draining too. He was a lovely lad and it tugged at Jason’s heartstrings that he could never be a proper father to him. ‘I’ve got some running round to do. I’m gonna visit my nan and Babs to check out that loser she’s with. I’m sure he’s knocking her about. I need to make a few phone calls, set the ball rolling about selling the painting. I don’t like this estate. The quicker I get us off of here, the better.’

  ‘And how do you plan to do that? Simon said you can’t start spending money willy-nilly. He reckons the police will be keeping an eye on you.’

>   ‘Si has come up with a couple of ideas. One being that he puts the property in his name and I give him the cash for it. He spoke about a gaff he’s refurbished in Upshire. Did he mention it to you?’

  ‘No. I’ve not seen much of Simon lately, to be honest. I think he’s loved up again. Tell me more.’

  Jason explained Simon’s ideas in finer detail.

  ‘I don’t think you should involve the bloke in Jersey either. Why part with that kind of money if we don’t have to? Simon is on the ball and trustworthy. He’s also a shrewd businessman and you can guarantee if we sell the property in five years’ time we will all make a tidy profit.’

  ‘OK. I’ll speak to him today. Perhaps we can drive to Upshire tomorrow and have a butcher’s?’

  ‘There’s no point viewing anything, Jason. Not until you’ve got the cash. I can’t build my hopes up only to have them dashed all over again. I’m past that.’

  ‘All right, Nan?’

  ‘I am now you’re free. Give your old nan a cuddle then,’ Peggy grinned.

  Jason did as asked, then handed her a carrier bag. ‘Two hundred fags in there and some Guinness.’

  ‘She give you some money? Loony Lil?’

  ‘No. Simon’s lent me a couple of grand to tide me over. I need to get in the back of your cupboard an’ all. I’ve still got five grand in there.’

  ‘Not no more you ain’t.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘There’s only three there now. I had to borrow two. I can’t go out thieving much now, what with me arthritis. Plays me up something chronic.’

  Jason rolled his eyes. ‘And how do you plan on paying it back?’

  ‘Not thought that far ahead yet. You’ll probably have to wait until I win the National,’ Peggy laughed. ‘So how’s she been with ya?’

  ‘All right. Laid on a homecoming party for me, which was shit.’

  ‘Was that mate of hers there? The one you knocked up?’