by Jacqui Rose
Furious about not only Alfie’s attitude but also about Shannon’s huge betrayal, Vaughn gave as good as Alfie. ‘Well it’s my fucking door, I’ll take as long as I like. And what is it with you lately, what’s with the calling around for a visit crap?’
Not waiting to be invited in, Alfie strode into the long hallway. He was just about to say what he was there for when Vaughn – hurt and not knowing what to do – blurted out the words, ‘I think Shan’s robbing from me. In fact I know she has, cos unless Mia’s been thieving from me, the only person it could be is Shan. Not only that, she took the watch I’d got her as a present. I know I was going to give it to her anyway but that ain’t the fucking point. I’m gutted.’
An image of Shannon high on crack came into Alfie’s mind. It was obvious she’d taken the money to feed her crack habit; perhaps she’d given it to some scumbag who was involved in the whole scene and fed off vulnerable druggie kids. ‘It don’t surprise me.’
‘Why would you say that? Come on, Alf – if you know something, tell me.’
There was a part of Alfie that wanted to grass Shannon up like she had done him, but for everything that had happened he still liked the kid. Okay, he was pissed off with her – well pissed off was putting it mildly, in fact he was fucking fuming – but it was Vaughn who’d been the driving force behind it. He’d taken advantage of her like everyone had taken advantage of her all her life.
And besides, anyone who was expecting her not to fall off the wagon, now and then, was expecting too much from her. It wasn’t realistic – especially taking into account her background. He only had to look at himself to know how hard it was to knock the drugs on the head, and he wasn’t even an addict. He just had an occasional taste for coke, and when things went wrong in life for him, his occasional taste for coke turned into a real hunger. So thinking about it, who the hell was he to put a bomb under her life by telling Vaughn?
Growling at Vaughn, Alfie shrugged. ‘What is there to say? She’s an ex-junkie, sometimes thieving becomes a natural part of their life.’
‘What, ten grand?’
Alfie raised his eyebrows. ‘Fuck me, that’s some dipping. Who fucking knows but maybe she’s feeling insecure.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
Wanting so much to let Vaughn know that he’d found out about the statements they’d given to the police, Alfie glared at him, fighting the temptation as he spoke. ‘It means maybe she don’t trust you, maybe she thinks that when you’re done with her and got what you want out of her, you’ll just dash her aside.’
‘Look, Alf, I don’t want anything from that kid.’
Alfie stepped closer to Vaughn. ‘Really? Are you sure about that?’
Not liking his tone or the ongoing attitude, Vaughn poked Alfie in the chest. ‘Yeah I’m fucking sure, so for her to think like that or not to trust me—’
Alfie pushed back at Vaughn, causing him to stumble towards the wall. ‘Shut up, Vaughn! Have you heard yourself? She’s just a damaged kid; she ain’t going to think like other people. Maybe she is terrified that she’s going to be out on the street, so she’s making a plan B by taking your cash so that when you’re done with her she don’t have to go back to the life she had … Like I say, even though she thinks the sun shines out of your arse maybe she don’t trust you. Maybe deep down she knows what you’re really like.’
‘Don’t talk shit!’
‘Come on, Vaughn, you’ve only got to see the way she looks at you to know she’s smitten. She’d do anything for you, but maybe she knows you wouldn’t do anything for her.’
Vaughn shook his head. He wasn’t going to let Alfie wind him up but he was going to think about what he’d said about Shannon. Maybe he shouldn’t pull her up about the money, maybe she was genuinely worried she was going to be out on the street. Shit, once again he felt like he’d let her down. Angry with himself he snarled, ‘What do you want, Alf?’
Before Vaughn had finished his sentence, Alfie marched down the hallway towards Shannon’s room. ‘I’ve come for my … I’ve come for Mia. So you best get her clothes packed, cos I’m taking her now.’
From behind Alfie, Vaughn shouted, puzzlement in his voice, ‘What the hell did you say?’
Finding Mia’s room, Alfie walked in. ‘I said, I’m taking her.’
A second later Vaughn appeared in the doorway. ‘What do you mean you’re taking her? You mean for the evening, right?’
‘No, Vaughn. I mean forever.’
Shocked, Vaughn walked up to Alfie, a bemused look on his face. ‘You’re having a laugh?’
In the quiet and warmth of Mia’s bedroom, Alfie stepped forward. ‘This is what you wanted didn’t you? You kept going on about me taking her and now I’m here.’
Vaughn’s gaze went from Alfie then to Mia who was just waking up in her cot. ‘I never said take her. I said see her. And yeah, yeah, you two should be together and eventually you should be in the same place, but not like this. She doesn’t even know you. It takes time. And look at the state of you. You’re all over the place.’
‘Not that it’s anything to do with you but I ain’t. I’m getting my head straight, and the clearer it becomes the less I like what I’m seeing.’
Vaughn clenched his jaw. ‘Then what about Huang? What if he turns up?’
Alfie stared at Vaughn. For the past few days he’d actually been expecting Huang to turn up. Franny had promised she’d pay a standoff fee to Huang, making him back off until the whole amount was paid, but he didn’t trust Huang to agree to it. Nor did he necessarily trust Franny – but then he had to face it, Franny was his best – his only – option. And, annoyed by Vaughn pretending he gave anything less than a fuck, Alfie scowled. ‘Listen, don’t you worry about that. And anyway, I’m not here for conversation. I’m here for Mia.’
‘Look, I ain’t saying you can’t take her …’
Alfie interrupted. ‘I’m glad to hear it because there’s fuck all you can do.’
Vaughn’s face twisted. ‘Is that right?’
‘Yeah it is.’
With his stare still locked on Alfie, Vaughn shouted, ‘Shannon! Shannon, get here now!’ Within a few minutes, Shannon appeared at the entrance to Mia’s bedroom, and, seeing Alfie, she shrunk back as Vaughn continued to rant. ‘Have you heard this, Shan? Have you heard what this fucking joker is saying?’
Unable to look at Alfie, Shannon shook her head. ‘No. I’ve been watching TV.’
Red-faced, Vaughn turned to Shannon as Alfie walked towards Mia’s cot. ‘He wants to take her. For good.’
Panic crossed Shannon’s face. ‘You can’t. Please don’t. You can’t take her, she’s happy here.’
Vaughn gave a small smile. ‘Oh don’t worry, he ain’t going to take her anywhere … Look after Mia and stay inside this room.’
And with that, Vaughn clenched his fist and threw a punch before kicking Alfie out of the room.
46
Taken by surprise, Alfie stumbled backwards into the hallway, giving Vaughn an opportunity to slam his fist into Alfie’s stomach, which sent him sprawling on the floor and allowed Vaughn to follow up with a boot in the ribs.
‘Who the fuck do you think you are, Alfie? Don’t think you can come in here and fuck up people’s lives. Your life might be a mess but that don’t mean everyone else’s is.’
Spitting out blood from his mouth, Alfie snarled as he felt the pain rush through his body – which hadn’t yet healed from Huang’s beating. ‘I’m going to kill you, you piece of shit!’
‘If anyone’s going to kill anyone, Alf, then it’s going to be me killing you.’
But as Vaughn finished his sentence, Alfie dived for Vaughn’s ankles. He grabbed them and pulled hard, causing Vaughn to clatter against the wall.
With a heavy thud, Vaughn dropped to his knees, giving Alfie a chance to scramble up and swing back his foot to kick Vaughn hard in the side of the head. Immediately, Alfie followed it up with his fist as he jumped on t
op of Vaughn, pummelling his knuckles into Vaughn’s face, drawing blood as Vaughn’s lip split in two.
Enraged, Alfie continued to bring his fists down as Vaughn struggled underneath him. Eventually, Alfie exhausted himself and got up. Panting, he stared icily. ‘That’s it now, you hear me? I ain’t going to fight you no more … not over Mia. So this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to go inside that room and take her, and you’re not going to move. You’re going to stay there. And after that, I’m going to walk out of the door, you hear me?’
But as Alfie turned towards Mia’s bedroom door, Vaughn struggled up with a mighty effort and grabbed the small hallway table, picking it up and swinging it at Alfie, slamming it against the back of his neck.
Alfie fell forward, sprawling along the hallway carpet, and a moment later he felt Vaughn’s foot on his back. Although in agony, Alfie managed to roll over with enough strength to cause Vaughn to become off balance; Alfie took his chance and brought up his leg, kicking Vaughn hard in the testicles.
As Vaughn bellowed out in pain and dropped to his knees again, Alfie stood up with beads of sweat and streaks of blood mixed together on his face. He bent down and grabbed Vaughn around his neck, pushing him hard and driving him against the wall.
Then with one hand, Alfie went into his pocket and pulled out a gun and, without another thought, he smashed the butt of the gun against the side of Vaughn’s skull, knocking him clean out.
Still breathing hard, Alfie stormed into Mia’s bedroom where Shannon stood shaking. He glanced at her. ‘Don’t worry, babe, I ain’t going to hurt you. And don’t worry about Vaughn either – I ain’t killed him … not yet. He’ll be fine.’
Shannon stared at Alfie then she reached out and grabbed his arm, tears streaking down her face. ‘Please don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t take her … Not like this. Look she’s frightened.’
With blood flowing down his face, Alfie shook Shannon off his arm. ‘She’ll be okay, I’ll take good care of her.’
Panicked, Shannon watched Alfie grab a bag and throw Mia’s clothes into it.
‘Is this because of me, Alf? Is it?’
He turned to look at her as he put the bag over his shoulder and picked up a crying Mia.
‘You mean is this about you taking that shit?’
‘Well is it?’
Ignoring her, Alfie walked out of the bedroom. Shannon grabbed at him, but he pushed her off again as he opened the front door and began to walk away.
She raced after him, her eyes full of desperation. ‘It is because of me, ain’t it? It’s because of the other day. I swear, I swear, I won’t do it again. You just don’t understand, you don’t know what’s going on. I was just feeling so shit … I wish I could tell you why but I can’t … I …’
Continuing to walk down the corridor towards the stairs, Alfie said, ‘Look, I don’t blame you, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, Shan, but let’s have it straight; no one wants a crackhead around a baby do they? You were in a right state the other day.’
Shannon’s eyes pooled with sadness, and she darted in front of Alfie, trying to block his way.
‘Then it is me. Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Please, don’t tell Vaughn why you’re taking her, please don’t.’
Hating seeing Shannon in pain, Alfie stopped walking and looked at her directly.
He sighed. ‘Look, it ain’t all you, there’s other stuff as well.’ He stopped a moment and thought about the money Vaughn had told him she’d taken. ‘And as for Vaughn, I think he’ll be sniffing a rat very soon, Shan. Did you think he wouldn’t notice? Are you that fucking stupid?’
‘What are you talking about?’
Winding himself up at the mess he was in, Alfie leant into Shannon, inches away from her face, but he held back his anger, seeing how vulnerable and young she looked. After all, like he told Franny, she really was just a kid. ‘I’m saying you’re a fool to yourself. You had it all Shan, you had Vaughn who don’t usually give a fuck about anyone but himself, looking out for you, and what did you go and do? What were you thinking?’
In tears Shannon said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about? Please, Alfie, you’re frightening me.’
Alfie shook his head. ‘Stop, Shan, you’ve turned us all over ain’t you? I’m not saying that it’s your fault … Fucking hell, if I had an uncle like Charlie, I’d be more bang on it than you. But my problem is I was your mate and you still betrayed me. In my world we don’t do that, we sort it ourselves.’
Shannon stepped back slightly, her heart beginning to race. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying I know that you wrote a statement. I know you lied.’
‘I … I …’
‘Don’t try to deny it, Shan. You told me yourself when you were high on that shit. Like I say, you’re your own worst enemy.’
‘But you’re angry with her so why do you care?’
Alfie stared in bemusement at Shannon. ‘For all the shit me and Franny had, all the crap that was going down, it wasn’t your place to do that. We don’t have snakes in the world I live and besides she was my woman and I would’ve dealt with her. Me, not you, not Vaughn, me. And if I wanted her punished, I would’ve dished it out … Which reminds me, Franny wants to see you.’
Shannon’s face was a picture of shock and fear. ‘Franny? What about? Why does she want to see me?’
Readjusting Mia on his shoulder, Alfie began to walk again, heading for the stairs. ‘I don’t know, Shan – I ain’t her calling boy – but if I were you, I’d go and see her. And if you don’t want Vaughn to think any worse of you than he does already, I’d keep that mouth of yours shut.’
Once she was back inside the apartment, Shannon bent down to Vaughn, who was still unconscious and slumped on the floor. She kissed his head and then she kissed him gently and quickly on his mouth. She looked at him and a sad smile appeared on her face. ‘I know you can’t hear me but I’m so sorry, Vaughn, I never meant to bring all this trouble … I love you so much.’ And with that Shannon curled up against Vaughn on the floor.
On the other side of Shannon’s door, Charlie smiled. He’d heard everything: the fight, the screams – and Shannon professing her love. Being here was turning out to be more fun than he could’ve ever imagined.
47
It was late on Sunday night and Alfie breathed a sigh of relief as he stared at Mia in the cot he’d bought earlier from Mothercare. Finally, she was asleep, though he reckoned most people would be asleep if they’d given out that amount of screaming. From the moment he’d brought her home, which he guessed was a good few hours ago, the only thing she’d done was cry at the top of her voice.
‘Alfie, you want me to stay the night?’
Alfie looked up and immediately put his finger over his lips and frowned. He whispered, ‘I’m telling you, if you wake her up, I’m going to bleedin’ well kill you!’
He said this firmly but he winked with warmth at Julie, a girl who’d once worked for him at the club he used to own on Old Compton Street.
Julie was a good girl – or rather woman, she was probably well into her sixties – but she was old-school and he’d met her children on many occasions. Although Julie had spent her life as a prostitute and had worked on the streets as well as in the clubs, her kids were well mannered, well looked after and they clearly loved their mother.
It was credit to Julie that none of them had been in trouble, far from it in fact. The eldest two had just finished college and her youngest one had just gone off to work at a kids’ camp in America. So who else better was there to look after Mia than Julie?
Creeping out of the room, terrified that any noise would disturb Mia, Alfie smiled wearily at Julie. ‘Fuck me, are kids always this exhausting?’
Julie grinned, showing off the large gap between her front teeth. ‘It’s been less than a day, Alf, and you already look like shit. The fun ain’t even started yet!’
Taking a couple of fifty-pound notes out of his
pocket, Alfie gave them to Julie before saying, ‘Well that’s why I got you, Mary Poppins.’
Julie giggled. ‘I’m not sure if Mary Poppins was an old whore.’
Alfie kissed Julie gently on the cheek. ‘Yeah she was, that’s what she was singing about when she said, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.’
Playfully, Julie slapped Alfie on his chest and laughed. ‘You silly bastard! Now are you sure that you don’t want me to stay? I can sleep in your spare room seeing as you’re not offering me a night tucked up in your bed.’
Alfie looked across to a sleeping Mia; this was certainly not what he wanted, but Franny had given him no choice. A huge part of him wanted to just tell Julie to move into the guest room full time, that way he could pretend this wasn’t happening, that way he could tell himself he didn’t feel anything at all.
But when Mia had been crying and he’d been walking around the room struggling to get her to calm down, he’d felt something he never thought he would. He’d looked into her big eyes and from nowhere he’d begun to care.
And it’d taken him by surprise; he wasn’t sure how to feel about that fact. He thought he’d be angry for a long time. And yes, he was pissed with Franny – in truth he was raging – and he was definitely still hurt by Bree’s actions, but the anger, the burning fury that he had linked to Mia, had subsided and he needed a few hours on his own with her to get his head around it.
‘Thanks for the offer but you go home. I’ll see you tomorrow … Oh and, Julie, make sure you’re here fucking early! I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with a whole night on me own so keep your phone on because I might have to send out for reinforcements.’
Laughing as she made her way out of Alfie’s flat, Julie left him alone. He smiled to himself as he heard her singing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious at the top of her voice as she walked down the corridor.