The Victim (16 page)

‘No, please God, no!’ Terry yelled. He ran into his own bedroom and grabbed his hunting knife. ‘Wake up, sweetheart. Please wake up for your dad’, he sobbed, as he loosened the towelling dressing gown belt from around Sally’s neck. Receiving no response, Terry checked for a pulse. There was none. His beautiful daughter was already dead.

Back in Rainham, Joyce was a different person from the woman who had been in drunken hysterics the day before. She was cool, calm, and collected and so far had been the hostess of all hostesses.

‘Let me pour you another glass of wine, Jenny,’ Joyce uttered to Polly’s borderline alcoholic mother. She topped Jenny’s drink up and smiled. ‘Who’s ready for dessert yet?’

‘Sit down Mum, for Christ’s sake. You’ll wear the bloody carpet out in a minute,’ Raymond joked.

‘You know me, like to keep myself busy,’ Joyce said jovially.

Since her late twenties Jenny had struggled to control her drinking, and she had a terrible habit of saying the wrong thing once inebriated. She smiled at Joycie. ‘So, do you miss Stanley, or not? Polly said he left you for another woman and, to be honest, I was shocked. I mean, he’s no oil painting, is he?’

‘Mum!’ Polly exclaimed, horrified.

Joyce laughed. ‘No, he isn’t and no, I don’t miss the old goat at all. The only thing I do miss about him is the lifts. I have to get cabs and bleedin’ buses everywhere now.’

Raymond winked at his mother. Joey had rung him late last night and told him what an awful state Joyce had gotten herself into and Raymond had been fully expecting a repeat performance today. Instead, his mum had been the complete opposite and had done him proud.

When Joey said something funny and Dominic kissed him fondly on the forehead, Jenny turned her attention to them. She had never really been in the company of gay men before and she was curious to know certain things. ‘So, what’s it like, being gay?’ she asked.

Dickie, Jenny’s husband, roared with laughter. ‘She isn’t backward in coming forwards my wife, is she?’ he said playfully, slapping Joyce on the bottom as she stood up.

Joey glanced at Dom. Neither of them were particulary taken with Polly’s parents. They’d only met them once before, at Raymond’s wedding, and on that particular occasion, Jenny had got herself so drunk that she’d pissed herself while jigging about on the dancefloor.

‘It’s the same as being straight I suppose, apart from being in love with somebody who’s the same sex as yourself,’ Joey replied.

Dickie, who sounded and laughed like Boycie out of
Only Fools and Horses
, egged his wife on. ‘Go on, ask ’em more, you know you want to.’

Ignoring the warning looks from her daughter, Jenny continued to be nosy. ‘But it’s not the same, is it? I mean, I don’t let my Dickie stick it up my dirt-box even though the crafty sod did try it in his younger years.’

Dickie was laughing uncontrollably and holding his sides. When he married his Jenny, he married the funniest woman ever to walk the earth.

‘I’m gonna help Mum bring the dessert in,’ Raymond said, embarrassed. He didn’t want to stick up for Joey in case he upset Polly’s parents and, unlike Eddie, he’d never really got his head around Joey being gay.

‘I’ll help you,’ Polly offered, absolutely mortified.

Jenny topped her glass up again and smiled at Joey. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘Does what hurt?’ Joey asked, getting more annoyed by the second.

‘You know, when you shove it up one another’s dirt-boxes?’

Dickie burst out laughing again.

Joey was furious. He stood up and urged Dominic to do the same. ‘Come on, let’s go. We don’t have to sit here listening to homophobic imbeciles like these two. Let’s go to my dad’s house.’

Not used to seeing Joey lose his temper, Dominic glared at Jenny and Dickie and followed his partner out of the room.

Over in Holloway, Frankie and Babs were sitting at a big table with paper hats on their heads and had just finished their Christmas dinner.

‘Weren’t bad for prison food, was it?’ Babs said enthusiastically.

Frankie turned her nose up. It was edible, but wasn’t a patch on the Christmas dinners her mum used to cook.

‘Your stalker’s staring at you again,’ Babs whispered in Frankie’s ear.

Knowing where Katie was sitting, Frankie kept her eyes firmly averted. Ever since the day they’d had that heart-to-heart conversation Frankie had felt increasingly uncomfortable around Katie. In freeflow now, Katie always made a beeline for her, and the girl’s desperation to be best pals with her made Frankie feel extremely awkward. Babs knew all about the conversation that had taken place between Frankie and Katie, as Frankie had told her, and Babs was fairly positive that Katie was telling the truth and was genuine. Frankie was still very unsure, though. Katie hadn’t got the message to Jed via her cousin Danny yet and Frankie began to wonder more and more if Jed had employed Katie as a spy.

‘She’s coming over,’ Bab’s said, nudging Frankie.

Frankie looked up and smiled falsely. ‘Hello, Katie. Merry Christmas.’

Katie crouched down next to Frankie. She didn’t want the other girls to hear what she had to say. ‘Jed will be getting your message tomorrow. Danny’s going to a party and Jed will be there. Danny won’t let you down, I promise.’

Eddie stood at the top of the table, carving the turkey and trying to be jovial. Gary and Ricky had been so distressed by discovering their mother’s rotting corpse the previous day that they had gone home to spend Christmas together. With just Gina, Claire and Stuart for company, the day had been hard to get through for Ed, and he was pleased that Joey and Dom had turned up with Madonna, as their presence had lifted the atmosphere.

‘So, why didn’t you stay at your nan’s? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re here, but weren’t Joycie pissed off that you left? You were meant to be staying overnight, weren’t you?’

Joey glanced at Dominic. He’d already warned his boyfriend not to tell Ed what had really happened. If Eddie found out what Jenny and Dickie had been saying and how rude they had been, he would probably drive straight round to Joycie’s and rip the pair of them to shreds. ‘Nan seems fine now and Raymond and Polly are staying with her tonight. To be honest, we left early because Polly’s parents are such a pair of prats. The old man is a proper know-it-all and the mother was pissed out of her brains and talking a load of old nonsense.’

‘They didn’t say anything to upset you, did they?’ Eddie asked defensively.

‘No, of course not,’ Joey lied.

As Gina and Claire began bringing the potatoes, parsnips and dishes of vegetables into the room, Joey and Dominic chatted happily to Stuart. When Stuart excused himself to use the lavatory, Joey turned to his father.

‘I like Stu, Dad. He seems like a real nice fella. Has he actually started working for you yet?’

Remembering Colin Griffiths’ two dismembered fingers, Eddie prodded two sausages with a fork and put them on his plate. They’d got the money back from Griffiths the following week, so the episode was over now.

‘Yes, son. Stuart has been working for me for a couple of weeks now and has already proved his worth. The boy’s gonna be a real asset to me,’ Eddie said, smiling at Stuart as he walked back into the room.

Gina and Claire sat down at the table and everybody began tucking into their dinners. Joey and Dom moved over to the sofa, as they had already eaten at Joycie’s.

‘Who the fucking hell is that?’ Eddie said, as the doorbell rang.

Joey jumped up. ‘You eat your dinner. I’ll get it. It’s probably Gary and Ricky.’

Seconds later, a worried-looking Joey walked back into the lounge. ‘It’s the police, Dad. They want to speak to you. They said it’s urgent.’

Thinking this was probably to do with Beverley’s death, Eddie put his knife and fork down and walked into the hallway.

‘What’s a matter?’ he asked the taller copper out of the two.

‘Are you Eddie Mitchell, the brother of Paul and Ronald Mitchell?’ the policeman asked, knowing full well who Eddie was.

Eddie’s heart lurched. ‘Yes, I am.’

‘I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, Mr Mitchell. There was an incident in Belmarsh this morning and both your brothers have unfortunately been found dead.’

Feeling the colour drain from his cheeks, Eddie clung to the banister for support. O’Hara must have got to them somehow, the fucking bastard. ‘How did it happen? I need to know how they died,’ he said, praying they hadn’t been tortured.

The smaller of the two coppers glanced at his colleague and continued. ‘The details we have been given are rather vague, but it seems they were found early this morning by a prison officer and both men had lacerations to the throat area.’

Eddie put his head in his trembling hands. He might not have seen eye to eye with his brothers over recent years, but they were still his flesh and blood and, in his heart, he had never stopped loving them. Now they were dead, some cunt had cut their throats and, the worst part of it was, by giving Jimmy O’Hara that money, Ed had effectively killed them himself. Overcome by guilt and grief, Eddie ordered the officers out and sank to his knees. Not only did he still bear the burden of having his wife’s blood all over his hands, he now had his brothers’ as well.

Over in Orsett, Stanley was extremely nervous as he changed into his striped pyjamas in the bathroom. He was reasonably drunk, had been supping bitter all day and it was that that had given him the courage to agree to sleep in Pat the Pigeon’s bed with her.

‘Stanley, where are you?’ Pat asked in a singsong, seductive tone.

Stanley glanced at himself in the bathroom mirror. He was sweating like a pig, but it couldn’t be helped, as he was petrified of what was to come. Scuttling into the bedroom like a naughty schoolboy, Stanley turned off the light, jumped under the quilt and lay frozen on the right-hand side of the bed, staring upwards.

Pat immediately leaned over towards him. She was very sexually frustrated. She fancied Stanley something rotten and had dreamed of this moment for months.

Feeling Pat’s naked breasts against his chest, Stanley gasped in horror. Why didn’t she have her nightdress on?

‘Are you OK, Stanley?’ Pat asked, as she began to undo the buttons on his pyjama top.

Stanley nodded dumbly. He tried to speak, but no words would come out. When Pat’s hand travelled downwards to the opening of his pyjama bottoms, Stanley suddenly found his voice. ‘Stop it! What are you doing, woman?’ he shrieked.

Pat smiled as she clasped her right hand around Stanley’s limp prized asset. ‘Trust me, I’ll be gentle with you, Stanley,’ she promised. Pat was an expert with a penis, always had been.

Aware that his long-term-unemployed asset was not responding to Pat’s gentle touch, Stanley shut his eyes. If only he could block out the embarrassment that he felt, it might just raise a slight gallop.

Harry O’Hara lay in bed, wide awake. He’d had the best Christmas presents ever and, even though it was ten o’clock, he couldn’t sleep, as he was too excited about driving his new car again tomorrow. ‘You awake, Georgie?’ he asked his sister.

‘Yeah,’ Georgie replied.

‘Can I get in your bed with you tonight?’

Georgie kissed Barbie goodnight then put her on the bedside cabinet to make room for Harry. As her brother got in, she snuggled up to him.

‘I love my new car. I wanna be a racing driver when I grow up,’ Harry told her in earnest.

‘I love all my toys, especially Barbie and her horse. Daddy said he’ll buy me a real horse so I can ride it like Barbie does,’ Georgie replied excitedly.

Harry grinned. ‘I like living here now with Daddy, Nanny Alice and Grandad Jimmy, do you?’

Georgie nodded.

‘Do you think we will live with Mummy again?’ Harry asked.

Georgie shrugged. ‘Do you miss Mummy still?’

Harry thought carefully before answering. He knew that he used to love his mum very much, but due to his young age, his memories of being with her were fading rapidly. ‘I miss Mummy a tiny bit. Do you still miss her?’

Georgie mused over her reply also. Being older than Harry, her memories of her mother were a lot clearer than her brother’s, but she wasn’t sure if she missed her any more or not. ‘I think I still love Mummy and want to visit her, but I don’t wanna live with her no more. I wanna stay with Daddy, Nanny Alice and Grandad Jimmy for ever and ever.’

Harry grinned. ‘I wanna stay here for ever and ever too.’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1994

Beverley’s funeral was arranged for the first week in January and on the morning in question, Eddie got ready early and sat downstairs flicking through some old photo albums.

Christmas and New Year had been a morbid affair and Eddie was as pleased as punch to see the back of 1993. What with his brothers being murdered, Beverley snuffing it, Frankie being banged up, and his grandkids being placed in the care of the O’Haras, it had been a poxy year overall.

Staring at the picture of his two brothers sitting in a restaurant with his father, Eddie slammed the album shut and picked up the other one. The police still had no idea who had killed Ronny and Paulie and, because of this, were refusing to release their bodies. Consumed by guilt because of his own involvement in their deaths, Eddie couldn’t wait to get their funerals over and done with. The least he owed them was a lavish send-off, and once they were finally at peace, he would find out who had cut their throats and make sure the cunt who had done it had his cut, too.

‘You all right, love?’ Gina asked, as she sat next to Ed on the sofa and put her head on his shoulder.

Eddie nodded and pointed to a photograph of a pretty, dark-haired woman. ‘That’s Beverley not long after we got married. That’s Gary she’s holding; he was only about a month old there, I think.’

‘She was very beautiful,’ Gina replied honestly.

Remembering the state of his first wife the last time he had seen her, Ed shook his head sadly. ‘You’d never have recognised her if you’d have seen her recently. When we split up she turned to booze and binge-eating. I think she went up to about eighteen stone at one time. Gary and Ricky had a poxy childhood living with her. She used to let ’em run riot when they were nippers and play in the streets till all hours. I used to have ’em every weekend, but I’ll never forgive her for being such an awful mother.’

‘Perhaps she didn’t mean it, Ed. If she had a bad drink problem she probably wasn’t focusing properly,’ Gina replied.

‘Oh, she had a bad drink problem all right, and over the years it got worse. Last time I saw her was just before I went inside. She was about seven stone, had yellow teeth, greasy hair and looked a proper fucking low-life. It made me feel sick to think I’d once shagged her and married her.’

When Stuart walked into the room, Eddie threw the photo album to one side and stood up. He was dropping Stuart over at Raymond’s and they were going to do the collections while he, Gary and Ricky went to the funeral. Gina walked to the front door with Eddie and gave him a big hug. Ed obviously hated Beverley and she could sense his bitterness.

‘Whatever you thought of Beverley, Ed, remember if it wasn’t for her you wouldn’t have Gary and Ricky.’

Eddie kissed Gina and smirked. ‘I’ll try and be diplomatic, I promise.’

Jed jumped off the cart, tied the horse up to a post and followed Sammy into the boozer. What with Sally’s suicide, Frankie’s threat to spill the beans, and tomorrow’s court case about the kids, he’d had a lot on his mind recently. Jed sat down opposite Sammy and slurped his lager.

‘So, what did you wanna talk to me about that was so important?’ Sammy asked.

Jed leaned across the table so no one could hear the conversation. ‘I think things are getting a bit on top round ’ere. I think me and you should split.’

Sammy nearly chocked on his beer. ‘What! Why? It ain’t ’cause of that message you got from Danny Cooper, is it?’

Jed shrugged. ‘It ain’t just that, but if Frankie does spill her guts, me and you are both in shit street. Sally’s old man is another worry. He’s bound to blame me for Sally topping herself and I don’t fancy another tear-up with him. I’m telling you now, Sammy, if I lose this court case tomorrow and they allow Frankie access to the chavvies, then I’m fucking off, whether you come with me or not.’

‘Where you thinking of going then? You’ll have to go miles away ’cause if the gavvers catch up with ya, they’ll take Georgie and Harry away from you, ya know.’

‘If they allow that slag access to ’em tomorrow, then I’m bound to lose ’em in the long run. You know what these do-gooding cunting judges are like. When Frankie gets out, they’ll give her custody anyway, my brief told me that. He reckons they always side with the mother.’

‘So, where you thinking of going?’ Sammy asked shocked.

‘Dunno, up north, I suppose. Come with me, Sammy boy, and bring your chavvies with you an’ all. I mean how often do you get to see Sammy Junior and Freddy boy? Four times a fucking month is bollocks, mate. If you come with me, you can see ’em all the time.’

Sammy was dubious. ‘What about Tommy and Julie? I can’t just leave ’em. And what about your mum and dad? We can’t just fuck off and not tell them, Jed.’

Jed smirked. ‘If we go, you can guarantee me mum and dad will come an’ all. As for Tommy boy – snatch him. Don’t bring Julie though, it’s too risky.’

Sammy shook his head. Usually he loved his cousin’s bright ideas, but this one was bordering on ridiculous. ‘You gotta be winding me up, Jed, and if you ain’t, then you’re a proper fucking dinlo.’

Beverley’s funeral turned out exactly as Eddie has expected. Apart from himself, Gary, Ricky, Albert, Reg, Vi and Joanie, only ten other people turned up. One was Bev’s sister, another her cousin and the other eight were drunken low-lifes.

Unable to set foot near the house where they had found their mother’s rotting corpse, Gary and Ricky met their father at the City of London Crematorium. Beverley had developed a passion for marijuana as well as drink in the latter part of her life and had told Gary and Ricky of her wishes many times.

‘When I go, I wanna be cremated so I can go up in a puff of smoke like one of these,’ she would say, puffing furiously on a joint.

The service was short and sweet. Gary said a few words and Ed was glad when it was all over. He felt dreadfully sorry for his sons, but he had had no feelings for Beverley other than disgust for many years. The one tear Eddie did shed at the end was in memory of Jessica. Not being allowed to attend the funeral of the wife he had loved would leave an imprint on his heart for ever.

Jed sat on the sofa opposite his parents. The kids were in the garden playing, so he had their full attention for once.

‘Don’t be so fucking stupid!’ Jimmy yelled, when Jed repeated what he’d told Sammy earlier.

‘I dunno what you’re worried about. There’s no way them courts will ever let that old whore ever look after them chavvies again. She tried to murder you, the wicked bitch,’ Alice said, her eyes brimming with tears at the thought of not seeing her grandchildren regularly.

‘But I’d want you two to come with me. And what about Terry Baldwin? You know what a nutter he is, Mum. You saw him nearly batter me to death once and now Sally’s dead, he’s bound to come after me again,’ Jed said, trying to make his parents see sense.

The truth was, it wasn’t Terry Baldwin or Frankie getting her hands on the kids that Jed was worried about. It was the threat he’d received via Frankie and he hadn’t had a decent night’s kip since Danny Cooper had told him. Frankie knew everything bad about him and if she opened her big mouth, he could be looking at life in prison or, worse still, be chopped up in bits by Eddie fucking Mitchell. Jed didn’t know which thought was worse, but he couldn’t tell his parents the truth, as neither had a clue that it was he who was responsible for Harry Mitchell’s death.

Alice walked over to the sofa, sat next to Jed and held her worried son in her arms. He was obviously anxious about tomorrow’s court case, bless him. ‘Georgie girl and Harry both know what they’ve got to say, me and your father went over it again with ’em this morning. All you’ve gotta do is keep calm and everything will work out fine.’

Jed sighed at the word ‘fine’. He had an inkling that things were going to turn out anything but.

After leaving the cemetery, Albert, Reg, Vi and Joanie went straight home. None of them had been close to Beverley and they had only gone to the funeral to support Eddie and the boys. Eddie, Gary and Ricky went for a drink in the Barge Aground in Barking. Beverley had been more of an indoor’s drinker, but when she had ventured out for an evening, the Barge was always her number-one choice. When Bev’s low-life friends finally turned up, Ed smiled politely at them.

‘You took your time, where yous lot been?’ he asked. Ed had spoken to them after the funeral and told them to come to the Barge for the wake.

‘We had to wait for a bus,’ came the reply.

Generous by nature, Eddie walked up to the bar and handed £300 to the barman. ‘I want to keep that mob over there in free drinks all day,’ he said, pointing to Bev’s eight friends.

The barman nodded.

‘If any money’s left over, give it to ’em to get some food or something with.’

The barman smirked and nodded. He could have a right little earner out of this mug.

Seeing the look on the barman’s face, Eddie leaned across the bar and grabbed him by the neck of his scruffy t-shirt. ‘Oh, and don’t even think of pocketing any dosh, because I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up the drink receipts and, believe me, if I find out you’ve fiddled me out of one penny, I will chop your fucking hands off, got it?’

The barman went deathly white and this time nodded with pure fright.

Eddie walked over to the table where Bev’s pisshead friends had sat down. He told them the score, then walked back over to Gary and Ricky, who were standing in the corner looking melancholy. ‘Come on, boys, let’s get out of this dump and go and get pissed somewhere decent.’

* * *

The following morning, Alice dressed Harry in his new, smart suit, which Jed had purchased especially for the occasion, and Georgie in a pretty pink corduroy pinafore dress. The children hadn’t been expected to attend the court hearing, but both Jed and his solicitor, Malcolm, thought it was a good idea that they went.

‘It’s important that these do-gooding cunts listen to what them chavvies have to say and Malcolm reckons that it will be good for the judge to see how happy and well-kept Georgie and Harry look. Remember, it won’t be long till that slag gives birth to another one, and when she does, I want custody of it. No chavvie of mine is gonna be brought up by some psycho in prison,’ Jed told his parents.

Alice was no Naomi Campbell in the fashion stakes and usually spent her days dressed in black leggings teamed with baggy t-shirts. Today however, Alice had made an effort and had chosen to wear a smart black suit that she usually only reserved for funerals. Her thick, dark, long hair she wore up in a bun and as she walked into the lounge, Jimmy wolf-whistled and Jed grinned.

‘You really look the part, Mum,’ Jed said, impressed.

‘You look a million dollars, love,’ Jimmy told her. He had also made an effort and both he and Jed were dressed in grey suits with shirts and ties.

Jed crouched down in front of Georgie and Harry, who were sitting quietly on the sofa. ‘You’re not nervous, are ya?’ he asked them.

Both children shook their heads.

‘Now, remember everything Daddy told you to say, won’t you?’

‘Yes, Daddy,’ Georgie said grinning.

‘You told us to say that we don’t wanna visit Mummy in prison,’ Harry said, proud that he’d remembered his father’s exact words.

‘And we gotta say it ’cause if we don’t the nasty people will take us away from you, Nanny Alice and Grandad Jimmy and make us live somewhere else,’ Georgie said, remembering the rest of her father’s speech.

Jed ruffled his children’s hair, stood up and smirked. He’d brainwashed the little ’uns and now it was time to head to court and break Frankie’s fucking heart in two.

Unaware of Jed’s malicious plan, Frankie hugged her friend Kerry and sat down opposite her with a big smile on her face. Frankie had already told Kerry on the phone all about the civil court case and she could barely contain her excitement at the thought of seeing Georgie and Harry again soon.

‘Today’s the day and Larry reckons I’ll definitely win. He says that social worker has got it all sewn up.’

Kerry was thrilled that Frankie looked so happy and enthusiastic. They had been through the mill together while living with Sammy and Jed, and Kerry couldn’t imagine how awful it was for Frankie to have no contact with Georgie and Harry. Just knowing they were living with the O’Haras was awful in itself. However, Kerry was extremely aware of Jed’s cunning nature and she didn’t want Frankie to build her hopes up too much in case it all went wrong.

‘I so hope the court lets you see Georgie and Harry, but you know what Jed’s like. He’s a born liar, Frankie, and he’s bound to have made up some cock and bull story to tell the judge,’ she warned her friend.

Frankie shook her head confidently and leaned across the table. ‘I couldn’t tell you this on the phone, but I sent a threat to him. I’ve warned him, if he fucks this up for me, I’m gonna tell the Old Bill everything.’

Kerry was stunned. ‘How did you manage that?’ she whispered.

Frankie explained how she had met Katie in prison and then befriended her so she could get the message to Jed. ‘I bet the evil bastard is shitting himself as we speak,’ Frankie said, grinning.

Kerry wasn’t quite so convinced. Jed and Sammy were a law unto themselves, but, not wanting to burst Frankie’s bubble, she smiled and nodded in agreement.