Fighting for Survival (The Estate, Book 3) (26 page)

‘You mean he won’t hurt you again if we behave, right?’ said Claire.

Pete nodded. ‘I shouldn’t have gone after him; he’s too strong for me.’

‘You’ll always be good enough in my eyes.’

Pete smirked, then grimaced. ‘I’m a scrap collector-come-odd-jobs-for-cash-man.’

‘We want your word that you two will behave yourselves,’ said Gina.

The girls shrugged.

‘Promise us!’

‘Okay, okay!’ said Rachel.

‘And you need to back off that Ruth woman, from number thirty-two,’ Pete spoke to Gina. ‘I heard what you’d been up to earlier.’

‘That depends if the rumour is true.’

‘What rumour?’ Claire and Rachel asked at the same time.

‘The one that says she’s playing around with your father.’

‘Dad!’ said Claire.

‘It’s not true,’ Pete lied. He scraped back his chair and stood up. ‘We all need to stop fighting, before someone gets seriously hurt. Right girls?’

Rachel stood up and marched past him. ‘Fine,’ she said.

‘I’ll talk to her,’ said Claire, following on a minute later.

‘And you?’ Pete stared at Gina once they’d both gone. ‘No more from you either?’

Despite her earlier thoughts, Gina wasn’t going to promise anything yet, not until she’d spoken to Ruth.

‘Right?’ repeated Pete.

‘All right,’ cried Gina. ‘I’ll keep the peace for a while.’

He pointed at her. ‘You need to set a good example for them. They look up to you.’

Gina raised her eyebrows. When had anyone ever looked up to her?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

‘Dad looks a right mess, doesn’t he?’ said Claire as she sat down next to Rachel on her bed.

‘Yeah, he’s taken a proper pasting. I’m glad he stuck up for you though.’

Claire paused. ‘Rach, don’t you think they’re right, that we should back off?’

‘We can’t.’ Rachel shook her head. ‘We’re in too deep now.’

‘No, we’re not. We can always stop.’

Rachel flopped back on the bed. ‘If we back down, Stacey will hunt us down and tear us apart. She’ll make sure that she humiliates us so that no one will want to be our friends.’

Claire huffed. ‘So what? No one wants to hang around with us anyway. Let’s face it, Dad’s right – we’re the Bradleys. Everyone thinks we’re scum and that’s down to the way we act.’

Rachel said nothing.

‘Aren’t you sick of it all yet?’

‘I hate being the leader of the gang. I hate what it’s done to us all. We used to have a laugh over at the shops with the other girls – we used to have fun! Now it’s all about who can get one up on the other first. So, yes, I
am
sick of it all.’

‘Me too! I dread going out now, wondering who’s going to pounce on us next. I want to just have a laugh again.’

Rachel sighed. ‘It’s never going to happen.’

‘But if we don’t join in with Stacey and her stupid games, we –’

‘Are you mad? She’ll never stop coming after us.’

‘She will, if we back down!’ Claire was warming to her cause now. ‘We can do it, Rach. Let’s tell Stacey she can be leader again.’

Rachel shook her head. ‘It won’t work. We’ll be a laughing stock.’

‘For a week, maybe two, tops. But, you know Stacey; she’ll move on to someone else. And we’ll be with her then.’

‘You think she’ll let us hang around with her after what’s happened?’

Claire shrugged. ‘It’s worth a shot.’

‘And if it doesn’t work?’

‘Then we have each other. No one can break that up, can they?’

Rachel knew there was no way Stacey would back down. Even if they went to her and said they wanted to join her gang, she’d laugh them off the estate. Stacey was a power freak; they should have known better than to mess with her. Mum and Dad were right, things had gone too far. The whole family had never been in as many scrapes as they had over the past few weeks.

Rachel knew when she was beat. She couldn’t fight the likes of Stacey and win, just as her dad couldn’t stand up to her step dad, Lenny. They weren’t tough enough.

‘What are we going to do?’ Claire asked.

From her muffled tone, Rachel could tell that she was crying.

‘I don’t know,’ she told her. ‘But whatever happens, it’s going to be nasty for a while.’ 

Things didn’t look any better the following morning. Rachel got up in a mood and fell out with Claire, Gina and Pete within half an hour. She slammed out of the house ten minutes later, leaving Claire to face the sombre atmosphere alone.

Pete’s right eye had swollen until he could barely see out of it. Gina tried to make a joke about things but it hadn’t gone down well. He stormed off after slamming his mug down on the worktop, spraying remnants of tea all over the tiles.

And it wasn’t even nine o’clock.

Claire and Gina sat in silence, finishing off their breakfast.

‘Things’ll get better, Mum,’ said Claire. ‘They’ll both calm down soon.’

‘I was talking sense last night, wasn’t I?’

Claire nodded. ‘But it won’t happen, will it? Let’s face it; everyone thinks we’re shit, so why change a habit of a lifetime.’

Gina felt tears prick her eyes. ‘Coming from you, also known as my sensible twin, that doesn’t half sting,’ she told her.

‘I didn’t mean anything by it, Mum.’ Claire gave her a hug. Gina hugged her back fiercely to stop herself from screaming. What the hell was happening to their family? Anger welled up inside her.

‘We have to stick together,’ she said. ‘No one badmouths the Bradleys, not without getting what they deserve.’

‘But we do deserve what we get at times, don’t we?

 Gina felt Claire’s sobs as her body shook. 

‘I don’t want to fight anymore, Mum.’

‘You don’t have to.’

‘It’s not going to be that easy.’

Gina moved back and held her daughter’s face in her hands. ‘Claire, love, when was anything in life going to be easy for a Bradley?’

By eleven thirty, neither Rachel nor Pete had returned home. Gina hadn’t been able to get Claire to go to school either. Bored, she decided to have a walk across to the shops, see if anyone was about for a gossip. She was running low on cigarettes and she could do with some lager for tonight. Maybe, when Rachel and Pete came back, she could persuade them all to have a night in together. She’d get the girls some crisps and chocolates, and a frozen pizza to go with the bag of oven chips she already had. It would do them good to sit down as a family, watch a film together and relieve the tension.

She was there and back in half an hour yet, even as she’d thought about her problems while she walked, things didn’t seem any better. She sighed as she got home; maybe soon things would start to improve.

But then, from the corner of her eye she noticed Ruth coming out of her gate. Without thinking of the promise she’d made the night before, Gina dropped her bag and groceries over into her garden and legged it across the road. When she drew level, she slapped Ruth across the face.

Ruth staggered back but stayed on her feet until the second slap was administered.

‘Slut!’ Gina cried as she slapped her again. ‘Stay the fuck away from my Pete.’

Ruth didn’t cower. She knew she deserved what she was getting so she wouldn’t fight back. Gina slapped her again, grabbing hold of her hair.  

‘You. Keep. Your. Filthy. Hands. Off. Him!’

‘Mum!’ Claire shouted. ‘You promised! No more fighting and look at you!’

Gina paused for a moment to catch her breath, pointing at Ruth. ‘It’s all her fault. She’s been messing around with your dad.’

Claire gasped. ‘Is that true?’ she asked Ruth.

Ruth didn’t reply. In the background, she could see Caren running towards them.

‘Answer her!’ cried Gina.

‘Stop it, Mum!’

As she was about to hit Ruth again, Caren grabbed her wrist and held it in mid air. ‘Enough!’ she shouted.

Ruth pulled herself up and leaned on the wall, panting for breath.

‘What the hell’s going on this time?’ Caren hissed. ‘Are you always going to act like a child?’

‘She started it,’ Gina mumbled. ‘It was her fault.’

‘Ruth started a fight?’ Caren looked on in astonishment. I don’t think so.’

‘Mum, let’s go in,’ Claire said, ‘before you get landed with assault.’

‘I – I won’t say anything,’ said Ruth. She wiped her nose with her hand and pulled it back to find blood all over it.

The black mist was beginning to lift but as guilt began to surface, Gina fought back with her tongue. She pointed at Ruth. ‘Breathe a word of this to anyone and I’ll –’

‘You’ll what?’ said Caren. ‘Pick another fight? Is that all you’re good for? No wonder you’ve never had a job.’

‘Hey!’ said Claire.

‘Leave it, Claire,’ said Gina.

‘But –’

‘I said leave it! Go inside and mind your own business.’

As Claire marched off, Caren held out a tissue for Ruth.

Ruth took it from her. ‘Can you help me home?’ she whispered.

‘Course I can.’ But before she did, Caren turned back to Gina. ‘Is this how you get your thrills in your sorry little life, by attacking people? Is this how you
all
get your kicks – you, your kids and Pete?’

‘No!’ cried Gina. ‘We –’

‘I have never met anyone so nasty, so vicious, so – so animal like in my entire life. You’re nothing short of a thug. I should report you for this.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

‘I would and you know it, so back –’

‘No! Please, I don’t want this to go any further,’ Ruth broke in.

‘But you’re bleeding! And look at your eye. You’ll –’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Ruth assured her.

‘Yes,’ added Gina. ‘She’ll be fine, won’t you, Ruth?’

‘Oh, get out of my sight!’ Caren put an arm around Ruth’s shoulder. ‘Come on, let’s get you home.’

Gina stood in the avenue, watching Ruth stagger off with Caren. As her anger turned to shame, her eyes glistened with tears. She hadn’t a clue what had come over her; she just saw red when she spotted Ruth. And now that Claire had seen her, she’d be in trouble with Pete when he finally showed his face again.

Wearily, she gathered up her wits as well as her pride and went back home. So much for a fun night in with the family.

Once inside the house, Caren helped Ruth remove her blood stained jacket. She took it from her and shoved it into the washing machine out of the way.

‘You have to report this to the police,’ she said.

‘I can’t do that,’ said Ruth. ‘I’ll have the whole family against me then, as well as all the neighbours. It’ll be like signing my own death warrant. I’m going to put in for a transfer.’

‘I wish I could. I hate this bloody avenue; everyone is so small-minded.’ Caren looked at Ruth, now sitting at the table. Her face was beginning to swell up like a bruised tomato, nerves as shredded as her bottom lip that had split twice. ‘How can one family completely rule a street? If it isn’t Gina, it’s her bloody mother causing grief, shouting her mouth off.’

‘I think the neighbours are okay,’ admitted Ruth. ‘It’s just if they all get together with Gina. You were right: she is an animal.’

 ‘So what started it all?’

‘She found out that Pete had called around a few times. One of the neighbours must’ve grassed me up.’

Caren felt her blood run cold. ‘He hasn’t – threatened you in any way, has he?’

Ruth shook her head, a little too quickly for Caren’s liking. She sighed, sat down across from her and reached for her hand. ‘Whatever’s going on, you can trust me if you need someone to talk to. I’d cut my own tongue off and shove it up my arse before I’d tell Gina Bradley a damn thing.’

Ruth tried to smile at Caren’s joke.

Caren squeezed her hand, urging her to talk. ‘Did he force himself on you?’

Ruth shook her head.

‘You mean you wanted him to?’

Ruth shook her head again.

‘So what, then?’

When Ruth shook her head for the third time, Caren backed off. She was upset; it wasn’t fair to push her. Still, she wanted to press the point.

‘Please, call me if you need to talk. You still have my number?’

‘Yes.’

‘I can understand if you don’t want to but the offer will always be there.’

‘She doesn’t get it, though.’ Ruth looked up through tears. ‘No matter what she does, no one can hurt me any more than I’ve already been hurt. My life is a mess anyway, because of my own doings.’ She flicked her thumb towards the front door. ‘I don’t need them lot out there to tell me how stupid I am.’

‘You’re not stupid!’