New Reality 2: Justice (34 page)

Each voice belonged to a different man, but they didn't sound like the men from the other day. Maybe each man on the estate was the same man—predatory, villainous, and deviant. Maybe the estate was a factory that pumped out poison and depravity. Maybe she'd be better off without a child in that environment.

"We could take her to mine. I'll keep her tied up in the bathroom."

The men laughed.
 

"She's a slut all right. You can see it in the way she holds herself. She's dripping with shame."

Could they really sense it on her? Was that what this evening had given her—the burden of shame? The scent of a victim?
Marie pulled her bag onto her lap and untangled the gun from the corset. She wasn't going to take it anymore. No fucking way!

"Oi, you."

Marie's back tensed, but she didn't look around. They didn't own her, and they sure as hell didn't tell her what to do. These degenerates were different from Doug and Kitty; she could do something about them. No one would miss them if they disappeared. Society wanted them gone, in fact. Marie should know; she was in the same boat as them now.

"She's ignoring you, 'arry. Let me try. Do you put out, love? Will you suck my cock?"

The men laughed once more, but when Marie didn't respond, the same man spoke again, his tone turning darker. "How about I just take what I want from you anyway?"

The tension in the air thickened. The mother of one of the two families looked over at Marie and pulled her children close to her.

"Oi, darling, how about I take you out for dinner first? We could go bin diving in an alley and then I could stick it in your arse while you're looking in a dumpster."

The mother moved her children next to the window and put herself between them and the men.

Who did they think they were?
 

Click!
 

Marie flicked the safety off the gun.
 

"Come on, sweetheart, I was only playing. Let's be friends, yeah?"

The softening tone caught Marie off guard and she turned to face him.

One of the men leaned forwards and made a V with his fingers. He then pushed his face through the middle as he started licking the air between them.
 

Marie turned back around and stared straight ahead.
When would this day end?

***

The rest of the journey continued in the same vein. The overgrown boys continued verbally abusing her, and Marie continued stroking the trigger of her gun.

When the bus finally stopped, she got to her feet and walked towards the front.
 

"Looks like we've reached our stop too, lads."

Just before, she got off, the bus driver—a round-faced man with soft features—nodded at her. "Take care of yourself, love."

Marie paused and said to the driver, "Can you give me two seconds, please?"

The driver nodded.
 

The ledge by the windscreen was big enough to put her bag on—her bag, minus the gun. With a pounding heart, she strode towards the first man in the group—the one who had simulated oral sex at her—and pointed the gun at his face.

Although he raised his hands, he smiled at her and winked.

On impulse, Marie jabbed the gun into his large nose.
 

Crack!
 

He screamed and grabbed his face as he fell to his knees.

Unable to control her shaking arm, she waved the gun at the other men, and they backed off. Maybe the shake helped? It made her unpredictable.
She
didn't even know what she'd do next. The fallen man was the closest, so she focused on him. "Drop your fucking hands, now."

"What?"

Crack!
She hit his temple with the butt of the gun and shook more violently as she shouted, "Drop your fucking hands!"

The man obeyed, revealing a goatee of blood. The predator had left his eyes; he was all victim now. "Okay, love, whatever you say."

With a clenched jaw, Marie pushed the barrel into his bloody nose. "I ain't your love,
okay?
"

The man nodded, his eyes streaming as he pulled his head away from the pressure of the gun.

But Marie wouldn't let him escape the pain and she pushed harder into his face, so hard that if he leaned any further backwards he'd fall over. "If I see
you
or your scumbag mates again, I'm going to blow your fucking balls off. Do you understand?"

The man struggled to nod and a dark patch spread around his crotch.

"So who's the big man now? You've fucking
pissed
yourself." She wound the gun back and drove it into his temple again. The man's eyes rolled and he fell to the floor with a thud.
 

When Marie backed off the bus, she pointed the weapon at the other men, who had all returned to their seats.
Good job because she would have blown their faces off.
Adrenaline surged through her veins. She could take all four of them if she needed to. "And remember, you degenerates; there are children on this bus. So show some
respect,
yeah?"
 

The three men stared at her but none of them replied.

The gun was heavy in Marie's grip as she walked back down the aisle. After picking her bag up, she nodded at the driver. "Thank you."

A slight nod and the driver made a fist that he bumped twice against his chest.
 

Once she was off the bus, Marie watched it drive away and heaved a weary sigh. Today had been too long.

As she stared into the dark alley that led her home, she jumped when the sound of someone clapping their hands came out of the gloom. In a second, her gun was out and pointing into the darkness. "Who's there?"

Chapter Fifty-Two

The shake had left Marie's limbs and her adrenaline was spent. Despite the tiredness, at least it was easier to point the gun down the alley without a wobbly arm. "Stop! Stop right there!"

But the figure continued clapping and walking forwards.
 

A slight squeeze on the trigger and Marie watched with unblinking eyes.
Just a twitch of her finger and this fucker was down. There had been far too much bullshit for one day, and she wasn't taking it anymore.

When the person made a fist and bumped its chest twice, Marie lowered her gun slightly. "Who are
you? What do you want?"

Although the figure stepped into the light, the hood it wore still veiled its face in shadow.

Marie raised her gun again and squinted to try to see better.
Why were they hiding their identity?
Uncertainty wavered in her voice, "I'll shoot; I swear it." She didn't sound like she'd shoot. She sounded scared.

The figure raised their hands in submission and Marie lowered her gun again as the figure pulled its hood back.

"Gina? What the fuck? I was ready to blow your head off. Why do you keep doing this to me?"

After a quick shrug, Gina pulled her hood back up. Pressing a finger against her lips, she then circled that finger in the air.
There were people watching. There were always people watching.

Gina then turned around and disappeared back into the dark alley, and Marie followed her.

***

It was only when they were in the bowels of the estate that Gina spoke. "Sorry I didn't reveal myself quicker. I don't want to be seen by anyone. I thought you'd twig it was me. Nice work with those men, by the way."

"You saw that?"

"Fuck, yeah! I wish I'd recorded it." Gina then stopped and held a closed fist out to Marie.
 

When Marie held her hand out, she felt four small things land in her palm. It was too dark to see, but she felt the cold metal. "What are these?"

"Bullets."

"You mean…" A sinking dread fell through her. "It wasn't loaded?"

All Marie could see of Gina in the dark was a cringing silhouette. "I'm sorry. I only gave it to you to make you feel confident walking through the estate. I didn't want to leave it loaded in case you did something stupid."

"Like
threaten
four horrible men with it?"

"I'm sorry, but it's all about the swagger. You acted like you were prepared to shoot them and they knew it."

"What the fuck, Gina? It wasn't loaded? I threatened four men with a gun that
wasn't loaded
."

"I'm sorry."

"That wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference if they'd retaliated though, would it?"

When Gina didn't respond, Marie fell silent, her pulse hammering and her breathing shallow. Striding out in front of her friend, Marie made for the Single Mum's block.

***

When the strong outline of her building came into view, Marie finally stopped, panting from the fast walk.

The march had taken much less of a toll on Gina, who had obviously chosen to hold back for Marie's sake rather than an inability to keep up. "I can't believe how big this place is."

"Don't think I'm not still pissed at you."

"I'm sorry, what more can I say?"

Marie folded her arms across her chest and didn't respond.

"But look at it, it's bloody huge. It's probably big enough to register as its own state."

It wouldn't serve Marie to hold a grudge. Gina was her only friend, and god knows she needed her friend. A look up the length of the imposing block made Marie dizzy. The stagnant reek of piss and shit in the air didn't help. "It's a state of abandoned women."

The ground had squished and squelched beneath her feet too many times to count, so Marie wiped her shoes against a nearby wall before setting off again. "Come on, let's go."

***

As soon as she stepped inside, Marie was hit with a wall of bright lights and shouting.
What the fuck?
It took a few seconds of blinking against the glare before her view cleared a little.

First, she saw a camera.
 

Then police.

Before she could look for anything else, someone grabbed a hold of her arm, bent it up behind her back, and charged with her towards a wall. Her forehead connected first, sending a sharp sting crashing through her face, and her world tilted like she was about to fall. Although her legs turned bandy, she just about remained upright.

The activity around her mixed with her dizziness.
What the hell was going on? What were the police doing here?
 

When her arm was pushed further towards the back of her head, Marie's shoulder burned and she screamed. Her arm felt like it was going to pop out of its socket.

There was a strong smell of cigarette smoke as a man shouted in her ear. "Who are you and
what
are you doing here?"

It was hard to get her words past her crying. "I… I live here."

"And who's the other woman?"

"My friend, she's my friend." Hot tears ran down her face. "Please, you're
hurting
me."

"It's no less than you deserve, estate rat."

"I'm pregnant."

The man kicked her legs away and she hit the floor, hip first. The burning bruise ran up her side and down her leg.

The cameras moved in and Marie covered her face. The last thing she needed was Doug seeing her there.

The man leaned over her and shouted again. "Someone's throwing women over the balconies; what do you know about it?"

Before Marie could answer, the ground shook and the officer looked away. That was her moment. Marie jumped to her feet, hobbling from the pain in her hip, and then helped Gina up.
 

Everyone was staring at yet another broken form pressed against the solid floor in the middle of the building. Marie grabbed Gina's hand and led her to the stairs. They needed to get out of there while they still had a chance.

***

After closing the door to her flat, Marie leaned against it and breathed heavily. The quick escape up the stairs had taken everything out of her. Her forehead, right shoulder, and hip all throbbed with equal intensity.
After the day she'd had, and it was the fucking police that had caused her the most damage. Welcome to the life of an estate rat.
"Are you okay, Gina?"

Dazed and staring into space, Gina didn't respond.

"They're fucking brutal out here, eh?"

The fog on Gina's face lifted and she looked up. "Come and live with me,
please?
"

"No."

"You need to get off the estate. This is no place for a pregnant woman. Hell, it's no place for
anyone.
"

With the palm of her hand raised, Marie said, "Stop. It's been a long day and I don't want to talk about it, okay? I've made up my mind; now please don't make it any harder for me."

Gina didn't reply.
 

As Marie walked into the kitchen, she shook her head. "What the fuck was that about, anyway? Those women aren't being killed. It's blatant suicide."

"All they need is an excuse to come in and frighten people," Gina said. "If they can do it under the guise of women being murdered, then they will."

A long sigh and Marie looked at Jules first and then Gina. "Coffee?"

The lights on Jules sprang to life. "Did someone say coffee?"

The slightest smile broke through Gina's shock. "Hi, Jules."

"Miss GG, how
wonderful
it is to see you. Can I make you a coffee?"

"That would be lovely. Thank you, Jules."

It was almost sickening to watch the pair of them carry on. "You're like a couple of lovebirds. Are you going to offer me anything, Jules?"

"No!"

"Charming. This is why you fixed him, isn't it, Gina? Because he makes you coffee."

"He's got to fulfil his purpose."

"
Exactly,
thank you, Miss GG—finally, someone who understands me."
 

Marie rolled her eyes. "It's so unfair, eh, Jules? Jesus, you're like living with a moody teenager."

While they'd been talking, Jules had made Gina's coffee. Instead of taking it to her, Marie stood aside as Gina walked over to the machine and removed the cup. She cradled it with both hands. "A moody teenager that makes damn
fine
coffee."

"Thank you again, Miss GG."