Rotten to the Core (27 page)

Billy had already spoken to Sonia, and she
had
agreed with everything that
he
said
;
Jay had gone too far and needed to be taught a lesson. Billy had got
to her house
first thing th
at
morning
;
luckily Sonia always got up at the crack of dawn, at least a few hours before Kate, so they had
had
the chance to talk things through, and the stuff that he had told her had shocked her to the core. She had been disgusted
by
what Billy had told her about the poor girl he had found trying to hang herself, how Jay had drugged her and used her to make money for him, and that he had other girls out there in the same state made Sonia ashamed to be his mother. Sonia had been even more disgusted when she had heard what Jay’s father had done all those years ago to Billy and Kate’s mother
;
it made her sick to her stomach. She had known
Den
had been capable of vile things, it was one of the reasons she had got out in the first place. She could understand now why Billy hated Jay so much. She wondered if when she
had
walked out on Den all those years ago, things would have been different
if she had taken Jay with her
. Maybe he wouldn’t have turned out
as
repulsive. She couldn’t help feeling guilty, that somehow she was partly to blame for her son’s ways.
He
was Den all over again,
so
maybe no matter what she had done different
ly
he would have turned out this way, maybe it was in the genes. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree
,
they sa
id
, and in this case the apple was rotten to the core.

S
onia
had agreed to change the locks, and decided that as of that moment she would disown
Jay
. Billy had said that he would send one of his guys round for a few days, just in
case Jay returned home and thought he would try his luck, and that way he would know that Sonia meant it
:
he was no longer welcome here
;
he was
n’t her
son any
longer
.

Sonia had suggested that Billy should break the news to Kate and hopefully
they
would be able to comfort the poor girl.
Pouring Billy a mug of hot tea, she placed it down on the table, and sat down to join him
as he drank it.

“I honestly don’t know where I’m going to start
,
Sonia, this is going to break
Kate’s
heart. I don’t know how much more she can take
.
”
Billy had known all along that
J
ay was no good, but his sister would never hear a bad word said about him
.
W
ell, th
at
morning when she finally c
a
me downstairs
,
bad words
were
all that
would
be worthy of the bloke.

As Billy and Sonia were s
tarting their second cup
of tea
, Kate did finally c
o
me downstairs, wrapped in her dressing gown
and
yawning.

             
“Billy?”
S
he looked from her brother
’
s frowning face to Sonia’s worried look
.
“What’s going on? Has something happened?”

She had been working at the club all evening, and hadn’t got home until
after
three
;
she would have still been in bed
but
she had heard her brother
’
s voice and had come down to see what this unexpected visit was
all about. He had bags under his eyes and a frown so deep across his forehead it looked like a scar. Worried, she looked
at
Sonia, who was
looking into her
tea
as she stirred it
. Billy should be the one to tell the poor girl, she wasn’t getting involved
;
not until she was needed
, that was
.

Pulling
a
chair out for
Kate
, Billy told her to sit down.
At first, h
e didn’t really know where to start, there was so much filth and dirt and lies
. Then
it all just came out, everything he knew. He told her about Jay
’
s dad and what he had seen all those years ago
,
when he was just a boy. He told
Kate
how he had caught Jay coming out of his and Tanya’s
house
and that he had followed him. He had
done this
for a few days and one flat in particular
that
he kept being led back to
was
Emma’s. He told
Kate
how he gone to
Emma’s flat on his own,
to find out what was going on, and
what he had seen there
.

He gave
Kate
the letter that was addressed to her,
which
he had taken the night he had found Emma trying to hang herself
.
He
tried to hold himself together
,
as he watched the tears roll down
Kate’s
cheeks as she read it.

             
“Where is she?” she sobbed
,
as she put the letter back into the envelope
.

             
“She
’
s in hospital
,
Kate
;
she
’
s going to be ok
ay
, but she
’
s in a state right now
.
S
he
’
s been there for ten days now. I would have told you sooner, but she wasn’t strong enough
.
T
he doctors wouldn’t have let you in anyway, not until she was over the worst
.
”
H
e touched her hand across the table
.

             
“
S
he is asking for you now
,
though, and she really needs you
,
Kate.”

             
“I just can’t believe that Jay would do this, I don’t get it
;
I feel like I’m missing something here
.
”
I
t was all too much to take in, she
had
had an inkling that Jay was up to no good and she had decided to ignore it rather than question it, but this
…
this was unforgivable
.
G
etting her priorities straight
,
Kate added
:
“Can you take me to see her?”

             
“Yeah
,
of course I can, go and get dress
ed,
love
,
and we’ll go now
.
”

As she left the room, Kate looked like she had
had
the wind knocked right out of her.

             
“What do you think will happen to Jay now
,
Billy?”
Sonia asked.

             
“My bet is he will try and come back here
,
Sonia, and knowing him, if you don’t let him in, he will try and force his way in.
”

Sonia knew Billy was right
.
Jay would always do whatever he was told not to, a trait he
had had
from when he was a boy.
Seeing the anguished look on Sonia’s face and as if reading her mind
,
Billy
reassured her
:

             
“Ryan’s on his way over, he
’
s going to be staying here with you for a few days, just until Jay gets the message, ok
ay
?”

             
“
O
k
ay.
”
R
ight now
,
Jay wasn’t on her mind
;
her only thoughts were o
f
Kate
:
that poor, poor girl, how did she ever go falling for someone like Jay
?
Right now
,
more than anything in the world
,
Sonia would have swapped a million Jays for one Kate. She had grown to love the girl like her own, and hoped that after all this was over Kate
and she
would remain close friends. S
onia
would be there for
Kate,
no matter what.

32

As he p
ut
Tanya’s heavy
suit
case down in the hallway
of Emma’s flat,
he wished he had been given more notice before he ha
d br
ought her here. She had been crying her eyes out when she first got in the car, but Jay soon realised they were tears of pure anger. Tanya was
angry
about
the fact she had had to leave her home.
In fact, s
he was seething.

Jay
was
pleased that when the shit hit the fan,
Tanya
didn’t have any
love
for Billy, he
had
never
been
really sure
of her feelings for him
until now. Some birds
would
say anything to get one over on their old man,
especially
if they were after money or a bunk up. He
ha
d heard every line possible in the past from every bird he
ha
d known.
But
Tanya was different. She was high maintenance
,
that was true, but most
women
were these days, they wanted everything they were entitled to and then some
more
. He loved the way that
Tanya
wouldn’t take any shit
;
he could see how angry she was, and he had no doubt that she would get her own back on Billy for the way he had treated her.

There was something else he felt too
;
something he couldn’t put his finger on. He had never been in love, so he was sure that it wasn’t that. But he did feel something
:
s
ome sort of need
for her
. He thought about her
all the time that
he
was away from
her
;
he couldn’t get enough of
her
smell,
her
taste,
or
the way she was in bed with him. He could tell that she was a bit damaged
,
though, like
himself
, she had her issues. He could
see that she had that strength inside her, like he had, no one fucked with her
;
that’s why he felt he knew her so well
:
she was the same as him.

Emma’s place was a shithole
,
and the stench that had hit him as he opened the door nearly made him gag. The curtains were shut
,
and there obviously hadn’t been a window opened for months
as t
he air was stale. Emma was a filthy bitch, and getting her to tidy up every now and again
was
too much
for her
by the looks of it. The smell and mess
didn’t
bothered him normally, it was only now as he looked around and saw the flies buzzing around the sink, which was overflowing with dishes covered with dried
-
on food, and the fag ash all over the carpet
,
that he realised how filthy the place actually was.