The Feud (18 page)

Not wanting the kids to see her going out with their father, Jessica had asked her dad to take them to the pictures. ‘I don’t want Frankie and Joey to see Ed. They’re missing him and it might upset them. He’s picking me up at seven, so don’t bring them back until at least half past,’ she told her father.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll take them for a pizza after the film, but I’ll tell you something, if you get back with that arsehole, you want your bloody head tested,’ her dad said bluntly.

Jessica ignored his comments. It had been just over a week now since she’d moved back in with her parents
and between them they’d driven her up the bloody wall. She did appreciate them both caring, but they wouldn’t leave the subject of her marriage alone and the fact that their opinions differed so much made it all the worse.

Sighing, Jessica fished through her temporary wardrobe. She had very little to choose from because most of her clothes were still in Rainham. Not wanting Eddie to think she’d made too much of an effort, she decided to wear her faded jeans. Matched with her red bag, T-shirt and stilettos, she could still look nice without going over the top.

Pleased with her overall appearance, Jessica carefully applied her mascara and lipgloss. Knowing that Eddie hated her wearing too much make-up, she deliberately added some blusher and eyeliner. Sod him, Ed wouldn’t have the guts to say anything about her appearance tonight, the bastard would be far too busy grovelling.

Jessica felt slightly apprehensive as she walked down the stairs. She had already decided where she wanted her future to lie, but there was a lot that needed ironing out first.

As Jessica walked into the kitchen, Joyce looked at her in horror. ‘Christ, you could have made more of an effort. I thought you was going out for a nice meal. You can’t sit in a posh restaurant in those old-looking denim jeans. You look like a bloody workman.’

‘Mum, please don’t start, I’m not in the mood. I feel a bundle of nerves as it is. Is there any of that wine left in the fridge?’

Joyce tutted as she poured her daughter a small glass. Every night this week Jessica had insisted on having some wine with her evening meal and Joyce was beginning to think she was turning into an alcoholic.

‘Don’t drink too much while you’re out with Eddie tonight. You need a clear head on you – you don’t want
to act like an old lush. Men hate to see their women drunk, especially men like Eddie.’

Jessica snatched the glass and stomped out of the kitchen. The quicker she got out of this lunatic asylum, the better.

Eddie sat upstairs in his Auntie Joan’s house. His father had called an urgent meeting and Ed knew by the look on his face that whatever news he had was good news.

‘I heard what happened at the party last week, Gavin Smith told me. How’s Joey? Recovered, has he?’ Ronny said, laughing.

‘Joey! What’s a matter with the boy?’ Harry Mitchell asked.

Eddie shot his brother a look of pure hatred. His dad knew nothing about what had gone on at the party and if anyone was going to tell him, he’d rather do it himself. ‘I’ll tell you later, Dad. Tell us your news first,’ Eddie said, embarrassed.

Ronny was such a loudmouth prick. Now he knew, there was little point in hiding the truth from anyone else.

As Auntie Joan tapped on the door, Eddie jumped up to let her in. ‘There’s chicken and beef in the sandwiches. Now, are you sure you don’t want me to make you a nice brew, Harry?’

Smiling, Harry shook his head. ‘We’ve good news today, Joanie, so we’ll be having a little celebratory tipple instead,’ he told her.

Joan nodded and shut the door. The men had important business to discuss and they didn’t need her hanging about like a mother hen.

Harry opened a bottle of expensive Scotch and urged Paulie to do the honours. Sipping his own, he smiled at Raymond. ‘Well, Raymondo, I have some very good news
that is of particular interest to you. The police yesterday arrested a lad in connection with the murder of Mad Dave. I’ve since heard they’ve formally charged him. They’d been looking for two black boys who were already well known to them. One of them is called Rowan, I don’t know his surname, but they found his fingerprints in the Portakabin. Apparently, Mad Dave reported a burglary down his yard a few weeks back, so chances are it was this Rowan kid and his mate, who are well-known thieves. I suppose the Old Bill have found the kids’ prints and surmised it was him that came back and killed him. What a fucking result, eh? Leaves the rest of us in the clear.’

Raymond lifted his glass. ‘To Rowan,’ he chirped.

‘To Rowan,’ everybody else said, laughing.

Looking at his watch, Eddie realised it was gone half-six. ‘Listen, I’m sorry to have to leave so quickly, but I’ve gotta be somewhere.’

‘You ain’t even drunk your drink yet, at least have that first,’ Paulie told Eddie.

Eddie stood up. Fuck the drink – the last thing he needed was to turn up round Jessica’s mum’s smelling like a brewery.

‘She’s got you right where she wants you, that old woman of yours,’ Ronny goaded.

Eddie chose not to rise to the bait. ‘I’ll catch up properly with you all next week or something.’

‘What was you gonna tell us about Joey?’ Harry enquired.

Shaking his head, Eddie walked towards the door. ‘I’ll give you a ring tomorrow, Dad, and don’t listen to what anybody else says. Ronny’s heard what happened through the rumour mill. At least if you hear it from me, you know it’s kosher.’

Harry Mitchell nodded. ‘Take care, son.’

* * *

Jessica was annoyed as she lifted back the curtain and peered out of the upstairs window. Eddie was already a quarter of an hour late and if he didn’t arrive before the kids got back, she would tell him to go and take a running jump. Furious with herself for having agreed to go out with her husband in the first place, Jessica lay down on the bed. Her mum’s voice quickly made her stand up again.

‘Jess, Eddie’s here, love.’

Glancing in the mirror, Jessica ran down the stairs. ‘I won’t be late, Mum, and don’t forget, if the kids ask, I’m out with Mary.’

‘Aren’t you going to invite him in?’ asked a disappointed Joyce.

‘No, I’m not,’ Jessica said, as she opened the front door.

Eddie smiled as he saw his stunning wife walk towards him. ‘I’d better say a quick hello to your mum,’ he said.

‘No, let’s just go,’ Jessica told him.

The conversation in the car was awkward, but polite.

‘I haven’t booked us anywhere yet. I thought I’d let you decide where you wanted to eat. How do you fancy that nice Italian we took me dad to on his birthday that time?’ Eddie asked.

Jessica nodded. ‘That’ll do fine. I liked it there, the food was lovely.’

The restaurant was about ten minutes’ drive away and, as Eddie led Jessica inside, he was relieved to find that it wasn’t too busy. He pulled the waiter to one side. ‘Can we have a table right at the back, we need a bit of privacy,’ he told him.

Jessica chose a seafood dish and Eddie opted for the mouth-watering lasagne.

As the waiter topped their glasses up with wine, Eddie
leaned across the table and held Jessica’s hand. ‘I’ve missed you and the twins so much,’ he told her.

Jessica nodded and averted her eyes. Eddie still gave her butterflies after all these years and the way that her heart was pounding reminded her of when they’d first got together. ‘I have missed you too, Ed, but after what happened, if we do make another go of it, there have to be some changes.’

Relieved that she was softening towards him, Eddie smiled at her. ‘Your wish is my command, Jess. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you back. What is it you want me to do?’

Jessica took a deep breath. ‘Firstly, I want you to apologise to the people from the party. I think we should both pop round to see Pat Murphy and Dougie and Vicki. You were so loud and argumentative, Ed, you upset everyone. We’ve only just moved into the area and I don’t want people to think we’re the dregs of society. Just tell them you was drunk and how awful you feel about forcing Joey into that boxing ring.’

Eddie nodded. ‘I’ll do it. I’ll go and apologise first thing tomorrow.’

Jessica paused, before carrying on. ‘I want to come with you. I don’t want the women down the school making snide comments about us, so I want to show that we’re united as a couple. Another thing I want you to do is knock at that O’Hara bloke’s and shake his hand to show there’s no bad feelings. We only live down the road from him, Ed, and I really don’t want any aggravation. I can’t live my life looking over my shoulder and if you and him have got this feud going on, it’s not safe for me and the kids to live there.’

Eddie looked away from her. Apologising to Pat and Doug was one thing, making things all right with that
cunt O’Hara was another. He turned back to Jess. ‘The feud between my family and the O’Haras has been going on for years, Jess. It’s complicated – you wouldn’t understand.’

Jessica stood her ground. ‘What’s more important, Ed? Jimmy O’Hara, or me and the children? I’m not coming home until you do as I say, and if you don’t, then I’m leaving you for good.’

Knowing his wife meant business, Eddie nodded once again. He hated the thought of swallowing his pride, but the thought of life without Jess was far worse. ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ he said.

‘I’m coming with you. I want us to go to the O’Haras’ together. I don’t want his wife and family to think that there’s any ill feeling. I’ll probably bump into the woman at some point and I don’t want any awkwardness.’

Having little choice, Eddie reluctantly agreed. ‘Is that it? When are you moving back – tomorrow?’ he asked Jessica.

‘I haven’t finished yet. There’s more,’ Jessica told him, much to his dismay. ‘I don’t want you to stop drinking because I know you’re usually fine, but I want you to promise me that you’ll never get drunk like that in front of me and the children again. It’s the Scotch, Eddie, it doesn’t agree with you. You are a horrible drunk and I can’t live like that. I also want you to lay off Joey. You’re always picking on him because he’s not as rough and ready as Gary and Ricky. He is what he is, Ed, and I love him for that and so should you. You favour Frankie and it shows. It’s not fair, Ed, Joey’s a little darling and he loves you very much.’

Eddie was shocked by his wife’s comments. ‘I don’t favour Frankie, I love Joey just as much. With boys, Jess, it’s a father’s job to toughen ’em up a bit. My dad brought
me and my brothers up that way and I did the same with Gary and Ricky. I mean, you want him to be able to stick up for himself, don’t you? We don’t want him getting picked on at school, do we?’

Jessica bit back. ‘I just want you to leave him alone, Ed, you’re always on his case. You go mad if he picks up one of Frankie’s dolls or does something that you don’t consider boyish. He’s six years old, for God’s sake. Gary and Ricky never had twin sisters – if they had, they’d have probably played with their toys as well.’

Eddie shrugged. In his eyes, he hadn’t been doing anything untoward. All he’d been trying to do was teach the boy right from wrong. ‘I’ll promise I’ll never get drunk like that again, and yes, I’ll let Joey grow up in his own time. But Jess, don’t ever say that I love any of my other kids more than him, ’cause it’s untrue. You’ve hurt me saying that; he’s my son and I’d fucking die for him.’

Realising that Eddie looked a bit choked up, Jessica felt awful. She wanted to say something about how he’d grabbed her round the neck and hurt her head, but perhaps this wasn’t the right time. Maybe she had been too harsh on him, too brutal. ‘So, when shall the kids and I move back home, then?’ she said, squeezing his big, lifeless hand.

With tears in his eyes, Eddie managed a smile. Jess and the twins were coming home where they belonged and nothing else really mattered. ‘How about tonight? It’s only eight o’clock. Shall we bolt our dinner down, then go and pick the twins up?’

Jessica nodded. ‘I’d like that very much.’

Because they were on their school holidays, Joey and Frankie were allowed to stay up later than usual. As the
front door opened, they ran to greet their mum and were surprised, but also delighted, to see their dad.

‘Cuddles, Daddy, cuddles,’ Frankie demanded.

Joyce poked her head around the door and beamed at the happy family atmosphere.

Eddie put Frankie down and held his arms out to Joey. ‘Come and have a cuddle with your dad, eh?’ he urged him.

Joey ran into his arms. ‘Do you still love me, Daddy?’ he asked solemnly.

Eddie held his son tighter than ever before. ‘I love you more than you’ll ever know, Joey,’ he said, stroking his head.

Jessica ushered her mum back into the lounge and had a brief word with both of her parents. ‘Mum, Dad, thanks ever so much for letting me and the kids stay here. You’ve been brilliant, both of yous have.’

Joyce hugged her. ‘Everything sorted, love? You going back home?’

Jessica nodded. She was desperate to get back to her big house and taste her home comforts once more.

Stanley sat stony-faced staring at the telly. He had nothing to say, nothing at all.

‘You don’t mind if we shoot off now, do you, Mum? Our clothes and the kids’ toys we can pick up tomorrow.’

Joyce smiled as Eddie walked into the room with a twin in each arm.

‘I’ll pack all your stuff up for you in the morning. Yous get yourselves home,’ Joyce urged them.

Eddie grinned. ‘I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea first, Joycie. You make the best brew I’ve ever tasted, and I’m parched.’

Thrilled by her son-in-law’s compliment, Joyce jumped up and almost ran to the kitchen.

Unable to take any more of Eddie’s old bollocks, Stanley stormed out of the room.

‘You OK, Dad? Where are you going?’ Jessica shouted after him.

‘To feed the pigeons. Take care, love,’ Stanley shouted, as he slammed the kitchen door.

Relieved to be alone, Stanley spoke quietly to his birds. Ernie and Ethel were his pride and joy. They might only be pigeons, but they listened to him, they understood, and that was more than he could say about his family.

‘It will all end in tears, Ernie. You mark my words, Ethel, that Eddie’s no good. Jess’ll never be happy with him,’ he told them.