The Feud (48 page)

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief as she realised the boy must be Jed. At one point, she had wondered if he and Frankie had sent her on a wild goose chase, and was so glad that they hadn’t.

‘Just park down the road somewhere. It’s a bit muddy, but you’ll be OK, won’t ya?’

Jessica looked at her feet. In her frantic state of mind, she had forgotten to put her shoes on and was only wearing
carpet slippers. ‘I’ve got me slippers on,’ she told Jed awkwardly.

‘Wait there,’ Jed said, as he legged it back to the trailer.

‘What’s up? Was it me mum?’ Frankie asked. She had been looking out of the window, but it had started raining heavily again and she couldn’t see a thing.

‘Yeah, it is. Give us your trainers, Frankie. Your mum’s got her slippers on and it’s like a swamp out there.’

Frankie giggled. ‘I’m a size three and me mum’s a size six. They won’t fit her.’

Jed took them off of her anyway and ran back out to Jessica. ‘Try them,’ he said.

Unable to get them on, Jessica handed them back to him. ‘Don’t worry. If my feet get soaked it won’t kill me, will it?’

Jed gave a half-smile. ‘Just follow me and run. I’ve got a heater inside. I’ll try and get the slippers dry for ya before you drive back.’

Frankie felt nervous as her mother stepped into the trailer. ‘This is cosy,’ Jessica said politely, hugging her daughter.

‘’Ere, put these on,’ Jed said, handing her his socks and dealer boots to wear.

‘Thanks, love,’ Jessica said gratefully, as he put her slippers on top of the heater.

‘Make Mum a cup of tea,’ Frankie urged Jed.

Jessica squeezed her daughter’s hand. ‘So, how are you? Why aren’t you staying at Jed’s house?’

‘Jed’s dad and mum aren’t there. His dad’s gone to a horse fair and his mum’s at her sister’s. We was gonna stay there, but Jed said we’d be safer staying here until his dad gets back.’

‘Were you worried about your dad?’ Jessica asked.

Frankie nodded. ‘What we gonna do, Mum? Me and
Jed don’t wanna have to live like this. I’m happy and I want everybody to be happy for me. I want you, Joey and dad to all be part of me and my baby’s life.’

Seeing tears roll down Frankie’s face, Jessica felt her own eyes well up. ‘Frankie, I promise you that I’ll do my utmost to make your dad see sense. I can see that you and Jed are in love and I want to support both of you and the baby. With me being pregnant as well, our babies can be playmates, Frankie. I can babysit whenever you want. If you and Jed want to go out, I can –’

Handing Jessica her tea, Jed shut her up in mid-sentence. ‘Look, I know you mean well, Mrs Mitchell, but unless you sort that husband of yours out, none of that shit’s gonna happen, is it? I ain’t having Frankie upset while she’s carrying my child, so if things ain’t smoothed out fast, I’m taking Frankie away and none of yous will ever see her again!’

Crawling along in the rain, Eddie stopped the motor, got out and jumped in the passenger seat of Raymond’s motor. ‘Right, that’s the place down there on the left. You know what you’ve gotta do, don’tcha?’

Raymond nodded. ‘Take this just in case,’ Eddie urged as he handed him a small gun.

‘Whaddya want me to do with that?’ Raymond asked.

‘Nothing, it’s just for back-up. Now remember, Ray, be as threatening as you can when you get there. If the door ain’t open, then smash the fucking windows. You’ll have to hit ’em hard, ’cause it’s probably that plastic shit. That cocky pikey cunt is bound to stick up for himself and I want you to clump him as hard as you can with the bat. Knock him out, so he don’t wake up. Now, you go first and when I see you’ve got Frankie and driven off, I’ll go in and finish off the job.’

Raymond felt sick as he drove towards the trailer. Usually violence didn’t bother him. He could kill a man in the blink of an eye, but not when it involved his own family. He didn’t like Eddie’s plan one little bit, but he was too frightened to argue. When Eddie Mitchell made his mind up to do something, there wasn’t a man in the world who could change his mind.

As the tyres screeched to a halt outside, Frankie screamed, grabbed her mother and got down on the floor. Jed took the knife he always carried out of his pocket and stood by the door.

‘Open this fucking door – now!’ Raymond screamed menacingly as he smashed the baseball bat against it.

‘Oh, my God! It’s Raymond. Your dad’s gonna kill me. What am I gonna do?’ Jessica whispered, sobbing.

‘Quick, hide in that room, Mum. There’s a gap under the bed,’ Frankie urged her.

As Jessica crawled into the bedroom, she shuddered as she heard the window go through. ‘Please God, don’t let anyone get hurt. Please God, don’t let anyone get hurt,’ she repeated over and over again.

Frankie screamed as Raymond threw himself against the door and it flew open. ‘Leave us alone. Go away!’ she screamed.

Desperate to be the big hero, Jed lunged at Raymond with the knife. ‘You fucking mug!’ Raymond yelled, easily knocking it out of Jed’s hand.

As Jed picked the kettle up, Raymond obeyed Eddie’s orders and clumped him over the head with the baseball bat. He could have hit him harder, but guilt stopped him from doing so. All he wanted to do was stun Jed; it was Eddie’s job to do anything else.

Jed wasn’t stupid, so he fell on the floor and played dead.

‘Jed! Jed!’ Frankie screamed hysterically.

As Raymond walked towards her, Frankie went for him. ‘Get off of me! I hate you and my dad. I wish you were both dead,’ she yelled, pummelling her fists against his chest.

Raymond took the rope out of his pocket and carried out the instructions he had been given. ‘It’s all right, Frankie, all I’m doing is taking you home,’ he said, as she repeatedly kicked and punched him.

‘Jed, wake up, please wake up,’ Frankie cried.

As Raymond bent over with his back towards him, Jed held his forefinger to his mouth to tell Frankie to be quiet and to let her know he was all right. I love you, he mouthed to her.

Frankie bit Raymond’s hand, as he tried to gag her. Raymond felt terrible. He was cut out for most things, but not this shit. He was mad to have let Eddie talk him into this. He should have been a man and refused.

Jed lay still as Raymond finally managed to tie and gag Frankie. He cursed himself for not bringing a proper weapon with him. Pretending he was knocked out cold was all he could do. Raymond was double his size and was armed with his infamous baseball bat, and Jed knew that Frankie needed him alive, not dead.

Jessica was frozen with shock. She couldn’t breathe, move or anything. Her daughter’s screams had been awful. She had wanted to get up and help her, but she had been paralysed by fear and couldn’t. She felt faint again, really ill.

Seeing Raymond bundle Frankie towards the car, Eddie picked up the machine gun and studied it. He had never used one of these things before, but he was sure he could handle it.

As Raymond’s car pulled away, Eddie got out of his
car and took a pop at one of the nearby squashed cars. Perfect, he thought, as the bullets landed exactly where he aimed them.

Hearing the fun being fired, Jed quickly got up. It was obvious what was coming next and he knew he had no choice other than to leg it. Raymond had smashed a couple of windows in the trailer and, realising the gunshots were coming from the front, Jed squeezed himself out of a back window and literally ran for his life.

At the sound of the gun being fired, Jessica lost consciousness. Out for the count, she was totally unaware of her husband’s footsteps nearing.

In the back of Raymond’s car, Frankie was desperately trying to pull the gag off her mouth. She had seen her father waiting in the shadows as Raymond had lifted her into his motor, and not only was she worried about Jed, she was also concerned about her mother.

Realising Frankie was making all sorts of funny noises, Raymond stopped the car. He had to check she was all right in case she couldn’t breathe properly. ‘Are you OK? Can you breathe?’ he asked as he pulled the gag off her.

‘You stupid fucking idiot. I saw me dad outside and Mum’s in that trailer.’

‘What?’ Raymond asked incredulously. Frankie was winding him up – she had to be.

‘I swear on my baby’s life, Mum’s in there. She came to see me to sort stuff out. When she heard your voice, she hid under the bed.’

Realising that Frankie was telling the truth, Raymond felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. ‘Jesus! No!’ he screamed, as he spun the car around and raced back to the scene of the crime.

* * *

Eddie smiled as he saw the dealer boots poking out from under the bed. He would have liked to have tortured the little fucker for a while, but he really didn’t have the time. Poor little Jed must have crawled in here after Raymond clumped him over the bonce. Smiling, Eddie prepared his speech.

‘Bye-bye, Jeddy boy. This is what you get for crossing me,’ he said as he let fly with the machine gun.

With blood splattered all over himself and the walls, Eddie decided enough was enough. He was extremely thirsty and decided he needed to have a little refreshment before Raymond got back. The cleaning-up process was much harder work than just killing people, unfortunately.

Eddie went to the fridge and was pleased to find a can of lager. ‘Cheers, you little gyppo cunt,’ he toasted, as he sat down on the old sofa.

Sipping his beer, Eddie took a good look at the surroundings. ‘So this is how pikeys live, is it?’ he said cuttingly.

Smirking, Eddie slurped his beer. Frankie wouldn’t thank him for a while, but he had literally saved his daughter from a life of hell. Any man in his position would have done the same as he had. Every father in the world only wants the best for their daughter, don’t they?

As the sound of brakes screeched outside, Eddie shot up like a jack-in-the-box. Raymond wasn’t due back yet, so who the fuck was this?

Eddie picked up the machine gun and lifted back the old net curtain. As he saw Raymond running towards him, Eddie guessed there had been a hitch, but still breathed a sigh of relief. Flatnose Freddie would have thought he was taking the right piss if he had turned up with a boot full of bodies instead of just one.

‘What’s up?’ he asked as Raymond let himself in.

‘Where’s Jessica? Have you seen her?’ Raymond asked frantically.

‘Of course I ain’t seen her. She’s round her fucking mother’s,’ Ed replied, looking at him as though he was mental.

‘No, she ain’t. Frankie said she was here, she came to see her,’ Raymond said nervously.

‘Well, she ain’t here now, is she?’ Eddie said, fuming that his wife had gone behind his back.

‘Where’s Jed?’ Raymond asked, as a sudden feeling of dread washed over him.

‘Having a little rest under the bed. Don’t worry, Ray, I’ve put about two hundred bullets in him, so he’s hardly likely to jump out on us,’ Eddie said, laughing.

Raymond yanked open the bedroom door and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a pair of boots poking out from underneath the bed. ‘Thank God. You did see his face, didn’t you, Ed?’ Raymond asked confused. He could have sworn that Jed was barefoot when he had left.

‘You ain’t losing the plot, Ray, are you? You clumped him, he crawled under the bed. I came in, shot the cunt, job done. So what is your problem?’

Raymond felt ill as he turned to Eddie. ‘Ed, Frankie reckons Jess crawled under the bed and was hiding there.’

Eddie stood up. ‘My old woman don’t walk around in dealer boots,’ he said, as he strolled into the bedroom.

Grabbing hold of the ankles, Eddie was shocked as the boots came off in his hand. Seeing a pair of perfectly manicured feet, Eddie sank to his knees. ‘No, no, it can’t be! No!’ he shouted.

Raymond pushed him out of the way, grabbed the legs and dragged the body out. As Eddie screamed out his wife’s name, Raymond started to sob.

‘Jessica, Jessica. I’m so sorry, I love you. Why did you come here? Why?’ Eddie howled, cradling her bullet-ridden body in his arms.

Raymond was too stunned to speak. He could barely believe that his beautiful, vivacious sister was the bloodied corpse he was looking at. Jessica’s body was lacerated beyond recognition. Her beautiful blonde hair was matted with blood and her face looked contorted with shock.

‘Oh my God, Eddie. What have you done?’ Raymond whispered.

Sobbing like a baby, Eddie clung to his wife’s lifeless limbs. Raymond tried to drag Eddie off his sister and, as he did so, Ed started to yelp like a wounded animal. Raymond stared at Jessica’s face once more, then bent over and vomited.

As Raymond’s gun fell out of his pocket, Eddie immediately picked it up. Without Jessica, his life was nothing and he knew he could never forgive himself or get over what he had done. ‘It’s all right, darling. I’ll look after you and our baby. I’m coming with you,’ he said, as he pointed the gun towards his temple.

‘No, Ed! No!’ Raymond yelled, as he lunged towards Eddie.

Outside in the car, Frankie was still tied up. She was frightened, thirsty and desperate to know what was going on. As she heard the gunshot echo in the wind, she let out a piercing scream.

‘Jed! Mum! Where are you?’ she sobbed.

Raymond crouched down. He had managed to knock the gun away from his brother-in-law’s head, but it had still gone off and had whizzed through Eddie’s shoulder. ‘Stay with me, Ed. I’m calling an ambulance right now,’ Raymond urged him.

Eddie lay moaning and groaning. He was conscious, but not really with it. ‘Let me die. I want to die,’ he muttered.

Ignoring his pal’s wishes, Raymond dialled 999. ‘Get me an ambulance. Two people have been shot,’ he yelled, as the woman asked him which service he wanted.

Taking off his jacket, Raymond laid it over his sister’s mutilated body. ‘I love you, Jess,’ he said, tears rolling down his face.

Knowing that the police were going to have a field day, Raymond’s instincts kicked in and he ran outside to untie Frankie.

‘What’s happened? Is Jed alive?’ his niece screamed.

By now Frankie was absolutely hysterical and Raymond had never felt so guilty in his life as he tried to calm her down. ‘Jed’s fine, he got away. Now listen Frankie, and listen carefully. The police and ambulance will be here in a minute. You say nothing to them, OK? All I’m gonna say is me and you drove over here to look for your mum.’