The Traitor

Alice chuckled. ‘Because I do. Now listen to me, I know you ain’t got your own mum to help out, but I want you to know I’ll be there for you every step of the way. I’ll teach you everything you need to know, and between me and you, that little girl will want for nothing.’

Frankie nodded dumbly.

Alice took another gulp of wine, then continued. ‘If you ever wanna talk to your mum, you just ask me, and I’ll sort it. I speak to the dead on a regular basis, you know. People come from all over to see me. It’s a gift, Frankie, a special gift.’

When Shannon walked back in, Frankie was actually pleased to see her. ‘I won’t be a minute, I’m just going to the toilet,’ she said as she ran out the room.

Frankie locked the bathroom door and put her head in her hands. Alice had given her the heebies. Thinking of her own mother, Frankie began to cry. She had never truly appreciated her when she was alive, but she did now. Feeling extremely disturbed by Alice’s comments, Frankie stared at the ceiling. ‘Mum, if you’re up there and you can see or hear me, I just want you to know that I miss you and I love you very much,’ she whispered.

Jed’s arrival stopped her from saying any more. ‘You in there, Frankie? Are you OK?’ he shouted.

‘Won’t be a sec,’ Frankie replied.

Wiping her eyes with toilet paper, Frankie quickly pulled herself together. Her mum was dead, her dad was in prison, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change that. As she unlocked the bathroom door, Jed took her in his arms.

‘I’ve finished playing cards now, so shall we go back to the trailer?’

Frankie clung to him. The whole get-together had been horrific from start to finish. The company, the conversation, and even Alice’s lamb stew had all left a bitter taste in her mouth. Jed’s family were not her type of people and, to put it bluntly, Frankie couldn’t get away from them quickly enough.

Raymond checked his watch as he sat in the restaurant with Polly and her family. He couldn’t be too long, it wasn’t fair on Joey. He had popped in to see his dad earlier and had begged him to return to the house in Rainham, but Stanley was having none of it.

‘You should have heard the things she said to me, Raymond. I hate to say it, but your mother is a wicked, vicious woman, with a tongue like acid. I want no more to do with her. She’s never supported me, all she’s ever done is put me down, and if it weren’t for her encouraging Jess to marry Eddie in the first place, your sister would still be alive.’

Surprised by the change in his usually mild-mannered father, Raymond had left shortly afterwards. Polly was ignoring his calls, and he needed to make things OK with her. His girlfriend had been delighted when he’d turned up unexpectedly at the restaurant. He’d been too late for the meal – they’d already eaten – but even so, Polly had made a real fuss of him.

Squeezing Polly’s hand now, Raymond smiled at her. ‘I’m gonna have to make a move soon, babe. I can’t leave Joey alone with Mum for too long.’

Polly was well over her earlier strop. ‘I understand, but thanks for coming, Ray. It means such a lot to me.’

Raymond said his goodbyes to her family and urged Polly to follow him outside, where he kissed her tenderly. ‘Keep Saturday free. I’ve got a nice surprise for you,’ he whispered.

Polly smiled. She just loved Raymond’s surprises.

Aware of his nan screaming obscenities and her footsteps plodding down the stairs, Joey was frozen to the armchair. His uncle Raymond said he wouldn’t be long, but he’d been gone for almost three hours.

As Joyce threw open the living-room door, Buster and Bruno cowered in the corner. They might be Rottweilers, but they were no match for Joyce.

Seeing the look on his nan’s face, Joey’s voice shook. ‘Are you OK, Nan?’ he stuttered. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘OK? OK? Do I look fucking OK?’ Joyce screamed.

Petrified, the dogs legged it out of the room, quickly followed by Joey. His hands were shaking as he dialled his uncle Raymond’s number. Unfortunately, for Joey, Raymond’s mobile was switched off.

‘Stop it, Nan, stop it,’ he screamed, as he heard the glass and china being smashed.

Joey peeped round the door and saw that she was trashing the room. ‘Please don’t do that, Nan. You’re really frightening me,’ he begged.

Joyce took no notice. Her eyes were glazed and she was away with the fairies. ‘Look at this photo, with your grandad and your father in it. Both arseholes!’ she screamed, jumping up and down on the frame.

Worried for his own safety and that of the dogs, Joey picked up the phone and dialled 999.

‘You have to help me. My nan’s smashing the house up, she’s gone loopy,’ he cried.

CHAPTER FIVE

Eddie Mitchell sat alone in the prison canteen. He was fully aware that he was the centre of attention and that a lot of the lags were gossiping about him. He didn’t care, though, they could say what they liked, as long as they left him alone.

‘Do you mind if I sit ’ere, Ed?’

Ed looked up and nodded at Bertie Simms to sit down. Bertie had been good friends with Ed’s dad, Harry, and Eddie remembered him coming to the house regularly when he was a kid.

‘How you doing, Ed? I’m so sorry to hear about what happened.’

Eddie nodded and carried on eating his breakfast.

‘How’s Gary and Ricky doing?’ Bertie asked, not knowing what else to say.

‘All right. They’re coming up to see me later today. They’ve took over the business for me. They’ll do a good job, they’re good lads.’

Seeing Big Bald Baz and his cronies sniggering at them two tables away, Bertie leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. ‘Listen, Ed, I think you should know that Baz, your cellmate, has been taking the right piss out of ya behind your back. He’s been telling everyone that you’ve lost the plot, mate. Reckon’s he’s gonna do you in the shower room with a tool, he does. I heard him saying some terrible stuff about your Jessica the other day, and he was also taking the piss about your old man being murdered.’

Eddie digested the information, but said nothing. Inside he was fuming. How dare anyone say stuff about his beautiful wife, or his poor old dad? Couldn’t people just let them rest in peace?

‘We go back years me and you, Ed. I know what happened must be fucking awful for ya, but I also know you’re no man’s fool. Don’t let some shitbag like Baz mug you off. If you do, we both know that there’s many others in here waiting to jump on the bandwagon. Take my advice – sort it out before it’s too late.’

Eddie’s eyes wandered to the table where the laughter was coming from. He briefly locked eyes with Big Bald Baz, then quickly looked away. It was in that split second that Ed felt the fire return to his belly. He’d get through his stretch – he had to. He was Eddie Mitchell, for fuck’s sake.

Frankie sat nervously in the Albion pub. She hadn’t seen Joey since the night she’d left home, and she was both anxious and excited. She’d rung the house this morning praying that her brother would answer and, as luck would have it, he had.

‘Can you talk? It’s me,’ she’d asked cautiously.

At the sound of his sister’s voice, Joey had burst into tears. ‘It’s been awful here without you, Frankie. Nanny’s gone off her rocker and I’m so unhappy.’

Frankie told him to meet her at the pub at one o’clock and to pack some of her clothes in a sports bag. She also told him to charge up her mobile and bring the phone and her charger with him. ‘Oh, and Joey, don’t forget my new trainers, the Adidas ones.’

Because his uncle Raymond had come into the room, Joey abruptly ended the phone call. ‘I’ll see you at one then, Wesley,’ he’d lied. Raymond would have gone apeshit if he had known Joey was helping Frankie out. He blamed her and Jed for Jessica’s death and everything else that had happened since.

As soon as Joey walked into the boozer, Jed stood up.

‘I’ll leave yous two to it. Ring me when you want picking up,’ he told Frankie.

As Jed left, Frankie and Joey clung to each other.

‘I’ve missed you so much,’ Joey said, his eyes brimming with tears.

Aware that some of the pub regulars were staring their way, Frankie pulled away from her brother and sat down.

‘Did you bring everything I asked for?’ she asked, nodding towards the sports bag.

‘The only thing I couldn’t find was your Fila tracksuit top. I brought everything else, though.’

Frankie thanked him and went to get them both a drink. ‘Where’s my phone?’ she asked, as she handed Joey his vodka.

Joey found it for her, then launched into the story of their nan. ‘She just went bananas, Frankie. You wanna see what she did to Grandad’s pigeon shed. The doctor came and sedated her, but while Raymond was out she woke up again. She started smashing up the house and I was petrified.’

‘How is she now?’ Frankie asked genuinely concerned.

‘I don’t really know. I rang the police and they rang an ambulance. Ray had come back by the time the paramedics arrived. She was like a woman possessed, lashing out at everyone. She wouldn’t get in the ambulance, and I think they had to hold her down and give her an injection. I wasn’t there when they took her. I got a bit upset, so Ray sent me upstairs with the dogs.’

‘So, who’s staying with you now?’ Frankie asked. She was feeling more guilty by the minute for leaving Joey.

‘Ray and Grandad have been taking it in turns to stay at the house with me. Grandad wants me to live in Upney with him, but I don’t wanna leave the house. I hate Upney and I’ve got no friends over that way.’

Frankie nodded understandingly. She couldn’t believe that her grandparents had split up after all these years and, as for her nan going mad, the whole situation felt surreal. ‘Go and order us some more drinks and some food. I’ll have a quarter pounder with cheese and chips,’ she told her brother, handing him one of the twenty-pound notes Jed had given her.

As he walked away, Frankie grabbed her phone. Joey needed help and support, and if she couldn’t be there for him, maybe Dominic could. She punched in Dom’s number and held the phone to her ear. He answered on the second ring.

‘I read what happened to your mum in the papers. I’m so sorry, Frankie. I was going to call Joey, but I was afraid he wouldn’t want to talk to me,’ Dominic said.

‘Joey still loves you, Dominic, and he needs you. I know what my dad did to you was awful, but you haven’t got to worry about him now, he’ll be locked up for years to come.’

Dominic didn’t know what to do for the best. He still loved Joey, but was petrified of his father, even though he was inside. Eddie Mitchell had given him many a nightmare. Suppose he had spies on the outside and they tried to finish off what Eddie had begun? ‘I’m not sure, Frankie. Say your dad gets someone to finish off the job he started the last time?’

‘He won’t,’ Frankie replied confidently. ‘My dad’s life is in tatters, Dom. You and Joey’s relationship are the least of his problems right now.’

Aware that Joey was being served at the bar, Frankie knew she had to hurry things up. ‘Listen Dom, Joey and I are having lunch in the Albion as we speak. Can you meet up with us?’

Dominic’s feelings for Joey were far too strong for him to decline. ‘OK, I’ll order a cab and be there within the hour.’

Raymond and Stanley sat in a relatives’ room at Warley Hospital. The name of the place made it sound normal, but both Ray and Stan knew it was anything but. The wails and screams coming from different directions were enough to let anybody know that the place was actually a nuthouse.

Joyce had been admitted only yesterday. She’d originally been taken to Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, but the nurses hadn’t been able to control her mood swings. In the middle of the night, Joyce started shouting and bawling and, after numerous complaints from the other patients and their families, she had been moved over to Warley.

As Ray and Stan sat opposite one another, neither of them spoke. Both were deep in thought and neither had much to say to the other.

‘Mr Smith, the doctors have examined your wife now, so you can go and sit with her if you want. If she’s woozy, don’t worry, it will just be the medication she’s been prescribed.’

Stanley walked into the room where Joyce lay, and was immediately consumed with both anger and guilt. His Joycie was usually glammed up to the nines, and would never be seen dead without her lippy on. Today she looked old, pale and thin, a shadow of the woman he knew so well. Leaning towards her, Stanley clocked her vacant expression.

‘Hello Joycie. Raymond and I have brought you some fruit and some chocolates,’ he said.

Joyce stared at the ceiling. Her body was OK, but her mind had drifted off to another planet. Turning her head, she looked blankly at Stanley, then turned away again. With one tear running down her cheek, Joyce shut her eyes and went back to sleep.

Eddie walked into the visiting room and spotted Gary and Ricky at once. ‘All right? How’s tricks?’ he asked them.

Both Gary and Ricky immediately noticed an improvement in their father’s manner and appearance.

‘We’re fine, Dad. Business is booming. What about you?’ Ricky asked.

Eddie shrugged. ‘I’m OK. Just gotta get on with it, ain’t I? How did the funeral go?’

Ricky nudged Gary. ‘Yeah, OK. Ray sent some lovely flowers from you and a lot of your old pals showed up to pay their respects. All in all, Jessica had a lovely send-off,’ Gary lied. He could hardly tell his old man that Jed and Jimmy O’Hara had turned up, causing Ronny to kick off and the service to be cut short. That would do his father’s improvement no good at all.

‘How’s Joey and Frankie?’ Eddie asked.

Ricky glanced at Gary. They’d already decided to come clean about Frankie moving in with Jed. Gary looked at the floor as he spoke. ‘Frankie’s gone, Dad. She’s living down on O’Hara’s land with Jed. Do you want us to have a chat with her? See if we can make her see sense?’

Eddie shook his head. Everything that had happened was down to his daughter’s stupidity. Frankie had made her own bed, so let her fucking lie in it. ‘Leave her be. She’ll realise her mistake one day and come crawling up here to visit me with her tail between her legs.’

‘Joycie ain’t well. Ray rang up last night. She’s gone off her rocker, by all accounts,’ Ricky said.

‘Whaddya mean?’ Ed asked, surprised. He’d always liked poor old Joycie. She’d stuck up for him over the years, especially to Stanley, who had always despised him.

‘Apparently, she just went loopy all of a sudden. It all started on the day of the funeral, I think. Ray said Stanley left her the following day and that was when she lost it completely,’ Gary chipped in.

Eddie felt terrible. There was nothing he could do to bring Jessica back, but he had to try and make amends to Joycie somehow.

‘Listen boys, I want you to do me a favour. I want you to go and see Joycie and tell her how sorry I am for what has happened. I know she’s been stopping at the house and I’m gonna sign it over to her as a way of apology. Tell her I’ll sort a solicitor out, I’ll have a word with Larry. He’ll deal with the legal stuff and I’ll sign the deeds over to her.’

‘Are you sure, Dad? The house is worth a fortune,’ Ricky asked him, perplexed.

‘What about the twins?’ Gary said agitated.

Ed couldn’t even bring himself to think about the twins. Frankie was now shacked up with O’Hara’s scumbag son, and Joey liked sucking men’s cocks.

‘Fuck the pair of ’em,’ Eddie said bluntly. ‘And so what if the house is worth an arm and a leg? I’ve got all your grandfather’s money for when I get out, ain’t I? I ain’t mucking about, lads. I’ve made my mind up and I want Joycie to have that house.’

Back in Rainham, Frankie had just eaten dessert and her eyes were firmly fixed on the door.

‘Whaddya keep looking at? Jed ain’t coming back yet, is he?’ Joey asked, annoyed. He hadn’t seen his sister for Christ knows how long and she wasn’t even listening to him properly.

‘No, Jed’s not coming back. I promised you that he wouldn’t be here with us and I meant it,’ Frankie said honestly.

Joey smiled. ‘So, how are you getting on, living together? Have you met all of his family yet?’ Joey pried.

‘I’m happy living with Jed, he treats me really well. As for his family, his dad’s OK, but I’m not sure about the rest of them. His mum’s very overpowering – she does my head in. I met one of his brothers the other night and I didn’t like him at all. His name’s Billy, and he’s married to this girl called Shannon, who was just awful. I put me foot right in it, Joey. She had this massive fat gut, and I only asked her when the baby was due.’

‘So?’ Joey said, urging her to carry on.

‘Well, it turns out that she was just fat and wasn’t even pregnant. She hated me from that moment onwards.’

‘So, why don’t you like his mum? What’s overpowering about her?’

Frankie was about to answer, when she clocked Dominic and waved.

‘Who you bloody waving to? Frankie, I’m talking to you,’ Joey said, annoyed.

As soon as Dominic arrived at the table, Frankie excused herself. ‘I think yous two have stuff to talk about, so I’m going outside to make a few phone calls.’

Joey looked up and immediately felt his body shake. Dominic was gorgeous, even sexier than he’d remembered. ‘All right? Let me get you a drink, Dom,’ he said awkwardly.

Noticing that Joey’s hands were unsteady. Dominic offered to do the honours for him. ‘You sit there. I’ll order us a bottle of wine.’

Outside the pub, Frankie was an interested spectator. The boys had been laughing and joking for over half an hour now. Frankie smiled as she ended the phone call to her friend Stacey. Dominic had just held Joey’s hand, which meant her plan was obviously working.

Back inside the pub, Dominic stared into Joey’s innocent eyes. ‘It can’t be like before, Joey. If we’re gonna make a go of this, I’d like us to move in together.’

Joey was ecstatic. Dominic was the only person in the world who could help him recover from the trauma of his mum’s death. ‘I’ll move in with you tomorrow if you want me to,’ he told Dom.

Dominic suddenly remembered Eddie Mitchell again. ‘What about your dad though, Joey? I know he’s in prison, but say he sends one of his henchmen around the flat? He might even send your uncle or your brothers round to finish off what he tried to do last time.’

Joey clenched Dominic’s hand. ‘I’m finished with my dad and so is Frankie. I can come out now he’s locked up. Everything about us can be out in the open. My dad won’t bother us again, I just know he won’t. How could he even say or do anything, after what he did to my mum?’

‘Are you sure? I really don’t want any more trouble,’ Dominic said cautiously.

‘I’m absolutely positive.’

Dominic leaned forward and, not caring about anybody else in the pub, gently kissed Joey on the lips. ‘I’ve missed you so much,’ he said to the beautiful blond boy who had stolen his heart.

Over at Warley Hospital, Stanley was sitting alone with his wife. Raymond had left a couple of hours ago, which had given him plenty of thinking time. Joycie was still fast asleep, and as Stanley checked her breathing yet again, he smiled to see her chest rise in a steady rhythm.

Deep down, Stanley knew that he would always love his wife, whether she loved him or not. As she opened her eyes, Stanley gently held her hand. ‘How are you feeling, Joycie? You’ve had a nice long sleep, my love.’

Joyce indicated that her throat was dry, so Stanley held the paper cup to her mouth and urged her to sip some water. As she laid her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, Stanley spoke honestly and kindly to her.

‘I’m so sorry for leaving you, Joycie. This is all my fault, darling, but I want you to know that I still love you and from now on, whatever happens, I’ll look after you and help you get better.’

Joyce turned towards him. She was too weak to sit up properly. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘I’m ever so sorry for smashing up your pigeon shed, and even though I don’t always show it, I do love you too, Stanley Smith.’

CHAPTER SIX

Joycie seemed to recover quickly after her reconciliation with Stanley, and a month later the doctors gave her the go-ahead to return home. She had suffered some kind of nervous breakdown, which the doctors said wasn’t uncommon after the death of a child.

Joyce spent her last morning at the hospital sitting on an armchair by the window reading the Daily Mail. Stanley and Raymond were coming to collect her and were due to arrive soon. As the sun beat down through the glass, Joyce put down her paper and sat deep in thought. She still missed her daughter dreadfully, but after her recent illness, she knew that her own life had to go on. She felt much better mentally and physically since the doctors had taken her off those awful bloody tablets. They had turned her into a zombie, and the more her dosage was reduced, the better she had started to feel.

Watching two sparrows splashing about in a bird bath, Joycie smiled. She couldn’t wait to get back to the house in Rainham and its beautiful garden, soon to be her own. Gary and Ricky had come to visit her last week, explaining Eddie’s wishes.

‘Me dad is in bits and he can’t apologise enough for what happened, Joycie. He loved your Jess and he’ll never forgive himself for the awful mistake he made. Anyway, he wants you to have the house. He said signing it over to you is the least he can do,’ Gary told her.

Joyce had been stunned and hadn’t known what to say or do. ‘I need to discuss this with my Stanley and Raymond. Can you pop back tomorrow, boys? And I’ll let you know my decision then,’ she said.

Stanley had gone apeshit. ‘Can’t you see what the bastard’s trying to do, Joycie? He’s trying to ease his own guilt by buying us. Tell him to stick his house where the sun don’t shine.’

Keen for his parents to have a better life, Raymond disagreed and had a long chat with his father. ‘Look, Dad, your ex-council house must be worth a fair old lump sum. If you take Ed up on his offer, you can sell that and live the life of Riley. I know how you feel about Eddie, but for once you wanna think about your own well-being. For all Ed’s faults, we both know that he adored Jessica, and he didn’t mean to do what he did. If you let him sign the house over to Mum, you and her will be set up for the rest of your lives. You’ll never have to worry about money again. Even though you don’t agree, you’ve gotta think of Mum. She loves that house and it makes her feel close to Jessica. Knowing that she owns it will help her recovery no end.’

‘But what about all the memories, Raymond? Every time I walk in the kitchen, I picture Jessica standing at that cooker.’

Raymond put a comforting arm around his father’s shoulder. ‘Decorate the place so it don’t look the same. Take my advice, Dad, take Eddie up on the offer.’

Joycie was snapped out of her daydream by the arrival of her husband and son. ‘There you are. I’ve been ready and waiting for you for over an hour.’

Stanley smiled. Joycie’s moaning only proved to him that his wife was on the mend. ‘Hold me arm, Joycie,’ he ordered her.

Joyce glared at him. ‘I’m not an invalid, you silly old goat. I’m quite capable of walking, you know. Now pick up that case, Stanley, and hurry up and get me out of this godforsaken loony bin.’

Eddie Mitchell smiled as he placed the file in his sock. Tomorrow was the big day, and he couldn’t wait to wipe the smiles off the faces of Big Bald Baz and his dickhead mates.

Ed had found an inner strength over the last few weeks, and had eased himself into the prison system. He’d even made friends with a young screw called Johnny, who was easily won over.

Obviously, he never stopped thinking of his beautiful wife, but as the weeks had passed, the tears and pain had now turned into anger and a stomach full of revenge. One day Jed O’Hara would pay for what he had made him do, Eddie would make sure of it.