The Traitor

Frankie sank to her knees. Jed loved her sucking him off and she had some serious grovelling to do. Jed held Frankie’s head and thrust himself as far as he could down the back of her throat. As she began to choke, he grinned. That’d teach her to fucking snoop.

Joyce took the last of the sausage rolls off the baking tray and carefully arranged them on the silver platter. She had been cooking, baking and preparing all day and at last she was finally finished. Joyce prided herself on her homemaking and culinary skills. Today she had made a special effort because her friends, Rita and Hilda, were coming over.

The house had now been officially signed over to Joyce. Even though the circumstances were horrific, Joyce was thrilled finally to own such a wonderful property. Of course, she’d swap it for her old house in Upney tomorrow if it brought her Jessica back, but Joyce had to face facts: Jessica was gone for good, bless her soul.

Joyce had added her own touches to the property in the last couple of weeks. She had painted the hallway a different colour, replaced the kitchen table for a smaller one and she’d had a beautiful picture of Jessica blown up and framed, which now took centre stage on the main wall in the lounge.

Glancing at the kitchen clock, Joyce decided it was time she started getting ready. Not only were her friends coming tonight, but also Joey, Dominic and Stan’s mate, Jock.

After the initial shock of discovering that her grandson was gay, Joyce had now embraced the fact. So what if Joey was different? There were many actors, singers and politicians who were the same way, and even one of the Kray twins was rumoured to be gay.

Joyce had purchased a book, read up on the subject, then digested and accepted homosexual culture. She hadn’t told Stanley that Joey and Dominic were coming tonight. Her husband was an old-fashioned old fart and if he’d known their grandson was bringing his boyfriend over, he wouldn’t have invited Jock.

Joyce smiled as she admired her new red frock. Tonight she would show off her new house and also tell everybody that Joey and Dominic were a couple. Being open was the only way forward and Joyce was sure that once her friends accepted the boys’ sexuality, then so would Stanley.

Eddie, Stuart and Bertie Simms were glued to the screen. An old western was on the telly and the film was the bollocks. Bertie nudged Ed as he spotted one of Barry Macarthy’s mates heading their way.

It was now common knowledge among the lags that Big Bald Baz had completely lost his eyesight. It was also common knowledge that he was seriously depressed and suicidal.

Annoyed that he’d been interrupted while watching such a good movie, Eddie glared at Baz’s mate. ‘What?’ he asked sarcastically.

‘I thought you should know – Baz’s dead. He slit his wrists this morning with a razor blade.’

Eddie nodded, then casually looked back at the telly. As Baz’s mate left the room, Ed turned to Stuart and Bert. ‘It’s a miracle the fat cunt could find the razor blade or his fucking wrists. I thought he was meant to be as blind as a bat,’ he said in a deadpan voice.

Tickled by Ed’s comments, both Stuart and Bertie Simms burst out laughing.

Frankie smiled politely at Jimmy O’Hara as he explained to her that he was breaking in a new horse. She didn’t have a clue what he was talking about so, rather than be rude or come across as thick, she decided to nod her head at appropriate moments.

‘You need to be brutal with ’em, Frankie. Show ’em who’s boss. Did you know that a horse has a brain the size of a pea?’

When Alice and Jed walked into the room, Frankie was relieved. It was obvious that Jimmy had had a couple of beers too many and he was nigh on boring her to death.

Alice smiled as she put the plate of sandwiches in front of Frankie. ‘Help yourself, darling.’

‘Oh, I’m fine thanks, Alice. Me and Jed went to Pizza Hut this afternoon. I still feel stuffed.’

‘You’re eating for two, Frankie. You need to keep your strength up for that chavvie of yours. Now, eat,’ she demanded, as she lifted the plate off the table and thrust it in front of Frankie’s nose.

Not at all hungry, Frankie felt obliged to take a couple of sandwiches and nibble at them. Even though Alice had stopped the cookery lessons, Frankie still found her very domineering and scary. She hadn’t mentioned this to Jed. At the end of the day, Alice was his mum and she would hate to hurt his feelings.

Jed and Jimmy were now deep in conversation so, swallowing a mouthful of her sandwich, Frankie desperately tried to think of something to say to Alice. Not having much in common with the woman, she decided to concentrate on the terrible car accident that Jed’s cousin had been involved in the day before.

‘Terrible news about Billy, wasn’t it, Alice? Jed’s been so upset,’ she said.

Alice was confused. ‘What, my Billy? What you on about?’

Frankie shook her head. Names were very confusing in travelling families, as they always seemed to call their children by the same few. Billy, Tommy, Stevie, Jack and Sammy seemed to be the most common. Jed had at least twenty members of his family with those names.

‘Sammy’s brother, Billy. You know, the one who’s in intensive care, who nearly lost his leg,’ Frankie said innocently.

Clocking the words ‘Billy’, ‘leg’ and ‘intensive care’, Jed grabbed Frankie’s arm and quickly dragged her from the room.

‘Jed, you’re hurting me. What’s the matter?’ Frankie asked bemused.

Away from his parents’ eyes and ears, Jed turned to her. ‘Me mum and dad don’t know about me cousin Billy, Frankie.’

‘What do you mean they don’t know? I thought you said that all your family were up the hospital with you. I knew your mum and dad weren’t, as I saw their lights on last night, but surely someone must have told them.’

Jed paused. He was good at making up stories and quickly thought of his answer. ‘Me cousin Billy ain’t on me mum’s side of the family. We wanted to tell her and Dad, but because we thought that Billy might die last night, we decided it was best not to. You gotta remember, Frankie, it weren’t long ago that me mum miscarried and lost the chavvie. You weren’t living here at the time, but her and me dad were distraught. Billy being at death’s door would have brought it all back to them and I love my parents, Frankie, I can’t have ’em upset again.’

Frankie couldn’t apologise enough. Jed was the most thoughtful person she had ever met and she had such a big mouth. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said, as she clung to him.

Jed kissed her on the forehead. ‘It ain’t your fault, babe. I should have explained the situation to you. Don’t worry, I’ll make up some story to me mum, she won’t be none the wiser.’

‘Are you sure she won’t know, Jed? I’d feel terrible if I’ve put my big foot in it. I wouldn’t upset your mum or dad for the world.’

Jed looked at Frankie’s worried expression and smiled. When they’d first met, Frankie had thought she was a match for his cleverness. She’d obviously rated herself far too highly, bless her.

Joycie had had a wonderful evening. Joey and Dominic had both been entertaining and charismatic. Hilda and Rita were gobsmacked when she’d given them a full guided tour of the house, then told them it was now all hers. They’d seen the house on the day of Jessica’s funeral, but they’d never seen the upstairs before and they were really impressed with the size of the bedrooms.

Jock and Stanley had talked pigeons most of the night, but this didn’t bother Joyce for once. She was a bit tiddly, happy in a strange sort of way, and decided it was each to their own. The words hen or cock usually grated on her, but they didn’t seem to bother her at all this evening.

Returning from the lavatory, Joyce sat back down in her chair. Joey and Dominic looked really happy together and now she’d got her head around their unusual situation, she was thrilled for them. She topped up her glass and stood up.

‘I have an announcement to make, everybody,’ she said, tapping her glass with a spoon.

Stanley, who had been busy talking to Jock, quickly realised that his wife was drunk. ‘Sit down, Joycie. Don’t make a show of yourself,’ he said, tugging the sleeve of her dress.

Joycie ignored him. She’d read up on homosexuality and she was ready to give her speech on the matter. ‘I want to tell you about my grandson, Joey,’ she said proudly.

Hilda, Rita and Jock all nodded. Guessing what was coming, Dominic squeezed Joey’s hand under the table.

Stanley stood up. ‘Come on, Joyce, let’s get you to bed, love,’ he said, thoroughly embarrassed. It was obvious where this conversation was leading.

Joyce pushed his hand away. She smiled at Joey and Dominic before continuing. ‘Last week, or was it the week before – I can’t remember? – but my grandson Joey brought Dominic over here for a meal.’

As his nan paused to slurp some more wine, Joey looked nervously at his grandad. Joey was extremely proud of what he was, but he hadn’t expected this showcase.

With her glass now empty, Joyce poured a refill and carried on. ‘I want everybody here tonight to know something very important. My grandson Joey is a gay man and I couldn’t be happier about it.’

Hilda, Rita and Jock sat open-mouthed as Joycie ordered both Joey and Dominic to stand up. ‘Tell ’em you’re gay, Joey. Go on Dominic, tell ’em you’re both homosexuals,’ she ordered.

Extremely embarrassed, Joey and Dominic looked at one another in horror.

‘Go on tell ’em. I’ve been reading up on the subject and there’s nothing to be ashamed of. One of the Krays was gay and so was that John Inman, you know, he was in that programme, Are You Being Served? Then there was Larry Grayson and Rock Hudson. You tell ’em, boys; there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’

Dominic was the first to speak. ‘Yes, I am gay,’ he said awkwardly, not knowing where to look.

Joyce patted Joey on the arm. ‘Come on, love. Stand up and be proud. Tell ’em you like a bit of willy.’

‘For fuck’s sake, Joycie,’ Stanley shouted. How could she show him up like this in front of Jock?

Joyce ignored her husband’s pleas and began to cackle. She’d just thought of something extremely funny. She pointed at both Stanley and Jock.

‘Yous two have more in common with these boys than you think. All you ever do is talk about your cocks. And you’re always playing with one another’s.’

As Stanley bolted from the room, Joycie pulled her grandson out of his chair. ‘Now that miserable old goat’s sodded off, you can tell everyone, Joey.’

By this time Joey was as red as a beetroot. ‘I’m gay,’ he whispered.

Clapping her hands with delight, Joyce broke into song. ‘Congratulations and celebrations,’ she sang gleefully.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

‘You’re popular, Mitchell,’ the screw said as he waved a pile of letters in front of Eddie.

The post had been up the creek for well over a week now and all the inmates had been up in arms about it. At a time like Christmas, receiving cards and letters was the only thing to keep some of the lags going. One poor sod had hung himself two days ago because he hadn’t heard a word from his wife.

Ed snatched at the letters. ‘Now, now, Mitchell. Where’s your manners? Say thank you.’

Desperate for some correspondence with the outside world, Eddie begrudgingly mumbled the word ‘thanks’. He hated Carter, the new screw on his wing. He was a cocky fucker and seemed to get a kick out of winding the inmates up. Unfortunately for Ed, he hadn’t seen young Johnny or Fred since the day he’d attacked Big Baz. Word had it that both had been suspended, then moved to another wing.

Eddie had the cell all to himself as Stuart was at a meeting with his brief. Feeling excited, Ed studied the envelopes and put the letters in order. He knew who most of them were from by the handwriting or postcode, but there were two or three he didn’t recognise at all.

He read the two sent from his uncles first. Neither Reg nor Albert ever seemed to have much of interest to say, but he still enjoyed receiving their letters. In prison, any contact with the outside world was better than none.

Eddie immediately recognised the handwriting on the next two he opened. Both his Aunts, Vi and Joan, had become a bit shaky in their old age and their writing stood out like a sore thumb. Ed laughed out loud as he read what Joan had written about her recent visit. Reg had brought her up to see him last week and Eddie had happened to mention how much he hated Carter, the new screw on his wing.

When the bell rang, Carter had picked on Eddie first.

‘Come on, say goodbye, Mitchell. Visiting time’s over,’ he yelled.

‘Why don’t you fuck off? I ain’t going nowhere until everyone else has gone,’ Auntie Joan shouted back.

Furious, Carter tried to grab her arm and march her out. Auntie Joan was having none of it. ‘Don’t you dare touch me! Get off me, you fucking nonce-case,’ she screamed, as she booted him in the shin.

‘You keep your chin up, Ed, don’t let these bastards grind you down,’ Joan yelled, as she marched out of the building with her head held high.

All the other lags had pissed themselves laughing. None of them liked Carter and they thought Eddie’s Auntie Joan was the bollocks. Joan had been the talk of the prison for the next few days. Ed was only a nipper when his mum died, and his aunt had all but brought him up. Joanie had always been a real card, and Eddie had great pleasure entertaining the other lags with stories of his childhood.

Putting Joan’s letter back in its envelope, Ed opened the next one. It was from his pal, Dougie.

Hi Ed,

I hope you’re doing OK, mate. Sorry I haven’t been in touch for a while, but as you can imagine, life gets pretty hectic this time of year. Anyway, I wanted to be the first to tell you that Vicki gave birth to a little girl last weekend. She was adamant we call her Jessica – I didn’t get a say in the matter.

As Ed’s eyes welled up, he screwed up the letter. He couldn’t read the rest; it was far too upsetting for him. Jessica would have been blooming herself by now and they would have had a wonderful Christmas this year. Jess was so full of plans for the new baby, God rest her soul. Overcome by emotion, Ed turned over, lay flat on his mattress and sobbed his heart out.

Over in icy Rainham, Joyce was all of a fluster as she prepared for the arrival of Polly’s parents.

Raymond and Polly had arranged their wedding for June next year and, with the parents not having yet met, Raymond had reluctantly agreed to Joyce inviting her soon-to-be in-laws over on Christmas Eve.

As soon as her husband walked into the room, Joyce put her hands on her hips. ‘What have you got on? You’re not wearing that, Stanley. I thought I told you to put your nice grey suit on. Polly’s parents are upper class, for goodness’ sake!’

Stanley for once argued his point. ‘This is my best shirt and trousers, Joycie. I feel ridiculous wearing a suit indoors. Can’t I just wear this?’

Joyce shook her head vehemently. ‘I won’t have you embarrassing me in front of Polly’s parents. Now go and put that suit on. I’ve bought you a new red tie, so make sure you wear that as well.’

Annoyed, Stanley punched the wall as he trudged upstairs. ‘I preferred you when you were ill, you fucking old bat,’ he mumbled.

A few hundred yards down the road, Frankie’s day was going from bad to worse. Jed’s father always threw a big party on Christmas Eve and Frankie was absolutely dreading it.

‘Frankie, take these sandwiches into the other room and then you can help me prepare the meat platters,’ Alice ordered.

Aware that his girlfriend had barely said a word all day, Jed followed her into the lounge. ‘What’s up? You’ve had a face like a smacked arse since you woke up this morning.’

‘I don’t feel up to this party, Jed. Do you mind if I go back to the trailer and have an early night?’

Jed grabbed her arm roughly. He was getting sick of Frankie’s black moods. ‘You’re my girlfriend and you’ll stay ’ere and make an effort with my family and friends. My mum and dad have fallen over backwards to make you feel welcome and all you do is throw their kindness back in their faces. Well, I ain’t putting up with it no more, so you’d best start pulling your fucking socks up.’

As Jed let go of her arm and stormed from the room, Frankie ran to the toilet and locked the door. She felt so lonely. She couldn’t even ring Joey, because he was at his work’s Christmas party. Frankie sat on the toilet seat and cried. Memories of Christmases with her mum and dad came flooding back and she wished she could go back in time.

Her mum had always made such a big fuss about Christmas. Frankie used to love it as a child, but over the years she’d felt too old and cool to bother with the preparation or the big day itself.

Frankie guiltily put her head in her hands. Last year, her mum had asked her and Joey to help her with the Christmas shopping and she’d begged them to decorate the tree and the house with her. Both she and Joey had laughed in Jessica’s face. Neither had known it would be their mum’s last Christmas and Frankie now felt full of remorse. She hadn’t appreciated her family life at the time, but after living with Jed’s parents, she bloody well did now.

Her reminiscing was ended by her boyfriend’s angry voice. ‘Frankie, get out ’ere now. You’re meant to be helping my mum,’ he yelled.

Frankie took a deep breath. ‘I’ll be out in five minutes. I’ve just been sick, Jed,’ she lied, as she pulled the chain.

Hearing his footsteps walk away, Frankie checked her eyes in the mirror. They weren’t red and there were no signs that she had been crying. She unlocked the bathroom door. The guests had started to arrive, and their loud, coarse voices could be heard a mile off.

Determined to make Jed happy, Frankie plastered a smile on her face and walked into the kitchen. ‘Sorry about that, Alice, I came over a bit queasy. Now, what can I do to help you?’

Alice patted her arm. ‘You go and sit yourself down with Jed,’ she said kindly. ‘I’m all done here now.’

Jed was sitting in the lounge talking to a couple Frankie had never seen before. ‘You all right, babe?’ he asked, nodding at her to sit down on the sofa next to him.

Frankie smiled and sidled up to him. ‘I feel much better now.’

Jed cuddled her. ‘About time too,’ he whispered sarcastically.

As the Bentley pulled on to the gravel, Joyce clapped her hands in glee. ‘They’re here! Oh, my God, look at the car, Stanley. Thank Christ I made you hide yours.’

Stanley said nothing while Joyce first checked her appearance in the mirror, then ran to answer the door. She looked ridiculous in the full-length blue dress she was wearing. She looked like she was going to a fucking ball. As for making him leave his car at Dougie and Vicki’s house, Stanley was lost for words.

‘We can’t have Polly’s parents thinking that we have no money, Stanley,’ she said. ‘That Sierra of yours is an utter embarrassment, you’ll have to get rid of it for the day.’

As his mother opened the front door, Raymond looked at her in horror. Not only was she speaking like she had a plum in her mouth, she was also dressed as though she was going to a film premiere.

‘Welcome to my home. Do come in,’ Joyce said, adding a little curtsey.

‘Hello. Pleased to meet you,’ Polly’s mum said.

‘All right, sweetheart,’ said Polly’s dad.

Overcome by her own self-importance, it wasn’t until Polly’s parents stepped inside the house that Joyce noticed their clothes. Polly’s dad, Dickie, was the spitting image of the character Boycie out of Only Fools and Horses.

Dickie was wearing blue jeans, tan shoes and a tan leather jacket and instead of sounding extremely upper class, which Joyce had imagined, his voice had a strong south London lilt to it.

Jenny, his wife, also had jeans on. With her knee-high boots, short fur jacket and short blonde hair, she reminded Joycie of the famous singer, Lulu.

Joycie was mortified. She and Stanley were all done up to the nines and Polly’s parents were dressed as if they were off to some seedy strip club.

‘Now, would you like a drink or something?’ Joyce asked in her ultra-posh voice.

Dickie slapped Joyce on the arse and winked at Jenny. ‘I’ll have whatever’s on offer, you little raver!’

Back in south London, Eddie waited until he heard Stuart snoring before he opened the rest of his letters.

It was Johnny, his little mate the screw, who had got hold of a torch for him. Ed wasn’t a great sleeper at the best of times and the torch had proved to be a lifeline for him, because he sometimes read under the covers well into the early hours.

The letter from Dougie earlier had upset Eddie immensely. Doug’s wife, Vicki, had been Jessica’s best friend. Ed had introduced them years ago at a party and they’d been inseparable ever since.

Truth be known, Eddie was honoured that Vicki was naming her child in memory of his wife, but seeing it written in black and white brought everything back that he’d tried so hard to move on from. Over the last couple of months, he’d hardly thought about Jessica’s death, but reading that letter had done him up like a kipper.

Eddie put his hand under his bunk. He’d Sellotaped the torch underneath, so nosy screws like Carter couldn’t find it. He could see that one of the envelopes contained a Christmas card, so he opened that first.

Hello Ed.

Hope you’re doing OK, bruv? I hate the fact we’ve fallen out. We went through so much together and I want to make things right between us. Please send me a VO so I can visit you in the New Year.

Happy Christmas,

Ronny

Ed looked at the front of the card and smiled. Ronny had always had the brains of a rocking horse and only he could send a card with the words ‘May your Christmas be jolly’ scrawled across the front whilst Eddie was sitting in clink for murdering his wife.

Everybody else had just sent letters, apart from two, who had sent cards inscribed ‘Thinking of you’.

Eddie was down to his last two letters now. He knew from the writing and the air-mail sticker that one was from Gary and Ricky, who were currently on holiday, and he decided to save that until last. He loved hearing from his sons. He’d had a right go at them for not telling him that the O’Haras had turned up at Jessica’s funeral. Raymond had made him see sense and Ed had soon after made it up with both of them.

In prison, lots of things got blown out of proportion. Living your life in a goldfish bowl wasn’t exactly easy and lags had far too much time on their hands to mull things over and get paranoid. That’s why that poor sod had hung himself recently when he hadn’t heard from his old woman. The unfortunate bastard had convinced himself that she was having an affair with his brother.

Ed put Gary and Ricky’s envelope to one side and studied the other. The handwriting was kind of unique and professional and the postmark was from Southend-on-Sea. Eddie ripped it open. He had no idea who the letter was from, but guessed by the handwriting that it had to be a woman.

Hi Eddie,

I hope you don’t mind me writing to you, but I just felt that I had to.

Firstly, I would like to say how upset I am by what has happened to you. I understand your predicament more than most as, in a way, I obviously played a big part in it. I have read all the press coverage and I would really like to help you. I am willing to stand up in court on your behalf. I would love to come and visit you so that we can have a proper discussion about this. If you do not want my help and do not reply, I will not think any less of you.

My thoughts are constantly with you.

Take care,

Mrs Smith x

Eddie knew immediately who the letter was from. He’d called himself Mr Smith when he’d hired Gina, the private detective, and he knew that by using the same name, she was talking in code.

He read the letter again. Gina had fancied him rotten – he had known that at the time.