The Schemer

Pam sighed. ‘I suppose I’m just gonna have to take your advice, mate. I’ll let Steph see the boy and hope and pray it’s all over before it started. If it don’t work, we’ll have to think of a Plan B, ’cause as God’s my judge I would rather commit murder than watch my daughter end up with Marlene as a mother-in-law. My life I would.’

CHAPTER NINE

Angela Crouch skipped home from school as happy as a dog with two tails. Getting revenge on her bitch of a sister felt like the best feeling in the world and she couldn’t wait to experience first hand the repercussions of her little chat with Mr Jones. Another reason why Angela was feeling so ecstatic was because she had just had her first snog with Jason O’Brien. He was a much better kisser than Jacko had been, and she had felt Jason’s rock-hard penis rubbing against her thigh. Having now experienced sex in the raw, Angela decided she was rather partial to it and she couldn’t wait to have her wicked way with her new boyfriend. Wayne Jackman was history now, but he had been a learning curve in Angela’s life and she was determined to use the skills he had taught her to keep Jason interested in her.

Angela let herself in with her key and was surprised to see her mum, aunt and neighbour Cathy, sitting in the lounge sipping wine. ‘Bit early, ain’t it? Turning into right alkies, yous lot are,’ she said, giggling.

‘Cheeky little mare,’ Cathy mumbled under her breath. She was no big fan of Pam’s youngest daughter.

‘After the day I’ve had, I deserve a crate of bleedin’ wine, I dunno about a glass,’ Pam said, defending herself. Up until recently, she and Cath had only had a bottle of wine between them on a Saturday evening; now it seemed to be at least two or three nights a week because their lives seemed so bloody stressful at the moment. Cathy’s son had moved in with his wayward girlfriend and Pam had never been so worried about her girls in all her life.

Angela smirked. If her mother had had a bad day, it obviously meant she had already spoken to Mr Jones. ‘Where’s Steph? She not home from school yet?’ she asked, innocently.

‘Your guess is as good as mine. Now go upstairs and get washed and changed. We’re all eating dinner at the table this evening. Me, you and your sister need to have a nice little chat,’ Pam replied in a stern tone.

‘What am I meant to have done wrong now?’ Angie asked, pretending to be annoyed.

‘It ain’t you, it’s your sister. Now do as your mum says,’ Linda urged her niece.

Cock-a-hoop that her vicious little plan had worked, Angela ran up the stairs with a big smile on her face.

Stephanie giggled as she and Barry climbed over the last fence. ‘I can’t believe we’ve trampled on everyone’s gardens. I hope no one saw us,’ she said to her boyfriend.

‘I wish you didn’t have to go home yet. Can’t you sneak back over when it’s dark again?’

Stephanie shook her head. ‘I’m still grounded, I think. It’s more than me life’s worth to get caught tiptoeing over to your house.’

Barry put his arms around Stephanie. ‘Why don’t we skip school for the rest of the week? My sister will be out and about with her bloke, so we should have the place to ourselves. We might as well make the most of it while me mum’s away and, if you’re gonna forge a note, you might as well write one for being off for a whole week rather than just two days.’

Seeing a woman walking along the street with a bag of shopping, Stephanie ducked out of Barry’s arms in case the woman knew her mum. She was truly tempted to have the rest of the week off school, but knew that by doing so, she was asking to get caught. ‘I’d better not have no more time off, Bal. I ain’t even spoken to Tammy yet – say she rings my house and puts her foot in it or something?’

‘Ring her as soon as you get in. Please Steph, my old man’s up in court tomorrow and I really don’t wanna be sitting in a classroom worrying about him. I wanna be with you.’

Feeling desperately sorry for her boyfriend for having such a tough family life, Stephanie looked into his soulful eyes and melted. How could she say no when his dad was about to be banged up? ‘OK. I’ll meet you same time, same place.’

Hearing the front door slam, Angela Crouch bolted down the stairs like a whippet. She had no intention of missing one second of her stuck-up sister getting the scolding of her life.

‘All right, sis? How was school?’ she asked, chirpily.

Steph eyed her little sister suspiciously. Angela had never asked her how her day at school had gone before, even when they were on good terms. Steph could see by the evil glint in Angie’s eyes that she knew that she had been playing truant. About to plead with her sister to keep her big mouth shut, Steph was stopped from doing so by her mother marching into the hallway.

‘Get your arse up them stairs and freshen yourself up before dinner. You and I are gonna have a nice long chat, young lady. In fact, we’re all gonna have a nice long chat, because I ain’t having this family going off the rails.’

Feeling anxious, Stephanie ran up the stairs. Angela had obviously grassed her up, which would put paid to her spending the rest of the week with Barry, but at least nobody knew she had spent the day with him at the old slapper’s house. Her mother would have strangled her as soon as she had walked through the front door if she’d known that.

Desperate to speak to Tammy, Steph kicked herself for not coming home a bit later and using a phone box. There was only one phone indoors. It was downstairs, and Steph knew she wouldn’t be able to speak properly with her mum and sister earwigging. Taking a deep breath, Steph looked into the mirror and smiled. Barry Franklin had told her he loved her today, and nothing that her mother said to her could mar the happiness she currently felt inside.

Usually, Pam and the girls ate their dinner sitting in front of the TV with a tray on their laps, but wanting to eat and chat like a proper family for once, Pam set the dining table. Cathy was staying for dinner as well and Lin would be there, too – it was unusual for Linda to even be in at meal times, as she usually finished work and went straight to the pub.

Angela was the first to sit down at the table. ‘What we got for dinner then, Mum?’ she enquired. She couldn’t wait to watch her sister squirm, and just knew she was going to enjoy this meal whatever old crap her mum decided to serve up.

Knowing what a fussy little mare her youngest daughter could be, Pam immediately went on the defensive. ‘Minced beef hotpot and don’t you dare start whinging and saying you want something else, ’cause I ain’t in the bloody mood today, Angela.’

When the phone rang, Lin answered it immediately. ‘Steph, Tammy’s on the phone,’ she shouted out.

Stephanie bounded down the stairs, snatched the phone out of her aunt’s hand and dragged the lead into the hallway.

‘Can you talk?’ Tammy asked.

‘Not really,’ Steph replied. The kitchen and the lounge opened off the hallway and her mum was no more than ten feet away from her, serving the dinner up.

‘I thought I’d better warn you, I think I might have put my foot in it with your sister today. I asked her why you hadn’t been at school and I could tell by her reaction that she didn’t know. I’m really sorry, Steph. I know what a bitch Angie can be, but I made her swear on her life that she wouldn’t tell your mum.’

Stephanie was feeling more confused by the minute. Something was wrong. The house had had a strange kind of atmosphere about it when she’d first come home, but her mum had just smiled at her, so perhaps Angela hadn’t opened her big gob after all. ‘Don’t worry about it, mate,’ Steph whispered.

‘Have you been spending time with Barry? Will you be in school tomorrow?’ Tammy asked.

‘Yes, and I dunno. Listen, I’ve gotta go, Tam, me dinner’s ready I think.’

‘If you ain’t at school tomorrow, try and ring me from somewhere else. I’m dying to hear all the goss,’ Tammy said. School just wasn’t the same without her best pal by her side. She was beginning to wish that Steph had never met Barry bloody Franklin, as she felt she was losing her friend.

‘Will do. Bye Tam,’ Steph replied.

‘So, why are we all sitting at the table, Mum? Is this a special occasion or something?’ Angela asked innocently, when her sister sat down between Cathy and Linda.

‘Eat your dinner first and then me and yous girls will have a nice little chat afterwards,’ Pam replied, quite calmly.

Stephanie locked eyes with her sister, then stared at her plate. She wasn’t at all hungry. She felt far too loved-up to eat, but knew if she didn’t try and force her dinner down her gullet, her mum would go apeshit.

‘I can’t eat no more, but that was lovely, Mum,’ Angela lied a few minutes later. She was a bit worried that her mum kept saying she wanted a chat with both her and Steph, and Angie really hoped Mr Jones hadn’t dobbed her in the shit.

‘I’ve had enough as well, Mum,’ Stephanie mumbled. She wanted to know what was wrong, as the waiting to find out was doing her head in.

Seeing her mother leave her own dinner, Stephanie began to feel more nervous than ever. Her mother usually ate like a horse; if her appetite had deserted her, perhaps she was seriously ill or something. She might have that terrible disease, cancer. One of her friend’s mums at school had just died from that. ‘Are you ill, Mum? Please tell me what this is all about? Because you’re really worrying me now.’

Pam took a gulp of her wine and stared at her deceitful eldest daughter. ‘The only thing that is making me ill is the worry over you and that boy. I know you’ve been bunking off school to spend time with him, and I’m sure you were in his house today, as I kept seeing the curtains twitch. Now, don’t lie to me, Steph. Were you in that house?’

‘You cow!’ Stephanie spat, glaring at her sister.

‘Now don’t you start blaming her. It was your head of year, Mr Jones, that told me, not Angela. Well, was you with that boy in that old slapper’s house or not?’

‘Just tell your mum the truth, sweetheart,’ Lin urged, squeezing her favourite neice’s hand.

‘Yeah I was, but all we did was play some records. We’ve nowhere else to go, have we? I’m too frightened to be seen with him in case you go off your head, and I only bunked off ’cause you grounded me. I love him, Mum. Barry is the kindest, nicest boy I have ever met in my life and I won’t let you stop me seeing him just because of who his mother is. It ain’t fair,’ Stephanie whinged.

Angela’s smirk was completely wiped off her face as her mother stood up and urged Steph to give her a hug. ‘I need you to promise me that you’ll never play truant again. These last two years at school are your most important and I’ll be so disappointed if you don’t get good marks in your exams, Steph.’

Surprised by her mother being so understanding, Stephanie began to cry. ‘But, what about Barry? How am I meant to concentrate on me school work if I ain’t even allowed to see him? I promise I won’t ever bunk off school again and I’ll work really hard, if you just let me see him sometimes, Mum. Can I see him, please?’

Pam still hated the thought of her beautiful daughter being involved with Marlene’s son, but seeing Cathy smile at her and remembering her friend’s wise words, Pam bit her lip and nodded. ‘I’ll allow you to see him, but only if I can meet him first.’

Angela watched the scene unfolding in front of her in complete and utter disbelief. Her little chat with Mr Jones was meant to have spelt curtains for Steph’s relationship with Barry. Instead, all it had done was enhance it.

‘Can I go and tell Barry now, Mum? Shall I get him to pop over in a bit?’ Steph said, overcome by excitement.

Pam looked at Linda and Cathy.

‘Yeah, sod it. If this lad has you grinning like you are, girl, then we all wanna meet him, don’t we?’ Lin said, winking at Steph.

‘Well, I don’t wanna meet him. All yous lot have done for weeks is stare out the window and slag off the old slapper over the road, so why have we now suddenly gotta be nice to her son? I’m going out! You all make me sick,’ Angela spat venomously, pushing her chair so hard it almost toppled over.

Pam grabbed her youngest daughter’s arm. Mr Jones had let on that Angela was extremely worried about Steph and had spoken to him, and Pam knew that the spoilt little cow had only done it out of spite. She had always been more lenient with Angela, just because she was the baby of the family, but from now on things were about to change. ‘You ain’t going out nowhere, young lady. You’ll sit ’ere with us tonight and be polite to your sister’s boyfriend, and then tomorrow me and you are going up the Heathway to get you a hair dye. As I told you the other day, you ain’t going out to play at all until you dye that hair of yours back to its original colour. Look like a bloody child prostitute, you do.’

Absolutely livid that her mother seemed more bothered about the colour of her hair than Stephanie bunking off school, Angela burst out crying and ran up the stairs. ‘I hate you. I hate you all,’ she screamed.

Hearing the springs on the bed bouncing up and down once again, Barry Franklin turned up the volume on the TV to drown out his sister’s cries of unbridled passion. He had once been really close to Chantelle when they were young, but just lately they seemed to argue like cat and dog. Chantelle despised the fact that he still had a good relationship with his father. She also treated her pregnancy as though she had a serious illness and, since Barry had moved back home, she had expected and screamed at him to wait on her hand and foot. Debating whether to go out and find Jacko, Barry heard the doorbell ring.

‘What you doing ’ere? Get inside quick,’ he urged.

‘You’ll never guess what! Mum wants you to come over to ours,’ Steph said, with a big grin on her face.

‘You winding me up or summink?’ Barry replied, bemused.

Hearing terrible noises coming from up the stairs, Stephanie nodded towards them. ‘What’s going on up there?’

‘It’s me sister and her boyfriend. Doing my head in, the pair of ’em are. Did your mum really say I can come over?’ Barry asked, conveniently changing the subject.

‘Yep, but I’ve had to promise her I won’t bunk off school no more, so I can’t take the rest of the week off,’ Steph explained, apologetically.

‘I must get changed and put some aftershave on. I don’t want your mum to think I’m some tramp. Why did she change her mind, Steph?’

‘I think my bitch of a sister grassed on me, but Mum reckons Mr Jones, our head of year, rang her up. It don’t really matter now. As long as we can be together, that’s all I care about, don’t you?’

Barry nodded. ‘You shoot back home and I’ll be over in about ten minutes, babe.’

Hearing laughter coming from downstairs, Angela Crouch lay on her bed, absolutely seething. She had seen Barry Franklin walk across the road half an hour ago. She had been spying through the curtains, and he looked even fitter close up than he had from a distance.

‘Go away,’ Angela yelled, as she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

Ignoring her daughter’s order, Pam marched in and sat on the edge of Angela’s bed. She stared at her daughter’s pretty, tear-stained face, and her earlier annoyance with her immediately vanished. ‘Don’t sit up here on your own, love. Come downstairs and say hello to Barry, eh?’

Angela sat bolt upright. ‘And why would I wanna say hello to him? What’s next? Gonna invite the old slapper round for tea, are ya?’

Pam spotted a look of jealous hatred on her youngest daughter’s face and, unable to stop herself, gave her a short, sharp slap around it. ‘You, young lady, should be ashamed of yourself. I know it was you that spoke to Mr Jones. He actually believed that you were such a nice young girl, you were frantically worried about your sister. Well, I know differently, but I will never tell Stephanie, because she would be so bloody hurt. That girl has been a good sister to you, and it’s about time you started appreciating all of your family a bit more. You’re rude to Steph, me, and Lin, and its not bloody good enough. It’s my fault, I know that. Since your father died, I’ve always babied you, but I can see now that it’s not done you any favours at all, and things have to change, Angie.’

Angela threw herself into her mother’s chest. ‘I’m so sorry. I will try and be nicer to everyone, I promise I will.’

Pam held her tearful daughter in her arms. She knew deep down that her Angela was a good girl. ‘Please don’t cry. I love you so much, darling.’

‘I promise I’ll dye my hair back to its normal colour tomorrow, and I will say hello to Steph’s boyfriend,’ Angela sobbed.

Pam smiled. She had known that a few sharp words would be the thing to bring Angela back to her senses, and she had been absolutely right. Kissing Angie on the nose, Pam stood up. ‘You dry your eyes, angel, and come downstairs when you’re ready, eh?’

Angela nodded.

As soon as Pam shut the bedroom door, Angela walked over to the mirror, stared at her reflection and smirked. She needed to get back into her mother’s good books; if that meant pretending to like her bitch of a sister, then pretend she would.

CHAPTER TEN

As summer came to an abrupt end and autumn kicked in, Stephanie and Barry’s relationship seemed to go from strength to strength. Steph kept her promise to her mum by attending school regularly and working hard in her lessons, and Pam allowed Steph to spend time with Barry in return.

‘Hurry up, Ange. I’m meant to be meeting Tammy in half hour,’ Steph shouted, banging on the bathroom door. She and her sister were now on speaking terms, but were hardly best buddies.

‘You’re such an impatient cow. You ain’t gonna be here later when Jase comes round, are you?’ Angela shouted, flouncing out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her as though she were the Queen of Sheba. Angela had pestered her mum for weeks to allow her to bring Jason O’Brien home for dinner. ‘It ain’t fair! Barry’s round ’ere all the time and I have to put up with that. How comes Steph’s allowed to bring her boyfriend round and I ain’t? You always side with Steph,’ Angela had whinged only yesterday. Her drama-queen act had worked, and her mother had agreed that Jason O’Brien was now welcome at the house as well. Today he was coming for roast dinner, the first of many, Angela hoped.

‘No. I won’t be here later. Barry’s taking me out for a meal,’ Stephanie said, feeling extremely grown-up. Apart from a regular plate of chips in British Home Stores in Romford, or the odd sit-in at McDonald’s, this would be the first proper meal that Steph had ever been out for without an adult being present.

‘Where you going?’ Angela asked, with a hint of jealousy in her voice. Not only did she think Barry Franklin was far too handsome and entertaining to be dating the likes of her plain, boring sister, the way he treated her also really got Angie’s goat. Barry was forever buying Steph clothes and gifts. Even though Angela was happy with her Jason, she was still narked that her sister was being treated like she was some kind of bloody princess.

‘He’s taking me to Pizza Hut. It’s well ace in there and they have this big posh salad bar,’ Steph said, proudly.

‘What’s that in aid of then? Is it a special occasion?’ Angela asked, desperately trying to keep the spite out of her voice.

Stephanie wasn’t a very good liar, she never had been; so, red-faced, she came clean. ‘It’s Jacko’s sixteenth birthday if you must know. Tammy’s coming with us as well.’

‘Jacko ain’t going out with that pig now, is he?’ Angela asked, bluntly.

‘Tammy ain’t no pig! She is lovely, and no, they are not going out together. Jacko is a much nicer person now he don’t hang about with Potter and Cooksie all the time, and me and Tam get on really well with him now,’ Steph explained.

‘Well, bully for you,’ Angela said, nastily.

Ignoring her sister’s sarcasm, Stephanie wished her a nice day and took her turn in the bathroom.

Over in the East End of London, Barry Franklin was giving it all the spiel. ‘Come on ladies and gentlemen, you can’t beat my prices. Fifty quid in Harrods these little beauties sell for, hand on heart. Now, am I gonna charge you fifty today? No, I’m not. Nor will I charge you forty, or even thirty for that matter. Today, ladies and gentlemen, this state-of-the-art electronic toy is all yours for a tenner.’

‘Be careful, son. The Old Bill are heading this way,’ an old man shouted out.

‘Bollocks,’ Barry mumbled, as he packed the kiddies’ toys into the big grey suitcase and rapidly made his way back to Aldgate East Station. It was just over three weeks now since his mum had disappeared off to Spain and, seeing as she had left him virtually no money, Barry had had to work fly pitching toys down Petticoat Lane Market on a Sunday just to get by. His boss, Steve, had said he could have the bath towels to sell but, because they were so heavy, Barry hadn’t been able to take him up on his offer. Instead, he’d had a word with another pal of his and had been selling knocked-off plastic robots instead.

The train journey back to Dagenham from Aldgate took about thirty-five minutes and, as he usually did, Barry spent his time on the train thinking about Stephanie. Once or twice in the past, Barry had thought he had been in love, but he now knew that he hadn’t. The way Steph made him feel was nothing he had ever experienced in his life before. They had yet to make love, but Barry was sure that she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Sex wasn’t everything and, even though Barry was gagging to pop Stephanie’s cherry, he was determined not to put pressure on her. He loved her that much, he would wait for years to do the deed if she wanted him to.

Barry’s daydreaming nearly caused him to miss his stop, but he somehow managed to prise the doors open just in time. Suitcase in hand, he jogged home as fast as his heavy load would allow him. He hadn’t had a magnificent day today like he had last Sunday, but he reckoned he’d cleared fifty quid, which was enough to take Steph out and see him through the next few days. Now his sister’s bloke was out of nick, he didn’t have to support her any more and, worse ways, he could always skip school on Thursday and work up Roman Road with Steve. Inserting his key inside the lock, Barry heard the phone ringing. He dashed to answer it in case it was Steph. It wasn’t. It was his mother ringing from a callbox in Spain.

‘How’s my lovely boy?’ Marlene asked when she finally worked out how to put the money in the slot.

Barry was immediately suspicious. He’d only heard from his mum once since she had gone to Spain, and that was to tell him that she had no idea when she would be home. As for calling him lovely, ‘little bastard’ was the nearest thing he’d ever had to a compliment off her in the past. Guessing his mum had split up with Jake the Snake and was now after money for the air fare home, Barry sighed. ‘How much do you need?’ he asked in a sarcastic tone.

‘What do you mean?’ Marlene asked.

‘Money! How much money do you need, Mum? I ain’t got a lot, but I suppose I can get hold of it for you somehow.’

‘I don’t need no money, Barry. And even if I did, I wouldn’t ask you for it, would I? You’re my favourite son, you are.’

About to remind his mum that he was her only son, Barry decided not to bother. The only other reason in the world she could be being nice to him was that she was drunk, so he decided to humour her instead. ‘Nice to hear from you, Mum. I’ve gotta go now as I’m taking me girlfriend out and I’m running a bit late.’

‘But you don’t even know why I’m ringing you yet. What happened at your father’s trial? Did they bang him up?’ Marlene asked, hoping they had.

‘No. The trial ain’t finished yet. Look, what exactly do you want, Mum?’ Barry asked, his patience wearing thin.

‘Me and Jake are flying home tomorrow. Got a big surprise for you, boy, we have,’ Marlene cackled.

‘Don’t tell me, you’re getting married,’ Barry replied, wearily.