Rotten to the Core (6 page)

Emma
’s
mum had left it until she was in her late forties to try for a baby, and unfortunately she had an early menopause shortly after Emma was born.
As
having another child was never an option, Emma had been spoilt rotten by her parents. She was their precious little girl, and
in their eyes could do no wrong
. To make up for her not having a brother or sister they bought her everything
: t
he latest toys, clothes, DVD
s
and CD
s
. Kate didn’t recall Emma wanting for
anything;
if she even so much as looked at something then it was hers. Most people
where they lived
were poor
, so Emma
had
an awful lot in comparison, and Kate wasn’t always sure Emma appreciated what she had.

Even now
Emma was
twenty one,
her every whim was
still pander
ed
to
;
no matter how old she got she was always their little girl, as they constantly reminded her. Emma’s dad had even bought a flat for her last year,
and
Emma had rung
Kate
excitedly to tell her the good news. They were both
even more
excited
when
Emma asked Kate to move in with her
, as this was something
they had talked about the whole time they were growing up. They had spent hours in their own little fantasy
land, thinking that they could spend every minute together,
there would be
no need for jobs or bills or men
as they had each other:
best friends forever. They wouldn’t have to cook
,
as they would get takeaways every night
,
and when they weren’t out shopping and partying they would have friends over all the time
;
m
aybe they would
even
get a puppy
.

The day Emma got her keys she
had
knocked on Kate’s door and they continued their little
-
girl fantasy once again, but this time they could
actually put it into play, they could be real flatmates
.
             
“Just think of the parties we can have
,
babe
,
” Emma had squealed
.
             
They thought of colour schemes and planned lots of girlie nights…
they were both so excited
.
T
hen Kate had told Billy. “No fucking way
,
” he had said
.
“She may be your friend
,
Kate, but she is also a little slapper, I can just imagine the sorts she will have round there, no fucking chance.
”
It had been embarrassing because Billy had said it in front of Emma, who had tried hard to hide her feelings and shrugged it off afterwards, but Kate knew that Billy’s comments had hurt. Billy had always had a problem with Emma, and Kate
had
never really kn
o
w
n
why. Of course she had her issues, but she was a good friend to Kate
:
the best in fact. He was probably just jealous
.
Kate had often t
hought that
his friends were hardly the trustworthy type.

Kate’s mum had passed away only two months before Emma had got her flat
,
so Kate thought that maybe she should stay at home with Billy for a bit. They were both grieving and very much needed each other; she couldn’t leave Billy to fend for himself. Maybe after a few months Billy would change his mind
about her sharing the flat with Emma;
maybe he would realise that Kate was grown up
.
H
e
hadn’t changed his mind
.
Kate had justified it
to herself;
they would have probably fallen out if they had move
d
in together
,
as Emma was a complete slob,
and
Kate knew that she would have been left to do everything around the place. She liked going over there and
staying the odd night, Emma was such a laugh to be
around, a tonic, but Kate was always happy to come home to her nice, clean, and when Billy wasn’t home, peaceful house.

Kate reached Emma’s flat and
 
knocked on the door, waiting for her friend to answer. She waited a few moments and then knocked again
,
this time a little bit louder. Kate looked down at
the
black
rubbish
bag
by one of her feet;
animals
had obviously dragged out the contents and there was food and rubbish everywhere. Leftover Chinese takeaway lay scattered along the pavement
,
and the smell was making Kate feel sick. Mind you
,
it didn’t take much at the moment. Since being pregnant
,
every smell
had
seemed to set Kate off. She
ha
d heard of morning sickness but she reckoned she had morning, noon and night sickness; still
,
it would be more than worth it
.
S
he smiled
,
thinking of the baby growing inside her.

“Hey
.
” Emma yawned
,
as she opened the front door to her flat, wearing only her dressing gown
.
I
t was clear that
she
had been in bed
, although it
was
after
eleven
:
nice for some
,
Kate thought.

“I’ve been up all night
,
Kate, couldn’t sleep
;
I’d invite you in
,
but I’m just going back to bed, I’m absolutely knackered
.
”
             
“Oh, ok
ay
,
Em
…
I just wanted to talk
;
the shit has hit the fan at mine
.
”
             
Emma
looked
at Kate’s puffy
,
red eyes and realised
that
her friend had been crying.

“Oh shit
,
Kate, you told him
,
didn’t you? You
’
d better come in.
”

She led Kate into her lounge, kicking a couple of empty cans on her way and a pushing a pizza box under the sofa. The curtains were still drawn
and the air smelt of stale cigarette
smoke
. Kate felt the urge to
vomit
at the sight and smell of a half
-
finished mug of coffee with fag butts floating in it.

             
“
S
orry
,
babe, let me move that out the way
.
” Emma
picked up
the mug and went into the kitchen. “Do you fancy a cuppa?” she called, hoping that Kate wouldn’t
:
then she would be able to go back to
bed.
             
“Yeah
,
that would be great.” Kate
did not feel like having a cup of tea, but she wanted to chat to her friend
;
she was so worried about the whole situation between Jay and her brother, and she didn’t want to go home just yet in case Billy came back and started his stupid shit again.
             
Kate sighed
,
as she looked around Emma’s flat
.
S
he couldn’t believe her friend could be such a slob
;
t
he place was one step up from a squat. Emma had trashed the place
;
it had
gleamed
when she had first been given the keys.

God
,
Kate thought, when she and Jay got their own place it was going to be like a palace. She was sure that Jay would let her decorate however she wanted
,
and she would cook him lovely dinners and run him nice baths when he got home from a long shift. It would be a proper home, clean and tidy, oh and of course there would be
a
nursery for the baby. Oh
,
the plans she had, she couldn’t wait. He hadn’t mentioned them moving in together but he would soon, she was sure
;
after all
,
they were having a baby.

“There you go
,
babe
,
” said Emma
,
interrupting Kate’s thoughts as she plonked
a
mug of steaming tea down in front of her.

             
“Now
,
tell
Aunty
Ems all about it
,
” she cooed
,
desperate to find out how Billy had taken it all.
             
“Billy just went mental; I think he
’
s going to do something really stupid
.
”
Kate started crying
,
she had almost no energy left in her now. She relayed the whole thing to Emma
:
how he
r brother
had gone mad, smash
ing
everything up
,
and how she had spent the rest of the night trying to put the house back together. “
The w
orst thing is
,
Em
,
I can’t get hold of Jay. I’ve been trying his mobile all night, but it’s switched off. I’m so scared Billy is going to see him before I do.” Kate was crying harder now, really worried for her boyfriend
’
s safety.
             
“Hey, come on
…
stop crying
,
Kate, it won’t be good for the baby
,
”
Emma
said
,
stroking Kate’s arm
.
“He’ll probably be trying to call you any minute now
,
hu
n
.
Y
ou know what men are like. If he was working at the club all night he probably went straight home to his mum
’
s for a kip
.
H
e’s probably in bed right now, none the wiser
;
you know what he
’
s like
.
”
             
Kate took her first sip of tea and quickly placed it back on the table
.
It was like
luke
-warm milk, m
aking tea certainly wasn’t one of Emma’s strong points
.
             
“Yeah, you’re probably right
,
Em
; I’m just panicking
,
that’s all.”
             
Kate knew that her hormones were probably making the whole thing worse. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad, maybe Billy would calm down, and once he thought about it all, maybe he would be happy for her. He would be the baby’s uncle
,
after all. She just needed to hear Jay
’
s voice to make sure he was ok
ay
.
She
felt her coat pockets,
worried that
she had left her
mobile
at home. She needed to get to it in
case Jay had been trying to reach her
;
like Emma had said, he may call at any minute. She stood up and kissed her friend on the cheek
.
“Thanks for the tea
,
Em
, you’re a star, but I’ve got to go, my phone
’
s at home, and you
’
r
e
right, he might be calling me right now
,
” she said
,
as she made for the front door.

“I’ll call you later
,
” Kate called
, as she quickly
made her way back out of the flat.
             
Emma lifted the curtain and
looked
out the window, and seeing Kate practically running off down the road shook her head at her friend’s desperation. Kate didn’t have a clue when it came to men.
             
She tipped her friend
’
s tea down the sink
then
looked at herself in the mirror in the hallway, running her fingers through her matted hair and wiping
a
black mascara smudge from under one of her bloodshot eyes
. Having made sure she looked presentable, she
walked
into the bedroom. Closing the door
,
she let her robe fall onto the floor.
Then, s
he climbed onto the bed.
             
“Did you hear all that? You
’
re on the missing list, you naughty boy
,
” she teased. “Now, where were we?” she asked
,
as she slipped her lacy knickers off.
             
Jay
had heard every word of the conversation, and he really didn’t give a toss if Billy had finally found out and lost it, in fact he was enjoying the drama of it all. Feeling horny at the site of Emma gagging for it once again, he smiled
.