Rotten to the Core (8 page)

Billy, who had
 
never seen his poor mum look so scared,
stood
paralysed with fear at what he
had
just witnessed.
 
             
“Now then, Helen, if you don’t have the cash
 
for me next week
,
”
 
Den sneered
,
as he pulled his jeans up
,
“this little arrangement would suit me just fine. O
kay?
”
 
he said.

Then he looked over to where Billy was still standing and winked at him. Billy felt
as if
he was going to be sick, he put his hand over his mouth and tiptoed as quickly as he could upstairs
.
S
tupidly
,
he thought that perhaps if his mum didn’t know what he had just
seen
, and then somehow it wouldn’t
have
been real.

Billy
had
la
in
in his bed and a few minutes later the front door
had
close
d
so he guessed
Den
had
left. He heard his mum crying herself to sleep
: that night, and
for the next few nights. He had never spoke
n
about what had happened to his mum, but it played in his head for years like a movie,
 
tormenting him.
N
o matter what they had had to go without in his childhood, from that day on his mother always had the money for Den.

As he grew up
,
he got angrier and angrier about
what had happened.
I
f only I
had
burst through the door and stopped him
,
got a knife out the kitchen draw and threatened him, or better still stuck it in him
,
he had
thought
,
but Billy knew he was kidding himself, a boy back
then would have been
no match for Den.

Norma placed her hand on top of
Billy’s
as he spoke;
she had never heard him say so much,
it was like a floodgate had opened.
Norma’s heart went out to him.
All his angry thoughts
seemed to
pour out of him
.
H
ow he had been so scared and shocked that he hadn’t helped her
;
h
ow his mum had looked so frightened. When he stopped talking
,
tears stream
ed
down his cheeks
.
H
e wiped them away and gulped down the last of his drink.

             
“Den is Jay
’
s father
,
” he finished
,
“this baby is go
ing to
have that rapist
’
s blood in its veins, and
I’
ll put money on it that Jay is no better than his old man was.
”

N
orma knew there was nothing that she could say that would help to take away the hurt
that Billy
was feeling. She had listened
,
and she had a feeling that that was all Billy had wanted her to do. He
was going to deal with this rega
rdless
;
there was no point
in
trying to make
him see reason.
             
Th
ere was someone waiting to be served
. Norma
knew what a private man Billy was
, h
e would want time on his own now to gather his thoughts
after being
so honest with her
.

Norma
got up and
 
bent over to
wards
Billy and kissed him on the cheek
.
             
“You know where I am Billy, if you ever need an
ear. I am always here for you
,
darling
.”

S
tubbing her cigarette out
,
she walked off to serve her customer.
 

Billy
was
embarrassed that he had been so open
with
Norma, but at the same time it felt
as if a
bit of the weight had been lifted from his shoulders; he had finally said
what had happened
out loud. Norma wouldn’t tell a soul, he knew that. He hadn’t told
her
everything though; it wouldn’t
have
been fair to burden her.

Billy may have just been a boy back then
,
but
the
bad news for Den
was,
little boys grew into men. Den had been found in a skip just over two years ago, someone had cut his dick off. He’d been slowly tortured too; his body had been a
real
mess by all accounts.
             
Billy had
been questioned about the murder
,
but as far as the police could
tell
he had no motive and a
strong
alibi, thanks to some of Billy’s very loyal mates. Den had lots of enemies and the case was left unsolved. Another piece of shit disposed of, not even worth the police manpower.
             
O
ne of Den’s sons, Jay, had taken over Den’s little empire shortly after his death. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree
,
it seemed to
Billy
, who
had put the word out that from then on, any shit that went down with Jay, he wanted to know
about.
Billy had
collected
a lot of
information over the last two years, and he wouldn’t be standing by to let that piece of scum anywhere near his sister.

How he hadn’t heard about his sister having a relationship with Jay was beyond him. He was seriously fucked off. Picking up his jacket as he stood up, he decided he was going to find Jay.
Kate
had no idea what she had got involved with, so it was up to
Billy
to sort it out for her. He knew he
woul
d have to play this one carefully or that little fucker would ruin Kate’s life for good.

7
 

Kate couldn’t believe it when she saw her phone flash up with Jay
’
s name, every time it had rung she had
jumped on it and each time it hadn’t been him
.
She had been checking it all day thinking maybe it had rung and she hadn’t heard it, or maybe it was broken
. S
he had been driving herself nuts
,
and
now finally he was ringing her.

             
“
Jay, where the hell have you been, I’ve been worried sick, and I’ve been calling you all day!”
She looked at the clock
,
frowning now
:
it was almost four pm.
             
“I’m so sorry
,
babe, I had a real shit one last night, some fight kicked off at the club and it got really out of hand
.
”
             
“
O
h my
G
od
;
are you okay
,
babe, you’re not hurt are you?”
             
Jay smiled
;
he knew that he already had her onside again
.
God! This was just
 
too easy
.

             
“
Yeah
,
babe
,
I’m good, nothing I can’t handle. It was just a long one you know, so I went back to my mum
’
s and slept for England
.
I think I must
have
switched my phone off and then just zonked out
.”

Kate felt guilty, she had started to worry that maybe he was elsewhere, she knew what that club was like, she saw the way the girls all looked at him, and some of them
threw themselves at him.
H
e
was
a man, as much as she knew that she could trust him, sometimes when it’s all around you
….
No,
she pushed the thought from her mind
. Jay wasn’t like
most
men, he was better.
             
“What’s happened, I’ve got like a thousand missed calls from you, are you okay?”
Jay asked.
             
“Billy knows about us
,
Jay, he knows about us and the baby
.
”
             
Jay already knew
,
from earlier at Emma’s
.
H
e grinned
,
thinking
about
the day he
ha
d just had
;
t
hat girl was one dirty bitch, and she had all but worn him out. He had only meant to stay for a bit but they had been at it for most of that night and the best part of the day. He had never been with a girl who was hungrier for it than him, she had shown him positions in bed that he didn’t even think were possible, and that was saying something
, as
Jay had been around the block more than a few times! He seemed to have met his match in the bedroom department, who’d have thought
?
             
Deciding to play dumb
,
he
 
used
an exaggerated shocked voice
.
“Shit
,
you’re joking! What did he say?”
             
“He went mental
,
Jay, absolutely mental
;
he said he was go
ing to
br
eak
your legs
.
Said I had to stop seeing you, I just don’t understand what his problem is
,
Jay
?
I mean
,
if he really got to know you like I do
,
he would know what a nice guy you are
.
”
             
While Kate started
to cry
softly
,
Jay was smiling
. H
e could imagine that Billy was doing his nut; he only wished he had seen his face when he had been told
:
i
t must have been like a giant kick in the balls.
             
“What are we
going to
do
,
Jay, I can’t stop seeing you, you and this baby are my life
.
”

Ja
y knew that
Kate
would do whatever she could for him; she was that kind of girl
.
Not desperate to please like a lot of the others, but she was definitely loved up
;
he knew that she would pretty much do anything to keep him happy. He decided that he
would
try and make this situation work to his advantage.

             
“Hey babe, stop crying
.
It’s going to be ok
ay,
Kate, I’m
going to l
ay low f
or a couple of days, but I’m going to
sort something out
so we can be together
,
ok
ay?
”
             
Kate stopped crying
.
“
W
hat do you mean?” she asked
.
             
“
W
e
’
re having a baby
,
Kate, and it’s none of your brother’s business. The sooner he realises that the better. Give me a bit of time
,
babe
;
I’m go
ing to
see what I can do, but I think it’s time me and you started making plans, proper plans for us
,
and our baby
.
”

When Kate finally put down the phone from Jay she felt over the moon with happiness
.
H
e had talked about making a commitment to her,
 
said he was going to sort things. Oh my
God,
she thought, maybe he was he going to ask her to marry him. Kate hoped so, maybe then Billy would leave it all be. She skipped around the tiny kitchen
,
trying to contain her excitement
, saying aloud: “
My name is Mrs Shaw, Mrs Kate Shaw
.
”
L
aughing, she felt calmness wash over her; maybe things were going to be okay.

Kate
hoped they would be married before the baby arrive
d
, give the little one a stable family
– and so that she wouldn’t look huge as she walked
down the aisle
. It was the way she had always imagined it as a girl. She knew lo
ts
of girls that had had babies on their own, and she couldn’t imagine going through all this without Jay by her side.
She felt dizzy with excitement
,
as she pictured in her head her big day
.
 
H
er dress would be beautiful.
Kate
could see herself now dressed in a beautiful white dress, all chiffon and lace, Jay on her arm in a lovely suit looking as handsome as ever. She was
almost
bursting with excitement. If Jay said that he would make it right
,
she knew that he would. God only kn
ew
what Billy would say, but Jay was right, it
was
none of his damn business
.
He is my brother
,
not my blinking dad,
she thought
;
her loyalties were with Jay and the baby now.

Kate decided to have a hot bath
;
last night had been a long one and had taken its toll on her
.
Kate was feeling knackered
.
C
limbing up the stairs she saw her haggard
-
looking reflection in the mirror, she had bags under her eyes bigger than suitcases and her hair looked a greasy mess.
 
A nice
,
hot bubble bath and a whole lot of beauty sleep
were
definitely called for. Mrs Jay Shaw would need to look her absolute best
.

8

Billy was riled; if that
p
rat
behind him bumped into him one more time he was going to lamp him one. Saturday night, as always, was heaving at Goldie’s. It was gone midnight and Billy had never seen the place so busy. The
re was a group of men behind him, and one of the
idiot
s
had
obviously had more than he
could
handle to drink and was constantly brushing up against Billy and knocking his arm as he stood waiting for his drink.
             
Billy swung round as the man trod on his foot for the umpteenth time
.
“
D
o you want a fucking smack
,
mate
?
” Billy snarled
. H
e could do with a bit of venting, and this little prick was a good place to start
.
Billy glared at the drunken man who seemed completely oblivious to his fiery mood.
             
The man shrugged and turned his back
on
Billy, infuriating
him
even more
.
             
“I was fucking talking to you
,
” Billy yelled
,
as he grabbed the man’s arm and swung him back around to face him.

Paul
,
who
had been watching the scene
,
walked
briskly over to the bar, interrupting the men
.
“
H
ey, why don’t you go and take a seat
,
Billy, I’ll bring you and the lads some drinks over, yeah?”
             
The two guys standing with the drunk
en
man seemed to grasp the heavy mood and could see that Billy was more than up for inflicting a bit
of damage. Apologising for their friend’s drunken behaviour
,
they skulked off with their staggering mate in tow.

Billy, seeing the stern look on Paul’s face, decided that the man wasn’t worth kicking up over, he liked Paul and he wasn’t going to cause trouble for him over some drunken twat. He went to the table
where
his friends
were sitting
.
They were
upstairs in the private members club, which was just as well he thought
,
looking at the TV screen in front of him displaying the dance floor. Downstairs was looking manic, there were so many people dancing
,
he was surprised any of them could actually move.
             
“
Here you go
fellas
.
” Paul put a tray of shots in front of Billy and his mates and then pulled out a chair and joined them. Billy handed the shots to his mates
,
Jonny,
Lee, and
Ryan
,
who
were sitting around his table. The four were thick as thieves, and had been friends since as far back as Billy could remember.

These were Billy’s
main men, there was nothing that they wouldn’t do for each other, and he trusted them with his life.
T
he Ellis brothers
, Johnny and Lee,
 
were a feisty pair
. They were
v
ery clued up on business and had helped bring in a lot of
money
over the years. Ryan was the muscle, a big bastard and vicious with it. He had to be reined in a lot of the time as he easily lost it, but when he help
ed
to
inflict ‘persuasion’ he did the job
as
quickly and brutally as possible.
If you heard that Ryan Clarke was looking for you, your best bet would be to fuck off on the next plane available, as
there would be no time for reasoning with the man, Ryan was evil
.
If
someone needed sorting, he didn’t bat an eye
lid:
t
orturing was like a hobby.