Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (3 page)

The girls settled down with
their drinks and began to discuss music, fashions and other topics of mutual
interest. At eight o’clock, in a more animated state than when Julie and Rita
had arrived, they set out, giggling, towards the nearby bus stop in order to
make the trip to the city centre which was just a few stops away. When they got
off the bus they had a short walk to the pub where they had agreed to meet two
of Julie’s workmates, Amanda and Jacqueline, at eight thirty. While they were
walking along, they spotted two policemen just ahead of them.

‘I think it’s time we had a
bit of fun!’ said Rita.

Friday 20
^th
June 1986

When Julie, Rita and Debby entered the Downtown Bar it was
packed with trendy club-goers and the sound of Madonna was blaring through the
speakers. The girls began, undeterred, to make their way through the crowds.
Julie noticed Amanda and Jacqueline standing at a table in the corner and
waving. As they approached the table, Julie saw the look of scorn on
Jacqueline’s face, which alerted her to Rita and Debby’s appearances. Their tight
tops and short skirts were in contrast to the sharply tailored suits that Amanda
and Jacqueline wore.

Amanda greeted them enthusiastically,
her smile enhancing her pleasant features, while Jacqueline managed to force a
wry frown. “
She’s just as bad outside of work,
” thought Julie. She had
always been at a loss to understand Amanda’s friendship with sulky Jacqueline,
but she put it down to the fact that she was the only person in Amanda’s
department who was of a similar age. Apart from that, Amanda saw the good in
everybody, and was sometimes dominated by Jacqueline who was her supervisor.
Julie’s relationship with Jacqueline was one of tolerance with Amanda acting as
a buffer between them.

Julie was
not about to let Jacqueline’s scornful expression spoil her evening, however,
and she put all thoughts of her aside while she recounted her recent
experience.

‘You’ll
never guess what’s just happened to me?’ she asked.

Noting the
anticipation on Amanda and Jacqueline’s faces, she continued. ‘Well, we were just
on the way here when we noticed these two coppers in front of us. Rita fancied a
bit of mischief so she dared me to pinch one of their bums. Well, having had a few
drinks, I was feeling a bit brave. So I thought, yeah, why not? As soon as I
did it, I wished I hadn’t have bothered. This policeman went bloody mad, said I
had committed an offence and all kinds.

‘Then, him
and his friend had a chat, trying to decide what they should do with me, and
the other one said there was no alternative but to take me down to the station
and charge me. I nearly died, thinking about the look on my poor mam’s face
when I had to tell her what had happened. So, I tried to talk them round,
telling them that we were only having a laugh and we didn’t mean any harm. The
first copper said that nevertheless it was a very serious offence and not to be
taken lightly, and I thought “
Oh Jesus, I’ve done it now!
”

‘Then, I
noticed the big smirk on the other one’s face. They were only having us on
weren’t they?’

‘Aye, it
looks like they were the ones that had the biggest laugh when they saw the
terrified look on your face,’ added Rita, laughing.

‘Your
pranks will get you into trouble one of these days Julie, you mark my words,’
said Jacqueline haughtily.

The other
girls joined in the laughter until Julie realised that in her excitement she
had forgotten to introduce everybody. ‘By the way,’ she said, nodding towards
her two friends. ‘This is Rita and Debby,’ and pointing to the other two, she
added, ‘and this is Amanda and Jacqueline.’

‘Hiya
Mandy, hiya Jackie,’ Rita greeted in an over-familiar tone which was resented
by Jacqueline.

‘It’s
Jacqueline, actually,’ came the frosty reply.

‘Oh, pardon
me for breathing!’ said Rita.

Julie,
sensing the tension between the two girls, decided to divert everybody’s
attention by asking if anybody would like a drink. Jacqueline and Amanda politely
refused while Rita and Debby decided to accompany Julie to the bar.

‘What the bloody
hell’s wrong with misery guts? Are her knickers too tight up her arse or what?’
asked Rita as soon as they were out of earshot.

‘Oh take no
notice, it’s just her way,’ said Julie.

‘Well I’m
glad I don’t have to bloody work with her anyway. Honestly Julie, I don’t know
how you stand it working in an office. There’s some right miserable cows.’

‘I don’t work
with her Rita; I’m on the switchboard. Anyway, they’re not all like her.
Amanda’s a great laugh. She might look all prim and proper, but just wait till
she’s had a few drinks and you’ll find out what she’s really like.’

‘I can’t
wait!’ said Rita.

They
ordered the drinks and made their way back to the table occupied by Jacqueline
and Amanda. As they approached, Julie noticed Amanda look up with a smile aimed
at Rita. Noting the soft drinks that the girls were carrying Amanda asked, ‘Are
you lot not bothering having a drink then?’

‘Give over,
course we are!’ replied Rita, as she took a seat at the table with her back to
the bar. Then she pulled a small bottle of whisky from her handbag, and surreptitiously
poured a good measure into her glass of lemonade, adding, ‘but I serve bigger
measures than they do in here and a bloody sight cheaper as well!’

Julie,
Debby and Amanda laughed while Jacqueline displayed a half-hearted smirk.

As the
girls started to make conversation, both Rita and Jacqueline found that,
despite their initial reservations, they agreed on many topics. In spite of
Rita’s exaggerated use of the word ‘Jacqueline’, and Jacqueline’s overzealous
observation of Rita and Debby’s dress and behaviour, they got along quite well.
They shared a lot of the same views and opinions, especially relating to
Amanda’s boyfriend. However, the manner in which they each expressed their opinions
differed.

Amanda had
opened up the conversation by stating that she would have to be home at 1
o’clock otherwise all hell would be let loose.

Rita, at a
loss to understand the reason for this, asked, ‘Why, what’s the problem?’

Jacqueline
was quick to point out, ‘It’s her boyfriend; he’s the jealous and possessive
type.’

Jacqueline
and Julie were used to hearing Amanda’s constant complaints about her boyfriend,
Les. They were also resigned to the way in which, when challenged as to why she
stayed with him, she replied, ‘He’s not so bad really,’ or ‘He does have his
good points.’

However,
Rita, on learning all this afresh, commented in typical Rita style. ‘Look,
you’re not tied to him by a ball and chain. You can do whatever you want, so
tell him to piss off!’

‘I can’t do
that,’ Amanda replied. ‘I live with him.’

‘Well he must
have something going for him then to make you go home so early. Is he loaded or
just good between the sheets?’ asked Rita.

Amanda
appeared embarrassed. ‘He has his own business, well a few actually, but I’m
not with him just for that.’

‘Must be
good in bed then,’ Rita nodded and Julie laughed at her effrontery.

‘All men
are a bit demanding though, aren’t they?’ replied Amanda.

‘Yes,
they’re all the same,’ said Jacqueline.

Jacqueline didn’t
have much experience with men. She had been brought up in a sheltered
environment by a domineering father. He had terrorised her mother for years,
and Jacqueline had witnessed his use of mental cruelty. According to him, any
liaison with the opposite sex outside of marriage was a sin. So Jacqueline had been
unable to have intimate relationships with men until she was old enough to
leave home.

By that
time she found it difficult to relate to them on both a social and a physical
level. Consequently, her relationships usually lasted a matter of weeks. This
didn’t stop her from trying though, and she hid her lack of experience behind a
façade. 

‘They’re
all bastards!’ chipped in Debby, and Jacqueline was forced to agree.

‘Well, we
all seem pretty much in agreement there,’ announced Julie, laughing.

‘Yes, all
after one thing and if they don’t get it they’re soon off,’ stated Jacqueline,
to which Rita replied, ‘Yes, and even when they do get it, they soon bugger off
when they’ve had their fill,’ which brought uproarious laughter from the other
girls except Jacqueline who displayed a subconscious look of disapproval.

As they
were celebrating Amanda’s birthday, the girls decided to make the most of it by
going on a pub-crawl, followed by a nightclub.

When they
reached the second pub, which was situated upstairs from the Downtown bar,
Jacqueline was filled with excitement as she noticed a man, who she termed an
“old friend” standing at the bar. She excused herself and dashed over to greet
him, to everybody’s surprise.

The other
girls looked at each other in silence, which was broken by Rita, saying, ‘Well
girls; looks like we’ll have to carry on without her.’ Then, turning towards
Debby and Amanda, she continued, ‘I tell you what, why don’t me and Julie go to
the bar and get the drinks in while you two go and find a table?’

Julie
guessed that Rita was up to mischief when she noticed how keenly her eyes
followed Amanda and Debby as they went in search of a table. When Rita was sure
they were out of earshot she whispered to Julie. ‘Do you think Amanda will
notice if we add a little something to her drink?’

Julie giggled,
‘Oh Rita, you bugger. Go on then, go for it. It is her birthday tomorrow when
all said and done. I’ve never seen Amanda when she’s paralytic but she’s funny
enough after a few drinks. It should be a good laugh. Just put one measure of
vodka in to start with. It’s the hardest to trace, but don’t let that bloody
Jacqueline know or there’ll be hell to pay.’

They then
joined Amanda and Debby at the table, and adopted serious expressions as they
awaited Amanda’s reaction to her drink. It wasn’t until Amanda had taken a
couple of mouthfuls that she commented. ‘There’s something funny about this
drink. It doesn’t taste like Bacardi and Coke at all; in fact, it tastes really
strong.’

Julie was
quick to respond. ‘Eh, that’s happened before in here. I don’t think they wash
the glasses properly. Do you remember that drink you had once Rita, the one
that tasted of Pernod?’

Rita
managed to suppress a giggle. ‘Oh yeah, I do. I took it back didn’t I?’

She then
looked around at the bar area, and when satisfied that she had achieved a
suitable effect she continued. ‘Mind you, you’re wasting your time in here
tonight, it’s mobbed. It took them ages to serve us. You’d be there forever
trying to get it changed.’

‘Oh it
doesn’t matter,’ said Amanda.

‘Well, I
tell you what we’ll do,’ added Rita. ‘We’ll drink up quick in here and then
head for The Boardrooms ’cos I don’t fancy queuing up half the night and then
drinking from dirty glasses into the bargain.’

‘What about
Jacqueline?’ asked Amanda. ‘She doesn’t look as if she’d be too happy to leave
this pub.’

‘Oh she’ll
be all right. The Boardrooms is only over the road. If you tell her where we’re
going, she can always follow later if she wants,’ assured Rita. 

Julie and
Rita downed their drinks straightaway setting a pace that the others felt
obliged to follow. They then stood up, Rita stubbed out her cigarette and they
headed towards the door.

Whilst
Amanda was talking to Jacqueline, Rita whispered to Julie, ‘Right, we can’t
pull that stroke again in the next pub or she’ll suss us, so what I think we
should do is this …me and Debby will go to the bar while you drag Amanda off to
a table. Then, instead of putting something else in her drink, we’ll just order
her a double Bacardi with plenty of Coke. She’s already had one dickey drink so
she shouldn’t tell the difference. Then, we’ll see how she goes on with that
and we can always nip to the loo together to decide our next move.’

‘Oh Rita,’
said Julie, laughing, ‘you make it sound like a military operation.’

They didn’t
notice that Amanda had returned until they heard her say, ‘What’s this about a
military operation?’

‘Oh erm,
Rita was just planning our pub crawl,’ Julie replied.

They were
relieved to hear that Jacqueline wasn’t going to join them until later, as this
gave them more opportunity to carry out their deception.

They all
settled at a table in the next pub and awaited Amanda’s reaction as she tasted
her drink. ‘That’s more like it,’ she commented, after taking her first
mouthful. Rita and Julie managed to stifle a giggle.

When they
had been in the Boardrooms for about ten minutes, they noticed Jacqueline enter
hand in hand with her “old friend”. She left him by the door as she made her
way towards them. As she looked at Amanda, she announced, ‘He’s offered to take
me for a meal. Do you mind?’

‘Not at all,’
Amanda replied. ‘You go and enjoy yourself.’

For the
first time that evening a smile lit up Jacqueline’s face as she turned and
walked away from them.

‘Just be
careful that he doesn’t want you for afters!’ shouted Rita, teasing. As soon as
Jacqueline was out of earshot, she announced to the others, ‘Well girls, if
she’s copped tonight, there’s hope for all of us!’

Julie,
embarrassed by Rita’s outburst, said, ‘Rita, don’t be so mean, and don’t
forget, she’s Amanda’s friend.’

‘Oh don’t
mind me,’ remarked Amanda. ‘I admire Rita’s frankness, after all, there’s no
point pretending Jacqueline’s a stunner when we all know she isn’t. I say good
luck to her. I hope she hits it off with him, if you know what I mean.’ Then
she burst into uncontrolled laughter and giggled. ‘Mind you, it would be a
first, according to rumour.’