Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (6 page)

Sunday 22
^nd
June 1986

Julie arrived home on Sunday morning feeling exhausted, full
of grief for her lost friend and terrified at the prospect of what lay ahead.
She was met by Clare who was standing in the hallway looking as though she had
been waiting there most of the morning. Clare announced, ‘It’s our Julie, Mam,’
casting a backwards glance towards the living room where her parents sat, but
failing to meet Julie’s eyes, as though afraid of what she might find there.
Julie was then greeted by three anxious, expectant faces. She forced a narrow
smile and said, ‘I made it back home then,’ endeavouring to sound nonchalant.

Her mother
stepped forward and threw her arms around her. ‘Oh Julie love, I’m so glad to
see you! I’ve been worried sick, thinking that you wouldn’t be coming home.’

Julie
replied, in an attempt at flippancy, ‘Don’t be daft Mam, they can’t hold me
without evidence! They had to release me.’

‘God help us
when they do find the bloody evidence then!’ said her father.

Julie
withdrew from her mother’s embrace and turned on her father. ‘There is no evidence
to find. I’m innocent, and so is Rita!’ she shouted.

‘Well if
you were so bloody innocent, they wouldn’t have been here in the first place,
turning our house over, and showing us up in front of all and sundry! I always
said that no good would come out of all this clubbing, staying up till all
hours…’

Julie
interrupted, sniping viciously at her father, ‘Don’t you start! I’ve had enough
with those bastards, interrogating me, day and night, accusing me of things I
haven’t done, and now even my own father won’t believe me! What kind of a
father is that anyway?’

Bill pounced
forward, with his hand raised. ‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that!’

Before he
could manage to strike, however, Betty wedged herself between Bill and Julie.
‘Leave her alone Bill! This isn’t helping matters. Julie, get up to your room!’

Julie did
as she was told to the sound of her father’s voice berating her, ‘You’re no
daughter of mine! Out till all hours, with a load of scum, getting drunk,
involved in murders, MURDERS, I say!’

As soon as
Julie reached her room and shut the door, renewed tears filled her eyes. She
found it hard to accept that a night out had resulted in such a tragedy; her
friend dead, the hostility of her own father, the guilt and shame which she had
brought on her family. She needed to convince her parents of her innocence, but
what could she say to reassure them? Her father had never approved of her
lifestyle. He was old-fashioned and always would be. He was also a bit of a
male chauvinist. If he knew half the things that she and her friends got up to
then she would sink even lower in his estimation. How could she explain to him
that they were only meant to be having a laugh?

A recurring
thought began to trouble her. It was of Inspector Bowden, ridiculing her and
her friends’ behaviour, and she could feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
She could see the similarities between her father and the inspector – two of
the old school, with their ‘women should be at home, tied to the kitchen sink’
philosophy. Her mind was in a quandary. She thought that in some ways perhaps
they were right; her life was just one useless, time-wasting mess. Maybe she
should find herself a husband and have a family, instead of running around and
acting the fool.

Julie lay
down on her bed but, once again, sleep eluded her. She was too upset at her
friend’s death, and her father’s animosity towards her. He had always been so
supportive of her in the past, even though he didn’t approve of her way of
life. She felt that she had let him down, and his anger unsettled her. Julie
hadn’t seen this aspect of her father’s personality before, and what she had seen
in the last twenty-four hours had shocked and disturbed her intensely.

Suddenly
the bedroom door opened and Julie tensed in anticipation, expecting her father
to walk in, but it was Clare. Her younger sister walked towards the bed. She
seemed ill at ease, and hesitated before she spoke, ‘Julie ... I just came to
say... well, that, I believe that you haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t care
what my dad says!’

Julie
reached her hand out towards Clare but she seemed to shrink away from her.
Wanting to reassure her little sister, Julie stood up and flung her arms around
her. She could feel Clare beginning to relax in the comfort of her embrace.
They wept in each other’s arms and it was a while before Julie spoke, ‘Thanks Clare;
that means a lot to me. I haven’t done anything wrong. I was just in the wrong
place at the wrong time, that’s all.’

After Clare
had left the room, Julie still couldn’t sleep so she took a long awaited shower.
She stood beneath the powerful spray for ages, letting the hot water flood over
her and scrubbing at her skin as though trying to purge herself. She didn’t
realise just how hard she had scrubbed until she emerged from the shower, with
patches of her flesh red and slightly sore. Julie dressed soberly, wearing no
make-up, subconsciously attempting to prove to her father that she was still
his innocent little girl.

As Julie
made her way downstairs, her stomach churned at the prospect of encountering
her father’s wrath again. She wanted to call Rita, to find out if she too had been
arrested. Julie needed to confide in someone with whom she could identify at
this dreadful time.

Inside the
living room Bill peered over the top of his newspaper, then pulled it upwards,
signifying that he didn’t want to look at her. She stepped gingerly towards the
telephone and then trembled with shock as her father bellowed, ‘And don’t be
gabbing on there for ages either! It’s me who pays the bloody bills in this
house!’

Shocked by
his manner towards her, she replied, timidly, ‘I won’t Dad.’

As soon as
Rita answered the telephone, she responded to Julie’s unease, ‘Listen Jules,’
she said, ‘they put me through the ringer as well, but don’t worry about it! We
know we’ve done nowt wrong, so them bastards can fuck off! I tell you what
though, I’d love to find out who
did
give drugs to Amanda!’

‘So would
I,’ said Julie. ‘That’s if there were any! It might have just been too much
drink!’

‘Maybe, but
I doubt it. Anyway, I can tell you’re feeling upset at the moment, so why don’t
we go out tonight and have a few drinks, and a chin wag? Maybe you’ll feel a
lot better then.’

‘Oh, I
don’t know,’ said Julie, thinking what her father’s reaction might be to the news
of another night out.

Rita
guessed that Julie was having difficulty speaking openly on the phone. ‘Can’t
you talk?’ she asked.

‘Not really.’

‘All right,
give me one word answers then. Are you having a hard time at home, because of
what’s happened?’

‘Yes.’

‘Has your
old man had a go at you?’

‘Yes,’
replied Julie, almost in a whisper, afraid that her father might have overheard
Rita’s comment.

‘You might
as well get away from him for a few hours then,’ urged Rita. ‘You’ve got nowt
to lose have you?’

‘Oh, go on
then,’ agreed Julie reluctantly.

‘Right,
great, I’ll see you in the Flying Horse at eight o’clock then. Oh, and don’t
forget to ring Vinny,’ Rita added before Julie had a chance to replace the
receiver.

“
Oh My
God, Vinny!
” thought Julie, and she remembered how she was supposed to have
met him the previous night. She had been so preoccupied by her troubles that
she had forgotten about him until now. She knew that it was a bad time to ring
and explain, while her father was within earshot, so she decided to do it
later.

Julie
ventured into the kitchen to see what sort of a reception she would receive
from her mother.

Betty was
pottering about, busy as usual, starting to prepare the Sunday dinner. Her
cheerful greeting surprised Julie. ‘Hiya love, don’t suppose you managed to get
any sleep at all, did you?’

‘No, Mam.’
Julie skirted around Betty before continuing. ‘Listen, I’m really sorry about
all the trouble I’ve caused you and my dad. I swear Mam; I’ve not done anything
wrong! We just had a few drinks and a laugh, that’s all. All right, maybe Mandy
had a few too many and we had to take her home. But we thought she was all
right. She seemed to be coming round a bit when we left her.’

Her anguish
was such that her words came out in a rush until eventually, unable to
continue, her voice broke and she succumbed to tears.

Betty
stopped what she was doing and dried her hands, taking Julie in her arms.
Forgetting any attempts at bravery, Julie was transported back to her
childhood, wanting her mother to shield her from all the guilt and pain of the
last 24 hours. As she laid her chin on her mother’s shoulder, she gave way to
uncontrolled tears and felt her legs weaken beneath her.

Betty tried
to reassure her. ‘Listen love, try not to worry, I believe you. I bet somebody
else was giving her drugs when you were too drunk to notice, eh? It’ll all come
out in the end, mark my words!’

‘It doesn’t
change the fact that she’s gone though, does it?’ sobbed Julie, ‘and my dad
hates me for it; he thinks I’ve done it!’

‘Does he ’eck.
He knows you’re innocent just as much as we do. He’s just suffering from hurt
pride, that’s all. He’s worried about what the neighbours think. Anyway, you
know he’s never liked the idea of women going to clubs, and this just gives him
a good excuse to get on his high horse again.’

‘I’ll stop
going out then Mam, I will. I’ll do anything to get things back to how they were!’
said Julie, her voice beginning to tremble with emotion.

‘You bloody
well will not, you’ll get on with your life! Just give him a few days and he’ll
come round, you’ll see. In fact, get yourself out tonight girl. I’ll have a
word with him and see if I can get him to ease off you a bit.’

‘Oh thanks Mam,’
said Julie, hugging her mother tightly.

‘It’s all
right Julie love. I can tell what you’re going through, but nobody should be
punished just for having a good time.’

Julie, now
feeling more at ease, helped her mother to finish preparing dinner. She was
relieved to know that her mother was supporting her and trying to make things
easier with her father.

Once Julie
had finished helping her mother, she returned to her bedroom where she struggled
to banish memories of her last meeting with Vinny from her mind, feeling that
they were inappropriate under the circumstances.

However,
grasping at a source of comfort in the midst of her troubles, she gave in to
thoughts of the previous weekend. She had gone back to Vinny’s house with him
after going out with her friends. Recalling how precious those moments had
been, she lay back on her pillow and cast her mind back.

Saturday 14
^th
June 1986

The last time Julie saw Vinny was the previous weekend. She
had awoken at about 10am on Saturday morning to find Vinny snoring gently
beside her. Julie was reluctant to disturb him straightaway, so for a while she
lay still, immersed in her own thoughts.

She was
feeling quite serene and content after a night of passionate lovemaking. Vinny
always had this effect on her. It was just as she always said to Rita, Vinny
knew “exactly which buttons to press and when to press them.” For Julie, it was
one of the most satisfying aspects of their relationship.

Her mind
wandered back to the previous night and how Vinny had coaxed and caressed her
in the most intimate of places, until she was completely relaxed. Then, he had
continued to kiss and stroke her, teasing, knowing what she wanted but refusing
to give it to her until she had almost begged him. When she felt as though she
could bear the anticipation no longer, he had entered her at just the right
moment, sending her body into uncontrolled spasms of sheer pleasure.

When they
had both reached their climax, they lay in each other’s arms, spent and truly
gratified, until Julie drifted off to sleep.

She knew
that once he awoke, their lovemaking would continue until well into the day,
with only brief interruptions while they rested or made conversation, until their
increasing hunger for food forced them to rise. With this realisation, she took
the opportunity to go and make herself a drink before settling back into bed
beside Vinny.

As Julie
clambered into bed her movement disturbed him. Once Vinny had awoken to the
knowledge that it was now Saturday morning and Julie was in bed next to him,
his initial reaction had been precisely as she had foreseen, to her immense
delight.

Afterwards,
when they had lain still for a while, Julie asked, ‘How’s Pete; is he still pining
after Rita?’

‘Is he ’eck!
Rita’s nowt special you know; girls like her are ten a penny.’

‘Well she
put him in his place anyway.’

‘Not really,
he wasn’t that bothered. He was seeing somebody-else as well.’

‘That
doesn’t surprise me! He’s always been the same.’

‘Well you
can’t blame him after what Rita did.’

‘He was
only bothered because she dumped him before he got a chance to dump her. It
must have made a change for Pete to see a girl give him the run-around instead
of the other way round.’

‘It was the
way she did it Julie, flaunting that bloke in front of him. She was just after
what she could get and as soon as she thought Pete had sussed her she was off
looking for her next mug. I think she’s a right tart! I’m surprised you knock around
with someone like her.’

‘Look
Vinny, what annoys me about fellas like Pete is that they think it’s all right
for them to do it, but they don’t like it when the shoe’s on the other foot. I
say good luck to her.’

‘I’m not
getting into an argument about those two again. I’ll go and make us something
to eat,’ said Vinny as he jumped out of bed and headed towards the kitchen.

While Vinny
was cooking, Julie decided to take a shower. As she stood under the water, she
looked around the bathroom at the décor, which was stylish and contemporary.
This never failed to impress her. For a man he was very fastidious. He had obviously
put a lot of time and effort into decorating and furnishing his home and the
results were impressive. He did have very good taste and knew how to make the
place seem homely and yet fashionable at the same time.

When she
emerged from the bathroom, she could smell the tempting aroma of grilled bacon,
and they were soon tucking into bacon sandwiches and chatting about work and
family. When they had finished, Julie offered to wash the dishes, and then
declared that it was time she got home. As usual, she waited for Vinny to
approach her regarding any future arrangements.

‘Will I see
you in the week then?’ he asked.

‘Oh, I’m
sorry Vinny but I’m really busy.’

‘All right,
what about the weekend?’

‘Well I’m
out on Friday for Amanda’s birthday, but Saturday would be nice.’

‘Ok, I tell
you what then,’ he said, taking hold of her hands. ‘As I won’t be seeing you
all week, why don’t we have a special night out? I’ll take you for a meal if
you like.’

‘Yes, that would
be lovely, Vinny.’

‘Right, how
about the Bella Vida then?’

‘The Bella
Vida! That’s a bit posh isn’t it? Are you sure you can stretch to that?’

‘No
problem. I want it to be a really special night,’ and he rose from his seat and
put his arms about her.

By the time
Julie left Vinny’s house and set off for home, she felt as though she was
walking on a cushion of air.

-------------------

Sunday
22
^nd
June 1986

As Julie
recalled the special time that she had had with Vinny the previous weekend, she
couldn’t help but feel bad about last night. While she had been at the police
station, Vinny had probably been sitting alone in the Bella Vida waiting for
her to show up. Of course it wasn’t her fault; how was she to know that she was
going to be arrested? But maybe she should have rung him from the station when
she had the chance.

She
treasured her moments with Vinny. He made her feel so happy. She knew he loved
her; he demonstrated that every time they were together. Vinny’s problem,
though, was that he had difficulty putting his feelings into words. He was the
same in his working life. He was good at his job, but he worked too hard and
for little thanks.

Julie was
forever asking him why he didn’t look for a better job or try to get a
qualification to enhance his prospects, but he didn’t seem concerned. “
If only
he had a bit more get up and go!
” she thought. “
Then we could really
start to get somewhere.
” As long as he continued to display such
complacency, however, she had no intentions of settling down with him.

“
He’s
not so bad though. He might be uneducated and appear almost uncouth at times,
but he is good to me, and he always makes me feel special when I’m with him. In
fact, he bloody well pampers me.
”

She thought
once again about how much Vinny had been looking forward to their night out at
the Bella Vida. “
I’ll ring him and explain as soon as I get a chance,
”
she told herself.

-------------------

Sunday
22
^nd
June 1986

The family
ate their meal in silence. Julie toyed with her food. She could sense the anger
still emanating from her father, and this caused her to feel ill at ease. Bill
rushed through his food and, as soon as he had finished, he scraped his chair
back and announced that he was going for a walk. When he had left the table,
the others exchanged knowing glances and each breathed a sigh of relief.

As soon as
she had eaten as much as she could manage, Julie took the opportunity to make
her long awaited phone call to Vinny, while her father was out of the house. His
angry reaction surprised her when he asked, ‘What were you doing last night
that stopped you from turning up at the restaurant?’

Equally angry,
Julie retaliated, ‘What was I doing? I’ll tell you what I was doing! I was
stuck at a police station all night, getting the grilling of my life. That’s
what I was doing!’

Vinny was
stunned by this statement and, when he spoke, Julie could sense that he had
mellowed slightly towards her. ‘What do you mean, at a police station? What’s
happened?’

Julie
explained the events of the weekend to him, adding that she had been to hell
and back in order to enlist his sympathy. Her ploy seemed effective, for he
then replied, ‘I’m really sorry to hear that. Still, try not to worry. If you
know you’ve done nothing wrong, then you’ll be all right. In fact, they
wouldn’t have released you if they’d had anything on you. Tell you what, why
don’t I see if I can re-book the restaurant for tonight, and try to cheer you
up a bit?’

Julie
replied tentatively, knowing that Vinny was about to receive another blow to
his pride. ‘I can’t, I’ve arranged to meet Rita. You see, they arrested her
too, and ...’

Before she
had a chance to finish her sentence, Vinny’s fury was re-ignited and he stormed
at her, ‘I might have bloody well known! You put everyone before me. To hell
with you then! If you can’t be bothered about me, then why should I bother
about you?’

When he
slammed down the receiver, Julie was shocked. In the last couple of days she
had seen so many extreme behavioural changes in the people close to her that it
was all becoming a bit too much for her to absorb.

-------------------

Sunday
22
^nd
June 1986

They met in
the foyer of the Flying Horse. Julie had already been standing there for about
ten minutes, having arrived early. She had been anxious to leave her home as
her father had returned, bringing the tense atmosphere back with him. She had
not put her usual effort into her choice of clothing. Somehow, her heart wasn’t
in it, but she couldn’t help noticing that Rita had, once again, gone to
extremes in order to get herself noticed. They exchanged a faint smile and
headed straight for the bar.

No sooner
had they seated themselves, than Julie spotted Lindsey Pilkington making her
way towards them. She instinctively knew that this wouldn’t be a pleasant
encounter. Lindsey was trouble with a capital T and Julie had done her best to
avoid her for years. If ever there was any aggravation going on in the local
pubs then you could almost guarantee that Lindsey and her friends would be at the
heart of it. As soon as Lindsey reached their table she asked, ‘What’s this
about you Julie, being dragged off by the police?’

‘Oh here we
go,’ said Rita. ‘It hasn’t taken the vultures long, has it?’

‘I was only
asking!’ replied Lindsey, defensively.

‘It doesn’t
matter, Rita,’ said Julie. ‘They’re all gonna want to know sooner or later
anyway. I expect we’re flavour of the week at the moment.’

Julie
explained the events of the last two days to Lindsey. Once Lindsey was
satisfied that she had heard all there was to hear, she went to join her own
friends. Julie and Rita watched in dismay as Lindsey recounted the tale to a group
of avid listeners.

‘Never mind,’
said Rita. ‘It’ll soon blow over. It’s just a seven-day wonder, that’s all.’

The girls
then settled down and began to exchange comments about their time spent at the
police station and the events surrounding their arrest.

Rita had
also been subjected to a rigorous interrogation. However, she had received a
better reception on returning home. ‘Well,’ she said laughingly to Julie. ‘It’s
not as if they’re not used to the coppers round at our house. My dad was
halfway over the back gate before he realised they hadn’t come for him. They
were all dying to find out what had happened and my dad says that the cops have
always had it in for our family, anyway, so I shouldn’t let ’em get to me.’

Julie
outlined her home situation to Rita, and the conversation she had had with
Vinny. Rita offered a few words of reassurance, and these might have comforted
Julie, if it hadn’t been for the repeated interruptions they had to endure.

Rumours of
their arrest were spreading, and they were faced with a constant stream of
locals stopping at their table in order to quiz them. That in itself was bad
enough, but Julie was disconcerted by the witty comments which she received,
such as, ‘Hiya Jailbait, how’re you doing?’ These tasteless remarks were
becoming increasingly tiresome as the evening wore on. 

Rita advised
Julie to, ‘put a brave face on, and don’t let them know you’re bothered,’ but
she found the situation very trying. Rita encouraged her to stay until the end
of the night as part of their act of defiance and, as usual, Rita’s resilience amazed
Julie. She seemed to react to the taunts with indifference and didn’t give any
indication whatsoever that the situation bothered her.

The end of
the evening brought mixed feelings for Julie. She was relieved to be leaving
the Flying Horse but, when she thought about returning home, she dreaded the anticipated
response from her father. Luckily, everybody had gone to bed when she reached
home. The house was quiet and peaceful so Julie took the opportunity to sit
down for a few minutes and collect her thoughts before going to bed. Unfortunately,
however, as soon as she began to contemplate her circumstances, she found
herself, once again, immersed in a flood of tears.