The Faithless

  Still, he consoled himself with the fact he had fought her to get James Junior the help he so desperately needed, so at least he had done that much. A voice in his head was telling him it was too little, too late. But he ignored that, and left the house quick smart. Cynthia could do the boy’s packing – she was better at things like that than he was.

  An hour later he was coked out of his nut, and working on long columns of figures. Only numbers made any sense to him these days, and he lost himself in them like a drowning man grabbing on to a lifeboat.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Vincent O’Casey was waiting for Gabby outside the school gates the next morning and, seeing him, her heart rose in her chest.

  ‘How’s everything?’ He genuinely cared, and that meant so much to her.

  ‘I’m on me own today because me mum has to take me brother to some kind of kids’ looney bin in Kent. I’ll skip school, shall I? We can go somewhere and be together.’

  Vincent knew he should refuse, but he missed her. Never had he felt like this about a girl before. Gabby was under his skin and, with the certainty of young love, he knew she always would be. She came from a dangerous family, and he was nervous about that, but it was her, Gabby, who filled his days and his nights. If he was honest, she was like a virus infecting every part of him, and he knew that she felt the same about him.

  ‘I’ve got a motor round the corner, borrowed it off me mate Petey. He’s working for your uncle Jonny actually, and he might get me onboard. I’m thinking of going into the banking business.’

  Gabby smiled with pride. Once settled in the rather knackered Ford Capri Ghia, Gabby lit a cigarette and said earnestly, ‘What bank will you work for? Barclays?’

  Vincent grinned then and said mischievously, ‘Sometimes, depends what bank we’ll be robbing, don’t it!’

  Gabby laughed, but she felt the first fingers of fear inside her belly. She forced it away; he was older than her, and he knew what he was about. It was too late for her now, he was in her blood, and nothing he did would make her feel anything other than love for him.

  ‘What, with guns?’

  He nodded as he pulled out into the traffic. ‘’Course. Bit pointless trying to rob a bank with a fucking lolly stick!’

  ‘But what if you get caught?’

  ‘I won’t get caught, it’s a doddle really. Now, let’s drop that, shall we? Where do you want to go? Victoria Park? How about Barking Park? We can go on the boats.’

  She grinned shyly. ‘How about Southend? I love Southend.’

  ‘Southend it is.’

  As they picked up the A13, she was quiet for a few moments. ‘I know this ain’t been easy, Vince, but my mum’s a tough one you know.’

  Vincent laughed then. ‘Fucking understatement of the year that! She’s harder than most blokes. I mean, you have to admire her, don’t you? She saved her sister from certain death, girl, and, from what I heard, she took out Kevin Bryant quick as anything.’

  Gabby didn’t answer; she had heard the stories, and they all differed in some way. She was astute enough to know that the whole truth had been scrubbed out a long time ago. She also knew her mother was capable of anything. And not in a good way. It occurred to her that maybe Vincent was with her for her family connections. She could see that her family could be a big draw to a certain kind of people. The thought saddened her, and she wondered if this man, this young boy who she loved so much, was seeing her as a way into the firm. She felt she had to say something.

  ‘I wouldn’t give stories too much credence, Vince. Me mum’s got a hard side, and she don’t like you. So any thoughts you’ve got about getting an in with her and me uncle Jonny through me won’t happen. She thinks you’re leading me astray.’

  Vincent was serious now. ‘Listen, Gabby, I’ve got in with a nice little firm, and they ain’t nowhere in your uncle’s league, or your mother’s come to that. But I can tell you this, I know I won’t be welcomed with open arms by your mum and dad. I’ll sit it out until you’re old enough to make your own mind up, and we can tip them bollocks, OK?’

  At his words, Gabby felt the sun come out for her once more. He wanted her for herself, she was sure of that. She laughed gently and turned up the radio; Simply Red were singing ‘Remembering The First Time’, and they both grinned.

  ‘Our record, eh?’

  She laughed with him, happy to be beside him, happy to forget that she was playing truant and happy to forget about her mother. Today was just for them, and they were going to enjoy it.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Jonny Parker was pleased with the villa scam. Everyone he had spoken to was of the same opinion – it was a good time for something like this. Package holidays were affordable for most people these days and Spain was booming. From Calpe to Marbella, Brits were flocking in their thousands, and they all wanted a little bit of Spain for themselves. ‘The Dorm’, as Benidorm was affectionately known, was kicking nine months of the year. It was cheap, and it was crowded, and that was exactly what the punters wanted.

  So, as he drove to Cynthia’s house, he was a happy man. It was as if he could do no wrong, and everything he touched turned into golden coins. In this case, of course, it was pesetas, but the principle was the same. He was glad they were meeting at her house; it wasn’t far for him to go home from there, and he was knackered.

  As he pulled up outside the door, he felt a small twinge of apprehension. Cynthia was getting more and more insistent about their ‘relationship’ as she called it, and he had a feeling she would soon be asking him to call time on his marriage, and that was never going to happen. But, ever the optimist, he hoped he was wrong; they still had great sex and that was basically what their ‘relationship’ had always been about. Knowing what she was capable of still rocked his boat, and he knew that he was playing with a very dangerous adversary. That was part of the thrill. But he knew, when all was said and done, that as hard as she was, he was harder and, if necessary, he would show her that, and put the frighteners on her once and for all. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that of course, but he had to watch his back.

  As he walked through the door he had to smile. She had more front than Brighton, sitting on the kitchen table, legs splayed and a beatific smile on her face.

  ‘I thought you’d never get here!’

  ‘It’s your birthday tomorrow – as if I would forget that.’ He was undoing his trousers as he spoke and she laughed with him.

  An hour earlier she had fed her husband and daughter at this very table, knowing that once they were out for the evening, she would be entertaining Jonny. James had taken Gabriella out late night shopping to get her birthday present – like she believed they were going to the pictures! – but it was sweet of James to still play the part of the caring husband. She knew that her daughter didn’t want to go. Gabriella’s idea of a birthday present for her mother would be a milkshake full to the brim with deadly nightshade if it had been left to her. After all, today she had found out about the boarding school; the look on her daughter’s face! It was true a picture was worth a thousand words – Gabriella’s face had been worth that and more.

  But that was forgotten now her Jonny was inside her and, as always, for both of them, it was all they really needed. When they were together like this, it was as if the rest of the world had disappeared, and it was just them.

  Unfortunately, Jimmy Tailor had only had to go as far as his mother-in-law’s to collect his wife’s very expensive Rolex watch. Jack had got it for him cheap and, having spotted Jonny’s car outside, as he and Gabby walked back through the front door, he expected to see Jonny Parker in his front room sipping a drink. But, strangely, it was in darkness. Moving through to the kitchen, his daughter by his side, Jimmy instead walked into a scene he would never in a million years have envisaged.

  Even in his own distress, he still knew he should remove his daughter from the kitchen and get her away from what was happening on his kitchen table. The table where an hour earlier they
had all eaten together like a normal family, like a real family. As if that had any truth in it. But, instead, he grabbed his wife’s hair and dragged her off the table, and on to the floor.

  He could hear screaming, but was that Cynthia or was it Gabby?

  It was all happening so fast.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  ‘Calm down, child, and tell me what’s happened. Is it James Junior? Has something happened to him?’

  ‘It’s me dad, he’s attacked me mum . . . You’ve got to come, Granddad.’ Gabby was imploring Jack with her eyes while her nana tried to get some sense out of her.

  ‘Me mum was on the table with . . . Me dad’s gone berserk.’

  Suddenly her words hit home and her grandparents both groaned as if in pain.

  ‘Jesus Christ, what was she thinking! In her own home, the fucking whore.’ Jack Callahan was fuming. ‘I knew this would happen one day! I knew it. I warned her about being so brazen, I only wish I’d talked to him too. But you know Jonny Parker, no talking to him, is there? Too high and mighty for the likes of us . . .’

  ‘Will you shut up, Jack!’ hissed Mary.

  It was only then he remembered that Celeste was there too, and she was looking at them as if they had all miraculously appeared before her in a vision.

  Gabby looked from one to the other, and realised just how far-reaching the repercussions of her mother’s actions would be. She had stopped herself saying Jonny’s name, because her aunt had enough on her plate as it was. This was the night Celeste came round here for her dinner, and what her nana referred to as a ‘catch up’. Now it was out, and Gabby felt it was her fault, but she had not known where else to go.

  Her father had been like a maniac and, when she had left, her uncle Jonny was beating down on her dad in order to get him away from her mum. It was like a nightmare, only she was wide awake and it was really happening, and her dad would never be the same again. She had seen and heard the hurt inside him. The strange thing was, he seemed more upset with her uncle Jonny. And her uncle Jonny she could tell was ashamed, ashamed and frightened. But then so he should be, he had done the dirty on them all. She hated him now just as much as she did her mother. They were both of a kind, both selfish, both believing that the world was only there for them and what they wanted.

  Celeste was in her nana’s arms now, and she followed her granddad out of the house, wondering what this night would bring them all, and aware that it wouldn’t be anything good, that much was for sure. It never was with her mother. She was sending her away to school in the middle of nowhere so she couldn’t be with Vincent, and all the time she was having an affair with her uncle Jonny!

  Gabby still couldn’t believe what she had seen, still couldn’t get over her father’s reaction. Her poor dad, her poor, poor dad. She was crying again, and she hoped that her mum was dead on the floor when they got back home. She wanted her dead so badly. If she died she couldn’t hurt them any more.

  Even James Junior might be in with a chance if she was gone, because her mother infected everyone and everything around her, and she destroyed anyone who stood in her way, just as she beat down anyone who disagreed with her.

  Gabby hated her, even more than before if that was possible. Her mother had more or less called her a whore today, smugly telling her she was going away to school, where there would be no boys. Well, she herself would know what a whore was – no one could know better. In fact, she was worse than a whore, because she had done the dirty on her own sister, and that was something only the lowest of the low could be capable of.

  Gabby hoped her dad killed her, she hoped he had killed them both. They deserved it, the pair of them.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  ‘Oh, shut up, Cynthia. Shut the fuck up!’ Jack Callahan was disgusted with them, both Cynthia and Jonny, and it showed. He looked at his son-in-law and, sneering, he said, ‘Where’s Jimmy gone?’

  Jonny had the grace to look shamefaced and that placated Jack a little bit. Even his son-in-law’s fearsome reputation wasn’t cutting any ice with him this night. He thought these two before him were lower than the lowest, they were carrion to him now. If he never saw either of them again it would be too soon.

  ‘I don’t know, Dad.’

  ‘Don’t you call me “Dad”, you fucking slag! After this night is over I never want to see your face again. All this time you were fucking him did you think of your sister?’ He looked pointedly at Jonny then. ‘That’s my daughter Celeste, your fucking wife, in case you forgot her name. Did either of you think about that poor girl, eh? Between you you’ve sent her off her chump, but then you sent your little James off his head and all, didn’t you, Cynthia? Quite a track record you’ve got now. Well, you better find your husband. Who knows what he’s capable of in his state of mind! He might be sitting with Lily Law bringing you down. Funny what a man’s capable of when he’s been fucked over by his mate and his wife.’

  Jonny Parker was looking around him as if he was drunk; he felt as if he was in a stupor. ‘Does Celeste . . .’

  ‘Oh, she knows, Jonny. You’ll have a job talking her round after this little debacle.’

  Jonny Parker felt physically sick at what he had caused. Looking at Cynthia now, her eye black, dried blood on her face from her husband’s fists and boots, the ferocity of the attack was what had shocked him more than anything. Jimmy was a big man, and he had shown that he wasn’t as docile as his wife had believed. He had even given Jonny a few good thumps before he had left the house, his car roaring off like something from the Grand Prix.

  But it was young Gabby who really made him see what damage they had caused. Her eyes were on him and, if hate had been a tangible thing, he would have been knocked to the floor by now. And Celeste! His Celeste! She knew!

  ‘Celeste . . . Is she still at yours, Jack?’

  ‘If you mean does she know everything, yes, she does. Now maybe she’ll get away from you and start living her life. As for you, Cynthia, you keep away from her. She thought the world of you, always did.’ He looked at his elder daughter then, before saying, ‘I hope you never know another happy day, Cynth. I hope you stew in your own hate and your own greed. You wanted what she had. Couldn’t stand it, could you, that she got him, and you got poor Jimmy. Well, you’re welcome to each other now, because I’m finished with you, lady. Finished with the pair of you.’ With that he walked out of the house.

  Cynthia was quiet as she watched her father walk away from her. Then, turning to Jonny, she said defiantly, ‘I’m glad it’s come out, now we can be together . . .’

  Jonny was looking at her in utter amazement now. ‘What the fuck are you on about, you silly bitch? Glad it’s come out! Are you off your fucking trolley? If you were the only woman left in the world, I wouldn’t have you now. Can’t you see what we’ve done? What we’ve caused? I love Celeste, I always will. I couldn’t love you . . . No one could. Face it, Cynth, you’re a lot of things, girl, but lovable ain’t one of them.’ He looked at the woman who had been like an itch to him for so long, and was pleased to see that it was one itch that had well and truly been scratched raw. ‘I need to find Jimmy, and make sure he doesn’t do what your father suggested. But first I need to see my wife, and try and repair some of the damage I’ve done to her.’ He looked at Gabby. ‘Look after your mum . . .’

  Gabby laughed, and she looked years older than fourteen as she said, ‘You look after her. As far as I’m concerned me granddad has the right idea, she’s dead to me and all.’

  She left the house, and ran to catch up with her granddad who, putting his arm around her, said sadly, ‘I shouldn’t have left you there, Gabby; I’m not thinking right tonight.’

  She slipped her hand into his, and together they walked back to her nana’s in silence.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  ‘Did you know about all this, Mum?’

  Mary Callahan looked at this lovely daughter of hers and decided that only the truth would suffice now. ‘Everyone knew, I think. But
how could we interfere, lovie? I kept hoping it would burn itself out . . .’

  Celeste nodded; inside her brain somewhere she realised she had known too – not about Cynthia, but she had always known there was someone else. Jonny wasn’t a man to go without anything he wanted, it was what had attracted her to him and, if it hadn’t been for that night when Kevin Bryant had come gunning for her, she knew instinctively that none of this with Cynthia would ever have happened. That night had changed them all somehow, her more than any of them. For Cynthia it had been her re-entry into the world she loved, the world Celeste had only ever really tolerated. But she had loved her sister so much, had felt so grateful to her, and all the while she had been sleeping with her husband.

  Celeste felt the bile rising up inside her, wondering how many times he had slipped into their bed and held her, when earlier he had been holding her sister. Touching Cynthia, tasting her. It was sickening. She was actually heaving now, and her mother led her into the toilet, and held her daughter’s head as she brought up everything she had eaten and drunk over the last twenty-four hours.

  Mary Callahan knew that if she had her elder daughter in front of her now she would take her out without a moment’s hesitation. Cynthia had always been trouble and she knew she had always been jealous of this sister of hers despite the fact that Celeste was a watered-down version of her in every respect. Where Cynthia was beautiful, Celeste was pretty; where Cynthia had the body of an Amazon, Celeste, bless her, was only half the woman her sister had ever been. Yet, where it really counted, Celeste was worth a hundred of Cynthia, a thousand of her, because Celeste was a good girl, a decent, kind girl.