Billie Jo (17 page)

Six Months Later

Rolling up a slice of ham, Michelle shoved it into her
mouth, whole. So what if she'd put on a bit of weight
recently? She didn't care any more. She was rich, fat and
happy and who needed anything else?

Getting rid of Nathan had done her the world of good.
Apart from the occasional bunk-up, she missed nothing
about him. He'd been OK, as an accessory, but bar that
he'd had no other qualities. A wimpy, boring ponce was
the best way to describe him and after months of debating
what to do, she'd dumped him last week via a text message.
He hadn't even replied to it, the tosser. Deciding she liked
being single again, she smiled as she picked up the tray.

'I've done you some lunch, Danny,' Michelle said,
waving a plate. French stick filled with ham and salad
was Danny's favourite.

Danny hauled himself out of the swimming pool and
flopped onto the sun lounger. Taking a can of Stella out
of the cool box, he opened it and downed half the contents
in one greedy gulp. The sun was at its peak now and
Danny glanced at his glistening body, admiring what a
lovely colour he'd built up this summer. Brown as a berry
he was and he knew his tan made him look sexier than
ever.

A tanned Adonis, he thought, modestly.

'Cheers, Chelle. I poured you another glass of wine,
girl. I put it on that little table.'

'Thanks, love,' Chelle replied fondly.

Flopping onto a sunbed next to him, Chelle prepared
herself for another one of their afternoon drinking
sessions. Murder they were, her and Danny together.
Complete piss artists, the pair of them.

A lot of things had changed in Danny O'Leary's life
over the last six months and the most surprising thing of
all was the close friendship he'd built up with Michelle.
It had all started months back when he'd gone round there
to act as peacemaker between Billie and her mother. Ever
since then their friendship had gone from strength to
strength, although Chelle still refused to allow Billie back
into her life.

'I can't get over her going behind my back and
becoming pals with the slag and the devil's child,' she
insisted. Billie's pregnancy hadn't exactly softened the
situation. 'Fuck me, Dan, it was bad enough being a mum,
you don't honestly think I'd be jumping for joy at the
thought of being a granny, do you? Christ, I'm only young,
talk about spoil your street cred. The girls down the gym
will have a field day with this,' she'd choked, when he'd
broken the news.

Danny thought that Chelle was hilarious. He admired
her honesty and spent hours on the piss with her.

Deep down, she was a bit of a geezer bird. Chelle
could match him drink for drink and had a male type of
humour. She was a proper laugh, a real fucking character.
Billie didn't have a clue about the unusual friendship,
Danny kept it well hidden from her. Billie would go
apeshit and what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

From an outsider's point of view it must have seemed
a strange old set-up. Young, handsome fella, rich old bird,
but it wasn't like that at all. It was an innocent relationship
with nothing sexual involved whatsoever. Danny felt
really at ease with Michelle. He could talk to her about
anything and everything. She was an extremely good
listener. He told her loads of stuff about his upbringing.
He'd opened his heart about his mum being on the game,
the beatings he'd taken as a kid off of one of the many
'uncles' that he'd been surrounded by. He even told her
stuff about his own relationship with Billie Jo. Michelle
listened but didn't judge, and Danny liked that.

Michelle, for her part, was enjoying the friendship just
as much as Danny and looked forward to his visits and
their notorious drinking sessions. She enjoyed having a bit
of male company around the house. He was a handy little
sod, and had repaired many bits and bobs around the house
for her. Chelle was useless. She had no idea how to change
a plug or even a light bulb, so having Danny at her beck
and call was a godsend to her. She still regularly knocked
about with Hazel and the girls from the gym, but apart
from them Danny had become her only friend. She could
really talk to him and sometimes he reminded her of Terry,
when he was young. She'd told him so much about herself.
She had spoken about her marriage, her husband's death,
finding out about Jade, her awkward relationship with Billie
Jo, absolutely everything. Chelle found talking to Danny
very therapeutic. It was almost like a counselling session,
without a nosy stranger involved.

Danny left Chelle's house early that evening and headed
to his local in Dagenham. He'd given up his job on the
market a couple of months ago and hadn't looked back
since. He'd been working for a canny old boy, who drank
in his local pub. Jimmy the Fish had his finger in many
pies and Danny had met him at exactly the right time.

Jimmy's only son, Bobby, had been killed in a car crash
two years earlier and Jimmy had taken a shine to Danny
immediately because he reminded him of his boy. Jimmy
was as hooky as hooky could be and Danny, driven by
ambition, had soon become his little sidekick. Some times
Danny drove Jimmy around for hours on end,
sometimes he handled stolen goods. Now and again it
was something to do with the many seafood stalls that
Jimmy owned across the East End and Essex, but mainly
it was a bit of drug-running here and there. He didn't
actually sell the gear personally, he just had to drop off
amounts and pick up the wonga. Danny was very happy
with his new line of work. No more getting up at three
in the morning and freezing his bollocks off all day: that
was a thing of the past. Jimmy had also given him a nice
motor, a Shogun, and on top of that he was earning
between five hundred and a grand a week. With the baby
due in the next month and Billie Jo having packed in her
job, Danny O'Leary thanked his lucky stars that Jimmy
the Fish had taken a shine to him and had taken him
under his wing.

Billie Jo handed her friend Carly the plate of spaghetti
bolognese and gingerly sat down on the sofa opposite.
Her pregnancy hadn't been an easy one. She felt fat, sick
and uncomfortable most days and couldn't wait for the
baby to arrive to feel normal again.

'That was lovely,' Carly said, putting her plate down.
'So, how's Danny?'

Billie Jo put her empty plate onto the floor and winced
as she tried to straighten up and make herself comfortable.

'Danny's fine. He's been working so hard in his new
job, saving up for the baby and supporting me, bless
him. He does loads of overtime. I wish in a way he'd
cut his hours down a bit as I hardly ever see him, but
I can't moan as I know he's only doing it for me and
the baby.'

Carly smiled at her friend. 'I'm glad things are working
out for you. What kind of work is Danny actually doing
now?'

Billie shrugged her shoulders. 'I'm not a hundred per
cent sure, to be honest with you. I think he does various
things. I know he does a lot of work for a bloke called
Jimmy. He drives him about a lot. Jimmy is ever so good
to him, he's even given Danny a nice motor to use.'

'So you're managing OK?'

Billie nodded. 'We're managing fine. Danny's ever so
generous, Carly. He's always asking if I need money and
he always gives me whatever I ask for. He's a diamond, he
really is!'

Danny O'Leary lay on the double bed that had seen better
days and watched intently as the girl's head bobbed up
and down on his nether regions. Feeling himself about to
come, he grabbed her head and shoved his cock down
her throat as far as it would go. Seeing her gag with the
ferocity of his thrusts only heightened the pleasure of his
orgasm. He didn't let go of her head until the last drop
of his fluids had slithered down the back of her throat.

'Go and get us a beer out of the fridge, babe, and I'll
do you a line.'

Debbie Jones leapt off of the bed and virtually ran into
the kitchen. Danny rolled up a twenty-pound note, smiling
at her eagerness. Holding one side of his nostril with his
forefinger, Danny snorted the line that he'd carefully laid
out on the make-up mirror. As he felt it trickle down
the back of his throat, he snatched his beer and handed the
rolled-up note to Debbie.

Debbie Jones was eighteen years old. A pretty girl with
a slim figure, she had already mothered children by two
different blokes, both of whom had run a mile on finding
out she was pregnant. Being a single parent suited Debbie
down to the ground. As soon as she was old enough to
have sex, she had been intent on getting pregnant.
Conveniently, she had forgotten the pill and had never
looked back from that day onwards.

She had a nice little flat courtesy of the council. She
was kept by the social and had family nearby to babysit
whenever she wanted. Debbie had recently started working
a couple of shifts as a barmaid in a local pub called the
Cross Keys. The money wasn't great, but it was cash in
hand and enabled her to buy extra treats for herself.
Meeting Danny O'Leary had been an added bonus. For
the first time in her young life, Debbie Jones was well
and truly in love.

It had all started a few months ago, not long after she'd
started working at the pub. She'd noticed Danny straight
away. With his dark hair, film-star looks and non-stop
cockney banter, you couldn't really miss him. He drank
with a crowd of fellas who were a lot older than him.
Jimmy the Fish was a well-known face in the area, and
Debbie had been impressed with the fact that he and Danny
were inseparable.

Standing at the bar one Saturday evening, Danny had
peeled two fifty-pound notes from the big wad he'd pulled
out of his pocket, paid the forty quid that the round came
to and told Debbie to keep the change. Later that same
evening he'd invited her to a party. Debbie had been
fucking his brains out ever since and had fallen head over
heels for him. The only downside for her was that she
knew he had a bird and a baby on the way. She consoled
herself with the fact that he couldn't be happy at home,
as he wouldn't be seeing her if his life was rosy indoors.
Debbie knew she had to be patient and bide her time.
She had to be ready and available when Danny needed
her and give him the best blow-jobs he'd ever had. Debbie
might have been only eighteen, but she certainly wasn't
silly.

'I'm gonna shoot off now, babe.' Danny put on the last
of his clothes and picked up his car keys.

Debbie got out of bed, put on her Primark dressing-gown
and saw him to the door. She knew better than to
ask him when she was going to see him again. She'd done
that once and it hadn't gone down too well.

'Don't fucking start all that,' he'd said. 'You'll see me
when you see me, all right, and if you don't like it, you
know what you can fucking do.'

Debbie had never asked that question again. 'See ya,
Dan, take care.'

As Danny drove home, his thoughts turned to Billie
Jo. The baby was due to arrive soon and he couldn't wait.
He was looking forward to being a dad and was secretly
hoping for a son. Debbie Jones was handy, sexy and available.
He liked her but he didn't have the same feelings
for her that he had for Billie Jo. Billie was classy, naïve,
lovable. Debbie was sluggish, common and gave a fucking
good blow-job.

The last few months had been awkward for Danny.
Billie had had a shit pregnancy and hadn't wanted sex
for months. He hadn't wanted to pester her, so had decided
to seek solace elsewhere. He didn't feel guilty about what
he was doing. He was a man, for fuck's sake, and he had
needs just like any other. Billie stirred as Danny got in
bed beside her and put his arms around her.

'You OK, babe?' he said, nuzzling her ear and running
his hands over her pregnant stomach.

'I'm fine, Dan,' Billie replied sleepily. 'Have you only
just got in from work? What's the time?'

'It's three o'clock, babe. Jimmy needed me to work
late tonight. I need all the overtime I can get for our baby.'

Billie Jo turned onto her other side so that she could
face him. Kissing his forehead, she looked at him lovingly.
'Do you know what? I couldn't have picked a better one
than you. You are going to make such a good dad. I love
you, Danny O'Leary.'

Danny smiled at her and held her close. 'I love you
too, Billie Jo.'

And the funny thing was, in his own way, Danny actually
meant it.

Billie Jo lay back on her bed and let out a huge sigh of
relief as the pains in her stomach subsided momentarily.
Picking up her mobile, she tried Danny's number for what
seemed like the hundredth time. Hearing his voicemail,
she could have cried with frustration. Where was he? He
knew the baby was due anytime and she'd told him to
keep his phone with him, no matter what. Feeling the pains
come back with a vengeance, Billie realised she was going
to have to do something fast, otherwise she'd be giving
birth alone. Grabbing her phone, she rang Carly's mobile.
By this time she was not only in pain but also petrified.

Carly was sitting in the Pizza Hut in Hornchurch having
a bite to eat with Jamie. She could barely make sense out
of what Billie Jo was frantically trying to tell her but
finally got the gist of it on her second attempt.

'Just stay put, Bill. Me and Jamie will be with you in
ten minutes. I'll call an ambulance for you. Will you be
able to get to the front door to open it?'

'Yes, I think so,' Billie sobbed. 'I feel all wet down below,
Carly. I think my waters have broken, please hurry up.'

Carly's heart was beating like mad as she rushed out
of the restaurant. 'We're on our way, Bill. If I was you,
I'd give Jade a quick ring, tell her that you can't get hold
of Danny. She's had a baby, she'll help you. At least ring
her and talk to her until the ambulance arrives.'

Billie took Carly's advice and rang Jade straight away,
telling her that she thought she'd gone into labour and
couldn't get hold of Danny.

'Now just breathe deeply, Bill. Honestly, babe, you'll be
fine. It's normally quite a long labour, your first one. Look
at me, sixteen hours from when the contractions started it
took me to have Terry Junior, so you've got plenty of time.
Look, I'm going to call my mum and ask her to look after
Terry Junior. If you can't get hold of Danny, you're going
to need some support, so I'm going to drive down to you.
What hospital are you going to, Harold Wood?'

'Yes,' Billie replied, feeling slightly more positive. 'I
wouldn't be frightened if you were here, Jade. How long
will it take you to get to me?'

'As soon as your ambulance comes, I'll drop Terry
Junior at my mum's and drive straight down. If I put my
foot down, I should get there in time for the birth.'

Hearing the doorbell ring, Billie thanked Jade, and let
Carly and Jamie in. Her hospital bag was already packed,
so the pair of them just held her hands and comforted
her. The ambulance arrived a couple of minutes later.
Carly accompanied Billie inside and Jamie followed in
his car. Picking up his phone, Jamie flicked through his
contacts and dialled Danny's number. Hearing it go straight
to the answerphone, he left a message.

'Where are you, Danny? You no-good bastard. Your
girlfriend's gone into labour and no one can fucking get
in touch with you. We're on our way to Harold Wood, so
you'd better get your arse down there as soon as. Billie's
in a right old state. You really don't deserve her, do you
know that, mate?'

* * *

Baby O'Leary finally entered the world at 12.33 a.m. and
was delivered by Caesarean section. The doctors had felt
that the baby was at risk and decided to perform the operation
as quickly as possible. The procedure had been quick
and efficient. Billie had started panicking at one point on
hearing that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck.

'Please, God, let my baby be OK,' she'd repeated over
and over again.

The doctor had handed her a consent form, with assurance
that she and her baby were in the best possible hands.
The anaesthetic made her feel weird. She remembered
seeing her baby for the first time, although the drugs
made it seem as if she was dreaming.

Jade hadn't arrived in time for the birth, but was now
holding Billie's hand while she slept. She was only a kid
herself, Jade thought silently. How she was going to
manage with a newborn baby, especially with her wanker
of a boyfriend, was anybody's guess. Carly and Jamie had
now gone home. The nurses had said that Billie needed
some rest and they'd best leave her and come back
tomorrow. The baby had been whisked away straight after
the birth to be checked out and thankfully was in perfect
health. He was now lying in a little cot with a nurse
keeping a watchful eye on him.

Billie woke up a couple of hours later, and for the first
few seconds didn't have a clue where she was or what
had happened. Suddenly, remembering, she sat up with
a jolt which alerted Jade, who'd been dozing in a chair
next to her.

'Where's my baby? Where have they taken my baby?'
she asked frantically.

'Ssh,' Jade replied, squeezing her hand. 'Everything's
fine, Bill. You've got a little boy and he's wonderful. The
nurses are keeping an eye on him.'

Ringing the buzzer to let the nurses know that Billie
was awake and wanted to see her son, Jade filled Billie with
reassurance. 'He was fully checked out and he's absolutely
perfect. He's a big old bruiser, eight pounds twelve ounces.
No wonder you was having trouble getting about towards
the end, with your small frame.'

Billie took a sip of water. 'Does Danny know? Has he
been up here yet? Have you rung him? I left a note for
him indoors.'

'No, Bill,' Jade replied awkwardly. 'Jamie rang him
and told him where you were. He obviously hasn't got
the message yet. Try him again in the morning. Maybe
he's lost his phone or something.'

Billie looked worried. 'I hope nothing's happened to
him, Jade. I left him loads of messages. Normally, even
if he's busy he always rings me back. What if something
bad has happened to him?'

'Now don't be silly,' Jade said comfortingly. 'I'm sure
he's fine. You know what lads are like. He's probably got
drunk and crashed out round a mate's house.'

Billie temporarily forgot about Danny as her baby was
wheeled into the ward and handed to her. The emotions
running through her were indescribable. She had never felt
so much love in all her life as she held the little bundle that
had been placed in her arms. She knew within a split second
that whatever happened in her life, she would never let this
little chap down. Unlike her own mother, she would be there
for this child through thick and thin. Both Billie and Jade
cried tears of joy as mother and baby bonded immediately.

'What are you going to call him, Bill? Have you decided
on a name?'

'Yes, his name's decided,' Billie said, holding him tight
and unable to take her eyes off him. 'Danny Junior, we're
calling him, or DJ for short.'

Jade's heart went over. She couldn't think of a worse
possible start in life for the child than to be named after
arsehole of the year. 'I thought you said on the phone
that you wanted to name him Charlie?'

'Yes, I liked Charlie,' Billie said happily, 'but Danny
insisted the baby had to be named after him. He said the
firstborn son is always named after the father. If we were
having a girl, he wanted to call her Danielle.'

Jade couldn't bring herself to answer. Billie looked so
radiant lying there with her baby in her arms that she
couldn't bring herself to dampen her spirits.

Danny O'Leary opened his eyes and wondered where the
fucking hell he was. He felt like someone was banging
a drum in his head and he had a mouth like a camel's
arse. Sitting up, he put his head in his hands and slowly
but surely started to remember the events of the previous
evening.

'Morning, lover boy. How are you this morning?
Sobered up yet, have we?'

Danny looked at the rough old tart lying naked next
to him and felt physically sick. Now, he wasn't picky
when it came to women by any shot of the imagination,
but this one took the biscuit. She was that ugly that you
could've paid her to haunt houses! Hoping more than
anything on earth that he'd been too drunk to fuck her,
Danny leapt out of bed and started rummaging around
for his clothes.

At forty-one years old, with a body that had gone home
years ago, Sandra Shepherd had thought she'd died and
gone to heaven when she'd enticed Danny O'Leary back
to her bed last night. Sandra had a front tooth missing,
four children in care, and a heroin habit. Pulling blokes
wasn't usually easy for her.

'You ain't got to rush off straight away, have you?' she
asked, pleadingly.

'Where's the toilet?' Danny mumbled as he ran from
the room and chucked his guts up. After retching over a
dirty toilet, for what seemed like a lifetime, he washed
his face in cold water and ventured back into the stinking
bedroom to hunt for his keys and phone.

'Do you know where my motor is? Did I drive us here?
What area are we in?' he blurted out, unable to remember
anything.

'Your motor's outside and we're in Stratford.' Sandra
felt dejected, as she could see by the look on his face
that he couldn't wait to get away from her.

Finding his keys under the bed, Danny breathed a sigh
of relief and lit up a fag. 'Have you got a mobile so I
can ring my phone? I dunno what I've done with mine.'

'I've got no credit,' Sandra answered truthfully, hoping
inwardly that the phone would turn up in her flat and she
could chop it in for a bit of brown.

'See ya, then,' Danny said. Without waiting for a reply,
he bolted out of the flat as fast as his legs would take him.

It took him ten minutes to locate his motor and another
five to find the phone, which had somehow found its way
under the driver's seat. The battery had run out so he drove
towards home as fast as he could. Looking at his watch,
he noticed it was 10.30 a.m. Billie was going to be well
pissed off with him. He often came home late, like three
and four in the morning. Billie was used to that, but coming
home nigh on the next lunchtime, that was a different
kettle of fish and he knew he had some explaining to do.

Sitting in the traffic in the Romford Road, Danny went
over the events of the day before. He'd had to drive up to
Liverpool and deliver a load of ecstasy tablets to an address,
pick up six grand and come back home. One of Jimmy the
Fish's employees, Leroy Jackson, had gone with him, but
when they had arrived there, the deal had gone tits up.

Leroy was a big black six-footer and a proper arrogant
cunt. The four geezers they'd been assigned to do
business with in Scouseland were out-and-out scallies and
the deal had ended in an argument and punch-up. Leroy
had stuck a knife in one of the gang and they'd had to
run for their lives whilst being chased by the other three.
Luckily, although no deal had been completed, they'd
managed to snatch the tablets and make it back to the
car, where they'd shot off at top speed. After relaying
the story on the drive home, Jimmy the Fish had suggested
they give Dagenham a wide berth. He insisted they head
to Hackney and he arranged to meet them in Leroy's local.

Leroy was a Hackney boy through and through. He was
well liked, had numerous friends and was well respected.
He also knew that if the geezer he'd knifed took a turn for
the worse and he needed an alibi, that Hackney was the
place to be. Today's events had been an eye-opener for
Danny. It had been his first taste of aggro in his newly
found career and truth be known, he'd absolutely loved it.
The adrenalin was something else: he was a face now, mixing
with the big boys and loving every bloody minute of it.

Jimmy the Fish had turned up in the boozer in Hackney
early evening and made a proper fuss of him and Leroy.
He was absolutely overjoyed that they'd managed to snatch
the tablets back on their way out. Jimmy could suffer
most things, but being turned over and losing gear wasn't
one of them.

'You're two top fucking boys, you are,' he said, whilst
cracking open a bottle of bubbly. 'I knew you wouldn't
let me down.'

Six pubs and a lap-dancing club later, Danny was
wasted. Jimmy had insisted on footing the bill and had
supplied endless top-quality champagne. How Danny had
ended up with a bird as ugly as Sandra Shepherd was
beyond belief. He'd shagged some mingers in his time,
but the monster he'd woken up with this morning had to
be the worst one ever. He just hoped to God he hadn't
caught anything off her. Billie would chop his bollocks
off if he passed anything on to her.

Letting himself into his flat, he was prepared for an
ear-bashing. He had worked out a story on the way home
to get himself out of the shit and was ready to spill his
lies. Calling out for Billie and getting no answer was a
shock to him. Seeing the note she'd left him on the table
was an even bigger one.

'Dan, I've gone into labour, called an ambulance, please
come quickly. Love you. Billie,' was the brief message.

'Fuck,' Danny said out loud. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck.' Sprinting
out of the flat, he jumped into his motor and headed towards
the hospital at top speed. After having a go at the backward
girl on reception, Danny legged it down the corridor
to the side room that Billie was in. He was all ready to
run in full of excuses and apologies, but the sight of Billie
lying there, holding their son, took his breath away. All he
could manage was, 'I'm so sorry, Billie. I'll make it up to
you, I promise. It was a work thing, you know how it is.'

Billie smiled. She couldn't be angry with him, not after
giving birth to the most beautiful little boy in the whole
wide world. Whatever anger she'd felt earlier had vanished.
'Don't worry, Danny. Come over here and hold your son.
Danny Junior, meet your daddy.'

Jade watched the scene of happy families unfolding in
front of her eyes and felt physically sick. She could smell
booze seeping out of Danny's pores. Work, my arse, she
thought to herself. 'I'm going to get a coffee, Bill,' she said,
unable to be in the same room as Danny a minute longer.