Broke (21 page)

‘Oh, thank God!’ she cried, running around to the driver’s-side door. ‘I’m Amy’s friend, I live next door.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Yates frowned up at her through the open window. ‘What’s up?’

‘I don’t know!’ Marnie glanced worriedly back at the house. ‘Someone’s smashing the place up, but Amy won’t let me in so I don’t know if it’s her or someone attacking her.’

Yates switched the car’s engine off and jumped out, just as Gemma waddled over. ‘What’s going on?’ She stared at the glass littering Amy’s front lawn and path. ‘Shall I call the cops?’

‘No, I’ll sort it,’ Yates told her.

Gemma squinted up at him. ‘You’re her new fella, aren’t you? I’ve seen you picking her up of a night. Decided to go public at last, have youse?’

‘
Gemma!
’ Marnie hissed. ‘She didn’t want anyone to know.’

‘Ah, well, no point hiding it if everyone’s already sussed us,’ Yates said philosophically. ‘I’ll go and see what’s up. Thanks for telling me, love.’ He nodded at Marnie, then took a run up to the locked side gate and hauled himself over.

‘Let me know if you need any help,’ Marnie shouted as he dropped down the other side.

‘Well, that’s a turn-up,’ said Gemma, turning to Marnie with a smirk on her lips. ‘No wonder she didn’t want anyone to fucking see him. Did you see the mush on it? Talk about ugly.’

Marnie couldn’t disagree, but the man had seemed friendly enough, so she shrugged, and said, ‘Amy obviously likes him, so he can’t be that bad. Anyway, Mark was handsome, and look where that got her.’

‘Suppose so,’ Gemma conceded. ‘Never trust a good-looking bloke, my mam always used to say. If they’re not giving some other slag the glad eye, they’re too busy checking themselves out in the mirror to notice you.’

‘True,’ Marnie agreed, folding her arms and looking at Amy’s broken window. ‘Hope she’s all right.’

‘It’s gone quiet now, so I guess he’s got it under control,’ said Gemma.

‘He must really care about her,’ Marnie murmured. ‘Can’t think of many blokes who’d put up with her the way she’s been acting lately.’

‘Yeah, well, I did try and tell you what she was like.’ Gemma drew her chin in, instantly tripling it in size. ‘You lot might have fell for the Little Miss Sunshine act, but I had her number from the off. Snotty bitch, she is; looking down her nose at the rest of us just ’cos her hubby had a job. Well, she ain’t so fucking high and mighty now, is she?’

Marnie shook her head slowly, then sighed, and said, ‘I’d best go in. Got a pot of soup on the stove – don’t wanna burn the house down.’

‘I’m going out in a minute,’ said Gemma, glancing at her watch. ‘But I’ll have me mobile on me, so make sure you give us a ring if anything else kicks off.’

Inside Amy’s house just then, Yates had his hand clamped over her mouth and was dragging her into the kitchen. Her hands were covered in blood, and the front room was destroyed: mirror shattered, broken ornaments littering the floor, couch overturned, and tea dripping down the wall from where she’d hurled the cup at it. It was her wedding picture that had caused the cuts to her hands. Not satisfied with just smashing it, Amy had torn the photograph out through the jagged spikes of glass, shredding her flesh in the process. But she hadn’t cared about the pain, she’d just wanted to tear Mark to pieces the way he’d done with her heart.

Yates shoved her down onto a chair and warned her to keep her mouth shut before taking his hand away. Then, tipping the dirty dishes out of the washing-up bowl, he filled it with warm water and carried it to the table.

‘Are you fucking stupid?’ he demanded as he grabbed one of her hands and plunged it into the water. ‘Your mate was about to call the pigs when I got here. And if you thought you had it bad now, it’s nothing to what they’d have done if they’d clocked the state of this place.’

‘I don’t care,’ Amy snarled. ‘He’s got my kids, and he’s never giving them back because he thinks I’m having an affair with
you
!’

Yates chuckled softly and hauled her hand out of the bloodied water to check the damage.

‘Get off me!’ Amy yelled, tugging her arm out of his grasp. ‘You’ve destroyed my life, you bastard! My husband’s shacked up with some tart, my friends think I’m scum, and my mum and dad aren’t talking to me ’cos they think all of this is my fault. I
hate
you!’

‘My, we
are
feeling sorry for ourselves, aren’t we?’ drawled Yates, reaching for her other hand. ‘Seems to me you brought all this on yourself by marrying the dickhead in the first place. What kind of a man runs out on the woman he’s supposed to love and leaves her to pay his debts? If you ask me, I did you a favour.’

‘
GET OUT!
’ Amy screeched, leaping up and punching and clawing at his face. ‘Just get out of my fucking
house
!’

Pissed off when she got blood on his jacket, Yates headbutted her. When she collapsed, smashing her head on the hard tile floor, he took a syringe out of his pocket and rooted through the sink for a spoon. She was getting too emotional, and that was dangerous, because she could drop him right in it if she mouthed off to the wrong person. But this would soon sort her out.

After preparing the syringe, he pulled his belt out of its loops and knelt beside Amy.

‘Don’t,’ she croaked, coming to as he shoved her sleeve up. ‘Please . . .’

‘Don’t beg.’ Yates grinned. ‘You know I can’t resist you when you beg.’

Amy cried out and arched her back when he plunged the spike into her flesh. But, seconds later, her mouth fell open and her eyes rolled back.

‘There we go,’ Yates said softly. ‘Few more of them and you’ll soon forget about them kids of yours.’

Marnie had been watching through the window the whole time Yates had been inside Amy’s house. When she saw him walk towards his car a short time later, she ran outside.

‘Is she okay?’

‘She’s asleep.’ Yates quickly adjusted the smirk on his lips into an expression of weariness and concern. ‘She’s just upset about that ex of hers.’

‘It’s terrible what he’s done to her,’ Marnie said angrily. ‘I could kill him, I really could.’

‘She’ll be all right,’ Yates sighed. ‘She’s got me now. I’ll look after her. Just off to get some wood for the window.’ He opened the car door. ‘Couldn’t do us a favour and listen out for her, could you?’

‘I’ll sit in with her, if you want,’ Marnie offered.

‘Thanks, love, but best not.’ Yates gave her an embarrassed smile. ‘It’s a bit of a state in there, to be honest. And she’s, er, taken something,’ he added quietly, glancing around as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. ‘I’m not too happy about it, ’cos I’m not into drugs, but she reckons she needs it.’

‘I knew it,’ Marnie said flatly. ‘I asked her if she was on something and she denied it, but I just knew it. Let me guess . . . smack?’

‘Keep it to yourself, eh?’ Yates urged. ‘I’m going to get her off it, but it ain’t gonna be easy. It’s already messed her head up. She tells me all this stuff, and I know half of it ain’t true, but what can I do?’ He sighed again as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Then, shrugging, he said, ‘Best go so I can get back before she wakes up. Cheers again for your help, love.’

‘No problem. I’m Marnie, by the way.’

‘Lenny.’ He held out his hand.

‘Nice to meet you.’ She shook it. ‘And I’m, er, just next door if you ever need anything. Even if you just want a chat, or a brew, or whatever.’

Yates nodded and gave her a grateful smile before climbing into the car.

Marnie stepped back onto the pavement and watched as he drove away. He was ugly, there was no denying that, but he seemed to genuinely care for Amy, and Marnie couldn’t help but wish that a man would feel like that about
her
, instead of just wanting to shag her and run. Amy had been mooching around like a tramp for weeks, snapping at people when they tried to talk to her and locking herself away behind closed curtains. It amazed Marnie that any man would look twice at her right now, never mind tolerate her crazy outbursts. But she’d hooked herself a good one there.

Envy stirring in her gut, Marnie went back into her house and turned down the TV volume to listen out for Amy – not for Amy’s sake, for Lenny’s. She was disgusted with her friend for sinking so low as to get hooked on smack. They’d all had their hearts broken at some time or other, but they hadn’t all used it as an excuse to turn into a dirty junkie.

It was no wonder that Mark had taken the kids, because he obviously knew how bad Amy really was. And Gemma had been right about her, as well. In fact, it seemed like everyone except Marnie had seen her for what she really was.

But Marnie wouldn’t be falling for any more of her lies. She’d given the bitch the benefit of the doubt too many times and had it chucked right back in her face. But it would be that poor man who would be getting her support from now on, not Amy. And he was going to need it, because he obviously didn’t know what he was letting himself in for.

On his way to the job centre just then, Mark was still chewing over the conversation he’d had with Amy. The custody and divorce thing had been Jenny’s idea, and he’d only said it to Amy to hurt her. But now she’d admitted that Yates was the mystery man that Marnie had told him about he didn’t see how he could ever go back.

He had his head down as he walked, and his hood pulled right over his head. As he passed the timber merchant’s on Chorlton Road, he didn’t notice the car about to head into the parking lot. But the driver saw him, and pulled right in front of him.

‘All right, stranger – long time no see.’

Mark’s heart dropped down through his feet at the sound of Yates’s voice. Apart from when he’d picked the kids up last week, he’d hardly stepped foot out of the flat for fear of bumping into Yates. And he wouldn’t be out now if the bastards at the DSS hadn’t refused to let him switch to signing on at a different office.

‘I don’t want any trouble,’ he stammered, holding his hands out in front of him. ‘Please, Len . . . I’ll pay you back, I swear I will. I’ve just—’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Yates interrupted, enjoying watching him squirm as he climbed out of the car. ‘Your missus is taking care of me, so we’re square.’ He paused, lit a cigarette, and grinned. ‘Right little goer when she gets started, ain’t she? Proper knows her way around a cock.’

The blood drained from Mark’s face as Yates’s words scored a direct hit, but he kept his mouth shut.

‘How’s that pretty little girl of yours?’ Yates asked now, squinting at Mark through the smoke. ‘Hope you’re looking after her?’

‘Yeah, course,’ Mark muttered sickly.

‘Good.’ Yates nodded his approval. ‘Between you and me, I reckon they’re better off with you, ’cos their mam ain’t exactly equipped to look after them – if you get me drift? Bit too fond of the old . . .’ He held up his hands and mimed chasing the dragon.

Satisfied that he’d fucked the man’s day up when he saw the pain in Mark’s eyes, Yates took another drag on his smoke and smirked. ‘Oh, well, best let you go. Make sure you give your little ’un a kiss from Uncle Lenny when you get home, won’t you?’

As Yates climbed back into his car and drove away, Mark struggled to control the seething anger and jealousy. Much as it was a relief to know that he was off the hook for the money, because it had been horrible being stuck in the flat with Jenny twenty-four-seven, he just couldn’t get to grips with the thought of Amy and Yates seeing each other.

As his head began to clear, an icy coldness settled over him. It was over. And as soon as he’d signed on, he was going to see a solicitor and start the ball rolling for real.

19

Three weeks later, Yates drove into a darkened parking lot at the rear of a cash-and-carry in Levenshulme, switched off the engine, and nudged Amy with his elbow.

She stirred and peered blearily out through the window. Confused to see that they weren’t at the back of Piccadilly Station where he had been dropping her off every night, she said, ‘Where are we?’

‘You’re shit on the streets, so you ain’t doing that no more,’ Yates told her as he unbuckled his seat belt and hopped out. ‘You’re gonna be working here from now on, where someone can keep an eye on you.’

Amy wasn’t really listening, but even if she had been she wouldn’t have cared. In the weeks since Mark had dropped his divorce bombshell, she’d thought she would never climb out of the black hole he’d pushed her into. But now she had the smack to take her mind off it, none of it seemed to matter quite so much any more.

Yates walked her through an open gate and up to a metal door at the rear of the building, above which a single security light highlighted a small faded sign that read
Hawaii
. A spyhole was drawn back when he knocked and a dark eye peered out.

‘We’re not open. Come back in half an hour.’

‘Do I look like a fuckin’ punter?’ Yates snapped. ‘It’s me, you plank. Mani’s expecting me.’

The door opened, and a black security guard waved them in. ‘Sorry, couldn’t see you properly. He’s in the office.’

Yates shoved Amy ahead of him up the stairs. At the top, another door opened onto a dimly lit corridor. ‘Stay there,’ he ordered.

When he disappeared into a room at the far end of the corridor, Amy swung her head around at the sound of laughter to her right. Through a partially open door she could see several women lounging on shabby couches, each of them wearing short dressing gowns and sucking on cigarettes. One who looked much older than the rest seemed to be holding court from a chair in the corner. Fat, with enormous breasts, she had a scabby feather boa draped around her shoulders, unnaturally black hair, and a face so thick with make-up that Amy thought she looked like Alice Cooper’s mother.

‘So I told him straight,’ the woman was saying, waving her long cigarette holder around as she spoke and leaving a trail of purple smoke in the air. ‘I said, Andy, if I wanted a horse, I’d go to the bloody stables. Put it away before you do some serious damage, you naughty boy.’

‘Who’s Andy?’ a younger girl asked.

‘Warhol, of course,’ said the old woman. ‘Had ’em all in my time, I have.’