The Driver (16 page)

Patsy rushed out into the hall when Eddie let himself into her flat. Immediately suspicious because she was twitching even more than usual and her eyes were wide and wild, he said, ‘What you up to?’

‘Nothing,’ she mumbled, pressing her back against the wall to keep a distance between herself and the dog. ‘I just heard a noise and came to see who it was.’

‘Who else
could
it have been?’ Eddie demanded, looping the dog’s lead over the doorknob. ‘You’d best not have been letting people in.’

‘I haven’t,’ Patsy insisted, hurrying into the bedroom behind him because the dog looked like it wanted to eat her. ‘I never let anyone in. Not even the social worker. She’s always knocking, but I pretend I’m not here.’

‘So why are you acting so jumpy?’

‘I’m not,’ Patsy lied, wrapping her arms around her skinny body. ‘I just need a bit of stuff.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Eddie muttered, kneeling at the foot of the cot. ‘You’re starting to need it too much, if you ask me.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Patsy blurted out, chewing on her knuckles now. ‘I just need a little bit to get myself straight, and then I’ll cut down. Honest.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Eddie drawled, not believing a word of it. Glancing into the cot as he reached through the rubbish below it, he said, ‘Where’s the kid?’

Patsy’s eyes swivelled wildly. ‘My, er, my sister took it.’

‘Thought you said no one had been in?’ Eddie reminded her.

‘They haven’t,’ Patsy said, scratching at her arms. ‘She knocked and asked if she could take him, so I passed him out to her.’

Eddie wasn’t sure he believed her but, wherever the kid was, he thought it was probably better that it was out of here because Patsy was definitely getting worse. Every time he’d called round lately she’d been wearing the same clothes she was wearing now. And whatever maternal instinct she might once have possessed had been well and truly swamped by her addiction, to the point that she looked confused whenever he mentioned her child.

Getting back to the task at hand now, Eddie reached down to move the floorboards. But as soon as he touched them he knew they’d been moved since he’d been here last. Yanking the cot out of the way, he shoved the mess aside and hauled his case out. Furious when he saw the scratch marks around the lock, he glared up at Patsy.

‘You been messing with this?’

‘No!’ she protested. ‘I haven’t touched it, I swear.’

‘So what are all these marks?’ he demanded, standing up and thrusting the case out to show her.

Wincing, because she was sure that Eddie was going to hit her, Patsy said, ‘Mice. There’s loads of them. They crawl all over everything. And they bite. Look . . .’ She held out her scabby arms. ‘Teeth . . . sharp little teeth.’

Grimacing when she mimicked a mouse nibbling, Eddie pushed her out of the way and laid the case down on the bed to examine it. It looked like she’d stuck something into the lock, because the metal was distorted on the inside of the cut-out. But, fortunately for Patsy, she hadn’t managed to get into it, and he found everything as he’d left it when he opened it.

‘Touch this again,’ Eddie warned her, taking out the money and the thirty or so bags of crack that were still in there, ‘and I’ll chop your fucking hands off. You got that?’ He looked up at her now, his stare cold and hard.

‘I haven’t,’ Patsy repeated lamely, her gaze riveted to the crack that was already disappearing into his pocket.

‘This is your last chance,’ Eddie said, relocking the case and putting it back into the hole. ‘Any more nonsense and I’ll move the whole lot out.’

Patsy’s body twitched in anticipation when he put everything back in place and came towards the door. But when he shouldered past her and headed into the hall without giving her anything, she said, ‘What about me?’

‘What about you?’ Eddie looked coldly back at her as he unhooked the dog.

‘You can’t just leave me like this,’ she whined, bravely going after him and clutching at his arm. ‘Come on, Eddie. I
need
it.’

‘Get your fucking hand off me,’ he warned her quietly. ‘Unless you want me to show you what I do to people who try to rip me off?’

‘I’ll give you a blow job,’ Patsy blurted out, falling to her knees and scrabbling to get at his flies. ‘You know you like it when I do it special.’ She gurned up at him now, her gunk-coated tongue flicking in and out of her mouth.

Disgusted, Eddie had to draw on every last ounce of willpower not to lay into her. But he knew he would probably kill her if he hit her properly, so he just swatted her out of the way instead, sending her sprawling across the filthy floor.

Sobbing, Patsy screamed, ‘I’ll do anything!
Anything!
’

‘You’re a wreck,’ Eddie sneered. ‘What do you think I could possibly want from you?’

‘You said you were going to look after me,’ Patsy reminded him, licking at the snot that was running from her nose.

‘I will,’ Eddie said calmly. ‘But not while you’re like this, ’cos you’re putting me at risk.’

‘I’m not,’ Patsy said sincerely. ‘I’d never do anything to hurt you, Eddie. I love you.’

‘So show me you’re making an effort to sort yourself out and I’ll think about giving you something in a day or so,’ Eddie told her firmly. She was suffering but he was glad, because it would make her think twice about disobeying him again.

When he walked out, Patsy scuttled back into the bedroom and started licking the sheet in case he’d dropped any traces of crack there.

Joe was woken by the sound of the letter box’s flap. He reached for his watch and groaned when he saw that it was almost one in the afternoon. He hadn’t meant to sleep in so late but he’d sat by the window after getting home that morning, keeping himself awake with strong coffee while he waited for the girl whose name he didn’t even know to come home. It was half-six before she’d finally appeared, and she’d looked as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her frail shoulders. But one of the other girls had been linking arms with her, so Joe had figured that she would be okay.

He pulled on his dressing gown now and staggered out into the hallway. Seeing the neatly folded note on the doormat – the third in as many weeks – he snatched it up and yanked the door open, hoping to catch the anonymous sender in the act. There was nobody out in the corridor but, just as he was about to go back inside, Eddie came around the top of the stairs.

‘Not up yet, you lazy cunt?’ Eddie called when he spotted what Joe was wearing.

‘Didn’t get much sleep,’ Joe told him, trying not to look as paranoid as he suddenly felt about his secret trip back into town to see the girl after dropping Eddie off last night.

‘Likely story,’ Eddie scoffed. ‘You’ve got a bird in, haven’t you?’

‘I should be so lucky,’ Joe muttered. ‘Been out walking the dog?’

‘Yeah, I’ve been neglecting it a bit lately,’ Eddie admitted, reaching down to stroke its head. ‘Need to remind it who I am before it forgets what it’s here for. Anyhow, you get back to your bed,’ he said now, tossing Joe a conspiratorial wink. ‘And don’t go doing anything daft like moving her in. Take it from someone who knows, that’s the beginning of the end, that.’

Smiling, Joe was about to say goodbye when the sound of an argument suddenly erupted on one of the lower floors.

‘See?’ Eddie said, as a female voice started screaming at someone to fuck off. ‘
That
’s what happens when you let a woman think she’s got the better of you.’

Joe frowned and stepped closer to the stairwell. ‘It sounds like Cheryl,’ he murmured.

Eddie cocked his head. ‘Yeah, I think you’re right,’ he said. ‘Come on, boy.’

As Eddie and the dog turned and dashed back down the stairs, Joe nipped back into the flat and grabbed his keys before following them.

Cheryl was furious and heartbroken all at the same time, and the combination of emotions had given her a strength she’d never known she possessed. But Shay was still stronger, so even though she’d managed to push him as far as the doorway she couldn’t quite get him out into the corridor.

‘Just
go
!’ she screamed, beating his chest with her fists as the tears streamed down her cheeks. ‘You’re a bastard and I wish you were
dead
!’

‘You’d best quit hitting me before I hit you back,’ Shay warned her, gripping her firmly by the wrists. ‘I mean it, Cheryl . . . pack it in, or you’re gonna be sorry.’

‘Get your filthy hands
off
me!’ she bawled, hurting herself even more than she was hurting Shay as she struggled to yank herself free. ‘Just go back to your bitch and leave me alone! I hate you!’

‘Carry on cussing me out like I’m a piece of shit and you’re gonna know about it,’ Shay hissed. ‘You’ve got it all wrong, as usual, you stupid cow.’

‘You’re the one who’s got it wrong if you think I’m listening to any more of your lies,’ Cheryl screamed. ‘And don’t think you’re seeing Frankie again, ’cos you’re not!’

‘Oh, so you’re going to try and pull that one on me now, are you?’ Shay snapped, clenching his fist. ‘No one tells me when I can and can’t see my own son.’

‘Put that fist anywhere near her and I’ll put your fucking head through the wall!’ Eddie barked, coming out of the stairwell door just then and marching towards them.

Inhaling deeply, Shay released Cheryl and took a step back. ‘Everything’s cool,’ he said smoothly, his gaze flicking from Eddie to the dog as it bared its teeth. ‘It’s just personal stuff, man. Nothing for anyone to get worked up about.’

‘What are
you
saying?’ Eddie asked Cheryl. ‘You want him here?’

‘No,’ she sobbed, shaking her head and swatting at the tears.

Turning back to Shay, Eddie jerked his chin. ‘You heard her. Do one.’

‘Fine by me,’ Shay drawled. ‘I was going anyhow.’ Flashing a quick hooded glance at Cheryl now, he turned and strolled nonchalantly away.

‘Take her inside and make sure she’s okay,’ Eddie said to Joe. ‘I’m going to have a quick word.’

‘Leave him,’ Cheryl begged, immediately regretting having involved Eddie because now it was bound to end in blood. ‘It was just a stupid row. He didn’t hurt me.’

‘Don’t worry – I won’t touch him if you don’t want me to,’ Eddie reassured her. ‘I just want to make sure he’s not planning on coming back and kicking off after I’ve gone. Okay?’

‘There’s no need,’ Cheryl insisted. But Eddie just winked at her and went after Shay. Turning to Joe when he’d gone, she said, ‘Oh, God, I hope he doesn’t hurt him. You don’t think he’ll set the dog on him or anything, do you?’

‘Course not,’ Joe said gently, taking her by the arm. ‘Come on, I’ll make you a brew.’

‘I’m okay,’ she insisted, still worriedly eyeing the door.

‘
You
might be, but I need a coffee,’ Joe told her. ‘And I could really do with getting off the corridor before someone sees us and thinks I’ve been knocking you about.’

‘Do I look that bad?’ Cheryl asked, allowing him to lead her inside at last.

‘You’ve looked better,’ Joe admitted, closing the door behind them. ‘But don’t worry, the red nose kind of suits you.’

‘Gee, thanks,’ she murmured, giving him a tiny smile.

While Joe made the coffees, Cheryl peered out through the nets at the kitchen window and chewed nervously on her nails as she watched Eddie catch up with Shay at his car. Relieved when they started talking, with no sign of flying fists or biting dogs, she slumped down onto a stool and reached for her cigarettes.

‘So what’s he done this time?’ Joe asked over his shoulder.

Cheryl lit up and inhaled deeply to calm herself. ‘He’s got engaged,’ she said after a moment, her chin wobbling again.

‘You’re joking?’ Joe glanced back at her. ‘To what’s-her-face?’

‘Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either,’ she muttered, her heel beating the floor as she agitatedly bounced her leg. ‘Two years we were together, and we’ve got a baby, but he never bought
me
a ring. But you know what he said when I collared him? That he’s only done it to shut her up, ’cos she’s been nagging him about it. Don’t you think that’s pathetic?’

‘Ridiculous,’ Joe agreed. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘I’ve already done it,’ Cheryl said, pulling a tissue out of her pocket and dabbing at her nose. ‘That’s why we were fighting when you and Eddie came down, ’cos I’d just told him I never want to see him again.’

‘And do you mean it?’ Joe asked cannily, knowing that if she went by form she’d punish Shay for a while before letting things slide right back to where they had been.

‘Yeah, I do.’ Cheryl raised her chin proudly. ‘I know it’ll hurt for a bit, but I’ll get over it.
You
did,’ she added. ‘You’d only just split with Angie when I met you, and it was obvious you still had feelings for her because you were always talking about her. But look at you now. You haven’t mentioned her in ages.’

‘I didn’t realise I’d talked about her that much in the first place,’ Joe said, bringing the coffees to the table and passing Cheryl’s to her before he sat down.

Cheryl thanked him and said, ‘Yeah, well, you did. But you’re loads happier now. And I will be, too – so long as
he
stays out of my life.’

‘Probably for the best,’ Joe agreed, doubting that she’d stick to what she was saying.

‘Best for
him
, maybe. But he obviously doesn’t care what it’s going to do to his son. The poor thing’s confused enough already without all this. But if Jayleen thinks she’s going to be his new mummy, she can fuck off. And you know I don’t usually swear, so that’s how much I mean it.’

‘Frankie will be fine as long as he’s got you,’ Joe assured her, wondering if the boy would even notice if his father stopped coming round. ‘Shay’s not exactly dad of the year, from what I’ve seen so far.’

‘No, ’cos that bitch has got him all tied up,’ Cheryl spat. ‘But he’ll regret it when he realises what a waste of space she is. I wouldn’t mind, but she can’t be all that special or he wouldn’t have been coming round to see me the whole time he’s been with her, would he?’

‘No. But I still think you can do better for yourself. And so does Carl.’