The Take (43 page)

Now, though, her Maggie was back to her old self and she thanked God for that every day of her life. She had finally turned into a proper mother and that child was all the better for it.

There was a knock at the door and she opened it to see Little Freddie.

'Hello, mate, what you doing here?'

He gave Lena that charming, handsome smile he could command at the drop of a hat. 'I just wanted to see you, Nana. Can I come in?'

She opened the door wide then, and he slipped past her happily.

Lena grabbed his jacket and pulled him round to face her.

'Any of your antics and I'll fucking brain you, right?' He looked into her eyes and said seriously, 'Fair enough.' These were two people who understood each other perfectly.

'So, do you think Freddie took it well?'

Jimmy shrugged. 'I really don't know, Glen, but what I do know is, I let him off with a fucking caution. However, he is on fucking trial and even he has to comprehend that much.'

Glenford nodded. 'He is a dangerous fuck, Jimmy.'

'I know that, mate, you are preaching to the converted, but I ain't scared of him. I was, many years ago when I was a kid. But not any more, and he knows that. What I couldn't get through to him, though, was why what he had done was so outrageous, he still doesn't think he's done anything wrong.'

Glenford looked concerned. 'You will regret this. You have taken a viper to your chest, boy, and the fucker will bite you at the first available opportunity. Freddie ain't like other people, Jimmy, he sees the world through his eyes only. You will become the target for his next bout of hatred and violence. But I think you have already worked that one out for yourself, eh?'

Jimmy sighed. 'What could I do, though? If I had aimed him out of it, he would never have let it go. I just couldn't do it to him. I don't
want
to do that to him. But I had to make him aware of what was going down.'

Glenford grabbed Jimmy's hand and said seriously, 'He is your nemesis, Jimmy. Everybody have one, you're a lucky man because you have your one's address.'

They laughed together, but neither of them thought that it was funny really.

Jackie had her dream. Her husband was coming home every night, and instead of loving it she was hating it. In he came like the big 'I am', expecting all sorts. And if Little Freddie wasn't there he went looking for him.

This was worse than being under house arrest. He mentioned every drink she poured and watched what he wanted to watch on TV. She had always had her viewing down pat, but now she had to make him sandwiches, run up the chippy or the Chinese, and get him beers from the fridge.

Little Freddie had to be on his best behaviour, and she had to sit there and make excuses to nip over the off-licence to get herself a drink. The way Freddie carried on anyone would think they were hard up or something. He was well wedged up, and she even wished he would fuck off round one of his birds' houses. Anything was better than this.

He watched her and all, she could feel his eyes on her.

She had taken to bathing every day just to stop his fucking harping on about the state of her and the house. Anyone listening in would think he had been brought up in Buckingham Palace, but she knew who the real culprit was: Maggie. Maggie was too clean, she was fucking demented with it. The housework would still be there when she was gone, so why devote your life to it?

'Where have you been today, then?'

Little Freddie looked at his father and said quietly, 'I was round Nanny Lena's and Granddad Joe's.'

Freddie drank half his can of Tennents before saying quietly, 'I never said you could go out.'

Jackie was on the edge of her seat. 'I said he could go. What are you saying now, then? He can't leave the fucking house?'

Freddie looked at his wife. She was a mess, a bigger mess than he had first suspected. 'Shut the fuck up, Jackie, I am talking to the organ grinder, not the monkey.'

Little Freddie started to laugh, and he had to hold his hand over his mouth to stifle the sound.

Jackie was drunk and she was fed up with her husband and his constant presence. 'You make me laugh, Freddie Jackson. You come in here and you throw your weight around, and expect everyone to jump to your fucking tune.'

Freddie sighed. This was the woman he knew and loved.

'What's happened, eh? What brings you home here really? Why are you suddenly father of the year? You in trouble of some kind?'

Jackie had inadvertently hit the nail right on the head. She had sensed that the only thing that would get him home early was trouble.

'You haven't listened to a word I've said, have you, Jack? This fucking child of ours is in deep shit. You think he is a fucking choir boy, you think he is being led on by other, more sophisticated boys. Well he ain't, anything he has done he has done on his lonesome. This cunt has all his faculties, don't you worry about that. As for me being in trouble, I might point out that you have spent your whole married life trying to keep me in this house and now I am trying to make something of my son, trying to help him, you want shot. It's a fucking joke, except I ain't laughing. Now you had better calm yourself down, woman, button your fucking mutton and show me a bit of respect, because in a minute I am going to fucking muller you.'

Little Freddie watched them both and decided his mother was right, his father was in it right up to his neck.

Why else would he want to be in this shit hole?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ozzy watched as Jimmy walked into the visitors' room. As he turned out his pockets once more and waited to be searched again, Ozzy observed him with pride.

He was a handsome man, and he also had a real presence. Jimmy had the air about him that most men dreamed of and the walk of a man completely at ease with himself and his surroundings, no mean feat on a unit that was peopled with serious criminals.

Ozzy knew that he had given this man his confidence, and he was proud of that. Jimmy was the son he had never had, and he did think of him as a son. He was a good man, he was a decent man, but most of all he was one hundred per cent trustworthy.

As Ozzy watched Jimmy, he observed the other people around him, noticing that they unconsciously acknowledged him as one of their own, even though he had never served a second's time anywhere. His years of coming here had given him that prison swagger, he was as relaxed here as he was in his own home.

Ozzy's big prayer was that this boy never ever had to experience prison other than as a visitor. It was not an existence that Jimmy would ever accept. Freddie, on the other hand, would relish another stint, he was that fucking stupid, and it was only Jimmy's nous that had kept Freddie on the outside for so long.

Freddie Jackson was an ungrateful cunt and he knew Jimmy was having trouble with him, but Ozzy was sure Jimmy could handle it. It had grieved Ozzy though that once on the outside Freddie had reverted to type. He had been well treated in stir and, in fairness, Freddie had his creds. He could handle himself, and he was not frightened of anyone or anything.

So why he let it all go to the wayside Ozzy didn't understand. But he did know that Freddie was cunting Jimmy up hill and down dale, to all and sundry, and he was not going to let that happen for much longer. If he cunted Jimmy, he was cunting
him
, Ozzy, because Jimmy was his front to the world. He was also aware of Freddie's light-fingered forays, and he was not impressed. He was nicking off his own, and that was a definite fucking no no.

As Jimmy walked over to him, Ozzy was smiling, that easy, friendly smile that denoted a man without anything bad on his mind.

Ozzy stood up and they hugged for long moments. Ozzy had never hugged anyone in his life until Jimmy and he felt like he knew this boy better than he knew himself.

'All right, Oz?'

Ozzy smiled again as they sat down together. 'Fine, Jim, yourself?'

This was always how they started the visit, it was mundane and it was boring but it was heartfelt.

'Fucking kicking, Oz, everything is lovely jubbly!'

They both laughed.

As always, another inmate brought them over their teas and their Kit Kats. Once that was out of the way, the serious business of the day began.

'What the fuck has happened to your Little Freddie, Jackie?'

Lena's voice was harsh but jovial as she made one of her endless cups of tea. She watched her daughter drinking what was supposed to be a can of Coca-Cola but what was actually a vodka and Coke. She was drinking all day now and it was taking its toll on her.

Jackie was thrilled at her mother's words and she gulped at her can before saying loudly, and not a little drunkenly, 'He is my baby, Mum. I fucking love him.'

She was slurring her words and Lena closed her eyes in distress. When pissed, Jackie started off loving everyone, but by lunchtime they would all be arseholes and wankers, her son included.

'Since my Freddie has taken him in hand he is a changed boy!'

Lena smiled as best she could and said as happily as she could manage, given the circumstances, 'You're telling me! He has been round a lot lately and if Jimmy Junior's here he plays with him, helps him do things. Fuck me, Jack, I thought he'd had a personality transplant.'

Jackie was almost bursting with drunken pride. 'Now the girls are gone, more or less, he is getting a lot of one-to-one attention. He is also coming to terms with any feelings he has, feelings that he needs to express more—'

'Oh, that's lovely.' Lena was regretting asking her daughter anything now, she sounded like a fucking social worker when she spouted that crap. She knew from experience that this kind of talk could go on for hours and she wasn't in the mood today. 'How are you, anyway?'

Jackie knew she had been cut off mid-sentence and she swallowed down her annoyance. If
Maggie
had been sitting here talking intelligently they would all be hanging on her every word. Freddie was right in what he said, they mugged her off.

'How's the wedding plans going?' Lena asked, trying to start a different conversation.

'All right. It's not till next year, so why they have to fucking keep on about it I don't know.'

Lena swallowed down the retort that had sprung to her lips, and changed the subject once again. 'How's Big Freddie?'

'He's fine. Why are you asking about him?' Jackie's voice was now full of suspicion and the underlying anger that was always close to the surface.

'Oh, for fuck's sake, Jack, I am making what is commonly known as conversation. But with you that's a fucking impossibility. Relax and have a natter, will you, girl?'

Jackie was mortally offended and it showed, which made Lena so angry she bellowed, 'You are such hard work, Jackie, do you know that? You are always on your fucking dignity, always looking for an insult or a slight. I am fucked if I know why you even bother to come round here.'

Jackie felt like crying. It was always the same, she did her best to chat and she
tried
her hardest to be nice, and her mum always ended up having a go at her. Maggie was the golden girl, she was the fucking queen of this house, and her little boy was the little darling, the prince, which meant her and her kids were relegated to second position. It hurt, it really hurt her at times.

Lena saw the tears in her daughter's eyes and felt awful for shouting at her as per usual, but talking to Jackie was like trying to make conversation with a Pakistani Dutchman. Nigh on fucking impossible. If her daughter wasn't always half pissed she might get a decent chat out of her, and she might also relax long enough to let the self-pity go for a few minutes, Jackie's drinking and her fucking stupid way of carrying on worried Lena. She could see the toll the drink was taking on her eldest daughter, and she didn't know what to do to make it all right, to make it better.

Patricia was seriously worried, and Freddie was not making her feel any easier. In fact, he was starting to annoy her. If he didn't stop going on about Jimmy and how he was mugging him off, she was going to scream.

'Have you listened to one word I've said, Freddie?'

He nodded. ''Course I have.'

'Well, then, what do you think I should do?'

Freddie was fucked now because he had not been listening to her for ages. Instead, he had been watching one of the new girls through the doorway and she was just his cup of Rosie Lee.

'What
do you
think you should do?' He was pleased that he had years of experience with Jackie to fall back on, because he had not listened to her since before their honeymoon.

Patricia said, softly, and with an underlying malice, 'My brother has requested that I bring all the books up to date and then give them to Jimmy, and you ask me what I think I should do?'

Freddie was quiet.

'Funny how you can fucking go on about Jimmy for hours and when I mention him you don't even take it on board. Yet I am expected to take the books that denote
my
livelihood and pass them to him without a fucking murmur.'

She closed the door because she had also caught sight of the new girl. If she wanted some serious answers from Freddie, that meant no distractions whatsoever. She knew him too well, and if he wasn't such a good fuck she would have crowned him.

'Has Jimmy said anything to you? Why would my brother suddenly ask me to do that, give the books over to what is in effect a fucking stranger, when I have run his houses single-handedly for years?'

Freddie felt as if his head was going to explode. 'Did he say anything to you about it the last time you saw him, Pat?'

She shook her head, glad that she finally had his full attention. 'Not a fucking dicky bird. It was the usual. I told him what we were making and he seemed happy enough, and then we chatted as we always do.'

She didn't let on that she grassed up everyone and anyone she could, Freddie included. It was through her that Ozzy knew Freddie had lightened more than a few money bags. Jimmy was so close with things like that he was like a fucking statue, and she knew how to earn her Brownie points.