said.
‘Course we are,’ answered Jamie, Gillian’s eldest.
91
‘I’m playing with my bike today, Auntie Grace, but Benny’s being stupid.’
Wayne interrupted him then.
‘Can we sit in your car, please, Grace?’ Wayne and his little gang of mates looked at her expectantly. She eyed them for a moment. ‘Go on then, but don’t touch anything or I’ll ’ave yer guts for garters. Watch the others, Wayne.’
She knocked on the open door to the house. Terry Williams answered and seemed surprised to see her.
Not looking her in the eye, he ushered her inside.
‘Grace love, surprised to see you. How are you doing?’
She didn’t answer but glared at him. Terry bowed sarcastically for her to pass him and she headed straight for the kitchen at the back of the house. She didn’t know what she was going to say but she was bloody furious. The four women she found there looked up in surprise, as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn’t. Grace just stared at them with a face like thunder.
‘Cup of tea?’ asked Sue, looking worried.
‘Shut up you, ya meddling fat cow!’ Grace spat at her, then turned to address her sister next. ‘So you were in on this as well, were you? You always were a sheep, Gill. Can’t think for yourself, that’s your problem.’
Gillian reddened and the other two women, Nanny Parks and Lizzie Foster, glanced at each other 92
uncertainly before Nanny Parks said, ‘Don’t speak to your sister like that, Grace, she was only trying to help. We all were.’
Gillian braced herself to interrupt. ‘Shut up, Mum, I don’t need you to fight my battles.’ Then, emboldened, she turned back to her sister. ‘What’s up with you, Grace? I thought we were a team, all of us!’
‘Team? Help? You pathetic bunch! That poor little sod is in hospital, battered to within an inch of his life. What’s wrong with you fucking people? Call that help ? And you of all people, Lizzie . . . Eileen’s your friend. You know Steven. How could you do this?’
‘That’s enough, Grace. Sit down and get a grip on yourself.’ Lizzie Foster fixed her with an icy glare, but Grace stood up to her.
‘Whose stupid idea was this anyway? What made you think you had the right to play God?’
She stared at each of them in turn.
‘Mum, what were you thinking of? I told you I didn’t think Steven had it in him to hurt anybody, but you had to go and listen to the likes of her!’ Grace pointed at Sue, whose mouth fell open.
‘You’ve got it all wrong, Grace. We only did it to put a stop to his game . . . stop him hurting any more babies. Can’t you see that? We were just trying to help.’
‘And did it help Potty or Lucy? No, of course it didn’t! Because you got it wrong. So now everyone is hurting, and meanwhile that fucking maniac is still 93
out there . You’re a gossip and a rabble-rouser, Sue, and it’s caused untold misery and trouble to all of us.
Don’t you realise that when Steven wakes up, all our men will be charged with serious assault? And while the police are busy with them, that fucking sicko will be hanging round with time on his hands . . . time to strike again!’
At that point, Grace fell into a chair. ‘It’s all such a mess, and there’s no way out. This whole fucking thing is falling in around us, don’t you see?’
She began to sob then. All her pent-up emotion poured out. Sue was lost for words for once. Gillian and Lizzie looked at her in concern.
It was Nanny Parks who spoke up.
‘Pull yourselves together, the lot of ya! We’ve made a mistake, OK, we admit it. But we are family.
We just gotta get ourselves organised and get our stories straight. Nothing’s gonna happen to the men, and nothing’s gonna happen to us. Steven won’t talk.
Neither will Eileen. We’ll see them straight, we owe them that. But let’s not forget one thing. The Devil’s at work round here, and our job is to find him.
Things carry on as usual. We meet at Gillian’s,
Amy Star
Jenny Offill
Beth Ciotta
Lawrence de Maria
David Pilling
Mary Fox
Roy Glenn
Eric Walters
Matt Betts
Charles Tang