right. I’m sixteen and I’m fucked if I go back to Manchester. You’ve got to understand, it was a mistake, me and Mo. It shouldn’t have happened, but I’m a big girl now.’
‘Yeah, a big girl getting the shit knocked out of her in a Newcastle council flat. That’s a big step up, Alison.’
‘You judging me?’
I shake my head. She has fire in that one good eye.
‘Who the fuck are you, eh? Hold on, let me guess, you’re an ex-con with a favour to pay back, am I right? That, or you’re one of Dad’s hatchet men, a fuckin’ monkey with itchy fists.’
‘That’s not true.’
She grinds out her cigarette. ‘Whatever you are, you’ve got a nerve playing the good guy.’
‘You’re going back, Alison. There’s nothing I can do.’
‘And what about Rob?’
‘What about him?’
‘What’U they do to him?’
‘Use your imagination.’
Alison looks away, stares at a faded stain on the curtain.
She bites her bottom lip. “I don’t want to go back.’
‘Like you said, it’s not up to you. That’s a nasty bruise, but next time it could be a lot nastier.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘It’s exactly the point. Look, you want to be an adult, you start acting like one. And I know it’s none of my business, but doing a runner isn’t the adult thing to do. It’s being a fuckin’ coward, and I know enough about that. You want to be a big girl, you stand up and face your responsibilities. Morris isn’t going to do anything to you. He’s your dad, for fuck’s sake.
He just wants you back safe.’
‘You know that, huh?’
‘Yeah, I know that.’
‘What about Mo?’
“I can pick you up and take you back myself. I can call Mo from the road. That way you don’t have to be around when he arrives, and you’ll be settled in Manchester before he gets back.’
She looks like she’s thinking about it. ‘What if Rob doesn’t stay put?’
‘If he does another bunk, I’ll find him. I’m not the brightest spark, but I got this far, didn’t I?’
‘Why would you take me back?’
‘Because I don’t want to be around when Mo arrives. I don’t know what he’s going to do, and I don’t want to know.
And what’s Rob going to think? That you grassed him up.’
Alison starts biting her fingernails again. ‘He’d be right an’ all.’
‘Not your fault. But I don’t think he’ll see it that way’
She takes a deep breath, lets it out as if it’s her last. When she reaches for another cigarette, I notice her eyes are red. She sniffs and wipes at her cheek as she lights up.
‘Well?’
‘Okay,’ she says.
‘Okay?’
‘Call it eight tonight. Ring the buzzer for thirty-five. I’ll be ready’
THIRTY-SEVEN
Couldn’t be doing with this anymore, man.
Yeah, doing his car over gave us summat to chew on.
Fuckin’ loved that, like. Rossie made with the tyres and me and Baz did the paint job. That were fun. Got a buzz out of that, but it didn’t sit still long enough. Grabbed at it, and the fuckin’ fun went poof, out the window. I couldn’t hang onto owt these days. Because none of it were bringing us closer to Alison. Felt like I were being fucked around is what it felt like.
Summat had to be done and done right. We was watching Innes ponce about, but it were like watching a film on Channel Five – I kept missing stuff ‘cause I couldn’t hear or I couldn’t see. And when the fuck came out the flats, he had this look on his boat like he’d sorted summat out.
‘Take it easy,’ said Rossie.
‘How the fuck can I take it easy? You think he’s in there?’
‘If he was in there, Innes would’ve called you.’
“I dunno, Rossie. I don’t fuckin’ know. I don’t trust that cunt.’
‘Hang tight, Mo.’
‘Fuck off.’ I tapped the seat. Wrap of billy long gone and me nerves were fuckin’ shot. ‘We got to do summat. I can’t be fuckin’ waiting around forever. Christ, as bad as him, innit?’
‘What d’you want to do?’ said Baz.
‘I want a word with him. Give us your butterfly, Rossie.’
‘Nah.’
I looked at him. ‘Give us your fuckin’ butterfly, ginger nuts.’
‘You talk with your mouth, not my blade. Use your own.’
‘He don’t have it,’ said Baz.
‘What happened?’
‘Give us your fuckin’ butterfly,’ I said.
‘He’s gone,’ said Baz.
‘You what?’ I looked out the window. ‘Fuck did he go?’
‘Dunno.’
‘You’re lying.’
‘I’m telling you, Mo, I didn’t see.’
‘You’re a fuckin’ liar,’ I said. And the speed were scratching us up inside. ‘Fuck’s the matter with you lads, anyway? You bottling this?’
Rossie yawned. ‘We’re not bottling owt, Mo. You need to chill.’
‘Fuck off. You’re bottling it, the pair of ya. Fuckin’ bottling cunts. Simple as, know what I mean? You supposed to come up here with me and we scope the fucker out and find out where Stokes is and we get my fuckin’ sister back and that’s the end of the story, right?’
‘So why d’you want Innes?’ said Baz. He had his mouth hanging open.
‘Why do I want Innes?’ My eyes fuckin’ hurt, like they’d dried out. And I wanted a weapon, anything, wanted to slam the pair of cunts in the nose with it, whatever it was. A double whap and have ‘em screaming blood all over. Why did I want Innes? ‘Cause he’s a cunt, like the pair of youse. He thinks he can take care of this, he’s out of his fuckin’ league. He don’t know the first fuckin’ thing what’s going on here. And I want him out the picture, you hear me? I want him in the fuckin’ hospital and away from us. He cocks it up and we’re sorted.’
Rossie shook his head.
‘Nah, you don’t get it. Dad’s got shit planned for us. Planned. Big stuff, know what I mean? We’ll be working for the man. We’ll be fuckin’ untouchable.’
‘Mo, you was ready to kill him before.’
I leaned in close to Rossie and said, ‘Whatever it fuckin’ takes, Rossie. Whatever it fuckin’ takes. You lads, you can go through life just getting fucked up and nobody gives a shit, am I right? Me, I got plans, I got ambitions. And they don’t need to be fuckin’ scuppered by some jailbird. You know why Dad got him in on this? He did it to piss me off. Because he don’t think that a bunch of scallies like us can carry summat like this off. And we can. As long as you bastards don’t bottle it the first chance you get. Which is what you’re doing right now.’
‘What d’you want us to do, Mo?’ said Baz. He looked tired.
