Sapphire was quick to counter Cora’s speculation. ‘No, that’s not true. I mean, she did check into rehab, yeah, but Ruby gave her a loan for the business.’
‘Wish someone would give me a fuckin’ loan,’ grumbled Cora. ‘And that Ruby’s another one who doesn’t want to know us now she’s doing alright. I wouldn’t mind but she’s only running a fuckin’ brothel. She’s hardly Mother Teresa, is she?’
‘Bet you wouldn’t be fuckin’ saying that if she were here now,’ said Sapphire.
Amber knew she had a point. Ruby had a fierce temper and the other girls had always been wary of her, but she’d always been good to them and Amber was quick to defend her. ‘Ruby’s alright if you stay on the right side of her. Anyway, you didn’t know her and Crystal as well as me and Sapphire did. They were both sound.’
‘Well Crystal doesn’t seem so fuckin’ sound now if she’s snubbing you, does she?’
‘She had her reasons. Like you say, it must have been because of her daughter. She probably didn’t want her to know she used to be on the game.’
Further retaliation from Cora was halted by the appearance of Angie who came back from the bar carrying a drink for herself and pulling up a seat.
‘Look what the fuckin’ cat’s dragged in,’ said Cora as Angie approached.
Angie put her drink down on the table and was seized by a coughing fit. It took her several seconds to get her breath back. She then sat down with the other girls, seemingly oblivious to Cora’s barbed comment. She was an ageing, skinny prostitute whose complexion bore all the evidence of alcohol abuse with her flushed cheeks, dry skin and abundance of wrinkles. Many of the girls pitied her.
It was well known that Cora didn’t have much time for Angie who was viewed as a sad figure by many of the girls. As time had passed and her looks had faded, Angie had become increasingly desperate to obtain cash with which to feed her alcoholism. This meant she was willing to sink to depths that the other girls regarded as off limits, taking the worst punters and performing the most degrading services at the lowest prices. This was frowned on by girls such as Cora, who thought it was putting pressure on them to reduce their prices accordingly.
‘Don’t fuckin’ bother asking us if we want a drink, will you?’ snapped Cora.
Angie sniffed. ‘I could see your glasses were full.’
‘A likely story. Anyway, I’ve got a fuckin’ bone to pick with you. I was a tenner short in my purse last night and I’ve been told you took it when I went to the loo.’
‘I never did. Who told you that?’
‘Never you fuckin’ mind who told me. You know you’ve got it and I want it back, now!’ Cora held out her hand while glaring at Angie.
‘Hang on,’ said Amber. ‘We were with Angie last night and we didn’t see fuck all, did we, Sapphire?’
‘No, we didn’t.’
‘You two were so fuckin’ busy gassing that you wouldn’t have noticed if a bomb went off, but I know she took it because I was told.’
‘Who by?’ asked Sapphire.
‘Never you fuckin’ mind! I’m not grassing them up.’
Amber had a feeling Cora was making it up. There was no way she and Sapphire wouldn’t have noticed Angie dipping into Cora’s purse. The mystery witness probably didn’t even exist. It was more likely that Cora had just miscalculated how much money she had in her purse or perhaps somebody else she hung about with had taken the tenner. And sad old Angie was an easy target for someone to blame. But there was no point arguing with her, knowing that Cora would always defend her other friends over Angie.
‘I haven’t got your poxy money,’ slurred Angie.
‘Oh yes you fuckin’ have!’ yelled Cora, getting out of her chair and standing menacingly over Angie who seemed to cower.
Then she grabbed hold of the shoulder of Angie’s top, the sudden movement shocking her into another bout of coughing. ‘Give me my fuckin’ money or you’ll get a smack in the mouth.’
Amber jumped up out of her seat. ‘Alright, alright, calm down, Cora. I’ll give you the fuckin’ tenner if it means that much to you.’
Straightaway Amber regretted her decision, but she’d done it on the spur of the moment knowing she had to do something to stop Cora attacking Angie. She’d been hoping to buy some coke with her money but now wouldn’t have enough so she’d have to do without unless Sapphire had any to spare.
She withdrew a tenner and held it out to Cora who let go of Angie while she snatched it out of her hand. Then Cora grabbed her drink and stormed away to another area of the pub, leaving a parting shot: ‘I don’t know why you fuckin’ defend her all the time, Amber. She’s nowt but a fuckin’ old alcy and she doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy.’
By this time Angie was breathless once more, her head bowed low, while she tried to get some air into her lungs. She was so focused on her breathing that she seemed oblivious to what was taking place around her. This surprised Amber as she knew how wary Angie was of Cora.
‘Are you OK, Angie?’ asked Sapphire, slapping her on the back.
Angie nodded but the cough persisted.
Once Cora had gone, Amber sat back down. As she picked up her glass to take a calming gulp of her drink, she could see her hands were trembling. The confrontation with Cora had shaken her. Amber knew Cora could be nasty, but she was usually alright with her. It was Angie who she had it in for.
‘You OK?’ Sapphire asked Amber while Angie remained silent.
‘Yeah, I’m glad she’s gone though.’
Sapphire grinned. ‘I know what you mean. Cora can be a right twat at times.’
They remained at the table for a
