There was probably only one place she hadn’t tried and that was Ruby’s parlour. She remembered Ruby from her days on the game. She had been more a friend to Crystal than her and had always been scary. Somehow, Amber couldn’t pluck up the courage to visit her and ask for work.
She knew her appearance was putting them off. She hadn’t had a shower in days or changed her clothing, and her hair was lank and greasy. She had also lost weight in the past few months, making her appear skinny and gaunt, the malnourishment emphasised by her pale complexion and the sores on her face.
Amber needed to earn some money soon; for food, for a place to stay and to feed her constant craving for drugs. The client visits were drying up as they took one look at her unkempt appearance and decided not to rebook. A couple of them had been even more brutal and refused to go ahead with their arrangement.
But she still daren’t work the streets; it was risky enough touring the city centre massage parlours and saunas. Her last encounter with Kev a few weeks ago was still clear in her mind. She knew how close she had been to becoming his next victim and she couldn’t take the chance. The thought of it made her shiver. Despite her current poor quality of life, she wasn’t ready for death yet and when it did happen, she’d prefer it to be less painful and distressing.
Thoughts of death made her cast her mind back to her mother. She was surprised how much she missed her. Although she had been bad to her in a lot of ways, she was still her mother and all that Amber had really had. The relationship with her grandparents no longer existed and Amber imagined they were so elderly now that they couldn’t have coped with her anyway. And, as for her brother and her aunts and uncles, they didn’t want to know.
Amber was all alone in the world and she didn’t know how she could move forward with her life. She had thought about reporting Kev for attacking her and for the suspected killings of Cora and Elena. At least with him behind bars she would be able to go back on the beat.
But would the police take her seriously? She didn’t have proof about any of it. And why would they believe someone so obviously down on her luck to someone who was tidy and well-groomed and had a nice flat?
She carried on plodding down the street. There was no point trying any more massage parlours or saunas. She’d exhausted all the ones she knew of and had been rejected by them all. Instead she would focus on more immediate matters; it was getting late and she needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night.
65
October 2016
Crystal was having a great time. Candice was now in her final year of secondary school. It was the end of term holidays and she had taken the Friday off especially to be with her daughter. They’d spent the morning touring all the upmarket shops: Selfridges, Harvey Nicholls and others along King Street, and when Crystal’s feet were throbbing and she felt she could walk no more, they stopped for brunch in a trendy little restaurant off King Street.
Now they were walking along Deansgate and feeling replete, on their way to Crystal’s Manchester store. ‘Mum, after we’ve checked in at the store, do you think we could go to just one more shop?’ asked Candice.
Crystal pretended to be exasperated. ‘Oh no! Candice, you’ll be the death of me. My feet are starting to hurt again already and look at the state of my hands.’ She slipped all the shopping into one hand so she could show Candice the red marks on her other hand where the carrier bags had dug into her fingers.
‘Aw, poor Mummy,’ mocked Candice. ‘I tell you what, why don’t we have a rest and a cuppa at the shop? It’ll help you sober up from all that wine you drank at brunch, and we can leave these bags there till later. Maybe you can grab a pair of flatties from the shop and you’ll be fine.’
‘Cheeky,’ said Crystal. ‘I’m not drunk at all; I’m just feeling merry. Anyway, I would have thought you’d have had enough of the shops by now.’
‘Well, I was thinking about that dress I nearly bought. It would be perfect for my friend’s party. Can we go back and get it later?’
‘Go on then.’ Crystal smiled but then her smile was wiped away by something she spotted at the side of the pavement.
There was a homeless woman sitting outside a shop with a battered tin in her hand containing a few coins. She sat cross-legged and as close to the shop window as possible, huddled up to protect herself from the biting cold. She had sad eyes and a red nose, and her lips were almost blue. Her appearance was dishevelled and emaciated, her hair bedraggled and her clothes shabby.
As Crystal drew up close, the woman stared upwards and shook the tin. But she didn’t speak. Something about her struck pity into Crystal’s heart. For a second her pace slowed almost to a crawl and she was transfixed on the homeless woman who looked so wretched with her eyes dull and heavy from lack of sleep.
Crystal couldn’t take her eyes off her, but she didn’t stop walking altogether. It wasn’t wise to stop for these people; you never knew how intoxicated and unpredictable they could be. It was only when she heard Candice’s voice that she
