‘But I believe it’s hell.’
‘It’s no walk in the park but it’s the only way you’re gonna move forward with your life. Don’t worry, I had a worse drug problem than you and I managed alright so I’m sure you’ll be able to. I had to do it cold turkey as well, but we’ll make sure you have a bit longer to get the drugs out of your system.
‘Once you’re clean, we can talk about finding you work.’
‘Thanks,’ said Amber.
‘That’s OK. But before all that, there’s something else we need to sort out. We need to report your bloody ex-boyfriend to the police. We’ll go and see Sapphire and ask her to take us to her friend, Skinner. We’ll need his evidence if we’re going to get anywhere, and you’ll need to tell the police what he did to you too.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, Crystal. I don’t really want to get involved with Kev again. He’s bad news.’
‘You won’t fuckin’ have to! Don’t worry, all you need to do is tell the cops what he did. He won’t be able to find you while you’re with me.’
‘But I don’t think Skinner will come forward anyway. He’ll be too scared to tell the cops what he saw. Sapphire already said he was shitting himself.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Crystal repeated. ‘He’ll squeal once we’ve had a word with him. I’ll get Ruby involved. She’ll be able to talk him into it.’
Amber went to protest but Crystal stood firm. ‘We’re doing it, Amber, and that’s that. We owe it to all the girls still out on the streets. We need to keep them bloody safe.’
68
May 2017
Amber looked around her group of friends and smiled. Crystal, Sapphire, Skinner and Ruby; they were all here. They had been to court where they had been pleased to hear the guilty verdict in Kev Pike’s trial. Once it was over, they had piled back to their favourite haunt, the Rose and Crown, where Ruby had bought them all a drink to celebrate.
‘Skinner, you were really brave,’ said Sapphire. ‘Giving evidence like that. I know how much you were dreading it.’
‘Dead right, but it was worth it. Did you see his fuckin’ face when the guilty verdict came in?’
Amber smiled. ‘You’re my hero,’ she said, giving his arm a squeeze.
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Skinner, grinning self-consciously. ‘I didn’t have any fuckin’ choice. It was either that or face Crystal and Ruby, and they were very persuasive, especially Ruby. She’s fuckin’ scary!’
Ruby laughed. ‘Don’t push your luck or you won’t get another drink.’
Skinner soon finished his pint of lager, and Amber was just about to offer him another one when Crystal beat her to it, ‘Skinner, let me buy you a drink.’
‘I haven’t bought him one yet,’ said Amber.
Skinner held out his hands, palms upwards. ‘Chill, ladies, no need to fight over me; I can handle two women at once.’
There was a jeer from the girls and Sapphire laughed as she said, ‘You’re not used to having all these gorgeous women fighting over you, are you, Skinner?’
‘Eh, that’s what you fuckin’ think. Once they’ve had a bit of the Skinner magic, they all come running back for more. I might be skinny but I’m broad where it counts and long too.’
As he spoke, he winked, and the girls let out another jeer.
‘I tell you what though,’ Skinner continued, ‘I could soon get used to being surrounded by fit birds buying me drinks.’
His cheeky comment made everyone laugh again including Amber. She was enjoying having the old gang back even if it was only a one-off. She loved the banter and the camaraderie; it was just like old times.
But then she felt a surge of emotion as she thought about the one person who was missing: her mother, otherwise known as old Angie. She’d been a menace in the pub most of the time with her drunkenness and waffling on about nonsense, but it still didn’t seem right not seeing her here with all the girls.
Amber also reflected on everything she had been through, not only during the past couple of years but for the whole of her life. It had been hell and she didn’t know how she had made it through at times. But she had done, by drawing on her own survival instincts and with help from her wonderful friend, Crystal.
She felt a tear in her eye then spotted Crystal watching her and quickly fought back her impulse to cry. The sad days were over and, as much as she was enjoying being in the Rose and Crown with her old friends, it was the last time she would do it. This life wasn’t for her anymore.
It was time to be happy now. In fact, she was already getting there, and had vowed to stay clean. Crystal had given her a job in one of her high fashion shops and Amber loved it. And when she thought about all she had achieved in the past few months compared to how things had been not so long ago, Amber was extremely grateful.
As Crystal had rightly said, she’d given her a chance by getting her booked into rehab; it was now up to her what she made of her life.
Acknowledgements
This book has been the most challenging one in the series so far for reasons that I have described in my letter to readers.
In researching this novel, I received some valuable help, which gave me an insight into the social care sector, the plight of Manchester’s homeless, and prostitution in Manchester. I would therefore like to give big thanks to the following people and organisations for their co-operation:
Judith Vickers from Lifeshare, Manchester for sparing me the time to answer my questions relating to the homeless in Manchester.
Janelle Hardacre of Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH) for information relating to the life of a working girl in Manchester.
Christine Schora for information relating to children in care homes during the period in which the novel
