‘All right, Ruby.’ It was the first time he’d ever said ‘Ruby’ rather than ‘Ruby Green Eyes’. She seemed to have knocked him off-balance, and that’s exactly what she’d wanted. She needed the upper hand when dealing with a weasel like him.
‘Go on . . .’ She prompted, smiling again, parting her red lips slightly to reveal her small white teeth. She pulled her hand through her thick shining hair, letting it fall down one side of her face.
Freddie looked like a man possessed. He was stuttering now, but finally, business overruled his lust and he managed to tell them precisely why he was there, his eyes darting now between Ruby and Bobby as he explained.
‘All right, I’ll come clean. There’s a job—’ At which point Bobby snorted and sat down at the table, clearly uninterested. This was how they all used to react as soon as Freddie, or any of his mates, broached the subject of crooked work, but this time was different. This time it felt like everything was at stake: their mum, their family, their lives. Ruby could feel her pulse quicken. A tiny thread of excitement started to coil inside her. Perhaps there was a way to get themselves out of this mess. They couldn’t go on with so little money. They had to find a way to earn it.
‘Everyone round ’ere knows you’re tight, you ain’t got no money and, beggin’ yer pardon, Ruby, you can’t afford to bury your mother,’ Freddie’s voice was unusually gentle. Bobby could hold his feelings in no longer. He made a gulping sound then burst into sobs, his large shoulders heaving as he wept loudly, grief overwhelming him.
Ruby looked at Bobby, then back at Freddie who now looked like he wanted to bolt from that room. She wasn’t finished with him yet, though.
‘Go on,’ was all she said as her brother wept openly. Freddie jiggled some coins in his pocket. ‘You need the money, you’ve got no one lookin’ after ya and we need Bob . . . We need him to do this one job. He don’t ’ave to do nuthin’ else, just one job, and it’s ready money. It’ll ’elp pay for yer mum, at least.’
Freddie looked down at the wooden floor now as if he was in trouble and about to get a bollocking. Ruby stared at Freddie, her mind suddenly clearing. She had never thought the words would come out of her mouth, but they did. ‘Suppose we said we’d ’elp you and yer mates by doin’ this job, what’s in it for us?’
Bobby stopped crying, wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked up at his sister. ‘What are you on about, Rube? We don’t do no crooked work. We don’t earn crooked money. Don’t you remember what Dad said, what Grandad Jim said?’
‘A straight pound is worth three crooked,’ chorused Ruby. ‘Yeah I remember, but where did that get us, eh, Bobby? A life of worry and the nine o’clock trot for our dad, that’s where.’
Bobby looked appalled. ‘Where are ya goin’ with this, Rube, ’ave you lost yer mind?’
Ruby shook her head. She knew Bobby would need an explanation, but this wasn’t the time to give it. She looked back at Freddie, who was looking at her now with curiosity. Even though he’d come around, he’d expected to be turned away. That much was clear to her now. He had just been trying his luck. Well, tonight, his luck had finally come in.
Ruby kept her flashing eyes on Freddie, who seemed mesmerised by her. He’d seen a new Ruby Green Eyes, a sharper Ruby, a woman prepared to do anything to help her family. He stepped closer to Ruby, making her stand up straighter, meeting his gaze which was full-on now, designed to intimidate. She brushed back her long hair and smiled slowly. They were almost nose-to-nose.
‘You’re right, Freddie, we do need the money, so, tell me, what are ya terms?’ Ruby could hardly believe she was saying all this, it went against everything she’d ever been taught, everything her parents believed in. Yet, something in this moment, a new sense of power, was just as intoxicating to her as it had been to Freddie, though for very different reasons. Ruby saw instantly that a family facing desperate times had to resort to desperate measures.
A wail from upstairs interrupted the moment. George had woken up for his last bottle of the night. Ruby knew she had to go, but could she trust Bobby to finish this business with Freddie?
‘You’d better go and see to the nipper,’ sneered Freddie now, stepping back. Ruby realised she’d lost her advantage.
‘Bobby will sort out the money while I’m gone, won’t ya, brother?’ Ruby stared at Bobby and silently he nodded, though he looked mutinous. Ruby grabbed a bottle she’d prepared earlier and which she’d been warming in a bowl of hot water, and stalked upstairs, shooting the weasel a look of pure menace as she went.
As she climbed the stairs, she heard Freddie’s low chuckle, knowing that they’d crossed the line that should never be crossed, and she’d done it willingly.
‘How much did ya shake on, then?’ Ruby asked her brother the next evening when he’d returned from work. He looked tired and she guessed that, like her, he hadn’t slept a wink that night. ‘I hope ya didn’t let Freddie mug you off for a few quid and a couple of beers?’
‘Nah, we agreed a thousand nicker. Not bad for a night’s work but I still don’t like it, Rube. It goes against everythin’,’ Bobby said, looking anguished.
‘I know, I know,’ soothed Ruby. She could see the dilemma written on Bobby’s face. This move to crooked work was upsetting him, but as she kept saying to him, what else could they do? ‘And are ya sure you got a fair price? Perhaps we could’ve agreed a percentage of the takin’s and not just a flat fee?’
Bobby scowled. ‘Listen, Rube. You
