Kimberley Chambers - Tainted Love

‘A grand. Call it a month’s wages. I thought you could treat yourself to a holiday. It’ll do you good to get away, babe. Clear your head, and you might even meet the man of your dreams.’

Throwing her arms around Michael’s neck, Katy savoured his touch and the smell of his aftershave. She knew what scent he wore and would buy a bottle tomorrow out of the money he’d given her. ‘I love you, Michael. I will wait for you, I promise.’

The Enemy was munching on a sandwich outside Percy Ingle’s when he spotted his prey. He’d heard the two old witches shopped at the Roman every Saturday, which was why he was donning his nerd disguise once again.

Watching the two women laughing and joking with a stallholder, he fought the urge to stab both there and then. He wasn’t stupid though. He would only be able to get away with stabbing one of the women, and if he did so, it would have to be in the middle of the market where it was jam-packed. Queenie was the one he wanted to suffer the most, so perhaps he could knife Vivian in the back, then duck behind one of the stalls before anybody realized what had happened.

When Queenie and Vivian began to walk away from the stall, the Enemy pulled the woolly hat over his head and adjusted the glasses on his nose. He’d spotted a few old faces he recognized earlier, but no way would anybody recognize him. Firstly, they wouldn’t have seen him since he was a child. And secondly, he was far too clever.

‘Daddy, I don’t like it here. It smells,’ Ava sulked. Her father had brought her to some stupid farmyard in Essex to see the animals and Ava was extremely bored.

Vinny picked his daughter up. ‘Look at those little piggies. They’re playing,’ he pointed out.

Ava turned her head in the opposite direction. ‘No. Don’t like ’em.’

‘Shall we go to that boozer I told you about, Dad? They have a good play area for kids. Me and Sammi often take Ollie there. He loves it,’ Little Vinny suggested.

Vinny nodded. Ava was a difficult child to please at times. Happy as a sandboy at home playing with Fred, but enjoyed very little outdoor activity. His mother had even tried her with Sunday school and that had ended in disaster. When the teacher had asked who Jesus was, Ava had replied ‘A cunt.’

Half an hour later, Vinny was sitting next to his son in the boozer, relieved that Ava seemed to be enjoying herself in the play area. ‘Look after Ollie,’ he shouted.

‘Yes, Daddy,’ Ava beamed, holding her nephew’s hand.

As proud as Vinny was at the way his son had turned out, he did currently have one issue with him. ‘We need to have a chat.’

‘About what?’

‘The wedding suits. You might be happy to prance around looking like a pansy all day, but no way am I wearing that creation. I’ll be the laughing stock of the East End.’

Little Vinny was slightly taken aback. ‘The suits are smart and modern. What’s wrong with ’em?’

‘What’s right with ’em would be an easier question to answer. For a start, they’re bastard-well white! You ever seen me walking round looking like Whitechapel’s answer to Larry Grayson?’

‘Who’s Larry Grayson? And the suits aren’t white, they’re cream.’

‘It don’t matter. I’m not wearing it.’

‘For once this isn’t about you, Dad. It’s mine and Sammi- Lou’s big day and we want it to be special. The bridesmaids are all wearing crimson and the males cream suits. You told me to choose what I wanted, so I did. Please don’t ruin this for me. The photos will look ridiculous if you’re the only one of us wearing a different suit.’

‘It’s got a fucking turtle neck an’ all,’ Vinny winced.

‘If you hate the suit that much, you can change it before the reception. Please wear it, Dad, for the actual wedding. Michael said he liked his.’

‘Michael’s secretly gay,’ Vinny replied sarcastically.

Oliver Butler toddling over stopped the discussion getting any more heated. Vinny scooped the child up and sat him on his lap. Unlike the rest of the Butler males, Oliver was blond, but he’d inherited the trademark piercing green eyes. Vinny adored him, but still couldn’t get his head around being called Granddad. He felt far too young to be addressed as such, so had taught Oliver to call him Vinny.

‘Inny, Inny. Wha dat?’ Oliver giggled, pressing his chubby finger against his grandfather’s nose.

Little Vinny smirked. ‘That’s the nose of a man who won’t do one small thing to please his son on his wedding day. Never mind, boy. When you’re older and you get married, I’ll do anything to make you happy. That’s what being a dad is all about.’

‘Bye, bye, Michael. I’m so excited now. See you tomorrow,’ Antonio said, before handing the phone back to his mother and jumping up and down on the sofa with joy. He’d never had a daddy like his friends did, but whenever he was with Michael, he felt like he did. People always said they looked alike and Antonio loved that. It gave him a sense of belonging.

‘Go and play in your bedroom if you’re going to jump about, Antonio. Mummy is trying to talk to Michael.’

When her son skipped out of the room, Bella smiled. ‘He is absolutely over the moon we are all going out tomorrow, Michael. He cried earlier, bless him, when I said you couldn’t make today. He truly adores you as much as I do.’

‘And I adore him too, babe. So sorry about today. I feel guilty now, but there was sod-all I could do about it. It’s family shit that has to be sorted,’ Michael explained. Vinny had sent Carl down to the Cross Keys yesterday evening, but unfortunately Brenda’s loser of a bloke was nowhere to be seen. Michael could have defied Vinny by refusing to cancel his date with Bella in favour of waiting for a phone call, but to be honest, it wasn’t worth the grief. Vinny seemed to have a real hang-up over his relationship with Bella and to put her in front of family business would only cause World War Three.

‘How are your mum and aunt?’ Bella asked.

‘As mad as ever. I haven’t had a chance to tell ’em you’re back from Italy yet, but they’re bound to want to see you when I do. Ava’s living with my mum, so I thought perhaps Sunday week, I’ll pick you and Antonio up and take you over my mum’s for dinner? If I remember rightly, Ava and Antonio were inseparable at Vinny’s fortieth, and Antonio adored the mutt. Fred lives there too,’ Michael chuckled.

Bella’s stomach churned. Ava was Antonio’s half-sister and that thought alone made her feel physically sick. ‘Let’s not rush things, Michael. Don’t tell your mum and aunt I’m back yet. Let me get settled again and then we’ll surprise them together. I can’t wait to see them again though. I thought they were lovely and so funny.’

‘OK, babe. Whatever you want. I’ve gotta go now. There’s a geezer here to see me. I’ll bell you later.’

Bella said goodbye, replaced the receiver, rested the back of her head against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. Living a life littered with lies and deceit was awful, but what choice did she have? She’d tried to live without Michael and couldn’t. She had to keep telling herself that she was the only one that knew the true identity of Antonio’s father and there was no reason for anybody else to believe it wasn’t Clint. Only Vinny, perhaps? And no way was Bella ever going to allow her son to be in his company. She was afraid if she did, Vinny would take one look at her beloved boy and, because of Antonio’s age, black hair and piercing green eyes, put two and two together.

A sunny day always brought droves of shoppers to Roman Road market and the Enemy was pleased that the crowd started to thicken as he walked past Cardigan Road. He’d kept a good twenty feet or so behind Queenie and Vivian since he’d spotted them at Percy Ingle’s and had stopped to browse at stalls whenever they had stopped. Queenie was wearing a floral dress accompanied by a bright-red jacket. Vivian’s dress was bright green, and the silly old cow had some kind of fur draped around her neck. The Enemy liked animals – he’d recently bought a kitten – and in his eyes the fact some poor creature had been skinned alive so that old witch could drape it proudly over her shoulders was a good enough reason to kill her.