Kimberley Chambers - The Schemer

‘It’s not you. Look, I can’t talk now because there’s something I’ve gotta do. Wait for me after school and I’ll tell you about it then,’ Steph replied.

Noticing the tears in Stephanie’s eyes, Barry ignored the sniggers from some of his classmates and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. ‘If someone’s hurt you, I’ll fucking kill ’em. Tell me what’s wrong and let me deal with it.’

‘No one’s hurt her, Bal. She just needs to sort something out, that’s all. She ain’t doing it alone, I’m going with her,’ Tammy said in an abrupt tone. Barry had only known Steph for what her mother would call ‘five bloody minutes’ and if he thought he was taking her best mate away from her by giving it Mr Macho, he had another think coming.

Not wanting to overstep his newfound boyfriend role, Barry held his hands up in a posture of surrender. ‘OK. I’m off to grab some lunch and I’ll catch up with you after school.’

Marlene Franklin was in her element as she showed her friend Marge the expensive clothes that Jake the Snake had bought her the previous day.

‘Fucking hell, Mar! I love that fur jacket, how much was that?’

‘Five an’ a half – and see them shoes? They were over a oner. He took me to Harrods. Fuckin’ Harrods, can you believe it? I think I’m in love.’

Marge burst out laughing. She knew that Marlene always put a pound note above good looks, but Jake the Snake was so vulgar, he actually abused the privilege of being ugly.

‘Have you shagged him yet? Aw, Mar, I don’t mean to laugh, but he is fucking ugly, ain’t he? He reminds me of a bald version of that actor who played Fagin in Oliver Twist , what was his name?’

Ignoring Marge’s nasty jibe, Marlene debated whether to tell her that she had sucked Jake the Snake’s rather flaccid little penis the previous night, but she quickly decided against it. What was the point? Marge would only take the piss and Marlene knew only too well how ugly some of the men who Marge had slept with were.

‘You do make me laugh, mate. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Anyway, enough about me. What happened with you and Donkey Dave?’

‘Dirty bastard, he was. A right fucking pervert. Shagged me up the jacksie all night and then shoved a bottle up me fanny in the morning.’

Marlene laughed. Marge was pure filth in the bedroom department, so for her to call Donkey Dave a pervert was more than enough proof that he must have been bad. ‘So, you seeing him again?’ Marlene asked.

‘No I ain’t! Walking like John fucking Wayne I am. I’m sure he’s done some internal damage to me. Sod that for a game of soldiers. What about you? I take it you’re seeing Fagin again?’

Trying on her fur coat once more, Marlene turned to face her friend. She truly believed she was Marilyn reincarnated, which was why she was forever using her famous film quotes. This time she used the Sugar Cane one out of Some Like It Hot . ‘“Real diamonds. They must be worth their weight in gold”,’ she drawled, before reverting back to her cockney accent. ‘Yes, Marge, of course I’m gonna bleedin’ see Fagin again. Not only that, if he proposes, I shall marry the old bastard.’

Wayne Jackman was a creature of habit and Stephanie knew that he and his pals always spent their dinner times at the same chip shop where they would play on the fruit machine. ‘He’s not ’ere yet. Let’s wait by the alley, so we can jump out and surprise him before he gets to the chippy. I don’t want the whole world to hear what I’ve got to say. Ange will kill me if she finds out I’ve said something to Jacko. She made me promise on Mum’s life that I wouldn’t, but I crossed my fingers behind me back,’ Stephanie said.

‘He’s coming now, Steph. Potter and Cooksie are with him. You ain’t gonna say nothing in front of his mates, are you? Shall I call him over?’ Tammy asked, feeling slightly edgy.

Staring at Wayne Jackman sauntering down the road like he owned it, Stephanie felt her blood start to boil. He was laughing and joking with his mates like he didn’t have a care in the world, while her poor sister was sitting at home, distraught and scarred for life. Unable to control her temper for one moment longer, Stephanie ran towards him. ‘Oi Jacko! I wanna word with you, you fucking pervert.’

Potter and Cooksie immediately started to laugh.

‘You ain’t still got the hump ’cause I knocked you back, have ya?’ Wayne asked, cockily. He still hadn’t put two and two together with the Crouch surname and had no idea that Stephanie and Angela were actually related.

‘You fucking wanker! I know what you did to my sister, you scumbag. Do your friends know you’re a rapist? Well, do they?’ Steph shouted.

As realization crept in that Stephanie was Angela’s sister, Wayne’s face whitened and his usual brash persona wilted like a flower that had just been trampled on by hobnail boots. ‘I never raped your sister. She was all over me like a rash and I would never have gone near her in the first place if she hadn’t lied about her age.’

‘You raped her! She told me you raped her,’ Stephanie screamed.

Aware that a crowd had started to gather, Wayne grabbed Stephanie by the arm and dragged her towards the nearby alleyway. ‘You stay there. This is between me and her,’ he told Cooksie and Potter.

‘You ain’t taking my mate nowhere where I ain’t going,’ Tammy said, supportively.

‘Well, best you listen to what I’ve gotta say an’ all then, Tampax,’ Wayne hissed. He pushed Stephanie against the stone wall, and with his eyes glinting dangerously, gave her a piece of his mind. ‘If you weren’t dating my old mate, Bazza, I swear I would knock you out for embarrassing me like you just have. How dare you call me a rapist? Your sister told me she was fifteen and she was well up for it, if you know what I mean?’

‘So why did she dump you then? Why did she come home in such a state on Saturday if you never did anything wrong?’ Steph screamed, accusingly.

‘Because I took her round Danny MacKenzie’s house and his cousin Tanya was there. She’s in the same year as your fucking sister and she told me who she was and her real age. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Danno or Tanya what happened – or Potter and Cooksie, they were there an’ all.’

Stephanie felt her face start to redden. ‘I’m only going by what my sister told me and she swears you raped her.’

‘Leave it now, mate. Let’s go, eh?’ Tammy urged her pal. She was positive Wayne was telling the truth.

Determined to have the last say, Stephanie pointed her forefinger into Wayne’s smarmy face. ‘If you ever go near my sister again, I’m gonna call the police and tell ’em what you did to her. Understand?’

Wayne grabbed Stephanie’s finger and bent it backwards. ‘You better shut your mouth, Crouchy, before I shut it for you. I never did anything to your lying slag of a sister that she didn’t want me to do, got it? And if you ever call me, or tell anyone I’m a rapist ever again, I will fucking kill you and that sister of yours. I’m a member of the ICF so, if I was you, I’d watch your back.’

Aware that if she didn’t drag Stephanie away, things were about to get very ugly indeed, Tammy grabbed her friend by the arm and virtually dragged her down the road.

‘You think Angie’s lying, don’t you?’ Steph asked, near to tears.

‘Steph, you told me this morning in the café that Angie had told you that Jacko still thought she was fifteen. He obviously doesn’t, so someone’s telling porkies, mate.’

Stephanie turned to her pal. ‘I’m gonna check out Jacko’s story, and if I find out that he’s telling me the truth and Angie’s lying, I swear I’m gonna rip her head off.’