Kimberley Chambers - The Schemer

‘I live here. Let me see my mum,’ Wayne had screamed on the evening in question, trying to barge his way through the crowd of coppers.

It had been Jean, his next-door neighbour who had tearfully broken the news to him. His mother had been stabbed to death by his own father. Months later, Wayne learned the reason behind his father’s actions: his mother had been having an affair while he’d been in prison, and had got pregnant by the man he knew as Uncle Darren.

After spending a month in care, Wayne was sent to live with his dad’s parents, Doris and Bill. His sisters had already been given a home in Leicester by his mum’s sister, Kim, but she already had a son and didn’t want him. At first, Wayne had missed his sisters immensely, but over the years he’d taken his grandparents’ advice and all but forgotten about them. He had written to them twice, but they had never replied, and if they couldn’t be bothered with him, why should he worry about them?

‘Evil little whores. They’ll turn out just like their mother,’ his nan had convinced him.

Wayne was fairly happy living with his grandparents. They adored the ground he walked on, gave him plenty of money and a free rein to do whatever he wanted. The house was a total shithole and his nan and grandad were heavy drinkers, but neither of these things particularly bothered Wayne. As long as he was clean and wore nice clothes, how they lived their lives was none of his business.

‘All right, boy? Whaddya want for breakfast?’ Doris asked her grandson as he sauntered down the stairs.

‘Just toast. I’ve gotta go and meet me bird. You’re still going out, ain’t ya?’

Rolling an Old Holborn cigarette, Bill chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, me and your grandmother won’t stop you from sowing your wild oats, will we, Doll?’

‘You just make sure you don’t fall head over heels for her, Wayne. You don’t want to end up in the same situation as your father, do you now?’ Doris warned her grandson.

Not for one minute did Doris or Bill even think that their beloved son was in the wrong for stabbing his wife twenty-six times with a bread knife. In their eyes, the slag he’d married deserved her grizzly ending for betraying their Lenny in the way that she had.

‘Roll us a snout, Grandad, I ain’t got none till I go out.’

Doris handed her grandson two pieces of burnt toast, then fished through her purse for some money. Neither she nor Bill had worked for years, but they had all their Lenny’s money hidden under the floorboards upstairs and he had told them to help themselves to it. What with their pensions and their regular wins on the horses, Doris and Bill lived their lives to the full.

‘Get her a bit drunk, have your wicked way, then fucking well dump her,’ Doris cackled, as she put a five-pound note in the palm of her grandson’s hand.

Wayne chuckled, stood up and grabbed his jacket. He’d always found it funny that his nan had tits and a fanny herself yet harboured a hatred towards other women. Apart from her mate, Big Brenda, who she drank with in the Millhouse, all of his nan’s friends were male.

‘And don’t forget to use a dunky. You don’t wanna get the little tart up the spout,’ Bill yelled, as Wayne opened the front door.

‘I won’t forget,’ Wayne shouted back. Then, with a grin of expectation on his face, he headed off to meet Angie.

Due to her vain younger sister taking forever to do her make-up in the public toilets at the Heathway, Stephanie Crouch was ten minutes late for school. ‘I’m so sorry, Miss,’ she said, as she barged breathless into the classroom.

‘Is that him?’ Tammy whispered in Steph’s ear, as she sat down at her desk.

‘Is what who?’ Steph replied, perplexed.

When Tammy pointed to the right-hand side of the classroom, Steph looked around and felt her heart start to beat nineteen to the dozen. It was Barry Franklin and he was grinning at her.

‘Well?’ Tammy asked, excitedly.

‘Shut up,’ Stephanie hissed.

Aware that Steph’s face had turned a bright shade of red, Tammy smirked knowingly.

‘Now we are all here, I would like to introduce you to our new classmate. Would you like to come to the front?’ Miss Pratt said, gesticulating to Barry.

‘I’m quite capable of introducing meself, if that’s OK?’ Barry said, as he strolled to the front of the classroom, full of confidence.

As he caught her eye and winked at her, Stephanie immediately looked away. Barry Franklin seemed to be having a worse effect on her than Wayne Jackman had and she would not allow herself to be humiliated again. Not now, not ever.

Angela Crouch was a bag of nerves as she sat gingerly on the edge of Wayne Jackman’s bed. Wayne looked absolutely gorgeous today. He was wearing a pure white Sergio Tacchini tracksuit which seemed to make his blonde wedge haircut and piercing blue eyes stand out even more than usual.

‘Cider? Lager? Or Scotch?’ Wayne asked his girlfriend.

Unlike her sister, who drank regularly at weekends, Angela had barely ever touched the stuff but, not wanting to act like a kid, she opted for Scotch.

‘Are you OK?’ Wayne asked, as she took a sip and promptly started to choke. ‘Yeah, I’m cool. Went down the wrong hole,’ Angela gasped.

‘You sure you don’t want lager or cider instead?’

‘No, I always drink Scotch,’ Angela lied, taking another sip.

‘What do you wanna listen to? How about the Fatback Band?’ Wayne suggested.

‘Yeah, I love that,’ Angela lied. She actually had no idea who the Fatback Band were. She was more into Kajagoogoo and Culture Club herself.

Singing the words to ‘I Found Loving’, Wayne sat down next to Angela and pushed her into a backwards position on the bed. ‘You make me feel really horny, do you know that?’ he panted, as he fondled her breasts.

Still feeling extremely edgy, Angela pushed him off her and sat up. ‘Can we have some more drink and play some music before we get off with one another? We’ve got all day, ain’t we?’ she asked, fearfully.

Sensing her anxiety, but also sensing that there was a good chance he was going to get his end away later, Wayne sat up and smiled at Angela. ‘Your wish is my command, babe.’

At lunchtimes, Stephanie and Tammy had a regular routine. Firstly, they would walk to the little tuck shop which was a spit’s throw from the school. The nice man in there would sell cigarettes singly to the schoolchildren for ten pence each and Steph and Tammy took full advantage of his kindness. From there, the girls would walk round to Broad Street where there was a parade of shops and a small indoor market. The girls’ lunch usually consisted of a bag of chips from the local chippy, but occasionally, if they were feeling flush, they would buy a burger in the café and sit in there and eat it.

‘Look, Barry Franklin’s standing outside the chippy on his own. Let’s go and talk to him, shall we? It must be horrible starting a new school when you don’t know anyone, and he said when he introduced himself that he came from Bethnal Green,’ Tammy said.

Lighting up the Player’s Number One that she’d just purchased in the tuck shop, Stephanie felt hot and flustered but did her utmost to look and sound cool. ‘Just walk past him. I can’t be arsed talking to boys no more.’

‘You like him. I can tell,’ Tammy said, teasingly.

‘No I fucking don’t! Now shut up, and if you say anything to him, I’ll never forgive you,’ Steph replied, angrily.

‘All right, ladies. Mind if I tag along with you? I don’t really know anyone yet and I feel a right plonker standing ’ere on me own,’ Barry asked, staring at Steph.

Unable to hold his gaze, Stephanie looked down at her feet. ‘We’ve gotta go somewhere, ain’t we, Tam?’ she mumbled.