you going?’ Frankie asked him fearfully.
Jed put his arms around her and squeezed her buttocks against his groin. ‘I won’t be long. I’m only going in the lounge to have a game of cards with me dad and Bill.’
‘Please don’t leave me on my own, Jed. Your sister-in-law really doesn’t like me. Ever since I said I thought she was pregnant, she’s been saying horrible stuff and giving me daggers. I feel like a gooseberry with her and your mum. I don’t really know ’em that well, so can’t I just go back to the trailer?’
Jed pulled away from her. ‘No, you can’t, Frankie. Me mum’s just cooked you dinner and if you fuck off, it’s rude. We’re living together now, so you’re gonna have to get used to our way of life. It’s the norm in travelling families for the women to sit chatting and the men to go off and do other stuff. You’ve gotta learn to mix better. If Shannon gives you a hard time, then give it to her back.’
Frankie’s eyes welled up, but in seconds tears were replaced by fire. ‘OK, I’ll be polite, but if she keeps getting on my case, then I’ll tell her her fortune. And as for your mum telling me she needs to give me cooking lessons otherwise you’ll leave me, if she starts again, I’ll tell her an’ all.’
Frankie went to walk away, but Jed violently yanked her back by the arm. ‘Say what you like to Shannon, but don’t you ever disrespect my mum, else you’ll have me to deal with.’
Shocked by the way he’d grabbed her and the look on his face, Frankie lowered her eyes. ‘Of course I won’t, Jed. I’m sorry.’
As Jed kissed her and went off to play cards, Frankie wandered back into the kitchen.
‘There you are,’ Alice said, patting the seat next to her.
Shannon glared at Frankie. ‘Now you’re back, gorjer girl, I’m going outside for a smoke.’
Alice smiled as Shannon left the room. ‘Between me and you, I’ve never liked Shannon that much. Old shitty drawers is my nickname for her. Jimmy’s great-great-grandfather was Irish, but why my Billy married an Irish tinker, I’ll never know. They ain’t decent travellers like us English ones. Scum, they are. Take no notice of her behaviour. She’s just jealous because you’re prettier than her,’ she whispered to Frankie.
Shocked by Jed’s mother’s kindness, Frankie was lost for words. She didn’t want to involve herself too much in family business she knew nothing about, and Alice had been all over Shannon like a rash earlier.
‘Where’s Jed’s other brother, Marky?’ she asked Alice.
‘Oh, Marky can’t make it. Rang up over an hour a go, he did. His youngest chavvie, Teddy boy, fell over. Got a big gash down his leg, he has, and they’ve taken him up the hospital.’
Frankie didn’t know how to react. ‘Will he be OK?’ she whispered.
Alice laughed. ‘Teddy’s a tough kid. He’ll be fine. You just worry about yourself and that grandchild of mine, Frankie. I dunno if Jed’s told you, but I can see the future. My grandma was the same, and her mum before her. It’s a gift that’s been passed down through the generations. You know I told you earlier that the nurse asked me if I wanted to know the sex of my child when I miscarried. Well, I already knew it was a girl. Jimmy didn’t believe me – that’s why I wanted ’em to confirm it. I also knew that my pregnancy was cursed. I kept telling my Jimmy, but he wouldn’t listen.’
Alice smiled sadly and held Frankie’s hand. ‘I know you’re having a little girl, Frankie. I can sense it, in fact I’ve never been so sure of anything in me life.’
Frankie’s eyes were as big as flying saucers. ‘But, how do you know?’ she asked. Alice was staring at her and completely freaking her out.
Alice chuckled. ‘Because I do. Now listen to me, I know you ain’t got your own mum to help out, but I want you to know I’ll be there for you every step of the way. I’ll teach you everything you need to know, and between me and you, that little girl will want for nothing.’
Frankie nodded dumbly.
Alice took another gulp of wine, then continued. ‘If you ever wanna talk to your mum, you just ask me, and I’ll sort it. I speak to the dead on a regular basis, you know. People come from all over to see me. It’s a gift, Frankie, a special gift.’
When Shannon walked back in, Frankie was actually pleased to see her. ‘I won’t be a minute, I’m just going to the toilet,’ she said as she ran out the room.
Frankie locked the bathroom door and put her head in her hands. Alice had given her the heebies. Thinking of her own mother, Frankie began to cry. She had never truly appreciated her when she was alive, but she did now. Feeling extremely disturbed by Alice’s comments, Frankie stared at the ceiling. ‘Mum, if you’re up there and you can see or hear me, I just want you to know that I miss you and I love you very much,’ she whispered.
Jed’s arrival stopped her from saying any more. ‘You in there, Frankie? Are you OK?’ he shouted.
‘Won’t be a sec,’ Frankie replied.
Wiping her eyes with toilet paper, Frankie quickly pulled herself together. Her mum was dead, her dad was in prison, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change that. As she unlocked the bathroom door, Jed took her in his arms.
‘I’ve finished playing cards now, so shall we go back to the trailer?’
Frankie clung to him. The whole get-together had been horrific from start to finish. The company, the conversation, and even Alice’s lamb stew had all left a bitter taste in her mouth. Jed’s family were not her type of people and, to put it bluntly, Frankie couldn’t get away from them quickly enough.
Raymond checked his watch as he sat in the restaurant with Polly and her family. He couldn’t be too long, it wasn’t fair on Joey. He had popped in to see his dad earlier and had begged him to return to the house in Rainham, but Stanley was having none of it.
‘You should have heard the things she said to me, Raymond. I hate to say it, but your mother is a wicked, vicious woman, with a tongue like acid. I want no more to do with her. She’s never supported me, all she’s ever done is put me down, and if it weren’t for her encouraging Jess to marry Eddie in the first place, your sister would still be alive.’
Surprised by the change in his usually mild-mannered father, Raymond had left shortly afterwards. Polly was ignoring his calls, and he needed to make things OK with her. His girlfriend had been delighted when he’d turned up unexpectedly at the restaurant. He’d been too late for the meal – they’d already eaten – but even so, Polly had made a real fuss of him.
Squeezing Polly’s hand now, Raymond smiled at her. ‘I’m gonna have to make a move soon, babe. I can’t leave Joey alone with Mum for too long.’
Polly was well over her earlier strop. ‘I understand, but thanks for coming, Ray. It means such a lot to me.’
Raymond said his goodbyes to her family and urged Polly to follow him outside, where he kissed her tenderly. ‘Keep Saturday free. I’ve got a nice surprise for you,’ he whispered.
Polly smiled. She just loved Raymond’s surprises.
Aware of his nan screaming obscenities and her footsteps plodding down the stairs, Joey was frozen to the armchair. His uncle Raymond said he wouldn’t be long, but he’d been gone for almost three hours.
As Joyce threw open the living-room door, Buster and Bruno cowered in the corner. They might be Rottweilers, but they were no match for Joyce.
Seeing the look on his nan’s face, Joey’s voice shook. ‘Are you OK, Nan?’ he stuttered. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘OK? OK? Do I look fucking OK?’ Joyce screamed.
Petrified, the dogs legged it out of the room, quickly followed by Joey. His hands were shaking as he dialled his uncle