but for some reason she hadn’t been able to take it and had walked away, annoyed at herself, but also intrigued that for the first time in her life she felt something other than indifference.
The next night he’d picked her up again, this time spending the evening sitting in his car talking and eating chips. When he’d dropped her off back at the bedsit she shared with one of the other street girls he’d again offered her money, but again she’d refused.
The following evening she’d half expected to see him again and had found herself surprisingly disappointed when she hadn’t seen his car drive slowly down the road. Trying to put him out of her head she’d turned two tricks and had been on her knees in the car park of Brewer Street, about to give a blow job to a South American punter, when the punter had been thrown across the bonnet of the nearby car with his trousers round his ankles and his penis standing to attention.
At first Bunny had thought they were being mugged, but when she’d turned around she’d seen Del, his face chiselled in fury, his fists battering the teeth out of the terrified man.
She and Del had spent that night together and it had also been that night that Star had been conceived. They’d been together ever since. Finding out she was pregnant had frightened the life out of Bunny. She’d never planned on having children; she was too worried about bringing an innocent child into the world, but mainly unsure if she could give a child a better start in life than she’d had.
She hadn’t told Del, he’d guessed – or rather he’d looked in her bag and found the leaflets on abortion. Even though she was a hooker, he’d ranted and raved, jealous and hurt she’d been with someone else, not understanding she was pregnant with his baby. When she’d told him it was his, instead of him insisting she get rid of it, to her amazement, he’d begged her to keep the baby. And she’d liked the feeling; the feeling of someone wanting her, someone seeing her as more than just a fuck in the alleyway. But mostly she’d liked the feeling of him believing in her. Believing she could love and care for a child.
During her pregnancy she’d allowed him to look after her, letting him rent the flat in Soho and treat her like she’d never been treated in her life, but the minute Star had been born, she’d gone back to work, albeit in the flat.
Del had been furious. Ignoring her one minute, coming round to smash up the place in a jealous rage the next, begging her to stop work. Her heart had gone out to him, but no matter how much she’d wanted to make him happy, she couldn’t do the one thing he wanted her to – give up work – because Bunny knew giving up work would’ve meant letting her nemesis come into her life; her nemesis being trust.
One day she’d got fed up after he’d yet again barged into the flat, throwing out the punter she’d been with. They’d had a row. Him screaming at her and she at him. It was then she’d decided to turn the tables. ‘Okay Del. I’ll do it. I’ll give up bleedin’ work if that’s what you want, but on one condition.’
‘Anything darling; name it.’
‘Leave Edith and tell her about Star.’
His face had drained of colour and it was then Bunny had known she’d been right not to trust him. Del would never leave Edith, no matter how much he loved her and Star, and she would never trust him, no matter how much she loved him and wanted to have a life like she read about in books. So they’d come to an unspoken agreement that no matter how much they didn’t like the situation, that was the way it had to be.
Of course, Del still got jealous and he still made noises asking her to give up work, but there’d been a shift in balance. Del now knew what the condition had to be and, as Bunny knew he’d never agree to it, she felt safe in the knowledge that her having to trust someone would never be put to the test.
‘So are you all packed then, Bun?’
‘No, I ain’t even got me suntan cream sorted out. Maybe you should go on your own; I’ll come with you another time.’
‘You ain’t going to get out of it that easily.’
Bunny’s tension came back in her body and a frown creased her forehead. ‘What about Star? I don’t want to leave her.’
‘She’ll be fine with Claudia. That women will look after her like she’s one of her own.’
Bunny looked down, changing the subject quickly. ‘There’s some new girls on the block, apparently there was a bit of trouble with them. Chased off the regular girls: they’re not happy.’
Del scowled. ‘Who did you hear this from?’
Bunny shrugged her shoulders. ‘Just one of the girls who covers the Berwick Street area. I use to work with her. She’s a good un; don’t cause trouble or go looking for it, but she’s worried. Business is down because of it, so she asked me to have a little word in your ear. She said she thought it was the Russian lot. You know anything about it?’
Without answering, Del walked over and kissed Bunny on her head, before turning to Star and doing the same. It was all well and good letting the Russians come onto his patch and doing deals with them, but when they took the piss that was something else entirely. He turned and walked out, waving goodbye, then grabbing his car keys off the side.
Deep in thought, Del marched out into Brewer Street, not noticing Teddy Davies watching him.
11
Del Williams sat in Whispers club waiting for Milo Burkov to arrive. He didn’t mind waiting for people – shit went down sometimes – but he knew Milo was late just to prove a point, and the point was to make Del sit waiting like a fucking muppet.
There’d been lots of times Del had tried to turn up later for their meetings than Milo; hovering outside or driving round Soho a couple of times, even having an unwanted brew in Lola’s Cafe, all in an attempt to make Milo wait for him. But somehow Milo Burkov always got the upper hand, walking in a few minutes after Del did, a cheesy grin on his pocked Russian face.
It was an ongoing stand-off between the two of them, even though they both knew it was childish.
Sitting drinking neat malt whisky and trying to ignore the fact that he’d been waiting now for the past twenty minutes, Del thought of Bunny. There wasn’t really any time he didn’t think of her. It was all consuming. Each waking moment he wasn’t with her he wondered what she was doing, where she was going and who she was with. It was like an obsession. This thought had crossed his mind before and he’d quickly dismissed it, not wanting to think of himself as some pathetic cunt, but if he were truthful, that was exactly what it was. Obsession.
So many times he’d snuck past the formidable presence of Claudia to break in and see Bunny, wanting to catch a punter with her so he could take out his frustration and batter him senseless. There were times when the red mist descended and he could’ve quite easily squeezed the life out of them – and if it wasn’t for Bunny stopping him, he would’ve done.
It tortured him. Bunny fucking other men had almost broken him. Him. Del Williams. A man most men would be terrified of was broken by his woman.
Knocking back the rest of the whisky, Del sighed. He knew what he had to do if he wanted it all to stop. He had to leave Edith. But how could he? Edith would talk like a jack fucking rabbit. The only thing that would stop that mouth of hers was a bullet in her head.
The
