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 Raymond’s number. Unfortunately, for Joey, Raymond’s mobile was switched off.
‘Stop it, Nan, stop it,’ he screamed, as he heard the glass and china being smashed.
Joey peeped round the door and saw that she was trashing the room. ‘Please don’t do that, Nan. You’re really frightening me,’ he begged.
Joyce took no notice. Her eyes were glazed and she was away with the fairies. ‘Look at this photo, with your grandad and your father in it. Both arseholes!’ she screamed, jumping up and down on the frame.
Worried for his own safety and that of the dogs, Joey picked up the phone and dialled 999.
‘You have to help me. My nan’s smashing the house up, she’s gone loopy,’ he cried.
Eddie Mitchell sat alone in the prison canteen. He was fully aware that he was the centre of attention and that a lot of the lags were gossiping about him. He didn’t care, though, they could say what they liked, as long as they left him alone.
‘Do you mind if I sit ’ere, Ed?’
Ed looked up and nodded at Bertie Simms to sit down. Bertie had been good friends with Ed’s dad, Harry, and Eddie remembered him coming to the house regularly when he was a kid.
‘How you doing, Ed? I’m so sorry to hear about what happened.’
Eddie nodded and carried on eating his breakfast.
‘How’s Gary and Ricky doing?’ Bertie asked, not knowing what else to say.
‘All right. They’re coming up to see me later today. They’ve took over the business for me. They’ll do a good job, they’re good lads.’
Seeing Big Bald Baz and his cronies sniggering at them two tables away, Bertie leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. ‘Listen, Ed, I think you should know that Baz, your cellmate, has been taking the right piss out of ya behind your back. He’s been telling everyone that you’ve lost the plot, mate. Reckon’s he’s gonna do you in the shower room with a tool, he does. I heard him saying some terrible stuff about your Jessica the other day, and he was also taking the piss about your old man being murdered.’
Eddie digested the information, but said nothing. Inside he was fuming. How dare anyone say stuff about his beautiful wife, or his poor old dad? Couldn’t people just let them rest in peace?
‘We go back years me and you, Ed. I know what happened must be fucking awful for ya, but I also know you’re no man’s fool. Don’t let some shitbag like Baz mug you off. If you do, we both know that there’s many others in here waiting to jump on the bandwagon. Take my advice – sort it out before it’s too late.’
Eddie’s eyes wandered to the table where the laughter was coming from. He briefly locked eyes with Big Bald Baz, then quickly looked away. It was in that split second that Ed felt the fire return to his belly. He’d get through his stretch – he had to. He was Eddie Mitchell, for fuck’s sake.
Frankie sat nervously in the Albion pub. She hadn’t seen Joey since the night she’d left home, and she was both anxious and excited. She’d rung the house this morning praying that her brother would answer and, as luck would have it, he had.
‘Can you talk? It’s me,’ she’d asked cautiously.
At the sound of his sister’s voice, Joey had burst into tears. ‘It’s been awful here without you, Frankie. Nanny’s gone off her rocker and I’m so unhappy.’
Frankie told him to meet her at the pub at one o’clock and to pack some of her clothes in a sports bag. She also told him to charge up her mobile and bring the phone and her charger with him. ‘Oh, and Joey, don’t forget my new trainers, the Adidas ones.’
Because his uncle Raymond had come into the room, Joey abruptly ended the phone call. ‘I’ll see you at one then, Wesley,’ he’d lied. Raymond would have gone apeshit if he had known Joey was helping Frankie out. He blamed her and Jed for Jessica’s death and everything else that had happened since.
As soon as Joey walked into the boozer, Jed stood up.
‘I’ll leave yous two to it. Ring me when you want picking up,’ he told Frankie.
As Jed left, Frankie and Joey clung to each other.
‘I’ve missed you so much,’ Joey said, his eyes brimming with tears.
Aware that some of the pub regulars were staring their way, Frankie pulled away from her brother and sat down.
‘Did you bring everything I asked for?’ she asked, nodding towards the sports bag.
‘The only thing I couldn’t find was your Fila tracksuit top. I brought everything else, though.’
Frankie thanked him and went to get them both a drink. ‘Where’s my phone?’ she asked, as she handed Joey his vodka.
Joey found it for her, then launched into the story of their nan. ‘She just went bananas, Frankie. You wanna see what she did to Grandad’s pigeon shed. The doctor came and sedated her, but while Raymond was out she woke up again. She started smashing up the house and I was petrified.’
‘How is she now?’ Frankie asked genuinely concerned.
‘I don’t really know. I rang the police and they rang an ambulance. Ray had come back by the time the paramedics arrived. She was like a woman possessed, lashing out at everyone. She wouldn’t get in the ambulance, and I think they had to hold her down and give her an injection. I wasn’t there when they took her. I got a bit upset, so Ray sent me upstairs with the dogs.’
‘So, who’s staying with you now?’ Frankie asked. She was feeling more guilty by the minute for leaving Joey.
‘Ray and Grandad have been taking it in turns to stay at the house with me. Grandad wants me to live in Upney with him, but I don’t wanna leave the house. I hate Upney and I’ve got no friends over that way.’
Frankie nodded understandingly. She couldn’t believe that her grandparents had split up after all these years and, as for her nan going mad, the whole situation felt surreal. ‘Go and order us some more drinks and some food. I’ll have a quarter pounder with cheese and chips,’ she told her brother, handing him one of the twenty-pound notes Jed had given her.
As he walked away, Frankie grabbed her phone. Joey needed help and support, and if she couldn’t be there for him, maybe Dominic could. She punched in Dom’s number and held the phone to her ear. He answered on the second ring.
‘I
