fucking fat cunt, take that,’ he shouted, as he came at Baz from the side and aimed the file straight at his right eye.
As luck would have it, Eddie had taken Baz completely by surprise. His aim was spot on and as the big man fell to the floor in agony, Ed pulled the file out of one eye and aimed straight for the other. ‘That’s what you get for slagging off my family, you fat piece of shit.’
As Baz’s three mates ran towards him, Ed stood up with the file pointing their way.
‘Help me! I can’t see. I’m blind, I’m fucking blind!’ Baz screamed hysterically.
Baz’s mates saw the state of his face and stopped, rooted to the spot. There was blood pouring from both his eyes, and it looked as if he was crying red tears.
As Eddie walked towards them, all three of Baz’s friends took a step backwards. ‘You saw nothing, you mugs, and I swear if you say one word, you’ll have no fucking eyes left as well.’
The three men all held their hands up. ‘We didn’t see anything,’ they repeated one after the other.
Knowing that it was time to leave, Ed couldn’t resist a closer look at the bleeding, screaming mess he’d just attacked. He lifted his foot and kicked Big Bald Baz as hard in the bollocks as he could. ‘You grass me up, or ever say one more word about my wife or dad, I’ll cut your fucking heart out next time, got me?’
‘I can’t see. For fuck’s sake get me some help,’ Baz screamed in agony.
Eddie washed the blood off his hands, smirked, and sauntered out of the shower room.
Joey was a bundle of nerves as he and Dominic headed towards Rainham in a taxi.
‘You haven’t got to tell them tonight if you don’t want to,’ Dominic said kindly.
‘I want to. If me and you are gonna be truly happy, we can’t live a lie.’
Admiring his boyfriend’s strength of character, Dominic squeezed his hand. ‘Why don’t we stop off and get a couple of drinks inside us first.’
Joey shook his head. ‘No. My nan’s expecting us at six and we don’t wanna be late. I won’t tell them straight away. We can eat our dinner, have a few drinks, and I’ll break the news towards the end of the evening.’
Dominic nodded. It was Joey’s family, so the decision was entirely up to him.
Raymond and Polly had just arrived at Joycie’s house.
‘Take Polly’s coat and pour our guests some drinks,’ Joyce said to her husband in her posh voice.
Stanley smiled as he obeyed his wife’s orders. Joyce was properly back to her old self; so much so, it was hard to believe that she had ever been ill in the first place.
Raymond thanked his father for their drinks and politely asked about his pigeons. Their relationship had been difficult after Jessica’s death, but his mother’s illness had helped to heal the rift between them.
Joyce checked on the roast potatoes, shut the oven door, then made her way into the lounge.
‘So lovely to see you again, Polly,’ she said, kissing her son’s girlfriend.
As the dogs ran into the living room, Joyce shushed them out. Buster, the slightly bigger of the two, was having none of it. He’d taken a shine to Joyce since she had come out of hospital and rid herself of her madness. As Buster clung to her leg and tried to hump her, Joyce screamed in mortification.
Realising that the dog was very excited and rubbing his masterpiece against Joycie’s best dress, both Stanley and Raymond burst out laughing.
Joyce was furious. Talk about embarrass her in front of Polly. ‘Get this dog away from me now. Put them out the back,’ she yelled at Stanley.
Trying to stifle his laughter, Stanley ushered Bruno out, then managed to untangle Buster from Joycie’s leg.
‘I feel grubby now, so I’m going to get changed again. Now that Joey’s rarely here, I’m sending them slobbering, filthy creatures back round to Pat Murphy’s,’ Joyce said haughtily.
Once she left the room even Polly started to laugh. Joycie’s face when Buster had got a hard-on had been an absolute picture.
Joyce quickly changed her dress and when the doorbell rang, ran downstairs to answer it.
‘You must be Dominic?’ she said to the tall dark-haired lad who stood next to her grandson.
Naturally polite, Dominic handed Joyce the bouquet of flowers he’d bought. ‘Thank you for asking me for dinner. These are for you.’
Joyce immediately liked the look of Dominic. He was obviously older than Joey, but seemed polite and sophisticated.
‘Thank you so much – they’re beautiful. Take Dominic into the living room, Joey. Your grandad will get you both a drink while I put these in water.’
Raymond shook Dominic’s hand and was immediately aware of Joey’s nervousness. Ray still remembered clearly the night in the Flag earlier this year, when Ronny had blurted to Ed that Joey had a boyfriend.
While Dominic chatted away happily to Polly, Raymond studied him. Ed had never mentioned the incident again, or said anything about Joey’s sexuality since that day, but Raymond was now in no doubt that Ronny had been telling the truth.
Less than a mile away, Frankie was bored stiff. After rejecting Jed’s advances this morning, her fiancé had gone out again with his cousin Sammy and still hadn’t returned. Knowing that her family were having a get-together down the road was hardly helping matters. If she had known that Jed was going to do a disappearing act, she could have sneaked off to see them.
Frankie felt incredibly sorry for herself as she sat down to watch Coronation Street. To say she felt lonely was putting it mildly – she felt utterly desolate.
Jed finally arrived home during the commercial break and when she heard the door open, Frankie kept her eyes glued to the telly.
‘I got us a takeaway. Cheered up now, have we?’ Jed said, slamming the trailer door.
Frankie could see immediately that he’d been drinking again. Full of pent-up emotion, she spoke clearly, but with venom. ‘I’ve had a lot of time to think today, Jed. I’m not happy living here, so I’m going to move back in with my grandparents.’
Jed threw the Chinese on the side and walked over to her. ‘You can’t do that. We’re meant to be getting married, and what about our chavvie?’
He sat down next to her and Frankie was glad that he looked upset. ‘I won’t be treated like shit, Jed. You was out on the piss all night and again today, while I’m sitting here like some idiot. I wasn’t brought up to be treated like a fool.’
‘I’m sorry, Frankie. It won’t happen again. Don’t leave – I love you, you know I do.’
Knowing she had him by the gonads, Frankie carried on. ‘It’s not just about you going out last night and today,
