Kimberley Chambers 3-Book Butler Collection: The Trap, Payback, The Wronged. Kimberley Chambers
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flopped onto the armchair. ‘Does he look ill? He weren’t spinning you one of his yarns, was he? You know what a conniving old bastard he can be.’
‘Nah, he looked really ill. In fact, he could barely breathe when he arrived. He’s lost weight and most of his hair. You wouldn’t recognize him, Vin. Looks about seventy, he does.’
Vinny ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. If he didn’t have enough on his plate with Karen turning up out of the blue, he now had his father to contend with as well. ‘Have you told anyone else yet? Does Mum know?’
‘I haven’t told a soul. I thought perhaps me and you could pop around Mum’s and tell her together? Do you think she’ll be upset? Or not bothered?’
Vinny shrugged. ‘I dunno. All I know is I’m a big believer of things happening in threes. First Karen turning up, then Dad. I wonder which unsavoury cunt will be the next to darken our doorstep?’
Brenda Butler felt nauseous with fear as she approached the house in Bromley-by-Bow for the second time that day. The pregnancy test had cost her three pounds and the doctor had been quite cold towards her. He had just snatched the money and water sample out of her hands and told her to come back three hours later for the result.
‘Dr Ali has a patient with him at the moment, so take a seat,’ the woman who answered the door said.
Brenda and Susan sat down. It definitely wasn’t a proper doctor’s surgery. It was just like a bare lounge with a few old plastic chairs in it.
‘I hope we haven’t got to wait long. I just want to know one way or the other,’ Brenda whispered to her friend.
‘So, what you going to do if you are pregnant? Will you let Dr Ali arrange an abortion for you?’ Susan whispered back.
‘I don’t know. I haven’t got any money. I don’t know what I will do, but I suppose telling my mum would be a better option than telling my brothers. I wasn’t sick this morning, so I am just hoping I had a bug.’
‘Dr Ali will see you now,’ the woman shouted out.
Clutching her friend’s arm for moral support, Brenda walked into the room.
‘I have your results here and I can confirm you are indeed pregnant, Miss Butler. Now, would you like me to make an appointment with my friend Dr Khan for you? He will perform your abortion very cheap. He will charge you fifty pounds.’
Brenda felt her legs buckle beneath her and if she hadn’t been holding Susan’s arm she was sure she would have collapsed on the floor.
‘Well, do you want me to book the appointment with Dr Khan?’ Dr Ali asked impatiently. He dealt with trashy English girls like Brenda all day long and had no time for them whatsoever. If they’d thought of the consequences before dropping their knickers, then these stupid girls wouldn’t have got themselves pregnant in the first place.
‘No, she doesn’t want an appointment with Dr Khan. Come on, Bren, we’re going,’ Susan said, leading her friend towards the door.
When they got out of the makeshift surgery and the warm air hit her, Brenda leant tearfully against a nearby wall. ‘What am I gonna do? My mum is gonna kill me,’ she wailed.
Susan would have loved to have been able to reassure Brenda that everything would be fine and her family would be supportive, but she couldn’t lie. So instead she said nothing.
Walking on air because his relationship with Nancy seemed to be going so well, Michael was brought back down to earth with a thud when he learned that his father was seriously ill. Unlike his brothers, who had refused to discuss his dad over the past five and a half years, Michael had often thought about him, and wondered what he was up to. ‘So, where is he living? Is he still in Barking with that bird?’ Michael asked.
Roy shook his head. ‘He’s living back in Whitechapel by all accounts. He didn’t say where, but said he needed to be near the London Hospital for all his appointments and stuff. He also said that he wanted to spend his final days back in the place he grew up in and loved. He said it reminded him of us and Mum,’ Roy explained.
Vinny chuckled sarcastically. ‘Fuck me, shall we get the violins out? You never said any of this earlier, Roy. Good old Dad can certainly still come up with a great sob story, can’t he?’
Michael glared at his eldest brother. He had always been closer to his father than Vinny and Roy, and unlike Vinny, he also had a heart. ‘If Dad is as ill as Roy reckons, then we have to be there for him. I know he wasn’t the perfect father and the way he treated Mum was bang out of order, but he certainly ain’t the devil. He was just a drunk and a womanizer, and if truth be known I’ve really missed him.’
Vinny shook his head in mock disbelief. ‘You’re a sucker for punishment, Michael, you always was when it came to Dad. Changing the subject, who is this new bird of yours? It had better not be the tart whose parents used to run that café. You haven’t disobeyed my orders, have you, Michael?’ Vinny asked, his voice full of accusation and anger.
Michael wanted to blurt out the truth, but he had sworn to Nancy only yesterday to keep their relationship a secret for the time being and he couldn’t break his promise to her. ‘No, of course not. My new girlfriend comes from Hainault and her name is Lydia,’ he lied.
‘Right, what I suggest we do is the three of us go and speak to Mum together. However she reacts, without us influencing her in any way, shape, or form is what we end up doing, OK?’ Vinny said. He then turned back to Michael. ‘As for you, if I find out you are lying to me, and this Lydia bird is just a figment of your imagination, there’ll be trouble, Michael, and I mean that with all my heart.’
Mary Walker hugged her son and wished him a lovely time. Christopher had just been promoted in his scout group and now proudly wore a stripe on his shirt. Today, he was off on a camping trip.
Donald put an arm around Mary’s shoulders as they both waved to Christopher. ‘What a fine child we have created there, my love. A pillar of society is Christopher. What a shame our Nancy doesn’t have the same values.’
‘Oh, don’t keep picking on Nancy, Donald. She might be a little more headstrong than Christopher, but so are most girls of her age. She is just finding her feet in life, that’s all,’ Mary insisted.
‘And do most girls of Nancy’s age tell blatant lies to their parents? You know as well as I do, Mary, that our daughter has some boyfriend on the go. So, why the big secrecy about him? He must either be a lot older than her, or he is some hellraiser from a damn awful family.’
Mary turned to face her husband. Donald did have a tendency to let his mind run away with him at times. ‘Look, I am sure Nancy will tell us about him when she is good and ready. I bet the reason she is too frightened to say anything is because of your awkward match-making skills with that bloody Roger.’
‘What do you mean by bloody Roger? He is a fine young man, as well you know. That lad will make a fantastic husband and father one day.’
‘Yes, but our Nancy doesn’t seem to think so, does she, Donald? And do you know what? I don’t blame her for standing her ground one little bit. I wouldn’t fancy Roger if I was in Nancy’s shoes either. Have you looked at our daughter lately? She is a stunning young woman with a vibrant personality, so why should she settle for an average-looking, boring lad like Roger?’
Donald tutted, shook his head in despair, then went out the back to do some stock-taking. He didn’t understand a woman’s way of thinking. Never had and never would.
In the heart of Essex, Johnny Preston was in a pub that he didn’t usually frequent, deep in thought. It was over five and a half years now since he had left the hustle and bustle of London for the tranquillity of life in Tiptree and he had hated virtually every second of it.
At first, it had been bearable. His family were safe. Nobody knew who they were from Adam, and that was all that mattered. Then, he’d had a massive fall-out with his sister over a bloke she had met on holiday