Chapter Five
Chrissie didn’t have a car, so Dee had offered to be taxi on Saturday night and pick Chrissie up en-route to Cougar Kate’s house. As Dee approached the outskirts of the council estate where her friend lived, she felt as though she’d parachuted into a scene from Taken. Gangs of watchful hoodies stood on every corner. Dee swung a left and then a right, sensing narrowed eyes following her vehicle. Progressing into the depths of the estate, the only thing that changed about each gang was their age. As she took another left, a mob of five stared after her. They couldn’t have been more than nine years old. Since when did a group of primary school kids become so intimidating?
Dee drove past a burnt-out car. It was wrapped like a Christmas present in blue and white ribbon – except it was police tape. A few yards on, she cruised past another car that had fallen victim to prey. It was jacked-up on bricks because its wheels had been stolen. Dee continued to take various lefts and rights through the estate’s maze of inner streets, before arriving at Chrissie’s maisonette. Dee was most reluctant to get out of her car and ring the doorbell. She felt that if she left her vehicle for more than thirty seconds, all the gangs would converge as one and strip her car to a metal shell before she could say, ‘Hoodies ‘R’ Us’.
Scuffing her tyres against the kerb, she opted to toot her horn. Every visible curtain in the street began twitching like a Tourette’s sufferer. Dee sucked on her teeth. How the hell did Chrissie stomach living here? It was a wonder her friend had never been mugged on her own doorstep. Seconds later the maisonette’s tatty front door opened. Her friend stood haloed in light from the inner hall, checking the contents of her handbag. Suddenly Chrissie blinked out of sight as two burley guys walked past Dee’s car window. A second later Chrissie was back in view, but the men were walking menacingly towards her. Dee squeaked with anguish as she watched them move closer to her friend. What were they doing? Dee clenched her car’s steering wheel in anguish. They looked like they were going to shove their way inside Chrissie’s house, no doubt grabbing her handbag at the same time. Bloody hell. This estate was the pits. Dee was witnessing robbers oh-so-casually committing a crime. She didn’t know what to do. Chrissie had spotted the approaching men. She was looking at them with a mixture of loathing and apprehension. Now they were speaking to her. Chrissie’s entire body had tensed. Her face showed anguish. Dee couldn’t stand it for a moment longer. Sod the car. The gangs could strip it. This was an emergency. She had to help her friend.
Dee threw open the driver’s door ready to rush to the rescue, but was nearly garrotted by the seat belt. Fighting her way out of the belt’s constraints, she picked up the bottle of wine she’d bought for Cougar Kate and waved it about.
‘Oy. You two. Bill and Ben. Stop right there!’
The men paused. Turning, they stared unblinkingly at Dee. ‘Are you talkin’ to us?’ said one with a growl.
Dee swaggered over to the men looking, she hoped, a lot braver than she felt. She brandished the bottle of red like a weapon of mass destruction. ‘I know your game.’
‘Do yer play then?’
‘How dare you,’ hissed Dee. ‘I’m a respectable woman. Now step away from my friend.’
‘Er, Dee–’ said Chrissie.
‘Shut up, Chrissie,’ Dee snarled. ‘Close your front door. Slowly. No sudden movements. Don’t worry about these two bozos. I have them covered. One false move and I’ll bottle them.’
‘Yer wot?’
‘I said step away from her,’ snarled Dee, waggling the bottle about. ‘DO IT. NOW!’
‘Fuckin’ hell. Have yer got…wot does me missus call it?...oh yeah…TMP.’
‘I suppose that’s code for drugs, eh? No, I don’t have any TMP. Do I look like somebody who carries TMP about her person?’ Dee raised the bottle menacingly. Keeping her eyes on the two men, she addressed Chrissie. ‘Get in the car.’
‘Um, Dee–’
‘JUST DO IT, CHRISSIE,’ Dee roared. For the last thirty seconds, adrenalin had been whooshing around her body. The short burst of hormone had empowered her, making her feel like she could take on anyone – even these two thugs – but it was fast diminishing and could sputter out at any second. The last thing she wanted was for her legs to buckle, and her backside to thump down on this dog-shit covered pavement with these two heavies towering over her.
Chrissie obediently scuttled over to the car. Dee waited until she’d heard the sound of the passenger door open and close. Good. Her friend was safe. She gave one final shake of the bottle, eyes not leaving the brutes’ scowling faces.
‘If my girlfriend returns home to find her house has been burgled, I’ll seek you two out. I have a very particular set of skills,’ she dared to prod one of the men with the neck of the wine bottle, ‘skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you leave my friend alone,’ Dee seemed to have morphed into Liam Neeson, ‘I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will–’
‘Oh piss off, you silly tart.’
At that moment the door to the maisonette flew open and Andrew stood there. He saw Dee and gave a polite wave before addressing the two men.
‘Are you two coming in or what?’ he asked them. ‘Everyone else is here and waiting.’
Dee blanched. Oh dear God. ‘I-I’m so terribly sorry,’ she stuttered to the men. ‘You’re right. I had some TMP after all. It’s a bastard. Here,’ she proffered the wine bottle to the man nearest to her. He flinched away. ‘Peace offering.’
‘Ta,’ said the other man, snatching the wine. ‘If Chrissie hangs out with nutters like you, no wonder she has attitude problems. Thank fuck yer not my wife.’
‘Yes,’ said Dee, her voice wobbling. ‘Thank…fuck.’
She yanked open the driver’s door, practically threw herself inside, then hit the central locking button. ‘Sorry about that,’ she gasped.
Chrissie was looking po-faced. ‘I kept trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t let me speak. They’re Andrew’s friends.’
‘Yes,’ Dee gulped. ‘I’ve since gathered.’
‘When he finds out you were threatening to put two of his mates in hospital, he’ll probably ban me from ever speaking to you again.’
‘Then let’s hope Bill and Ben don’t tell him.’
Chrissie’s shoulders began to shake. She was laughing. ‘Can we get out of here? And make it quick. Before Andrew comes roaring out and hauls me back inside on the grounds of me fraternising with a lunatic.’
‘Done,’ said Dee, as the car engine burst into life. Her tyres squealed away from the kerb as she wrestled with the steering wheel. ‘Bloody hell, Chrissie. What sort of blokes does Andrew hang out with?’
‘Oh, they’re not so bad,’ Chrissie lied. She wasn’t about to give anything away regarding Andrew’s friends, even though they were more undesirable than pet cockroaches. Chrissie didn’t like any of the men her partner hung out with. She felt they were a bad lot and an even worse influence.
‘What are they all doing in your place? Discussing drug deals?’
Chrissie looked out of the window so Dee couldn’t see her face. ‘They play games.’
‘What…you mean…cards?’
‘No. Computer games.’
Dee gulped. Talk about reading a situation wrong. ‘I need to stop at an off-licence and buy Cougar Kate another bottle of wine.’
‘Whatever for?’
‘It’s her fortieth, remember? We can’t turn up empty-handed.’
‘Hell, I’d forgotten it was her birthday. I’d better buy some chocolates. Have you bought her a birthday card?’
‘Steady,’ said Dee, ‘she’ll be thinking she’s one of our besties if we overdo it. Wine and chocolates are fine.’
Dee exited the estate and zoomed towards New Ash Green. She’d offered to pick up Amber too, even though Amber did have her own car. At least her friends wouldn’t have to worry about drinking and driving. As luck would have it – or bad luck in Amber’s case – Cougar Kate lived in Redhill Wood. This was the posh side of New Ash Green with detached houses in a woodland setting. It was also less than a quarter of a mile from Amber’s two-up-two-down.
By the time Chrissie and Dee had bought more wine and some chocolates, they were running ten minutes late. Amber was waiting for them, standing on the pavement of the ring road that circumnavigated New Ash Green.
‘At last,’ she said, getting into the back of Dee’s car. ‘I’ve been freezing my Victoria’s Secret tits off waiting for you two.’
‘Ooooh, hark at you!’ said Dee. ‘Wearing a new bra?’
‘Yes,’ said Amber. In the back seat, and in the dark, the girls couldn’t see the grimace that crossed her face. The bra had cost an absolute fortune. She hoped Matthew appreciated it when she put her seduction plans to the test later on. Come hell or high water, she was going to inject some va-va-voom in their relationship. Her plan was to woo her partner from total indifference to non-stop lust. She’d have the contents of Matthew’s M&S underpants permanently standing to attention. Come Monday morning he’d have no choice but to ring his office and throw a sickie. Or a stiffy in this case.
Two minutes later, Dee pulled up outside Cougar Kate’s house. There were several cars outside indicating the party girl had a full house.
‘Ready, girls?’ asked Amber, as Dee locked the car after them. ‘I, for one, can’t wait to meet this Madam Rosa and find out what my future holds.’