CRUEL SECRETS Page 15

  Hattie realised she was glaring at Toni and thought she had better back off rather than face her wrath. The last time she had gone one-to-one with Toni, she had ended up with a table leg wrapped around her head. She had needed to have her hair shaved and stitched. But she was even more angry that her oversized Afro was now gone and would take years to grow back. The short hair didn’t match her big frame.

  “Hattie, get off the cunting phone!” ordered Toni, through gritted teeth.

  Hattie slammed down the receiver and walked away, hoping that Toni might forget the look she had just given her.

  Toni dialled the number. “She’s ’ere, Eddie.”

  Eddie was in the bath, planning his next move. He knew the police had him under observation. Tommy had been true to his word and he’d made a statement putting Eddie in the clear for the night that Maureen was murdered.

  “They nicked her, then?”

  “Yeah, she’s in the hospital. Some bitch has plunged her with a blade.”

  Eddie sat upright, careful not to drop the phone into the water. “Ya fucking what? Is she all right, sis?”

  “I think so …”

  “Is she my Kelly?” he asked, with concern in his voice.

  “Oh yeah, your fucking double, a cocky little cow an’ all.”

  Eddie smiled to himself. “Right, keep her safe and make sure she sends out a VO. I wanna meet her.”

  “Ed, do ya think it’s a good idea?”

  “Don’t question me, Toni, just do as I say.”

  After Toni put the phone down, she marched back to her cell to find Hattie hanging around.

  “What d’ya want?” spat Toni, in a strident tone.

  Hattie was so huge she took up the doorframe. “We all right, Tone?”

  Toni’s mind was still on Eddie’s demands concerning her niece, so she just nodded and sparked up another cigarette. As Hattie went to walk away, Toni called out, “’Ere, Hat, you can do me a favour!”

  Before she turned to face Toni, Hattie paused. “What’s that then, Tone?”

  “Find out who jerked Kelly Raven. Don’t you tell anyone and let me know.”

  Hattie smiled, with relief showing on her face. She was in Toni’s good books; well, she would be, if she found out who had harmed Kelly.

  Toni had to do something for retribution or her brother would sure enough take a blade to her. By teatime, Hattie was back; she slipped into Toni’s cell, closed the door behind her, and faced Toni, who was sitting on the bed with a pillow propped up behind her, reading a book and puffing on a fag.

  “Gotta name, then, Hat?” She didn’t look up.

  “Tone, it’s that fat fuck Milo and that long streak of piss Bobby. They are reckless little fuckers, them two. They run the youths down there. Milo’s twenty-one next week and gonna be on our wing, by all accounts.”

  “And Bobby?”

  “Bobby will come on the wing ’cos they are cousins, so they say,” replied Hattie, pleased with herself and Toni’s reaction to her.

  “Next week, eh?”

  “Yep. Anything else, Tone?” She was twitching and in need of tobacco and hoped her little favour would earn her something. Toni held everything: puff, baccy, in fact any powder floating about, and so was a chief in the inmates’ eyes.

  “Nah,” she replied, still with her head in the book.

  “Tone, any chance of some baccy? I really am clean out.”

  Toni looked up at her and took another drag of her fag. “See that packet there on the other bed? Take it, but, Hattie, it’s gonna cost ya.”

  With greedy eyes, Hattie picked up the tobacco, enough for at least ten roll-ups. “How much, Tone?”

  “Oh, not money, Hat, I want another favour,” she replied, looking up at the woman coldly.

  Hattie felt queasy; she hated owing favours, especially to Toni. “What’s that, then, Tone?”

  Toni winked. “I’ll let ya know.”

  Hattie wanted to put the tobacco back on the bed, but she had it in her hands now and that was as good as accepting the offer. She walked away with a nasty gut feeling.

  *

  Dr Thomas, the consultant who had saved Kelly, had left strict instructions with the nurse to call him right away when she came to.

  When the call came, he tore down the corridor and on to the ward. Kelly was placed in a private room, still handcuffed to the bed. One of the prison officers was sitting outside the patient’s room. Her presence was enough for the consultant’s expression to turn sour and for his eyes to stare coldly at the officer. He wasn’t reacting like this from a feeling of superiority: far from it, as his brother was in prison and his mother was dead from a drugs overdose. The screw stood up, as he approached the door.

  “All right, Doc, any news as to when we can take her back?” asked Kirsty, the officer with a nasty smirk and with an eye for a good-looking doctor. Dr Thomas glared at her. “When I say so, and that’s not going to be any time soon, so take yourself off to the canteen or wherever. I don’t like clutter on my ward.”

  Kirsty was surprised at his manner but was too thick-skinned to care so she walked away with food on her mind.

  Peter Thomas stood at the end of the bed reading Kelly’s chart. The nurse smiled and left. Kelly was awake but a little dopey. He watched her trying to focus. As she attempted to lift her arm, which was cuffed to the side bar of the bed, his heart went out to her. She was barely eighteen; there was no history of drugs or alcohol abuse and she didn’t even smoke. Her smooth skin and virtuous eyes melted his heart. He knew she was on a double murder charge and just could not imagine this slight and pretty teenager committing such a crime.

  “Hello, Kelly, my name is Dr Peter Thomas. How do you feel?” He walked around to her side and smiled down at her. She smiled back but a tear fell and ran down the side of her face. Perhaps it was his compassionate-sounding voice, setting her off.

  “I feel better, Doctor, thank you.”

  He soaked up her gentle tone; it wasn’t the voice of a murderer, surely?

  “Kelly, I have told the prison that you must remain here until I feel you are well and truly recovered. We don’t want another incident like that, do we?”

  She liked his face; it was open and honest. His eyes were like pools of ocean blue and his smile was wide, revealing straight white teeth. His blond waves, akin to that of an Australian surfer, framed a face which looked kind and sincere.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Can I get you anything, magazines, a nice bowl of fruit salad? The food in here is crap,” he laughed. Kelly was amused by his words. She giggled but this action brought on instant pain.

  “I know what you do need and that’s something for the soreness.”

  His thoughtful gesture brought new tears – he seemed so kind-hearted and genuine.

  Peter Thomas left and returned minutes later with tablets and a fruit salad bowl; it was his own that he had brought in that morning for his lunch. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he felt her forehead. Really, he didn’t have to, as it was not for any medical reasons, but he just wanted to touch her face. She was young and probably too young for him; he wasn’t into little girls, but there was something about her that aroused his emotions.

  “Hey, Kelly, I will let you get some rest, and I’ll be back this afternoon. In the meantime, think of a list of mags, and I will see what I can do.”

  She nodded and watched him leave. She remembered the psychiatrist asking if she liked men or women. She thought about Peter, and for a second she would have liked to have felt his lips on hers. Oh, well, none of that mattered now; she was going back to jail and he would be healing the sick and wounded. She dozed in and out of sleep with the drugs he had given her doing the trick.

  The next morning, she awoke feeling brighter, the anaesthetic having worn off, enabling her now to focus. Peter was in the room reading her notes again.

  “Hello, Doctor.” She smiled and watched his face light up.

  “Well
, Miss Kelly Raven, I like that name. It has a kind of ‘wing’ to it,” he laughed. She chuckled, joining in the joke.

  He looked sharp in a crisp white shirt and navy-blue trousers. She noticed his clean hands and immaculate nails. He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. “How do you feel?”

  “Much better, thank you. I’m not in pain so much now, thanks, Doctor.”

  The door opened, and in walked the cocky screw, as brassy as if she had the right. It irritated Peter and angrily he walked up to her. With harsh words, he snapped, “What do you want now?”

  She shuffled from foot to foot, uncomfortable with his cold tone. She was used to showing off with her cocky stance and overconfident attitude.

  “Gov wants to know how she is and when I can take her back!”

  Peter was angry at her smarmy voice. He had a fervent dislike for prison staff, after they had beaten up his brother in prison – his little brother.

  “This is a patient’s room, not a hotel room. I am in the middle of a confidential conversation—”

  Before he could finish, Kirsty interrupted, “Sorry, Doc, but Raven has lost that right, now she is serving at Her Majesty’s pleasure.” This remark pissed Peter off.

  He took a deep breath and launched in, full force. “I don’t for one minute think you have a law degree or a medical degree or a damned A level for that matter. So, I will inform you of the law, and the right that my patient has, and that is patient confidentiality. You are not a judge or another doctor, so you are not allowed to be present when I am talking to my patient regarding her medical condition. She is handcuffed to the goddamn bed and you are to remain outside. She is not a raving lunatic, who is likely to jump up and slit my throat, so I do not need your assistance, and if I did, then I would ask for it. Now, this is my ward, and I will call you when I feel she is ready to go back. One other thing, Miss Raven has not been convicted yet. Since she is a patient in my hospital, I suggest you treat her as innocent until proven guilty!”

  Kirsty was gobsmacked; never had she heard a doctor speak with so much venom. He was right though; she had pushed her luck. In the past, she had got away with it but obviously not this time. She left the ward with her tail between her legs. Kelly was shocked that this doctor, who didn’t know her from Adam, had stuck up for her.

  She laughed. “That told her.”

  Peter returned to his chair and smiled. “Yeah, well, she is getting on my nerves, sitting outside, making a fucking nuisance of herself.”

  Kelly laughed again. She had never expected a doctor to swear.

  “It’s none of my business, and I would get shot if they found out I asked such a question, but, seriously, did you do what they said? Did you kill your mother?”

  Kelly tilted her head and looked into his dreamy blue eyes. “No, I never did. They think I did, and I don’t have the energy to fight it. I did kill Patrick, but I didn’t mean to. I thought he was going to rape me, and I only meant to hit him to get away, but I guess I hit him a bit too hard.”

  Peter nodded. “Kelly, you’re a kid, you have to fight it. What does your solicitor say?”

  Embarrassed, she looked away. “I refused to have one.”

  “What!”

  Kelly was surprised and confused. Why would a doctor be so interested in her? “Why do you care?” she asked softly.

  He took a deep breath through his nose. “I have a little brother, not much older than you, in the same situation. He killed someone by accident and he suffers every day because of it. There, that’s the first time I have told that to a complete stranger. Please don’t repeat it. Those nurses are such busybodies. They love a bit of gossip.” He tapped her on the nose.

  “They think I am mad, you know. I have been seeing a shrink daily. They ask so many questions. I know I’m not insane. Maybe I should get a lawyer. It’s all so complicated. I have no one to ask, you see.”

  Peter felt so disconsolate; those sad eyes were just like those of his brother. There was nothing he could do for little Paulie. He visited him on a regular basis. He saw the bruises, the black marks under his eyes, and the grey pallor on his face. It tore him apart. That was probably why he felt a need to help Kelly.

  “Hey, I know you’re not insane. Let me help you.”

  She felt a lump in her throat. “Really?”

  He nodded. “I will organise a good solicitor. I am a dab hand at it now, you know. I even studied law myself. Before you go back, I will get all the paperwork and you can contact her. She is brilliant. I‘ll contact her myself, in fact, and so she will be expecting to hear from you.”

  She looked up at him and her eyes brimmed with tears. He wanted to reach out and hug her but that would be wrong on every level. Instead, he rubbed her arm and winked. As he walked away, he felt sad. She had plucked at his heartstrings and her perfect face was imprinted on his mind.

  Reality had come and bitten her on the arse. Since the day she’d fled her mother’s house, she had seen the world in a new light. There was good, bad, and damn right ugly. She could use what she had to either fight or talk her way out of trouble. She soon realised that people were either taken in by her innocent, trusting look or threatened by it. Either way, she knew she had weapons to get through life and being thrown to the wolves would make her strong, one way or another.

  Peter came to visit her every day, checking she was okay. The morning she was to be discharged was shocking for him and what he saw deeply disturbed him.

  The nurse was retrieving Kelly’s prison tracksuit from the bedside cabinet, whilst Kelly was about to step into the shower. Peter walked inside the room to say his goodbyes but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the scars on Kelly’s back. He turned away, as if she wasn’t a patient, but the nurse detected his sudden wavering.

  “Doctor, what’s wrong?” she asked.

  Peter bit his lip and turned to face her. “Nothing I was just …err, I mean I was going to sign the discharge form.”

  The nurse raised her eyebrow and handed him the clipboard. “Poor kid, those marks are dreadful, aren’t they?”

  Overcome with horror, all he could do was swallow hard and nod. He couldn’t hang around and wait for her to step outside the shower. He left her in peace with her dignity but that vision was engraved on his mind. He had to walk away. Kelly was stirring emotions he should never have.

  She was taken back to the prison, feeling well and stronger than ever. Charlie was the screw who was responsible for her. She smiled sweetly but it was so out of character. “Come on then, Kelly, I am going to take you over to B wing. You can settle in with Toni. She has a double room. It’s much cosier. She has books, magazines, and, well, it’s just a homelier feel.”

  Kelly stopped dead. “I don’t want to go over there. I’m all right on me own. I don’t know her!” Her voice was cold. Charlie gripped Kelly’s shoulder, forcing her to look at her face. “Now, Kelly, listen to me, you are far safer with Toni than anyone. You want to survive in here, then stick with her.”

  “I don’t care. I am fine in me own cell.”

  Frustrated with Kelly’s stubbornness, Charlie was getting annoyed now. “There’s no argument, Kelly. You have been assigned to that cell, so if you don’t like it, then next week we will have you moved back down here. All right?”

  Kelly nodded. “I ain’t gotta choice, ’ave I?”

  “Nope,” replied Charlie.

  Most of the inmates were on jobs in the laundry, the kitchen, or the gym. Toni was in her cell though, waiting for Kelly. She had made the room as nice as possible. Eddie would be pissed off, if she didn’t keep a look out for her.

  Charlie flicked her head at Kelly. “Go on, in you go, that’s the room.”

  Kelly had a canvas bag over her shoulder; it contained her few belongings and paperwork. Nudging the door open, she stepped inside the cell. Toni jumped to her feet and nodded to Charlie to leave. She pulled Kelly the rest of the way in by her arm and wedged the door shut with a piece of rubber. Kelly looked at t
he doorstop.

  “Gotta be done around here or you’ll have no privacy,” said Toni, seeing the look on Kelly’s face.

  Grudgingly, Kelly raised her eyebrow. “It don’t look like I’m gonna get much of that now I’m in with you.”

  Toni felt her temper rising. After all, she was doing Kelly a big favour.

  “Ya wanna be careful with ya cocky mouth, Kel. It won’t do you any good, let me tell you.”

  As Kelly sat heavily on the bed, she stroked the soft quilt cover. It was nicer than her bedding on C wing. “You gotta understand, Toni, that I don’t even know you, so if you expect me to be over the fucking moon that we are banged up cosy together, then you’re wrong.”

  The likeness to Eddie was uncanny. Toni looked at her niece’s face, and she realised she was looking at Eddie when he was a kid. He could charm the birds out of the trees with his big soft eyes and nice words, but rub him up the wrong way, and he had a vicious tongue and a violent temper.

  “’Ere, hang on a minute, ’ave some respect. I’m ya flaming aunt.”

  Kelly laughed sarcastically. “Aunt, yeah? Well, I do have an aunt called Bet, and she sure as hell don’t look like you. She’s the only aunt I can recall. So, like I said, I don’t know ya.”