and all, so the parcels should start coming thicker and faster.’
Alan forced a smile on to his face. He was getting in deeper and deeper and there was nothing he could do about it.
‘Put a few bets on with what you’ll be getting, eh, Al?’
Mikey was actually being friendly to him and that worried Alan Jarvis more than anything.
Karen Black was waiting in the car park. As Lucy approached her she considered her own position and decided she might as well get what she could out of it.
Everyone knew that the factory was losing stuff hand over fist, and everyone also knew that it was Karen Black and her partner Gregory the supervisor who were the main dealers. The factory made paper products: kitchen rolls, loo rolls, serviettes and such like. It was a rival to Bowater Scott, and the workforce all received monthly ‘goodie bags’, free stuff that the firm supplied ostensibly to stop thieving. Instead it increased it as people sold stuff on and then wanted a bigger profit.
Karen and Gregory supplied restaurants, cafes, even some local shops. They also sold off market stalls all over the smoke so it was a big earner for them. Now Lucy decided that she wanted in. If she was getting married then she’d need some extra cash and what better way to get it?
71
She was smiling amiably as she walked over to the woman who was the cause of so much heartache in the firm. But as she was also the union rep she got away with murder.
‘I have the address here.’
She handed Karen an envelope with the details scrawled on it.
‘Good stuff.’ Karen grinned. ‘Glad you ain’t my sister.’
The barb hit home. If Marie had been her sister Karen would have taken on the world for her, she implied. The Blacks didn’t care that their relative had been on the streets and a druggie. That didn’t bother them. The blood tie did. Bethany had been family and that was that. Unlike Lucy’s own family who believed that what the neighbours thought was more important than whether you were having a nice time, or a good life. The neighbours were her mother’s yardstick for everything.
When the Patels had moved in her mother had had a blue fit. The thought of Indians in the street had done her head in. That was until she found out Mr Patel’s son was a pharmacist, and that he owned the pharmacy in the little block of shops nearby. He had assumed saintly proportions then.
In fact, her mother would cheerfully have had the whole population of Asia in her street rather than the next new arrivals, the McDuffs, a crowd of swearing, screaming Irish. But they had bought the house and that was that. If their Friday night cabaret annoyed everyone else, it sent her mother demented: the night out at Bingo and then the pub and the fight afterwards in the street.
Mrs McDuff could give as good as she got so the couple were evenly matched and her husband often came off the worst. Their son was in prison for armed robbery, and so Mrs McDuff saw herself and Louise as kindred spirits, which did not go down well at all.
‘Marie is going to regret ever leaving prison, you realise that, don’t you?’ Karen gloated.
Lucy shrugged.
‘Big deal. Can I have an in on the paper scam then?’
Karen laughed.
‘No! What would we want you in on it for? How could we trust you for a start?’
‘What do you mean? Of course you can trust me.’
Karen looked her over and obviously found her wanting.
‘You just grassed your own sister up. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you now, love.’
72
She saw the look of confusion on Lucy’s face.
‘You just don’t get it, do you?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘Get what?’
‘You’re scum, Lucy. Whatever Marie did she’s still your sister. I’d have her any day of the week over you, love. She was out of her nut when she topped everyone. But you are as sober as a judge and you still want to tuck her up. I’d have had more respect for you if you’d told me where to get off.’
‘If she’s
Alan forced a smile on to his face. He was getting in deeper and deeper and there was nothing he could do about it.
‘Put a few bets on with what you’ll be getting, eh, Al?’
Mikey was actually being friendly to him and that worried Alan Jarvis more than anything.
Karen Black was waiting in the car park. As Lucy approached her she considered her own position and decided she might as well get what she could out of it.
Everyone knew that the factory was losing stuff hand over fist, and everyone also knew that it was Karen Black and her partner Gregory the supervisor who were the main dealers. The factory made paper products: kitchen rolls, loo rolls, serviettes and such like. It was a rival to Bowater Scott, and the workforce all received monthly ‘goodie bags’, free stuff that the firm supplied ostensibly to stop thieving. Instead it increased it as people sold stuff on and then wanted a bigger profit.
Karen and Gregory supplied restaurants, cafes, even some local shops. They also sold off market stalls all over the smoke so it was a big earner for them. Now Lucy decided that she wanted in. If she was getting married then she’d need some extra cash and what better way to get it?
71
She was smiling amiably as she walked over to the woman who was the cause of so much heartache in the firm. But as she was also the union rep she got away with murder.
‘I have the address here.’
She handed Karen an envelope with the details scrawled on it.
‘Good stuff.’ Karen grinned. ‘Glad you ain’t my sister.’
The barb hit home. If Marie had been her sister Karen would have taken on the world for her, she implied. The Blacks didn’t care that their relative had been on the streets and a druggie. That didn’t bother them. The blood tie did. Bethany had been family and that was that. Unlike Lucy’s own family who believed that what the neighbours thought was more important than whether you were having a nice time, or a good life. The neighbours were her mother’s yardstick for everything.
When the Patels had moved in her mother had had a blue fit. The thought of Indians in the street had done her head in. That was until she found out Mr Patel’s son was a pharmacist, and that he owned the pharmacy in the little block of shops nearby. He had assumed saintly proportions then.
In fact, her mother would cheerfully have had the whole population of Asia in her street rather than the next new arrivals, the McDuffs, a crowd of swearing, screaming Irish. But they had bought the house and that was that. If their Friday night cabaret annoyed everyone else, it sent her mother demented: the night out at Bingo and then the pub and the fight afterwards in the street.
Mrs McDuff could give as good as she got so the couple were evenly matched and her husband often came off the worst. Their son was in prison for armed robbery, and so Mrs McDuff saw herself and Louise as kindred spirits, which did not go down well at all.
‘Marie is going to regret ever leaving prison, you realise that, don’t you?’ Karen gloated.
Lucy shrugged.
‘Big deal. Can I have an in on the paper scam then?’
Karen laughed.
‘No! What would we want you in on it for? How could we trust you for a start?’
‘What do you mean? Of course you can trust me.’
Karen looked her over and obviously found her wanting.
‘You just grassed your own sister up. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you now, love.’
72
She saw the look of confusion on Lucy’s face.
‘You just don’t get it, do you?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘Get what?’
‘You’re scum, Lucy. Whatever Marie did she’s still your sister. I’d have her any day of the week over you, love. She was out of her nut when she topped everyone. But you are as sober as a judge and you still want to tuck her up. I’d have had more respect for you if you’d told me where to get off.’
‘If she’s
Similar Books
