Liselle and Jackie had never got on. Liselle loathed her, whereas she loved Mags. And Jackie had been convinced for years that Liselle had something going with Freddie. Poor Jackie thought that about most women at some time or another, but this knowledge did not stop Jackie getting on Liselle's tits.
Paul thought it was hilarious. Well, good for him, but she was just about on the verge of giving Jackie Jackson a slap. That child was on his way to the grave and she was using him as an excuse to cause aggravation.
For once she was not putting up with it.
The girls, though, were lovely. They were doing their best to keep their mother on an even keel, but one more remark and she was going to start the Third World War.
This place was a private drinking hole, a members' only pub if you like. It was used by specific people and that was its main attraction. Liselle felt now, looking at Jackie and hearing her bloody miserable voice, that Freddie for all his faults needed a bolt hole from this fucking drunken pig who was still trying to cause a row with her after twenty years. Like she would touch Freddie Jackson with a barge pole!
Jackie and her company were not paying for their drinks and she was all right with that, why wouldn't she be? But Jackie was acting like this was her due, like this was her manor and this was her local. Well, Liselle was drinking as well, an unusual occurrence for her, and she was up for a fight herself tonight. She needed to get a few things out of her system, off her chest.
Watching his Liselle eyeing Jackie, Paul could feel the tension rising in the room. Then Patricia O'Malley walked in and he sighed and relaxed.
If there was going to be a tear up, he hoped it would be with Pat and Jackie, and not his old woman, because Jackie was going to have a fight. It was not about when or even if, it was more a case of with whom.
Roxanna watched as Pat came in the pub, and she hoped her mother was going to keep a lid on it. She knew about her dad and Pat, everyone did. And Pat, in fairness, was a nice woman who had always been friendly towards her and her sisters.
And Rox understood her father's attraction for this woman, as she understood his attraction for her. Pat was so in your face, so strong-minded, and so independent she knew that she must do her dad's head in.
Rox was shrewd enough to know that it was also what made him want her. Pat was like a man in some respects, she used men like most men used women.
Good luck to her and all, she had the right idea.
Rox admired Pat and her way of life. Even though she knew her mother would muller her for thinking it, when she saw Pat, which she did a lot because of Dicky and the fact they drank here weekends, she thought she looked great. And when she talked to her, which she had been really wary about doing at first, she had found Pat was so with it, so on the ball and so funny that she had forgotten about her mother's very genuine grievance. And she also knew that Pat gave her father something her mother never would or even could. And that something was plain and simple. She gave him normality.
She was the only woman who could treat him like he treated every woman he had ever come across and get away with it. Consequently, he respected her. She took no shit from anyone and she looked fantastic for her age.
Roxanna actually looked up to her.
Now she was interested to see how her mother coped. with being in the same room with her biggest rival. But then, her mother was gone as always, she was completely out of her brains and as Rox watched her she understood for the first time both why her father stayed around, and more to the point, why he played away from home.
Sipping her tonic water, she watched the different little plays that were being acted out in front of her. Jackie had all but forgotten about poor little Jimmy. She was just drinking now because it was there, and she had taken some coke, because it was there. Her mother was nutting it now, she was rocking. She had seen her like this so many times as a kid, and now she didn't even get annoyed any more.
Her own child would have so much more than that from its mother, she was sure. She was going to be there for it, like Mags and Jimmy had been there for their little man. She rubbed her belly, and imagined giving birth to a child and then losing it. As her granny had said in the hospital, it was the wrong order. You should never have to bury a child. They should be the ones to bury you.
Pat had said her hellos. She had hoped to see Freddie but he wasn't here and his wife was, as always on their occasional meetings, giving her the long look.
Like she gave a flying fuck.
But she liked the girls. They were good kids, despite being spawned by the dirty bitch with the grubby feet and the bloated body. She knew her place, though, so she said, in as friendly a manner as she could, 'All right, Jackie. What a terrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to them.' Pat really meant it. 'Poor Mags, she must be in bits.'
Jackie watched her rival, saw her girls as they smiled and said hello to her and noticed how Paul and Liselle were all over her. Then she remembered this was Ozzy's sister, and in fairness, Pat was always nice to her, never rubbed her nose in it like some of his whores had tried over the years. She quite wanted to start a fight anyway, though she knew any trouble with Pat and she would be the one aimed out the door She was enjoying being with her girls for once and Rox had just brought her another large vodka, so she said sadly, 'She is heartbroken, Pat, as you can imagine.'
Jackie was going to play this one nicely. After all, what would she gain this night from having a tear up? Freddie wasn't here and in her heart she actually liked old Pat.
Pat and the entire bar staff gave a collective sigh of relief.
'Do they know how it happened?'
Rox shrugged. 'It's kids, ain't it, but why he put that fucking plastic bag over his head we'll never know.'
Jackie agreed. 'They think everything's a game, don't they? They never understand at that age the dangers of life. But what a terrible thing to happen to any family.'
They were all nodding their heads sagely, and the girls caught each other's eyes, thankful Jackie was not on one of her mad benders. Yet.
'All right, Jim?' Freddie knew that nothing would ever be all right again, but it was just an expression. Something to say, an opening for conversation.
Jimmy nodded. He had aged in the last few hours and Freddie would lay money that his hair was greyer than it had been this morning. Being so dark they had both gone grey early, and their hair was so thick it looked good on them. They could carry it off, it made them look more manly, somehow.
Right now they looked more alike than ever, but that was mainly because they both looked deeply sad, both looked devastated. They had a secret, and this was the moment that they had to decide what they were going to do about it.
'I am so sorry, Jimmy. I swear that to you, mate.'
Jimmy didn't answer him.
'Please, Jimmy, say something. Please say something.' Freddie was begging, a first for him as Jimmy knew better than anyone.
Jimmy sighed and turned to face him, and when he finally spoke his voice was flat. 'I can't tell you what you want to hear, Fred. I am sorry, but I can't. You told me about him a long time ago, and I was sorry for you, really sorry. But this ain't a fucking rabbit or a neighbour's dog, bad as that was. This was my baby and I can't let this go. I am sorry, mate, but I can't.'
'I am sorting it, Jim, I swear.'
It was the word 'sorting' that did it. They were always sorting things. It was their job, what they did for a living. But you couldn't sort out the death of a child, a death that had been caused by another child.
Except Little Freddie wasn't a child, he never had been. He was an animal, a mad bastard. Until now Jimmy had not really cared about that, but then why should he? He was Freddie's son. Why would Jimmy have ever thought he could encroach on his own life and family like this?