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Maggie shook her head, amazed at Gina’s audacity. It was clear she hadn’t and didn’t care about Harley.
‘Enough, Gina. I want the truth and I’m only going to ask you one more time. What was in it for you?’
‘Well I’ll tell you this; I went short for looking after your girl. There were times I …’
‘Stick to the story Gina.’
Gina looked at Maggie indignantly, then continued.
‘From what I gather some soft cow from the sauna had been looking after Harley, you know the sort, thinks taking kids to museums and making cack with them they see on CBeebies will do them good.’
Maggie raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. The woman sounded better than Gina.
‘Anyhow, her old man got himself nicked for smuggling in a truck load of tobacco. He’s on remand in Maidstone, looking at five years. So of course daft cow decided to move down there. And of course it’s not like Johnny could just go to a nanny agency. He could hardly trust a stranger to keep her mouth shut, with all that goes on in his business could he? So he was desperate. And me being me, when Nicky told me the story of the poor little mite, I couldn’t not offer to help. What with me loving kids and all.’
Gina noticed Maggie’s glare and, realising she may have laid the Mary Poppins part on a bit too thick, changed tack.
‘Johnny sorted Nicky out with a few bob. Nicky passed it onto me but that’s all it was most of the time. A few bob. I didn’t know a kid could cost so much. So you see Maggie, when it boils down to it, it was all from the good of my heart.’
‘And you’re telling me you didn’t slip some in your pocket? That’s unlike you, Gina. Goes against the nature of your beast don’t it?’
‘If anything slipped in me pocket it was a pile full of bills and a packet of headache tablets.’
‘Gina, I’m going to check with Nicky and if he tells me something different then you and I will be having more than just a chat.’
‘He’ll say the same. The only person who probably won’t is Johnny. No doubt he’ll pretend he was giving us the readies by the handful. But he’ll be lying.’
‘And why would he do that? Why should I think it’s you and not him who’ll tell me the truth?’
‘Then where is he? Where’s he been for the last year? I know I haven’t seen him. He’s been happy to palm Harley off.’
Maggie shifted uncomfortably in her chair. This didn’t go unnoticed by Gina. She continued to put the boot in, wanting to put more doubt in Maggie’s head.
‘I’m sorry Maggie but I don’t need to spell it out. You can see for yourself. I’ve been doing my bleeding best but I won’t lie, it’s been a struggle. The reason Johnny will probably say he’s been giving us more than he has is because he’s ashamed. Ashamed he hasn’t done enough. If I were you I wouldn’t say a word to him. Speak to Nicky instead. The last thing I want is trouble knocking on my door.’
Gina stopped then added slyly, ‘And if there’s trouble, then maybe I’d have to rethink about having Harley here. And what would you do then eh, Maggie? Who else would keep their mouth shut the way I’ve done? But of course sometimes it takes a little, how should I say it? A little extra incentive to keep mouths shut. I was only saying to Sonya the other day how I need to get myself a pair of new shoes.’
There was a long silence. Then Maggie leaned forward. She was close enough to smell Gina’s foul breath. Her blue eyes darkened as she spoke in a whisper.
‘Gina. I hope you’re not trying to blackmail me. You’d be very silly to do that.’
‘Blackmail! Phew, Maggie Donaldson, what an imagination. Wherever did you get that idea from?’
Gina Daniels wrinkled up her face, pretending to be hurt by the accusations. The last thing she wanted to do was piss Maggie off. She knew Maggie’s temper. The whole of Soho did. She’d been silly to say that to Maggie but Gina had a habit of always pushing things further, hoping to see what else she could get out of a situation.
She was onto a good thing. Gina and Nicky had worked things out nicely between themselves. She didn’t need little Miss Maggie May and her spoilt goon of a boyfriend ruining things.
She needed to play things carefully. It was the easiest bit of money she’d made in a long time. The kid was no problem. Most of the times she just sat in her room holding onto her stuffed rabbit or she’d be colouring and cutting up endless pieces of paper.
For a three year old she wasn’t any bother, but if she ever did become a bother, she wouldn’t hesitate to give Harley a hard slap. Hard enough to show her who’s boss, but soft enough for it not to show. One thing Gina wasn’t, was stupid.
It was coming into the early hours of the morning and Johnny Taylor looked at his phone. The five texts on his mobile were still unopened, still sitting in his inbox. They were all from Maggie. He couldn’t bring himself to read them. He knew what they’d say. He wouldn’t blame her. But what was he supposed to do? It was complicated. In fact it was impossible. And now his father had been stabbed by Max, the situation had become hopeless.
Sitting outside Whispers club in Old Compton Street, Johnny pulled his Armani jacket tightly around him. The night air was cool, which he was grateful for. Soho in the summer became oppressive. It was also clearing his head, but he could still feel the excess alcohol in his blood, and he sensed it wouldn’t take much for his head to start to ache again.
Johnny continued to sit on the metal chair, enjoying the lights of Soho against the cloudless night sky, aware there was a huge city beyond the other side of the buildings, yet the intimacy of the area made him always feel there was no other place he’d rather be.
He blew out a ring of smoke and slightly choked as it caught the back of his throat. He watched the crowds of people congregating outside the late night opening pubs, smoking their cigarettes, finishing off their beers. Standing around in short sleeved shirts and t-shirts. Feeling the chill of the air, but guarded against the full severity of the cool summer night by the warmth of the alcohol.
It’d been a crazy twenty-four hours. First his father with Max. Then Maggie. The reason he’d gone on his bender in the first place. The woman he loved but was supposed to hate.
If the circumstances had ever been likely to get better, if he’d ever been brave enough to try to broach the subject of their relationship with his parents, it definitely wasn’t going to happen now. There’d be all-out war. Once again he and Maggie would be stuck in the middle as they’d always been – and now Harley was stuck in the middle of it too.
Thinking of his daughter made Johnny flinch. After Thelma, the ex-Tom from the sauna, had moved to be near her old man in Maidstone, it’d all gone tit over head. He’d been lucky to find someone like her in the first place and it would be impossible to find anyone to replace her. So then it’d become complicated, and Johnny Taylor didn’t like complicated. He wasn’t very good at it.
All his life his parents had sorted everything out for him. He’d never needed to make any real decisions. Even when Harley was born he didn’t really need to worry, as Maggie had been happy to sort out all the day-to-day care of the baby, and he’d been happy to sort out the cash. Cash was the easy part. But difficult,