The Feud. Kimberley Chambers

know that you approve of our relationship.’

      Dumbstruck, Stanley stood with his mouth open and was horrified as a fly flew in and hit the back of his throat. Half choking, he spat it out and ended up on his knees for the second time that day.

      Eddie helped him up. ‘So, are you OK about me and Jess?’ he asked again.

      Stanley nodded. ‘No problem, Eddie, and thanks for telling me,’ he mumbled.

      ‘There you are,’ Joyce said, as Stanley returned, ashen-faced.

      The polite conversation carried on for another hour or so and was only stopped by Eddie giving Jessica a secret nudge. Jessica looked at her watch and stood up. ‘God, is that the time! Mum, Dad, we best be going now. Eddie is taking me to the pictures tonight. We’re going to see that new film, Love Story. All the girls at work reckon it’s brilliant. I’ve been dying to see it and we don’t want to miss the start.’

      Eddie stood up and put his arm around his young girlfriend’s shoulders. ‘Mrs Smith, Mr Smith, thank you so much for your hospitality. It’s been a pleasure to meet you both. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your Jessica and I promise to have her home by a reasonable hour.’

      Overcome by the romance of it all, Joyce stood at the door waving them off. ‘No snogging in the back row,’ she giggled.

      ‘Stop it, Mum,’ Jessica said embarrassed.

      Joyce shut the front door and sighed a happy sigh. What an attractive, polite chap. He was like one of them Mills & Boon men, sophisticated and handsome. Thrilled for her daughter, Joyce decided to have a G&T to celebrate.

      ‘Well, what did you think?’ she asked Stanley, as she sat back down.

      Stanley said nothing. He was too frightened to voice his opinions, in case Joyce told Jessica and it got back to Eddie.

      Joyce kicked off her shoes and put her slippers on. ‘Did you see his shoes? He’s definitely worth money. Look, I know it’s hard for you, Stan, but Jess isn’t a little baby any more. Most of my friends were married at her age. I want her to have the best in life and that Eddie’s got class stamped all over him. He’s got lovely manners and he’ll take good care of her, I know he will.’

      Stanley cracked open another beer. He’d had the day from hell and all he wanted to do now was watch Ironside. ‘Do you mind if I watch the telly now? And if you’re gonna keep on about it, no, I wasn’t overkeen. In my opinion, Eddie’s far too old for our Jess, and, no, I didn’t notice his bloody shoes.’

      Joyce laughed. ‘I knew you had a hangup about him. I know he’s a bit older than her, but you’re such an old fuddy-duddy. I bet if she’d have brought Prince Charles home, you’d have found fault with him. You just won’t let go of her, will you, Stan?’

      For the next hour, Joyce wouldn’t shut up. It was Eddie this and Eddie that.

      Unusually for Stanley, he completely lost his rag. ‘For Christ’s sake, Joycie, I’m no man’s fool. The bloke’s a wrong ’un and I know it. He’s thirty years old, a divorcee with two bloody kids. As for them going to the pictures, I don’t believe a word of it. Jessica’s probably round his flat as we speak with her knickers around her ankles. They’re probably right in the middle of creating more kids for the smarmy, villainous bastard.’

      Furious, Joyce stood up and hit him with the broom. ‘How dare you talk about our daughter like that? She’s got morals, our Jessica. What are you, some bloody pervert?’

      Seething, Stanley jumped out of his chair. He rarely gave an opinion in this house and when he did he got called a bloody nonce. More than anything else in the world, he wanted to pick up Joycie’s broom and smash her right over the head with it. Maybe that would make the stupid, naive woman see sense. Filled with self-loathing, Stanley ran to the serenity of his shed. Once inside, he sat on his wooden bench, put his head in his hands and cried.

      His old mum had mapped out his life for him at a very early age. ‘Stanley, always remember son, it’s better to be a live coward than a dead hero.’

      Stanley wiped his eyes with his hanky. He feared for his Jessica. That Eddie was cold and calculating. He had those horrible dark eyes, dead man’s eyes. There was sod all he could do about it though. He was far too weak a man. What the Mitchells wanted, the Mitchells got, and who was he to stop them?

       TWO

      BACK AT EDDIE’S flat, Jessica fumbled with the zip of her boyfriend’s trousers. Realising she still had her knickers around her ankles, she quickly stepped out of them.

      Eddie threw her onto the double bed. He expertly entered her and held both of her hands down with his own. He liked it that way; it gave him total control.

      ‘Aw, baby,’ he moaned as he shot his seed and pulled himself out of her. Not wanting to be selfish, Eddie used his index finger to pleasure her.

      ‘Oh Eddie,’ Jessica cried, as she reached her climax.

      Confident that she was satisfied, Eddie rolled onto his back and lit up two cigarettes. Handing one to Jess, he grinned. He’d been told in the past by birds that he had bigger fingers than most men’s cocks, and he certainly knew how to use them.

      ‘Did you enjoy that, babe?’ he asked, as he studied the smoke rings he was blowing.

      Jessica propped herself up on one elbow. She loved taking in his naked body and his handsome face. ‘I always enjoy it, Eddie, you know I do.’

      Eddie put his arm around her and kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘So what do you reckon your parents thought of me?’ he asked.

      Jessica laid her head on his chest. ‘Mum loved you. She thought you were great. Dad’s more old-fashioned, but I’m sure he liked you in his own way.’

      Eddie smirked at her take on things. The mother he’d had eating out of his hand, but the old man, he knew, had hated him on sight. Gently easing Jessica off him, Eddie jumped out of bed.

      ‘I’m gonna have a quick bath and then I’ll take you out for a drink.’

      ‘OK. Save me some hot water so I can freshen up, too.’

      Jessica smiled as she watched his muscly long legs and gorgeous naked buttocks walk away from her. She’d only met him four weeks ago at a mate’s birthday party. Their eyes had locked and that was it, they’d been inseparable ever since. Jessica couldn’t believe her luck. Eddie was rich, handsome and an absolute bloody catch. She’d had boyfriends in the past, even had sex with a couple, but none of them compared to him. Eddie oozed charisma. He treated her like a lady, so much so that he insisted on paying for absolutely everything and picking her up every day from the shoe shop where she worked.

      ‘No girl of mine is putting their hand in their purse or getting on buses,’ he told her bluntly.

      Her workmates were filled with envy. None of their boyfriends even had a car, and when Ed had first pulled up in his gold Mercedes 250C, their jaws had hit the floor.

      ‘Jess, he’s gorgeous – and look at his posh car. You are so lucky,’ they’d crowed.

      Jess giggled to herself. Ed had a big personality, a bulging wallet and a massive willy. No woman could want more and she was a very lucky girl indeed.

      Jess thought about her mum’s life. She’d hate to be married to a bus driver and live in the same council house for years like her mum. Her mother didn’t want that either. She was forever giving her good advice. ‘Jess, with your figure and stunning looks, you can get anyone you want. Don’t make the same mistakes as I did and end up with someone like your father. If a good catch comes along, take my advice and grab him with both hands.’

      Jessica was aware of how attractive she was. She had long, blonde ringlets, a cute, pointed chin, an amazingly slim figure and men went crazy