Deceit. Kerry Barnes

to prove – no axes to grind, just relaxed conversation. And Kara found she was using some of Julie’s terminology and had ventured into throwing in the odd swear word. Their discussion around cheating husbands was halted when Vic arrived. ‘Fucking cosy, this, eh?’ she commented.

      ‘All right, Sis?’ responded Julie.

      Kara had half expected them to hug, but they just eyed each other over and gave approving nods.

      ‘So, ya silly bitch, what ya gone an’ done now?’

      Lowering her gaze, Julie said, ‘I stabbed our Sharon in the leg.’

      ‘You what?’ Vic’s voice was bold and gruff. Kara then knew why people feared her; just her tone alone was frightening enough.

      ‘All right, all right, keep ya fucking hair on. I ain’t killed her, the no-good muggy cunt!’

      ‘What the fuck did you do that for? She’s ya sister. We stick together, remember, or ’ave ya gone mental in ya old age?’

      ‘She’s ’aving it away with Billy, my Billy.’

      Vic shifted Kara over and sat down on the bed. She was a good foot taller than Julie, but there was an obvious family resemblance; their almost olive skin, high cheekbones, and black hair, were similar, but it was their eyes that narrowed and cast doom; that was their striking trait.

      ‘Aw, don’t tell me you are still with that fat fucker? Ain’t you learned ya lesson by now? He’s shagging half the estate … Gawd knows what they see in him, ’cos it ain’t his good looks and sophisticated ways. Jue, he is a nasty no-good pain in the arse, and you need to woman up and kick his lard-arse to the kerb. As for rucking with our Sharon, I’m ashamed of ya.’

      Julie took a deep breath. ‘You wouldn’t understand, but it’s not that she was shagging Billy. It’s not like a jealous thing. I’m just sick of her taking the piss outta me.’

      A chuckle left Vic’s lips. ‘You sure about that? Only, didn’t you punch that kid at the end of your road, all ’cos Billy whistled at her?’

      ‘Oh, whatever, anyway, it ain’t the point. Sharon pushed me too far, laughing in me face like that, telling me she was better in the sack and said she would do it again. She laughed at me baby an’ all, saying she looked like a French bulldog.’

      Kara watched and listened; somewhere in there was a moral code.

      ‘She called the baby names, did she? Well, then, she deserved it. Poor little Harper. She’s a dear sweet thing. Fancy her own aunt calling her a French bulldog. What a cunt.’

      Kara’s hunch was spot-on and she was learning fast. There was the moral code. Calling the baby names was a no-no in their way of life, and although Julie’s actions seemed over the top, almost laughable in a gruesome way, in fact, Kara could see why Julie and Vic were on the same page. The Meadows were a big family and probably tighter than a fat guy in spandex. Fighting among themselves might be tolerated under exceptional circumstances but calling the baby a bulldog had crossed a line.

      Sensing she was in the way, Kara got to her feet and was quickly pulled back down. ‘It’s all right, mate, you can stay. It’s your cell, so don’t mind me.’

      Very pointedly, Julie studied Kara and then her sister. ‘Mates then, eh?’

      ‘Yep, Jue, so you treat her nice. She knows how ta fix ya up, so she will know how to bring ya down. Lotions, potions, and poisons.’

      With a curled lip and a raised eyebrow, Julie looked the epitome of confused.

      ‘Gawd, Jue, Posh is a doctor, right? She knows how to make ya better, so she will know how ta kill ya.’

      Kara’s eyes widened at Vic’s conclusion.

      ‘Anyway, she sorted me out, so she is fine in my book. And ol’ Deni, the poor cow, I’ve just left her in the hospital wing. Mind you, I gave the nurse a fucking warning. I said she has shingles and not a bleedin’ headache. You should have seen the look on her face, as if I had just told her she had the plague.’ She pulled a roll-up from her scruffy bun and lit the end, puffing furiously. ‘So, where’s the baby? Muvver surely ain’t fit enough, the bleedin’ piss ’ead.’

      ‘Our Angie’s got Harper. Mind you,’ she said, with a penetrating stare at Kara, ‘she ain’t got her job no more.’

      ‘Oh yeah? She didn’t tea leaf anything, did she? She was on a right good earner. She reckons the woman gave her a monthly bonus to spoil herself an’ all,’ Vic said, with a quizzical frown.

      Julie was still looking at Kara, a grin forming across her face. ‘No, her employer burned the flaming house down. Didn’t ya, Posh?’

      Vic spun around with her hands to her mouth. ‘Oh, fuck me, it was you! Jesus, ya really did go to town. My Angie said ya didn’t leave a brick standing, not a blade of grass in the front garden. She reckons you used a bomb … I need to change your name to Bomber Bannon.’ She laughed at her own joke and pushed Kara almost off the bed. ‘Cor, small world, eh? So, Bomber, you’re a sly horse. I thought it was an accident. I didn’t know you were serious. Fucking bombed the house! Well, you have respect from me … But why, though?’

      For a moment, Kara felt comfort. Two women, a world apart from hers, were treating her now as one of their own. ‘My boyfriend went off with someone else and then asked me to get out of the house, our home that we had shared for years, so I thought, if he wants to move the bitch in, then he can sleep with her on a pile of ashes.’ Just as she spoke her innermost thoughts, she realised she was just like them. The only difference was that she portrayed more finesse, but it all boiled down to the same thing at the end of the day.

      ‘This neighbour, then. Was she shagging this fella of yours?’ asked Julie.

      With an inward groan, Kara replied, ‘No, that’s just a story that grew legs and ran. I didn’t know my neighbour was in the driveway, and the truth is, I didn’t know the boiler was going to explode. It all happened so fast. I doused the house and lit the match and headed for the back garden. That’s all I remember, really, apart from ending up in here.’

      There was silence. You could have heard a pin drop. Julie and Vic looked at this attractive and slim woman in front of them and just stared, totally dumbfounded by the precise and unemotional words leaving Posh’s mouth. It was left to Vic to speak up. ‘So, you’re a bit of a reckless fucker on the quiet, then?’

      A soft chortle left Kara’s mouth. ‘Well, I guess I must be.’

      ‘Right, I’m off to the canteen. I need to get a few bits. Jue, show Posh the ropes, will ya? She’s walking around like a tit in a trance.’ With that, Vic jumped from the bed and was gone.

      ‘You already know the ropes, I take it?’

      With a big huff, Julie replied, ‘Yeah, well, me ol’ man, the wanker, don’t work, ya see, and I needed a few bits for the babe, and I got caught choring ’em. They gave me three months. I already had a suspended, for nicking out of Waitrose. Some snooty cashier caught me, but it was the thump on her nose that got me inside. Anyway, I ain’t never done anything too serious like burning down a big posh house.’

      For the first time, Kara realised that inmates like Julie saw her crime as more serious than stealing and violence, and yet she hadn’t given it a second thought, assuming that hitting someone was far worse. Perhaps Julie was right, and the judge would come down hard on her. She’d been racked with guilt since the incident and would take whatever the judge decided to throw at her if the neighbour was seriously injured. She would deserve to suffer and yet she was also terrified of being locked away for years.

      ‘What’s up, Posh? You don’t ’alf look white.’

      ‘Just the thought of that innocent woman dying and it’s all my fault. I will never get out of here. I don’t deserve to either.’

      ‘So, what’s ya brief say? I mean, is she outta hospital yet?’