Bang Up: Prison walls don't just keep criminals in, the keep the outside world at bay (17 page)

The mobile phone starting ringing and Rachel was in a panic looking for it. Gary found it first and looked at the caller ID. “It’s Mikey, it’s the number he rang from the other day.”

Rachel answered the call and dispensed with the pleasantries. “Mikey, they know about the money. Davo and his mate give me a good hiding this morning at the post office. I swear to you son. This isn’t going to stop here. I had to tell them you were in prison. He was going to kill me.” Rachel held her ear to the blower and every now and then she gasped. Gary was sat on the edge of his seat and he was puzzled at what was being said. The phone call continued. “Right, son. I’ll do just that. Don’t you worry about me I’m as tough as nails when I need to be. Ring me later and I’ll know a bit more.” The call ended and Rachel stood thinking for a few seconds. “I’m going to get a shower to sort myself out. Put the kettle on and I’ll be down in ten minutes.” Gary nodded and watched as she left the room, he could hear her footsteps bouncing up the stairs.

Rachel stood looking in the bathroom mirror. She was a mess and Gary was right, her eye was swelling up. Touching her skin with the base of her finger she frowned as the pain filtered through her body. There was dried claret around her mouth and her chin was dark red as she scraped at it with her fingernail trying to remove it. The bathroom was clean and tidy and even the colour of the walls was pleasing to the eye; a soft yellow, a warming neutral colour. Rachel peeled her clothes from her haggard body. She must have only weighed about seven stone. Her ribcage was visible and her collarbone stuck out from the top of her chest. With every movement she made she moaned and groaned. Usually, Rachel only had a quick wash in the morning but today she had no other choice than to get a shower. Turning the dial on the wall, she made sure it was piping hot. Standing in the shower cubicle she scrubbed every inch of her skin. A bit over the top really, but she was making sure every bit of blood was gone from her body. The room was full of mist and she didn’t notice Gary come into the bathroom. He was in and out at the blink of an eye. Once she was cleaned up she wrapped the bath towel around her head and stood in front of the mirror. There were deep purple blemishes all over her skin that looked sore to touch. There was a loud knocking at the front door and she froze, eyes open wide. Tip-toeing out from the bathroom she whispered down the stairs. “Gary, somebody is at the door.” Her body edged down the staircase and she was doing her best to make sure she wasn’t spotted. She tried again but a bit louder this time. “Gary, I said there is somebody at the bleeding door.” There was still no reply. Rachel took a deep breath and peered around the corner in the hallway. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? She couldn’t be sure if it was a man or a woman. The letterbox lifted and she recognised the voice.

“Rachel, it’s Sarah.”

Mikey’s mother looked relieved as she opened it. She was shivering and she was still wet. “Go in the front room. Gary must have fallen asleep. I’m just going to shove some clothes on and I’ll be down in a minute. Tell him I hope he’s brewed up. I’m gagging for a nice cup of tea after the morning I’ve had.” Rachel ran back up the stairs and Sarah walked into the front room.

By the time Rachel was cleaned up there were two cups of tea on the table and Sarah sat smiling at her. “I’ve made us both a nice cuppa.”

Rachel snarled and shot her eyes around the room. “Where’s that lazy bastard, I asked him to do it for me ages ago!”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. Rachel turned her head towards the kitchen. “Gary, bring some biscuits in with you. I think there are some chocolate ones left on the cupboard.”

Sarah was confused. She’d been in the kitchen only a few seconds ago. There was no sign of Gary. “I think he must have gone out Rachel. He wasn’t here when I came in.” The words worked through Rachel’s brain and all of a sudden she was running around the front room like a headless chicken. She stormed into the kitchen, doors could be heard being opened and then slammed shut. Rachel was screaming at the top of her voice. “Gary, Gary where are you?” Sarah sat on the sofa and seemed oblivious to what was going on. Rachel raced past her and headed upstairs, Sarah could hear her feet stomping about in every room. Rachel came back into the living room and her body folded in two. She was sobbing and holding her head in her hands. What the hell had happened? “He’s done it. He’s took the fucking money. I left it right there on the table and the dirty horrible twat has had me over. I knew not to leave it near him. I only went upstairs for a wash. Why has he done this to me?”

Sarah was used to these two arguing all the time and tried to brush it off. Mikey’s mother always had a drama going on in her life and today was no different. She had to look concerned though, she couldn’t just sit there and watch her crying like that. “Rachel, come on, get your drink. Gary will be back soon. I bet he’s just nipped to the shops or something. Has he belted you too? Oh my God, look at the state of your eye.”

She reached down into her handbag and pulled out a wet wipe. What she thought she was going to do with that, God only knows. Rachel pushed her away. She was livid now. “He’s took all of it. Mikey’s money has gone.”

Sarah looked puzzled. Mikey always said he was potless, she must have heard her wrong. “I’m sure it’s a bit of a mix up. How much do you think he’s taken? I’ll lend it you until he comes back if you want?” Sarah reached over for her bag and pulled out her brown leather purse. “Here you go, there’s twenty pound. You can give it me back once he comes back.”

Rachel pushed the money back at her and growled. “You barmy cow, you don’t understand do you? Put your money away, I don’t need it.”

Sarah gasped, what was this woman’s problem? “Why are you so nasty to me all the time? I was only trying to help. I don’t know why I bother sometimes. Honest to God, you are such hard work.”

Rachel realised that she had to explain further. She reached over and held her hands in hers. This was a first and never in her life had she seen Mikey’s mother so weak. “Sarah, it was Mikey’s money. The money for his future.”

Sarah’s ears pinned back and she listened carefully before she spoke. “Rachel, you need to explain because I’m not with it. What money are you talking about?”

Rachel grabbed her cigarettes from the table and knew she would have to come clean. Sarah would never tell anybody anyway, she knew that. “Mikey did a graft before he got sent down. It was a daft stupid thing... but you don’t need to know the ins and outs of it. What’s done is done. All you need to know is the trouble it’s caused.” Rachel was deflated, her son had been caught bang to rights and there was no way she could save him. Gary always called her son ‘Goldenballs’ and he would have been laughing somewhere now about his downfall. He was a no-good bastard and when she got her hands on him he was going to get a mouthful from her. She didn’t need him in her life, she would move on and find someone who would stick by her through thick and thin. He was history in her eyes now, a dirty no-good sell-out. “Sarah, he’s dropped a right bollock and these men aren’t plastic gangsters, they’re the real McCoy. Honest, they’ll chop his balls off if they get their hands on him. Slice him up.”

Sarah wasn’t sure if this was some kind of sick joke. Rachel was always telling her things that weren’t true and she didn’t know whether to believe her or not. “Rachel, I never know when you’re telling lies. If this is your way of trying to scare me off then you’re doing a good job of it, let me tell you. I’m scared to death.”

Rachel was in no mood for games and now Gary was gone there was no time to make enemies. She was alone and nobody had her back. “Sarah, you have to help me. They’ll be here soon. They had hold of me today and told me they want to string our Mikey up. Ten grand’s a lot of money and Davo won’t stop until he’s got back every penny that he’s owed.”

“Ten bleeding grand! Mikey nicked ten grand from this guy and now he wants it back?”

“For crying out loud, yes. I had hold of the money but Gary’s nicked it just now. Bleeding hell, what aren’t you getting here? I’ve told you how many times.”

Sarah sat back in her seat with her arms folded tightly against her body. She looked over at Rachel and her face was bright red. “What the hell are we going to do? They’ll find out I’m his girlfriend and then what? Oh my God, they could kill me too. I’m too young to die.” Rachel gripped her by both arms and shook her with force, she was hysterical and going way over the top. “Mikey is sorting it out but until then we’ve got to keep a low profile. Is there anywhere we can both go until this blows over? I swear, Mikey’s going to go sick when he’s heard Gary has nicked his money, this is all going to go from bad to worse.”

Sarah was the one in control now and for the first time Rachel listened to her. “My gran has a bungalow on the other side of Manchester. She’s staying with us at the moment and it’s empty. We could go there, we would be safe.”

Rachel was relieved and for the first time she spoke to her with some respect. There was no attitude anymore. Sarah looked at her wrist watch. She had an idea. “Get some clothes ready. Just take all you need for now. This is a complete nightmare. Rachel, if they hurt one bone on my boy’s body I’ll kill them myself.” The two of them started to run around the house gathering clothes together. They were sitting ducks now and the clock was ticking.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Mikey stood on the landing looking down at the main prison. He saw himself as a predator. Things happened at the blink of an eye in this place and he needed to be vigilant; everyone was up to no good - whispering, looking round corners, ducking and diving. This was a bad place to be in, nobody could be trusted. These bastards would have your eyes out and come back for the sockets if you weren’t careful.  Mikey’s jeans hung low and the top of his boxers were on show. Not his usual Armani make though, these were prison issue ones that somebody else’s knackers had been floating about in at some point. They were itchy and he was sure he’d caught something from them. His eyes shot down to a few inmates playing pool and socialising. It was his job now to suss out who was who. There had to be a main man, someone they all licked arse with, someone who called the shots. Each wing had one and he knew before bang up he would have located his target. This wing was full of hard men and he’d heard the name Frankie Warren being dropped a few times from a few lads he’d already spoken to. Mikey stood back from the landing as a man approached him from below. There he was, he knew it was him just by his presence on the corridor. Inmates stood with their backs against the wall and let him pass in silence. Mikey clocked Frank and stood close to the banister. He was a big cunt and he looked like he could have a go, probably a sted head, he thought. Mikey watched carefully as his wing men strolled at his side. Something was going down, he was sure of it. His neck stretched out. “Come on you bastards, nicely does it,” he whispered under his breath. There it was, the switch. He nodded and sucked hard on his gums. He had all the information he needed now, this shit was going down. With a bounce in his step he walked downstairs to meet the others on the wing. Potter wasn’t far behind him. He was pulling his jumper over his head and trying to look half decent. He’d had a crap night’s sleep and was still uneasy in here. Mikey sat near the pool table and shouted over to the inmates already playing. “Put me and Potter down for the next game, lads. I’ll whoop his arse and show him who’s boss.”

Within minutes the banter stopped and there was an eerie silence as Frank Warren arrived at Mikey’s side. His warm breath tickled the side of his neck. He didn’t know this kid from Adam but already he’d taken an instant dislike to him. Who the fuck did he think he was coming onto his turf and shouting the odds like that? This kid needed to be put in his place before he got ideas above his station. Frank’s voice was deep and he was ready to cave this prick’s head in if he gave him any back chat. “Oi, I’m on here next.” All the other prisoners were watching now, each of them knowing that Frank was a crafty cunt and he could one-bomb Mikey at the first opportunity. This guy was ruthless and when you least expected it, he’d strike a blow. Mikey raised his eyes to meet Frank’s, his ears pinned back slightly. There was no way he was letting this cock talk to him like this. He’d didn’t give a fuck who he was or what reputation he had made for himself. Mikey had nothing to lose and everything to gain. There would be a new sheriff in town from now on and they were all just about to find that out right now...

Mikey cleared his throat. “Is that right? Have you put your name down?” This was the best action any of the inmates had seen for months. Frank Warren was a bully and if he was put on his arse today there would be a lot of celebrations going on behind closed doors. Each convict knew if Mikey knocked this fucker out, all their debts would be cancelled. No one would pay a second prized wanker. Frank would be shipped out for his own safety and never seen again. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Mikey had support now, allegiances turned in an instant as the tide suddenly changed. Frank didn’t sense this change, or if he did he ignored it. He chuckled, trying to laugh off this imposter and made sure everyone could hear him. He still thought he was untouchable. Mikey was in the zone now, he was focused and already looking for his target’s weakness.

“Listen up lads,” Frank started, “have you heard Braveheart here asking me if I’ve put my name down for pool. Somebody word him up please before I lose my rag with him, fucking idiot.”

One of Frank’s acolytes walked over to Mikey, “Frank runs things around here,” he said nervously, “he doesn’t put his name down for anything. That’s just the way it is.” Mikey was far from impressed. What was up with this bunch of fairies? Why didn’t someone put a pool cue over the prick’s head? Warren needed to be put in his place - there were enough of them here, they should have wasted him but they were all shit scared. Was he that big and hard that nobody had ever tackled him before? Mikey Milne would show them how it was done. He’d never back down to this clown. Mikey smirked as Potter arrived at his side. He knew he was dicing with death but he didn’t care. The inmates were whispering now, side bets were being placed. It was going to go off, they were sure of it; a real fight, a one-on-one, a battle that could determine the new boss of the wing. This was a show not to be missed. An inmate whistled up the landing to a few others stood talking, no-one wanted to miss this.