Disobey (28 page)

‘But it is you see. ’Cos whether you like it or not, she’s family.’

Frankie looked amazed. ‘Are you having a bubble? Family? Since when? You’ve been watching too many re-runs of
Oprah
.’

‘Drop me out, Frank. You ain’t half hard work at times. You, me; well all of us have been through rough times, and we’ve been lucky enough to have our friends to rely on.’

‘And when our friends turn us over?’

‘Then we forgive them and move on. If I hadn’t moved on from all the things you’ve done …’

Frankie put his hand up and winced. The last thing he needed was to give his wife an excuse to list all his indiscretions and mistakes. ‘Alright, I get it, but don’t see how that makes Chloe family. She’s got a right vicious tongue on her.’

‘Babe, what’s got us through is by sticking together. We all go so far back; we’ve shared everything, lost a lot, hurt a lot, but by Christ haven’t we all loved and laughed a lot? We are what we are today because of each other, and we can’t separate our lives from one another. Where one starts, another one begins. That’s what family is; and that’s what makes us who we are, and Chloe-Jane is a part of that now.’

Frankie grinned, accustomed to his wife sounding like a self-help book. ‘Fuck me Gyps, that’s a bit heavy, ain’t it?’

Gypsy rolled her eyes. ‘Failing that sinking into your block head, Frank, I’ll put it to you straight. She’s a kid, she needs your help and there’s no way you ain’t going back. There ain’t nothing else for it.’

Frankie winked. ‘Well why didn’t you say that in the first place, woman?’

51

It was gone midnight and Jodie sat wide awake in the corner of the room. Although she was tired, there wasn’t any question of her going to sleep. The whole place was in darkness and everything was quiet. But she wanted to wait. Wait for a little while longer before she made her move.

Standing up, she went to the window, looking out onto the street below. It was deserted save a car driving past and a couple of late-night revellers. She looked up at the clock. Time had never felt so slow, yet the speed of her heart racing gave her the sense that something was about to happen; hurtling her along, unable to stop it.

She touched her face. It was sore, as was her back, as was every part of her, yet it didn’t seem to matter. Not now, not any longer. Things were about to change, and although Jodie was scared, she was ready. It had been a long time coming.

Looking at the clock once more, Jodie looked around. She arranged her things, neatly and as required by Mr Lee. Her cuddly dog, a present she’d got from Mr Lee when she’d recruited Chloe-Jane, sat on her pillow.

Her feelings for Mr Lee sometimes confused her; at times she hated him, at times she thought she was madly in love, but one thing she was never confused about was the fact that she needed him. And any time she thought about or had tried to get away from him, she had always come back, but this time … This time it was going to be different. This time she was finally going to break free. Picking up the toy, Jodie looked at it, held it to her, closing her eyes for a moment, letting thoughts and feelings sweep over her. Then she took a deep breath and threw it in the bin before turning away, opening the door, without looking back.

The hallway was quiet and Jodie crept up the stairs. One flight. Two flights, avoiding the creaky old floorboards. She paused a couple of times as she ascended the stairs, making sure no one was coming; making sure she didn’t draw any attention to herself.

Getting to the top, the highest part of the building which was the fifth floor, Jodie covered her mouth and nose. The dust was thick and it caught in the back of her throat. The last thing she wanted was to have a coughing fit.

The hallway was lit up by the moonlight, a world away from the dark basement below. Jodie could see well, and she walked down the hall avoiding standing on any of the piles of rubbish strewn about or on any of the needles left by the Chinese girls after they’d had their fix.

At the end of the corridor was a door, and carefully Jodie opened it, pausing before she entered. The room was empty but it led to another door. The anxiety in Jodie began to rise as she tried to calm herself from what she knew was behind the door.

Slowly, Jodie pushed down on the silver handle, wincing at the tiny sound it made. Once the handle was fully pushed down, Jodie creaked open the door. It was dark; the curtains were drawn and in the far corner, Jodie saw the sleeping figure of Mr Lee. Jodie knew he had a house somewhere in Chelsea but often he slept here, once telling her that he’d spent his early years in a crowded, noisy tenement back in Hong Kong and so found it difficult to live in the quiet and splendour of his Chelsea home. It was the only time he had ever spoken to her about his life.

Jodie tiptoed across the room, holding her breath, terrified the sound of her breathing would wake him up. Her legs felt heavy as the burden of fear weighed her down. Her eyes darted around the room, then fell on what she had come in for. There on the desk by the side of Mr Lee’s bed were the keys which would open the door to freedom.

She crept forward again, stopping and starting at every snore and grunt. A dangerous game of Mr Wolf, a game where the stakes would mean something unthinkable.

She’d known Mr Lee was a heavy sleeper; often he’d ordered her to bring him food or a drink and when she’d brought it up to him he’d been heavy in slumber which had made it nearly impossible to wake him up. But now as she skulked across the bare-floored room, the idea Mr Lee was a heavy sleeper didn’t comfort her at all.

Jodie glanced at Mr Lee, checking for certain he wasn’t stirring. She reached across, leaning; stretching, not wanting to get closer than necessary. Her hand touched the cold metal, her fingers wrapping round the keys. She had to be certain she gripped them properly. She had to make sure when she picked them up they lifted smoothly, silently. One chance.

Her hand shook, trembling round the keys. She could feel it sweating, and each time she made up her mind to lift the keys away, a sea of panic rose inside her, hindering her from being able to go through with it.

She had to stop thinking. Just do it … Just do it. So with one determined effort, Jodie scooped up the keys, gripping them so tightly they dug into the palm of her hand. And now she’d got them, she needed to go. As quickly and as quietly as she came. The overwhelming desire to run drove through her, but she shouldn’t; couldn’t.

If Mr Lee saw her now with the keys in her hand, then there was no getting out of it. No excuse which could justify her actions.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, Jodie edged away. Backing off, backing away, with her eyes never moving away from Mr Lee. Feeling for the door behind her Jodie’s heel banged into the chair; the clatter, although not loud, was loud enough for Mr Lee to utter a moan. Jodie stiffened and she could feel her knees trembling. She didn’t know what to do; whether to take the chance and move or to stay rooted to the spot; waiting, hoping he’d settle down again.

Jodie looked at the large white-faced clock on the wall, watching the second hand go round, and as she watched it she knew she
had
to; wanted to, finish what she’d started.

With a quick close of the eyes before she made her move, Jodie took a large step backwards, determined to get out of the room as quickly as possible. One more step took her to the large empty room, and even though she was still as quiet as she could be, she picked up her pace.

Once outside and in the corridor, Jodie began to run. Back along the hallway, past the rubbish and needles, taking the stairs three at a time. She skidded round the corridor to the second- floor landing, did a quick check behind her and made her way along to the far end to a black door.

She began to look through the bunch of keys in her hand. Her fingers fumbled as she hurried to find the right one; many a time she’d had to use them when Mr Lee had asked her to store things in the room, but now under pressure all the keys looked the same to Jodie. She tried the large silver one but it didn’t fit. Then the next one, a smaller version of the first. She was sure it was this one, but again the key didn’t fit. She refused to panic as she continued listening out for evidence of anyone stirring.

Her fingers continued to jumble through the keys and Jodie was aware of the rattle which sounded and echoed around the hall. Her hand was shaking so much she could hardly manage to fit the key in the lock. She turned it and immediately she heard a click. The door was unlocked.

Exhaling to steady herself, Jodie pushed open the door.

52

Chloe-Jane turned, startled by the light and by whoever it was entering the room. Terror and panic took hold of her, her eyes wide with fear. She screamed, but the gag cutting into her stopped the noise from sounding out. She pulled on her restraints, feeling them dig into her wrists. Instinctively, she wriggled her body in a frantic, hopeless attempt to get away from her tormentor. And then she heard it.

‘Chloe!… Chloe-Jane, it’s Jodie.’

Chloe stopped moving, and stared as more light broke into the room. What did she want? Why was she here? The questions shot through Chloe’s mind as she felt her hands being untied.

‘Chloe, I’m going to get you out of here, but you can’t make a sound.’

Jodie pulled the gag off Chloe, but she didn’t say anything. She only stared at her. How could she trust Jodie now? Was this some kind of game? Would Mr Lee be waiting outside the door?

Jodie untied Chloe’s last restraint on her foot. ‘Chloe, come on. We’ve got to go.’ But Chloe didn’t move; there was no way she was going with Jodie, no way. Wherever she wanted to take her, she suspected it would be somewhere worse, if that was even possible.

‘Please, Chloe … What you doing? You’ve got to go … Now!’ Jodie crouched down and pleaded with Chloe-Jane but she sat huddled up in the corner, not moving; barely blinking. Jodie tried again, desperate to persuade her friend to move.

‘If you stay here, you’ll get caught, Chloe … They’ll come, and then there’s nothing I can do. Do you understand what I’m saying, Chloe?’

Again, Chloe chose to stay silent but this time, Jodie jumped up. ‘Stay there, Chloe … Just stay there.’

Jodie ran out of the room, turning left to where the other door was. She hurriedly went through the keys, occasionally checking behind her. It took four attempts until she found the right one to open the large grey door.

Flinging it open, Jodie stepped inside, then ran across the room and crouched down.

‘I’m Jodie, Mr Jennings, I’m here to get you out. Chloe-Jane’s in the next room, but she’s in shock, and she’s refusing to leave. We have to hurry …’

Jodie used the penknife in her pocket to untie Alfie’s ropes. He, like Chloe-Jane, was almost in too much of a state of shock to move and needed help from Jodie to scramble up.

‘Where is she? Where’s Chloe-Jane?’

Without answering, Jodie led Alfie out into the corridor and into the room where Chloe-Jane was. She hung back by the door, watching to make sure no one was coming.

Alfie crouched down to Chloe, taking her face in his hands.

‘Hello darlin’.

Chloe-Jane could only manage a weak smile, but her face lit up as she looked at her Uncle Alfie.

‘Now, you need to listen to what I’m saying … Jodie here is going to help us to get out.’

Chloe’s voice was small. ‘We can’t trust her.’

Alfie stroked Chloe’s hair. ‘We can, darlin’. And if we can’t what have we got to lose? And anyway, I’m here. Ain’t no one going to hurt you when I’m around.’

‘I … I … I don’t know.’

‘Well, I do. And what about that holiday I’m going to take you on, hey? If we don’t move our backsides, ain’t no one going anywhere. And perhaps, your friend here can come with us … can’t you babe?’ Alfie turned to Jodie who smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. He turned back to Chloe, continuing to soothe her. ‘So come on sweetheart, let’s go whilst we still have the chance.’

‘Please, you’ve got to hurry.’ Jodie spoke to both Alfie and Chloe.

‘Okay, babe we’re coming; ain’t we Chloe-Jane?’

Chloe-Jane nodded, getting up slowly. She walked to the door, stopping by the side of Jodie. For a moment she didn’t say anything, then she took her hand and smiled, holding her friend’s gaze. ‘Thank you, Jodie.’

Jodie didn’t reply, unable to trust herself to hold back the tears, instead she looked at Alfie.

‘Follow me, but you have to be real quiet. We’ll go to the main entrance to get out, it’s the quickest way but it’s also past some of the girls’ rooms.’

Alfie nodded, leading Chloe out of the room with him as Jodie went on ahead. At the end of the corridor, Jodie signalled for them to stop.

‘Wait, let me check there’s no one there.’ She crept out to the main stairwell, looking up and down the stairs, making sure there was no sight of Mr Lee or any of the girls.

‘It’s fine. Let’s go.’ Jodie waved her hand, leading them down the stairs, quietly, quickly, on alert to any possible danger. She waited for Alfie and Chloe – who were slightly behind – to catch up, and taking Chloe-Jane’s hand, she guided her down the last flight of stairs.

‘We’re nearly there, Chloe, we’re nearly there.’ Chloe squeezed Jodie’s hand, seeing the main entrance door in front of her now.

Jodie didn’t need to fumble through the keys, she knew which one it was. She’d watched Mr Lee on many occasions. Taking the largest silver key, Jodie could feel her heart begin to beat faster as she turned the lock. It clicked. Open. Open to freedom.

‘Go!… Go on!’ Jodie pulled the door wide, and as Alfie and Chloe began to run through the door, she pulled something out of her pocket and shoved it into Chloe’s hand.

Chloe stared at Jodie, alarm embodying her whole being. ‘Aren’t you coming?’

‘Yes … Yes, but give me a minute. I’ll follow you … Go on! Go on!’

Chloe-Jane looked bewildered. ‘Jodie!… You’ve got to come.’

‘I am … I am, but you need to go, I’ll wait to make sure no one’s coming. I know what I’m doing.’

‘But …’

Alfie grabbed Chloe-Jane, and began to pull her. ‘Come on.’