Written in the Scars (The Estate Series Book 4) (15 page)

Thoughts of home made her think of her brother. She wondered how Sam had got on after he’d had his second operation. He was always moaning about his lot but he was going to be twice as bad after his accident. No doubt he’d be telling anyone who would listen how much pain he was in. He was such a drama queen.

    ‘Well, well, well, look who we have here.’ A shadow passed in front of her. Keera gasped when she saw who it was. It was Steve Wilson - a very drunk Steve Wilson, by the way he lurched unsteadily on his feet.

He staggered a step towards her. ‘Do you do extras, love?’ he slurred.

‘Piss off.’ Keera tried to go around him.

‘Where are you fucking going?’ He blocked her with an outstretched arm. ‘I reckon you owe me after the trick you pulled the other night.’

‘Had I had known Ramona was your sister, I would have punched you in the face too,’ said Keera, never one to keep quiet. ‘You shouldn’t treat family like that. I’ve a—’

Steve pushed her against a boarded-up shop window. His face was in hers, greasy hair hanging limp, breath smelling like something had just thrown up in his mouth. His eyes tried to focus on her but he was finding it hard to keep his head still.

‘Get off me!’ she cried. But the more she struggled, the more he pressed himself to her.

‘I’d watch what I was saying, if I were you.’ He pointed a finger up close to her face. ‘That mouth of yours is only good for one thing.’

‘Leave me alone.’ Keera glanced behind him. The street ahead was deserted. She couldn’t even scream out. No one would hear her until it was too late, even if anyone came to help at all.

‘Does Sam know that you get paid for sex too?’ Steve licked his lips.

‘I don’t do sex.’

He pressed his hand to the bulge in his trousers. ‘But you’re going to do me, my sweet one, aren’t you?’

Keera turned her head to one side to rid herself of the stench of his breath. How did she get herself into these situations? It wasn’t on, just because she worked a shit job. God, she couldn’t wait to get away from this dump.

She’d have to try and fool him.

‘Okay,’ she nodded, ‘but we’ll have to be quick.’ She heard him undoing his zip and put a hand over his. ‘Not here! We’d get arrested if anyone saw us.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Steve grinned, cottoning on at last. He took her hand and walked with her up the street. Keera tried not to recoil from his touch, suppressing her instincts to pull her hand away and make a run for it. He might catch her up again and who knew what damage he could do then? She’d seen how Steve had come at Ramona and that was his sister. She knew he wouldn’t care what damage he did to her.

Steve stopped as they drew level with an entry.

‘This will do.’ He smiled lasciviously. ‘No one will stop us down there, out of sight.’

The alleyway didn’t have any lighting. With every step they took, it became darker and darker as they left the street lamps behind. A few more steps down into it and Keera felt the adrenaline kick in as he pushed her up against the wall again. Trying not to pull away when he dipped his mouth towards hers, she let him get closer. Just a little bit closer.

With as much strength as she could muster, Keera slammed her knee up hard into his groin.

‘Don’t think you can get the better of me, you dirty shit,’ she cried.

As he dropped to the floor, she pummelled her fists into his head.

‘Gerroff me, you mad bitch,’ he yelled.

He grabbed for her leg but she stepped out of his way. Before he could respond again, Keera made a run for it. But when she turned, she hadn’t realised how dark it would be. For a moment, disorientated, she panicked. Then, spotting a sliver of light to her right, she raced towards it, not stopping until she was out on the main street again.

Quickly looking behind to see if he was following, she breathed heavily when he was nowhere to be seen. Then she ran on to the main road. A few cars passed by. Up ahead she could see people standing outside Percy’s Kebabs.

When she’d convinced herself that he wasn’t following her, Keera slowed down to a walk. Relief washed over her and she grinned manically. She had got away! Lord knows what he would have done if she had given him a blowjob like he wanted. He could have taken more.

But as awareness began to sink in, Keera burst into tears. She’d lost her bag in the struggle. Worse than that, she didn’t have any money, nor her phone, nor her house keys. She’d have to go home through the estate.

She made her way along the road, all the time reliving what had just happened, shivering when she thought what
could
have happened.

Then realisation dawned. She had made things far worse for her and Ramona. She’d worked on instinct hitting out at Steve, never thinking of the repercussions for her friend.

And now there was nothing to stop Steve from telling Sam either.

Chapter Twenty

Donna opened her front door, stepped inside the hallway and let out a blissful sigh. With a huge grin, she slipped off her strappy heels, massaging her toes to get some feeling back into them. As she stood up straight again, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs. She put a hand to her cheek. Wow, was that really her? She hadn’t looked this, well, sexy, in a long while. Her eyes shone back at her, her cheeks flushed, her lips reddened.

‘Owen, what have you done to me?’ Donna asked herself, before grinning again.

Finally, she’d had some ‘me’ time. It was a novelty to focus on happiness instead of glaring in despair at her wrinkles.

Humming to herself, she went through to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Even though it was past midnight, her hand rested on a half-open bottle of wine. She took it out and poured a large glass, went through to the living room and sunk down into the settee.

She couldn’t stop smiling, thinking of Owen and how the night had gone. He’d taken her to an Italian restaurant that had recently opened. Sarah would be green with envy when she told her. The food had been excellent, the company even better, and by the end of the evening, a little tipsy on wine, she’d opened up to Owen a little bit about how hard her life had been lately. Owen had held her hand across the table, squeezed it when he’d noticed tears in her eyes. Still, she’d soon stopped thinking of bad times when he’d dropped her off and drew her into his arms. She pressed a hand to her mouth, her lips still tingling from his kiss.

An incoming message beeped in on her phone. Thinking it would be from Keera, she opened it and was surprised to see it was from Owen.

I had a great time. It was hard to leave you. You looked so sexy. x

She smiled as she quickly typed a message back.

You didn’t look bad yourself! I enjoyed it too. x

The ringtone blasted into life, making her jump in the silence of the room. She answered the call.

‘When can I see you again?’

The huskiness in Owen’s voice made her skin instantly break out in goosebumps. She shivered.

‘You said later next week,’ she replied.

‘I can’t wait that long.’ His voice sounded pained.

‘You’ll have to.’

‘Are you alone?’

‘Why?’ She held her breath.

‘Well, I could come back to yours for a … coffee.’

‘You’ve only just dropped me off about ten minutes ago.’ She giggled coyly.

‘So I can be back in ten minutes.’

Donna paused. He wouldn’t want coffee. But what if he was disappointed in her once he saw her body? She wasn’t a twenty-year-old woman with beautiful skin and a figure to die for. Her breasts weren’t pert, her stomach wasn’t flat. She’d had two children, for starters.

‘So – are you alone?’ he asked again.

Could she do this? She reminded herself she was forty-two, not seventy-two.

‘Wait one second,’ she told him quickly. With the phone still in her hand, she thundered up the stairs to check that everything looked in order, just in case Keera had come home early unexpectedly. But the house was empty.

‘What are you doing?’ Owen asked as she came down the stairs a little slower than when she’d raced up. ‘You sound out of breath? Are you getting excited, Ms Adams?’

‘Cocky little shit, aren’t you?’ Donna heard a roar of laughter. ‘If you must know, I’m checking to see that the house is empty.’

‘And is it?’

‘It is.’

‘So …’

‘Coffee it is.’

Donna disconnected the phone and slipped her heels back on, praying that the wanton look of earlier was still there. She checked one more time in the mirror. Yes, there it was.

Keera hugged herself to stop from crying as she walked. Her teeth were chattering so much that she couldn’t control them. That creepy bastard, Steve Wilson.

She shuddered as she thought back to when he’d led her up the alleyway half an hour earlier. She knew if she hadn’t kneed him in the balls that she would probably have ended up being exploited by him for sexual favours whenever he felt like it. Did he think just because she worked in a massage parlour that she was scum of the earth and would do anything? She wouldn’t – for anyone. No one owned Keera.

She jumped as she heard a car door shut ahead, its occupants saying goodnight loudly. The car drove off and she was alone again. She hurried as fast as her feet would carry her.

All of a sudden, Keera wished she was with her brother. But she couldn’t even phone him, because she’d lost her phone in the scuffle with Steve.

If he hadn’t had his accident, she could have told him what had happened. She might have been able to get Steve off her back for good, and maybe Ramona’s too. Steve would back down if Sam had a word with him, she was sure. Bullies always stood down when tackled. But she couldn’t tell Sam about it now. He’d be in more pain if he tried to fight it out for her.

Keera was glad to see Davy Road, knowing that she was close to home, even though it was the longest road on the Mitchell Estate. She made a mental note to check with the other girls, see if Steve had taken advantage of any of them in the same way. If he had, she was going to do her utmost to stop him. The bastard shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.

Working at the massage parlour wasn’t the best of jobs, but it was a job. Just because she and the other girls chose to do it didn’t mean they deserved to be treated like pieces of meat.

She heard a car drawing level with her. Her footsteps quickened as it drew into the kerb beside her. Heart racing, Keera kept her eyes straight in front of her and walked on when she heard the window going down.

‘Keera?’ A familiar voice shouted. ‘It’s me - Derek! Are you okay?’

Relief swept through her as she stopped.

‘I know it’s a warm night,’ he smiled, ‘but surely you know better than to be walking around the estate on your own.’

Keera burst into tears.

‘Hey, don’t cry.’ Derek reached across and opened his door. ‘Jump in and I’ll take you home.’

Keera slid into the passenger seat, thankful to rest her feet after the long walk home. She could already feel blisters forming, and knew that she had rubbed away the skin on the heel of one foot at least. But she was safe.

Derek made no move to drive.

‘What’s happened?’ He looked concerned as he turned slightly towards her. ‘I’m used to seeing your smiley face all the time.’

Keera wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, unable to speak as she caught her breath.

‘Has someone hurt you?’ he probed.

Keera shook her head. ‘They tried to.’

‘Who was it?’ Derek pursed his lips. ‘I’ve a good mind to—’

‘I’m fine. It’s an occupational hazard.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Let’s just say that someone’s going to wake up with bruised balls in the morning.’

Derek didn’t smile, not even at her attempt to laugh it off.

‘Who is it?’

‘No one you know.’

‘All the same, I—’

I lost my bag,’ she interrupted. ‘Everything was in it; my phone, my keys, my purse. That’s why I was walking home.’

‘You mean he stole it? The bloody lowlife scum …’

‘He pushed me up an alleyway and it was so dark. When I made a run for it, I must have dropped it. I didn’t want to chance going back when I realised.’

‘The bastard.’

Keera nodded vehemently. ‘I hope he won’t see it. He was really drunk. It might still be there tomorrow. I’ll have to get up early and go to look.’ She shivered, involuntarily. ‘I just wanted to get as far away as possible in case he had another go at me. He would have wanted to get his own way.’

‘Buckle up,’ Derek told her as he pulled away from the kerb. ‘I’ll take you back for it now.’

‘No,’ said Keera, ‘I can go myself in the–’

‘It won’t take a moment.’ Derek was already turning the car around. ‘Maybe he’ll still be there too.’

As he drove back the way she had just walked, Keera’s shoulders relaxed. Thank goodness Derek had turned up.