Twenty-one

2 Cedar View

‘TWO EVENINGS A week,’ Tanya muttered into the telephone. ‘And will you be wanting the same sort of services from me that you got tonight?’ She paused, swigged from the night’s last can of lager and tried not to laugh when she heard the hurried refusal. ‘That was just a one-off for this evening, was it? Oh! Well, you never know what we might get up to next time. I’ll leave it open as a potential alternative for future nights.’ She paused for a beat, struggling to suppress her smile and taking a bitter satisfaction from hearing Rhona Grafton trying not to show distaste in her voice.

‘The money’s going to be the same as it was tonight, yeah?’ Again, another pause, but only a brief one. She didn’t give Rhona a chance to respond properly. ‘Then that’s settled. I’ll see you in a couple of days.’

She severed the call before Rhona could think of an argument against employing her. Still riding high from the conversation, Tanya picked up the phone and dialled Joanne’s number. The telephone rang more than a dozen times before Joanne picked it up. Her voice was slurred with tiredness, but she still sounded angry.

‘I don’t know who this is, but it had better be important.’

‘It’s your former cleaner,’ Tanya spat. ‘You fired me earlier this evening and I’m just calling to say, you can’t fire me, cos I quit.’

‘Thank you, Tanya.’ Joanne’s voice dripped with cool disdain. ‘I’m glad we’ve got that cleared up. Now could you please fuck off and never call me again?’

‘Do you know why I quit?’ Tanya asked.

‘I neither know nor care,’ Joanne sneered. ‘I’m hanging up now. I’ll be changing my telephone number tomorrow. And I’ll be leaving the telephone off the hook for the remainder of the night. Goodnight, Tanya, and –’

‘I’m not just quitting because I’ve got another job,’ Tanya broke in. ‘I’m quitting because your house stinks of piss.’

‘You were the one cleaning the house, Tanya,’ Joanne drawled. ‘What does that say about your abilities?’

Tanya winced, stung by the blow to her professional pride. ‘You threatened me with the police earlier this evening,’ she remembered. ‘They’d better not come here. I’m warning you of that now.’

‘And if the police do turn up at your house,’ Joanne asked smugly, ‘what do you propose to do by way of retaliation?’

Tanya glanced across the room to the open door of the kitchen. The sink was black with the sooty remains of the photographs she had burnt. ‘If the police turn up here, I’ll show them the Polaroids I stole from your drawer.’

‘You bitch!’

Sensing she had struck a nerve, and wanting to make sure she caused the maximum upset with this last phone call to her former employer, Tanya said quickly, ‘And I won’t be feeding Mister Tiddles again until he’s eaten your fucking koi carp.’ She slammed the receiver back into its cradle, only to pick it up again and dial Max’s number.

‘Megan got back OK?’

‘Yes.’

‘I told her you were looking for her.’

‘I know.’

‘So that means you won’t be wanting any rent for the next five weeks.’

‘Five weeks!’

‘Like we agreed,’ Tanya said patiently. She lifted her can of beer and drained the last of its contents. ‘One week’s rent in exchange for me going to look for her. One month’s rent as my finder’s fee. I looked and I found, therefore I get five weeks rent-free.’

‘You’re pushing this too far,’ Max growled.

Behind him, Tanya could hear Megan’s voice.

‘Is that Tanya?’

‘Yeah.’ Max’s voice became muffled as he placed his hand over the mouthpiece but Tanya could still hear his words. ‘The cheeky bitch is trying to squirm out of her rent for the next five weeks.’

‘Pay her what you owe her,’ Megan told him. ‘And then come back to the dungeon so you can finish my punishment.’

There was a long, sullen pause before Max said, ‘You and Aliceon are getting six extra stripes each for this.’ Then he took his hand away from the mouthpiece and resumed speaking to Tanya. She heard excited giggles tinkling in the background. ‘I’ll let you off five weeks’ rent,’ he agreed. ‘But I’ll be watching you while you’re cleaning our house and, if there’s one thing done wrong, I’ll stripe your arse until it glows in the dark.’

Tanya laughed and listened to him seethe in silence for a moment. Remembering the way Max had seemed so capable of pleasing Linda with his cruel discipline, and hearing the eager laughter of Megan and Aliceon, she reminded herself that he was far better at administering punishment than Joanne had been. ‘I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow,’ she said sweetly, and wished him goodnight.