Shannon Mulligan took a long, deep drag of her roll-up. Her hands shook, and her lip trembled as she picked off some strands of tobacco from the corner of her mouth. She was angry and not just a little bit angry. The other thing that Shannon found herself feeling was sad, something she rarely let herself be or rather something the crack cocaine stopped her feeling.
She sighed, trying to fight back the tears as she stubbed out her cigarette on the wall, making her way back up the stairs to the sauna she now found herself working in.
None of it had worked out like she’d thought it would. Not that she’d really thought about it at all. Not at first. It had all happened so quickly. When she’d taken the baby, she hadn’t imagined Ma would cut her out completely. Stupidly, she thought that Ma would be pleased with her. Kind to her. Proud of her even. Though that was the problem – she should’ve known what Ma was like, but for one crazy minute she’d convinced herself that her aunt would suddenly start to care.
Where she’d got that idea from, she didn’t know. Her whole childhood with Ma had been spent either avoiding getting a beating or lying on her back earning her keep. Perhaps, it was because it’d felt nice, really nice when Alfie and Vaughn had been kind to her and she hadn’t wanted that feeling of being cared for to disappear. But not only had Ma refused to tell her exactly what was going on with Mia, but her aunt had screamed at her when she’d asked to stay the night, refusing to even lend her ten pounds to get something to eat.
She’d had nowhere to go so she’d decided to go back to Charlie’s, thinking that everything was back to normal and he’d forgiven her for staying away, but the moment she’d walked in, Charlie had pounced on her, giving her a black eye.
She’d fought back and had been lucky to catch Charlie in the stomach, managing to get away before he did her some serious damage. But now she knew that unless she wanted Charlie to put her in the ground, there was no way on earth she could go back to him.
On the way out of Charlie’s she’d seen Alfie going in, but she’d felt too humiliated to go and say hello. She hadn’t wanted to admit to him that yet again she had nowhere to go. But perhaps the main reason she hadn’t gone up to Alfie was because she hadn’t known what, if anything, Ma had told him about her involvement in taking the baby. The last thing she wanted was Alfie being angry with her. Taking Mia had never been about Alfie; it had always been about Franny, but now it had turned into one big mess.
The only good news she’d had recently was she’d heard a rumour that Charlie was in hospital; though whether that was true or not she wasn’t sure. The rumour mill of Soho had a way of exaggerating things but if he was, she certainly wasn’t going to take him a bunch of flowers.
‘Oi, Shannon, hurry up, you’ve got a client.’
Shannon glanced at Laura, a tall skinny blonde behind the desk whose body looked out of proportion due to her enormously large breasts. Shannon gave a small smile then looked at the monitor watching a small, stocky, well-built man walking up the stairs.
Sullenly, Shannon said, ‘Who is he?’
‘Just another perv who likes them young. He’s only been coming a little while but he’s not keen on me – he thinks I’m too old for him. He’ll probably go for you … It’s your lucky day, darlin’ … Don’t look like that, money’s money.’
Shannon shuddered. She could feel her eyes beginning to prick with tears and it was stupid because she’d lost count of the amount of men she’d slept with over the years and she’d certainly lost count of the number of blow jobs she’d given. She couldn’t even remember when she’d first lost her virginity, though she knew it was somewhere between the ages of seven and eight.
She had thought that getting a job in the sauna – which was situated behind Tottenham Court Road in a grimy, upstairs flat – would mean that there was a chance she could work behind the reception area making bookings; something she’d always dreamt about, or even cleaning the rooms; she wouldn’t have minded that either. But it turned out apart from the owner having already told her that was never going to happen, the clients were even worse than they had been at Charlie’s, and although she’d been there less than a day, she already hated it.
‘What’s he like?’
Blowing a bubble, Laura shrugged. ‘Put it this way, all the girls here hate him. They call him Mr Weirdo. He likes it rough and when I say rough, I mean seriously rough. When I had to go with him, I couldn’t walk properly for a week. I looked like I was doing an impression of John Wayne. I don’t think my fanny could take a hammering like that anymore.’ She cackled, then added, ‘Anyway, just be careful. There’s something not quite right about him … Go on then, say hello.’
As the man made it to the top of the stairs, Laura pushed Shannon – who felt nervous and ill at ease – forward.
Shannon stared at him in disgust. He was small and squat but strongly built and muscular. His face looked like he’d been in one too many fights and she didn’t like the way he was looking at her, not once taking his eyes off her and not once showing any flicker of emotion on his face.
Grinning, Laura chewed on her now tasteless gum. ‘You’ve got Shannon today. She’s new but she’ll look after you, won’t you, Shan?’
Without answering, Shannon nodded as she walked towards room number two, biting on her lip to stop the tears rolling down her face.
Opening the door to the tiny room, which had a small massage table in it, Shannon walked in, followed by the man who still hadn’t said a word to her.
Feigning confidence, Shannon said, ‘So, what do you fancy today, mate?’
Barry Eton stared at the girl. She was slightly older than he usually liked but then she was better than nothing. He had been going to pay his son Charlie a visit, not only to have one of his girls who by all accounts were prime and up for the taking, but also to give him a surprise; after all twenty-odd years in prison was a long time. But it turned out Charlie was in hospital, so it’d have to wait. He’d waited all this time, so what difference would another few days make?
He’d been out of prison for a couple of months now, but he hadn’t been to see Charlie or even spoken to him. He’d been too busy reacquainting himself with all his old contacts. Though he’d seen and spoken to his daughter Ma a few times, and now they were going into business together, well they’d be seeing a lot more of each other. They were certainly birds of a feather.
Ma had always been different from his other kids who’d liked to complain. Even though she hadn’t necessarily enjoyed certain things when she was a child, Ma had just kept her mouth shut, something he certainly couldn’t say about his other kids.
The only one who hadn’t given evidence against him, albeit she hadn’t gone to court – too afraid according to his barrister – had been Ma. His other kids had turned against him, giving written statements along with Charlie’s testament and Alfie’s evidence. Oh yes, Alfie Jennings, that was a name he’d never forget. Alfie owed him big time.
He’d been found guilty because the jury, of course, had fallen for the bleats and whines of the hard-done-by Eton kids. Well it was a fucking joke. Anyone would think they hadn’t had a roof over their heads. But it was more of a joke now because he only had to look at his kids and know that he’d done them a favour; if it wasn’t for him, Charlie would never be on the path he was, earning good money and enjoying all the fruits that came with it.
And of course Ma. She had set herself up as a bit of a madam, and although when she was a kid he hadn’t thought she’d come to much, she had proved him wrong; growing up into a woman he was proud of. Not only that, it seemed that family meant something to Ma. She’d taken in his granddaughter when her no-good mother had overdosed on smack in some back alley. He hadn’t been sorry to hear of her death; in truth it couldn’t have come quick enough. After all, if it hadn’t been for her crying like a baby, making Charlie worry about her all those years ago, the court case would never have happened. So, the way he saw it was what goes around comes around.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Barry Eton lurched forward, grabbing the girl roughly by the hair. She squealed and the tears that had been threatening to come began to roll down her face.
‘You little whore, take your knickers off.’
Shaking, Shannon stared into the man’s eyes. There was something about him that didn’t feel right, something more than the usual clients. She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to do this no more … I’m sorry, you’ll have to get one of the other girls.’
Barry Eton scoffed. He knew he looked younger than his sixty-two years as his muscles – a consequence of working out every day in the prison gym for the past twenty-two years – bulged through his black jumper. ‘If I wanted one of the other girls, I would’ve asked for them, so you’re not going anywhere.’
He grabbed the girl between her legs, his powerful arms pushing her against the wall.
‘Please, I don’t want to do this.’
‘I don’t care what you want, so are you going to take them off or am I going to take them off for you?’ His hand slipped to the top of her thigh and started tugging roughly at her knickers.
Crying, she shouted, ‘Get off me! Just get off me!’
‘I don’t think so, darlin’, and now I’m going to show you what I do to little girls who tease.’
Before Barry had time to start to undo his trousers, Shannon suddenly thrust her head forcefully forward, driving it into his face. She heard the crunch of his nose as her head-butt landed square on it and as Barry staggered back, Shannon took the opportunity to run.
She darted out of the room, hearing the man yell after her. She charged past a shocked-looking Laura who was still sitting behind the reception desk chewing her gum.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Shannon rushed out into the street. It was dark and raining. Dressed only in a tiny, thin white dress, she continued to run until she was certain no one was following her.
Slowing down to a walk, Shannon turned into Montague Place, brushing away her tears and heading back towards Soho.
Driving along in a trance-like state, Franny gazed out in front of her, trying not to make any more driving errors as the tears rolled down her face. She’d already driven through several red traffic lights, and almost knocked a woman over on a zebra crossing but no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t concentrate. She certainly couldn’t think straight or get her thoughts in order. All she felt was shock, a strange numbness where she couldn’t process what had just happened. What Ma had done to Mia … It seemed like she was in a dream … She couldn’t get her head around the fact that Ma had actually sold Mia to the highest bidder, not only that, but she hadn’t even known the man’s name and had no idea where he’d taken her to.
As waves of nausea hit her, suddenly, Franny slammed on the brakes, almost knocking over a person who was running across the road. She glanced at them and immediately realised it was Shannon.
After quickly pulling over by the corner of Bedford Place, Franny stepped out of her car, feeling more than a little shook up. With the rain getting heavier, Franny wrapped her jacket around her as she called out. ‘Shannon, hey Shannon!’
Shannon turned around, her expression turning into a scowl. ‘Oh, it’s you. What do you want?’
A strange look came across Franny’s face. ‘I was wanting a word with you. Why don’t we have a chat? Come and talk to me.’
Shannon looked around. It was dark, and the street was empty. ‘No thanks, it’s all right, I’m okay here.’
Franny continued to walk up to Shannon, her eyes dark and cold. ‘What’s the matter, Shannon? You had all the bravado the other day and now you don’t want to chat. Come on, it’s raining. I’ll give you a lift.’
Shannon began to back away. ‘Leave me alone. I ain’t got anything to say.’
Rage rose up in Franny as she stared at Shannon. ‘The problem with that, Shannon, is I know you have. I know you probably like to talk to all those little girlfriends of yours who haven’t got anything else to do, and the thing is I don’t want you to talk about my business, and I certainly don’t want you to talk to Alfie.’
‘I’m not going to, I promise, and besides, I don’t even know what’s happening. Ma ain’t told me nothing, so I ain’t really got much to say.’
As the rain continued, Franny pushed her hair out of her face. ‘Why don’t I believe that? I wish I could.’
‘You can, you can!’
Franny shook her head as she stepped forward. ‘No, Shannon, I’m afraid I can’t. You’re trouble – that’s all I see when I look at you. Have you any idea what you’ve done? Right now, Mia could be anywhere, and you know something, Shannon, it’s all your fault and I think we need to have a talk about that, don’t you?’
Shannon began to back away as the rain drove down. ‘Like I say, I don’t know anything about Mia.’
Anger and hate spat out of Franny. ‘But you still took her, didn’t you? You still gave her to Ma knowing what Ma was like. What sort of person does that?’
Dejected and feeling ashamed of herself, Shannon gazed at Franny. ‘I’m sorry.’
Franny laughed bitterly, her eyes burning with hatred. ‘Sorry? Are you kidding me?’
‘It’s just … it’s just that you were so mean to me.’
Clenching her teeth, Franny’s eyes darkened. ‘Mean to you? You stupid, stupid little girl!’
Naïvely, Shannon said, ‘Look, I never thought it through!’
‘Yeah, and that’s the problem, and because you didn’t, Mia’s in trouble. Now I’ll ask you again, Shannon, and if I were you, I’d think really carefully … Where is Mia?’
Shrugging, Shannon’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I swear, I don’t know anything.’
As Franny stepped nearer and nearer to Shannon, Shannon began to run, darting across the road, hearing Franny chasing behind her, knowing she wasn’t far behind.
‘Shannon, you little bitch, you’re going to pay for what you’ve done! Shannon!’
Not bothering to answer, Shannon sped along Bedford Place before turning into Russell Square. She was sweating and panting, having never run so fast in her life but she knew whatever happened she didn’t want Franny to catch up with her. There was something about the way she’d looked that had frightened her.
With her heart thumping in her chest, Shannon continued to run as fast as she could, speeding past the bowling alley heading towards Southampton Row, feeling Franny getting ever nearer.
Not wanting to wait for the traffic lights, Shannon ran across the busy road, scurrying between the cars and taxis, ignoring the honks of the irate drivers’ horns as she just managed to avoid being hit by a speeding bus.
On the other side, with the wind and rain making it difficult to see, Shannon jumped the railings. Her feet were hurting, and she was tired, but she knew she had to keep going.
Stumbling along she turned into Remnant Street, glancing behind her, and was relieved that she couldn’t see any sign of Franny, but suddenly she felt somebody grab her, pulling her into the large office doorway. About to scream, Shannon turned around, ready to fight, but she stopped and grinned, a big gummy smile as she recognised the person in front of her.
‘Hello, Shannon, where’ve you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you, but I’m glad I found you. I’ve got a job for you, one that you might like. What do you say?’
With her face shining with joy, Shannon nodded, once more her heart pounding but this time with delight. ‘Yes! Yes, I’d like that.’
‘Good, but first how about I get you out of the cold and cleaned up. You look like you need a hot meal … Come on, but we have to be quick.’
And as Shannon, soaked to the skin, hurried along the street, no longer feeling afraid, a thought suddenly came to her: maybe life wasn’t so bad after all.