Ted Matthews stared at his wife, sitting sullenly in the floral patterned armchair. He understood Barbara’s disappointment, but what else could they do, being as their daughter had been so lax as to get herself in the family way by a good-for-nothing layabout?
Ted smoothed his hand over his thinning Brylcreemed hair – a habit he’d always been prone to when tense or nervous. And, right now, he was both. Plus he was angry. Really angry.
They hadn’t raised Linda to behave like this. She knew the rules, yet she’d broken them in the worst way. At fifteen, she couldn’t even marry that piece of scum to save her reputation, either – not that he’d have sanctioned that in a month of Sundays.
Sighing, he glanced up at the ceiling of his sitting room and although the sound was muffled, he could still make out his daughter sobbing from the bedroom upstairs. Linda had been like that ever since the man had arrived to take the baby, yet she’d known it had to happen and that it was happening today. That’s why Barbara had carefully spelt out to her time and time again not to get attached to the child.
Ted shrugged. It was the best thing all round. For everyone.
He yanked at the ring-pull of his can of Special Brew. It might only be 4 p.m., but he’d be in the pub by now for a well-deserved clocking-off pint if he hadn’t had to take unpaid leave to sort this out. Still, at least it was done now.
He glanced at the thick envelope on the coffee table. That would go some way towards putting this right. Shame a part of it had to go to that scumbag, but if that’s what it took to remove the fool from Linda’s life for good, then so be it.
Ted’s eyes tracked over to the carriage clock perched on the mantlepiece. That thing would be here any minute. Or he’d better be. He made it very clear in the message he’d sent what time Bedworth should be here, and the piece of dirt best not be late.
Grabbing the envelope, Ted counted out the amount he’d decided on and stuffed it into another envelope. He placed the smaller envelope on top of the sideboard, making sure he stuffed the larger one into a drawer.
Barbara’s eyes burned into him the whole time and Ted bit back the urge to shout at her. She knew as well as he did there was nothing else they could have done. They weren’t in the position to bring up another young ’un. Despite him being a hard-working man, they barely had enough to keep things together as it was, but everything they did have, he’d supplied – no handouts for Ted Matthews and his family, thank you!
Well, that bastard, Bedworth, wouldn’t screw up his daughter’s life any more and at least now Linda could carry on. There was no way she’d have been able to do that had she kept the child. It might be the 1960s, but women were still ostracised about this sort of thing and he wasn’t having that. Not to his Linda. Nor to any of his other kids by association, either.
The sharp tap of the door jolted Ted from his thoughts and he quickly got to his feet. ‘Right, let’s get this filth out of our lives, shall we?’
Barbara wrung her hands, her heart already sinking with the prospect. She hoped Ted wouldn’t lose his temper. She knew he was cross – they all were – but it didn’t achieve anything.
She bristled as the figure of Thomas Bedworth sauntered into her small living room, his faded shirt looking scruffier than usual underneath his moth-eaten leather jacket.
‘All right, Mrs M?’ Tom drawled, a cockeyed smile plastered across his face. ‘Linda okay, is she?’
‘Don’t you dare ask how Linda is, you prick!’ Ted spat. ‘You know why I summoned you here this afternoon, so don’t start getting fly!’
‘All right, keep your hair on!’ Thomas smirked, sitting down uninvited in one of the armchairs. Who did Ted Matthews think he was? Bloody royalty?
‘The child has now gone, so being as this business is over, I want you out of my daughter’s life,’ Ted barked. Despite promising himself not to give away any outward signs of rage, he knew his hands were visibly shaking, which irritated him further. ‘I should have stopped this from the start, rather than give you the benefit of the doubt. I might have known you had no respect for my daughter.’
Barbara’s hands twisted tighter in her lap. ‘Ted, don’t make a scene…’
‘Make a scene? This waste of space gets our daughter pregnant, buggers off and then strolls in months later thinking he’s the bee’s knees! I’ll give him the bee’s knees! He’s not fit for anything, let alone our Linda!’ Ted spat, eyeing Thomas Bedworth malevolently.
‘Your daughter didn’t have a problem opening her legs for me, Mr Matthews,’ Tom sneered. ‘It takes two to tango, you know?’
Ted lurched across the room. ‘You fucking little sh…’
‘TED!’ Barbara screeched. ‘Stop this! This is supposed to resolve the situation, not worsen it!’
Breathing heavily, Ted stuck his finger in his collar to loosen it and rolled his shoulders. Red-faced, he stared at the sneering mug of Thomas Bedworth. ‘I want you out of my house and out of my daughter’s life, but firstly I want assurance that you’ll never darken my door again. You will have nothing to do with this family in the future. Is that understood?’
Tom bit down on his bottom lip in false consideration. That was perfectly fine by him. He had no intention of seeing Linda again and certainly never planned to see the brat now she’d finally popped it out. As it was, it had taken him far too long to get in her knickers, and even then the event was a major let down – like shagging a corpse. And then after that once, the stupid bitch had gone all frigid on him. That once was all it took, yet he was the one being treated like a prize twat?
‘Bear in mind that child is mine too and you have offered me no say about what has been arranged.’ Tom eyed Ted carefully. ‘I could take umbrage to that.’
Ted grabbed the smaller envelope from the sideboard. ‘That’s why I said you’d get plenty of reason to stay the hell away!’ He chucked the envelope into Thomas’s lap, not trusting himself to get close enough to hand it to the man. ‘There’s three grand in there. More than enough to make you fuck the hell off away from here, I presume?’
Tom blew through his teeth in appreciation. He knew a pay-out was on the cards. It was the only reason he’d shown up, but he hadn’t expected this kind of brass. He could do a lot with this. A hell of a lot. What an absolute bonus.
‘Take the money and promise me that you’ll keep clear of my daughter.’
Tom got to his feet, grinned at Barbara and then at Ted. ‘You have my word. I won’t be going near Linda, trust me.’
‘Your word, like you, means nothing, but I hope for all our sakes that you honour it. Now get out of my house,’ Ted spat.