It had been two weeks since Lee had paid off Freddie’s debt and started working for Terry Reid and the Reid organisation. His official job description, according to Richie, was a senior dispatch and debt recovery agent. In reality, Lee had become a drug dealer, taking on various areas which Terry and Richie had said once belonged to the lad before him. Lee didn’t have to ask what had become of that lad; it was obvious by the look on Terry’s face. Betrayal of some kind had gone down and Terry didn’t have to say out loud what would happen if Lee went down that same path. Lee didn’t want to die at the hands of his gangland boss. Not because he was scared of death, but he was scared of what he would be leaving behind. His sister and nephew, alone in the hell of Mainhill and in the hands of Galzo. The very thought was enough to make Lee follow every detail his boss gave him and never would he step out of line.
Lee hadn’t had a choice in working for Terry, not really. It was either become an employee, or go back to Mainhill a nobody. He thought back to what Terry and Richie had said, how Lee would be able to look after his sister, get her out of Mainhill and away from the temptation of going back on the junk. Lee knew that the job came with its risks, the main risk of all being that he ended up dead because of his involvement with Terry Reid, but it would be the right thing to do for Maisie and the baby in the long run.
He hadn’t spoken to Freddie or his sister about his new position. And he certainly wasn’t going to tell Cammy or Rosie. It would mean constant calls and texts about getting their drugs on tick and never having the intention of paying Lee the money back. He wasn’t going to get himself into a situation where he found himself bailing his brother out again, certainly not while he was working for Terry and Richie.
In the two weeks that he’d been dealing, around the Mainhill estate but not specifically his street, as well as the outskirts, he’d been flat out busy but found himself to be more well off than he could have imagined in such a short space of time. Terry had paid him nearly a grand for a fortnight’s work and there was plenty more where that came from. Lee was doing well, was good at his job. His customers, as Richie referred to them, seemed to understand the consequences of not paying off debt. Terry had taught Lee to be firm, no messing about with the customers. If they knew what would happen, they were likely to pay upfront. Lee had Terry’s permission to allow certain customers tick, but once a payment was missed, there would be no going back. So far, Lee hadn’t had to get tough with anyone.
A week had passed since Terry Reid had organised a new flat for Lee. The best of the best on the outskirts of the town centre, away from Mainhill estate. ‘I don’t want you living among your punters, Lee. It’s not good for business, they’ll not take you seriously if they think you’re one of them,’ Terry had said once he’d handed him the keys.
As much as Lee hated the fact that this man had held a gun to his skull just two weeks previously, he had to admit that if it weren’t for Terry, Lee would still be in the gutter. He respected his new boss. The flat was spacious, modern. It was part of the construction project for affordable housing in the area and Lee learned that Terry was the main investor. His flat in particular was a two-bedroom with en-suite, with a kitchen diner and balcony. Lee had never imagined living in a place like this. The walls were pristine, white with top of the range fixtures and fittings. The place had been fully furnished too and Terry had informed him that this was part of his salary. Cash flow and a home. Lee really had no reason to complain at all. He hoped that Maisie and the baby would move in with him.
‘Ma man,’ Freddie called across the street, his arms outstretched as Lee was heading into Maisie’s flat. ‘No’ seen you since you moved out.’
Lee sighed. That had been the whole point. He didn’t want Freddie, Cammy or Rosie anywhere near his new place. That would have raised questions. He’d managed to fob them off with a lie about being bumped to the top of the housing association list. However, he wasn’t going to allow that to stop him from seeing his sister and nephew. They needed him now more than ever before.
‘Mate, what’s happening?’ Lee said, avoiding Freddie’s comment. It was abundantly clear that Freddie had been on one of his benders. Still was by the looks of it.
‘Oot ma bin, mate. Been on it for three days,’ Freddie replied, confirming what Lee already suspected. ‘Need something to help me on the come down. Any blues on you?’
Lee shook his head, mostly in disgust. ‘Nah. Why don’t you ask your mate, Galzo? Am sure he’ll have plenty on him. You might even be able to get some on tick too.’
Freddie clearly didn’t hear the sarcasm in Lee’s tone and already had his phone out before Lee could finish. A certain amount of sadness washed over Lee as he watched his brother’s life spiral in front of him. But Lee knew Freddie was a lost cause. Most of the people Lee and Freddie’s age were, with the same family set up as their own. It was why Mainhill was such a shithole. All Lee cared about was getting Maisie and the baby away from the place.
‘Galzo,’ Freddie practically shouted down the phone in his drunken merriment. ‘Aye, I need a favour.’
With Freddie’s back turned, Lee headed inside to the flat to see his sister and his new nephew. He couldn’t wait to tell her what he had in store for them. A fresh start with money coming in. He couldn’t help but smile.
Knocking gently so as not to wake the baby if he was sleeping, he pushed the door open gently and crept into the hall. ‘Maisie,’ he whispered.
‘What?’ Her voice came in a slur from the kitchen. Lee turned and saw his sister standing next to the window, a cigarette in one hand and a mug in the other.
‘You okay?’ Lee asked, peering around the small flat. ‘The wee man alright?’
‘Aye, why wouldn’t he be?’ she asked, without making eye contact. ‘He’s sleeping.’
Lee’s eyes narrowed and as he turned to close the front door, he saw a pair of trainers lying on the mat. They were too big to be Maisie’s. He raised his eyes as Maisie stepped out of the kitchen and into the hall, lowering her head.
‘Lee,’ she said. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’
‘Aye, nae bother Fred. I’ll sort ye oot.’ Lee looked up at the man emerging from Maisie’s bedroom. Galzo.
‘What the fuck is he doing here?’ Lee said, without attempting to keep his voice low. He wanted the bastard to hear him.
‘Er, no’ that it’s any of your concern, mate but am here tae see ma missus and ma boy.’
Galzo stood in the centre of the hall and Maisie’s shoulders slumped. Lee couldn’t believe that she’d allowed him back into her life again, after what he’d done to her. Eyes darting between the two, Lee fixed his gaze on Galzo and took a step forward.
‘I’m fucking warning you Galzo, if you promise her the world and fuck off again, I’ll make sure those legs of yours are severed at the fucking knee. Got it? Just remember that she was underage when you got her up the duff, so all it takes is one phone call and you’re on the sex offenders register.’
Galzo laughed loudly, with clearly no regard for his sleeping son or Lee’s warning. Lee didn’t break contact with the lad who had no thought for anyone but himself; he knew that his threat could be carried out if he really wanted it to be. Galzo was dealing on Reid territory and all Lee had to do was pick up the phone to his boss and give a name. But he wasn’t going to let his own secret slip so soon.
‘Lee, please just leave it,’ Maisie said, her words slurring again. Lee turned to look at his sister and right away he could see her eyes rolling. Galzo had done exactly what he’d always done, managed to worm his way back into Maisie’s life and ruin her clean streak.
‘What are you on, Maisie? Did this bastard give you something?’
‘Oi, she’s a free woman and can choose to do and take whatever the fuck she wants,’ Galzo said, brushing past Lee and slipping his feet into the trainers. ‘I didn’t force her into bed, Lee. She went willingly.’
Lee spun and landed a punch right on Galzo’s nose, before opening the front door and throwing him out into the communal close. Lifting his hands to his bloodied face, Galzo turned and flew at Lee, who in turn thrust out his arms and shoved him towards the stairs.
‘Don’t fucking push me on this, Galzo. She’s my wee sister and she’s only sixteen. You’re a fucking grown man of twenty-five and you’re giving her drugs when her baby is just two weeks old. Your fucking son. You’re bottom of the barrel scum and if I see you anywhere near here again I’ll make sure you never walk again. Got it?’
Before Lee got a reply, he closed the door and locked it. Turning, Maisie had already disappeared into the bedroom. Lee went in and saw her standing over the baby’s cot, tears brimming in her eyes.
‘Why did you have to do that, Lee? I love him,’ she sniffled, staring down at her son.
‘No you don’t, Maisie. He’s just made you think you do.’
‘He’ll never let you away with that, Lee. He’ll come back for you, have you done in.’
Lee had to stifle a laugh. ‘Nah, that won’t happen.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Just trust me, Maisie.’ Lee moved towards his sister and gripped her by the upper arms. ‘What have you taken? Are you on the heroin again?’
Shaking her head, Maisie sighed. ‘Just a couple of blues, that’s all.’
Lee gritted his teeth. That was exactly what Freddie had been on the phone to him for, when he was in this flat. ‘What the fuck, Maisie? You’ve got a baby to look after.’
At that, Lee’s nephew started to stir. Poor wee guy hadn’t asked to be born into this shitty life but he was stuck with it. Maisie stormed off and back into the kitchen, and Lee bent down to pick him up, following her out.
‘Have you registered him yet?’
‘Me and Galzo were going to do that today until you stuck your fucking nose in. Now he probably won’t come near me ever again and it’s your fault,’ she sobbed.
‘Maisie, if you go to register him today, they’ll take one look at you and call social services. At least wait until you’re fucking sober. I can come with you to register him.’ Lee stopped, took a steadying breath. He didn’t want to be hard on Maisie but there was no other way. Lee had to put things straight with her or she wouldn’t understand. ‘He needs a name, Maisie. You don’t want the social work banging on the door. You remember what that was like for us, don’t you?’
Maisie fell quiet and Lee rocked his nephew in his arms. ‘Have you chosen a name?’
‘No, I haven’t really thought about it.’
Lee wanted to shake his sister. It was as if she cared about this baby as much as Galzo did. It reminded him of his own mum, Rosie. When Maisie was born, Lee had had to take care of her most of the time and he had just been a kid himself because Rosie was either out trying to buy heroin or injecting it. Freddie was already out causing havoc in the estate, getting into fights, slashing car tyres and smashing windows. All of which their dad, Cammy had found hilarious when he wasn’t off his face himself.
‘Maisie, if you don’t want this baby then you have to be upfront about it. Otherwise you need to get a grip and sort yourself out because this wee guy needs someone to take care of him.’
Maisie stopped sobbing and raised her head, glanced down at her baby and smiled. ‘I wanted to name him after his daddy.’
‘Galzo? You can’t call your baby Galzo, it’s no right,’ Lee said in horror.
‘Not Galzo. Gareth. I want to call him Gareth,’ Maisie said.
‘And the surname? He’s going to be a Whitelaw?’
‘Well, I don’t know Galzo’s last name, so I suppose he’ll have to be,’ Maisie shrugged.
Oh for Christ’s sake, Lee thought but refrained from commenting. As much as he hated the idea of his nephew sharing a name with his waster of a dad, or any of the grandfathers for that matter, he supposed it was better than the child having no name at all.
‘Okay, Gareth Whitelaw it is then.’
Maisie’s eyes were closing more and more and Lee watched as she moved into the living room and crawled on to the sofa. Lee had to get her out of Mainhill if it killed him.
‘Maisie, why don’t you and little Gareth come and live with me in my new place? I have plenty of space and you would have your own room. It has to be better than this place, surely?’
Without looking up at Lee, Maisie nodded and said, ‘How come you can afford a new flat? Won the lottery or something?’
Lee didn’t want to tell Maisie the truth. Not until he got her out of Mainhill and away from Galzo. ‘Just say you’ll come. It would mean we could spend more time together, especially since the wee man is here now. I want to see you both more often but I don’t think it’s doing either of us any good to be in Mainhill longer than needed. I can look after you more than Galzo ever could. Little Gareth deserves that at least.’
Maisie had already passed out and Lee was left holding his nephew. This was going to be harder than he thought.
Lee looked down at Gareth and noticed that he’d fallen back asleep in his arms, so walked through to the bedroom and gently placed him back in his crib. How could anyone not want to make a better life for the sake of their child? Lee couldn’t allow history to repeat itself, not after what his parents had put them through. He wouldn’t.
Pulling his phone out, he called his boss. ‘Mr Reid, it’s Lee. I have some information on someone who is dealing on your patch.’
As Lee explained the situation to Terry, telling him that Galzo had been dealing in Mainhill and either sourcing his drugs from rival gang leaders or producing his own which was highly unlikely, he knew there would be no going back. Once Terry knew what Galzo had been up to, there would be one and only one outcome. And that would be down to Lee. Maisie might not understand the need for this right now, but in time she would. It was best for little Gareth not to have a waster like that as a dad. In doing this he was protecting his sister and nephew, but also dishing out his own kind of social justice for Galzo taking advantage of his then fifteen-year-old sister, getting her hooked on drugs and getting her pregnant.
‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ Lee said, before hanging up the phone. He sat down on the bed and stared at his sleeping nephew. He couldn’t leave now, not with Maisie off her face. What if he woke up and needed milk? She wouldn’t be able to feed him. Come to think of it, Lee hadn’t fed a baby since Maisie had been one herself. Taking a deep breath, Lee went into the kitchen and pulled out the box of formula milk and read the instructions. He might not know off the top of his head how to feed a baby, but he would know when it was time to do so. All he had to do was listen for the sounds of wailing from the bedroom and that was his signal.
Jesus, Lee thought. Maisie was going to turn out just like Rosie. It seemed history was already repeating itself.