Widows

‘Straight up, Mr. Fisher. He wants me to work with him. Offered me a job, he did. She give me his jacket on his say-so. He wants me looking respectable for him.’

‘You really are pathetic. I was at his soddin’ funeral, along with the law. Who does she think she’s kiddin’, eh? I watched them bury him!’

‘It wasn’t him.’

Arnie got to his feet, making Boxer flinch. ‘It was him! And you’ve just blown it, Boxer. You’re through, you hear me! You had your chance and you fuckin’ blew it. Get that rag of a suit off and go back to cleaning beer crates — it’s all you’re good for. And watch your step from this day forward, speaking to me like you own the place, sitting down without being invited to. You watch your back. I’ll deal with that bitch now; I’ll find out if Harry bleedin’ Rawlins is alive. I’ll fucking well dig the bastard up if I have to!’

Boxer stood, raging at the way he was just being dismissed. Arnie was an arrogant prick who made Boxer feel dirty and useless. Well — he wasn’t useless. With Harry back at his side, they’d wipe this little gay turd Fisher out. ‘I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Fisher,’ Boxer spoke in what he hoped was a calm, threatening tone. ‘Tony turned his place over and Harry didn’t like that one bit.’ As Boxer continued, eyes fixed on Arnie, Carlos came back into the room with a second bottle of champagne. ‘Harry’s furious, I’d say. Tony even done over their dead baby’s nursery, so you can tell him that Harry’s very, very angry with him. I’m not the one who needs to watch his back. Harry’s watching my back, so I’ll be fine.’

Through gritted teeth, Arnie whispered, ‘Piss off.’ Boxer left without another word.

Arnie’s eyes were practically popping out of his head. Carlos stood in the middle of the room like a spare part, holding the champagne bottle. He could see that Arnie was ready to explode, so he put the bottle down and put his arm round Arnie’s shoulders. Arnie pushed Carlos away, then quickly corrected himself. ‘Not now darlin’, that’s all. Not now.’

When Shirley arrived at the lock-up, Linda was sitting on one of the orange boxes looking dreadful, make-up smeared all over her face. Shirley raced across. What if Tony Fisher had been to see her and done something terrible?

‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ Linda said, flapping her hands at Shirley. ‘Keep the noise down a bit. My head’s banging.’

‘Well, what are we here for, then? You know we’re not meant to call meetings, only Dolly. What’s happened that was so important, Linda?’

Bella came out of the office and handed Linda a cup of coffee. Shirley stared, mouth open, not knowing what to say or where to look. ‘Tea?’ Bella said. Shirley couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Who was this woman? Why was she here? And, most importantly, what the bloody hell had Linda told her!

‘This is Bella,’ Linda said, casually sipping her coffee. ‘She’s our number four.’

Shirley’s mouth opened even wider, which just made Linda laugh. ‘Don’t be like that, Shirl. Bella’s as good as gold and as hard as nails. She’s just what we need. I know what you’re thinking, but Dolly’ll be fine once she’s met her. And if she ain’t, well bollocks. Bella’s worth ten of her.’ Linda nudged Bella to get her attention. ‘She is loaded, mind, so in truth, she’s probably worth ten thousand of you!’

Shirley finally spoke up, ‘She’ll go absolutely mad, Linda, and you know it.’

‘Bella’s got just as much right to take Dolly’s money as we have. She deserves some good luck for a change... and she’s a widow, just like us. Dolly’ll love that.’

As Shirley shook her head in disgust and disbelief, they heard Wolf yapping at the Alsatian next door and the Alsatian growling back. All three women looked toward the door, then Shirley scurried off toward the office, dragging Bella away.

‘You deal with her,’ Shirley snapped at Linda. ‘You’re in for it now.’

Linda put her head in her hands, willing her headache to go away.

Dolly raced into the lock-up, popping Wolf on the floor as she ran toward Linda. ‘What’s the matter?’ Dolly asked, concerned ‘You all right? What’s happened?’ When Linda lifted her head and Dolly smelt the booze, her concern turned to anger. ‘You’re pissed!’ Dolly seethed. ‘Did you call an emergency meeting, Linda, cos you ran out of vodka?’

Shirley watched from the doorway of the kitchen and office annex. She’d never seen Dolly look so disheveled. She wore no make-up, her hair needed washing, and she looked exhausted; her face drawn, haggard almost. For the first time ever, Shirley thought Dolly looked her age, older even than her own mum. Then again, thought Shirley, she is old enough to be my mum.

‘I’m not pissed. I have had a couple, sure, but I’m not pissed.’

Linda was certainly pissed enough to be oblivious to Dolly’s simmering rage. From where Shirley stood, she could see the veins standing up in Dolly’s neck. Before anyone could speak again, Bella stepped out from behind Shirley.