Widows

She watched Tony get out the car — handsome bloke, she thought, well dressed, and the cashmere coat he had on his back must have set him back a few hundred quid. She shrugged. His poor old mother was cleaning offices and there he was, parading round like some model out of a fashion mag! She shook her head and straightened her stack of paper bags.

When she looked up again, Tony was walking directly toward her. She hid her fear and smiled at him. He nodded. Cheeky bugger’s going to demand a free apple or something most likely, thought Audrey. Although she’d known Tony all his life, she wasn’t under any illusion that this afforded her any favors; she knew his reputation. She nervously touched her woolly hat and noticed Mushroom Features flicking glances at Tony and then quickly back at her.

‘You got a problem?’ Tony asked him, pleasantly enough, and the squirt instantly turned his back on them. Audrey noticed that every other stall holder close by also took one look at Tony and then avoided eye contact. They knew trouble when they saw it.

‘Apples look nice, Audrey,’ Tony said with a beaming smile. He had been a cheeky lad when he was younger, but now there was menace to him and he was hard to read. Audrey polished and bagged an apple for him and vainly hoped that it really was all he wanted. Right now, Audrey was wishing she’d had much, much more coffee and had gone to the loo, leaving Mushroom Features to deal with Tony.

He bit into the apple and seemed pleased enough. Audrey breathed a small sigh of relief. But she knew Tony wasn’t just here for one apple.

‘Nice and sweet,’ Tony said, ‘just like your Shirley.’ Audrey’s smile disappeared in a split second. ‘Where’s she living these days?’

Audrey knew full well that the likes of Tony Fisher don’t turn up out of the blue for a friendly chat; they want something, and it’s usually something you don’t want to give. The thought of him wanting something from Shirley sent a shiver down her spine.

‘I haven’t seen her since her Terry’s funeral. Last she told me was she was going to Spain to do some modeling,’ Audrey said unconvincingly. Shirley was suddenly very flush with cash; had her baby got herself involved with the Fishers?

Tony gripped the edge of the stall. ‘I asked you where she’s living.’

‘She moves around a lot. Stays with friends — you know how it is.’

With one shove of his strong arm, Tony shook the stall so that the loosest fruit rolled off into the gutter that ran the length of the market.

‘Please don’t do that, Tony.’

‘Next shove it all goes over, and what for, eh, Aud? I just want to talk to her, that’s all.’

‘Leave her alone, eh? She’s been through so much...’

Tony noticed Audrey looking over his shoulder as she tailed off, before she gave a slight shake of her head.

‘Hi Mum, you seen that waste of space Greg about? That duff motor he got me is playing up again and I—’ As Shirley clocked Tony, the rest of her sentence stuck in her throat and the color drained from her face.

‘Hello, Shirley, how was Spain?’ Tony turned slowly and stared at her forehead with a menacing smile.

Audrey quickly jumped in. ‘I was just tellin’ Tony you’d been in Spain doing some modeling. He was askin’ where you was.’

Tony looked Shirley up and down, stopping to gawp at her tits. ‘You’re looking lovely, Shirl.’

‘Thank you,’ Shirley stuttered. She had no idea how to deal with the likes of Tony Fisher.

‘I was hoping we could go for a little chat. We’ll go to yours; it’ll be quiet there.’

Audrey jumped in again. ‘I’ll give you something to take back with you,’ she said, desperately trying to keep calm as she wrapped some carrots and handed them to Shirley, ‘She’s back with me at the moment, aren’t you, Shirl? There you go, you take those back with you. We can have them with tea. I won’t be far behind you. Not far behind you at all.’ Audrey knew that she couldn’t stop Tony from leaving the market with her daughter, but hoped beyond hope that if they went back to her house then Greg would still be there with his stupid mates.

‘What do you want to talk to me about?’ Shirley asked, nervously screwing the paper round the carrots till it ripped.

Tony grabbed her by the arm. ‘Let’s go. We can talk at your mum’s.’ He led Shirley toward his car, gripping her elbow so hard she was unable to resist.

Shirley glanced back at Audrey, who mouthed that she’d follow, but neither knew if she’d be able to follow quickly enough. The second Tony’s car pulled out of sight, Audrey threw her money belt at Mushroom Features and ran as fast as she could toward the pub, where she hoped to get a lift back to her flat. If there was no one who could help her, she’d run the whole way, fueled by the fear of what that bastard might do to her little girl.