Rotten to the Core by Casey Kelleher Read Free Book Online

couldn’t find the right words.
              “It’s my Kate , ” he said , looking up from his glass, “she’s pregnant .”
              “Oh, right .” Norma knew Kate well ; lovely girl she was. She knew that Kate was seeing that one from the nightclub, what’s his name, Jason , no, Jay. She ha d heard his name thrown around this pub a lot over the last few years. Norma had never mentioned that she knew about Kate seeing anyone to Billy though, as she knew Billy would not be happy about it. He was protective of h is sister and   as this Jay seemed to be his enemy.
              “Well, is she happy about it?” Norma asked.
              “Yeah, stupid cow is over the moon, says she’s in love too . ” H e took another sip of his drink . “Thing is , Norma, she do es n’t know the half of it. She can’t have this baby, she just can’t . ”
              “Look , love, I know you are just looking out for her, but she is going to have to make her own decisions. You can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do , ” Norma advised , taking another long pull from her cigarette. “You may not be happy about it, but this is not your mess to sort out . ”
              Billy was quiet for a long time. Then, and h e didn’t know what came over him, but maybe it was because Norma was like his mum, so easy to talk to, or maybe it was the years of bottling up all his torment , he found himself telling her the whole story.
    It had all started with Den Shaw , Jay’s dad. Den was one of life’s freeloaders, a nasty scumbag. He would literally take from the poor in order to give – to himself. He called himself a “ financer ”, but he was actually just a thieving bastard who specialised in lending to those that couldn’t get credit from anyone else, desperate people on the dole mainly. He would offer them a loan at a good rate : too good to be true. Because it was such a good rate he would persuade them to borrow an extra bit more. Then a few months do wn the line , he paid them a little visit , l etting them kn ow about the new interest rates due to “inflation”.
He wouldn’t elaborate any more than that, but by his snide tone and the look of the two apes he brought with him as heavies , people knew they had no choice but to pay whatever he asked.
              Billy’s   mum had had dealings with Den. A s a child , Billy used to see   the way Den would walk into their house and intimidate her. Knowing she had no husband to back her up, he had taken advantage of the fact that she was on her own, thinking she was an easy target :   t hings were tight back then and there were days when there was little if any food in the cupboards.
    When Billy was twelve, he had   been lying in bed one night when he heard a knock at the door. He had hea rd voices, then people arguing heatedly. He had heard his mum pleading, begging for a bit more time, asking Den for a few more days.
    After a few minutes , it had gone quiet , and Billy had got out of bed, curious now at what had been said . He tiptoed down stairs. He could hear his mum crying quietly in the kitchen and wondered when Den had gone, as he hadn’t heard the front door when he left. He wanted to make sure that his mum was ok ay. A s he went towards the kitchen door he heard a funny noise, and his intuition told h im something was wrong.
    Billy had peered through the crack in the door to see Den pinning his mum ’ s hands down on the table. Den’s jeans were around his ankles and he was laughing quietly whilst thrusting on top of her . Den pulled Billy’s mum top up, exposing her breasts, and bit them, sinking his teeth in hard. She was struggling for him to get off her but she was helpless. She was c rying quietly in pain, begging him to stop, pleading with him that her kids were upstairs. He ignored her cries as he bent down over her and put