Betrayal

Epilogue

My son, may you be happier than your father,

Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC)

2016

Reeva was very drunk, but she was not so drunk she couldn’t work out what was going on around her. Tony Brown thought she was the funniest thing that he had ever seen and Reeva couldn’t help but see the funny side of it herself, even though she knew that she was the butt of the big joke.

Tony grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. ‘You’re a fucking girl, Reeva, do you know that?’

She laughed with him. ‘That is part of my fatal charm, darling!’

Agnes shook her head in despair; her mother was never going to change and it was pointless to think otherwise. Reeva and Tony had more fights in a week than Sky Sports could boast in a year. They fought with every ounce of their being, and then they would make up as if nothing had really occurred. They wore her out at times with their antics. But, for all that, Tony had been the only man to ever stay with her mum, stand beside her, and offer her his strength. He was also the only man, other than her sons, who had ever defended her when she needed it, and Tony was seen by Reeva’s kids as a saint. He did really care about her and, knowing her like they all did, they could not help but think the best of him.

Agnes looked around her garden and felt really happy at how this party was progressing. She was thrilled to be hosting this event for her nephew and his lovely wife. She was now the party queen, and she loved it. Aiden and Loretta were five years married, and they had two gorgeous sons. They were a wonderful couple and Jade loved that they were living near to her, as she had told Agnes on more than one occasion. She felt she could enjoy her grandchildren in a way she had never been able to enjoy her own son, since she had spent most of her time policing Aiden. Loretta was a really nice girl, and they were all mad about her. She had fitted into the family immediately. She didn’t want anything other than to be a mum and to be Aiden’s wife; that was all she aspired to and Aiden Junior was more than happy with that.

Agnes watched as Marvin Hendry made a big fuss of her son, and that pleased her. As he had got older, she could see more and more of his father in Colin. He had her colouring, but he had his father’s features. Her Colin was never going to win any awards − he wasn’t an academic − but he was savvy enough in his own way. He was already destined for the family business, and there was nothing she could do about that. She loved that he had that easy way with him that his father had possessed − he was charming, as her mum had always said.

Eugene was standing by the bar with a beautiful young woman called Christine Mayer. He was smitten, as Reeva had informed them. It was not before time either. Patsy was with them too, and his new wife, Hannelore, was five months pregnant. Patsy was as pleased as punch. He had met and married Hannelore within six months, and they were a really good couple. Hannelore was a woman who had met the man of her dreams, but who had the sense to know that the man of her dreams needed taking in hand. She had done just that and no one could fault her. Reeva thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. She had been convinced that her sons would never settle down. Now there was a definite future for them on the cards, and that was all that Reeva could ask for. Even her Porrick, God love him, was living with a lovely black guy called Ernest. He was absolutely gorgeous, and he adored Reeva. They even took her on holiday with them, which she loved. She didn’t care that her boy was gay − she embraced it. She loved that he had someone to care for and who cared for him.

Her sons had really blossomed in the last few years. It was as if, after Aiden had been murdered, the whole family had somehow changed, and they had changed for the better. Aiden’s death had somehow shifted the dynamics of her family.

Reeva had taken her eldest son’s murder really badly. She had grieved for him with such pain, it had been hard for her kids to witness, but they had all been there for her, and she loved them for that. Jade had taken his death even worse than Reeva. She had been devastated. It was as if she had aged dramatically overnight, ravaged by grief and guilt. It was only the birth of her first grandson that had pulled her through and helped her accept the decision she’d made.

The newspapers had made such a big story out of his death, about how he had been murdered and his body burned. They had not skimped on any of the details, glorifying the violence of Reeva’s son’s death at every available opportunity. The truth was never uncovered, of course, and it was still dragged up every now and again when a gangland murder hit the news. But, eventually, Reeva and Jade had both come to terms with the truth of Aiden’s demise, and they were closer than ever.

Agnes knew how hard her brother’s death had hit Jade. She had loved that man much more than he had ever deserved − not that she would ever say that, of course. Like so much in her family, the less said the better for all concerned. Agnes sighed sadly. Whatever her brother Aiden might have been guilty of, he had always been very good to her and her son, even though as time had gone on, she had begun to form her own opinion on what had really happened to her Colin. She was enough of an O’Hara to know that nothing was ever as it seemed and it was likely Aiden had had a hand in it. There were some things you were better off not knowing about though. All this fucking talk these days about facing up to the truth and owning the truth! The truth will set you free! It was such complete and utter bollocks. Whoever had coined that phrase had never lived in a family like hers. Well, one thing she had learned over the years was the truth was often not as fucking spectacular as it was made out to be. Sometimes, as Jade had said to her on more than one occasion, the truth was the last thing you needed in your life. The truth could be brutal, and the truth could open up old wounds that were best left alone. The truth was not all it was cracked up to be.

Agnes looked around her at the people she loved, and she knew that if some truths were ever blurted out in her family it would cause fucking ructions. She couldn’t help smiling to herself, because despite everything she had done to step as far away from her family as possible, she was more like them than even they could know.

Jade was in the kitchen pouring herself a drink when Porrick joined her.

‘All right, darling?’

Jade smiled sadly. ‘I’m good, Porrick. How’s that lovely man of yours?’

He pointed out to the patio where Reeva was the centre of attention. ‘Dancing with me mother. Honestly, Jade, they are like fucking yin and yang. He loves her!’

Jade couldn’t help laughing. She saw her two grandsons as they danced with Reeva, and she saw Marvin Hendry join them on the dance floor. Her handsome son pulled his wife into his arms and danced her over to join the party. Marvin and Reeva were going at it with everything they had. Porrick grabbed Jade around her waist and hugged her to him.

‘You all right, Jade?’

She smiled sadly. ‘’Course I’m all right, Porrick. Why wouldn’t I be?’

They stood together watching the party going on outside. They were alone in the kitchen and that suited them. There was a bar outside, but they both knew that the decent drinks were in the kitchen or, as Agnes called it, ‘the family self-service bar’. They watched as Timmy Clark walked over to Agnes and start chatting to her. He had just arrived and they both knew that Agnes had been looking out for him for most of the evening.

‘I wish those two would just fucking come out and admit they are together. He has been knocking her off for years!’

Jade nodded in agreement. ‘I know but it’s up to them, Porrick. Sufficient to the time thereof. Fucking hark at me!’

Porrick laughed with her. ‘Jade Dixon, quoting the fucking Bible! Will wonders never cease!’

They both cracked up with laughter before Porrick said seriously, ‘Look at your grandsons, Jade. Such handsome little fuckers. Your Aiden really fell on his feet with Loretta.’

Jade nodded sadly. ‘I know that, Porrick. I have always known that.’

She turned to face him and, looking into his eyes, she said softly, ‘Let it go, Porrick, please. You did the right thing. You did something that I will always love you for. Because of you no one will ever know for sure what might have happened that day.’

Porrick swallowed down his whisky and Coke. Jade was as aware as he had been that Aiden Junior would have ended up having to murder his own father if Porrick had not taken things into his own hands. Who could have blamed him? It wasn’t as if Aiden had not asked for it − he had pushed everyone around him to the limit of their endurance. That was what he had always been so fucking good at. Aiden had never been happier than when he thought that he had the upper hand; even when he was dealing with people who, by rights, should have been so far below his radar, he was still petty enough to enjoy bullying them. That was one of the main reasons why Porrick had lost all respect for him.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel bad about taking his oldest brother out, even though he knew that he would do it all again if he had to. He had taken it upon himself to remove his brother Aiden from this earth, because he had known that it was a foregone conclusion anyway. The only question had been who was going to be guilty of his brother’s murder. He had decided that it would have to be him. He knew that he had to protect his nephew and his brothers. Marvin Hendry couldn’t be a part of it either because, at the end of the day, this was still Aiden Junior’s father. Porrick had wanted to do it by the end − he had actually wanted to kill his own brother, and he had gutted him like a fucking fish. He should have shot him, but he didn’t want to shoot him. He wanted it to be up close and personal.

‘I still feel guilty, Jade, but not about Aiden. I would do it again in a heartbeat. He asked for everything that he fucking got. But I feel guilty about you, Jade, and my mum. Because, whatever he was, I know that you both loved him.’

Jade sighed sadly. ‘We all loved him, Porrick − that will never be in dispute. But, truthfully? Both me and your mum were so fucking relieved to finally be free of him in the end. He was like a cancer − he was toxic and he was dangerous. It took us both a while before we could actually admit that to each other. But really, Porrick, never doubt that you did us a favour.’

Porrick was really taken aback at Jade’s words.

She laughed then, a real throaty, dirty laugh. ‘We both knew what he really was. We just didn’t want to admit it.’ She poured them both large whiskies. ‘Come on, Porrick, one last toast.’

He picked up his glass and held it up. ‘OK, then.’

Jade gently touched her glass to his, as she said loudly, ‘To Reeva’s boys.’

Porrick said quickly, ‘Or what’s left of them, anyway!’

Jade laughed with him. Porrick swallowed his drink down in one and immediately refilled the glasses.

Agnes and Reeva walked into the kitchen together and Reeva put her hands on her ample hips as she said drunkenly, ‘I heard that!’

Reeva was as pleased as punch to hear them saying ‘Reeva’s boys’. She liked hearing that. What she didn’t like hearing was the ‘what’s left of them’ jibe. That really hurt. But she wasn’t going to cause any upset about it. It was over, it was in the past. It was something that had broken her heart and it was also something that she had learned to live with.

Reeva grabbed them both and started to pull them towards the door. ‘Come on, you pair, we want you all outside.’

Agnes was already opening the door wide and, as they trooped out together to join in with the dancing, Jade and Porrick started laughing together again. Between them, they started to round everyone up.

Reeva O’Hara looked around her and she saw all her family and she knew that, no matter what had happened, and no matter what she had done, her children had always loved her and they had always forgiven her. She saw Tony Brown smiling as her children and grandchildren surrounded her, and he saw his Reeva beaming with happiness. The DJ was playing The Pointer Sisters, and Reeva’s kids were singing along to ‘We Are Family’. Reeva knew that was the truth. It broke her heart that it had taken the violent death of her firstborn son to bring them all together like this, and to admit that, as much as she had loved him, he had been willing to smash the family apart to achieve his own ends. She knew that his demise had been manufactured by someone in her immediate family. She wasn’t a fool − she had just not wanted to know the details. Her Aiden was dead and gone, and now she had all of her remaining family around her and there would be no more upsets and no more heartbreak. She wouldn’t have it any other way.