Ruby by Heather Burnside (carter reed txt) 📗

day when her brother, Jarell, came into the house after playing outside, Trina stared at him in dismay. His knees were bloody and he was crying inconsolably, his eyes red and a stream of mucus trailing from his nostrils. Ellis tripped into the house after him.

‘It was that Shaun Gallagher again,’ said Ellis. ‘Him and his friends started picking on Jarell for nothing. They were going to get me as well but they couldn’t catch me. When I turned round I saw Shaun pushing Jarell over, and he cut his knees on the floor.’

‘Why didn’t you hit him back?’ asked Trina, but she didn’t get a reply from Jarell who was too busy sobbing. So she turned to Ellis, ‘And why did you run off and leave him?’

She was incensed. This was the second time this had happened this week, and for weeks prior to that her brothers had put up with racist taunts from Shaun and his friends.

Ellis answered her questions in a roundabout way. ‘There were three of them,’ he said. ‘And they’re all bigger than us.’

‘Well they’re not bigger than me,’ said Trina, knowing which boys Shaun Gallagher hung about with.

She was becoming increasingly annoyed as she took in the state of Jarell and decided it was about time she did something about it.

‘Come and show me where they are,’ she said to Ellis, putting her shoes on, but before she had chance to walk out of the house, she saw her mother approach and stand just inside the living room door, blocking Trina’s exit.

‘Oh no you don’t, my girl!’ she said, her arms folded beneath her breasts and her head shaking slowly from side to side.

‘Why not? Are you going to see Shaun’s mam and dad instead?’ Trina asked.

‘No, I’m not, and I want you all to stay away too. I have enough troubles of my own without getting involved with that sort of family. Just look at what they’ve done to my boy’s knees. Come into the kitchen, Jarell, and let me get you cleaned up. And I don’t want to hear another word about it, Trina. You stay away, do you hear?’

Daisy fixed Trina with a steely gaze and Trina knew she wouldn’t accept any arguments. She nodded but stayed silent, despite feeling a strong sense of injustice.

It was some time later when Trina walked through to the kitchen to find her mother chunnering away to herself. She was cutting vegetables on the work surface, with her back to Trina, and didn’t hear her approach. On hearing her mother, Trina stood still, listening to the bitter words that were pouring from her mouth.

‘Damn you, Isaac! You should be here to sort things out instead of me having to put up with my children being picked on. You’ve got more than your share of faults, that’s for sure, but those nasty boys would never have picked on my children if you were around.’

Then she chuckled ironically to herself. ‘Eeh, everybody knows not to mess with you, Isaac, especially when you’re in a bad mood. You’d even frighten the devil out of his den.’

Then she sighed before reaching for another potato. Trina fled quietly from the room, before her mother could catch sight of her and realise she had been eavesdropping. Her mother’s words echoed her own thoughts. Trina might not have got along with her father but there were advantages to having a father with a hard man reputation. And now that he wasn’t around she had no choice but to stand back and let the Gallaghers get away with picking on her brothers. She was so tempted to step in, but she’d do her best to heed her mother’s warning.

10

October 2006

These days it was rare for Ruby to work the streets. She’d built up a regular clientele and allowed those who she trusted to come back to her flat. Not all of the girls liked to take clients back to their homes but Ruby wasn’t interested in their rules; it was her flat and she’d do as she pleased. But there were some clients who preferred her to visit them at home or in a hotel room.

On this particular occasion she didn’t have any work booked for the night so she’d made one of her rare outings to Aytoun Street. She was pleased when a client had pulled up and asked her to come to a five-star hotel in the city centre; it meant she wouldn’t have to hang about all night waiting for other clients to arrive. Although she was a bit apprehensive at spending the night with a new client, he was willing to pay a lot of money for the privilege so she took the chance.

Ruby was a little nervous when she entered the hotel room with him. Despite having been on the game for a number of years, she still felt daunted when going into a situation she knew nothing about. She was therefore relieved when the client seemed what she would have termed ‘normal’. In fact, he was quite the gentleman, smiling warmly as he took her jacket and offered to pour her a glass of champagne.

While Ruby sipped at her champagne they made small talk. The man was in his late thirties and above average looking, although a little overweight. He had a confident air about him and she wondered, as she did with many clients, why he had resorted to using prostitutes. Surely he wouldn’t have too much of a problem attracting women. But then, clients met prostitutes for all sorts of reasons and she guessed from his chat that he travelled a lot on business and sometimes got a bit lonely when he was in a strange city.

Eventually the inevitable happened. Ruby kept to her usual routine, carefully undressing and laying her clothes on the floor by the side of the bed where she could reach them easily. It was while he was taking her from behind that he