Ruby by Heather Burnside (carter reed txt) 📗

referred to as ‘characters’. It also smelt of cannabis. Trina recognised the peculiar odour from some of her clients who smoked it. But none of that bothered her. She was used to this type of pub as she’d been to a few in Whalley Range, which had a similar clientele.

As soon as they got inside, Laura strode up to the bar where she joined a tall, skinny guy. ‘Hi, Gilly. I’ve got someone to introduce you to,’ she said, an ingratiating smile on her face. ‘This is Trina and she’d like to come and work with us.’

Trina wished Laura hadn’t have said that. It put her in a difficult position straightaway as she hadn’t made her decision yet.

Gilly surveyed Trina from head to toe and she became conscious of his eyes roaming from her face to her breasts and then her thighs before travelling back up her body and finally making eye contact.

‘Nice,’ he said. ‘What you having to drink, Trina?’

Trina replied abruptly, ‘Lager.’

She had taken an instant dislike to this man. His cocky attitude. The way he looked at her. The way he spoke. And his smug good looks. While he had been inspecting her, she had also been examining him. He was definitely a looker but, even if she’d have been interested in men, he wouldn’t have appealed. There was something superior about him. Although he was dressed scruffily and tried to talk street, his refined accent spoke of a different class and gave away his background.

And the way he looked at her was dismissive. She felt just like a piece of meat for sale and he made no attempt to hide the fact that, in his eyes, that’s exactly what she was. As soon as the drinks were served, he grabbed his own and left the girls’ drinks on the bar for them to fetch.

‘Come on. We’ll go and sit at a table and have a chat,’ he said, matter-of-factly.

Then, once Trina had joined him, he laid out the rules: what she should charge, how much she would earn, the hours she was expected to work and so on. Trina listened, but didn’t take it all in. There was a lot of information and Gilly was whizzing through it too fast.

‘Oh, and you’ll have to change your name,’ he said. ‘I like my girls to sound exotic. That’s why we chose the name Crystal for Laura. So, I think the name of a precious stone would be good, something like Sapphire, Emerald or Ruby. What do you think?’

‘Ruby,’ Trina answered straightaway, thinking of her precious necklace that Shelley had stolen.

‘Nice one,’ said Gilly before briefly mentioning his role as protector then holding his hand out for Trina to shake.

‘You on board then?’ he asked.

Trina hesitated a moment. But then she saw the encouraging smile on the face of her new-found friend and thought about the dangers of the street to a girl of seventeen. And something about the name Ruby drew her in; it made her feel special. She was now part of a group instead of being on her own.

‘OK,’ she said.

But she’d already decided this wasn’t necessarily going to be a permanent arrangement. She’d gone it alone before, but she was nervous at the moment after her recent attack. She hated the thought of having to rely on a man to fight her battles so she’d use Gilly’s protection for now and see how it went. Then, if things didn’t work out, she’d drop him and go back to working the streets on her own. After all, just because she’d agreed to work for him for now, it didn’t mean she had to work for him forever.

44

January 2009

A few months after the client assault on Pammy, there was another significant visit to the club. This time, the visit involved two men rather than one. Tall, dark, good-looking and just a few years older than her, Ruby recognised them instantly even though she hadn’t seen them for years. It was her cousins Josh and Calvin, and the shocked expressions on their faces told Ruby they also recognised her.

Ruby greeted them enthusiastically, pleased not so much at seeing them, but at the fact that she was now in a position of power. She still recalled their putdowns when she was a child and it felt good to be able to show them what she had achieved. Despite the feeling of exasperation that they had always engendered in her, she welcomed them with a smile.

‘Hi, long time, no see. How are you two doing?’

‘Good,’ said Calvin, and Ruby could see that they were still sporting their designer gear and were heavily decked out in expensive-looking jewellery.

Just then a regular client approached the desk. ‘Excuse me a minute,’ she said to her cousins while she checked the man in on the computer and directed him to the room of the girl he had booked.

Her manner was professional and the man was courteous and friendly towards her. While she was tending to him, she could see her cousins exchange looks, as though they were impressed with her status and the respect she commanded.

Once she had dealt with the man, she turned her attention back to her cousins. ‘What are you up to nowadays?’ she asked although she already knew the answer. She’d heard the rumours that they were now running a gang and were involved in all sorts of illegal operations.

‘This and that,’ said Calvin while Josh remained tight-lipped, seemingly embarrassed at being spotted in such a place by a member of his family.

‘Good, well it looks as though it’s paying off anyway,’ she said, curling a finger under one of Calvin’s gold chains and lifting it towards her to examine.

‘Oh yeah, it always does,’ said Calvin. ‘Anyway, what about you? Is this your place?’

‘Sort of. I’m the manager and I have half the profits. I’ve just bought my own house too.’

‘Really?’ asked Josh, his embarrassment temporarily forgotten. ‘Where are you living?’

‘Altrincham,’ said