“Out of my way,” he demanded, forcing people to let him past. A couple of men had started to make their way down, and Ryan raced passed them all. “It’s alright fella, I’ve got you,” he said as he reached Joe and pulled him into his lap. “Are you hurt?” he asked, concerned. Joe sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
“No, don’t think so,” he said, with tears starting to form. “I slipped.” He looked up at Ryan. “I’m sorry,” he said, blinking away the threatening tears.
“Hey buddy it’s OK, it was an accident I’m sure. You shouldn’t be so clumsy though should you?” said Ryan, gently setting the boy back on his feet. “You can all clear off now,” he shouted to the onlookers, sending them away looking suitably shamefaced that they’d stood by to watch a little boy cry. “Come on you,” he said, “let’s get you back to mum.”
“Don’t tell mummy, will you?” pleaded Joe. “I’m not supposed to go on the jetty, but I thought I saw a crab.”
“OK, I won’t say anything. It can be our secret,” answered Ryan, only too happy to collude with Joe and keep something from Kate. “We all know mummy loves a secret after all,” he muttered quietly under his breath.
By the time they had made their way back to the café it was somewhat quieter, and Kate and Jack were in the kitchen catching up with the washing up. Joe went straight to the chilled cabinet and pulled out a carton of orange juice whilst Ryan stepped behind the counter and started to prep the coffee machine. Jack popped his head round the door to see what was going on, and who was helping themselves to coffee.
“We don’t let customers help themselves,” commented Jack. “I’ll do that,” he said, trying to grab the grinder from Ryan’s hand.
“Ryan’s hardly a customer Jack,” laughed Kate. “Besides, they’ve got one of these at the pub, so he knows how to use it.” Kate rolled her eyes at Ryan, dismissing Jack’s comments out of hand. Jack shrugged his shoulders and headed back to the washing up.
“Did you two have a good time then?” asked Kate, ruffling Joe’s hair and pushing the straw into his drink carton.
“We did, didn’t we Joe?” said Ryan.
Joe took his drink off Kate and stuck the straw in his mouth, sipping furiously to avoid having to answer the question outright. Instead he just nodded his head quickly and headed to the book corner.
“Aww it’s lovely to see the two of you getting on. And thank you Ryan, I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than hang out with a seven-year-old.” Kate reached onto her tiptoes and kissed Ryan on the cheek.
“I’ve told you, it’s no bother. I’m happy to help,” he said, smiling at Kate.
Having made his coffee, he headed over to Joe who was sat on the floor looking through a picture book of sea animals.
“You did well there, Joe,” said Ryan, squatting down so he was level with him. “Mum didn’t suspect a thing! See how easy it is? Sometimes mum doesn’t need to know everything, does she?”
“No, I guess not,” said Joe, not really sure what he was supposed to say. He hadn’t actually lied to his mum, had he? He just didn’t tell her so that was OK he thought. And he knew Ryan wouldn’t say anything or he’d get into trouble too for not holding Joe’s hand when he was supposed to.
13
Leeds 1997
“C’mon Kate, it’s just for a couple of days till I think of somewhere better.”
“Throw it in the canal for all I care Ryan. I do not want that in my house.”
“It’s not loaded, I just don’t want Sean to find it in the flat.”
“Oh, it’s alright if Daz finds it, is it?”
“He won’t, c’mon, just while the heat dies down.”
“Ryan, it’s been used in an armed robbery. Why the fuck would I even consider it?”
“For old times’ sake?”
“Oh, fuck off, that was over when you went to Sheffield.” Kate emptied the washing machine into the laundry basket. She couldn’t believe that Ryan had just turned up out of the blue expecting favours.
“Yeah but it was good though wasn’t it?”
Kate blushed at the memory, “Stop it Ryan.”
“Aww you know it was the best sex you’ve ever had,” said Ryan, grabbing Kate round the waist as she bent over to pull the last bits out of the machine and grinding against her. Kate shot up, almost knocking Ryan over.
“For God’s sake Ryan, no!”
“All right, sorry. I wonder what Darren would say if he knew about us.” Ryan leaned back against the kitchen table, grinning.
“Ha that’s a laugh, blackmail? He’s your best mate, you wouldn’t dare say a word. He’d floor you with one punch, probably worse. As for me, I’ve taken my share of punches over the years, what’s one more.” Kate heaved the heavy basket and opened the back door. Stepping into the back garden, she headed for the washing line. Ryan followed her out, slamming the door shut behind him, not willing to give up just yet.
“Come on, I’m desperate, and I swear it will only be for a few days.” Ryan held the handgun in front of him and proffered it to Kate. She pushed it back towards him and bent down to take a t-shirt from the laundry basket.
“No Ryan, for the last time...” She heard the back door slam, and Ryan threw the gun into the basket just as Darren came out into the garden. Without thinking she bundled the gun inside the damp t-shirt she was holding and buried it under the pile of the remaining laundry.
“What’s going on here then?” asked Darren.
“Alright mate, just popped in for a brew,” replied Ryan, turning his back on Kate.
Kate was seething, what was she supposed to do now. She watched them go back into the kitchen. Her heart was all over the place, and she felt herself break out into a sweat. She scoured the garden, looking for somewhere to put the weapon, at least for now. She could hardly go back into the house with a gun wrapped up in a t-shirt. She didn’t care if Darren knew about the fling she’d had with Ryan, but she did care about losing custody of Joe and she had no doubt in her mind that Darren would use it against her. She stepped onto the patio and heard one of the flags make its familiar ‘thunk’ as she walked over it. She stopped and lifted it up. The sand underneath had all but worn away. She retrieved the offending bundle, lifted the loose flag, and stuffed it underneath. It wasn’t brilliant but it would do for now. She hung the rest of the washing out and headed back into the house with every intention of telling Ryan to get it back later that night.
“Where’s Ryan?” she asked Daz as she walked into the kitchen.
“Dunno, was just about to put the kettle on and he said he had to be somewhere and fucked off. What was all that about outside?”
“All what about?” replied Kate, turning her back to Darren and reaching to grab a mug from the cupboard.
“That, out there in the garden –- with him?”
“Don’t know what you mean. I was hanging the washing out.”
“Seemed to me something was going on. You both looked as guilty as chuff.” Darren slammed his hand on the worktop, stopping Kate in her tracks. She looked up at him hoping the guilt didn’t show on her face.