Both of them were tittering as Beth made disgusting sick noises.
‘Stop it or I’ll wee…’
‘Anyway, enough taking the piss out of me. Who’s this bloke? You still haven’t told me about your daddy issues.’
Kelly sighed. ‘I’ll have you know I don’t have daddy issues, mine’s perfect. But you’re a right nosy parker aren’t you? I might start calling you Miss Marple, or Agatha, yep, that suits you much better. Come on, Aggie.’ She swung open the door and grimaced when Beth punched her, harder than was necessary, if she was honest. But the fizz of happiness at having fun and a laugh with someone she regarded as a proper friend, cancelled out the pain.
Once they were on the street and the Uber was ordered, Kelly told Beth about her source of tax-free cash, just the bare bones because before she could say too much, the taxi appeared and the conversation was closed. Instead, they made plans for their big night out.
26
Aiden sipped his coffee while Billie ranted on. They had met in Sainsbury’s café where she was supposed to be buying nappies and a packet of muffins for lunch. Sue was looking after Iris and still oblivious to Billie’s mission.My mission impossible, thought Billie, because if she was honest, that’s exactly what it felt like.
‘Seriously, Aiden, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. It’s not just the sneaking about that’s getting to me and having to tell fibs to Sue. It’sher.Kelly’s doing my head in.’
‘Well you’re all we’ve got. The barrister is adamant that a statement from Mr Macey at the chemist and our randy van driver, Denny, won’t be enough to prove bad character on Kelly’s part. If I were a betting man I’d say Stan’s appeal is dead in a ditch.’
Billie put her head in her hands. ‘Oh God! He’s going to be devastated. But I am trying you know, I really am, but meeting her face to face once a week and talking bollocks by text isn’t enough time to get under her skin, even though she’s getting under mine.’
‘What do you mean?’ Aiden took a bite out of his chocolate muffin.
‘This is going to sound weird and I’m not being a traitor, okay? The thing is, the way she told her story in the meeting, well, I could understand why the police and everyone believed her. Even though it is different to Stan’s, it’s sort of the same… like there’s a fine line between the two versions. Maybe I’m too close to it all but I could picture everything she said, and it made it too real. Not only that, it was creepy.’
Aiden flicked crumbs off his suit. ‘What do you mean, creepy?’
‘Well this might sound daft but the night of the attack reminded me of when I left Stan and it did make me wonder…’
‘What? Come on, Billie, you know you can trust me. What you tell me stays here between us. I promise.’
Billie lowered her voice a notch. ‘It was the curry, and then her saying she was leaving and the row they had. It reminded me of the night I made Stan his favourite meal and he didn’t come home because he’d cheated. And then the next day, we had a massive argument and I left. So… do you think it could have triggered something in his head, you know, like a spark of anger that made him snap?’ The moment she said the words, Billie felt dreadful and, yes, like a traitor. She instantly wished she could take them back. But Aiden’s answer eased her conscience slightly.
‘Those thoughts are perfectly normal and good because it shows you are working things out and taking a step back. I like that. It’s only by looking at things from every angle that you can build up an accurate picture and consider all scenarios.’
‘Well that’s made me feel better. Christ, I felt like a complete shit saying that but while I’m on a roll, I might as well tell you the rest, otherwise I’ll never sleep again.’
Aiden opened his packet of biscuits and offered Billie one, which she declined.
‘Go on then, let’s have it.’
Billie took a breath and got it all off her chest. The thing was, Billie hated Kelly before she’d even met her and wouldn’t have even contemplated the notion that Stan’s version of events wasn’t one hundred per cent accurate. That was why she had gone to the first meeting despising Kelly. It had been hard to look at her without wanting to punch her, and even while Billie listened to the emotional and often uncomfortable telling of her ordeal, she’d silently heaped scorn on every word.
It wasn’t until she had the opportunity to spend time in Kelly’s company that the cracks in Billie’s armour started to show. As each layer of Kelly’s self-preserving veneer began to flake away, and a more vulnerable woman appeared, things started to make sense to Billie, and to bother her.
Kelly was quite honest about herself and her situation and didn’t mind telling you she was, for want of a less cringey and uncomfortable phrase, ‘a Billy No-Mates’. Kelly also came across as a really nice person if, perhaps, a bit desperate and borderline bossy. But Billie understood why her female friends had begun to exclude her. Mud sticks.
Maybe a true best friend would have stood by Kelly but as it was, she was a loner and those in her limited circle had their own lives and problems. They didn’t want to listen to her banging on about her neurosis, or feel obliged to lend a friendly ear, or go out on the town with a woman who was scared of her own shadow and men in general.
It was a shame though, because Kelly went out of her way to help. The moneylending thing for a start. Billie had also learned from some of the other women how kind she was in private, always willing to listen either by message or on the phone. It was so frustrating because the woman Stan painted as a complete and utter fruitcake and bitch, came across as the complete opposite in real life.
This was why Billie’s head was mashed and the juxtaposed testimonies of that awful night didn’t help either.
Then there was the ‘daddy’s girl’ thing. How could Stan have got that so wrong? Why would Kelly make up all that stuff about her dad being a narcissist? It didn’t make sense. Then Billie remembered what Aiden had said about blamers, describing them as ‘those who reckon their deeds and situation are the fault of others’. Maybe when Kelly lost control and behaved badly, like the body-art incident, she resorted to fantasy and made up a nasty dad who was responsible for all her problems. It was an easy way out and impossible to disprove, and clever, very clever.
When it came down to it, Billie was beginning to wonder if, somewhere in between two different versions of an event that there wasn’t a common theme running through and in the middle lay the truth. She’d heard it said many times before, ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ and, ‘only two people know what really happened that night’. So one of them was lying, or at best, telling a half-truth.
To make matters worse, if they possibly could be when someone you loved was going to be in prison for Christmas, Kelly had well and truly latched onto Billie and saw her as a friend. During one round of the late-night messages Kelly had used the word ‘best’ and it had made Billie feel so bad, despite her loyalty to Stan.
‘So do you see now why my head is mashed? I feel like I’m living a lie. The clock is ticking away and everyone sees me as their last hope or sodding best friend and now, Kelly wants me to go on this big night out. I can’t do it, Aiden, it’s too hard. I’ll have to lie to my mum and dad and Sue about where I’m going… like a blooming teenager. Shall I say I’m staying at yours then you tell your mum you’re staying at mine?’
