Geezer Girls by Dreda Say Mitchell

Author:Dreda Say Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780340937112
Publisher: Hodder
Published: 2017-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

twenty-six

What the bloody hell is that? Jackie asked herself as she crept along her hallway. The noise came again, this time louder, shooting from under the door of the sitting room. She shook her head from side to side when she realised what it was. Giggles. A man and a boy. Her son Ryan and husband-to-be Elijah ‘Schoolboy’ Campbell. Even without looking she knew what they would be up to – Ryan practising his part in the end-of-year performance for the drama school he attended on Saturdays.

She moved to the door, pushed it slightly open and gazed at the two most important people in her life. Ryan was in his jim-jams, reciting lines from Oliver Twist. He was the product of a six-night stand. At eighteen, like most other girls basking in the first thrill of womanhood, she’d set out looking for love. And what a total disaster that had been. Instead of finding Romeo she’d got all gooey-eyed over some lowlife wannabe geezer. Jimmy Burke. Six foot of flashing teeth, gold chains up to the eyeballs and non-stop chat. When she announced she was up the duff he’d lived up to the unique qualities of his surname and pissed off as quick as his fast grin came and went. Misty, as usual, had picked up the pieces, provided a shoulder to cry on and offered to find her a discreet clinic. But her Catholic upbringing had reared its head, reminding her of the consequences of eternal damnation. So she’d had her baby two months before her nineteenth birthday. Cried real hard when she held him in her arms for the first time and realised he had Nikki’s flame-coloured hair.

Jackie pushed the door wide and entered the room. Ryan and Schoolboy shot around. Schoolboy was a medium-sized black man, with a strong thirty-two-year-old brown face, shoulder-length locks that were neatly tied back and dimples that could make Jackie’s heart swell as wide as the Mile End Road.

‘You,’ she pointed a finger at Ryan, who stood just in front of the telly, which was on low, ‘should be in bed. And you,’ her finger swivelled to point at Schoolboy, ‘should know better.’

Schoolboy grinned back at her, the two dimples she loved so much digging into his cheeks. He raised his hand and shrugged his shoulders. ‘You know us boys, when the cat’s away . . .’

Jackie turned her stern-mummy eyes to Ryan. ‘Hop it.’

Jackie ruffled his hair as he skipped past her and left the room. As soon as the door closed Schoolboy stretched out his hand and she walked into his embrace. She melted into the warmth and scent of this man, who Misty said she was nuts to hook up with. But only she understood that she and Schoolboy were kindred spirits. One of a kind. The former bad boy of the block and the woman with one too many secrets. Secrets she hadn’t shared with him. She had come close many times to telling him, but each time she’d stopped herself, worried by what he’d think.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.