Kimberley Chambers 3-Book Collection: The Schemer, The Trap, Payback. Kimberley Chambers

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      In the days that followed Barry’s going away, Stephanie was in absolute pieces. She couldn’t eat properly, was barely sleeping, kept bursting into tears in her classroom, and spent hours sitting on the stairs waiting for the postman to deliver his mail. She also turned fifteen and had the worst birthday ever.

      ‘You’ve gotta snap out of this, Steph. You’re making yourself ill and you’re making me ill with worry at the same time,’ Pam informed her daughter, as her face crumpled once again when the postman arrived and there was still no letter from Barry.

      ‘I can’t relax until I’ve heard from him, Mum. Say the plane crashed or something? He promised he’d write to me everyday, but I ain’t heard a word yet. Say he’s met another girl and forgotten all about me already?’ Stephanie wept.

      Pam took her daughter by the hand, led her into the lounge and sat down in the chair opposite her. Steph’s erratic behaviour had worried her so much this week that she had rung up work this morning and told her boss that her daughter was ill and she would need to take a day or two off to care for her. ‘Barry will write to you, I know he will, but I told you only yesterday that his letters will come by airmail and they take ages to arrive.’

      ‘But he promised he’d write to me every day.’

      ‘And he probably has! Once you’ve received the first one, you’ll probably get letters off him most days after. You must remember, though, he is working, Steph, and he might not have the time to write to you every single day. Now, you’ve not eaten enough to keep a rabbit alive this week, so how about me and you shoot down to Broad Street where Cathy works and get ourselves a nice bit of scran in her café. You’ve gotta eat, angel. Barry ain’t gonna want you if you’re all skin and bones, is he?’

      ‘I so wish he hadn’t gone to Spain, Mum. I ain’t got nothing to look forward to now. I hate his mother, she is such a bitch.’

      Pam moved over to the sofa where Steph was sitting and held her in her arms. She knew her daughter was bound to be upset after Barry had left, but she hadn’t expected her to be anywhere near this bad and she was beginning to wish that the old slapper hadn’t emigrated after all. To make matters even worse, Marlene’s daughter was still living at the house opposite and her Indian boyfriend had now moved in with her. Day and night they had music blaring out, and Pam was sure that they were serving up drugs from there as well, as they seemed to have more visitors than a whorehouse handing out free prostitutes.

      ‘Listen to me, Steph, and listen to me carefully. If that boy truly loves you and you love him, then you will end up together, no matter what. Your dad was in the army when I first met him. Away for months on end he was, and I barely saw him for the first year we were together, but we still ended up getting married, didn’t we? I know that Barry going away is horrible for you, but instead of moping about, darling, you need to look at it as a small blip. Nothing will ever get in the way of true love, remember that. Now, I’m bleedin’ Hank Marvin and so must you be, so let’s go and put some food in our stomachs, shall we?’

      For the first time in days, Stephanie managed a weak smile. ‘OK, and thanks, Mum.’

      Another person worried about Stephanie’s mental state was her best friend Tammy, and as she explained the situation to Wayne Jackman, he seemed just as concerned as she was.

      ‘Perhaps I should have made more of an effort to check that Steph was OK. I promised Bazza I would keep an eye on her for him and I sort of guessed she would be a bit down this week. Shall I talk to her and see if I can cheer her up a bit?’ Wayne asked Tammy.

      ‘I dunno. Nothing I’ve said or done seemed to help and she ain’t even come into school today. What about if we go and knock for her tomorrow morning and take her out somewhere for the day? I think we should go for a drink. It’ll do her good to let her hair down, and she might even have had a letter or phone call from Barry by then. He promised he was gonna ring her every Saturday morning at nine o’clock, English time, so if we knock for her about ten, she might have lightened up a bit if he’s phoned her.’

      ‘I’m meant to be going West Ham tomorrow, but I can meet yous early evening. Why don’t you go round there in the morning, take her for a mooch round Romford or somewhere, and then meet me at Heathway Station at six o’clock. Then we can all get pissed together. My nan and grandad go up the Millhouse on Saturday nights, so we can sit round mine and play some music and stuff, if you like? It’s better than hanging about on street corners in this cold weather, ain’t it?’

      Tammy grinned. ‘That sounds like a fab idea, but you ain’t bringing Cooksie and Potter with you, are you?’

      ‘Nah. I still see ’em at football and in school and stuff, but I don’t really hang about with them any more. I’ve been knocking about with Danno instead.’

      ‘Who’s Danno?’

      ‘Danny MacKenzie. Top lad he is, but I think it’s best if it’s just the three of us tomorrow in case Steph’s still upset and stuff. I shouldn’t think she’s gonna wanna spill her guts in front of strangers, and Danno’s in my year, so she won’t know him that well.’

      Thinking what a nice chap Wayne Jackman had turned out to be, Tammy stood up. ‘See you tomorrow at six then.’

      Stephanie woke up feeling a lot better the following morning. Not only had getting some food inside her and the chat with her mother done her the world of good, but she was also extremely excited, as today was the day that Barry had promised to phone her.

      Seeing her sister buzzing about like a blue-arsed fly, Angela sat up in bed. ‘What you gonna do if he don’t ring?’ she asked.

      ‘Of course he’ll ring if he said he will. Why wouldn’t he?’ Steph replied, anxiously.

      ‘Because he might have met another girl. Even if he ain’t yet, I bet he does when the holiday season starts. That Spain is full of pretty birds in bikinis and stuff and Barry ain’t exactly shy, is he?’

      ‘How do you know what Spain’s like, Ange? We’ve never been no further than Camber Sands.’

      ‘Because I’ve seen it on the telly. All the girls walk about naked and stuff. If I was you, sis, I would forget all about Barry and find yourself another boyfriend who lives in England.’

      With her sister’s words dampening her sprightly mood, Stephanie sank onto her bed and put her head in her hands. ‘I won’t forget about him, Ange. Not ever.’

      Pam sang away happily to a song on the radio as she put the sausages into the pan of lard. This was only the second Saturday she had taken off work in over a year, and when she had called in this morning to tell her boss that she would return on Monday, he had promised to pay her her full week’s wages. ‘Steph, Ange, breakfast is nearly ready,’ she shouted out.

      ‘I don’t want mine yet. It’s quarter to nine and Barry’ll be ringing soon,’ Steph replied, bounding down the stairs. Her stomach had butterflies and she knew that she would be unable to eat a morsel, let alone one of her mother’s massive fry-ups.

      ‘It won’t be ready for another five minutes or so, and if Barry does ring, I’ll keep it warm in the oven for you.’

      ‘Why did you say it was ready now then?’ Angela asked, appearing behind her