Maggie was cringing in the corner of a little pub in Richmond as her friends tunelessly shouted the words to ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. The other customers had quickly moved on from smiling and congratulating Maggie, to now wishing the hens would leave. Penny was mildly embarrassed, but that was waning with each glass of prosecco. As the song hit the second chorus, two men carrying car keys and wearing Hackney Cab ID lanyards entered the pub and, in unison, their eyes settled on the raucous hen party and their hearts visibly sank. One young hen, spotting their drivers, leapt to her feet and screamed, ‘Party!’ then downed her drink and led the way out of the pub. Penny was last out and, as she passed their taxi drivers, she apologised in advance for how loud the journey to the Blue Bird Café in Chelsea was about to be.
Jack sat reading the red notebook, with his brandy glass propped on a cushion.
Hannah was sound asleep next to him, hanging on to the teat of her bottle with her teeth for comfort. Over the previous couple of hours, Jack had received several texts from Maggie:
The monkfish is to die for. Me and you will have to come here x... Ha Ha. Your mum’s in the kitchen demanding a recipe off the chef... They’re playing our song. I miss you.
I’m moshing like we did at Bohemia in Torquay! x... I love you. Wait up for me x...
Back in 200 x
...which Jack presumed was meant to be twenty.
At half past ten, there was a knock on the door. As he made his way across the lounge, Jack presumed that Penny had left her door key in her bedroom, as she often did, and that Maggie couldn’t find hers amongst all of the unnecessary items in her handbag.
Jack opened the door... to Tania Wetlock. Her dress was as skimpy as the last time she’d dropped by uninvited, and she seemed to be equally pissed, stoned, or both. ‘Don’t worry, Jack,’ she slurred, ‘I’m not here for you. I want to speak to Maggie.’
Tania tried to push past him, but he stood firmly in her way and told her to go home because Maggie was out.
Tania pushed his chest, but he didn’t move. There was no way Jack was going to let a drugged-up unpredictable teenager into his home when Hannah was asleep on the sofa.
‘I know she’s here. Maggie! Maggie!’ Hannah began to stir and grizzle. Jack gripped Tania firmly by the shoulders and pushed her back out onto the doorstep, then shut the door in her face. Hannah was now lying face down with her knees tucked up to her chest and her bottom in the air. Jack rubbed her back and made ‘Shhh’ noises in an endeavour to stop her waking up.
When Tania kicked the front door, Hannah and Jack both jumped. Hannah began to cry. Jack gently picked her up and, as she naturally put her head against his chest for comfort, he put his hand over her exposed ear and headed upstairs, while Tania continued kicking the front door and shouting for Maggie. Jack put Hannah in her cot but, as predicted, she immediately stood up and screamed to be held again. She had no clue what was happening and needed to be in the arms of her dad. Jack kissed Hannah several times on her cheeks, promised to be back, and then closed the bedroom door. Hearing her scream as he rushed back downstairs was heartbreaking.
Jack flung open the front door and stepped out, forcing Tania backwards onto the pavement. ‘If you don’t shut up, right now, I’ll have you arrested. Go home!’
Jack backed towards his front door, not wanting to take his eyes off her. He didn’t care about leaving Tania out in the cold this time, he didn’t care how vulnerable she might be, all he cared about was his daughter. And Tania could see that. She suddenly rushed him.
‘I’ll scream on your doorstep, Jack Warr. Me and your kid will have a screaming competition. And I’ll win. I’ll scream things you don’t want the neighbours to hear. RAPE! RAPE!’ Jack grabbed Tania by the wrist and dragged her indoors. The instant his front door was closed, she fell completely silent. She’d got what she wanted. Jack dragged her to the sofa, pushed her down, leant in and shoved his finger in her face.
‘You move, touch anything, shout out, and I’ll shut you up. You’re trespassing now, and I have every right to defend myself and my property against intruders.’ The smirk slowly dropped off Tania’s face as she tried to decipher whether Jack was seriously threatening her. He held her stare. He needed her to be scared of him. Because he needed to go and comfort his crying daughter.
As soon as Hannah was in his arms, she stopped crying and settled. She was emotionally exhausted and within two minutes was back asleep. When Jack returned downstairs, Tania was also asleep, curled up on the sofa in the foetal position, with her knickers on display. As Jack looked down at the small, vulnerable teenage girl, he knew he should feel sorry for her; but he couldn’t. She frustrated him beyond comprehension. She was a spoilt little bitch and she was disrupting his life. He had zero responsibility for her, yet here she was again, invading his home. Jack took himself into the kitchen to make a cup of strong coffee and calm down.
He leant the palms of his hands on the kitchen top, fingers splayed, knuckles white. He closed his eyes and listened to the comforting sound of the coffee machine dribbling out a double espresso.
‘I’ve changed my mind.’ Jack’s eyes shot open. He spun round to see Tania leaning against the kitchen doorframe, finishing the remnants of his brandy. ‘It is you I want after all.’
Jack hadn’t counted to ten in his head since he was at school, but he was doing it now. He took the espresso from the machine, calmly walked up to Tania and swapped it for the now-empty brandy glass. She looked him straight in the eye and launched the small coffee cup across the kitchen, smashing it against the wall. Her throw was so cack-handed that she spilt most of the coffee all over herself and him.
That was the last straw. He grabbed her arm and dragged her through the lounge towards the front door. Rather than go with him, Tania dug her heels in and fought. She grabbed at the cushion on the sofa, and her handbag fell onto the floor where the contents spilt out across the carpet. Jack stopped in his tracks: amongst the expected items such as make-up, mobile, purse, and keys, there was also a bundle of cash held together with a small black clip. Tania wriggled free from Jack’s grasp and dived onto her knees to collect her belongings. ‘You’re a bastard!’ she screamed. ‘Just like the rest of them. A fucking hateful bastard!’
From upstairs, Jack could hear the distinctive sound of Hannah crying and knew she would be standing up in her cot. He hauled Tania off the floor, opened the front door and threw her out — just as Maggie and Penny were stepping out of a taxi.
Tania stumbled down the driveway, toppling off her heels, already trying to call someone on her phone. But when she saw the cab, she dropped the call and thrust the top half of her body in through the taxi window. ‘Take me home,’ she whimpered. Then she climbed in the back seat and the taxi sped away.
Penny walked straight past Jack and upstairs. She didn’t care what had happened, she just wanted to hug Hannah and stop her from crying.
Jack closed the front door and double-locked it. No one else was going to invade their home tonight. ‘I told him about her, Jack... I... swear I did,’ Maggie slurred. ‘How bloody dare she come round...’ Maggie suddenly became transfixed by a smudge of lipstick on Jack’s shirt. She poked it hard with her finger. ‘Bitch.’ Then she effortlessly shifted from being furious to practical. ‘Whip it off. I’ll soak it.’