Chapter 2:

A cigarette dangling from her mouth, Rita stood in the kitchen at the sink, scrubbing the dishes clean before she heard several loud knocks at the door. "Rita, someones at the door" yelled Gerald from their bedroom. Rita shook her head in disbelief and sighed with annoyance, before shouting "I know, I'm going to answer it now". She swung open the door to find her sister-in-law Francine standing in front of her. "What's this" Rita asked as she glanced down and noticed Francine was holding several shopping bags. Francine Lee Ray was a short, squat woman resembling a large pale toad. She had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth and little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy eyes, and she had curly ginger hair, which was a common characteristic in the Lee Ray family. She was wearing one of her many dark green tweed outfits and a bright pink fuzzy cardigan.

Pushing past Rita, Francine hurried inside, through the hallway and into the kitchen before almost throwing the bags onto the kitchen table. "Who is it" Gerald roared from upstairs

"Tell that pathetic excuse of a man, that it's me" Francine sternly said to Rita, while sitting down and placing a cigarette between her lips.

Rita stood for a few moments, confused and suprised, her eyes shot from Francine to the stairs, before yelling "it's your sister". Rushing into the kitchen, Rita boiled the kettle, before turning to Francine and asking "what's wrong"

"My parents would be turning in their graves, if they knew how he'd turned out" Francine calmly stated, before angrily yelling "how can he call himself a man"

"What's brought all this on" questioned Rita, trembling with worry as she lit herself a cigarette and began frantically smoking it

"I had a little visit from my favorite nephew, my only nephew, Charles" Francine answered, before snapping "why didn't you tell me...you should of said something. If I knew you needed money, I'd of given it to you. All this shopping is for you, to fill the kitchen". Rita sat on the chair facing Francine, before her sister-in-law continued, "I hope your not worried or scared, he shouldn't of allowed you to get into all this shit. He can't use that fucking stroke, or them fucking drugs as an excuse, not anymore"

"I...don't know what to say" nervously stuttered Rita, before whimpering "I'm just so embarresed. It is my fault, I spent all the money, I borrowed of Tommy"

"Oh fuck off" sneered Francine before arguing "Gerald, that fucker doesn't leave that fucking room. When our other brother David, had his heart-attack, he didn't let his family run out of money, he was out earning again within a week"

"Francine, I understand what you mean, but he's still weak" Rita assured her friend, "how'd you think he feels, there was a time when he'd fight anyone, anywhere...now he doesn't leave that room"

"He doesn't leave that room, because you're waiting on him...like a fucking slave"

"I'm just being a good wife" Rita replied, making two cups of tea and placing one in front of her and one in front of Francine

"You are a good wife" Francine smiled, before snapping "your the best wife he could have, that lazy bastard upstairs". Francine stood up from her chair, then wandered around the kitchen as she lit a cigarette, before turning to Rita and continuing "that miserable fuck, he's no man. If David and Ronald, if they weren't in jail and knew about this, it'd turned them both fucking sick. I swear, they'd beat him to a pulp for doing this to you". Rita shook her head agreeingly, as she grabbed a tissue and began dabbing her eyes.

Glancing over her shoulder, when she heard steps coming down the stairs, Rita turned back to Francine and told her "here's Charles"

"Good, he's the only man left in our family, who isn't in fucking jail" Francine said, before noticing her handsome nephew walking through the hallway. "There's my handsome boy" she smiled, standing up and hugging him tightly, before she lectured "now you're a man, aren't you...you said to me that you're going to fucking sort out this bastard. The bastard, your mother owes money too"

"Yeah, aunt Fran, I'm gonna' go up and see him" Charles reassured her

"Oh fucking hell, what do you mean see him, go up for a cup of tea and a chat" Francine replied sarcastically, before placing her hands firmly on her hips and arguing "my brothers, when they said they'd sort someone out, it ment going up there and fucking beating the fella"

"Francine, you can't have him doing that" interrupted Rita, before angrily adding "you go on about your brothers, David and Ronald are both in jail, what good has it done them...being so called men. David's in for murder, and Ronald rape"

"David killed during a robbery, he was trying to earn money for his family, for all of us. Ronald, he was just doing what a man does" answered Francine, "I don't know how Gerald turned out the way he is. Our daddy, he treated them all the same, he showed them what a man does, while our mom showed me what a woman does"

"Yeah, I heard about your father, how he beat his lads senseless"

"Ay" shouted Francine, pointing her thick stubby fingers at Rita, which where like Rita's adorned with several rings, she explained "that was discipline, he loved us all. I remember when I used to stay at home, doing chores with my mom, daddy would take out all the lads on little trips"

"Yeah, but on them 'little' trips, he made them watch him rape some poor women. Sometimes, the man would make them do it themselves"

"Boys will be boys...and they never complained" giggled Francine, crushing her cigarette in the ashtray then instantly lighting another one. "Alright, I better had be on my way" Francine said, standing up and walking towards Rita, she looked at her brothers wife, who she was fond of and friends with, before reassuring her "if you need anything, let me know"

"I will do" Rita smiled anxiously

"Now, you, my lovely nephew" smirked Francine, before hugging Charles and pecking him on the cheek, "keep in touch, let me know what happens". Before Rita guided her to the front-door, Francine turned back and said to Charles with a wide, toad-like smile "I know, you'll do the right thing and be a man".

Rita slammed the door shut, spinned around and sighed "that woman's a headcase" before she advised Charles "don't listen to her"

"I thought you wanted me to"

"If you want to, go and do it...but if you do not, don't worry about it" insisted Rita. Charles nodded agreeingly, before wandering upstairs to his room. The thought dwelled on his mind, would his family think he wasn't a 'real man' if he didn't 'sort out' Tommy the loanshark. Although his mother had told him to ignore Francine, he wondered if it was a test. He remembered the time when he was thirteen, a sixteen year old boy had shoved himself into Rita causing her to drop several bags of groceries. Rita had stormed into the house, raging and roaring for Charles, she demanded that he teach the boy a lesson, if he didn't, she'd no longer consider him her son. Charles rushed out, although he was tearful and frightened, he leaped on the older boy and bit his ear off, before finally knocking him to the ground.

Chapter 2 finished

Authors note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know it included a lot of speech but I hope you didn't mind. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it.