Chapter Three
Tommy regained his footing and giving the woman a wide berth; he made his way to stand next to Turk. He looked up at her face and was secretly glad that she had decided to deal with Turkish.
"I take it you're Bethany then?" asked Turk calmly.
She narrowed her eyes at the mention of her name and then gave a short nod.
"Aye. Where's Eddie?"
Turning to Tommy, he said:
"Find 'im."
Tommy trotted off in the direction of the office and Turkish turned his attention back to Bethany. He looked her up and down and then noticed something. A thin stream of blood was coming from inside her jacket sleeve, trailing down the back of her hand, in between her clenched fingers and down the tire iron to make a small patch near her foot.
Pointing with his chin, he said:
"Not to be rude miss, but did you know that you're dripping on my floor?"
She glanced down then glared at him and flicked her eyes at Tommy who was coming out of the office with Eddie trailing reluctantly behind.
The moment she saw the boy was okay, her posture softened and she dropped to one knee and held out her unbloodied hand to him.
"Eddie." She said in a gentle tone. "What are you doing here?"
Eddie was trying to hide behind Tommy and Turkish reached round him and dragged him out to face his sister. With shuffling feet, Eddie walked up to Bethany and allowed her to hug him close to her.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he burst into tears.
"It's okay. Shhh." She said as she stroked his back. But the boy's tears continued and he couldn't get anything out that made sense. Rubbing his back, she looked up at Turkish and Tommy and said:
"What's he doing here?"
"He's been comin 'ere for a couple of weeks now. Said he wanted to get his sister somethin nice, so we gave him a job as the sweeper."
"I ju, ju, just wanted to help." Eddie wailed between sobs.
Understanding dawned on Bethany and she held the boy closer.
"Oh Ed's. You are so sweet."
"He suh, suh, said that he'd toss us out." cried Eddie, looking up. "You thought I couldn't hear but I could."
"Oh Eds." She said sadly and hugged him even closer.
She waited until his crying had abated and then tilted his chin up with one finger.
"I've already made a plan with the money but it was very brave of you to get a job to try and help."
"I like it." He sniveled.
"I'm sure you do, it's always nice having a job. Now, are you finished?"
"No, I still have to do the office."
She stood up carefully, making sure that he didn't see the blood puddle by her foot. Putting the clean hand on his shoulder she said:
"Go on then and finish up. I'll stay here and have a talk with your boss okay?"
"Right." Said Eddie and shuffled off towards the office, sure that his days of employment were at an end.
They waited until the boy was out of earshot and then Bethany turned to Turkish.
"So what happens now?"
"Well, I'm sure you can see we aint harmin im."
"I mean about him working here."
"He's right handy round here. Wouldn't mind keepin im if you didn't have a problem with it."
She pinned him with her eyes and said in an even tone laced with promise:
"He doesn't ever leave here without me or else there be hell to pay right?"
"Right." Nodded Turk.
Tommy, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly piped out.
"Hey up Turk, she's drippin!"
"How astute." Muttered Bethany and rolled her eyes.
She threaded the tire iron through one of her belt loops and rummaged in her coat pocket for a tissue to wipe away the blood. All she could come up with was a sad scrap of toilet paper that wouldn't wipe away a tear.
"Here, use this." Turkish held out his pristine pocket-handkerchief surprising Bethany and himself. She took it warily and scrubbed at her hand, wiping away most of the blood. Then she stuffed it up her sleeve to stop more of it coming out.
"I'll get Eddie to bring it back after I've washed it." She promised.
"Sure." He shrugged.
"What happened with you?" asked Tommy timidly, not sure if her temper had boiled down.
"When I got home and couldn't find Eddie, one of the twins told me he'd gone to the Turkish man. So I ran out to ask around for him. I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into a wire fence, it's nothing, just a scratch."
"That's a lot of blood for a scratch." Said Turk mildly.
"I'm fine. A plaster and it'll be as right as rain." She insisted.
"Twins?" said Tommy. "How many kids are there, Eddie mentioned six."
Bethany sighed; realizing that there was no way that she could avoid talking about herself and the family.
"Yeah, there are six, seven with me – I'm the eldest and then there's Eddie whose twelve."
"I thought he was only ten!" exclaimed Tommy.
"Nah, he's just little. All the boys are a little small for their age."
"Who comes next?" asked Tommy, curious.
"The twins are next, they're eight, Jack and Timothy. Then there's Elizabeth whose seven and Janet and Albert who are the youngest at five."
Turkish and Tommy shared a look of raised eyebrows.
"That's a handful of kids. How old are you then?" asked Turkish baldly.
She narrowed her eyes at him and said:
"That's actually none of your business but if you must know, I'm twenty."
"That's not very old, what happened to your parents?" asked Tommy.
"Car accident!" she snapped. "Would you like to know what I had for breakfast as well?"
The temper was back in place and Turkish rolled his eyes while jabbing Tommy in the ribs with a well-placed elbow.
"Shut it you stupit git. Just now, she'll be askin about our families." He hissed.
She nearly laughed out loud since she had been working on a list of very nosy questions. She swallowed her scathing barrage as Eddie came out of the office with the broom and waited till he'd put it away and walked over to them.
"All done then?" asked Tommy, clasping a hand to his tender ribs.
The boy nodded and then looked up at Bethany, who looked down at him.
"You ready then?"
He nodded miserably and she smiled.
"As long as your marks at school stay okay, you can still come here."
"Really?" asked Eddie, first looking at her and then at Turk and Tommy. They both nodded and he turned his eyes back to Bethany who said firmly:
"Really, but I'll be here to walk you home at night. Those streets aren't a place for you in the dark."
Eddie couldn't say anything so he grabbed her round the waist and squeezed.
"Come on then, dinner's still got to be done and by now, Timmy's probably tried to eat the carpet."
Eddie giggled and looked at Turk.
"I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Turk, Mr. Tommy."
"Cheers Eddie, see you tomorrow." Said Tommy.
Turkish walked with them to the door where Bethany held back while Eddie kicked at a cobblestone.
"Thank you, for keeping 'im on." she said softly. "An' I'm sorry about the shoutin'."
Turkish smiled briefly and then said:
"I'll bet that hurt more than your 'scratch'."
"What?"
'Apologizin'."
She glared at him and then backed out the door.
"Good night."
Turning her back on him, she collected Eddie and they made their way down the street where they vanished into the dark.
Going back into the building, Turkish closed the door behind him and locked it. Turning to Tommy he grinned and said:
"I say we call it a night yeah?"
They left the gym through the back door where they headed to their favorite pub for their evening pint, where Turkish found his mind constantly wandering down the street and it wasn't looking for his bed.