Jeff didn’t borrow Alan’s ladder tonight, she’d go over there tomorrow and borrow it herself.
Realising she was still clutching the leaflet with its big Dean Valley NHS logo at the top, she stuffed it into her bag and took out her phone. Not sure who she was intending to ring, she simply slipped it into her pocket and took out her gloves. The hole in the thumb reminded her that she’d intended to ask Jeff for a new pair for Christmas, but now she was going to ask him for a Pilates board. Perhaps Lily could get her the gloves. She’d spotted two pairs for a fiver in Primark the last time she was in Bristol, with any luck they still had some.
The big question really was what on earth she was going to get Ryan. Lily had already made up a calendar with photos from their childhood marking each month of the coming year, while Josie’s mother, his doting nan, was proposing to send him a girlie magazine. Josie was fairly certain the prison wouldn’t allow that, but rather than argue with her mother, she’d decided it was best simply to let her get on with it. The last time she was there Ryan had mentioned he’d taken up reading, so a couple of paperbacks might be a good idea. She’d find out what sort of books he was into, then pop in the second-hand shop to see if she could track them down there.
Remembering she hadn’t actually arranged her visit yet, she opened up her phone to try and do it now. Since it was past the time they took the calls, she made a mental note to do it in the morning, and put the phone away again.
What day was it tomorrow? Was she supposed to be at the caff or at John Crover-Keene’s?
She wondered how her boy was filling his days, stuck there in that dreadful prison. It scared her so much to think of what the other inmates might be doing to him. Her only way of dealing with it was to shut it out of her mind. After all, it wasn’t as if he was in for interfering with children, or anything terrible like that. He’d been involved in a burglary that had gone horribly wrong when one of his accomplices had hit the homeowner round the head with a crowbar and fractured the poor bloke’s skull. Fortunately, the victim had survived, so the charge had been downgraded to grievous bodily harm for which Ryan had received the maximum sentence of five years. The others, previous offenders from the Zone every one of them, had managed to get away with three years apiece after insisting that Ryan had wielded the bar. Josie believed her son when he swore to her that he hadn’t. Ryan had never been violent. Foolish, yes, and easily led, but never violent. The trouble was, he was so afraid of the villains he’d got involved with and what they’d threatened their families would do to his family if he didn’t take the rap, that he’d ended up copping to the assault, and nothing Josie, Jeff, or the criminally expensive lawyers could say had persuaded him out of it. (They should have qualified for legal aid, but with all these cuts they hadn’t, which was why Jeff’s redundancy payout had gone, along with their savings.) What hadn’t helped Ryan with the judge was the fact that his mother was a cleaner for the family he’d burgled, which was how Ryan had got hold of the key – and how Josie had ended up losing four good paying jobs on the west side of the hill.
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan
, she was sighing to herself as she crossed the main road at the traffic lights to start heading into the maze of their part of the estate.
What on earth’s going to happen to you when you do finally come out? Please don’t let your life be ruined by this. Make something good come of it, son, for your own sake, if not for ours.
A sudden, horrible thought struck her.
She would still be around when he came out, wouldn’t she?
The shock of even thinking it was so brutal that it took her a while to realise someone was calling her name.
‘Hey, Josie, hold up, where’s the fire?’
Turning round she saw her old school chum
Realising she was still clutching the leaflet with its big Dean Valley NHS logo at the top, she stuffed it into her bag and took out her phone. Not sure who she was intending to ring, she simply slipped it into her pocket and took out her gloves. The hole in the thumb reminded her that she’d intended to ask Jeff for a new pair for Christmas, but now she was going to ask him for a Pilates board. Perhaps Lily could get her the gloves. She’d spotted two pairs for a fiver in Primark the last time she was in Bristol, with any luck they still had some.
The big question really was what on earth she was going to get Ryan. Lily had already made up a calendar with photos from their childhood marking each month of the coming year, while Josie’s mother, his doting nan, was proposing to send him a girlie magazine. Josie was fairly certain the prison wouldn’t allow that, but rather than argue with her mother, she’d decided it was best simply to let her get on with it. The last time she was there Ryan had mentioned he’d taken up reading, so a couple of paperbacks might be a good idea. She’d find out what sort of books he was into, then pop in the second-hand shop to see if she could track them down there.
Remembering she hadn’t actually arranged her visit yet, she opened up her phone to try and do it now. Since it was past the time they took the calls, she made a mental note to do it in the morning, and put the phone away again.
What day was it tomorrow? Was she supposed to be at the caff or at John Crover-Keene’s?
She wondered how her boy was filling his days, stuck there in that dreadful prison. It scared her so much to think of what the other inmates might be doing to him. Her only way of dealing with it was to shut it out of her mind. After all, it wasn’t as if he was in for interfering with children, or anything terrible like that. He’d been involved in a burglary that had gone horribly wrong when one of his accomplices had hit the homeowner round the head with a crowbar and fractured the poor bloke’s skull. Fortunately, the victim had survived, so the charge had been downgraded to grievous bodily harm for which Ryan had received the maximum sentence of five years. The others, previous offenders from the Zone every one of them, had managed to get away with three years apiece after insisting that Ryan had wielded the bar. Josie believed her son when he swore to her that he hadn’t. Ryan had never been violent. Foolish, yes, and easily led, but never violent. The trouble was, he was so afraid of the villains he’d got involved with and what they’d threatened their families would do to his family if he didn’t take the rap, that he’d ended up copping to the assault, and nothing Josie, Jeff, or the criminally expensive lawyers could say had persuaded him out of it. (They should have qualified for legal aid, but with all these cuts they hadn’t, which was why Jeff’s redundancy payout had gone, along with their savings.) What hadn’t helped Ryan with the judge was the fact that his mother was a cleaner for the family he’d burgled, which was how Ryan had got hold of the key – and how Josie had ended up losing four good paying jobs on the west side of the hill.
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan
, she was sighing to herself as she crossed the main road at the traffic lights to start heading into the maze of their part of the estate.
What on earth’s going to happen to you when you do finally come out? Please don’t let your life be ruined by this. Make something good come of it, son, for your own sake, if not for ours.
A sudden, horrible thought struck her.
She would still be around when he came out, wouldn’t she?
The shock of even thinking it was so brutal that it took her a while to realise someone was calling her name.
‘Hey, Josie, hold up, where’s the fire?’
Turning round she saw her old school chum
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