Two Women Read Online Free

around her waist. She shrugged him off.
    ‘Look at me, Jacob. This is it for me. It can’t be any other way. If my old man comes home and finds you here, one of you will be doing time, okay? And quite frankly I ain’t worth it. Now will you go?’
    Before he could answer, a bucket of cold water hit the pair of them.
    Ivy was in her element. All the neighbours were out and her boy was due home so she could really let her hair down now. If June slung her out she knew one of the neighbours would gladly take her in so she was guaranteed a cuppa and a ringside seat while she waited for her son’s return.
    June turned on her mother-in-law like a demented cat.
    ‘You vicious old bitch! What did you have to do that for?’
    She chased her back into the little flat, could hear laughter from the neighbours as Ivy screamed with fright and excitement. If her mother-in-law would just drop dead her life would be so much easier. Susan and Debbie watched wide-eyed as her mother set about their granny. June gave her a few resounding slaps around the mouth and head. Ivy dragged at her daughter-in-law’s hair.
    ‘You whore! He’ll fucking paste you round the estate when I tell him about this. A wog, is it? Bleeding coons now, is it? By Christ, you’re lower than the dock dollies you - you’d take on anything. Even they think twice about a black man.’
    Dragging her mother-in-law by the hair and throwing her into a chair by the TV, June bellowed, ‘He’s a decent man! A bloody decent man. Too good for the likes of me. If I had half a brain I’d go on the trot with him, I would. But I know that between you and that ponce of mine we’d never know a day’s peace. Your son has taken everything from me - everything. Look around you, look what we are, then pat yourself on the back, Ivy. You did a fucking great job with your boys. A really great job. We’ve got nothing, even less than you.’
    Both women were worn out now, by the fighting and the screaming. The room went quiet, the two protagonists staring at one another like trapped vixens.
    ‘Shall I make another cup of tea?’
    June turned to her friend and neighbour and barked, ‘Oh, fuck off, Maudie. Ain’t you seen enough today? Go home and look after your kids. You’ll hear it all through the wall, love, you normally do.’
    ‘I’ll make the tea, Mum.’ Susan’s voice was low and her mother stared into her daughter’s face sadly.
    ‘I’ll put a drop of Scotch in it, shall I? Clear your head.’
    She closed the front door after Maud had left then put the kettle on. Five minutes later she took two large steaming mugs of tea in to her mother and her granny.
    Both women were whacked out though neither would admit it. Now that Joey was due home even his mother had gone quiet. No one ever knew what mood he would be in. He swung from laughter one minute to searing anger the next.
    The flat was so quiet they could all hear the ticking of the clock on the Belling cooker in the kitchen.

Chapter Two
    It was an hour later when Joey put his key in the front door. As they heard him fumbling, Ivy looked at her daughter-in-law and whispered, ‘Now don’t wind him up, right? Just agree with him. Whatever he says, just agree.’
    June didn’t even bother to answer her.
    Joey walked through the door quietly, his narrow dark face closed and impassive. Picking up Debbie, he kissed her on the lips.
    ‘How’s my best girl, eh?’
    Debbie snuggled into him, kissing him back. Susan watched. He winked at her and then walked into the kitchen. Looking at his mother, he sighed.
    ‘Hello, Mum. Come round to pour trouble on oily waters, have we?’
    Ivy kept her body still, her mouth firmly closed. Joey turned his gaze to June, taking in her battered face and hand. He blinked a few times as if unsure whether he was seeing right.
    ‘What happened to you then, June? Had a tear up with a bus, love? You look rough, girl.’
    No one said a word.
    This was par for the course with Joey. He could go