“You hit her because you wanted to see me . . . why?”
“I . . . I raised ya,” he sputtered. “Ye have yer life because of me and my Freda!”
“I had a roof over my head because of you two, but I never had a life. You controlled me, beat me and tried to break me from the time I was five years old.”
Owen tried to string a sentence together but couldn’t; he likely didn’t know what to say to the truth when he couldn’t physically beat the person down like he had done to me, like he had once done to Risk.
“You’re nothing!” Risk bellowed at him. “Nothing. I used to cower at your feet like a scared dog. I begged my girl to keep your twisted secret. Your secret, not mine. What you did to me was your shame but I’ve been carrying it as my own all these years but I’m fucking done. You no-good waste of flesh. I’m done with anything to do with you. You’ll have no part of me, my mind and soul are free of you, you pathetic bastard.”
Owen lifted a shaking hand to his severely broken, gushing-with-blood nose.
“Turn around and leave.” Risk stepped forward. “Leave this town. Get the fuck out of Southwold. If you don’t, I’ll go public and tell everyone what an abusive, fat pussy you are. I’ll wreck Freda’s memory and expose her as a cruel, heartless cunt to those who hold her dear . . . I swear, Owen. I’ll ruin you way worse than you thought you ever ruined me.”
Owen was bobbing his head up and down, then just like that he turned and hurried away from Risk, from me, from Southwold, as fast as his legs could carry him down the pier. This was going to be the last time I ever saw Owen Day. The second I saw Risk put the fear of God into his eyes with his threat of exposing him to the residents of Southwold, I knew it was enough to send him running. Owen was a pathetic man who valued others’ opinions of him, that’s why Risk’s threat hit home. He didn’t care that he could be arrested for child abuse, neglect and other things . . . he was scared that his friends and neighbours would know that he wasn’t a poor, sweet widower who once fostered children out of the goodness of his heart.
No, they would learn the truth and that terrified Owen Day more than a prison cell ever would.
“Risk.” I stepped forward. “You did it . . . you beat him.”
Risk whirled to face me and with a choked sob, he enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug that, after years of pain, held nothing but relief and justice in its embrace. He held me for a long time but when we separated and I took a step back so I could stare up at him, my heart ached painfully. I looked into the eyes I loved . . . and I didn’t recognise them.
“You’ve taken more, haven’t you?” I asked. “More drugs?”
He shook his head.
“Don’t lie to me.” I warned. “I can see it in your eyes.”
His jaw jumped around and his eyes were wild.
“I had a couple more lines of coke . . . that’s it.”
Half a line of that poison was more than enough.
“Where is Chris?” I asked. “He is your manager! He should stop you from doing this.”
“That arsehole is sacked, Frankie.”
I turned and looked at May with wide eyes. “What?”
“Tob told us that he grabbed you and shoved you into a fucking wall, and about the things he said to you,” Hayes said, his body rigid. “He’s done.”
I looked back at Risk. “You guys fired him?”
“He spoke down to you and put his hands on you,” Risk practically growled. “Of course we sacked him, he’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”
I couldn’t say I felt any love lost for the man, something about him rubbed me the wrong way from the second I clapped eyes on him.
“You guys need a manager. You have to go back to rehab, Risk. Someone has to deal with all of that,” I told him. “Your body isn’t used to taking that stuff anymore, you’ll kill yourself. You have to go back.”
“Please. I’m fine.” He pressed his body to mine. “Don’t send me away again. We can fix what happened tonight at the gig. Okay? We can fix it, Frankie. We’ll get a new manager and me and you will be okay again.”
Denial. He was in denial.
“Risk, you need to go back to rehab.” I lifted my hands to his face. “You need to get clean again.”
“I can handle this,” he swore. “It’s only a couple of lines.”
I couldn’t believe he was trying to talk me round to being okay with him using.