CHAPTER 38
Marlene saw us off after a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, with tea, of course, calling a taxi for us that dropped the other women off at the hostel before running me back to Tom and Connie’s. I couldn’t face a fry-up, so just settled for multiple more cups of tea to try and rehydrate.

God alone knew how much I had put away, but the two older women had gone at the job of getting blotto as if it was just that, a task to be completed as quickly as possible. And they had indeed been models of efficiency.

Dai Gould called round again that afternoon, with news of the two arrested men.

“CPS have gone for dangerous driving, just for once, Jen. No poncing about with due care, or reckless, but full-on causing death by dangerous. My mates are chuffed”

“Why?”

“Oh, it’s usually a case of the soft option, would a jury of twelve drivers good and true convict one of their own for the seriously heavy shit, so they’ll push for the lesser charge on the basis of more chance of a guilty verdict. The drugs and weapons stuff is extra, of course, but one of CID’s little ferrets found some shop video. Are you up to a bit of nasties, or better to leave it?”

I thought it through, realising that I would far better be able to bear the trial if I knew in advance what shit was coming up, rather than having it fall on my head on the actual day. I had no doubts that I would be at the trial, for they would bloody see me and know who I was.

“Go ahead”

“Well, you’ll know Angela was on the East side of Adeline Street”

“Yes”

Something I could never forget, her feet showing behind a dithering PCSO.

“Crash Scenes put the point of impact on the other side of that street. She was thrown right over the road”

“But there’s a pinch-point there, zebra crossing, with bollards and a hump”

“Our driver decided that was the ideal place to get past his mate’s car. Shop video mostly just shows his rear lights, not great detail, but he basically locked the wheels as he went behind the bollards, then came off the brakes to do a chicane game back onto Walker. He was on the accelerator as he went through Angela’s space, and he didn’t brake after he hit her”

I realised I probably hadn’t wanted to hear that, but it was too late by then, no takey-backy possible.

“P and DH is tomorrow, Jen. Plea and Directions Hearing. At the Madge Court by Adamsdown. Their briefs wanted them to do it by video link, but the Bench is aware she has her family here, so the whole lot 2ill be dragged there if necessary, kicking and bloody screaming if that’s how they want it to go. Tolerance is in bloody short supply right now, as far as my boys and girls are concerned”

“I’ll let the family know”

“Please. See you there, love”

We ate as a foursome that evening, in a Chinese place that was pretty anodyne, but none of us had much of an appetite. I heard more of my lover’s childhood, more tales of her charging straight at something and then being at a loss in how to handle it once caught. Rae was almost happy as she spoke.

“Always a joke with us, me and my daughter, ey? She said how she’d seen you, and then caught you, and I said she had to remember that things start with that capture, not finish. It must be the start of the journey, of life, not an end in itself. Too many men, bloody bedpost notchers, ey? Not our girl. Hinemoa… Mum was so right with that name…”

She tailed off once again, then Tihani asked about proceedings.

“Oh, this is what they call P and DH, plea and direction hearing. Basically, they go before magistrates, the case is summed up quickly and the charges put to them, and they can plead if they want. The Bench then decides whether there is a case suitable for trial, and, well, directs accordingly. That’s my understanding, anyway”

Tania simply said, “You will sit with us, daughter-woman, as will any other who wants to show strength and dignity. They will see us and know who we are”

I actually laughed at that, for it was so close to what I had told myself, so I then had to explain the joke. Tihani looked smug.

“Big Sis was dead right about this one, then!”

I was early at Fitzalan Place the next morning, but was still beaten there by three generations of other women. They were wearing casual clothing, but Tania had another of those shoulder-warmer cloak things she had left for Angela, and her face was set.

“Daughter-woman, welcome. Now, can you do this?”

She showed me a facial expression, which I imitated, and she seemed satisfied with my version.

“When we indicate, then”

We went in, we sat down, various strange people stared at us, and then Paul Welby appeared, looking drained.

“Been so tied up, love, or I would have been round already. How are you doing?”

“Truth? Not amazingly, but I have support here. Ange’s sister, mother and nan”

I finished the introductions as he shook hands, before he murmured, “Could have been in better circs, he says bloody stupidly. Girls are worried, Jen”

“Working girls or that Maisie’s lot?”

“Both, to be honest. Moira said she’d have stopped in, but she’s a bit too familiar with this place from the wrong side, if you take my meaning”

“Bloody dykes!”

That came from a dumpy woman in a sundress that was probably a size too small, and Paul rounded on her immediately.

“Cheryl Jeffries, if you are here to support your son, be careful you don’t end up in the dock beside him. This is your one and only section 4 warning under the Public Order Act, but if you continue, I’ll also add interfering with witnesses to it. Now go. Away”

Raewyn looked up, eyes hard, lips in a tight parody of a smile.

“Yeah, love, be a darling and fuck right off. He’s a copper. He has limits. I don’t”

Jeffries backed off quickly, and then the call was out for ‘all parties in…’ and we were allowed into the public gallery. Just as we were sitting down, Maisie appeared, together with her hard-faced minder and the girl with the excessive hair: Debbie and Kim. Introductions were rushed, because the Magic Door was opening to admit the Bench, and then the prisoners were brought in, four men and one woman.

The Clerk stood to read the charges.

“Tarron Monroe, you are charged…”

Tarron Monroe was clearly Target one, with his mother Evie Wardle, and then there was Target Two, Daniel Jeffries, with his father Geraint and brother Saul, and the charges were multiple, from assaulting an emergency worker, through possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, through driving not in accordance with a licence, no insurance, no MOT, no tax, no fucking hint of any legality at all, right up to causing death by dangerous driving. They threw in ‘failing to stop at an injury accident’ as a little cherry on top, along with the cannabis farm, offensive weapons, etc. The prosecution brief summarised the case, and then the clerk read the whole lot out again while each of the shits was asked if they wished to enter a plea.

None of them did, so the Magistrates had a notional nanosecond of consultation before remanding them all in custody. As he rose, the Chair nodded to us, clearly having worked out who my guests were, and as one the defendants turned to look at us.

Rae muttered, “Now, Jen”, and as one, we opened our eyes as wide as they would go, raised our eyebrows and dangled our tongues over our chins. Monroe laughed, but his mother elbowed him in a clear signal to STFU until they were out of the courtroom. We just maintained our pose till they were gone, and then Paul chivvied us out of the building.

“You will get me in bloody trouble, you lot. Coffee and a chat time”

He led us up to Newport Road, and into a café I actually knew quite well, for it was right by the Visa place Ange had been visiting to try and sort her residency.

And with it, our marriage.

Paul stood a round of coffees, while we each picked our own sandwiches, for I was suddenly very, very hungry. I was just about to take my first bite when a familiar voice asked, “Excuse me, aren’t you Ms Meads’ fiancée?”

It was our twelve-year-old visa wonk, rainbow lanyard and all. Hardly surprising, I suppose, given it must be his go-to for lunchtimes. I nodded.

“Oh, good. Have you had any response yet about her ancestry documents”

He didn’t know, obviously. No malice, Jennifer, just dreadful timing.

“What’s your name again?”

“Peters. Andy Peters”

“Well, you may have heard about the two men arrested for racing through Splott”

“God, yes! Awful! I was… I see. I…”

He was clearly knocked sideways, the poor man. He stumbled over a few more words, then wrote down his details on a paper napkin.

“I can’t think of anything at the moment, but if something comes up where I might be of help, drop me a line or ring me. I’m.. I’m sorry, but I am about to cry, and that isn’t very professional. Please let me know funeral arrangements. She was a client I actually enjoyed dealing with”

He shot off, no doubt to find a private spot, and Tania murmured, “That Donne bloke was right. Nobody goes without leaving a hole behind them, and its size is a measure of that person’s life”

We all took a few moments to settle our heads, and then Paul asked the obvious question.

“I’ve seen that tongue thing at the rugby. The Haka, aye? What does it actually mean?”

Rae smiled, once again with no humour anywhere near her mouth or eyes.

“Oh, just ‘I am going to kill you and eat you’, mate”