Finding her knickers, she sat on the bed and slipped them on. She couldn’t wait to get home, have a bath and scrub away the smell of Tommy Hutton.

Aware of her movements, Tommy opened his eyes and sat up. ‘What yer doing? What’s the time? You ain’t going home already, are yer?’

Unable to bring herself to look at him, Maria finished getting dressed. ‘It’s nearly seven. I’ve gotta go, me mum’ll be worried sick.’

Reaching towards her, Tommy grabbed her arm. For the first time in his life, he was well loved-up. ‘Stay another hour, come back to bed and we’ll have a little cuddle.’

Maria shook her head; she couldn’t think of anything worse. ‘I don’t want to, Tommy. I’ve got a headache, I feel ill, and I just wanna get home.’

Surprised by her abrupt manner, Tommy leaped out of the bed and walked towards her.

‘What’s the matter, babe?’ he said, taking her hands in his. ‘You’re not worried about James, are yer? He’s with that Ellie bird now, he’ll be all right. Anyway, if we’re gonna be seeing one another regularly, I’ll break the news to him gently.’

Maria looked at him in horror. Seeing each other regularly! Was he having a laugh, or what?

As he put his arms around her and tried to kiss her, she smelt his beery, stale breath and felt her body go rigid. His touch made her feel ill and she had to put him straight.

‘Look Tommy, we were both very drunk last night and we made a stupid mistake. I really like you as a friend, but I don’t wanna relationship with you. You’re far too old for me, anyway. I need to meet someone nearer my own age.’

Tommy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Cheeky little mare, who the fuck did she think she was? Annoyed that he’d mugged himself off, he did his best to sound cool. ‘I don’t give a shit if we see one another again or not, Maria. You know what I’m like with birds, I usually love ’em and leave ’em anyway. I was just being kinder to you ’cause we live next door to one another,’ he lied.

Maria forced a smile. She wanted sod all to do with him, but she didn’t want to make an enemy of him, either. ‘Well at least we both feel the same way, Tommy, eh? Can we keep this a secret from James? If me and you was just a one-off, there’s no point in him finding out about it, is there?’

Tommy shrugged. ‘Fine by me.’

Maria picked up her clutch bag, ‘I’ll see you around, then.’

Shocked by her rejection of him, Tommy tried to contain his anger, but couldn’t resist a parting shot. ‘I promise, Maria, I won’t say a word about last night to anyone. You were nothing special anyway, girl, so why would I wanna brag about yer?’

Maria opened the bedroom door. ‘The feeling’s mutual, Tommy,’ she said, as she closed the door behind her.

Fuming, Tommy flopped back onto the bed. He was used to birds falling at his feet, not giving him the fucking brush-off. Remembering the shy bird, Lucy, he’d met in the Bancroft, he decided to give her a call later. Fuck Maria, there were plenty more fish in the sea!

Seeing Maria flirting with Tommy and Freddie had really done his head in. Looking at his brother’s empty bed, James wondered what had happened after the party. Surely Tommy hadn’t got hold of her. He often stayed out all night, but the thought of him being with Maria made James feel physically sick.

Hearing his mum clattering about in the kitchen, he decided to go downstairs. If he stayed in bed, he’d only drive himself mad imagining the worst. Tommy loved him, they were brothers and he’d never betray him in a million years. Remembering the black bag episode, James tried to push it to the back of his mind.

He didn’t recall much about being five years old, but he remembered lugging that bag about as though it were yesterday. He’d been so bloody frightened, he didn’t like to think about it, even now. Tommy hadn’t mentioned it for years. He probably thought James had forgotten all about it, and maybe he would have done if he hadn’t checked out his brother’s case via the newspapers in the local library a few years back. The evidence that had convicted Tommy had been found hidden in a black bin bag in the alleyway that led round the back of Gladys’s old house. James had gone cold as he read it. It was a journey he’d never forgotten. There were two questions he would have loved the answers to. How could his brother have got him involved when he was only five years old? And was his failure to hide the bag as well as he should have the reason Tommy had got caught?

After a lot of deliberation, he decided not to mention any of it to Tommy. Some skeletons were best left in the closet, so they say. Trouble was, this Maria thing was bringing it all back to him. It made him wonder if Tommy was as loyal and trustworthy as he made out.

‘Christ, you look like something the cat dragged in. Shall I make you some brekkie, love?’

‘Please, Mum.’

Maureen put a sausage and a couple of rashers on and sat down opposite him. ‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you about last night. I invited Maria so that you and her could sort things out. You are a silly sod, ’cause just as the poor little cow walked in, you were groping that tart with the big tits. Maria loves and misses you and if yer can’t see that, James, you’re sillier than I thought.’

James felt himself go cold. ‘I weren’t groping Ellie when she came in, I only copped off with her ’cause Maria was all over Freddie and Tommy.’

Maureen shook her head. ‘You were snogging her on the dancefloor when Maria walked in. I clocked you, so did she, and I saw her run back out. I went out to find her and could see that she’d been crying.’

James stood up. Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry any more, just angry. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this last night?’ he shouted.

‘Don’t have a go at me, it ain’t my bleedin’ fault. I would’ve told yer last night if you hadn’t been so rat-arsed.’

Furious that he’d been so stupid, James grabbed his jacket and ran out of the house.

‘I’m gonna make us some lunch. Are you all right in there, love?’ Janet asked.

Maria tried her best to sound cheerful, ‘I’m fine, Mum, I’ll be out in a minute.’

Janet went downstairs to prepare the lunch. Her Maria was acting really strange lately and she wished she could get to the bottom of it. She’d had a right go at her this morning when she’d stayed out all night without asking permission.

‘Don’t you ever do that to me again, madam. All night I laid awake. I even knocked Maureen up at half three this morning to see if you were in there.’

Maria burst into tears and ran to her room. She then refused to come out and had since locked herself in the bathroom for Christ knows how long.

Feeling a bit guilty, Janet added some salad to the cheese sandwiches. It had hit Maria hard when her dad left home and sometimes Janet blamed herself. She’d caught Alex having an affair and had kicked his arse out. For months he’d begged her forgiveness, but Janet was having none of it. She was far too proud even to give him the time of day, let alone forgive the bastard. At first Maria had missed her dad terribly, but as time passed, her own bitterness had somehow rubbed off on her daughter.

‘I don’t want to see dad any more,’ Maria announced a few months ago.

At the time Janet was secretly pleased. Serve the bastard right, she thought. That’ll teach him to keep his dick in his pants. Recently, though, she’d felt differently. For all Alex’s faults, he’d always been a good dad and she should have done what any decent mother would have done, encouraged contact.

Cutting the sandwiches in half, Janet sat down to wait for her daughter. They always ate lunch together and today would be no different.

Tommy wasn’t amused. ‘About fucking time. Why didn’t you get rid of her earlier? I’ve been sitting here like a prick waiting to go for a beer.’

Freddie laughed at his pal’s annoyance. ‘It ain’t my fault if birds find me irresistible. She wouldn’t leave me alone. All night and then again this morning – she was begging me for more.’

‘Just hurry up,’ Tommy said agitated.

Freddie grinned. ‘Fucking hell, did you get out the wrong side of the bed or what?’

Tommy shook his head. He was still fuming over the way Maria had treated him, but he wasn’t about to tell Freddie.

‘Nah, I’m just gagging for a beer. I fucked Maria off this morning, I thought you’d do the same and we’d be out by now. I’m bored, that’s all,’ he lied.

Grabbing his keys, Freddie pushed Tommy towards the door. ‘Come on then, let’s go, and you can tell me all about the lovely Maria.’

Tommy forced a grin. He had to lie to Freddie, he’d look a right fucking idiot if he told him the truth. ‘She was OK, nothing special, mind. I’ve got a feeling it was her first time. I did ask her, but she denied it. Then again they always do, don’t they?’

Freddie grabbed him in a headlock, ‘A virgin, you lucky bastard. You seeing her again?’

Laughing, Tommy pushed him away. ‘Nah, can’t be arsed. I promised I’d ring her, but I won’t bother. I was thinking about what you said, yer know, about telling James. I don’t think he needs to know, so let’s just keep it between ourselves, eh?’

Freddie nodded. ‘I ain’t gonna say anything, am I?’

Clocking the first pub he saw, Tommy dragged Freddie towards it. ‘Enough about birds – let’s talk business.’

Freddie smiled. Birds came and went; money was far more important.

Janet handed her a sandwich, ‘So where did you stay last night, love?’

Maria couldn’t look her in the eye, ‘I was at Alison’s. I got a bit drunk, that’s why I never came home.’

‘Was it a good party?’

Maria was saved from answering by the doorbell. ‘I’ll get it,’ she insisted. She thought it might be Alison and wanted to clue her up on what to say to her mum. As she opened the door, her heart leapt when she came face to face with James.

‘Can we talk, Maria? There’s something I need to say to you. Please, just hear me out.’

Maria’s first thought was that he knew all about Tommy. Relieved that he didn’t sound angry, she invited him in.

‘Mum, I’m going upstairs to talk to James. Don’t disturb us, will you?’

Janet smiled as she covered Maria’s sandwich in clingfilm. If James was back on the scene, it would explain Maria’s strange behaviour. Janet adored James and would love him as a boyfriend for her daughter. Trouble was, Maria liked the bad boys. Many had been to the house to pick her up and Janet had never liked any of them. Praying that her daughter had finally come to her senses, she made a start on the ironing.

‘Look Maria, you’re probably not gonna like what I’m gonna say, but I have to say it anyway. Ever since we were kids and shared our first kiss to “Puppy Love”, I knew you were the girl for me. Deep down, I knew I was never your type, but I still lived in hope. As the years ticked by and you went out with bloke after bloke, all I became was your shoulder to cry on. Watching you waste your time with all them losers broke my heart and I had to keep a wide berth from yer for me own sanity. I knew you didn’t want me, so I tried to get on with me own life, meet other girls and stuff. Them other girls, including Ellie Phillips, mean nothing. You’re the one I want, you always have been, Maria.’

Overcome by emotion, Maria threw her arms around his neck. She was crying now, her tears a mixture of joy and guilt.

‘Oh James, I wished you’d have told me ages ago. We’ve been so stupid and wasted so much time. I never really liked any of them boys I went out with, I didn’t understand what we had until we fell out. I missed you so much when we weren’t talking, and I sort of realised you was the one.’

Having waited a lifetime to hear such words, James started to cry too. Feeling a right wilf, he fiercely wiped his eyes. ‘We’re a right pair, ain’t we? What are we like?’

Maria smiled as she hugged him. She felt so safe in his arms, it all just felt so right. Why the hell hadn’t she seen what was in front of her eyes all along?

Tilting her chin, James gently kissed her lips. ‘You still got that Donny Osmond record? he asked jokingly. He didn’t think for a minute that she’d still have it.

Maria nodded. ‘I’ve played it a lot lately, it reminded me of you. Shall I put it on?’

‘Yeah, I wanna dance with yer to it.’

James held her close as ‘Puppy Love’ began. It was their first ever dance and they were both swept away with the romance of it all.

Staring into her eyes, James smiled at her. ‘I really love you, Maria.’

Maria felt too guilty to speak, ‘I love you too, James,’ she managed to mumble.

She turned her head away from him. She couldn’t look him in the eye, she didn’t deserve him. As she sobbed, James placed her head on his shoulder. Bless her, it’s all been a shock and she’s overcome by emotion, he thought. Obviously, he had no idea that the tears soaking his shirt were tears of pure guilt.