Page 97 of Maybe Tomorrow

‘Yes.’

‘What kind of friends?’

‘Just… friends.’

‘They started dating, didn’t they?’

‘They went for a burger once and to the pictures. It was hardly dating.’

‘I’ve been to see Susan. She lives in Nottingham now. She left Whitby after you attacked her in front of her friends at the college.’

‘I didn’t attack her.’

‘Not physically. But you did scream at her, didn’t you?’

‘Not like that. I just… Look, Susan had a reputation. I didn’t want her hurting Anthony.’

‘But she liked Anthony. Anthony liked her. They were both eighteen years old. Surely at that age you go out with people you’re attracted to and get your heart broken. It’s part of life. It’s part of growing up.’

‘She was… laughing at Anthony. She was no good for him.’

‘She wasn’t laughing at Anthony, though. She genuinely liked him. She wanted their relationship to progress, but you wouldn’t allow it.’

‘She was too old for him.’

‘They were the same age.’

‘She was too mature. They weren’t the same age mentally. She was… she was… she had a reputation as a tart,’ Pauline spat.

‘And you didn’t want your son going out with someone like that?’

‘No.’

‘So you went to the college, you tracked her down and you said, and I quote,’ Stefan looked down at his pad. ‘“Keep your dirty hands off my boy, you dirty slapper.”’ There was an audible gasp from around the court room. ‘Those were your exact words, weren’t they, Pauline?’

‘I don’t recall my exact words,’ Pauline said, looking down.

‘Susan does. Her cousin was with her at the time. She remembers the words, too. You shouted those words to her in a college canteen full of students. In that vitriolic sentence, I notice the word “boy” is used again. In your eyes, Anthony is just a boy, and you’ve never allowed him to grow up, have you? You’ve never allowed him to have a life of his own, a girlfriend, a relationship. You’ve repressed him his whole life and on the night of October the tenth, he finally snapped. Poor Alice Patterson bore the brunt, and it cost her her life. I have no further questions, Your Honour.’

Stefan sat down at his bench.

Pauline remained in the witness box. She was looking at the floor. She knew everyone in the court room was looking at her, judging her, hating her, blaming her for what her son had done to poor Alice Patterson. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

It took the judge three attempts at calling her name for her to look up.

‘You can step down now, Mrs Winstanley.’

As she walked back to her seat, she didn’t dare look up at her son. She didn’t want to see the look of disappointment she knew would be etched on his face. All she had wanted, her whole life, was to protect Anthony from the horrors of the world, the bullying, the name-calling, but instead, she had as good as sentenced him to a lifetime in prison.

ChapterThirty-Nine

‘Iremember Maggie at work telling me she always came to Sheffield to buy her children’s school clothes for the September term. She liked the Marks and Spencer here. They’d catch an early train and make a day of it. She always made it sound like a lovely place to come. I often said I’d have a day out shopping in Sheffield. Now, whenever I think about this city, I’ll think about what I’ve done to my poor boy.’

Pauline was standing by the window in her hotel room, looking out over the cloudy Steel City.

Leo was sitting on the bed. He’d removed his tie and kicked off his shoes. They’d left the court room in silence, and although he was hungry, he didn’t feel as if he could suggest they go for something to eat. Not after her performance in court.

‘Why did you do it?’ Leo asked.