Day Zero

ladle in hand. She had a pot on the bob, simmering away. “If I hadn’t, you’d be wearing them nasty clothes in here, making my kitchen smell like sweat. Like your flat, I might add.”
“You moved out?” Danny asked, somewhat surprised.
“About time.” Ro knocked on the wall above her head. “Need my own space.”
“More room to hide contraband, huh?”
Ro’s eyes narrowed. Before she could speak, Cece said, “None of that now. Your sister has a good job. She’s not running with them no account wide boys no more.”
“A job? Doing what?”
“Courier, innit?”
The way she said it caused him to prick up his ears. He leaned towards her and pitched his voice low. “For whom?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.
“For whom?” she mimicked. “None of your business.”
“Wrong,” Danny said. “I’m an officer of the law, remember?”
“You ain’t nothing.” Ro leaned forward belligerently.
Danny sat back in his seat. “Some things never change.”
Ro reached for him and he slapped her grasping hands aside. She didn’t relent, and his chair rocked back on its back legs. She was stronger than he remembered, but so was he. The problem was, Ro fought dirty. The table squeaked between them as they struggled.
“Allyuh be quiet!” Mum stormed in, ladle whipping left and right. “Danny, you let go your behen right now or I give you bois!” Danny recoiled. The ladle was still hot. Ro scrambled aside, jeering at him until their mother rounded on her. “An you,” she said, in a low voice. “You wajang…”
“Mum,” Ro protested. “He provoked me. He’s always provoking me.”
“You ain’t seen him in three years girl.” She snorted dismissively. “Talking about always. Behave, chile.” She glanced at Danny, and he raised his hands in surrender. “Goes for bloody both of you, awa? Now sit down. It is time to eat.”
“Gladly,” Danny said, carefully taking his seat. Order restored, Cece ladled out plates of chicken pelau. Danny’s mouth watered. Chicken browned in sugar, cooked with peppers, fresh herbs and coconut milk. He tucked in eagerly.
As he ate, he eyed his sister over his plate. She returned his glare with one of her own. She stuck her tongue out. He bit back the urge to respond in kind. Five minutes together, and they were kids again. It might have been comforting, if it wasn’t so annoying.
They ate in silence, their mother doing enough talking for all three of them. Finally, she poked him. “What about that today, then?”
He looked up from his food. “What?”
“The shooting!” She slapped her hands on the table, causing it to wobble. “I saw you on the news getting yelled at by the police, didn’t I?”
“They filmed that?” Danny paused. Of course they had. They filmed everything these days. “It was nothing, Mum. A jurisdictional misunderstanding is all.”
Ro snorted, and Danny glared at her.
“Somebody trying to shoot that Lincoln woman, no doubt,” Cece continued, ignoring their byplay. “Doesn’t surprise me. She got no care, that woman. Vikey vike, like your father. Doesn’t care about no one but herself.”
“Mum, didn’t you vote for her?” Ro said, innocently. Cece turned, squinting.
“A woman can’t change her mind, then?”
“It wasn’t her they were after,” Danny said, picking at his food. His mother and sister turned, and he immediately regretted saying anything. Ro frowned and poked at him with her fork. He batted it away. “What?”
“Not her, then who?”
“Some rando. Local bloke.”
“Who shot him?”
“Why do you care?”
Ro looked down at her plate. “Just curious.”
Danny studied her. He’d always been good at reading Ro’s face, or maybe she was just bad at hiding things. But it seemed like she’d learned how, over the last three years. Her expression told him nothing, and that worried him.
The conversation drifted away from the shooting and onto local topics. Gossip, mostly. Cece Hayes was a fine, upstanding Christian woman, but she had her flaws. She took an inordinate amount of pleasure in recounting the travails of her friends and neighbours, and always had. Danny wondered why companies like Blume bothered to craft data-gathering software, when they could just plant people in the kitchens and barber shops of East London. They’d have more information than they knew what to do with in a fortnight.
“Mum, have you ever heard the term schadenfreude?” he asked, finally, interrupting a story about the unwed mother one level down, and her dating habits. He stood and stretched.
“Don’t you get smart with me, Daniel Benjamin Hayes,” she said. She rose as well. “And where do you think you are going?”
“Home. Sleep. Early roll call.” He grimaced slightly as he said it. Faulkner wanted to roll up to Bethnal Green police station in the morning, make a show of force and get a look at the evidence. Danny had been under the impression that they were supposed to be keeping a low profile – maybe new orders had come down. Either way, he wasn’t looking forward to it – or the possibility of running into PC Moira Jenks.
Ro stood as well. “Me too. Deliveries all day tomorrow.”
“Oh, look at you both. Hard workers. You make me proud.” Cece kissed them both, and followed them out, still talking. When she’d finally closed the door, Danny turned to his sister. “I heard you been running with the Kelleys.”
Ro turned and started walking away.
Danny hurried after her. “Am I right then?” he asked.
“What’s it to you?”
“I’m your brother.”
She stopped. Turned. “Three years you been gone. You call once in a while, maybe send an email to Mum. Not much of a brother.”
“I offered to help you get a job… Albion’s looking–”
She laughed. “How is that any different to the Kelleys?” She poked him in the chest. “From where I stand, they’re pretty much the same thing. Just your lot is better armed.”
Danny didn’t reply. Ro shook her head and turned away. She waved dismissively as she left him staring after her.
“See you in another three years, bruv. Or better yet, make it five.”
Ro Hayes made her way across the street, ignoring traffic.