Page 61 of Vengeance is Mine

I felt underdressed standing next to the resplendent solicitor, who stood tall in her expensive-looking boots and heavy winter coat. I wore low-heeled boots, black trousers and the second-hand coat I’d bought from the market. I was often proud of my bargains, but beside a woman decked out in brand-new designer labels, my shabby-chic style looked trashy.

The gates began to open. I could feel Clare staring hard at me as if committing my exact expression to memory for when she told the press all about the reunion between father and daughter.

Dominic walked out of the prison. He had a plastic carrier bag in one hand containing all his worldly goods. He shivered as the cold hit him. He looked nervous, petrified even. As soon as he saw two familiar faces, his eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face.

I smiled and slowly approached him.

‘I never thought this day would come,’ Dominic said. ‘I have no idea what words to use to thank you,’ he said to Clare.

She smiled back.

‘I’ve got you a gift,’ I said. From my bag, I pulled out a Penguin Clothbound Classic edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I handed it to him. ‘Look inside.’

He opened the cover and read the inscription. ‘Thirteenth of February 2019. To Dad, something for us to talk about over coffee. Love Dawn.’

He looked up. There were tears in his eyes. ‘This is the best present I’ve ever received. Thank you so much.’

He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I hugged him back.

Clare took her expensive iPhone out of her pocket and took a couple of photos of father hugging daughter. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she already had a tabloid newspaper lined up to buy them off her for a few hundred pounds each.

‘Well, Mr Griffiths, your car awaits,’ Clare said.

‘I really can’t believe all of this is happening. I’m just so overwhelmed.’

‘It’s a lot to take in, Dad, I know, but you’ll get through it,’ I said.

‘Absolutely. You’re a free man now, Dominic. This is your time.’

Clare got behind the wheel, while I got into the back with Dominic. We had a lot to talk about, a lot to plan for, and there was no time like the present to begin.

Part II

ONE YEAR LATER

Chapter Twenty-Five

Thursday, 2 January 2020

Dawn Shepherd really wasn’t in the mood for being out of the house today. She’d had far too much to drink on New Year’s Eve with Robyn and her boyfriend, Chris, who, on the stroke of midnight, had got down on one knee and proposed. Robyn had said yes, of course, and the rest of the night had been a blur of bottles of champagne and dancing. Dawn had no idea how she’d made her way from Robyn’s flat to her own bed, but needless to say, New Year’s Day had been a write-off, and she hadn’t spent much time anywhere else but under her duvet.

The next morning, she had showered, put on a touch of make-up and styled her dark brown hair – having swapped the severe black beehive for a stylish bob – and left the flat, wrapping her long coat around her.

There had been a heavy frost the previous night, and it took a while for her to scrape it off the windscreen of the second-hand Peugeot she’d bought last summer. She missed her Golf but felt much more confident behind the wheel of something made this century.

With Dusty Springfield playing on the stereo, she drove along the streets of Newcastle to Atlantic Road, where her father lived alone in a two-bedroom semi-detached house.

The second of January usually marked the day most people returned to work after the Christmas and New Year break, but Dawn had learned from previous years’ experience and had booked a couple of extra days off work to allow time to get over the hangover.

She pulled up outside her father’s house. The curtains were still closed in the living room, but then, it was a dull start to the day. She climbed out of the car and made her way up the front path. She rang the doorbell and stepped back.

The door of the house two doors along opened, and a woman came out. She was wearing a dressing gown and slippers. She lifted the lid of her dustbin and dropped a heavy black sack into it. Dawn looked towards her. She was going to say good morning, wish her a happy New Year, but the woman looked daggers at her. They all knew who lived in this house, and they would have no doubt Dawn must be of the criminal class, by association. Dawn shook her head; the narrow-mindedness of some people never failed to shock her.

She rang the bell again.

There was no reply and no sound of movement from inside. She dug around in her handbag for the spare key Dominic had given her for emergencies. This wasn’t technically an emergency, but it was freezing cold, and she was in urgent need of a pee.

‘Dad, it’s me. Are you decent?’ she called out, as she stepped inside. It was as cold indoors as it was outside. She knew her dad struggled with things like paying bills and getting the heating to work after being in prison for twenty years. He couldn’t get used to having to do everything himself, but she had helped as much as she could. She thought she’d explained his heating system enough for him to be warm and comfortable in his own home by now.

---