Nancy was way more streetwise than her new mate and knew more about this stuff than she’d ever let on. It was crystal clear what Ged was up to. County lines. Surely he wasn’t that thick that he didn’t know how this was going to end up? Nancy’s brother Graham had been done for the same thing a few years back and he was still in jail serving the rest of his six-year stretch for his part in the whole thing. This was a fool’s game. The top men got richer and richer and the pricks at the bottom end of the ladder got slammed in jail with not a penny.

Nancy had idolised her older brother and since he’d been in jail nothing had been the same. John would never have dared lay a finger on her when Graham was about. If he knew what was going on now, he’d have knocked ten bags of shit out of him given half a chance. She’d been so close to telling him the last time she visited, but as usual the words just wouldn’t come out. And what could he do when he was locked up in jail, anyway? Nothing. The time would come though, and the tide would turn. It was just a matter of time before John got what was coming to him.

Nancy started to tell Ged about her brother, explain exactly what it was that he was getting himself into, but he just brushed it off.

No way was he having this girl telling him what to do. He was one of the boys now, he could do whatever he wanted. Ged wished she’d just bugger off, he was not in the mood for her chatter. But Nancy wasn’t giving up.

‘So, can I come with you once you’ve done what you are doing? We can go into Blackpool and have a bit of fun if you want?’

Ged hadn’t left Manchester in years. The last time he’d been to Blackpool was with school when he was ten. He would love to go to the Pleasure Beach, ride the roller coasters and eat candy floss. Carried away with the memories of being a kid, he softened.

‘Yeah, alright. But keep this to yourself, you tell nobody what I’m doing, do you hear me, fucking nobody.’ Ged didn’t get Frankie’s operation, but he knew enough to understand that if this went tits up, he’d be in deep shit.

Nancy, on the other hand, was happier than she’d been in ages. Something interesting was happening in her life for a change. Usually she’d just walk about on her own for hours, speaking to nobody. Now the pact was made, and she crossed her heart and hoped to die if she broke his trust.