Cute Little Hand Grenade: 1, #1

By Jadella Gold

DON'T PULL THAT PIN!

 VICKY STERLING had been born into a world that didn't want her, so it was imperative that she stayed one step ahead of the brutality that is her world, if she has any chance of survival.

 Vicky was a product of abandonment and betrayal and had openly accepted it. Stripped of any self-worth that she may have had, she sinks into an existence of prostitution, sexual exploitation, and eventually, that grows into a love for sadism.

 Vicky has a son, Simon, the other half of her heart, and the only reason she is still living. She vowed the day her little miracle was born that she would protect him with her life, and to ensure that he has everything his heart ever desires, and she did.

 But one fateful day her neighbour attacks her son. The pin had finally been pulled and the aftermath would be devastating…

 CUTE LITTLE HAND GRENADE IS A POWERFUL READ, A PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF REAL LIFE THAT IS GENERALLY NOT SPOKEN OF...

                             

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jadella Gold
• Release date: Feb 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393680765

Book preview

Cute Little Hand Grenade

Jadella Gold

By Jadella Gold

Cute Little Hand Grenade

Beautiful Ticking Time Bomb

Adorable Retributive Missile

Vicky’s Lovely Aftermath

Dangerous Delight

Wonderful Consequences

So far...

––––––––

Published by Jadella Gold Books.com, 2021

Copyright © Jadella Gold.

The author has asserted their normal right under the copyright, designs and patents Act 1988, to be identified as the author of the ‘Cute little hand grenade’ trilogy

All rights reserved. No part of these publications may be reproduced, copied, sorted in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which they are published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For my 3 wonderfully sons;

Danny; My first miracle who amazes me every day with his pure loveliness.

Max; My youngest treasure who touches the hearts of everyone he meets.

Christopher; the one in the middle who fills me with so much pride for the man/father he has become.

& his beautiful wife Charlotte, who has blessed me with my truly gorgeous grandson Jackson who has brought me so much happiness. And my beautiful little Granddaughter Lilly who is just a baby but if she grows to be half the person Jackson is she will be nothing short of perfect.

And never forgetting my dogs; Stella & Kiera (RIP) and my newest addition’ Charlie & Crash.

And lastly my dad in heaven; The most loving man I have ever had the fortune of knowing.

Thank you all so much for being in my life, I love you all to the moon and back.

Chapter 1

Vicky was blissfully aware that her parents and siblings found her an unnecessary annoyance, an intrusion on their lives, why would they want her if her biological parents didn't give a shit? Her mother had once mentioned that she was ''the chosen one'' but what had that supposed to mean? She had only been chosen because she had been recklessly discarded in the first place.

Vicky had been placed into a ready-made family consisting of three brothers, two sisters, a father who was by all-means an influential barrister, and a soul-sucking mother. All of her siblings would ignore her, except for one, Michael, who was five years her senior, and by the time she reached six, he thought it was his god-given right to abuse her.

As Vicky's stolen childhood rapidly slipped from under her feet she entered a life of solitude, she was psychologically constipated, with not so much  as  a  smile or a sense of ever fitting in, but that was okay, it suited her just fine that way, didn't get close, and couldn't get hurt. She constructed an undeviating wall around herself, which had been manufactured over many years, and without any intricate planning, it had merely formed and became denser with age. Vicky wasn't foolish enough to give those bastards any more reasons to  beat her down, and although she was pounded daily and for no apparent or justified reason by her parents and siblings, she would never shed a tear; she frankly didn't give a crap, she was a product of abandonment and betrayal, and had wholly accepted  it. Vicky was beaten and thrashed until redraw day in, day out, taking lashing after lashing, from belt buckles, leather soles, tennis rackets, or whatever they could  place  their sadistic hands on,  while  they  repeatedly  struck  her for no explanation other than to make it  crystal clear that she wasn't wanted, and under no  circumstances  would  she  ever  be  accepted as a Sterling. But she refused to give them the satisfaction of showing that it bothered her, she was far too fearless, saw it as a sign of weakness, and well, she was emotionally dead anyway. When  they  eventually gave up on the abuse Vicky would assure herself that she had won for not giving a toss, but  the  truth be known, she had most positively lost.

Chapter 2

Being fourteen is a crappy age for most girls, but that was Vicky Sterling's life so it was exceptionally worse for her. She didn't have a clue where she was headed in life, Christ; she didn't even know where she had come from, except  for now she had made a friend, the first real friend she had ever had, Mandy. Mandy made her feel a little better about herself and the two of them were as thick as thieves.  Both girls had been sent to the  same  haughty; all girls  Catholic  school, which  they   begrudgingly attended most days, unless  one  decided  to skive, then they both skipped the  day  together. Mandy was from Belfast, she was the same height as Vicky, had the same length, long, blond hair with a slight hint of ginger, and she had a face full of freckles.

Vicky had instantly felt a connection with Mandy when she had scuffled into a classroom one day and watched as Mandy's hands had gripped securely  in- to some girls hair while accurately  and competently bringing  her knee  up  to smash repeatedly into the girls face until she was begging  for her to stop. That display stirred something exhilarating in Vicky, but mostly it was the respect she had for the girl as she watched her casually stroll away without batting an eye or to look back at the snivelling mess she had left on the floor. Mandy  had  two  brothers and two  sisters,  a  devoted  mother  and  a  nasty,  alcoholic, douche-bag of a father who would spend the family income-support down the boozer, as soon as he could  get his  selfish  mitts  on  it, ensuring  his family was without  the  things  that  Vicky would normally  have taken  for  granted,  food, clothes, cash in her pocket,  toilet paper, carpet on the floors, or more specifically,  previously  took  for  granted, until  she  met Mandy's family and friends.

It was a Friday afternoon; the girls had just finished school for the weekend and Vicky's mother had allowed her to stay at Mandy's home for a sleep-over. Mandy had liked Vicky the first time they had sat together in class, there was something odd about  her, different, she never spoke to anyone in the class, just sat and doodled in her books, not giving  a  shit  what the teacher was droning on about. Mandy just had to get to know her, she was intriguing and unlike any of the other uptight fannies in the school, who she also didn't have any time for. 

As  they  wandered  down Mandy's street towards her home, which was at the end of a particularly dodgy  looking  council  estate, Vicky  couldn't help but notice  how  it resembled  a scene from a world-war 2 movie. Rusty, abandoned car shells sat in people's front gardens, broken dustbin bags lay in the street, dogs, and cats with no collars chased each other. There were overgrown front gardens, broken fences that were in desperate need of repair, and perhaps a lick of paint, and the people wandered around aimlessly. They  were  all  wearing dirty, torn, clothes, broken shoes, or trainers that were  held on to their feet with  pieces  of  string, but  what  Vicky  noticed the  most  was  the  sounds, it was a friendly  sound, everyone  chatting, and  calling to each other across the  street. It was a completely new world to Vicky; she had never experienced such disarray and poverty.  Pursuing  Mandy down  the  street, she  realized that  people  were  stopping  what  they  were doing and  were quite openly staring over at her.

'Hey, who's your posh friend, Mandy?' A particularly scruffy, shirtless, man in his forties mumbled as he made his way over.   

'This is me mate, Vicky.'   

'Nice to meet you, your highness.' The man held out his grubby hand and offered a slight bow. 'I'm Dan the man.' He smiled.

'Well, it's very nice to meet you Dan the man.' Vicky nodded, accepting his hand.   

'So what you doing here, at the dregs of the earth?'   

'I'm staying with Mandy for the weekend.'

'Well, you have a lovely stay, my Dear.' 

'Thanks, I'm sure I will.' 

Continuing down the road, Vicky realized that almost everyone down that street were intrigued, as they each scuffled over to be introduced. But it finally sank in how she must have stood out, although she was in her school uniform, it was apparent that her clothes were immaculate; her patent shoes were unmistakably pricey, as was her jewellery and book bag. From the first introduction to Mandy's neighbours, Vicky decided that she really liked those people. They were friendly and un-condescending, they seemed to be good honest people who had just been dealt the crappy   hand in life, they didn't try to be someone they weren't, and didn't disregard the rich, like the rich would undoubtedly disregard them, yes, she liked those people very much, and for the first time in her wretched existence, felt that she finally fitted in somewhere.

Reaching  Mandy's  home, Vicky  followed  her  in  through the green chipped door, which had two numbers,  6 9  in the middle. Vicky instantly realized that the 9 had slipped down or one of her brothers had found it amusing to position them that way and it made her grin. Mandy's mother, Pauline, a  round jolly woman, who instantly reminded her of Mrs. Doubtfire, bounded up to her with a warm  welcome, and  landed a kiss directly on her cheek,  wow!  That knocked Vicky for six; even her own mother had never kissed her, or if she had, not since she had been just a baby, and she had purposefully put the incident far in the back of her mind. 

'Now go and put your bags in your room Mandy and I'll get ya dinner on.' She told Mandy in her soothing Northern Irish accent, which rang musically in Vicky's ears. 

'I've brought a cake for everyone to share, I hope that's okay.' She said, offering her the large round tin. 

'Oh, to be sure that is lovely, thank you so much, Dear.' She beamed.

'You're very welcome, thank you for having Me.' Vicky replied as she shadowed Mandy up the carpet -less staircase.

Mandy's mother instantly liked Vicky, she seemed like a polite young lady who would be a good influence on her little bundle of trouble, or so she thought.   

Vicky couldn't help but notice that the house couldn’t be more dissimilar to her own. The  cold  air was apparent as she breathed out  steam of  icy  vapour; animal hairs were covering the bare floorboards like a  rug, dirty  linen  lay  in  large piles everywhere she looked, the beds were unmade, and  not  a  trace  of  wallpaper  was  to  seen  on  any  of the walls. There were no toiletries or even a roll of Klingon collector, just a folded-up newspaper on the back of the toilet which she presumed was there for wiping.

Mandy  showed  Vicky  her bedroom, and the bed she would be sharing  with  her, before Vicky trailed her  back  down  the  stairs to the living room, which comprised of an armchair she presumed was for the douche bag,  an old grubby settee covered with three dogs, only a gas heater for  warmth, a  six-seated  table, and still no carpets or wallpaper. She then followed her through to the kitchen where her mother was slouched over an old kitchen sink peeling potatoes to make chip butty's for everyone. Her hands were bright red and severely cracked. Vicky could sense that  the wonderful woman knew  what it was to work hard, to support her family and she immediately  felt  an  unsettling  pang  of  affection for her, despite that, Vicky felt comfortable from  the moment  Vicky  had  entered; it  wasn't a mind-crushing tomb, it was a home.

'Please let me do that.' Vicky offered, not having any idea how to use a potato peeler.   

'Oh, my Dear, now you just go and have fun, but thank you.' Mandy's mother giggled at Vicky with a warm, genuine smile. Vicky nodded and continued to follow Mandy out into her back garden. She realized that her friend had gone a little quiet, and got a suspicious feeling that she was a little embarrassed by her home, yet so proud of her family, and of course, Vicky felt quite the opposite.

Chapter 3

Months had passed of spending every weekend at Mandy's home, but  her  friend  began to press as to why Vicky had never invited her to stay over  at  her  house, and not only was it grating on her last nerve, she had run out  of  excuses. The truth was, she was the one who was embarrassed about her  ostentatious fucking house; she knew without a  shadow of a doubt that those stuck up wanker’s would treat her only friend like unwanted shit on the bottom of their shoes, and look down at  her  in  repulsion  at  her  evident  lack  of  wealth. Vicky would sooner spoon out her eyeballs, slowly, than have Mandy subjected to that, and she was sure that Mandy would look at her in a whole different light once she had seen the house, and in all probability feel that she wasn't good enough to be her friend anymore. But she had no choice but to risk losing the one thing in her life that finally made any sense. 

'Vicky, I don't know why you won't invite me to stay at yours, it don't matta that your home is better than mine, I've already guessed that.' Mandy looked at her with those fucking soppy eyes of hers, which irritated Vicky  no end, she loved her mate no matter how hard she denied it  to  herself, and  now she couldn't say no. Oh bollocks. Mandy actually  didn't  have a clue how loaded her family was, but  then again, Vicky had hidden it well; Mandy had always  thought  of  her  as  one of  them, which she was, but taking her to the cold dungeon could change things drastically.  Shit, she would have to bite the proverbial lead, and hope that nothing fucked up their friendship.  

'Okay, stay this weekend but promise you won't think differently of me.'   

'Vicky, you're so funny, I don't give a shite where you come from.' Mandy chuckled. She really didn't, she liked Vicky for who she was, they were like two twins in a womb, and as far as Mandy was concerned, would always be mates. 

'Okay, but I'm going to apologize for everything right now.' Vicky was sorry in advance and seriously regretted agreeing to it. 

The two girls, for the first Friday in months, caught the train  to Vicky's  tomb, and  as  they  neared  the  unnecessarily long driveway  which  ran  in  front  of the enormous  eight  bed - roomed house with the pompously manicured lawns, and pretentious statues, Vicky began to feel a little sick rising from the pit of her belly. 

'Feck off,  Vicky. Where the hell are we?' 

'This is where I live.' her head hung low, chin almost on her chest as she continued, regrettably leading the way.

'Feck me, I'm not going to go in there, sure I'm not, why didn't you tell me you're this fucking posh?' Mandy said breathlessly, looking up at the  mans- ion in  front of her, and the huge, daunting, wooden door, with a large brass lion head knocker, of  which she would  eventually  have to enter. Mandy was no pussy but that place just didn't feel natural, she was well out of her comfort zone.     

'HEY! I'm not posh Mandy, I'm me, ya know that, I said I apologize, and I do, look, we can go to yours if ya want but we're here now and you're with me, okay?'  Vicky attempted to sound confident but she too was uncomfortable with the whole situation as she knew she would be.

'I just don't get why you always wanna stay at mine when you live in this pissing palace.'   

'You'll soon see.' Vicky pushed open the large door and called out to the mother.   

'Hi, we're home.' Her mother immediately  appeared  from nowhere  and  introduced herself in the usual  snotty  tone  that she had  perfected over the years, or since the day she had met the  man  who’d  rescued her from the dregs of London. She had come from poverty and had appeared to have forgotten who and what she really was.

'Hello, I'm Victoria's mother, and you are Amanda I presume?'  She pronounced as she studied her friend up and down with noticeable disapproval.   

'Yes.' Mandy replied nervously offering 'the mother' her hand.

'Well it's nice to finally meet you. Now Victoria take your friend into the kitchen and have the staff serve  you  both  some  cake.'  Her mother  ordered, without  responding  to  Mandy's  still  outstretched  hand,  and  taking one  last  glance  at Vicky’s friend. Vicky's mum didn't like the look of that scraggy little tramp one bit, Victoria should know better than to mix with the likes of her.

Mandy soon lost her nerves and lavished in the luxuries that the house had to offer, thick  carpet,   central heating, pretentious food, even, toilet paper, and Vicky didn't mind admitting that she  enjoyed watching her best buddy eventually loosen  up,  she should have seen that coming!

Whoever said 'You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.' Was an idiot!

Chapter 4

'Come on, Vick, let's get outta 'ere.'  Mandy  suggested a  little too quickly  for  Vicky's  liking, but  she  followed  her anyway through the large store, and just as far as  outside  the  electronic, glass, sliding doors.

'You're both coming with us!'  Vicky looked up, Mandy and she were both having their collars felt, wrists held up behind their backs, and she knew instantly that there wasn't a hope in hell of them being able to escape those hefty plain-clothed security guards, despite the struggle they both put up.  Their restraints were too tight. She didn't know what Mandy had half-inched, but she knew it had to be something. The two of them were dragged reluctantly and shamefully back through the busy store, put into a small lift, and taken up into a room where an irritated man was sat behind his large, chaotic, desk.

'Alright, ladies, now empty all of your pockets on the desk here please.' The man ordered with narrowed eyes, and an unnecessarily exaggerated sigh that pissed Vicky off no end. Vicky did as she was told and Mandy followed suit. Vicky only had her purse, fags, and a lighter in her pockets, but Mandy proceeded to pull out from the lining of inside her old coat a box-less games console.

'You're fucking kidding me?'  Before she knew it, and unable to recall ever hearing that sound before, Vicky began to chuckle, a sound which found its way up from the very pit of her stomach. 

'How the fuck did ya manage to sneak that in there?'

'SO YOU THINK THIS IS AMUSING, YOUNG LADY?' the man bellowed, his head became a shade pinker as he rose from his chair. Vicky could actually see his now red scalp showing through his very thinning grey hair, and that set Vicky off some more.      

'Oh, come on, how can you not see the funny side, it's nearly as big as her?' Vicky knew she wouldn't be able to stop laughing Tears streamed down her cheeks and although Mandy was trying her best to look remorseful, she failed miserably, and  began to laugh as well.

'Right, well, we will see what the police have to say about this, they're on their way.' Vicky supposed that she should perhaps be crapping herself right about now, but it didn't bother her in the slightest. What could the filth do that her mother hadn't already done?  Mandy was still laughing but Vicky could tell that her friend was beginning to panic a little, so she winked at her reassuringly.

Two copper’s arrived just a few minutes later, they were given the rundown from the floor manager, and the girl's wrists were cuffed securely behind their backs. Vicky really couldn't give a crap as the filth walked them back through the busy store. Nothing bothered her, especially authority figures, even though, gun to head, she would have to admit that it was slightly humiliating, but she'd get over it. The cop’s rolled them into the back of a cherry topper and they were given a very silent, complimentary ride directly to the nearest police station.   

'Mand.' Vicky whispered. 'Don't stress mate, I'll tell the pigs it was me.' She winked reassuringly.  

'Why would you do that, Vick?'  

'Look, I know what your dad's like; if he hears about this he'll smash the shit out of ya again.' 

'And what about your mother?' 

'What?  I get the shit kicked out of me on a daily basis, at least this time she'll have a good reason. Nope, Mand, listen to me, we'll just say I did it, okay?  I bet they won’t be able tell the difference between us anyway.'

'Are ya sure?'   

'Absofuckinglutely.'   

'Love ya, Vick.' Mandy leaned her head over to rest on Vicky's shoulder.   

'Hey, fuck off with that soppy crap or I'll change me mind.'

Chapter 5

Vicky wasn't intimidated by the bold entrance of the courthouse, was she supposed to be?  The word intimidation had never been in Vicky's vocabulary and wasn't about to be in it now. Her parents had been fucking relentless, rattling on for days about what would happen in court, and what she was expected to do and say, but what did they know, that was her hearing, not theirs. Her father was not allowed to represent her, something to do with the fact that she was family; well that she would gravely have to beg to differ. 

The judge tapped his gavel to silence the small congregation of mostly bored spectators keeping out of the cold for the day, she presumed, and called her to the stand.   

'Miss Victoria Sterling, you have been brought before me today accused of theft of a games console, is this correct?' The judge looked at her over the top of his bifocal glasses, big bushy grey eyebrows raised; He almost gave her the impression that he was disappointed in her as he sighed his question. He doesn't even know me, who the hell is he to judge? Oh yeah, the judge, Focus Sterling!

'Yes.' She responded, straightened her back, and nodded confident.

'Yes, your Honour!' She was instantly corrected.

'Yes, your Honour.'  She  whined ... Oh  crap, that   hadn't  meant  to come out as sarcastically as it had, but   what  the  hell, it  was  too  late now. The judge rolled his eyes, and she could feel the hairs on the back of her head smoulder. Vicky instinctively knew it was from the parent's furious stare which boor deep into the back of her. The judge ignored her tone and continued.

‘I believe that this is your first offense, is this correct, Miss Sterling?'  He asked as he hastily ran his eyes over a file in front of him. 

'Yes, your Honour.' She mimicked his patronizing tone... What the fuck was wrong with her, why couldn't she just behave herself? Oh yeah, because  she  didn't  like that  stuck-up  prick, sitting  a  good  four  feet higher than her, looking  down  as if he was the superior person. Vicky began to wonder how many innocent people he had put away over the years, how many people, like her father had he passed judgment on without  knowing  fuck  all  about  them, and so she began to stare back at him with the  contempt she believed he deserved.

The judge sighed heavily, but she continued to hold his gaze. What an anal probe, she thought until she was brought back into the present by the judge's impatient tone. 

'Okay, Miss Sterling, It is clear that you have no remorse for what you have done. Please wait outside while I make my decision on your punishment; please remove her from my courtroom.' He beckoned to the guard who had stood next to him throughout.

Being escorted out she unintentionally made eye contact with the parents, again, really, why did she