‘Don Carlos.’ Ralph hugged him in the Italian way that was expected. ‘Thank you for coming.’
‘Ralph, Julie.’ Don Carlos nodded at them. ‘Antonias should not be here. He should be flown home to his own country.’
‘Francesca needs his grave here, Don Carlos. She needs to be able to visit it regularly. The only other option would have been for Francesca to go and live in Italy.’ Ralph tried stressing the point, but he knew it was useless. Don Carlos wanted Antonias home.
‘Will you be coming to the court hearing?’ Ralph wanted to change the subject. It was a sore one, and one he didn’t have any answers to.
‘Yes. I will be there. That is, if there is anything left of that man to hold a hearing with. People are expecting him to be killed, so I have to hold back and make sure he is beaten up regularly and possibly raped. I really don’t care. Antonias’s family was my family. And you know how it is, Ralph. Once you’re in our circle, you never get out.’
Exchanging glances with Julie, Ralph’s blood ran cold. Don Carlos was a good man, and an even better businessman, but he took Tony’s death personally. After all, he was Italian.
‘Bloody hell, Ralph. Has he brought his enforcers to dig Tony up after we have left? He wants him back in Italy bad enough to do so.’ Julie saw the weak smile on Ralphs lips.
‘Wouldn’t surprise me, Julie, come on let’s go in.’
Taking the reins, Ralph made a speech about Tony and his life. He was trying to crack a few jokes, but could see it wasn’t working. He was struggling. To Ralph’s surprise. the undertaker tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Mr Gold, we had our instructions not to do this until this very moment.’ He looked at the undertaker, who raised his hand and beckoned to the far side of the church, where the curtains were.
Undertakers came out holding a projector screen. Everyone turned to look at each other in surprise. ‘Go and take your seat, Mr Gold. Mr Lambrianu has his own words to say.’ Arching his brow and looking towards Julie and Francesca, Ralph shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the podium and sat down. No one knew what to expect as the undertakers made themselves busy setting everything up.
Pressing the button on the machine, the undertakers stood aside and let the recording Tony had made at some point play.
Tony was standing at the front of the church, his usual charming grin and piercing blue eyes filled the room for one last time. Francesca removed her veil to see more clearly. No one had known about this. And, Tony being Tony, he had instructed the undertakers to bring it out at the very last minute.
Dressed in his grey suit and pink shirt, and running his hands through his mane of blonde hair, he was laughing.
‘Well, none of you expected this, did you? Jake gave me the idea and, as always, I was going to do it better. I’ve had a great life and spent most of it with the love of my life. You, Francesca.’ The church had fallen into silence as they watched the recording. ‘Francesca, this is for you, wherever you are. And for you lot thinking you had seen the back of me. Well, you couldn’t have been more wrong, could you? I did a lot of research on this and felt this song and the photos you are going to see summed up my life pretty much. I want you all to listen to this and think about the words. It sums up my zest for life. Take it away, Barbra Streisand.’
A drumbeat, and the voice of Barbra Streisand, filled the room as ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ started. Julie held onto Francesca’s hand and Francesca followed suit and held onto Elle’s, as she sat beside her. The first photo was sad. It was just a photo of a young blonde woman. It was the only photo Tony had of his mother, it had been in her locket and he had kept it. He had obviously had some work done to it to bring it up to date for the recording, and it was beautifully done. Even without introduction, you knew who it was. He was the spitting image of her, with her blonde hair and blue eyes.
The song indeed sang volumes of how Tony had lived his life. And the pictures that followed were happy ones. School photos of himself and Jake. The pair of them in the club, hugging each other, their heads thrown back in laughter. Photos of Tony holding the twins as babies. Selfies with Adam, family Christmases with Ralph, Julie and the whole family sitting around the table with their Christmas jumpers on. Suddenly, in the midst of all the sadness, people were tapping their feet and clapping in rhythm with the music, and smiling – even laughing. Selfies of himself, Jake and Ralph after what looked like a very good drinking session, all looking bleary eyed. Tony with his fingers up behind Jake’s head in ‘bunny ears’ fashion. Then the mood turned sombre. The loudspeakers that had been set up outside of the church belted out the music and filled the churchyard so everyone nearby could hear.
The next song he had chosen by Barbra Streisand was ‘The Way We Were’. This one showed photos of the family with Miriam at the vineyard. The rest were of himself and Francesca. Some were from the newspapers. Others were of them dancing closely, with their arms around each other at the club as they looked into each other’s eyes. Tony then appeared again as the photos finished. ‘Great fun, wasn’t it?’ He threw his head back and laughed. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me, folks, by my reckoning I should have been shot years ago. Don’t forget, Francesca, I’m the Terminator. I will be back. In fact, I’ve never left. I love you, Francesca. Two hearts, one soul, remember?’ Tony’s eyebrow was arched as his smile filled the screen. ‘Questo non e’ un addio.’ (This is not goodbye.) With that, he blew them a kiss. ‘Just one more thing, folks. I had to get my own back one day. I’ve waited a long time for this. And shit, I would never have done this while I was alive. Although there were times I was tempted.’ He was laughing out loud and shaking his head. ‘This is for you, Julie Gold. God, I wish I was here to see this. I know you will still be alive, even hell wouldn’t welcome you. Ralph’s a bloody saint.’ How he had got hold of this picture was anyone’s guess. But the very last photo was of Julie.
It was early morning, Julie had no make-up on. The mascara she had worn from the night before was smeared around her eyes. She looked hungover. Her hair was stood up on end and looked a mess. To make it worse, she was sitting on the loo with a cigarette in one hand and her mobile in the other.
‘That bastard!’ Julie shouted. ‘I’m going to fucking kill him.’ Julie’s shout filled the church.
‘Too late, Julie,’ said Ralph, laughing, ‘he’s already dead. You’re at his funeral, remember? Maybe you should shut the toilet door on a morning.’ Ralph nudged her in the ribs and laughed. Even Francesca laughed. This was the Julie Gold that no one ever saw. Everyone stood up and applauded. It was better than a West End musical.
As always, Tony Lambrianu had done it in his own unique style, with class and humour.
CHAPTER 39
SCARLET’S REIGN
‘Here she comes, daddy’s little princess. Look at Barbie, with that fucking ape by her side. She doesn’t fool me, silly cow. Who does she think she is?’ Tim was one of the drivers. He was a horrible man in his fifties. He thought of himself as a leader and caused trouble where he could. He was standing in a circle with some of the other drivers, watching Scarlet get out of the car and walk towards the club.
She looked quite the grown woman now, in her pink cashmere dress and mink coat. She had grown up and was now taking all the worries of the family on her shoulders.
The club was no longer a crime scene and she was getting it cleaned up and sorted out for reopening. She wasn’t sure anyone would come, but Ralph assured her they would, even if at first it was just the ghoulish weirdos wanting to see where Tony had been killed. It was all to be refurbished. When she had walked back in there with Ralph a few weeks ago the bile had risen in her throat. Death seemed to hang in the air and all those memories came flooding back.
‘Shut up, Tim. She’ll hear you. You know what a bad-tempered cow she is.’ One of the drivers who had previously been on the wrong end of Scarlet’s wrath threw his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out with his foot, then walked away.
&n
bsp; ‘I’m not scared of her. She’s a jumped-up tart trying to be like her father,’ Tim joked with his friends.
Morning, Tim.’ Scarlet smiled. She hated him. Whenever there was trouble his name was at the forefront. She had wanted to sack him, but Ralph had told her to ‘keep her friends close and her enemies closer’. She knew what he said behind her back but Ralph had also told her it was going to be tough and assured her the same comments were made about him and Tony. ‘No work today? I don’t pay you to stand idle.’ She stood in front of him and glared at him.
‘Just getting off, Scarlet. Having a smoke and going.’ He smiled through gritted teeth. He hated answering to a woman and felt he could have done a much better job than her. He resented the way she had taken over and spoken to everyone at the meeting. Most of them had stayed with her and accepted it. Some had decided it was time to retire, with no hard feelings. But Tim had stayed on for the money and to bide his time to take over. He felt Ralph was getting old and this was the best they could come up with. A fucking woman pretending to be a hard case. She was a joke.
As she walked into the club, Scarlet had to bite her tongue. Tim’s surly manner made her angry. He was an employee and yet he had no respect. If he worked at the local supermarket he would have some respect for his boss who paid his wages.
Thinking she was out of earshot, Tim laughed with his circle of friends. ‘How can she fuck that fucking ape? There is no accounting for taste, eh, lads? I could give her a good shag. That’s what she needs to bring her down a peg or two. Her mother was a stripper, you know. She was a slag, too. Best Tony could get, though.’ The nasty venom poured out of his mouth as he boasted and tried to make himself look good in front of the other drivers. He was laughing in his own cocky manner until he saw Scarlet standing beside him.
Her face was flushed and she was angry. Her blue eyes darkened, just as her father’s used to when he was angry. ‘Anything else to say, Tim? Surely you’re not going to stop now when you can say it to my face.’
‘Just a joke, Scarlet. Can’t you take a joke?’ His nervous smile and furtive look to the other drivers didn’t assuage her anger. He was trying to cover his tracks, he knew he had gone too far and made the mistake of saying things about her while she was around. Squirming with embarrassment in front of the other drivers, he laughed again. ‘Just messing.’ He discarded his cigarette on the ground in the yard of the club. ‘Anyway, I had better get on.’ It was time to make a hasty retreat. He knew that look on her face. He had seen it many times over the years with Tony.
‘You think it’s a joke to call my mother a slag?’ Anger rose in her but she kept her composure. Her deadly calm seemed to unnerve Tim. She didn’t shout and scream like other women. There was more than one way to skin a cat. She had watched and learnt from her father. His calm, steady voice had people on edge. They hadn’t known which way to take him.
‘I’ve been wanting to joke with you for a long time now, Tim. It seems now is my chance. In fact, I am sick and tired of your jibes and jokes. You can leave, you know. I didn’t want you here in the first place.’ Looking down at the ground, Scarlet felt satisfied that she had achieved her goal. Tim stood looking down at the ground like a schoolboy, blushing. Turning to the other men, Scarlet’s eyes flashed angrily, ‘Do you lot have anything to add to Tim’s statement about me or my family?’ They all stood in silence and shook their heads, lowering their eyes.
‘Good.’ Turning to where Knuckles was standing behind her, Scarlet coldly and calmly gave her order. ‘Let’s shut his mouth for good. Break his neck and dump him somewhere, I’m tired of his jokes. That way we don’t have to hear him again. And the rest of you will watch your tongues in the future. Now, either get on with your work or fuck off. I’m sure none of you want to end up like Tim.’
Shocked horror filled Tim’s face. His eyes widened and he looked at his friends for back-up, but there was none. He turned back to Scarlet. ‘Sorry, Scarlet, he stammered, ‘I didn’t mean no harm.’ He was trying to think on his feet and save his own skin. He was pleading with her. ‘Sorry, Scarlet. It’s just me shooting off my big mouth. Mates, eh?’
Scarlet nodded at Knuckles. All of the other men winced as they heard the crack of Tim’s neck under the force of Knuckles’ hands.
‘I’m sorry, too. Anyone else got something to say?’ Scarlet looked around at the horrified sea of faces, then down at the ground where Knuckles had let Tim drop. ‘Get rid of him, and you lot get back to work.’ With that, she turned on her heels and walked into the club. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the office and sat down. She was shaking slightly but she knew that would pass. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to resort to the extreme over the last few weeks to get her point across.
She had never fully realised just what her father had gone through on a daily basis, dealing with people like Tim. Now she appreciated the fact that you had to forever prove who was in charge and keep ahead of the game. Fear was the key. She knew Knuckles would dump Tim somewhere where he wouldn’t be found for a very long time. That was the end of that. Now. Back to business.
Her main concern was the forthcoming court case. Day and night, her mother had played the recording Tony had made for his funeral. Outside of her bedroom she carried on as normal, but behind closed doors she played the recording constantly.
Francesca visited his grave every day, sitting there for hours, reading the newspaper to him and talking about the old days. Scarlet feared for her mother’s sanity. The doctor had said it was just a grieving period, but with the looming court case and having to relive it all Scarlet wasn’t sure she could cope.
‘Oh, Papa, I wish you were here.’ Burying her head in her hands, Scarlet sobbed.
CHAPTER 40
THE COURT CASE
‘The court case begins next week, Julie. Francesca will be called as a witness. Personally, I’m not sure she’s up to it. Maybe she should do one of those video links?’ Ralph had done his own investigations. He, too, was going to be a witness of sorts, if needed. He could tell them that Tony had gone there by freak coincidence to pick up Francesca’s present. The police treated it as an accident, but they also wanted to know if Tony had known the man and whether it had been some sort of revenge. Being gangland, they always had their suspicions.
‘I don’t know, Ralph. I really don’t know. That guy has been beaten up so much in prison, I am surprised he will be able to walk into the dock. He’s in isolation, now. Even the warders have kicked the shit out of him. What do you have in mind?’ Julie knew something was forming in Ralph’s mind or he wouldn’t have mentioned it.
‘Just an idea. Do we know who the judge is going to be, yet? They are keeping it all very cloak-and-dagger. Bringing someone in from the outside. I don’t think the police know who it is yet, let alone the barristers. It’s been nearly a year, Julie. You’re just getting Francesca back on her feet and now she has to relive it all over again. It will send her over the edge. And we both know that son of a bitch is going to walk with a minimum sentence. He has already served this long in custody. By the time they take off good behaviour and his good clean record, he might get another year, two at most. It was accidental death. He was drunk. The most he’s going to get is carrying a gun and manslaughter. It’s bollocks!’ Ralph was sick to the stomach.
‘Let’s find out who the judge is, shall we? My guess is we’ll know him,’ said Julie. She was damned sure of it and over the next few days the answer fell into her lap. It was a judge they had known who used to be a member of the ‘men’s club’. And if he was a member there, then Julie was sure he had a skeleton in the cupboard. Most of them did. It was no secret.
A lot of them were still closet gay guys. No big deal these days, but when some of those old men were young it was a stigma, even a prison sentence. The best thing they could do was find a wife, have a couple of kids and get on with it. Poor sods. Life just wasn’t fair.
The men’s club was a light relief. It was a closed members club of
the elite. It was also somewhere they could be themselves. Tony had, at one time, had cameras installed in the rooms. He felt it would be some kind of insurance in case things ever went wrong and he needed an MP or a barrister on his side. Well, Tony’s foresight had paid off. They were bringing in a judge from Manchester, they were also bringing in a jury from different parts of the country. The police and the courts didn’t want anyone that might be involved with the Lambrianu-Gold circle of friends.
Sitting in their outlandish mansion, Julie felt nervous. She had done Ralph’s bidding and found out who the judge was, but Ralph’s plan was so far-fetched even she felt it was impossible.
‘So, Ralph, we know who it is but we also know he is bound by the rules for sentencing. He can only give what the law allows. Now what?’ Sitting there stony-faced, putting her cigarette into its long gold holder, she waited.
‘Now, Julie, we need to have that talk we should have had a while ago about my illness. I want to go out in a blaze of glory, just like Tony did. I don’t intend to die a crippled old man in my bed. Sit down, love. I have a plan.’ Silence hung in the air as Ralph sat opposite her and poured them both a whisky.
***
People were camping outside to claim their seat in the court and the fact that it was high profile meant the police were on standby and took extra precautions. This had been a gangland boss. Don Carlos and his sons were present and so the police were on standby in case someone took the law into their own hands. Everyone was checked and scanned. They forced a woman with water in a glass bottle to pour it over her hands to make sure it wasn’t acid. People were talking of nothing else. The newspapers were full of it. There was no escape. Francesca tried shielding Adam from it as much as possible, but he could hear and he could watch the television. The best thing to do was to let him get on with it.
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