‘Really?’
‘Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few that put out. I remember losing my virginity up against a tree to Marjorie Hopkins. All the blokes had her, but no decent girl back in my day would have sex before marriage. You’ve got it made in this day and age, which is why you should take full advantage of it.’
‘Don’t you like Sammi-Lou?’
‘I think Sammi’s a lovely girl, Vin. But she reminds me of your nan the way she turns up round home and here all the time. Your nan was like my bleedin’ shadow. Everywhere I looked, there she was. She was pretty back in the day though. Looked like a film star, she did.’
Little Vinny chuckled. He couldn’t imagine his nan ever being pretty and was about to crack a joke about his granddad’s eyesight when the buzzer sounded.
‘I’ll get it. It’s probably Michael’s boys,’ he said.
‘All right, kidda? Michael about?’ Jay Boy asked Little Vinny.
‘Who you calling a kid?’ Little Vinny spat. In his navy Lacoste round-necked jumper and faded jeans, Jay Boy looked much cooler now than he had on the inside. He also had muscles in all the right places, which pissed Little Vinny off no end, because regardless of how much he ate, he could never gain any weight or muscle.
Jay Boy chuckled. Vinny had told him to expect this kind of welcome off his son, so he was well prepared. ‘Kidda’s a saying from where I come from. We speak differently to yous cockneys. Your uncle about, is he?’
‘Michael’s in the office with his accountant. He said not to disturb him. What’s with the case?’ Little Vinny asked.
‘You not spoken to your dad lately?’
‘No.’
‘Your old man wants me to stop at the club, keep an eye on the gaff, like. He said you once had a fire and he hates it when nobody’s here through the night now. Don’t worry. He’s given me permission to use his bedroom. I’ll unpack me stuff now, eh?’
Absolutely fuming, Little Vinny marched into the office. ‘Michael, you better get out here, now!’
After a soothing brandy, Queenie Butler had now calmed down and was chatting to Vivian about Princess Diana. Staunch royalists, both women were extremely excited that the princess was nearing her due date.
‘I reckon she’ll have a girl this time, Queen. I might pop in Corals and have a bet on the name.’
‘Nah. I reckon it’s gonna be a little brother for William, and I have a hunch Charles and Di will call him George.’
‘If it’s a boy, wouldn’t it be lovely if they called him Leonard after my Len? Prince Leonard has a lovely ring to it,’ Vivian said wistfully.
About to reply, Queenie was disturbed by the doorbell. ‘Bleedin’ nuisance. Who is it, Viv? Can you see?’
Vivian peered through the curtain. Both she and Queenie hated visitors. ‘They’re standing too close to the door. Tell ’em to sod off, whoever it is.’
Queenie opened the front door and was dismayed to see Michael’s three boys on her doorstep. Since Molly had been so cruelly taken from her, Queenie had neither the patience nor desire to play the doting grandma. That little girl had been truly special, whereas the boys were right little bastards. ‘What do yous three want?’
‘We just wondered if we could sit in your garden for a bit, Nan? We’ve been playing football and we’re thirsty,’ Daniel lied. He’d actually heard voices coming from next door’s back garden and wanted to get a closer look at the boys he planned to attack.
‘Wait there and I’ll get you some lemonade and choc ices,’ Queenie said.
‘Why don’t Nan ever let us in her house?’ Adam asked.
At that precise moment, a door slammed and Daniel spotted his prey. ‘Sod Nan – come on, let’s follow ’em.’
‘I think they’re older than us, Dan. The tall one definitely is,’ Lee warned. He didn’t particularly fancy a confrontation with older lads. It was far too dangerous.
‘Dan, let’s go back to Nan’s. I want me choc ice,’ Adam pleaded, chasing after his brothers.
‘Yeah, let’s go back, Dan. It’s not fair on Adam,’ Lee urged his brother.
‘Stop acting like a pair of girls. There’s three of us and two of them. Oi, I wanna word with you,’ Daniel yelled, running towards the two lads.
Fourteen-year-old Kurt and twelve-year-old Brad chuckled as the stupid kid began issuing threats. ‘Go home to your mummy before you get hurt, little boy,’ Kurt mocked.
‘I’m a Butler, you mug. You really don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?’ Daniel retorted, before letting fly with his fists.
As a proper scrap broke out, Lee had no choice but to join in. Daniel was getting battered.
Petrified, young Adam stood rooted to the spot.
Another perk of having the screws wrapped around his little finger was the amount of phone usage Vinny was allowed. He still queued up with the other inmates to make some calls, but Frank would often take him out the cell so he could ring his family or friends in private. They’d got caught by the governor once, and Frank had told him that one of Vinny’s family was ill and the call was an emergency.
Today, for the first time ever, Vinny wished he did not have that privilege. Ahmed had something of the utmost importance to tell him, but would not spill the beans over the phone. His mother was having grief with her new neighbours, which pissed Vinny off immensely. Now Michael was giving it large, yet again.
‘Where did you expect Jay to sleep, eh? He comes from Liverpool, so has no contacts in Whitechapel. He’s also just come out of nick and doesn’t have a pot to piss in. Anyway, what’s it got to do with you? It’s my bastard bedroom.’
When Michael started arguing that the club was half his, he wasn’t comfortable with a stranger living there and it wasn’t fair on Little Vinny, Vinny punched the wall in frustration. That was the worst thing about being banged up. The people whose lights you wanted to punch out, you couldn’t. ‘Don’t fuck with me, bruv, because you’ll regret it if you do. If it wasn’t for Jay Boy, I would never have got through this sentence. I owe him, which is why I want to help him, especially now his brother’s dead. What you seem to forget, Michael, is that if it wasn’t for me, both you and Little Vinny would be piss poor. It was mine and Roy’s brains that set up the Butler empire. You really have become a bit too big for your boots lately, and I won’t stand for it.’
‘What ya gonna do about it then?’ Michael asked brazenly.
‘I will tell you what I’ll fucking do about it, shall I? We might have started out as equal partners, bruv, but when Roy died his share was transferred into my name. On paper, that means you only own thirty-three and a third per cent of our business, Mister Cocky Bollocks. Mess with me and I swear on Mum’s life, I’ll offer to sell my share to Ahmed. Who would you rather work with? Him or me?’
It was now Michael’s turn to punch the wall. ‘You make me sick to the stomach, Vinny. You’ve no morals whatsoever. Worked my nuts off while you’ve been away to make sure you’ve got a nice nest egg to come home to and this is how you repay me. You are one slippery cunt.’
‘No, I’m not. Roy’s share was only put in my name to keep things simple at the time. Providing you stop acting like Billy Big Balls, I’ll change it as soon as I get out this shit-hole. I don’t wanna keep arguing with you, Michael, for Mum’s sake more than anything else.’
Michael sighed. ‘All right. Jay can stay, providing he proves his worth. But I’m warning you, don’t ever threaten me like that again. I’m not the mug you think I am.’
‘Well, I’m glad we’ve got that sorted. And while we’re on the subject of threats, you need to make sure Mum and Auntie Viv don’t get any more agg. Comprende?’
‘It’s already in hand.’
‘Good. I’ll send you another VO so you can let me know the score,’ Vinny replied. He would never discuss anything that could come back and haunt him over a prison phone. You never knew who was listening in on conversations.
‘OK. I’ve gotta go now. Some bastard ha
s got their finger stuck to the buzzer.’
Vinny grinned as he replaced the receiver on top of its cradle. He hadn’t seen his brother since the last visit when it had all kicked off, but was looking forward to their next encounter. Nobody was clever enough to get one over on him, Michael included.
Deborah Preston looked at her husband in pure astonishment. Was he trying to say what she thought he was? Or were her ears deceiving her? ‘Just get to the point, Johnny. I know you’ve been drinking. You’re rambling. Why didn’t you come straight home?’
‘I needed a drink to deal with the shock. He’s innocent, Deb. Jamie didn’t kill Molly.’
Her face etched with fury, Deborah picked up the saucepan and slammed it so hard against the kitchen counter the potatoes flew out. ‘You stupid, stupid man! The police caught that evil little bastard red-handed, so how dare you sit there and tell me he’s innocent. If Jo gets wind of any of this it will break her heart. I’m disgusted with you, Johnny.’
‘I might be a lot of things, but stupid ain’t one of ’em, Deb. Once I explain everything you’ll understand. Sit down and I’ll go over the visit word for word.’
Deborah stormed towards Johnny like a bull to a red rag. ‘No way will you mention that murdering lowlife’s name in this house ever again. I’ve had enough, Johnny. You never knew Molly. She was the most beautiful, enchanting little girl I have ever met and I will not allow you to tarnish her memory by sticking up for the callous cunt that killed her. Get out! Go on, piss off back to your mother’s. It’s that scheming old witch with her deluded theories that’s caused all this. Yous two are a match made in heaven. Like mother like son.’
Michael Butler looked at his watch. It was getting late and he couldn’t put off ringing Nancy any longer. His wife was going to go ballistic when he told her what had happened, he knew that much. ‘Will you be OK for five minutes, boys? I need to ring your mum and find a doctor to see where your bloody X-ray results are. We’ve been here for over three hours now.’
Lying side by side in separate beds were Daniel and Lee. Both had taken a beating, but it was Daniel who’d come off worse. All Lee had was a wobbly front tooth, a cut lip that had needed two stitches and a headache. Poor Daniel was in horrendous pain and had also needed stitches around the corner of his left eye.
‘We’re OK, Dad. Go and ring Nancy,’ Lee said. His own mother had died in a car crash when he was young, and even though Nancy had played the role of his mum for years, Lee would never refer to her as such. He still remembered his own mum, and also recalled that Nancy had hated him at first.
‘You come with me, Adam,’ Michael ordered. There was something about Daniel and Lee’s story that didn’t add up and he knew it would be easier to get the truth out of his youngest son.
Wincing when Daniel slyly pinched him, Adam shook his head. ‘No, Dad. I wanna stay here with me brothers.’
‘OK. I won’t be long.’
When his dad walked away, Daniel rounded on his brothers. ‘You’re not convincing enough, especially you, Adam. We have to stick to the story I made up.’
‘Why don’t we just tell Dad the truth, Dan? That old man who helped us knew who we were, and that lady came over. If Dad finds out we lied, he’ll go mental,’ Lee warned.
‘He’ll go even more mental if we tell him the truth. Do you want to see him locked up like Uncle Vinny? ’Cos that’s what’ll happen, I’m telling ya. We’re not kids any more, Lee. Well, I ain’t anyway. I wanna sort this out myself.’
Adam felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. ‘What ya gonna do then, Dan?’
Daniel sank back on the bed as a bolt of pain shot through his left shoulder bringing tears to his eyes. ‘I’m gonna get better first, then decide. But they ain’t getting away with this.’
Little Vinny Butler was not a happy chappy. Michael wasn’t working because of some family emergency. Pete and Paul had been given the night off, and the club was absolutely heaving.
‘You OK, boy? Sight for sore eyes in ’ere tonight, eh? I thought because it was an over-twenty-nines night most would be in their thirties. But I’ve seen at least ten women who look as old as me, and they had mini-skirts on. I can’t imagine your nan ever dressing like that, or Viv, can you?’
‘We don’t call it grab-a-granny night for nothing. Fucking old slags the lot of ’em.’
Knowing his grandson was teetotal now, Albie pointed to his glass. ‘Is that beer you’re drinking?’
‘Cider,’ Little Vinny replied, pushing away some old trout who was singing along to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ while wriggling seductively in front of him.
‘Don’t be so boring. Come and have a dance with us,’ the old trout’s friend said, grabbing Albie by the arm.
Years ago, Albie would’ve been in his element. He was sixty-four now though, and not one of the women in the club could ever hold a candle to his Dorothy. ‘No thank you, love. You go and dance with your friend.’
‘In other words fuck off, unless you want to get barred,’ growled Little Vinny.
When the women scuttled off, Albie put a protective arm around his grandson’s shoulders. As a rule, he never worked in the club of an evening and had only stayed on tonight because Little Vinny had begged him to. ‘Jay will never be as important to this club like you are, boy. Me and your dad may not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I do know he idolizes you. You’re the only child he has now, therefore you’ll always come first.’
‘Will I fuck! Last time I visited him all he did was take the piss out of what I was wearing. You were right about me dad all along, Granddad. He’s a proper cunt.’
Albie looked on worriedly as his grandson ordered more drinks. His eyes were already glazed, which was hardly surprising considering he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol for Christ knows how long.
Little Vinny kicked the bar in annoyance. He’d spent the early part of the evening working the door with Jay, which was why he was so wound up. What was it about that cropped-haired thug with his squashed nose that women liked so much? True, most of them were old mooses he wouldn’t touch with a bargepole, but it still got his back up to see every single tart that walked through the door flirting with the Liverpudlian. ‘What has that wanker got that I ain’t, eh, Granddad?’
‘Whadd’ya mean, boy?’
‘He has every bastard eating out of his hand. All the bar staff were bigging him up earlier and all the birds were swooning over him like he was that Richard Gere bloke in An Officer and a Gentleman. Even me old man thinks Jay’s the dog’s bollocks. I just don’t get it.’
Albie knew exactly why Jay Boy was so popular. He’d stood on the door for an hour with him earlier when his grandson had stormed off in a huff. Like himself back in the day, Jay had the gift of the gab. He was full of charm and cheeky one-liners, and women loved that, especially if teamed with good looks. Michael was the same, and the girls had always buzzed around him like flies around shit.
‘Answer me then, Granddad. What am I gonna do if Sammi-Lou fancies him as well? I’ll fucking kill him if he tries flirting with her.’
Albie sighed. As much as he loved his grandson, the lad had definitely inherited some of Vinny’s traits. Little Vinny was a nicer person than his father, but he had the same not-so-bubbly personality and hot temper, and like his dad he was a nightmare in drink. ‘You’re being paranoid, Vin. Jay is older than you, so of course he’s gonna have more to say for himself. As for him being better looking and your Sammi fancying him, don’t make me laugh. Every time I go out with you, the birds can’t take their eyes off ya. And d’ya know why?’
Little Vinny shook his head.
‘Because you look exactly like your old granddad did when he was young.’
When his grandson chuckled, Albie thought his bad mood had passed and it was safe to leave his side. ‘I need a tiddle, boy. Wait here – I won’t be a tick.’
Little Vinny finished his drink and was signalling to the barman for another when he noticed the
bloke standing next to him at the bar. He was wearing white trousers and a Hawaiian shirt and looked a complete and utter tosser. About to start mocking the chap, Vinny felt a tap on his shoulder, turned around and froze. He hadn’t seen Stephen Daniels since his school days and had no desire to.
‘How’s it going, Vin? Sorry to hear about Ben. No hard feelings, eh?’
Stephen was the ring leader of the gang who’d terrorized Ben Bloggs at school. The bullying had only stopped when Little Vinny had borrowed his father’s gun and scared the life out of Daniels and his cronies. ‘Get out my fucking club, you druggie cunt,’ he snarled.
‘Chill, Vin. I only said hello. I’ve not even taken no drugs.’
Nobody batted an eyelid as Stephen was dragged past them. The punters were far more interested in chucking themselves about to Black Lace’s ‘Agadoo’. It was the latest silly chart craze.
‘What’s going on?’ Jay Boy asked.
‘You fucking thick, or what? Look at the junkie prick. Do you honestly think we allow this type of clientele in our club?’
‘Give me a break, Vin. It’s my first night and I’ve been stuck out here on my own for most of it. Sorry if I didn’t get a chance to check the customers’ arms for needle marks.’
Ignoring Jay’s sarcasm, Little Vinny marched Stephen outside the club and into the alleyway where the bins were kept. He then slammed his head against the brick wall. ‘Proud of picking on Ben now he’s dead, are ya?’
‘Look, I don’t want no agg, Vin. Let me grab me mates and we’ll leave,’ Stephen pleaded. Little Vinny threatening to shoot him had been the scariest moment of his life, and no way did he ever want to endure a repeat performance.
Eyes blazing with temper, Little Vinny lost it completely. ‘How dare you have the front to turn up ’ere, knowing Ben was dead. I’m gonna fucking kill ya,’ he yelled, grabbing an empty bottle from the bin and repeatedly striking Stephen over the head with it.
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