Up on the stage, Lenny was having a ball, and for the first time in his life, he truly felt like king of the castle. ‘And this song is going out especially for my mum and Auntie Queenie because I know that they both like it,’ he said confidently over the mike.
The song was Mary Hopkin’s ‘Those Were the Days’, and when his mum and aunt dashed onto the dancefloor, Michael was open-mouthed to see Denise Thompson marching his way with Vinny by her side. ‘I’m sorry, bruv, but she skipped past the doorman. Reckons she has something important to tell you,’ Vinny said.
Michael stood up. ‘Shall we talk outside? The music in here is very loud, Denise.’
‘No. Here’s fine. I thought you should know that I’m pregnant, Michael, and the baby’s yours,’ Denise blurted out, in the exact way that Vinny had instructed her to.
Hardly able to believe her ears, Nancy let out a racking sob, put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from retching, and ran from the club.
Having spotted the drama from the dancefloor, Queenie dashed towards Michael and dragged him away from his ex-girlfriend. ‘It’s all lies, son. You go and find Nancy and go straight back to mine. You can both sleep in Little Vinny’s bedroom. Go on. Don’t leave that lovely girl outside the club on her own,’ Queenie ordered.
Michael was perplexed. ‘But, how do you know Denise is lying?’
‘I just do. Now fucking go,’ Queenie shrieked.
Johnny Preston put his hand on his gun in anticipation of Vinny appearing as he watched the scene outside the club with interest. There was a girl crying, another one screaming abuse, and that old bat of an aunt had just come into view as well. The bloke present was Michael, Johnny surmised. He hadn’t seen the youngest Butler boy for many years, but it certainly wasn’t Roy or Vinny.
When he saw a police car slow down nearby, Johnny cursed his luck and immediately turned the ignition. He would have to go for a little ride, then come back once this silly argument had calmed down, as there was no way he was going to get caught with a gun in his possession. Feeling a bit edgy for the first time since he’d nearly got knocked off his bike earlier, Johnny decided to head to another off licence to help calm his nerves once more.
Back inside the club, Vinny was on a roll and had just approached his father to hand him an ultimatum. ‘There’s two hundred quid in there,’ Vinny said, stuffing an envelope into the pocket of Albie’s threadbare jacket. ‘Now, you’ve got ten minutes to do what I told you to, otherwise I shall leap on that stage, grab the mike and tell everybody what a nasty, lying, deceitful old cuntbag you are.’
Usually, Albie would do anything for fifty quid, let alone two hundred, but he had been watching his Roy tonight and he and Colleen seemed so ideally in love and well-suited that for once Albie was willing to put loyalty above money, or his own pride. ‘I can’t do it, Vinny, so do your very worst, boy,’ he mumbled, almost apologetically.
To say Vinny was furious by his father’s decision was an understatement. ‘You think I’m bluffing, you old bastard, don’t ya? Well, watch this, Daddy dearest.’
When his eldest son strutted towards the stage like a lion hunting its prey, Albie darted towards Roy. ‘I need to talk to you, son. It’s urgent,’ he begged.
Excusing himself from Colleen, Roy led his father aside. There was something about the look on the older man’s face that told Roy this was serious and when Albie began to gabble about Vinny’s plan to spoil his relationship, Roy shook his head in disbelief. ‘I know Vinny has never been that happy for me and Colleen, but he wouldn’t do something as bad as that to me, Dad. He’s my brother, for fuck’s sake. You have had a good drink. You sure you ain’t got muddled up?’
‘I swear to you, boy. Look at this. Vinny just gave it to me,’ Albie said, showing Roy the envelope with the money inside. ‘Ask Colleen’s parents if you don’t believe me. Your brother blackmailed me. He found out that I didn’t have cancer and said if I didn’t tell them that you were a womanizer, who had cheated on their daughter, and that you had broken my legs and put me in hospital, he was going to tell everyone I lied about my illness. I started to tell Colleen’s parents earlier, but I couldn’t go through with it. I panicked, but I swear I only lied about having cancer as I wanted to see my family again. I know none of yous kids would have agreed to see me unless you thought I was dying.’
Roy already had the hump with his brother because of Ahmed being at the party, so when he heard Vinny’s booming voice interrupt Edison Lighthouse’s ‘Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes’, Roy ordered his father to stay where he was and walked back into the club area.
‘Sorry to interrupt Champ’s wonderful disco and your dancing, ladies and gentlemen, but I would just like to say a few words. Firstly, I would like to congratulate Roy for finally finding a woman who will put up with him.’
When everybody laughed, Vinny did the same, while scanning the club for his mother and father, but unfortunately he could see neither, so just carried on with his speech. ‘Secondly, I would like to congratulate Brenda and Dean on their engagement, and also a big well done for getting my sister in the family way, Deano. She ain’t an easy bird to live with, I can vouch for that, so trust me you’re gonna need all the luck you can get.’
When everybody laughed again, Vinny was relieved when he spotted his mother and Vivian standing together by the entrance. ‘And finally, I would like to inform my mum, brothers, sister, and all our friends that our dad is nothing more than a despicable old liar. I have checked out his story, and Albie Butler doesn’t have cancer at all.’
Amazed that his father had predicted exactly what would happen, Roy knew Albie was telling the truth for once and dashed towards Colleen’s parents. ‘Rosa, Eugene, I need to ask you something important. Did my father start telling you an awful story about me earlier, then backtrack on it?’
Eugene looked at his wife, then glared at Vinny. This was turning out to be some engagement party all right. ‘Yes, your dad did tell us some pretty harrowing things, but he then said he was making them up, and that it was something to do with your brother Vinny. However, I think you and I need to have a little chat tomorrow, Roy. There are certain things I am very concerned about.’
‘What’s going on, Roy?’ Colleen shrieked, when Roy darted towards the stage like a madman.
After sending Denise packing with a flea in her ear, Queenie was now faced with crisis number two. ‘Where is the old bastard? I’ll kill him,’ she seethed, looking around for Albie.
‘Told you not to trust him, didn’t I? Ate like a fucking horse when he turned up at yours and drank like a bleedin’ fish. Cancer, my arse,’ Vivian spat, staring at the stage. Were her eyes deceiving her, or were Vinny and Roy having a massive barney?
‘Aw, my gawd! It’s all going off. I’ll get Vinny and Roy outside, and you tell your Lenny to play some more music and just act like nothing’s happened. Whatever will that girl’s parents think?’ Queenie panted, dragging her sister towards the stage.
When Lenny put on Bill Haley’s ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ it seemed quite appropriate as Roy and Vinny were now rolling around the dancefloor trying to smash one another’s face in. Furious that her sons had embarrassed her in such a way, especially in front of Colleen’s family, Queenie leapt on top of them and punched both very firmly in the side of their heads. ‘Take this outside, before I maim the pair of you,’ she yelled. It was extremely difficult to make herself heard over Bill Haley.
Never one to disobey his mother, Vinny was the first to leap up. ‘This ain’t my fault. It’s his. He’s pissed and he’s delusional,’ Vinny said, pointing at Roy.
‘Can I just say something?’ Ahmed asked.
‘No you bastard-well can’t! This is family business,’ Queenie roared.
‘You are one evil cunt, Vinny, and you’ve gone too far this time,’ Roy spat, trying to lunge at his brother again.
‘Get outside now, the pair of ya,’ Queenie ordered for the second time. It was Vinny who seemed the more dru
nk to her. He was the one with the glazed expression in his eyes, not Roy.
When Lenny played The Hollies’ ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ and dedicated it to his two cousins who liked to mess about but loved one another really, Queenie cringed with humiliation as she followed Roy and Vinny outside the club. She had told Vivian to tell Lenny to try and keep things normal, not make a shark out of a goldfish. ‘Right, do yous pair want to tell me what the bleedin’ hell is going on?’ Queenie yelled, as she witnessed her two boys throwing punches at one another yet again.
‘Roy, stop it,’ Colleen screamed. Knowing that something was seriously wrong, she had followed her fiancé outside too.
No more than twenty yards away, Johnny Preston cursed his luck. He had only been slightly inebriated earlier when he’d almost got hit by that car, but now as he was trying to focus, he seemed to be suffering from double vision. He could see two of Queenie and two of Vinny and Roy. Knowing it was now or never, Johnny closed one eye to help him focus more clearly. He then pointed the gun at Vinny. ‘Die, you bastard,’ he mumbled, as he bravely put his finger on the trigger.
A loud bang, Vinny dropping to the ground, and a deathly scream was the last that Johnny saw and heard before racing away from the scene of the crime. Finally, he had got revenge for the death of his best pal and it didn’t just feel good, it felt fucking terrific.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
‘Ring an ambulance. Ring a fucking ambulance,’ Vinny shouted at his doormen.
With her smart cream suit covered with splashes of Roy’s blood, Queenie knelt down next to him. ‘Don’t you dare die on me. Don’t you dare, Roy Butler,’ she sobbed. There was a gaping hole in the side of her son’s head, and he was as still as a statue.
Realizing that her fiancé had been shot, Colleen was bordering on hysterical. ‘Don’t touch him. Leave him alone. You’re not meant to move him,’ she screamed.
Vinny began kicking and punching a nearby wall. ‘I will fucking kill whoever has done this. I’ll torture the fucking cunt with my bare hands.’
When a tearful Albie pushed his way through the crowd to kneel down next to Roy, Queenie began hitting him. ‘This is all your fault, you lying old bastard. Get away from him. Get away from all of us,’ she screamed, her face contorted with pain and anger.
Lenny was screaming blue murder, so Vivian led him back inside the club and asked Michael’s mate Kevin to look after him for her.
Colleen’s family were in complete shock and were doing their best to calm down their heartbroken daughter.
‘Is he alive? Is my baby still alive?’ Queenie wept, when the ambulance crew pushed their way through the onlookers to attend to Roy.
Realizing how serious Roy’s injuries were, the ambulance men answered no questions and instead set to work on trying to save Roy’s life and get him to hospital as quickly as possible.
‘Brenda, you and Dean take Lenny and Little Vinny home and wait there with them. Tell Michael what has happened, and tell him to get his arse straight up the London. I’ll stay with your mum,’ Vivian ordered her niece.
Ahmed was trying to calm Vinny down when the police turned up and started asking questions. ‘Do not say anything you might regret, my friend.’
Vinny’s head was all over the place. He just knew that the bullet had been meant for him, and was trying to work out who was behind the shooting. If he had to take a wild guess, he would say there was a good chance it was something to do with Kenny Jackson’s son, Bobby. Vinny had had many run-ins with Kenny over the years, including the one at his mother’s birthday party when Vinny had put him in hospital. Kenny had got too cocky for his own good a year or so back, and courtesy of Ahmed, had ended up in a cement mixer. Not one bone or tooth of Kenny Jackson had ever been traced, but there had been a lot of speculation over his disappearance and even though he had a rock-solid alibi on the day that Kenny went missing, the finger of suspicion had still been pointed Vinny’s way. He had even been questioned by the Old Bill. Bobby Jackson was a mouthy little shit just like his father had been, and it wouldn’t surprise Vinny one bit if it was him who had pulled that trigger.
‘Look, lads, no disrespect, but I ain’t in the mood to even think straight, let alone answer any questions right now. My brother has just had his brains blasted out, if you failed to notice, and my priority is to get to the hospital to be with my family. Ain’t any of yous cunts got a heart?’ Vinny spat at the young PC.
Ahmed glared at the police, put an arm around Vinny’s shoulder and led him away. ‘Come on, let’s go. Pete and Paul will stay at the club until we get back. We need to go to the hospital.’
Old Sidney Palmer had just picked his wife up from her regular Monday-night jaunt at the bingo hall when he had driven past the Butlers’ nightclub and heard a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot. He had seen the motorbike race away, and being the good citizen that he was, Sidney had decided to give chase in his Ford Cortina.
Dorothy Palmer had begged her husband to stop at a phonebox, ring the police, and give them the registration number, but Sidney being a stubborn old mule had ignored her wishes, carried on chasing the bloody bike, and now the rider had just hit the car in front, flown off his bike, and was lying in a crumpled heap in the middle of the A13. ‘If we’re up on a murder charge I will brain you, you senile old bastard,’ Dorothy hissed.When a dazed Johnny tried to get up and run, he collapsed immediately. Cursing his luck, he took the gun out of his jacket and threw it across to the opposite carriageway.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, Dorothy got out and stood with Sidney while he explained to them what he had heard, seen, and how he had followed the suspect. When the police called Sidney a hero, and said his bravery would more than likely be rewarded, Dorothy held her husband’s arm with pride. Perhaps he wasn’t such a senile old bastard after all.
Unable to sit still, Vinny paced up and down the hospital corridor. Roy had been rushed into theatre for an emergency operation to remove the bullet from his skull, and the doctors were yet to tell them any real news of his condition.
Seeing his devastated mum lay her weary head on Vivian’s shoulder, Vinny bit his lip to stop himself from crying. His mother was such a strong woman, as hard as nails, and to see her so upset tugged at his heart-strings.
‘There yous are. What’s happening? Any news yet?’ Michael asked, dashing straight over to his mum.
‘Oh Michael. It was awful. You should have seen him. I thought he was brown bread, I really did, but the ambulance men said he still had a pulse,’ Queenie explained, hugging her youngest son.
‘How’s my Lenny, Michael? Hysterical, he was. Never seen him like that before. Has he calmed down a bit now?’ Vivian asked.
‘He’s still upset and very tearful, but Brenda and Dean will take good care of him,’ Michael replied.
‘What about Little Vinny? Is he OK? I just thank God he was asleep in the club when it happened. I would have hated him to witness it first hand,’ Queenie said.
‘Little Vinny weren’t with Bren and Dean. They only had Champ with them,’ Michael informed his mother.
Vinny felt his blood pressure rapidly start to rise. ‘What do you mean, he weren’t with them? I thought you told Bren to look after him, Auntie Viv?’
‘I did. Bren and Dean was gonna take him home with my Lenny. I wouldn’t worry too much. Karen was still at the club. Perhaps he wanted to stay with her?’ Vivian replied.
Unable to stop himself, Vinny punched the wall with pure frustration. ‘Ahmed, shoot down the club and find me my son. I want him brought back here, OK?’
With a curt nod, Ahmed dashed down the hospital corridor.
Back at Queenie’s house the initial awkwardness between Brenda and Nancy had just started to thaw. ‘So, how long you been seeing Michael then? Where did you meet him?’ Brenda asked, inquisitively.
‘I’ve not been seeing him long. We bumped into one another over at Barking fair last month. Your Dean seems like a nice
guy, Bren. Yous two been together long?’
Glad that Nancy was there as it took the edge off waiting for news about poor Roy, Brenda spoke frankly about her relationship with Dean, her plans for her wedding day, their unborn child, and her hopes and dreams for the future. ‘So, what about you? Do you still live with your parents? And do they know you and Michael are together?’ Brenda asked.
About to explain that she had just left home and would be moving in with Michael, Nancy was stopped from doing so by Dean’s reappearance. ‘Lenny reckons he’s going up the hospital, Bren. I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but he got a bit bolshy and sort of told me to mind me own business.’
‘Well, you’re gonna have to stop him,’ Brenda ordered.
‘Bren, he’s a big old lump and nearly as tall as me. I ain’t even properly related to him, so what am I mean to do? You’re his cousin, you bloody well stop him.’
Hearing the front door slam, Brenda leapt out of the armchair and opened the lounge window. ‘Lenny, get back in ’ere now,’ she yelled.
‘No. I ain’t some kid no more, and if I want to go to the hospital to see how Roy is, there is nothing you can do to stop me. I want to be with my mum and Auntie Queenie, not sitting here doing nothing.’
Realizing that her cousin had a point, Brenda told him to wait a minute, then turned to Dean and Nancy. ‘Come on. Let’s all go up the hospital.’
‘Me and Nancy will be better off staying here, Bren. You go with Lenny. It ain’t right for us to go. We’re not even family.’
There was no way that Brenda was leaving Dean alone with somebody as beautiful as Nancy, so she stood her ground. ‘You are family, you div. We’re having a baby together and getting married, remember? You’re gonna have to come too, Nancy. Unless you want to go home. My mum barely knows you and I can’t leave you alone in her house, she’ll kill me.’
Kimberley Chambers 3-Book Butler Collection Page 23