‘Stop it! Everybody’s looking. You’ll get us barred,’ Queenie shrieked.
As frail as he now was compared to his strapping son, Albie somehow managed to hold Michael back. ‘Let’s go, boy. Come on. He’s not worth it.’
Queenie glared at Albie. ‘That’s rich, coming from you. You’re the most worthless excuse for a man God ever put breath in. As for you, Michael, you’re drunk – and no wonder, being around him all evening. And what’s all this about white stuff, eh? What bloody white stuff?’
‘Cocaine, Muvver. Had a problem with it for a while after Roy and Champ died, but I’ve knocked it on the head now.’
Unable to control her displeasure, Queenie forgot that all the people on nearby tables had stopped watching the resident band and were now watching the chaos her family were causing. ‘You stupid little bastard! How dare you blacken this family’s name by taking drugs? As for blaming it on Roy and Champ’s deaths, that’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard. Bloody ashamed to call you my son, I am. And I bet Vinny is ashamed to call you his brother.’
‘Come on, boy. Leave it. You don’t need all this,’ Albie said, tugging his son’s arm to try to lead him out of the club.
Vivian was the next to jump out of her seat. She had always been overprotective of her sister, especially when Albie was involved. ‘Like father, like bleedin’ son, Queen. You was always going to get one who had that tosser’s genes.’
Vinny suddenly sobered up very quickly and realized the error of his ways. He’d had no idea when he had said the words ‘white stuff’ that Michael would actually blurt out the truth. ‘Look, I’m sorry. This is my fault. Let’s just all calm down, eh?’
Michael had a dangerous glint in his eye. ‘Why? Worried your own sordid secrets are going to come out now, are you, Vin? If only Mum and Auntie Viv knew what a lying piece of shit you really are.’
Queenie pushed Michael in the chest. ‘Don’t you dare talk to your brother like that. You’re the bloody junkie, not him. Vinny is no liar.’
Michael chuckled. A nasty evil chuckle it was too. ‘Really, Mum. Well, why don’t you ask golden boy who was really driving the car on that night Champ died, eh? Because it wasn’t Ahmed, that’s for sure.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Holidaymakers screamed and fled in terror as the fight broke out. ‘You no good cuntbag. I trusted you,’ Vinny yelled. Then he punched Michael so hard, he landed backwards on a nearby table, smashing every glass in the process.
With a deranged expression on his face, Michael charged at Vinny and knocked him flying across the dancefloor.
‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’ Queenie shouted as she leapt out of her chair and began hitting both of her sons over the head with her handbag.
The bouncers, who had been keeping a watchful eye on the Butler family for the past ten minutes, quickly waded in. But they hadn’t bargained on Vinny’s strength.
The resident band were playing George Baker’s ‘Una Paloma Blanca’ and quickly stopped mid-tune when they saw Vinny smash a bottle over the head of one of the bouncers.
Anxious to protect Kings’ reputation as a fun-loving family holiday park, Charlie Case leapt on stage to assure all guests that this unfortunate situation would soon be under control.
It was too. As soon as more bouncers intervened, Vinny and Michael were put into headlocks and marched from the premises.
Queenie looked around. She spotted Joanna in tears, hugging Molly, and Albie standing beside her. She ran towards them. ‘Where’s Vivvy?’
Albie looked at the woman he had once married. His voice thick with hatred, he asked, ‘Where do you think she is after finding out news like that, eh? Did you know it was Vinny who was driving that car?’
‘Don’t be daft! I don’t believe it. Michael was drunk, talking bollocks – and it was you who got him in that state.’
Albie shook his head. ‘Michael told me, Queen. Just before he marched over to your table. He said that Vinny turned up at his house covered in blood on the night in question, asking him for an alibi. You really need to take your head out from up your arse and see our eldest son for what he really is.’
Queenie’s face was ashen. The fight had broken out so quickly that she’d had no time to think about the possibility that Michael was telling the truth, or the consequences for the rest of the family.
‘What’s Vinny meant to have done?’ Joanna asked, both tearful and bemused.
Before anybody had a chance to answer Joanna’s question, two bouncers walked over, ordered the family to leave the club and told them they would not be welcome back.
Outside the club entrance, Vivian was in pieces. When she saw Vinny being led to a waiting police car by the bouncers, she flew at him like a mad woman. ‘You lying, no good fucker. You killed my Lenny. It was you who murdered my baby,’ she screamed, pummelling her nephew with both of her tiny fists.
Vinny knew the game was up. There was no point trying to worm his way out of this one. ‘I’m so sorry, Auntie Viv, but it’s not what you think. I’ll explain everything in full, I promise,’ he said in a choked-up voice, as a copper shoved his head into the back of a patrol car.
When the car door slammed, Vivian spat at the window next to where her nephew was sitting. ‘Don’t you come anywhere near me or try to speak to me ever again. You’re dead to me, Vinny. Dead!’
Nancy had just put the boys to bed when her bloodied husband arrived back at the bungalow with Albie in tow. ‘Oh my God! Whatever happened? Did Vinny do this to you?’
‘Pour me and Dad a brandy, love,’ Michael ordered as he took his jacket off and flopped onto the sofa. His head was banging, his face badly bruised, his suit and shirt were ruined, and he was sure he had shards of glass stuck in his back.
‘I’m still in shock, son. I always knew Vinny was rotten to the core, but this is still hard to take in. Poor Lenny. Much as I dislike your Auntie Viv, my heart actually went out to her back there.’
Nancy handed Michael and Albie their drinks. ‘Can somebody please explain to me what the hell has happened?’
Michael put his battered face in his hands. ‘I should never have blurted it out like that. What the hell have I done?’ he mumbled.
‘Don’t you dare blame yourself. The only thing you did wrong was backing that bastard’s lies in the first place. But I know how manipulative Vinny can be, so don’t you be beating yourself up about it,’ Albie told his son.
Becoming more exasperated by the second, Nancy repeated her previous question.
Michael had tears rolling down his cheeks when he lifted his head and looked at his wife. ‘It wasn’t Ahmed driving the car that killed Champ. It was Vinny.’
Nancy put her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t been this shocked since her idol Marc Bolan died.
Vivian felt as though she was in a complete trance as she walked back towards the bungalow. It was like reliving Lenny’s death all over again and she felt sick to the stomach.
Joanna and Queenie looked worriedly at one another when Vivian started to mumble expletives.
‘What does cunt mean, Mummy?’ Molly asked.
‘“Hunt”, Auntie Viv said. She was talking about the cat that just passed us hunting for food,’ Joanna replied.
‘Where’s Daddy, Mummy?’
‘Daddy’s had to pop out somewhere, but he’ll be back soon, darling.’
‘They should lock the bastard up and throw away the key,’ Vivian spat.
Joanna still did not have a clue what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that whatever Vinny had supposedly done was very bad. She wanted to ask, but was nervous of Molly picking up on things. In truth, she was even more afraid of hearing the answer to her question.
‘Where you going?’ Queenie asked, when her sister started to walk in the opposite direction.
‘Well, I ain’t sleeping in there ever again, that’s for sure. Murdering, lying cunt, that son of yours is, and if I set eyes on him again tonight, I swear I w
ill stick a knife straight through him.’
Seeing the horrified realization dawn on Joanna’s face, Queenie urged her to take Molly inside, then turned back to her sister. ‘Look, Viv, we don’t even know if it’s true yet. Michael was pissed and Albie is a born liar, you know that as well as I do.’
‘Vinny admitted it to me before they put him in the police car. You was still inside the club, Queen, but his face said it all. There was guilt written all over ’im.’
Queenie was a woman who rarely cried. But her family meant the world to her. Always had and always would, so she couldn’t stop the tears now rolling down her cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry, Viv, I really am. But I know my Vinny – there must be a reason why he lied. He loved Lenny, you know he did.’
Vivian let out a loud sarcastic chuckle. ‘Oh, of course there’s a reason, Queen. Probably the same reason he dragged his best pal’s dying body into the driver’s seat. To save his own fucking skin.’
Vinny Butler laid down on the uncomfortable blue mattress and stared at the ceiling. For all his wrongdoings in the past, it was a rare occurrence for him to spend the night in a police cell and he was discovering that it certainly gave one time to reflect on matters.
The Old Bill had told him he would be interviewed in the morning, but Vinny couldn’t have cared less whether the bouncer he had bottled was hurt or not. The only thoughts pulsating through his mind concerned the repercussions of his awful secret being exposed, and what effect that would have on his relationship with those he truly loved.
Real men did not cry, so when Vinny felt the tears forming in his eyes, he sat up and punched the graffitied wall. Now he’d had time to sober up and collect his thoughts, he knew that his brother was not entirely to blame for the unfortunate events of last night. Michael had stuck by him through thick and thin in the past, and Vinny knew if he hadn’t goaded him by forcing Molly onto the stage and hinting to their mum about his brother’s drug problem, Michael would never have blurted out what he did.
However, Vinny was never one to admit that he was in the wrong. Michael had started it by insulting their beloved mother at a time when he was already riled up because of Johnny Preston’s release and Little Vinny running away from home.
Remembering the look of hatred on his aunt’s face and the words she had yelled as he sat in the back of the police car, the tears finally rolled down Vinny’s cheeks. His mum and Auntie Viv meant the world to him and ever since he was a young lad he’d done his utmost to make them happy. His generosity had given them a life of luxury that most of their neighbours in Whitechapel could only dream of. Surely, once he explained things properly, his mum and aunt would understand why he had lied. Wouldn’t they?
Back at Kings Holiday Park, Michael sat with his head in his hands as his mother and aunt fired questions at him.
Nancy was in the bedroom with the boys, so it was Albie who put an arm around his son’s shoulders and stuck up for him. For years, Albie had allowed his wife and her witch of a sister to rule the roost, but Dorothy had taught him his worth and he was not about to bow down to that pair ever again.
‘Don’t you dare be having a dig at Michael, either of you. Between the pair of yous, you created a monster called Vinny. Now you’re reaping the consequences of your greed.’
Queenie was dumbstruck by Albie’s sudden transformation. What had happened to the weak ferret of a man she once knew? Had he undergone some kind of personality transplant?
It was left to Vivian to give Albie what for. ‘Greed! What the hell you on about? What has greed got to do with Vinny killing my Lenny, and Michael covering the bastard’s lies, eh?’
Albie stood up like the proud man he had once been. He pointed a forefinger, firstly at Vivian, but then rested it on his ex-wife. ‘Yous pair are the most materialistic women I have ever had the misfortune of meeting in my life. Queenie, you all but forced our sons into a life of crime, such was your love for money and your desire to be better than any of the neighbours. When other mothers were teaching their sons nursery rhymes, you were teaching ours sayings like “Grasses are worse than sewer rats” and “Yous boys always stick by one another, no matter what.” Well, Michael obviously took your advice, which is why he has had to carry the burden of what Vinny did on his shoulders for the past four years. I hope you are proud of your wonderful parenting skills. Poor, poor Lenny and poor Roy. God rest their souls.’
Vivian slumped back into her armchair at this, but Queenie got to her feet. ‘Don’t you dare lecture me on parenting skills, you useless drunken old bastard. Where was you when we needed food on the table? Or when the kids needed new clothes or shoes? Spunking all your money on whores and in the local pub, that’s where. Of course I encouraged our kids to make a better life for themselves. What decent mother wouldn’t? Anything was better than them ending up like you.’
As she reached out to push his father in the chest, Michael leapt between them. ‘Stop arguing! My sons are in the bedroom, trying to sleep.’
‘Blame your father. He’s the one who started yelling out accusations. Was I a bad mother, Michael? Well, was I?’
‘Just calm down and sit down, Mum,’ Michael ordered.
Albie was determined to have the last word. ‘I warned you that Vinny was a time bomb waiting to explode. Bet you wish you’d listened to me now. How any of yous ever allowed Lenny to go out gallivanting with Vinny and Ahmed is beyond me. That boy deserved better.’
Joanna Preston stared at her beautiful child. Molly had such long eyelashes and with her pink nightdress on and her mop of blonde curls, she truly resembled an angel in her sleep.
Sighing worriedly, Joanna turned the lamp off and tiptoed out of the bedroom. There was no point in her trying to get any sleep herself. How could she, after what she had learned this evening?
About to put the kettle on, Joanna’s heart flipped when she heard a tap on the front door. What if it was the police? She would not have a clue what to say to them.
‘Oh, thank God it’s you,’ Joanna whispered as she ushered Nancy inside.
‘Isn’t it awful, Jo? They’re all arguing over there and I just had to get out. I hope the boys don’t wake up, but I told Michael to bring them over here to sleep if they do. Have you heard anything from Vinny?’
Joanna shook her head dismally. ‘Poor Vivian. I’m so shocked. I can’t quite believe it. Why would Vinny lie about such a thing?’
‘To save his own bloody skin, I should imagine. Look, Jo, I know you love Vinny, but for Molly’s sake you really need to get away from him.’
‘But where would I go? I haven’t got any money of my own. And I know he won’t allow me to take Molly away from him, Nance. Vinny adores her.’
‘But does he adore you, Jo? Last time we had a heart-to-heart you admitted he hadn’t been near you for months in the bedroom. That isn’t normal. An attractive girl such as yourself deserves so much better.’
‘Well, you’ve said the same about your Michael in the past, Nancy. I remember when he hadn’t been near you for ages in the bedroom either.’
Nancy squeezed Joanna’s hand. ‘Michael and I did go through a rough patch, but we’re back on track now and we’ve been making love regularly. Bloody hell, after trying to keep an awful secret like this all these years, I can understand why Michael had issues. Even though I know he regrets blurting it out like that, I can see the relief in his eyes that it’s all out in the open. Look, Jo, I’m only saying this because I think the world of you and Molly, but you need to get away from Vinny. Even his own father despises him – doesn’t that tell you something?’
As Nancy’s harsh words sank in, a sobbing Joanna clung to her pal for dear life. ‘I’ll never be rid of him though, Nance. Even if I leave him, he will snatch Molly. I just know he will.’
Vinny Butler walked out of the police station at ten a.m. the following morning facing nothing more than a charge of affray. The bouncer he had bottled had refused to press charges or even give a statement, and Vinny had guessed th
at Ron, the bouncer he had got quite friendly with, must have warned his colleague not to start a war.
When the cab turned into Kings Holiday Park, Vinny felt his pulse start to race. He’d had little sleep, felt dirty, hungry, and hungover, but he needed to speak to his mother and aunt before he even considered having breakfast or a bath. He was dreading explaining and reliving the night of Lenny’s death, but it had to be done and he was determined to be totally truthful from now on. He just hoped they could find it in their hearts to understand why he had done what he had done, then forgive him.
When Vinny unlocked the door of his bungalow, Molly threw herself at him screaming ‘Daddy.’ Joanna and Nancy were sitting side by side on the sofa and Vinny had already seen Daniel, Adam and Lee outside playing football. ‘Where’s Mum and Auntie Viv?’ he asked.
‘Gone back to London,’ Nancy replied in a nonchalant tone.
‘How? When?’
‘A couple of hours ago. They asked Michael to drive them home,’ Nancy informed her brother-in-law.
Aware that Joanna did not seem keen to look him in the eye, Vinny picked Molly up, walked over to the sofa and sat down next to his partner. He then put an arm around her and kissed her fondly on her forehead. ‘I’m so sorry, babe, but we will get through this. Michael knows the truth and once I explain everything to my mum and Auntie Viv all will be back to normal, I promise you that.’
When Joanna hugged both Vinny and her daughter, Nancy got to her feet, fighting the urge to vomit. She had tried to help Jo, had even urged her to ring her parents, but if the girl could not see past Vinny’s façade, then there was nothing anyone could do for her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Vinny drove back to London with just Joanna and Molly in the car. He had offered Nancy and the boys a lift home, but his stuck up sister-in-law had looked at him as though he was something distasteful on the bottom of her shoe. ‘No thanks. I am going to make your dad a nice lunch while I wait for Michael to come back,’ Nancy had replied with a sneer.
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