‘He’s worse than her. She’s just a simpleton, but he’s completely off his rocker. You should’ve seen him exercising earlier. His gut was hanging over his shorts and we were lucky we never caught sight of his dingle-dangle. I know people can’t help being born ugly but he abuses the bastard privilege. I’d put money on it he’s never had his leg over,’ Vivian roared.
‘What’s a dingle-dangle?’ Ava asked innocently. She was sat on her father’s lap and was thoroughly enjoying being the centre of attention. Her new family had bought her some lovely presents. Her favourite was the battery-operated dog that barked and wagged its tail.
‘A dingle-dangle’s a toy, darlin’. Bit like a yo-yo,’ Queenie lied, nudging Viv as a warning of what she should say in future. She didn’t want Ava going back to the Prestons using foul language. ‘Young ears,’ she hissed.
‘Oh, shut up, Queen. They’re gonna hear worse when they start school, eh, Jilly?’
Jilly smiled. She found Queenie and Vivian two of the most entertaining women she’d ever met. ‘Yous two should have your own TV show.’
Forgetting she’d just warned Viv to tone it down, Queenie poked Albie. ‘You’re quiet. If you’re bored, you can always go and offer the locals a portion of your helmet pie like you did in the old days. That’s if your oven still works,’ she cackled.
Albie smiled politely. It wouldn’t be Queenie if she didn’t have a dig at him. These days, rather than bite back he just let the old witch get on with it.
‘Can you imagine if my Lenny were still alive. How he would’ve loved living next door to those two! He’d have been in his element, God rest his soul,’ Vivian said, glaring at Vinny. She would never let that bastard forget what he’d done. Not ever.
Feeling awkward, Vinny picked Oliver up. ‘How’s my gorgeous grandson, eh?’ he asked, cradling the child.
Queenie stood up and clapped her hands together. ‘Right, who wants some grub? What time the boys getting here, Michael? I’ve cooked plenty, so they won’t starve.’
‘I told ’em to be ’ere by twelve. They wanted to go down Dagenham market first. Can I have a quick word with you and Vin in private before they get here?’
Vinny handed Oliver to Sammi-Lou, then followed his mother and brother into the conservatory. ‘What’s up?’
Michael briefly explained the Bella situation. ‘It isn’t just a fling. I love her, and as soon as I divorce Nancy, I intend to marry her,’ he revealed.
‘Bloody hell, boy. Don’t you think you’re rushing into things a bit? Be careful she ain’t just after you for your money,’ Queenie warned.
‘I’m not stupid, Mum, and for your information Bella’s cakeo. She owns her own modelling company and her parents are also minted.’
Changing her tune immediately, Queenie smiled. ‘Bella sounds wonderful. Where did you meet her?’
Michael explained that he’d met Bella years ago, had fallen in love with her then, but hadn’t furthered the relationship because of his sons. ‘They’re older now, Mum. They’ll understand. And if you want the truth, I’ve not been happy with Nancy for a long while. We just drifted along because we had kids together.’
Queenie pursed her lips. ‘Tell me about it. Did the same with your father.’
Vinny slapped his brother on the back. ‘Good for you, Michael. I always said you could do much better than Nancy. I remember now when you first met this Bella back in the seventies. You were well smitten with her then. You deserve to be happy and I wish you well. She must be something special if you wanna marry her.’
Michael shook his brother’s outstretched hand. They’d got on a lot better since he’d told Vinny how he’d mopped up after his son left the keys at Alison Bloggs’ place, plus they saw less of each other since parting ways on the work front. It still pissed Michael off that he had to pay Vinny twenty per cent of the club’s takings, but he wasn’t going to make an issue of it. He had better things to think about now that Bella was in his life.
Ted Nicholson chased the three boys down the stairs of Dagenham Heathway train station. They thought they’d escaped his eagle eye, but they hadn’t. ‘I’ve called the police. They’re on their way,’ he yelled, as a colleague joined him in pursuit.
Realizing they were about to be cornered, Daniel took charge. ‘Quick! Dart across the track, and we’ll leg it out of ’ere and get the train from Dagenham East,’ he ordered.
‘There’s a train coming, Dan,’ Lee warned.
‘That’s so far away it’s probably still at Elm Park. Come on, run now. Quick!’
‘Don’t you dare do that, you stupid boys. Get away from the platform, at once,’ the ticket inspector bellowed.
When his brothers darted across the tracks, Adam stood frozen to the spot. He had done as he was told and stolen the doll, but the thought of running across the train tracks terrified him.
‘Leg it, Adam. Drop the doll. Hurry up,’ Daniel yelled. The train suddenly seemed to be approaching at rapid speed.
‘Stay where you are, Adam. Don’t move,’ Lee urged, defying Daniel for once.
As one of the men tried to grab him, Adam suddenly took off, still clutching the doll in his arms.
‘Oh my God! Do something! He’s got his foot caught. Stop the train, for goodness’ sake,’ a frantic lady screamed.
‘Get up, bruv. Please get up,’ a panic-stricken Daniel shrieked.
Ted Nicholson and his colleague frantically waved their arms to try to stop the oncoming train, but there was no sign of it slowing down.
‘No, Dan!’ Lee screamed, grabbing his brother’s arm as he went to jump on to the tracks.
Terrified, Adam tried to get his foot out of his trainer that had somehow got wedged under the track. He could hear the train approaching now and wet himself with fright.
Other passengers were crying and covering their eyes as they feared the worst.
Unfortunately for poor Adam Butler, the train driver had been far too busy reading the News of the World to have noticed anything untoward on the line ahead.
‘No, no, noooo. Adam, Adam,’ Daniel sobbed when he heard the thud followed by the screams of onlookers.
Lee took his hands away from his eyes, sank to his knees and retched.
‘Adam’s leg’s come off, Lee. Look, it’s over there,’ Daniel screamed.
Vomiting, Lee couldn’t speak or move. His brother was not only dead, parts of his body were strewn across the tracks. It was like watching a horror movie.
An old man in a flat cap put an arm around Lee, then Daniel. ‘Let me take you upstairs, lads. I’ll get you some water.’
Seeing the doll Adam had stolen lying on the track in one piece, Daniel pushed the elderly man in the chest. ‘I don’t want no fucking water. I want my bruvver back. Adam, Adammm,’ he howled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Queenie Butler was not a woman to be messed with. ‘I’m putting the rest of the food out now, Michael. Can’t wait no longer, I’m afraid, and if you want my advice, a good hiding might teach those sons of yours some manners.’
Michael looked at his watch. He hated bad timekeeping just as much as his mother did. ‘I’ll send the little shits straight home when they finally arrive. Let ’em starve and miss the party if they can’t be bothered turning up at a decent hour.’
Watching his son and Sammi-Lou both fuss over Oliver, Vinny smiled. Becoming a father seemed to have turned the lad into a man overnight. He’d always had concerns over how Little Vinny would turn out, especially when he was knocking about with that imbecile Ben Bloggs, but the lad had proved him wrong. Having got over the initial shock, Vinny was now proud his son had done away with Alison Bloggs. She was a waste of space anyway and it was good to know his offspring shared his own killer instinct. ‘You got a minute, Vin? I wanna talk to you about something.’
Handing Oliver to his fiancée, Little Vinny followed his father up his nan’s stairs. ‘What’s up?’ he asked.
Vinny sat on the bed and urged his son to sit
next to him. ‘I’ve been doing some thinking and I really want you to jack your job in with Ahmed and come and work with me. It’s where you belong, son. In my world, you working for non-family makes me look a proper mug. You get on OK with Jay Boy now, don’t ya?’
‘I still can’t work for you, Dad. Nothing to do with Jay, but I like the hours I’m doing with Ahmed. I get home early evening and that gives me more quality time to spend with Ollie and Sammi.’
‘You can do the same hours with me. I’ll pay you much more than Ahmed does and you’ll be my manager. Just think of all that extra dosh you’ll have to spend on Ollie. We’re family, and families are meant to stick together, Vin.’
Little Vinny was in a quandary. He was on fairly decent money at the wine bar, but would love to earn more and be classed as management at his dad’s posh club. But how could he, when he’d opened his big mouth and blurted out the truth about Molly’s death to Ahmed? He’d said he was joking afterwards, but Ahmed wasn’t stupid and Little Vinny could never be sure his lie had been believed. There was no way he would ever risk pissing Ahmed off in case he said something to his old man. Much as it hurt to do it, he had no option but to turn the job down.
‘Sammi really wouldn’t want me working at a lap-dancing club, Dad. It would cause a load of friction in our relationship. Her parents wouldn’t be happy about it either. I’m ever so sorry, but the answer has to be no.’
Ahmed Zane slapped his cousin on the back. ‘I’ve come up with the perfect solution to entice Vinny to Purfleet.’
‘What?’
‘Expensive champagne that has fallen off the back of a ship.’
Burak was slightly confused. He spoke good English, but sometimes found some of their idioms confusing. ‘Does that mean the same as if something was to fall off the back of a lorry?’
Ahmed chuckled. ‘Yes. But in this case it’s a ship. I’m going to pop into Vinny’s club tomorrow with a couple of crates of our finest champagne. I will tell him there is a shipment that went astray and it’s available at a knock-down price. I’ll pretend we’re taking half of it and ask if he wants to buy the rest.’
‘Say he says no?’
‘Vinny is far too greedy to refuse such an offer.’
‘Why not say a lorry rather than a ship? I think a ship sounds a bit far-fetched.’
‘Because Purfleet is near the fucking docks, Burak. Trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.’
Back at Queenie’s, most of the food had been devoured and the not-right neighbours were once again the topic of conversation. They now had nicknames: Norman and Mummy Bates. Little did Vinny know when he’d renamed them, that back in the sixties Johnny Preston used to refer to him and his mother as the same.
When his son began to cry, Little Vinny was relieved. His father hadn’t seemed happy or talkative since he’d knocked back his job offer and Little Vinny wanted an excuse to leave. ‘Let’s make a move now, Sam. I’m tired and so is the boy.’
When Sammi-Lou stood up, she spotted the distinctive vehicle pulling up in front of the house. ‘There’s a police car outside, Queenie.’
Michael and Albie were having a beer in the garden, so it was Vinny who took charge. ‘Yous all stay in the lounge. I’ll deal with this,’ he ordered.
Yanking open the front door, Vinny asked what the police wanted in his usual blasé manner.
‘Are you Michael Butler?’ the young female PC asked.
‘No. Why do you ask?’
‘Because we need to speak to Michael Butler and were told we might be able to find him at this address. The matter is extremely urgent,’ the male officer explained.
Ordering the police to stay put, Vinny dashed into the garden. ‘Bruv, the Old Bill wanna speak to you. They say it’s urgent.’
Guessing that one or maybe all three of his sons had got themselves arrested, Michael followed Vinny inside the house. ‘I’m Michael Butler. What the little sods been up to now?’
‘Can we come inside?’ the female officer asked.
Feeling his legs go to jelly as he saw the sombre look on the officers’ faces, Michael nodded dumbly.
Both took their headwear off as a mark of respect, and then the male officer said, ‘I am so sorry, Mr Butler, but your son Adam was the victim of a fatal accident earlier today. Your other two sons witnessed the tragic incident and are being treated for shock at Oldchurch Hospital in Romford. Would you like us to drive you there now?’
Michael looked at the copper in amazement. ‘Nah. There must be some mistake. Adam only went to Dagenham Market.’
The officer glanced at his colleague. Denial was a common reaction to such news. ‘The incident happened at Dagenham Heathway Station.’
Michael sank to his knees and repeatedly punched the carpet.
Vinny crouched next to his brother. ‘You’ll get through this, bruv. I’ll help you, I promise. Poor Adam. I can’t fucking believe it.’
Queenie flew out of the lounge. ‘What’s going on?’
Vinny stood up and held his mother close to his chest. ‘It’s Adam. He’s gone.’
‘Gone? Gone where? Michael said he was in Dagenham.’
‘Adam’s dead, Mum. We don’t know the exact details yet.’
‘Dear Lord, no! Not Adam. Not another death. Why us?’ Queenie howled. ‘Why our wonderful family?’
Vinny stroked his mother’s hair. ‘Everything will be OK, Mum. That cunt God must hate us, but he’ll never break us. Us Butlers are unbreakable.’
Donald Walker was carving up the roast lamb and Mary was dishing up the vegetables when their son Christopher arrived unexpectedly.
‘What a lovely surprise! Would you like a bit of dinner, son?’ Mary asked.
‘This isn’t a social visit, Mum. Where’s Nancy?’
‘In the garden, reading a book. Why, what’s the matter?’ Donald replied, feeling a flutter of panic at his son’s grim expression.
Christopher dashed out to the garden, then ordered his sister and parents to sit on the sofa. A colleague had rung him earlier and Christopher had insisted on breaking the awful news to his sister. A cold fish by nature, Christopher delivered the blow in the blunt way he’d been taught as a copper. ‘I am so terribly sorry, but there’s no easy way to say this. Adam was hit by a train as he was trying to cross the tracks at Dagenham Heathway Station earlier today. He died instantly.’
Donald’s complexion went from pink to white. Mary screamed then burst into uncontrollable tears. But Nancy was having none of it. She shook her head. ‘There must be a mistake, Chris. It’s not my Adam. He’s never been to Dagenham Heathway in his life.’
Christopher hated the Butlers and it had put a strain on his relationship with Nancy when she began dating and then married Michael. But now, as he sat next to his sister and held her in his arms, it brought back memories of how close they’d been as children. ‘I’m so sorry, Nancy, but it is definitely Adam. Daniel is at the hospital with Lee. They witnessed the accident and are being treated for shock. Would you like me to take you there?’
Screaming like a tortured animal, Nancy began pummelling her fists against her brother’s chest. ‘Why couldn’t it have been Daniel or Lee? Why couldn’t they have died instead of my Adam? I only ever loved Adam. Daniel is evil and Lee isn’t mine. I want my baby boy back. He belongs with his mummy.’
Tears streaming down their faces, Mary and Donald tried to intervene, reaching out to gently prise their distressed daughter off Christopher.
‘Leave me alone! Fuck off, all of you!’ Nancy yelled. Seconds later, her legs gave way and she fainted in a crumpled heap on the carpet.
Having refused the offer of a lift from the Old Bill, Michael Butler arrived at Oldchurch Hospital with his father and Jay Boy. Vinny had taken Ava home and said he’d meet them there as soon as he could. Little Vinny had stayed in Whitechapel to take care of his mum and aunt.
‘Yous two sit down a minute. I’ll find out where the boys are,’ Jay Boy ordered. Vinny had taught him lea
dership qualities while in prison.
Tears in his eyes, Albie put a comforting arm around Michael’s shoulder. There was nothing he could say to ease the pain. Adam’s untimely death was just another to add to the terrible list of tragedies that had befallen his family.
Head in hands, Michael stared at the floor. He couldn’t stop thinking about Adam and how scared he must have been as that train hurtled towards him.
‘Don’t you think you should ring Nancy, son?’ Albie suggested.
‘And say what? That our son popped down to Dagenham Market and ended up under the wheels of a cunting train? How the hell did he end up on those tracks, Dad? Do you reckon he might’ve been pushed?’
Before Albie had a chance to reply, Jay Boy returned with a woman who introduced herself as Dr Carter. ‘I am so very sorry for the sad loss of your son, Mr Butler. Understandably, Lee and Daniel are traumatized. I had to give them each a light sedative to calm them, and would advise they stay in hospital overnight so we can keep an eye on them. If you would like to follow me, I will take you to them now. Be gentle with any questions though. The police can answer those afterwards.’
The moment Michael was led into the small ward, Daniel and Lee both threw themselves into his arms and sobbed like babies.
Joanna Preston was pacing up and down her lounge in a state of panic. Vinny had rung her at her parents’ and said he needed to drop off Ava a bit earlier than agreed. ‘Something bad’s happened. I could sense it in Vinny’s voice, Darren. If any harm’s come to Ava, I’ll never forgive myself.’
Darren Grant held Joanna close to his chest. ‘Everything will be fine, sweetheart. At least Vinny rang to let you know.’ He looked up at the sound of a car outside. ‘There you go, panic over. He’s just pulled up, and Ava’s with him.’
Joanna dashed out to Vinny’s car and grabbed hold of her daughter. ‘You OK, Ava?’
‘Yes, Mummy. I’ve got lots of presents,’ Ava replied happily. She didn’t have a clue what was going on and had been too excited about her new toys to notice anything amiss.
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