‘Are you OK, Nance? I didn’t hurt you too much, did I? Did you enjoy it?’ Michael asked. Nancy had earlier admitted that she was a virgin, so he had done his best to be as gentle as he could.
‘Of course I enjoyed it. I just love being with you.’
Michael grinned, and propped himself up against the pillow with his elbow. ‘Do you know what? That is the first time either of us has ever mentioned that daunting L-word. Do you love me, Nancy? I love you, I am proper sure of that.’
When Nancy nodded shyly, Michael held her in his arms and sighed deeply. He had always been a player ever since he had lost his virginity at thirteen years old, but no girl had ever made him feel the way that Nancy did. Even though he wasn’t positive that he could always remain faithful to her, he was sure she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
‘What’s up? You look very serious all of a sudden,’ Nancy said, laying her head on Michael’s chest.
‘You’re gonna have to tell your parents about us soon, and I’m gonna have to tell my family. It’s the only way forward, Nance.’
Nancy felt fear engulf her stomach. ‘Oh, I can’t do that. Say my dad chucks me out?’
Kissing his girlfriend on her forehead, Michael said the words he thought he would never hear himself say. ‘If your dad chucks you out then we’ll move in together, Nance. In fact, we can even go better than that. We can get married.’
Albie Butler hadn’t expected his family to go into meltdown over him supposedly staring death in the face, but he had thought Roy and Michael would have shown a bit more concern. Nearly two weeks it was now since Albie had been invited to dinner at Queenie’s house, and he had not heard hide nor hair from any of his family since.
Counting out the loose change in his pocket, Albie shuffled despondently towards the bar. He only had enough money left for a couple of drinks, and once that had gone he would have to suffer starvation and dehydration until he got his unemployment benefit handout on Thursday.
‘The usual, Albie?’ the barmaid asked.
‘No, just a pint today, love. Times are hard at present, so no more chasers for a while. Big Stan not been in today?’ Albie asked, hoping the man was about. Ever since he had told him that he had cancer, Stan bought him a drink or two virtually every day.
‘No, not seen him today. ’Ere, ain’t that your son just walked in, Albie?’
Albie looked around and was shocked to see Vinny walk towards him. Roy or Michael, he might have expected to pop in and buy him a pint, but not his eldest.
‘Get me dad a chaser. I’ll have a large Scotch on the rocks, and have a drink yourself,’ Vinny ordered the barmaid.
‘Thanks, son. It’s a nice surprise to see you, I must say. Was you local? Or, did you make a special trip to see your old dad?’
Ordering his father to sit down at a table, Vinny sat opposite him and smirked. ‘No, I was local. Popped over the hospital to see a pal of mine, who just happens to be a doctor there. Was worried about your illness, you see. But, you ain’t got one, have you, Dad? I knew when you stuffed two big bowls of Mum’s lamb stew down your gullet there was fuck all wrong with you, and surprise, surprise, the hospital you are supposedly having regular treatment at has never even heard of you. What a devious, wicked old fucker you are, eh?’
Knowing he’d been caught like a kipper, Albie Butler hung his head in shame. ‘I’m sorry, Vinny. I just missed yous kids so much, I said it out of pure desperation. I knew none of yous would have agreed to see me unless you thought I was dying. Have you told your brothers and your mother yet? They will hate me more than ever now, I know they will.’
‘Nope, and I might even keep your despicable lie a secret if you do something for me in return.’
‘What? I’ll do anything, boy, anything you want, providing you don’t tell anyone what I did. I will never be able to show my face round ’ere again if you do.’
‘Well, this is the deal. Tonight, I am holding a joint surprise engagement party at the club for Roy and Brenda. Unbeknown to Roy, I’ve invited his fiancée’s family over from Ireland. I want you to have a quiet word in the mother and father’s shell-like. Tell them that Roy is a ladies’ man. Say that he’s never been faithful to any bird in his life, and you have good reason to believe that he’s already cheated on Colleen, blah, blah, blah. You know what to say, being a serial womanizer yourself, eh, Dad?’
Albie didn’t like the sound of his task at all. Roy wasn’t a bad lad, and it was obvious that Vinny wanted to ruin his brother’s relationship for his own selfish means. ‘Can I ask why you don’t want Roy to marry this Colleen?’ Albie asked his son.
‘After what you’ve done, you don’t really have the right to ask me anything, Dad, but I will tell you anyway. I don’t hate Colleen, but Roy has changed so much since he met her. He has little interest in the club, our family, or bettering his life like he once did. If he gets hitched and starts banging out sprogs, then things will just get worse. Apart from a bit of help from Michael, I will have to run the business nigh-on singlehandedly, and I ain’t willing to do that.’
Albie sighed wearily. He hated the thought of ruining his son’s happiness, but what choice did he have? ‘The thing I don’t understand, Vinny, is when Roy and the rest of the family find out what I’ve done, they will hate me anyway. I don’t stand to gain much, do I?’
‘You gain them never knowing what a wicked old con-man you are. I mean, what type of father tells his four children he is dying when he isn’t? As you said earlier, your life is over in the East End if that one ever gets out.’
‘OK, I’ll do it,’ Albie said, thoroughly miserable.
‘Good! I also want you to tell Colleen’s mum and dad the story of you being hospitalized that time with all your broken bones. Tell ’em it was Roy who beat you up though, not me. Anything you can think of which will make the family want Colleen to end her engagement to Roy, you tell ’em. Then in return, in a few weeks’ time, I will tell the family that I went to the hospital with you and your cancer is now in remission, OK? I will also try and smooth over what happens tonight for you. Your excuse for your outburst will be that you have more tests at the hospital tomorrow, and you were so worried about being told you only had weeks to live, you got plastered and didn’t know what you were saying. With a bit of luck Colleen’s family won’t make a fuss at the party, and will speak to their daughter on the quiet, so what you said might not ever come to light anyway.’
‘What time do you want me to get there?’ Albie mumbled.
‘Seven o’clock, and take that to have a drink or two before you arrive,’ Vinny ordered, throwing a twenty-pound note at his father. Then, without a backward glance, Vinny strolled casually out of the pub.
When Nancy got home from work she immediately knew that something was wrong. The mood indoors had been very frosty ever since she hadn’t come home one night last week, but today she could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.
‘Sit down, Nancy,’ Donald growled.
Her mum and Christopher were sitting opposite each other in the centre of the dinner table, her dad at the head, so Nancy sat down on the chair opposite him. ‘Have I done something wrong?’ she asked anxiously. Since making love to Michael, Nancy had wanted to shout their relationship from the rooftops, but somehow she couldn’t find the right time or words to tell her parents. Michael hadn’t told his family yet either, but that was only because Nancy had insisted she wanted to tell hers first.
Donald cleared his throat. ‘Your little secret is out in the open now, Nancy. You and your fancy-man were spotted canoodling in a flash American car. Now, who the bloody hell are you courting?’
‘Just tell us the truth, love. We won’t be angry with you, but if you’re serious about this lad, we will want to meet him,’ Mary said, squeezing her daughter’s hand to reassure her everything would be OK.
Christopher, his arms folded, was glaring at her. He had an evil glint in his eyes and reminded Nancy of a python waiting to strike. It was at that point that she knew it was now or never. ‘OK, I will tell you, but please try not to be too angry with me. Michael is the loveliest, kindest lad I have ever met, and what happened in the past had nothing to do with him.’
‘What do you mean, what happened in the past? Do we know this Michael?’ Donald asked impatiently.
‘Just tell us who he is then, love?’ Mary urged her daughter. Nancy was now crying and Mary hated seeing her so upset.
‘It’s Michael Butler,’ Nancy wept.
Feeling like he had just been shot through the heart, Donald was too stunned to even speak. The name Butler was enough to put the fear of God into him, on its own.
‘That isn’t one of Queenie’s sons, is it?’ Mary asked her daughter, in total disbelief.
When Nancy nodded miserably, Christopher banged his fists on the table. ‘How could you be so stupid to have got involved with that awful crime-ridden family? You know they ruined our lives, so how could you be so bloody selfish? You are no sister of mine any more, Nancy Walker. In fact, you truly repulse me.’
Usually, Mary would always stick up for her daughter, but today Nancy had gone one step too far even for her liking. ‘You have to finish with Michael immediately, Nancy. You cannot get too involved with that mob.’
Knowing that there was no point in lying any more, Nancy shook her head. ‘I can’t, Mum. I love Michael and he loves me.’
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Donald leapt out of his chair. ‘You have two choices, Nancy. You either end your relationship or you pack your bags and leave our home immediately. Now, what is it to be?’
Seeing all three family members looking at her with a mixture of disgust and disappointment on their faces, Nancy knew she only had one choice.
‘Where’re you going?’ Mary cried, as Nancy stood up.
‘To pack my stuff. I’m moving out.’
Not wanting there to be any trouble in front of Colleen’s relations, Queenie decided to have a quiet word with Roy to tell him what Vinny had planned.
Roy breathed a sigh of relief that his future in-laws had been invited. It wouldn’t have been fair if it was just his family there, and perhaps now that he had been spared the aggravation of organizing his own party, he might take Colleen away for a weekend somewhere nice instead.
After Roy left, Queenie and Vivian spent the whole day cooking and preparing food. Vinny had wanted to hire professional caterers, but Queenie and Vivian had been outraged by his suggestion. ‘If you think I’m allowing my family to eat a load of old shit that’s been prepared by a bunch of strangers who have the cleanliness morals of a pole-cat, then you’ve got another think coming,’ Queenie told her son.
‘And you’ve got all them migrants coming over here now. Lots of them work in catering and they’re dirty bastards. Most of the countries they come from ain’t even got proper khazis. They shit in a hole in the ground, so you don’t think they will wash their hands before they make the sandwiches, do ya?’ Vivian added.
Vinny had just left them to it after that, and as Queenie stood with her hands on her hips studying their handiwork, she turned to her sister and smiled. ‘Well, that’s it. All done we are, I think.’
‘I still ain’t sure we’ll have enough grub, Queen. Vinny said earlier there could be anything up to seventy or eighty people there now, and we ain’t got enough for that amount. My Lenny eats enough for fucking five people alone.’
‘Stop worrying. We’ll have plenty, trust me. Vinny’s ordered a load of seafood as well. Right, I think I’ll ring Michael and get him to come and pick this lot up, then me and you can get ourselves looking all glam. I still can’t believe I’m celebrating not one, but two of my babies getting engaged. It only seems like yesterday that I was wiping the pair of ’em’s shitty arses.’
Sitting approximately thirty yards from the nightclub on a Kawasaki motorcycle, Johnny Preston watched the comings and goings with interest. He was behind a lorry, so nobody could really see him, and even if anyone did, the road was a main one, and there were always cars, bikes, vans and lorries parked near the club.
Worried about his daughter opening her mouth and the shit hitting the fan back home, Johnny couldn’t wait for Graeme’s pal to get back from holiday and exchange their clapped-out van, so had decided to go it alone. Graeme was still going to help him dispose of the bike and gun, but other than that he was totally on his jacksie.
Johnny felt his heart start to beat faster as he saw Queenie Butler and her sister get out of a bright red Mustang. He’d had a feeling earlier that there was some private family event at the club tonight and he had obviously guessed right. Feeling sweat dripping down his face, Johnny didn’t know if it was the heat under his crash-helmet causing it, nerves, or a mixture of both. What he did know was that Mummy’s boy, Vinny Butler, would most definitely see his mother into a car later, or he might even take her home himself. To shoot Vinny in front of Queenie would be the crème da la crème of all murders. If Johnny could pull that off, not only would it avenge Dave’s death, it would also put him on the gangland folklore map for many years to come.
Vivian beamed with pride when she spotted her Lenny standing on the stage behind a DJ console. He even had earphones on and looked ever so professional. ‘Look at him. Reminds me of that Tony Blackburn, don’t he you?’ Vivvy said, nudging her sister.
‘Aw, bless him. I notice he’s playing Elvis. You have told him he’s got to play alternative stuff other than just rock and roll, haven’t you, Michael?’ Queenie asked.
‘Yep. Champ knows what he’s doing. Now come and sit down. This table has the best view in the club which is why Vinny wanted you and Auntie Vivvy to sit here.’
Queenie sat down and as she glanced around to see who else had been invited, she very nearly fell off the chair in shock. ‘What’s your fucking father doing here?’ she hissed at Michael.
‘I don’t know to be honest. I didn’t even know he was coming until he bowled in about half an hour ago. I think Vinny must have invited him.’
Vivian pursed her lips to show her disapproval. ‘He spent most of Roy and Brenda’s childhood gallivanting with other women, or propping up the bar in some grotty pub, yet he has the cheek to show up at their engagement party like the doting father. What a fucking liberty.’