‘Yep. I used my mum’s Imperial Leather soap,’ Lenny replied, full of pride.
Laughing out loud, Vinny put his arm around his cousin’s shoulder as they got out of the car. ‘Come on then, Champ. Let’s get you laid.’
Mary could barely contain her emotions when she saw the haunted look in her daughter’s eyes. Donald had offered to accompany her to the hospital and even though Mary had been pleased about that, she thought it was best that she visit her daughter on her own at first. Michael had informed her where Nancy was. He’d received a phonecall from Dean, but Mary had insisted to Michael also that she visit Nancy alone first. She was her mother after all, and if anyone could find out what had happened, it was her.
When the nurse left the room to give them some privacy, Mary sat on the edge of Nancy’s bed and squeezed her daughter’s hand. ‘Everybody’s been so worried about you, darling. Do you want to tell me what happened?’ Mary asked, gently. She had already been informed by the ward sister that Nancy had been found in an alleyway in her nightdress, and she was beside herself with what might have befallen her daughter.
‘I don’t know, Mum. It’s all a bit of a blank,’ Nancy whispered.
‘But why was you out in your nightdress, love?’
‘Because I wanted to see if Christopher was OK. I was worried about him, so I sneaked out.’
As Nancy burst into tears, Mary held her fragile daughter in her arms as though she were a small child once again. ‘It’s OK, my angel. Everything is going to be all right. Mummy’s here to look after you now.’
Lenny was distraught when he heard that Layla didn’t work at the club any more. ‘Don’t mug yourself off by crying over some slapper, boy. There are plenty more dogs in the kennel. Look at all them gyrating on the stage. You pick what one you want and I’ll make sure you get her.’
‘But I don’t want to bang another girl, Vinny. I love Layla.’
‘See if you can talk some sense into him,’ Vinny whispered in Ahmed’s ear. He was desperate to go to the toilet to shove some more cocaine up his already bunged up nose.
When Vinny returned after his livener, he was thrilled to see Lenny now had a grin on his face and was happily gulping down a pint of lager. ‘What did you say to him?’ Vinny asked Ahmed.
‘I told him he can have a six-up with us. I also said I’d buy some champagne.’
‘Oh no. I don’t mind watching you fuck, but I can’t be watching Champ. It ain’t right, Ahmed. He’s my little cousin.’
‘Don’t be so boring. Champ is well up for it. Perhaps we can teach him some new tricks? It will be fun.’
‘Can we go to the room now, Vin? I want that black girl in the red bikini, and I want my champagne. Is it nice? I never tasted it before.’
‘Champ, I think you should go in a room with the black girl on your own. I’ll buy you a bottle of champagne to take in with you.’
Lenny immediately looked crestfallen. ‘But Ahmed said we would all go in the same room and bang the girls together. I don’t want to go in a room on my own, Vinny.’
Ten minutes later, Vinny and Ahmed were both shagging two blonde birds and trying not to laugh as they watched Lenny receiving a blow-job. The noises he was making were hysterical, and Vinny was amazed to learn that his younger cousin was even more well hung than he was.
Feeling himself going a bit limp, Vinny ordered the slag he was lying on top of to turn over. He then inserted his penis up her arse and rammed it into her as violently as he could. He didn’t look at the back of the bird’s head while ripping her backside to shreds though. Instead, he stared at Ahmed having his cock sucked. When Vinny’s orgasm came, it was long-lasting and very worthwhile.
Michael Butler was relieved yet angry as he ended the phonecall to Mary. His wife had told her mum to inform him that she wasn’t ready to see him or their sons until she felt better.
Feeling sorry for himself, Michael cracked open a can of lager and thought back over his relationship with Nancy. Even though he had been a player back in his heyday, he had never cheated on her, not once. He had been a good husband, father, provider, so where had he gone so fucking wrong? Surely having Lee, who had suffered so much misfortune in his young life, live with them wasn’t too much to ask? Lee was such a good kid, was far better behaved then Daniel and Adam in many ways, so what was Nancy’s problem? Michael couldn’t understand it.
‘I swear, if you smash my nice new car up, you pay for a replacement, my friend,’ Ahmed joked, as he got in the passenger seat. Vinny hated getting cabs, had insisted on driving, and even though Ahmed was slightly concerned because Vinny had been on the piss and sniff all day, he knew his pal would never offer to drive unless he felt he was capable of doing so.
‘I really love Dionne. She is beautiful and I want to marry her. When can I see her again?’ Lenny asked chirpily, when he got in the back of the car. He was now absolutely besotted with the girl who had given him his first ever blow-job.
‘You can see her again soon, Champ, I promise,’ Vinny replied, cranking up the volume on the radio.
‘We had a good time, eh? I think group sex is far more fun than just shagging a bird on your own,’ Ahmed said to his pal.
Vinny turned to his friend and grinned. ‘Yeah, it was a right fucking giggle.’
It was ironic that the song playing on the radio was Manfred Mann’s latest chart success ‘Blinded by the Light’ as when Vinny glanced back at the road, he was blinded by the beam of an approaching van. Desperately trying to control a car he had never driven before was impossible when drunk, coked-up, and driving fast, and as he swerved to the left, Vinny hit a building, and his head and the steering wheel made immediate contact with one another.
Aware of the loud bang and the sound of crunching metal, the van driver put his foot on the brake, before driving off at speed.
‘Ahmed, Champ, are you OK?’ Vinny asked, dazed. His head hurt and he felt as though somebody had hit him across his forehead with a shovel.
When he looked at his pal, Vinny realized that Ahmed was anything but OK. The passenger side of the car had completely caved in and part of the metal doorframe was stuck in his pal’s head and chest. ‘Wake up, mate. Please wake up,’ Vinny pleaded, as he grabbed Ahmed’s wrist and checked for a pulse. He couldn’t find one, so, panicking, he staggered out of the car.
Luckily for Vinny, the accident had occurred in a quiet back street that was home to a couple of disused buildings rather than houses and people, and seeing as it was four a.m. there wasn’t a soul about. ‘Champ, you OK, boy?’ he asked, as he yanked open the back door. ‘Oh my God! No, no, noooo,’ Vinny screamed as he sank to his knees. Lenny’s head was hanging on by no more than a thread. He had taken the brunt of the accident and was smothered in blood from head to toe.
Crying like a baby, Vinny slammed the car door and vomited. He had loved Lenny immensely ever since he had first laid eyes on him. Vinny had only been a kid himself at the time, but even at his young age, he had grasped that his cousin had been born with something wrong with him, and would need looking after for the rest of his days. Now, he had accidently killed him and how he would live with what he had done, he would never know.
Wiping his eyes with the cuff of his jacket, instinct suddenly kicked in. Lenny was all but beheaded, Ahmed had pieces of metal protruding from his body and head and the quicker he himself got away from the scene of the crime the better. Going to prison was not something he could deal with. It would break his mother’s heart which would then break his.
Taking a deep breath, Vinny opened the driver’s side of the car once again. ‘I’m so, so sorry. I love you, pal,’ he said, as he desperately tried to move his friend into the driver’s seat.
Ahmed’s body seemed to weigh a ton and as Vinny tried to shift it he felt physically sick once more. This was the geezer he loved, the only person outside of his family he could trust, but Vinny knew in his heart that Ahmed wouldn’t want to see him go to prison.
Doing the best job he could to make it look like Ahmed had been driving the car, Vinny kissed his pal on the forehead, shut the driver’s door, then opened the back door once more. He shut his eyes. ‘Champ, I love you so much, and at least you died a happy boy. Please forgive me,’ he whispered.
Vinny did not open his eyes again until he had slammed the car door. He then ran down the road as fast as his legs would carry him. He needed an alibi and he needed one fast.
Michael was just dozing off on the sofa when he heard the frantic banging on the front door. ‘What the fuck’s happened? You’ve got blood all over your shirt,’ Michael said, shocked by the obvious distress on his brother’s face.
Vinny sank to his knees in the hallway, covered his face in his hands and sobbed. ‘Champ’s dead, so is Ahmed. I need an alibi, Michael. You have to say I was here with you. I’ll go to prison if you don’t, and Mum and Auntie Viv will never speak to me again.’
‘What do you mean? Champ can’t be dead,’ Michael whispered, his face etched with fear.
‘Get me a change of clothes. I need you to burn everything I’m wearing. I must have a bath in case the Old Bill turn up here.’
When Vinny stood up, Michael grabbed his brother by the neck, dragged him into the lounge, and slammed his trembling body against the wall. ‘Where is Champ, Vinny? What the fuck have you done?’
‘It was an accident. I was driving Ahmed’s car back from a club and a van came towards me with its full beam on. I loved Champ, you know I did. I’ll never forgive myself, Michael, but you have to help me. I’d usually ask Mum for an alibi, but I can’t this time. I need you to say that I came here just after midnight and we had a long chat and a few beers. Say we were discussing money.’
Michael shut the lounge door as he didn’t want to wake his sons, then paced up and down the room like a man possessed. ‘How can you be sure that Champ was dead? Did you even call an ambulance?’
‘His head was hanging off, Michael. It was an awful sight and one that will haunt me for the rest of my living days. There was no point calling an ambulance. Ahmed wasn’t breathing either. They were both sitting on the left-hand side of the car and that took all the impact. I wish it had been me that had died, honest I do. I’m gonna miss both of ’em so fucking much,’ Vinny wept.
Michael shook his head in utter disbelief. He didn’t give a toss about Ahmed as he had never really liked the geezer, but Champ’s death was going to rip the family to shreds. His Auntie Viv and mum would never recover from it. Lenny was loved by everybody, and Michael could barely believe that he was never going to see his wonderful cousin again. ‘You make me want to vomit, Vinny. I can see by the state of your eyes that you’ve been snorting that shit again. You reek of fucking Scotch too. How could you even drive a motor in that state when you had Champ with you? You fucking fool. I ain’t giving you no alibi because you don’t bastard-well deserve one. Auntie Viv and Mum are gonna be beside themselves with grief, and it’s all your fault, you no-good cunt.’
‘Michael, you have to give me an alibi. I’ve no-one else to ask. I ain’t just thinking of me, I’m thinking of how much worse it will be for Auntie Viv and Mum if they know I was driving the car. It’s better they think it was Ahmed, trust me on that one.’
‘Where did this fucking accident happen? And what club did you go to?’
‘It happened in that little road that Stan’s garage used to be in. I’m so sorry, Michael. I had taken Champ to a strip club, he’d been with me and Ahmed before. He loved it there. It was the only time he ever got laid. Please back me up on this one? Say I got round yours just after twelve if anybody asks. We’re fucking brothers, you can’t dob me in it.’
Michael felt physically sick. ‘How did you get here? I mean surely the Old Bill are gonna know that somebody else was driving if the driver’s seat is fucking empty?’
‘I ran back to my car and drove here. I could hardly get in a cab covered in claret, could I? I put Ahmed in the driver’s seat, I had to. I feel so bad, Michael. I loved Champ like a son and Ahmed like a brother. Please give me an alibi? You have to. If not, I am finished around here and our business will be finished too. I couldn’t bear it if Mum and Auntie Viv hated me. I know I’ve done wrong, but it was an accident. Stand by me, bruv, please?’
Michael looked at the state of his usually well-groomed and composed sibling, then reluctantly found himself nodding. Vinny might be top of his hate list right now, but he was still his sibling. ‘Run a bath, get them clothes off, and I’ll get rid. Wear something out of my wardrobe. Don’t think I’m doing this for you though, Vin, I’m doing it for Mum and Auntie Viv’s sake. Finding out Champ is dead will be tragic enough for ’em, without ’em finding out you fucking killed him while out of your nut. That would finish the pair of them off. I know it would.’
The knock on the door woke Vivian up at six in the morning. Putting on her dressing-gown, she shuffled down the stairs. Her Lenny had a habit of losing his key, but surely he hadn’t come home this early? He often stayed with Vinny at the club now, but never came home for his fry-up until at least ten a.m. the following day. ‘Who is it?’ Vivian asked cautiously.
‘It’s the police, Mrs Harris.’
Vinny had recently had chain locks fitted for her and Queenie, and when Vivian opened the door and peered around the side, she could tell that they were real policemen. She even recognized one from bringing Little Vinny back to Queenie’s house a year or so ago. ‘Whatever’s wrong?’ Vivian asked, taking off the chain. She hated being seen with a hairnet on and without her make-up, but what could she do? ‘Well?’
‘Can we come in, Mrs Harris?’ one of the policemen asked, removing his helmet as a mark of respect.
‘Oh dear God! What is it?’ Vivian gasped, as the other policeman also removed his helmet when he walked into the hallway.
‘I’m so sorry, Mrs Harris, but your son was involved in a fatal car accident earlier. We need one of your family to identify the body, but we feel it is best if one of your nephews do it rather than you. Lenny suffered major injuries.’