As Michael stomped out of the room with a look of disgust, Vinny put his head in his hands. He hated wishing his pal dead, but what choice did he have? If Ahmed lived, there was a good chance he was up the creek without a fucking paddle, and Vinny had always been a man to put his own welfare and happiness before others’. Saving his own bacon was probably the only trait he had inherited from his father.
‘I need to see my boy. He can’t be dead,’ Vivian repeatedly mumbled, rocking to and fro once again like a madwoman.
Unable to face going to the morgue after learning that Ahmed was still alive, Vinny turned to Michael. ‘Can you take Auntie Viv to see Champ? I’ll stay here and look after Mum.’
Desperate to get out of the house and away from his deceitful brother, Michael readily agreed. He knew Vinny like the back of his hand and guessed his brother must have known that Joanna Preston was Johnny’s daughter before he had made a move on her. Vinny was a weirdo when it came to women. He only shagged whores, and apart from the teenage romance with Yvonne Summers, Michael had never known Vinny to properly date any other bird in his life. ‘Come on, Auntie Viv. Look after the boys for me when Dean brings them back,’ Michael ordered his sister. He wouldn’t trust Vinny looking after a dog at the moment, let alone his beloved sons, and his mother was certainly in no fit state to do so.
After Michael and Vivian left the house, a bitter Queenie turned on Vinny. ‘I know you better than you think. You must have realized that young girl was Preston’s daughter, and I bet getting together with her was a revenge tactic.’
‘I swear I never knew, Mum. Do you honestly think I would ever have entertained Preston’s daughter after what happened to Roy? Give me some credit, please.’
‘So, what you gonna do about that baby? I don’t care if that girl is Adolf Hitler’s daughter, don’t you dare make her abort that child. Our family is dropping like flies as it is,’ Queenie stated, as blunt as ever.
‘I won’t, Mum. In fact, I think I should still drive down to Eastbourne tomorrow to see Roy. He has to be told in person about Champ. Breaking the news to him over the phone just isn’t right. I need to speak to Joanna as well. I told her on the phone I didn’t want her or the baby after I found out who her father was. It was all such a shock.’
‘That child will be a Butler, not a Preston. Oh Vinny, what is happening to our wonderful family? What have we ever done to deserve all this heartbreak, eh? And as for Eastbourne, I would rather you drove down there now and told Roy. You know how he gets a cob on these days when he thinks we are keeping stuff from him? I’ll look after Vivvy and you look after Roy.’
Vinny gave his mum a cuddle and was thrilled when for the first time that day, she hugged him back.
‘Sorry I was a long while. The kids were hungry and Little Vinny insisted I treated them all to a burger. I hope that’s OK? The front door was left open, so I shut it behind me,’ Dean said, as he walked into the lounge.
Brenda smiled at her husband. ‘That’s fine, and Mum, while we’re on the subject of grandchildren, I’ve got some news too. I haven’t even told Dean yet, but my period is nearly a week late. I know with everything that’s happened, it’s probably not the perfect time to tell you, but you seem so pleased that Vinny is having another child, that I thought the news might cheer you up a bit.’
Feeling as though he had just been told he had a terminal illness, Dean mumbled something about leaving his wallet in a shop, then bolted out of the front door as fast as he could.
Deborah Preston had tears rolling down her cheeks as she put her arms around her ex-husband’s neck and held him close to her bosom. He had just asked her to marry him again.
‘Well?’ Johnny croaked, as he tried to sit up in his hospital bed.
‘Only if you promise me two things, Johnny. The first is you will never, ever touch drugs again and the second is you don’t go all-out for revenge against Vinny Butler. I’ve nearly lost you once and I’m not going to chance losing you again. Joanna has made her own bed, so it’s up to her to lie on it. Anyway, I doubt very much she and Butler will last that long. Once she gets over her silly schoolgirl crush, she’s bound to see Vinny for what he really is, which is why I don’t want you getting involved. If we remarry, I want us to have a quiet life when you’re released.’
‘Deb, I only took that heroin because I wanted to dull the pain of that bastard mauling our daughter. I ain’t no druggie, you know that and I swear to you, I will never touch another drug as long as I live,’ Johnny replied.
‘But, what about Vinny?’
‘Deb, I just want to finish my stretch and have a quiet life too. Like you said, Jo won’t last long with Vinny, she’s only a kid and she’ll see the light before too long.’
‘But, say Jo is still with him when you’re released? I need you to promise me, Johnny, that whether she is or isn’t, you will let sleeping dogs lie.’ When Deborah had first found out that Joanna was with Vinny, she had wanted Johnny to intervene, but him nearly dying had changed her views completely.
In desperate need to have something to look forward to while he finished his time in prison, Johnny had no option other than to lie. If he told Deborah that he planned to kill Vinny Butler within a week of his release, whether he was still with their daughter or not, then she would never agree to marry him. ‘They’ll be no payback from me. I can promise you that, babe.’
As luck would have it, there wasn’t much traffic on the roads and Vinny arrived at his brother’s care home only a couple of hours after leaving London.
‘Hi, I’m Roy Butler’s elder brother, Vinny. I wasn’t meant to be visiting him until tomorrow, but I wondered could I see him now? I have some rather important news,’ Vinny said to one of the carers.
‘Your brother is in his room and isn’t usually a fan of surprise visits. I will try to entice him out, but Roy can be an obstinate one at times.’
‘OK, but just tell him it’s very urgent, will you?’ Vinny replied, in a rather agitated tone. He was dreading telling Roy that Lenny was dead, but was hoping his brother would still go out for a beer with him so they could grieve together and toast their wonderful cousin’s memory.
‘Who is it?’ Roy asked, as he heard the knock on the door. He had spent the morning tidying his room, and knowing that tomorrow Vinny would finally receive the wake-up call he was long overdue, Roy was in an exceptionally good mood.
‘Your brother Vinny is here to see you, Roy. He says he’s a day early, but he insists you speak to him as he has some very urgent news for you.’
Roy smirked. Ever since he could remember, it had been Vinny calling the shots, but not any more. ‘Tell Vinny I am sleeping now, but tell him to return at six o’clock this evening. I will be ready to see him then. Tell him to come straight to my room though, won’t you?’
The carer sighed. Roy was by no means the most difficult patient she had ever looked after, but he certainly wasn’t the easiest either. ‘OK, I’ll tell him, but I have a feeling that your brother isn’t going to be too pleased.’
‘Well, that’s tough shit, I’m afraid,’ Roy replied. Hearing the carer’s footsteps walk away, he allowed himself a little chuckle.
Dean Smart was perched on a barstool in the Grave Maurice. He liked this boozer. It reminded him of his dad.
Ordering another pint and a chaser to go with it, Dean knocked back the spirit in one. Brenda’s possible pregnancy was an absolute nightmare, but he had other stuff on his mind too. Heavy shit which he just couldn’t stop thinking about.
A few nights back, Dean had overheard things that perhaps he shouldn’t have. It had been the early hours of the morning, and he’d been about to knock on Vinny’s office door to ask something when he’d heard his father’s death being joked about. Vinny and Ahmed were both quite vocal when they were pissed and coked-up, and, intrigued to see if they mentioned his old man again, Dean had bravely stood outside ear-wigging. Karen’s death had been the next topic of conversation, then finally Dean had heard Vinny slagging off his new girlfriend, and saying he couldn’t wait to heap revenge on her father.
Dean had no doubt as he crept away that not only had Vinny done away with Little Vinny’s mother, but he had also been the perpetrator behind his own dad’s disappearance. It was obvious to him now that his father had been murdered, and all Dean could currently think about was how badly had his old man sufferred?
Getting involved with Brenda and her dysfunctional family was the biggest mistake of Dean’s life, and he knew he had to get away from them now. No longer could he work for a man that had murdered his dad, neither could he raise another child with his nightmare of a wife. Dean might have committed a couple of armed robberies back in his youth, but the Butlers were a different breed. The bastards were pure evil.
Dean ordered another drink and gave his fucked-up life some serious thought. He loved his nan dearly, and Tara, but he knew he had to scarper. Tomorrow, he would get all his savings out of the bank, say a discreet goodbye to Tara, tell his nan why he had to leave, and hopefully be able to say goodbye to Nancy at the same time. Staying around Brenda and her repulsive family wasn’t an option any more.
Having been rebuffed by Roy, Vinny drove straight to Kings Holiday Park. He had upset his wonderful mother too much recently and if she wanted another grandchild by him, then Vinny was keen to oblige. He didn’t love Joanna, but he didn’t hate her either, and he was determined to make his dear old mum happy once again.
Parking near Joanna’s chalet, Vinny jogged across the grass and banged on the door.
‘What do you want? Jo doesn’t want to know you any more,’ Chloe spat viciously, when she opened the door.
‘Look, I made a mistake. I love Jo and I really need to see her,’ Vinny replied, in an extremely loud voice. He could tell by the way that Chloe was behaving that Joanna was inside.
Having been mortified by Vinny’s rejection of their child the previous day, Joanna crept out of her bedroom. She had heard Vinny say he loved her and deep in her soul, she had known what they’d shared between them was real. Apart from confiding in Chloe, she had told nobody else about what had happened. ‘It’s OK, Chloe. Vinny and I need to speak,’ she said, in almost a whisper.
‘Well, he’s not coming in here,’ Chloe replied bluntly.
‘Babe, let’s talk in my car. I’m so sorry,’ Vinny said. The tears in his eyes were real, although more to do with his cousin’s death, and the thought of Ahmed waking up.
As they walked towards the car, Joanna allowed Vinny to hold her hand. ‘Have you changed your mind about the baby? I’m so sorry for what my dad did to your brother, but I need to know where I stand, Vinny.’
Vinny gave Joanna his most intense stare. ‘I was a fool, babe, to say what I said. I want to be with you, and I want us to have this baby. Can you forgive me?’
Holding Vinny tighter than she had ever held him before, Joanna smiled. ‘Of course I can forgive you.’
Michael’s feet felt like lead bricks as he bravely held his Auntie Viv’s hand and escorted her into the morgue. They had already been warned that Lenny’s injuries were not a pretty sight, and Michael had begged his aunt to let him identify the body alone, but Vivian was having none of it. ‘I will never believe my wonderful boy is dead unless I see it with my own eyes,’ she had snapped.
When the sheet was pulled back, Michael couldn’t help but retch, then turn away. Lenny’s head looked as if somebody had tried to saw it off and had then stopped halfway.
‘My baby! My beautiful baby boy,’ Vivian screamed. Seconds later, she threw herself on top of her son’s corpse, and began kissing him.
‘We have to go now, Auntie Viv. We know it’s definitely Champ,’ Michael said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
‘Noooo! I can’t leave him. I’m his mother. He’ll be lonely here all on his own. I’m taking him home with me,’ Vivian sobbed, as she tried to lift her lifeless son’s body.
It then took ten minutes, two extra men, and Michael to finally drag a hysterical Vivian out of the morgue. She was one hundred per cent inconsolable.
Queenie paced up and down willing the phone to ring. She needed to know how Roy had coped with the news. Little Vinny was bored and miserable, so Queenie ordered him to go out and play, before heading into the lounge and sitting down opposite Brenda and Tara, who were hugging one another and crying. ‘Dry them eyes now, come on, else you’ll start me off again,’ Queenie urged.
‘Mummy says Daddy don’t love us any more and he might not come back,’ Tara sobbed.
Queenie looked at her daughter in disgust. ‘Whatever are you saying silly stuff like that to her for?’
‘Well, Dean didn’t seem very overjoyed about my period being late, did he? He couldn’t get out the door quick enough and he hasn’t come back.’
Queenie shook her head in utter disbelief. ‘Do you know what, Bren, I often wonder if the hospital gave me the wrong baby when I brought you home. Your cousin has just been killed in a car crash, and all you can think about is you, you, you. You really are one self-centered little mare. You make me fucking sick.’
Pleased that he had managed to talk Joanna around to keeping their baby, Vinny stopped at a phonebox. He knew the news wouldn’t exactly cheer his mum up, but he wanted to give her hope of some kind. ‘Mum, it’s me. How’s Auntie Viv?’
‘Awful, boy. Michael said she tried to take Lenny out the morgue with her. Nearly did by all accounts. I can’t get no sense out of her at all now. I gave her a brandy to try and calm her down, but it’s as though she’s on a different planet. Do you think I should call a doctor?’
Vinny had never felt guilt like it before, but what could he do? He had to try to act normal. ‘Mum, don’t call no doctor or do anything rash until I get home. The last thing we need is Auntie Viv to be carted off to a nuthouse.’
‘OK, love. Have you spoken to Roy yet?’
‘No, but I am on my way to see him now. He was sleeping earlier. I’ve spoken to Joanna though and she’s gonna keep the baby. I will buy a house for her to live in near yours.’
‘Good lad. I’ve been thinking today about that Turk. Broken all our hearts, he has. If he survives, I hope you’re going to sort it? Because if you don’t, I will.’