‘I will in a bit, but let’s just wait another half an hour, eh? Vinny always gets here by midday,’ Christopher explained.
About to demand that they go home that very second, Nancy spotted a posh car driving slowly towards them. ‘Is this him?’ she asked hopefully.
Recognizing the Jag and and the number plate, Christopher stood up and urged Nancy to do the same. ‘As soon as he pulls up, I’m going to walk over the road and apologize for Dad’s behaviour. You stay here.’
‘No, I’m coming with you,’ Nancy insisted. There was no way she was going to chance her brother keeping the money for himself.
Vinny and Roy were still chatting about their father’s bit of fluff when they pulled up outside the club. Both agreed that they should carry at least a knife on them for the foreseeable future, just in case there was any comeback from Judy’s brother.
‘Do you think we should pay Johnny a little visit? Explain the situation, like,’ Roy asked.
Vinny shook his head. Even though Judy lived in Forest Gate, Johnny Preston was a South London boy. He had recently started to hang around the Richardsons like an unwanted dog and liked to tell anyone who would care to listen that he was now part of their firm. Vinny knew that this wasn’t the case. Eddie Richardson was in partnership with Mad Frankie Fraser. They were in the gambling business, owned most of the fruit machines and one-armed bandits in pubs and clubs all over London, and Vinny had heard through the grapevine that Mad Frankie Fraser thought that Johnny Preston was nothing more than a two-bob cock. ‘Nah, Roy. South London ain’t our territory, so we’ll bide our time and let silly Johnny come to us,’ Vinny said, sensibly.
‘You might as well wait ’ere while I run in,’ Roy said, changing the subject. They had only stopped at the club to pick up the mohair suit they’d had specially made for Michael in Savile Row.
Vinny picked up his newspaper and seconds later was aware of somebody hovering nearby. Recognizing Christopher, he opened his window. ‘You all right, boy?’ he asked.
‘Yes, thank you. This is my sister, Nancy, and we came to apologize for my dad’s behaviour, sir,’ Christopher said, solemnly.
Vinny grinned, stepped out of the car and ruffled Christopher’s hair. He’d been a bright kid once himself and he could sense that Christopher was hoping to get his hands on the money he had offered him the previous day. ‘No more calling me sir, it’s Vinny to me mates,’ Vinny replied, taking a ten-shilling note out of his wallet and handing it to the boy.
Nancy and Christopher both stared at the note with their mouths wide open.
‘Take it, then. It’s to share equally between you,’ Vinny urged.
Christopher snatched the note and nudged his sister.
‘Thank you, Vinny,’ Nancy said, feeling suddenly shy.
‘Yeah, thank you very much, Vinny,’ Christopher added.
Watching the two children run away excitedly, Vinny grinned. That was his good deed done for the day.
Michael’s best friend Kevin had a Jamaican dad and an English mum and as the two young men walked into the Rib Room in Belgravia, both were aware of the nudges and whispers from snooty onlookers.
‘My brothers will be here in a minute. We’re a bit early,’ Michael said, awkwardly. He was well aware that the two posh old trouts on the table behind were looking down on Kevin because of his colour.
‘Is they talking about me because I a negro?’ Kevin asked, imitating a heavy Jamaican accent.
Michael burst out laughing. Kevin had been brought up in Mile End and was as cockney as he was. His dad had gone back to Jamaica when Kevin was just a baby and Michael always joked that the only other black man Kevin had ever met was the coal man when he was covered in soot. ‘Can you imagine the crumpet we’ll pull when we go out for a spin? We can go up Carnaby Street whenever we want,’ Michael suggested.
Kevin grinned. ‘I reckon we are gonna have the time of our lives now we can get out and about properly.’
Michael raised his glass and clinked it against Kevin’s. He adored his best pal, his family, his job, and now he finally had his beloved Lambretta, life was all but perfect.
‘Bleedin’ posh round ’ere, ain’t it? Talk about how the other half live,’ Vivian said to Queenie. She had never been to this part of London before and it was certainly more wealthy-looking than Whitechapel. Where they lived, the air was polluted by the rotting fruit in the market, and women were on their hands and knees scrubbing their doorsteps daily. Vivian couldn’t imagine the women of Belgravia even knowing what a scrubbing brush was.
Vinny had chosen the restaurant as a treat not only for his brother, but also with his mum and aunt in mind. The Rib Room had the reputation of selling the best beef in London and Vinny knew how partial his mother and aunt were to a decent piece of steak. ‘We’re nearly there now. Harrods ain’t far from here, you know,’ Roy said, pointing in the direction of the famous store.
‘I wanna do a wee-wee,’ Lenny said, holding the crotch of his trousers.
‘I think I’m gonna puke,’ Brenda complained, clutching her stomach.
Knowing how travel-sick his little sister had been once before in his car, Vinny pulled over immediately. ‘You know where the restaurant is from here, don’t you, Roy? Walk down there with Mum, Auntie Viv and the kids while I find somewhere to park.’
‘How’s she getting on with that girl at school now?’ Vivian whispered, as Brenda leapt out of the car and began to retch onto a nearby kerb.
Brenda had started secondary school only a few months ago. In her old school she’d had lots of friends, but in her new one, she had made very few and the only good friend she did have, she’d had a fight with earlier in the week. ‘She was glad I let her have today off to come out with us, but she’ll be OK. You know what kids are like. They hate one another one minute and are best mates again the next. What about Lenny? You told him he’s going back to school after Christmas yet?’ Queenie asked.
Vivian shook her head. Lenny had always attended mainstream schools, but the teachers had recently struggled to cope with him. They said he needed to go to a school that would be more equipped to cope with his needs. Vivian had been furious at the time and had given the headmaster what for. She wasn’t stupid, she knew her son was different, but she hated hearing other people say it. The local council had come to her rescue when Vinny had gone up there and had a strong word with them. Lenny would very soon be picked up every morning to be taken to a school in Aldgate that had much smaller numbers in the classrooms, more teachers, and most importantly catered for children with learning disabilities. Now Vivian had got her head around the fact her son would be attending a special school, she was quite pleased. Lenny needed more one-to-one tutoring and she wanted him to be able to read and write properly. She hadn’t told him about his new school yet though. She knew what Lenny was like. He would worry and ask her thousands of questions, so she’d decided to tell him only a day or two before he started there.
‘Here we are,’ Roy said, nodding towards an opulent-looking building.
Queenie and Vivian glanced at one another approvingly. They were both thinking exactly the same thing. Vinny and Roy were certainly going up in the world and long may that continue.
The lunch was a roaring success, but by the time the dessert arrived, Vinny had started to become pissed off. For the past ten minutes all Roy, Michael and Kevin had discussed were girls they’d copped off with or fancied and not only did Vinny think that this was an inappropriate conversation to be having in front of his mum, aunt, Brenda and Lenny, he was also angry as he would rather be talking business. In Vinny’s eyes, earning big bucks was and would always be far more important than some dopey slag of a bird. Yvonne Summers had taught him that lesson.
Watching his mum and aunt egg Michael on to tell them more about the girl he had recently dated with the massive boobies, Vinny had a sudden urge to smash his glass against the table.
‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Queenie asked, as young Brenda and Lenny both nigh-on jumped out of their skins.
Roy knew exactly what the matter was, but said nothing. Whenever he met a girl he liked, he always played it down to his brother because he knew he would get the third degree otherwise. Not once had Vinny ever liked a girl he had courted and Roy dreaded the day he met the special one whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, as he knew that it would cause murder. All Vinny was interested in was money, notoriety and violence. Anything with tits and a fanny did not come into that category and Roy could never see Vinny getting married himself. He just wasn’t the type.
‘You haven’t answered me. I asked you what the matter was?’ Queenie repeated.
Vinny did his best to disguise his temper. Michael’s birthday had cost him a bloody fortune and had he known beforehand that George Geary would swindle him out of fifteen hundred quid for a licence to serve poxy alcohol, he might not have gone so overboard. ‘I haven’t brought this family to a top-class restaurant so we could spend the day talking about women’s body parts. If I wanted porn, I would have gone to Soho. Brenda and Champ don’t want to listen to such garbage, do they? Young ears an’ all that.’
‘We were only having a laugh, Vinny. Nobody said anything bad,’ Vivian said sternly. She was shocked by her nephew’s uncalled-for outburst, to say the least.
‘It’s my fault. I started the conversation, so I’ll take the blame,’ Michael admitted sheepishly.
Looking at his brother’s sorrowful expression was enough to snap Vinny out of his temper tantrum. ‘No, it’s not your fault, it’s mine. I overreacted because I’m just dead excited about your other surprise. That is why I wanted to change the direction of the conversation and I’m sorry for snapping at everybody.’
‘Ere you go, bruv,’ Roy said, handing Michael a large brown bag.
Thinking how lucky his pal was to get so many wonderful presents, Kevin looked over Michael’s shoulder as he opened it. ‘That’s well ace! It’s real mohair,’ he exclaimed.
Michael couldn’t believe his luck. The Lambretta had been his best present ever and on top of that he had now been given an amazing suit.
‘That’s to wear for work,’ Vinny said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
‘Christ, I won’t be getting oil and petrol over this. I’ll stick with me overalls for work, thanks,’ Michael chuckled.
Queenie felt her stomach churn. Vinny had a strange way of dealing with matters at times. Surely offering Michael the job and waiting for his response would have been more appropriate than telling him he had a new job?
‘You ain’t working at that shitty garage no more, Michael. Me and Roy popped down there this morning to inform your boss that you won’t be coming back. He was fine about it. He understood that you needed to move onto bigger and better things,’ Vinny explained.
Lenny and Brenda were happily chatting amongst themselves and had no idea of the importance of the adults’ conversation. Queenie, Vivian and Roy did though. The glances exchanged between the three of them said it all. Kevin had always been wary of Michael’s older brothers, especially Vinny, so not wanting to get involved in a family dispute, he just stared at his hands.
Michael stared at his brother in total disbelief. There was a programme on TV called
Candid Camera
that Bob Monkhouse presented. It set up situations such as the one that he currently found himself in, where a camera was hidden in the premises. Then, all of a sudden a man would pop out of nowhere and reveal that it was all a big joke. ‘Is this some kind of a game? You are winding me up, aren’t you?’ Michael asked, in a voice that didn’t sound very much like his own.
‘’Course I ain’t winding you up. You’re sixteen now, Michael. You’re a man, not a boy, and you can’t spend the rest of your life working as a glorified teaboy. That’s why me and Roy decided that the time was right for you to come and work with us at the club. We need an extra pair of hands and you’ll be on loads more money than you’re on now. In time, all three of us will become equal partners.’
‘But I don’t want to work at the club, Vinny. I want to be a mechanic. It’s always been my dream to be a mechanic, ain’t it, Mum?’
Unable to look her youngest son in the eye, Queenie nodded, then turned her attention to Lenny and Brenda. This was nothing to do with her, it was boy’s talk and she didn’t want to get involved in taking sides. She loved all her sons, so how could she?
‘Once you start at the club and you’ve been there a week or two, you’ll love it, Michael. No more freezing your nuts off while lying on a concrete floor,’ Roy joked. He could tell by the look in Vinny’s eyes that he was getting annoyed by Michael’s lack of gratitude and he didn’t want the atmosphere to turn sour.
‘Look, Roy, Vinny, I really appreciate what you’re offering me and all the lovely presents you’ve bought me, but I don’t want to work with you. I love my job in the garage and one day my dream is to own a garage of my own.’
Vinny laughed sarcastically. ‘And my dream was to be the next Jimmy Greaves and bang in goals for Spurs, but it never happened, did it? I’m sorry and all that but me and Roy really need you to come and work with us now. We can’t employ strangers, we don’t trust ’em enough, and as our brother, you owe it to us to link up with the family firm. We’re Butlers, and like it or not, us Butlers stick together. It’s not up for negotiation; it’s your duty, Michael. You start first thing Monday morning.’
Nancy Walker lowered her eyes when her teacher introduced her to the rest of the classroom. Everybody was gawping at her, so much so, she felt like one of those strange-looking people who appeared in freak shows.
When Nancy was allocated a desk next to another girl with mousy brown hair, she was relieved when the girl smiled at her.
‘It’s horrible starting a new school, isn’t it? But don’t be nervous. You can hang out with me in the playground,’ the girl said kindly.
Thrilled that she had already made a new friend, Nancy grinned. ‘What’s your name?’ she whispered.
‘Brenda. Brenda Butler.’
Michael listened miserably while Vinny and Roy explained the workings of the club to him. He already missed the smell of oil and petrol and the excitement he felt tinkering about with different makes and models of cars and bikes.