“So, what’s your lawyer saying?”
“First of all, never plead guilty. He says our defence will be the polis planted the drugs, money and account book to frame me”
At this, Bobby’s hand began to shake uncontrollably. It was embarrassing. So this is what crime did to you, turned you into a nervous old man with trembling hands. After that, they talked about generalities, the family, even Celtic and Rangers. But there was a futility about it all. A big prison guard hovering nearby did not help the situation.
Johnny wished his boss well and said, “Chin- up Bobby, everything will be ok in the end.” When he left Barlinnie, he felt a great sense of relief. Half an hour in that place seemed like a lifetime – but what about doing 10-15 years in jail? It was unbearable to think about it. The old saying was right, crime definitely did not pay, especially when you got caught. The next, day he went to a pal’s house and phoned Marbella. It was a contrast to his interaction with Bobby.
Pat said, “Terrible carry on with Bobby. The daft bastard should have settled here in Marbella instead of Barlinnie.”
“That’s what ah was thinking,” Johnny said, “Look out for a villa for me and my family, swimming pool and all that. Ah’ll arrange the funds to be sent to you.” There was laughter from Pat, “You’re in luck, Johnny boy, an old Hollywood director has just put his villa up for a greatly reduced price, for a quick sale. Six bedrooms and a massive swimming pool, bigger than the Gorbals baths! Ah know him well, ah’ll get you a good price. The guy is a fucking cocaine and gambling degenerate.”
Johnny was aware he was laying the foundations for his exit from the Gorbals. The next day, he went to see the Asian bank manager and told him he wanted to transfer all of his funds to an account in Marbella. Before the manager had been over friendly but when he learned of Johnny’s plans his mood changed dramatically. “But Mr McGrath, it is quite a large sum of money, are you sure you want to transfer it all?”
“No,” Johnny replied, “Leave a tenner in so we might use the account in the future.” The Asian bank manager looked dismayed but readily agreed to the proposal. At this point, Johnny had an instinctive feeling that Abdul was not trustworthy but he told Johnny in a soothing voice, “All the funds will be in the Marbella account by next week, apart from the ten pounds.”
He left the bank feeling gratified that he had achieved something. And what did the Chinese proverb say? “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” Meanwhile, he contemplated the forthcoming trial. Perhaps with the cunning of his solicitor, Bobby would get off. Perhaps not. Life in the Gorbals was always like that, a two sided coin. Heads you win, tails you lose. Fate and a jury would decide which way the coin would fall.
Chapter 65
BOBBY
During the run up to the trial, the organisation was still running effectively but on a more laid back level. A couple of chancers had not paid their money on time, believing Bobby and his mob were all washed up. Johnny would wait until after the trial. Beating up the two jokers might attract attention to his men and that is the last thing he wanted. On the gambling front, smaller bets and payouts were encouraged to avoid punters going round boasting they had a big win. The protection and insurance side did have minor setbacks with some clients. Some believed, with Bobby in jail, the organisation was in freefall. There were other minor irritations but it wasn’t anything Johnny couldn’t handle. Once the trial was over, the organisation would bounce back like a rubber ball, a giant rubber ball that would crush all those that stood in its way. One thing that did annoy Johnny was the fact that his money had still not been transferred to Marbella.
He sniffed a rat when he called round to the Asian bank and was told that the manager “was in Bombay” on urgent business and would see him when he came back. It sounded like a load of bollocks but Johnny decided to bide his time. The truth would come out at the end of the day. Meanwhile, old Hughie was quite content with his weekly interest payments from the windfall he had invested. Johnny would personally drop off his money every week, in a brown envelope, at a local bar in Gorbals Street. Hughie played cards with his pals there and Johnny rather liked sitting down with them to hear the old patter and stories. They were all elderly men who led single, solitary lives and dominoes took away any loneliness they might have had. While playing a game, Hughie made a strange request to Johnny, “Ah wonder if you could do me a favour son? When ah get back to ma flat ah can feel a bit lonely. Can you get ma a pet?”
“What sort of pet, a cat or a dog?”
“Nah, son ah’ve always wanted a parrot. Something that ah can talk to and it can talk back. Cats and dogs cannae do that. Do ye think you can get me a parrot that can talk?”
It was an unusual request but a bemused Johnny replied “Sure thing, Hughie. Ah’ll put out some feelers and see what I can do.”
Johnny promptly left the pub and instructed Goo Goo to find him “a talking parrot, fast,” for one of his best customers. Goo Goo looked dumbfounded but replied he’d try his best. In many ways, the search for a talking parrot, by hook or by crook, brought some humour into their lives, especially with the seriousness of the Bobby court case on the horizon.
The next matter to deal with was the elusive Asian bank manager. Was he still in Bombay “on business” or was it all a concocted story? Johnny told Goo Goo to wait outside the bank from 8am every morning to see if the manager was going in. “How will ah know him?” Goo Goo enquired.
Johnny replied, “Simple. An ugly-looking Asian bastard wi’ a big wart on his nose.” For a week or so there were no developments on the parrot and bank manager front. But one day, Goo Goo walked into the Mally Arms carrying a bird cage with a parrot inside. “Where the fuck did you get that thing?” Johnny asked. Goo Goo laughed, “An amusement arcade in Jamaica Street called Treasure Island. As a publicity stunt, they had this parrot near the entrance and it talks like fuck. It fact it talks like a pirate!”
The next minute the parrot squeaked, “Pieces of eight, pieces of eight.” Johnny could not believe it, “Fucking hell, Goo Goo, a pirate parrot! Take it round to old Hughie’s place straight away.”
The next morning, Johnny and Goo Goo turned up at the bank. At first, they were told the manager was “very busy” but when they insisted in an aggressive manner on seeing him, they were ushered into his office. On seeing them, the manager gave a large false smile, “Lovely to see you again. Sorry I’ve been away on business in India. What can I do for you?” Johnny was angry at the insolence, “Where’s ma fucking money? Nothing has appeared in Marbella.” “
“Ah sorry, Mr McGrath,“ he replied with yet another false grin, “There was a technical problem transferring the money. But it should be sorted out within the next couple of weeks.” Johnny could tell straight away he was lying. He pulled out an open razor and placed it on the desk before the manager. “I know you guys eat Halal meat which means you slash the throat of the animal before it dies. Well if ah don’t get ma fucking money back straight away ah’m, gonnae slit your fucking throat. And then you’ll be Scotland’s first Halal meat manager.”
The Asian looked frightened and Goo Goo put two large canvas bags on the table, “Put all ma fucking money in there and we’ll be on our way,” Johnny said.
“But Mr McGrath, it is a large sum of money.”
Johnny shouted and waved his razor wildly, “Put it in the fucking bag now, otherwise your throat is getting slashed.” Two Indian flunkeys appeared and were ordered by the frightened bank manager to load “thousands of pounds” in bundles into the bags. After they did so, Johnny said, “Thanks, Abdul. It wasn’t that hard was it? Did you remember to leave a tenner in the account?”
“Yes sir, I did.”
“Good man,” Johnny said, “Nice to do business wi’ you.”
They left the bank with the two loaded bags of money. Johnny had an arrangement with Pat who said he would instruct “a courier to take the dosh to Marbella.” On the house front, Johnny had been informed the Ho
llywood director had agreed to sell his villa at a greatly reduced price, especially after he had snorted a great deal of cocaine provided by Pat. The next day, Johnny was astounded when he looked at the front page of the Glasgow Evening Times. There was a picture of a frail looking Bobby with the headline: “Gorbals businessman pleads not guilty to drug charges.” The other story on the front page had a picture of a scrawny looking parrot with the headline: “Valuable pirate parrot stolen from arcade.” Johnny had a humorous thought, thinking who looked worse, Bobby or the parrot.
Bobby’s trial was scheduled to take place in a month’s time at the High Court. Johnny was advised not to visit him again in Barlinnie, as the police might be watching, trying to work out who his accomplices were. On the day of the trial, Bobby appeared in the dock looking a shadow of his former self. A long line of policemen gave evidence about raiding his flat and finding drugs, money and the account ledger in his safe. But the star witness was Percy. As he stood in the witness box swearing “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” it was clear to Johnny he was being very economical with the truth. He left out a load of facts including who his main enforcers were. Percy told the court, “It was Bobby McGee who employed me. He threatened my life if I did not work for him. For fear of death I worked for him as an accountant doing the books and making out the drug transactions.” As grasses go, unfortunately for Bobby, he was very good and very articulate,
As he watched from the public gallery above, Johnny was impressed with Percy’s new teeth. Now, instead of looking like a row of condemned buildings, he had a new set of expensive gnashers, which in turn impressed the jury.
In the event it was an open and shut case for Bobby. The jury found him guilty of all charges. He stood in the dock and trembled as the judge said to him, “Robert McGee you are a very evil man who once controlled the Glasgow drug business. As a result, you have made a lot of money but ruined many lives. Therefore, I have no hesitation in sending you to prison for 12 years.” On hearing this Bobby fainted in the dock and had to be carried downstairs to the cells by several ushers and policemen.
His wife began to wail loudly in the public gallery shouting, “Oh Bobby, ma Bobby, it just isnae fair.”
Johnny got out of the court as quick as he could and headed over the Albert Bridge to the Gorbals. He went into Hughie’s flat in Thistle Street and the parrot was sitting quite happily on his perch in the cage squawking, “Piece of eight, pieces of eight.” Over and over again. Hughie made Johnny a cup of tea and said, “It never stops talking but I enjoy it. It’s just a pity that a creature like that has got to spend its life in a cage.”
Johnny sipped his tea, “I know a guy who is in exactly the same position.”
CHAPTER 66
PRISON
With Bobby locked up for the foreseeable future, Johnny decided to steer the organisation in the right direction. He called a meeting with Archie, Kenny and Goo Goo and explained his battle plan. He was going to run things from Marbella. Archie was to run the Glasgow side with Kenny his right hand man. Goo Goo would be in charge of all the enforcers. The first thing they did was sort out the couple of jokers who had refused to pay up when Bobby was awaiting trial. Both men received a beating and after that, the cash appeared. The Jewish businessman suddenly changed his mind and re-started paying his protection money. Johnny laughed at this, “Say what you like about the Jews but they certainly know how to play the game. When the guy thought Bobby’s trial would weaken us, we couldnae get a penny out of him. But now he’s glad to pay us right on the nail. Shrewd operators, the Jews.” In his private life, Johnny also had a few problems. Since the trial Bobby’s wife had cried non-stop every day and for a while Cathy was the same. But she bucked up after a while telling Johnny, “Ma father got himself into this mess, now he can get himself out of it.”
She had visited her father in prison, but it had made her ill. There was something about the prison system that made her nauseous. She vowed from then on she would prefer to write to her father rather than visit him. Her mother was a different matter. She went and visited her husband as much as she could. She vowed to do so until his eventual release date in the years to come.
On a visit to Johnny and Cathy she said, “You want to get the hell out of the Gorbals. It could be Johnny next, as you never know what the polis are up to. They might even frame Johnny because of his involvement wi’ Bobby.”
When she left, Cathy said to Johnny, “What are we gonnae do?” We‘ve got a young boy and ah don’t want to see him grow up while you are inside.”
Johnny reassured her that would not be the case, “Look darlin’, don’t worry, ah’ve thought up a wee plan to get us out of here.” “Awright,” she replied,”But make it sooner, rather than later.” The police had nailed Bobby, and Johnny heard they were now setting their sights higher, namely big Arthur and John the Irishman. Word got about that Percy had supplied them with names of individuals who he had dealt with on an occasional basis. To put it simply, he knew where the skeletons were buried. But he was playing a dangerous game. These individuals were far more dangerous than the crooked accountant perceived.
Johnny felt for a time that at least he had fallen off the police radar as they concentrated on catching bigger fish. In fact, his confidence had increased to such an extent that he had picked up the gifted red Rolls Royce and had Goo Goo chauffeur him about Glasgow but they would avoid being sighted in the Gorbals. Johnny would be in the back wearing a flat cap and sunglasses so as not to attract attention to himself. And if the police got a sniff of this he would merely say, he had “borrowed it” from the wealthy bookie. When they stopped at traffic lights in Renfield Street in the city centre, a car pulled up alongside and Arthur was in the back. He signalled to Johnny to follow his car. They followed it to the outskirts of Glasgow and stopped in a side street. Arthur climbed out of the back of his car and said to Johnny, “Nice to see you’ve gone up in the world young man. Shame about Bobby being grassed up by that accountant guy. Ah hear he’s been talking again to the polis. Do you know by any chance where he lives?”
Johnny said he did, and wrote Percy’s address on a piece of paper and handed it to big Arthur. Arthur gave a weak smile and merely said, “Thank’s son, much appreciated.”
Later that day, around lunchtime, on the outskirts of Govanhill, they spotted Malky on his way back to work in the sawmills. He had the look of a defeated man. The Rolls Royce pulled up beside him and Johnny shouted, “Climb in, Malky boy, and we’ll take you to work in style. He did so and Johnny said, “No’ seen you for a while, how’s Lorraine doing?” Malky sort of growled and replied, “Fucking terrible, she’s a nutcase, a manic depressive. She tried to slash her wrists the other week there. But we managed to save her. Marrying that cow is the worst thing I ever did. She’s a waste of time and so is her stinking father.”
The Rolls stopped outside the sawmills and Johnny noticed all the familiar faces going back to work after their lunch break. He saw the manager McDonald who had sacked him and shouted, “Hey, any chance of getting ma job back? Ah miss shovelling aw that sawdust!” The manager gave a humourless nod and headed back inside the sawmills. Malky said to Johnny, “Same auld bastards doing the same auld jobs wi’ the same auld patter. You’re well out of all this crap, Johnny.” He felt sorry for his pal and patted him on the back before he headed for his shift. Later that day, he went to his pal’s house and phoned Pat in Marbella, “So, any news for me Pat?” On a crackling line Pat replied, “Plenty of news, Johnny. Ah’ve got you the villa for a knock down price. The money has all been paid, so it’s all yours. It’s here ready and waiting for you to move in. By the way, bring some sun cream wi’ you. It’s fucking roasting over here.”
When an elated Johnny got back to his flat there was a letter waiting for him. It was from Bobby in Barlinnie, “Hi Johnny, I understand why you and Cathy have not been up to see me. Your best bet is to get you, Cathy and the boy out of the Gorbals for good and start a
new life somewhere else. Do you know where I mean? In the past I made a few mistakes and now I am paying for it. Mind, we all make mistakes, that’s why they put rubbers on top of pencils! So, take care and hopefully one day, me and my missus will be able to join you, Cathy and my grandson. Best wishes, Bobby.”
Johnny thought long and hard about the letter. Although Bobby was a defeated man, he had preserved his Gorbals sense of humour. Cathy read the letter and had tears in her eyes, “So, what are we gonnae do Johnny? How the hell are we gonnae get out of the Gorbals? Ah don’t want our boy growing up here.” Johnny kissed her on the cheek and said, “Don’t worry, ah’ve been setting the wheels in motion. We are moving to Marbella in Spain.”
Cathy gasped, “Spain? But we cannae speak Spanish!” Johnny laughed, “You don’t have to speak Spanish, everybody I know speaks English and the weather is fantastic. So, start packing you bags, we’re off soon.” Over the next week, he had several meetings with Archie, Kenny and Goo Goo. They readily agreed to his re-structuring of the organisation. It meant promotions for all of them and of course more money. Johnny would keep in contact by phone daily while residing in Marbella
The Incredible Rise of a Gorbals Gangster Page 35
