‘Don’t be daft, Dad. Of course I trust you. I’ve already told you that the meet went well and the informant seemed kosher. There really isn’t much more to say at the moment. He’s the only one who knows Vinny’s movements, so all I can do is play the waiting game until he contacts me again.’
‘Have you told anyone at work yet? And how exactly do you plan to arrest Vinny?’
As much as Christopher trusted his father, there was no way he was going to reveal every detail of his meeting with Ahmed. That would be totally inappropriate, and besides, there was far too much at stake, including his own head on the chopping block. ‘No, I haven’t informed anybody at work yet, Dad. As for your other question, I’ve told you all I can for now. As soon as I have more news, you’ll be the first to know, I promise. Now, can we just drop the subject, please? I want to forget about work on my day off and just have a few pints and relax.’
Donald smiled. He was so proud of Christopher. ‘Of course we can, son.’
After leaving Ben Bloggs’ house, Vinny Butler shot back to his own, picked up a few bits, made a couple of phone calls, then with a face like thunder, drove towards Eastbourne.
Today had not been a good day, and Vinny’s mind was in overdrive. His son was becoming a real thorn in his side, and that disappointed him immensely. When he was Little Vinny’s age, he might have been a fucker, but he’d never disobeyed or played up his mother. Did the boy have a screw loose? Because if so, it came from Karen’s genes, not his.
Being mugged off by a fourteen-year-old kid was not something Vinny was willing to put up with. Much as he was relieved that his boy was banging some bird instead of knocking about with the likes of Ben Bloggs, there’d be a rude awakening for the little shit when he got back from Kings.
Hooting at the car in front for driving slow in a fast lane, then treating the driver to a wrist sign as he put his foot on the accelerator and zoomed past, Vinny turned his thoughts to Joanna.
Once he’d got the word that Johnny Preston had been granted parole, he’d had a gut feeling the bastard would be out by this weekend, which was why he had planned a trip to Eastbourne. Vinny hated leaving the club unattended by himself or Michael of a weekend, especially since the fire, but he knew his doormen Pete and Paul were more than capable of running the gaff. It wasn’t even as if weekends were that busy these days.
Cranking up the volume of his car stereo, Vinny sang along. ‘Ashes to Ashes’ was David Bowie’s latest chart hit and the title gave him a great idea.
If Joanna ever disobeyed his orders by allowing Molly anywhere near that shitbag of a father of hers, she wouldn’t just end up dead behind a dustbin like Little Vinny’s mother had. He would personally cremate her, while she was still alive, just as he had with Trevor.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Queenie and Vivian shared a worried glance as Vinny paced up and down the bungalow, letting off steam. Joanna was still nowhere to be seen and Vinny had visions of her, her mother, father and Molly playing happy families somewhere nearby.
‘Sit down, love. You’re wearing the carpet out. I’m sure Jo has gone out with Nancy, ’cos we haven’t seen her and the boys all day either. Nancy’s sour-faced mother has been down here for the past week now. Bloody cheek, if you ask me. Didn’t have the guts to stay opposite us though. Booked her own chalet, apparently.’
Vinny was too bothered about his own problems to care whether Nancy’s mother was still in the vicinity or not. ‘Pour us a Scotch, Mum, and make it a large one,’ he ordered, collapsing into an armchair.
‘Where’s Little Vinny? You left him at home?’ Vivian enquired.
‘Don’t talk to me about that little shit. Gonna get the hiding of his life when I get home.’
‘Why? What’s he done now?’ Queenie asked.
When Vinny explained that Little Vinny had run away, then showed them his letter, both women tutted with disapproval. ‘Needs a bloody good fawpenny one, if you ask me,’ Vivian mumbled.
Queenie sighed. ‘You are seriously going to have to take a firmer hand with that boy, Vin. He’s spiralling out of control. You, Roy and Michael never gave me grief like that. Brenda was my biggest worry, and that was only because she’s a girl. Well, she was a cheeky little mare an’ all, but yous boys were angels compared to her and Little Vinny.’
‘I bet he’s staying with that Ben Bloggs. Disgusting family they are. Vermin of the very worst kind,’ Vivian said.
‘I went round the Bloggs’ place, he wasn’t there. Ben reckons Little Vinny has met some bird called Shazza who lives in Dagenham.’
‘Oh, my gawd! She sounds choice with a name like Shazza,’ Queenie remarked.
‘Next thing you know he’ll knock her up and you’ll be a granddad, Vinny,’ Vivian added.
‘Don’t bleedin’ say that. I’m not old enough to be a great-granny yet,’ Queenie spat.
‘I dunno what I’m gonna do with him. I thought working at the club would help make him grow up, but the boy’s got a mind of his own. He’s even had his head shaved again. Gave him a clump for that, but nothing I seem to do has the desired effect. He’ll know all about it when I get hold of him next week though. I’ll knock seven colours of shit out of him if I have to.’
‘And so you should!’ said Queenie emphatically. ‘Better that than he becomes a liability to you. I don’t want him spoiling the good name of this family.’
Vinny managed a smile for the first time that day. ‘We’re hardly that family out of Little House on the Prairie, Mum, but I do know where you’re coming from.’
‘Aw, my Lenny used to love that programme. Cried his eyes out sometimes while watching it he did. That and Lassie,’ Vivian reminisced.
‘I remember him crying over Lassie. I think you stopped him watching it in the end, didn’t you, Viv?’ Queenie asked.
Whenever he was in the same room as his mother and aunt and they started to discuss Lenny, Vinny always felt terribly awkward. Today was no different, so he quickly changed the subject. ‘Aw, bless Champ. Still miss him every day, I do. But going back to Little Vinny: he must take after Dad’s side of the family, Mum. He certainly don’t take after me and you.’
‘Speaking of which, your father is no more than thirty feet away as we speak. You need to have a stern word with that brother of yours, Vinny. Upset your mother terribly, Michael has, bringing him down here. And he was bloody rude to me and your mum earlier.’
Vinny’s face was etched with surprise. ‘What you going on about, Auntie Viv?’
‘Your father. Michael’s brought him down here on holiday, the old bastard.’
‘You’re kidding me! Dad stayed with Michael all last week, I knew that, but I thought Michael would drop him home before he came down here. What did he say to upset you both?’
‘Leave it, Viv,’ Queenie urged. She hated it when her sons argued.
‘No, I’m not leaving it, Queen. Bang out of order what Michael said to you, and Vinny should know the truth.’
Vinny was absolutely livid when he was informed that Michael had accused his beloved mother of leading his tosser of a father a dog’s life. ‘I ain’t fucking putting up with that. Where are they now? In Michael’s bungalow?’
When her son stormed out of the front door, Queenie grabbed his arm and begged him not to cause trouble. ‘Please, Vinny, I don’t want or need you or Michael arguing. What was said was said in the heat of the moment, and I order you to leave it be. Jesus wept, we nearly all got barred from here last bloody weekend and I don’t want anything like that ever happening again.’
About to argue his point, Vinny was stopped from doing so by his daughter running up to him. ‘Daddy, Daddy,’ Molly yelled, her face full of excitement at the sight of him.
Vinny picked Molly up and swung her around in the air. He could see Joanna, Nancy, Daniel, Adam and Lee out of the corner of his eye, but decided to blank them all by taking Molly inside. ‘Where you been today then, princess?’
‘We been to pier. Mummy won me
this,’ Molly said, waving a small teddy bear in Vinny’s face.
‘Was anybody else with you other than Mummy, Auntie Nancy, Daniel, Adam and Lee?’
‘Yes, Daddy. Mary was with us too. Where is Molly Dolly, Nanny?’
‘In your bedroom, love. Put her down, Vin,’ Queenie ordered.
Aware that Joanna was now standing right outside the front door, Vinny leaned towards his mother and hissed in her right ear. ‘Who the fuck is Mary?’
‘Nancy’s mother. I told you she was here. Now will you calm yourself down, because you are making my bastard nerves bad.’
Little Vinny liked Shazza’s mum. She hadn’t let him stay in Shazza’s room the night before, but other than that she had made him ever so welcome and had even cooked him a nice big fry-up this morning. ‘So, what are yous two lovebirds up to this evening?’ Carol asked.
‘I was actually going to ask your permission, Mrs Young, to take Shazza to my friend’s birthday party in Whitechapel. We won’t stay late, I promise, and I will look after Shaz for you.’
‘No need to call me Mrs Young, Vinny. Carol will do just fine. Of course you can go to the party, but do make sure you look after Shaz. And can you bring her home by twelve, please?’
Little Vinny looked at Shazza and grinned. When she had kissed him passionately yesterday, he thought his luck had been in, but when he had grabbed her breasts, his girlfriend had stopped him from going any further. ‘My mum trusts me and I would never take liberties by doing anything with a boy while she is in the house. I wouldn’t feel right about it and she often walks into my bedroom without knocking. What about your house? Can’t we go there if your dad is away for the weekend?’
Today, Little Vinny had rung home. Then, on getting no answer, he had called the club. His father’s employee Pete had told him that his father had gone to Eastbourne for the weekend and was not due back until Monday morning.
When her mum left the room, Shazza squeezed her new boyfriend’s hand. ‘Can’t wait to get to yours, can you?’
Even though he was excited, Little Vinny was also quite nervous. He had no sexual experience whatsoever and he guessed, Shazza being older than him, that she probably had plenty. Shazza had no idea he was only fourteen. She had told him when they first met that she was nearly sixteen, so he had told her he was sixteen too. There was no reason for her to doubt him. He was tall for his age and he worked at his father’s club.
‘Well?’ Shazza asked.
‘Can’t wait.’
Back in Eastbourne, Michael and Albie had got to the downstairs club early to grab a decent table. Daniel, Adam and Lee had insisted on accompanying them rather than waiting for their mother, who always took ages to get ready.
For the first time since Dorothy had died, Albie felt his life was worth living once again. Because Queenie and Vivian had pushed him out of the family circle when his own children were growing up, he had missed out on so much. Now it was as if he’d been given a second chance with his grandsons. ‘So, are you all going to enter the talent competition for your old granddad, eh?’
Sipping his Coke through a straw, Daniel shook his head repeatedly. No way was he standing on stage, making himself look silly.
‘What about you, Lee?’ Albie asked.
‘No, Granddad. I don’t want to go on stage with lots of people watching me.’
‘I will, Granddad,’ Adam piped up.
Albie ruffled the head of his youngest grandson. Adam was only five. ‘What you gonna do then? Dance? Or sing?’
‘I’ll sing that song you taught me.’
Knowing exactly what song Adam meant, Albie had tears in his eyes as the boy dashed up to the stage to put his name down for the competition.
Christopher Walker nodded politely when Ahmed climbed into the passenger seat. He had given Ahmed his pager number the other day and told him to contact him via that in future and he would call him straight back, so as not to arouse suspicion at work.
‘I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again quite so soon,’ Christopher said.
Ahmed chuckled. ‘The early bird catches the worm, and I’m sure there is no bigger worm we would both like to catch than Vinny Butler, so why waste time?’
Christopher smiled. He knew Ahmed was a villain, but even so, there was something about him that he admired. Perhaps it was the fact Ahmed despised Vinny Butler just as much as he did? Or perhaps it was just his honesty about the whole situation? ‘So, what’s the plan?’
‘I spoke to Vinny yesterday morning and he has a drug deal going down next Thursday afternoon. I have washed my hands with anything illegal I might have been involved with in the past, but I have agreed to accompany Vinny on Thursday just to make sure everything goes smoothly.’
‘I understand that, Ahmed, and obviously you will not be implicated in any of this.’
‘But this is what we must sort out, Christopher. I need to be implicated. A grass is something I am not, and I cannot be tarred with that brush. I got in touch with you for personal reasons only. Had I not known that you and Vinny had crossed paths in the past and you had an axe to grind, I would never have involved the police.’
‘What is it you want me to do then?’
‘I want you to arrest me along with Vinny, then let me go. On the day in question, I will make sure that we are travelling in Vinny’s car, therefore the drugs will be in his boot. I want you to haul me in too, then release me after questioning. Not my car and I had no idea Vinny had drugs in the boot, you get me?’
‘Yes, I get you, Ahmed, but without telling my colleagues you are an informer, that’s going to be extremely difficult for me to pull off,’ Christopher admitted.
‘And this is why I do not want you to involve your colleagues. I need you to do this alone, Christopher.’
‘But I can’t. It would be totally against police policy. Besides, what if Vinny turns violent? I wouldn’t stand a chance. I have to have somebody with me as back-up, Ahmed.’
‘Well, bring some wet-behind-the-ears PC with you then. I’m warning you, Christopher, if you involve the heavy mob and this goes wrong, I shall have no alternative but to spill the beans about your past, and you really don’t want that to happen now, do you?’
Feeling his stomach churn, Christopher clocked the evil expression in Ahmed’s eyes, and nodded. Suddenly, he didn’t like this man very much at all.
Queenie Butler felt an uneasiness about the evening ahead. Vinny was knocking back the Scotch like there was no tomorrow. She felt sorry for Joanna because her son was virtually blanking her, and to top it all, she had just spotted Albie, Michael, Nancy and the boys sitting on a table opposite theirs across the dancefloor.
‘You’re ever so quiet, Queen. You all right?’ Vivian asked her sister.
The resident band were belting out Neil Diamond’s ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’ so Queenie leaned towards her sister and spoke into her ear. ‘Got a bad feeling about tonight. Vinny’s in a weird mood, I can tell, and I hope he don’t start,’ she hissed.
‘Vinny’s all right. He’s just put Molly’s name down for the talent competition. Can’t believe we’ve got to sit looking at Albie for the evening though. Bloody liberty, Michael bringing him down here, if you ask me.’
The compere’s announcement that the talent competition was starting saved Queenie from answering. ‘And our first contestant is Adam Butler. A round of applause for Adam, please.’
Queenie and Vivian clapped as hard as anybody when Michael lifted his son onto the stage.
‘Hello, Adam. How old are you?’ the compere asked, crouching down and holding the microphone near Adam’s lips.
‘I’m five, Charlie. I come from London and I’m gonna sing a song for my granddad,’ Adam replied, remembering the name of the compere who was also the children’s entertainer.
Charlie Case and the audience all chuckled at Adam’s cute cockney accent and bravado, apart from Queenie and Vivian. ‘Singing a song for his granddad! He’s only known the old bastard five minu
tes,’ Vivian spat.
When her grandson proceeded to sing Clive Dunn’s ‘Grandad’ an open-mouthed Queenie leapt out of her seat. Albie was grinning like a Cheshire cat and she had seen enough. ‘I’m not watching and listening to any more of this old bollocks. Come on, Viv. Let’s go to the amusement arcade.’
Little Vinny could feel his heart beating like a drum when Shazza put her hand on his cock. He still had his jeans on, but already his penis felt as if it was about to explode.
‘Shall we get undressed and get under the covers?’ Shazza asked.
The thought of having sex for the first time was exciting yet scary, and Little Vinny decided to delay the inevitable until he had built up a bit more Dutch courage. ‘Let’s drink our cider first, eh? There’s no rush. We’ve got the house to ourselves all evening and I ain’t got to get you home until twelve.’
‘Put some music on then. What records you got?’
Feeling embarrassed, Little Vinny admitted that his father had smashed up his entire record collection.
Shazza was bemused. ‘But why would he do that?’
‘Because he’s a prick and he wants me to be just like him. My dad has a bit of a reputation round here, and he’s embarrassed ’cause I’m a skinhead. He wants me to wear smart suits like he does, but I’m my own person.’
‘Your dad sounds like a right pig. You’re sixteen – he has no right to tell you what to do and how to dress.’
Praying that Shazza would never find out he was only fourteen, Little Vinny glugged down a large amount of cider, then put the empty bottle on his bedside cabinet. ‘What’s that?’ he asked, pointing at the folded up piece of paper Shazza put next to the bottle.
‘My phone number. I wrote it in pen this time, so you’ll have no excuse not to ring me in future. My mum had a word with me when you was in the bath earlier. She really likes you, but said you can’t stay at mine when I go back to school next week. She’s worried, what with it being my final year, it will affect my exams.’
‘I understand, Shaz. I’ll probably need to move back home to go to work anyway. My dad is bound to be pissed off with me for a week or two, so if he makes me work all the time and I can’t see you, you won’t go off with another boy, will you?’
Payback Page 24
