by Martina Cole
‘I like Ronnie Rafter, Dad. It was the fucking drugs again. I know I have a problem—’
Angus laughed grimly. ‘Oh, fuck off, son! Do you really think you can bullshit me at my time of life?’
‘No, Dad. But what I am saying is, this time I know that I need proper help.’
Angus was laughing again, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. ‘Look, son, that shit might work with your mother – or even my mother, at a push – but not with me. I will get Roy to book you a flight home, and then you and me are Finitosberg. Goodbyesville. You can start getting yourself an earn, because you won’t be getting a fucking wage from me any more.’
Angus could see his son was nearly in tears, but that didn’t affect him at all – he really didn’t care.
‘Look at you – all glistening tears and “poor old me”! Well, I’m off. I have to talk to Daddy Rafter and do some damage limitation, thanks to you and your utter cuntishness.’ Angus looked down at his son and felt not a single pang of regret.
‘Please, Dad, you know that I can beat this, you know that I can earn.’
Angus sighed sarcastically. ‘But not for me, though, eh? You’re out, and you have only yourself to blame. Roy will bring you a ticket and some dosh, and that’s me doing my duty by you. And, to be fair, it’s more than you deserve. My advice to you is, when you finally apologise to Ronnie Rafter and his old woman, you do a fucking cracking job of it.’
As he left the hospital room, he didn’t even feel the urge to look back. If he was being totally honest, he was relieved, because his son was a liability, and that was something he could never forgive. Nothing he could do would ever change his son or his ways. His Angus, his namesake, was a fucking snide of the first water. He also knew that his son’s antics would be discussed by his own peer group. If he had not broken all contact with the boy, Angus Senior would have been seen as weak, and that was something that he would never allow to happen.
He wondered how Roy had explained it to Diana. She had to know the score, because she dealt with the Rafters on a daily basis – after all, she owned half of their businesses. She had been the one who had put up the bulk of the money for the first of Benny Rafter’s betting shops many years ago. His mother had put more fingers in more pies than Sweeney fucking Todd, and she had had the foresight to keep them there as a silent partner. There was hardly a business in the Smoke that she didn’t have a stake in somehow. He couldn’t fault her. And because of her largesse in the past, she also had the goodwill that went with it.
His big worry was how his wife would cope with her eldest son’s latest escapade. He had a feeling this could be the one thing to cause actual trouble between them.
Chapter One Hundred and Ten
‘What possessed you, for fuck’s sake?’
Lorna was fuming at her son and the foolishness of his actions. For his part, he was frankly amazed at her attitude.
‘Look what that mad bitch did to me, Mum. The doctors thought I had been in a fucking car crash, because that’s what my injuries looked like. How can you come in here and act like I’m the fucking bad guy?’
Lorna Davis looked at her eldest son, who she had loved with all her heart, but who had proved to be such a disappointment. She had lost him the moment he had finally understood the family businesses and what they entailed. She had accepted that she couldn’t compete with the lap dancing or the nightclubs and everything that went with them. If it had been left to her, none of her children would have been within a donkey’s fart of Soho. She had tried to offer them a different life, a better life, but it had all been in vain. They were infected with the Davis genes, and she couldn’t compete with them. She only had to look at Diana and her own husband to admit that, where they were concerned, blood will out.
She had tried to shelter her children, she had tried to do the best for them, and they had systematically kicked her in the teeth. Her husband had been so thrilled at the children finally knowing the real truth of his world and not vilifying him for it. They had embraced it as if they had been waiting all their lives to be welcomed into the family business. The only thing they had seen was the huge earn, and Lorna could understand that. But her eldest son, Angus, had embraced it and then he had abused it, and she couldn’t let him get away with that.
To see her son exploit his father’s generosity grieved her beyond measure, because she knew that Angus had given this fucker every opportunity to prove himself and, more importantly, to show him that he was worthy of being his successor.
No chance of that now. He had guaranteed that by his actions and his arrogance. And by believing that, because he was Angus’s eldest son, he automatically had a free pass.
She looked at her handsome son and she could see the worry and the anger in his face. She knew, once and for all, that this son of hers was flawed, that he wasn’t capable of achieving what his father had achieved, because he didn’t want to work for it. He wanted it laid out on a plate.
Her son was weak and he was greedy and he was without loyalty. He didn’t know when to stop, especially when he’d had a few drinks, and that would forever be his downfall. Lorna looked at her son, with his injuries that his own behaviour had inflicted on him, and she saw that he still possessed that arrogant demeanour that he had always had. Even with his stitches and his bruises, he still believed that he had a God-given right to do what he wanted.
‘Do you know what, Angus? You’re an embarrassment to this family. You wanted to go and work with your father – against my advice, I might add. But you broke your neck to get taken into the firm, and all you have done since then is show us all what a complete liability you really are.’
Angus was angry and upset at his mother’s reaction to his plight, but he was too shrewd to say that. It amazed him that his mother could still defend her husband, knowing what he was capable of.
He took a few deep breaths, before saying quietly, ‘Do you know what, Mum? I don’t know whether to admire you or scorn you when you defend your husband, after what he has done to all of us. He’s cheated on you countless times, he doesn’t come home for days on end, and when he is home he acts like he’s in a hotel. He treats you like shit, and yet you still defend him.’
Lorna smiled suddenly. She was still a beautiful woman, Angus Junior acknowledged.
‘That is why you will never be able to step into your father’s shoes. You think you know about my life or your father’s life? You still don’t understand what makes us work, even though you had a front-row seat. Your father is the love of my life, and I am his. Those girls mean nothing to either of us. He works in a world that places temptation in his way, every day of the week. I accepted that, and he knows I don’t give a flying fuck. You are not a kid, you should have worked that one out long ago. Eilish has, not that she’s said it out loud, and so has Sean. They get the big picture, which unfortunately seems to be something that has eluded you from day fucking one.
‘Your father wanted desperately to hand everything over to you as his firstborn, as his namesake. What a disappointment you turned out to be. You are a liability, and you need to understand that, son. The people your father deals with on a daily basis are really bad bastards, and they don’t take any shit from anyone. You are out now, you are a pariah, and you have no one to blame but yourself. I love you, son, and so does your dad. But where the businesses are concerned, you have forfeited the right to be involved.
‘Even your granny had the right hump with you, and she is still top of the tree where the Davis name is concerned. You had every chance to learn and to grow by watching her and your father and understanding how to survive in the criminal world. But you couldn’t be arsed, could you? You wanted to be carried through life depending on your name and your family connections. Well, you, my darling, were born into the wrong family, because we don’t take any prisoners. You have fucked up once too often, and now you are on the outside looking in. Your father is adamant that you are finished, and I have to agree with h
im.’
Chapter One Hundred and Eleven
Angus Davis Junior was looking at his mother as if he had never seen her before in his life. She was the one person he had believed would fight his corner, and he finally understood the seriousness of the situation that he was in. He was badly hurt, in pain, and he was still of the opinion that he should be given the benefit of the doubt, because he was his father’s son. It had just been a drunken misunderstanding, and he honestly believed that his father should have been of the same opinion.
All his father’s talk about loyalty and the importance of family seemed to be a bit hypocritical, considering this latest stance. His own father had thrown him to the wolves and was acting like he was without merit or importance. He was more than willing to apologise or whatever, but it seemed that no one was interested in giving him another chance.
He was just left in a hospital bed without any kind of back-up. He was frightened of being outed. He had never been outside the family or without the protection that his name had guaranteed him. He was terrified of being open to attack, and also being without the monetary advantages that working in the family business entailed.
He could see that his mother had guessed exactly what he was thinking. Taking pity on him, she took his hand in hers and said calmly, ‘Don’t worry, son, you are still a Davis, and you will be offered an earn by someone. My advice to you is to make a success of it, and prove to your old man that you are capable of standing on your own two feet. That will go a long way to inching your way back into the firm. But you need to address your drinking and your behaviour first. Abad would have nutted you the first time round, if you had not been your father’s son. Now you have offended the Rafters, who the family have dealt with for years without incident. Tania Rafter is pregnant – did you really think that it was OK to treat her like a fucking whore?
‘You need to think about what you have done, and find a way to make amends. And, take it from me, you better keep looking over your shoulder, because the Rafter boys will not swallow your actions lightly. They have every right to pay you back. And your father will turn a blind eye, because he has no choice. You crossed a line, and no one in their right mind would try and pretend that what you did was anything other than a sheer piss-take.’
Angus was aware that it would be useless to even try and argue his case with his mother. He should have known that she would take his father’s side. His parents’ relationship had always perplexed him. His father had rarely been there when they were all children; it had been his mother who had been the mainstay of their lives. They loved her as their mother but, once they could think for themselves, they had never liked her or enjoyed her company.
Lorna sighed and, sitting on the hospital bed, she said seriously, ‘You are back home with me. Your father says you can’t use the flat any more. He has had all your stuff packed and it’s in the garages waiting for you.’
Angus closed his eyes in distress. The thought of living back home was unbearable. He couldn’t just allow this to happen, he couldn’t just sit back and accept this shit. He had to plan and use his head, because he wouldn’t be pushed out of the life that he loved. His father had brought him into his world and he had no right to try and force him out of it.
Sean was the golden boy, because he toed the company line, but he would not be overtaken by his younger brother – or his little sister, if it came to that. Eilish was a real shrewdie. There was no disputing that she had a brain like a trap just like their grandmother. But she would fight his corner for him, he was confident of that much.
Sean he wasn’t so sure of now.
He needed to have a rethink and work out how he could get himself back into the fold.
Chapter One Hundred and Twelve
Roy was happy these days, and it was evident to anyone who cared to notice.
Angus knew that he had a little bird on the side who was a real Brahma. She didn’t want anything from him, and she wouldn’t cause him any aggravation. She was young, she had a killer body, and she was up for anything within reason – or at least, that was what Roy had said. She was just thrilled to have bagged herself a Face, and that seemed to be enough for her.
Roy didn’t play away from home very often, and never for too long. He was a good man and he loved his wife with every fibre of his being. But in their game there was just too much temptation, and even Angus could understand Roy’s interest in this one. She was gorgeous. Angus had considered banging her himself, but she had no real conversation to speak of and, even worse, she was a vegetarian and she hammered her love of animals home to anyone who would listen. He had asked her what would happen to all the dairy herds and sheep in the world if everyone suddenly became a vegetarian. Would they be nutted, because there were a lot of them? And she had looked at him with her big doe eyes, and he knew that she had never thought beyond what she had read in a pamphlet.
Roy, on the other hand, seemed to find every word she said a jewel of wisdom. Good luck to him and all.
Roy sat in the easy chair by the window and looked out over Soho. He loved people-watching; they both did. The whole gamut of society seemed to make their way there eventually, and they loved to discuss the people they saw. They would laugh as they wondered why they were in Soho and what their lives were like.
‘So Angus Junior is truly out then?’
Roy was looking out the window and pretending that his question wasn’t particularly important. Angus appreciated that, because he knew that Roy was giving him the opportunity to backtrack on his decision. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
‘Yes, he’s out, Roy. I can’t trust him, can I? He is a good little earner until he has a drink, then all bets are off. Every fucking deal he closes – and every fucking pound he brings in – is nothing when he brings such trouble to my door. Benny Rafter has been dealing with us since the year fucking dot, and his sons are good kids. Both good earners and trustworthy and, more importantly, they know how to conduct themselves in public. No, Roy, this time my Angus went too far. I’ve got to teach him a lesson that he won’t forget in a hurry.’
Angus poured them both a large Jameson’s and, as he handed the glass to Roy, he sighed. ‘I’m so fucking disappointed in him, Roy. He humiliated me without a second’s thought about what he was doing. Sean had tried to calm him down, by all accounts, but you know as well as I do that Angus Junior loses all control once he’s had a few drinks. He’s a fucking liability but, worse than that, I am ashamed of him. I’m ashamed that he has my name. How do you think that makes me feel?’
Roy sipped his drink, savouring the peaty taste and enjoying the company of his old friend. ‘You know, your mum brought me in to keep an eye on you, and I did, mate. But over the years, we became good friends – even though you have done a few things that I didn’t agree with. But, by the same token, I knew that you did them without spite or malice. Your Angus’s biggest fault is that he holds grudges, and he is a fucking bully – the worst kind, because he bullied people that he knew couldn’t fight back.
‘He hasn’t got the right temperament for our life, and he never will. He was disliked by the staff under him and by the people he had to work alongside. His removal is being celebrated, and that tells me everything I need to know. You have to keep to your decision and teach that fucker a lesson that he won’t forget. And maybe, just maybe, he might one day redeem himself.’
Angus swallowed his drink down and immediately poured himself another. ‘Shall I tell you the truth, Roy? After the Abad incident, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But you and I know that he’s a fucking predator – a sexual predator. I’ve heard the stories about him, and I know that you have heard them too, and I know in my piss that they are true. I’ve had enough. I will give him a wedge to get started, and then he’s on his fucking own. I can’t protect him any more, and I don’t want to. I just feel so sad that a child of mine has turned out so fucking wrong.’
Roy didn’t say anything for a long while, and both men were aw
are of the silence between them. They could hear the sounds of Soho in the distance: the police car sirens and the music from the restaurants and bars. It was the soundtrack of their working lives. It was the norm, it was what they were used to.
Eventually, Roy said honestly, ‘Don’t beat yourself up over him, Angus. He is a one-off. My mother used to say that, every now and then, every family gets a throwback from another age. He is your living image, but there is nothing of you in him, he has no moral compass. We might be drug dealers, whatever, but we have a code that we adhere to. We are straight arrows, if you like, but that boy has a kink in his nature, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.
‘Now Sean and Eilish are a completely different breed. They are like us, and they are people who can be trusted. You have to promise me, Angus, that you will watch your back, because I don’t trust your firstborn as far as I could throw him. He’s a chancer and a liar, and he has not got one decent bone in his whole body. I have to say this to you, Angus, because I love you like a son, and I would lay down my life for you, as you know. That boy of yours has a dark streak running through him, and I think he got it from Lorna, because you know as well as I do that she is not the full five quid.’
Angus looked at his old friend and felt a huge sadness wash over him. He knew what it had taken for Roy to say what he had, and that he had said it because he cared about him and was worried about him.
‘Roy, you are like a second father to me. I know what you are saying, and I know that it’s true. Lorna has her problems, and I’m doing my best to make sure that she is taken care of when everything becomes too much for her. I can assure you, that if my Angus becomes too much of a problem, I will take care of him personally.’
