Sighing, Mary went to check on the buffet she had prepared. Her daughter’s choice of husband had caused no end of problems in her relationship with Donald over the years, and it wasn’t even poor Michael’s fault. It was his brother Vinny’s.
Back in 1965, Mary and Donald had fulfilled a lifelong ambition by opening up their own café, set in the heart of Whitechapel. Having spent every penny they had on purchasing and then refurbishing their dream, they worked hard to make a success of it. Business had been booming – until fate struck a terrible blow. Their son Christopher, who was only eight at the time, had witnessed a murder. The killing had been carried out by Vinny Butler, head of a local gangland family, and as soon as he realized that Christopher had witnessed the murder, he had threatened him and forced him to lie to the police.
Petrified for the safety of their children, Mary and Donald had fled Whitechapel one frosty Christmas Day. It had taken time to recover from the trauma of their ordeal, but they had thrown themselves into a new business venture, and moved on with their lives.
The past returned to haunt Mary and Donald in 1971. That was the summer when their beautiful daughter fell in love with Vinny’s younger brother, Michael. The lovebirds’ relationship had caused Mary nothing but grief ever since. Christopher was now a policeman, and he and Donald were dead against Nancy’s choice of husband.
‘How do I look, Mum? I feel ever so nervous, but I can’t thank you and Dad enough for doing this for me today. I miss my boys so much.’
Mary told her daughter she looked great and held her close to her chest. Nancy had been ill recently and had ended up in hospital. Being alienated from her father and brother while trying to bring up two kids of her own was bad enough, but when Michael insisted on taking in the son he’d had by a previous girlfriend it had proved too much for her delicate brain to cope with. That was why it had been decided that Daniel and Adam would spend their birthday at Mary and Donald’s home, where Nancy was currently recuperating.
‘I hope Dad loves the boys as much as you do, Mum,’ Nancy said, her voice full of hope.
Mary held her daughter’s face in her hands, forcing Nancy to look at her, and she smiled. Whereas she’d had contact with her grandsons since day one, Donald had never met them before. ‘Now, dry them eyes. Today is going to be a wonderful day, and if your father doesn’t love them boys as much as I do, I’ll eat my hat.’
Joanna Preston was feeling rather melancholy. The house that Vinny had bought was lovely, but its lack of furniture made it seem as cold and lonely as she felt. Tomorrow would be Joanna’s eighteenth birthday and for the first time since the shit had hit the fan, she realized just how much she missed her family. Her mum always made a big fuss of her on her birthday, but tomorrow Joanna wouldn’t be seeing or even speaking to her. Instead, she would be spending the day at a funeral for two men she didn’t even know.
Sipping her cup of tea, she allowed her mind to wander back to the summer. She had been working as a cleaner at a holiday park in Eastbourne when Vinny had appeared in her life and literally swept her off her feet. It really had been a case of love at first sight, but what Joanna hadn’t realized at the time was the bad blood between her family and Vinny’s. Her father was currently serving a fifteen-year prison sentence for shooting Vinny’s brother – the same brother who was being buried tomorrow. Jo had only been told the truth recently.
When her mother had learned of her romance, she’d hit the roof. Joanna had then been forced to make a decision. Her family or Vinny? She was so besotted, she’d chosen Vinny, and was now pregnant with their first child. Her mum had been devastated. She’d told Joanna that with her long blonde hair, slender body and beautiful blue eyes, she could get any lad she wanted. But Joanna did not want a lad. She wanted a man, and that man was Vinny.
Moving to Whitechapel had proved to be a bit of an eye-opener for Joanna. She had spent the early part of her life living in South London, but barely remembered that. Tiptree and Eastbourne were the only other two areas she had lived in, and Whitechapel was so very different. The air reeked, the pavements were littered with rubbish, there was graffiti everywhere you looked, and it was very multi-cultural.
‘You OK? Hasn’t that sofa come yet?’ Vinny asked, snapping Joanna out of her daydream.
‘No, it hasn’t. Vinny, when can I start work at the club?’
Vinny crouched down next to the armchair and began to sweet-talk Joanna. When she had been working at the holiday camp, he had promised her a job as his secretary. That offer had merely been intended to entice her to London. He didn’t love her; neither did he want her working for him. Their whole relationship was based on revenge. Vinny hated Joanna’s father with a passion and would do anything to get even for what he’d done to Roy. Absolutely anything.
Michael Butler felt as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he drove towards Nancy’s parents’ house. Being the only one, bar Ahmed, who knew that Vinny was responsible for Lenny’s death was preying on his mind. On top of that, his wife had temporarily left him, and he was currently trying to bring up his three sons alone. Trevor Thomas was another worry. Say he and Vinny had left some kind of evidence at the scene? A long prison sentence did not bear thinking about.
Thankfully, Lee was at school today. It was him moving into their family home that had tipped Nancy over the edge. Lee’s mum and gran had died in a car crash a few months ago, so the poor little sod had had nowhere else to go.
‘Dad, we want you to come to our birthday party with us, don’t we, Adam?’ Daniel said.
Michael bumped the car up on the kerb and switched the engine off. As fate would have it, both his sons were born on the very same day. Daniel was four today, Adam two, but there was no way Michael could join in the celebrations. Although they were yet to be properly introduced, Nancy’s father hated him.
Michael locked the car door, grabbed his sons by their tiny hands, and led them up the pathway. It was Mary who answered the door, as he guessed it would be. ‘Any chance I can have a quick word with Nance, Mary? I miss her so much.’
Mary squeezed her son-in-law’s hand. She liked Michael, she really did, but it had taken all her strength to force Donald to allow their grandsons into the house. She couldn’t push the issue any further by extending the invitation to Michael. ‘Not today, love, but Nancy is on the mend. I can promise you that she’ll be ready to see you again soon.’
Closing the door on Michael she led the boys through to the living room. Donald looked awkward as he came face to face with his grandsons for the very first time. Both were dressed in matching beige suits, had jet black hair, bright green eyes, and looked nothing like anybody in his family.
‘Are you our granddad? We’ve been wanting to meet you for ages. My name is Daniel and this is my brother Adam,’ Daniel said politely.
Donald Walker was not usually a man of emotion, but when his youngest grandson held his arm out in hope that his hand would be shook, Donald could not help but smile. He had always been a fan of impeccable manners. ‘Yes, I’m your granddad, and I’ve been looking forward to meeting you too.’
Watching the bonding session unfold before her, Mary shared a smug smile with her daughter. Daniel and Adam already had Donald eating out of the palms of their hands. Gone was her miserable-looking bolshy husband. In his place was a happy, loving grandfather.
Vinny Butler walked into the room and for the first time since the accident locked eyes with the best pal he had left for dead. Ahmed looked awful, wearing only pyjama bottoms his face and body was covered in cuts and bruises.
Ahmed glanced at Vinny, his face devoid of emotion, and then turned to his wife. ‘Make yourself scarce, Anna. Vinny and I have business to discuss.’
When Anna left the room, Vinny’s eyes welled up with pure guilt as he tried to explain his actions on that fateful night. ‘I am so fucking sorry, mate. No way would I have left you if I had thought you were still alive. I really thought you were a goner.’
‘Pour us both a Scotch, then I want you to tell me exactly what happened. I don’t remember anything about that evening at all,’ Ahmed lied. He could sense that Vinny was nervous and so the bastard should be. Making it awkward without being too nasty was exactly how Ahmed had planned this conversation.
Vinny took a large gulp of his drink. ‘Do you remember going to the whorehouse in Dalston?’
‘Nope.’
‘Well, me and you were three sheets to the wind when we got there. We’d been boozing all night at the club. Champ overheard us saying where we were going and begged to come with us. Anyway, we had a great time and I offered to drive your car home. I’d sobered up a bit by then. But as I was driving, some van came towards me with its full beam on. I was momentarily blinded, which is why I lost control. We smashed into a building, but it was the left-hand side of the car that took all the impact. That’s where you and Champ were both sitting.’
‘Carry on,’ Ahmed urged.
Reliving the awful experience was something Vinny would rather not be put through, but what choice did he have? A thorough explanation was the very least he owed Ahmed. ‘Well, I hit my head against the steering wheel and it dazed me for a minute or so. When I came to and looked at you, there was a big piece of metal sticking out of your chest and a small piece in your head. There was blood everywhere. I checked for a pulse and couldn’t find one, then I got out the car to see if Champ was OK. The crash had almost fucking beheaded him. It was awful, the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. I checked you over once more before I left the scene, but I was positive you were dead. I would never have left you to die, you have to believe that, mate.’
Ahmed took a sip of his drink. He had nearly died and had only got out of hospital the previous day. ‘So, was you thinking straight when you legged it?’
‘My mind was all over the place. I was devastated, Ahmed, about you and Champ. It was like a bad fucking dream.’
‘What I cannot understand is how a devastated man would move his best pal’s body into the driver’s seat to avoid taking the rap himself. That is a callous, cowardly act in my eyes.’
‘I just panicked. It weren’t the Old Bill I was bothered about, it was my mum and aunt finding out I’d been driving the motor. If they thought it was me who’d killed Champ, they would both disown me. What did you say to the filth? I wouldn’t blame you if you dobbed me in it. It’s no more than I deserve.’
Ahmed chuckled. ‘I am not a grass, Vinny. It was my car that was written off and I was found behind the steering wheel, so you wasn’t even a suspect.’
‘Have you been charged with anything?’
‘No. I had internal bleeding, therefore needed an emergency operation. I was questioned, but there was no proof I had been drinking because my blood test ended up on the missing list.’
‘Well, I’ll buy you a new car obviously, and thanks for not saying anything. My mum and aunt are absolutely broken-hearted as it is. Roy’s dead as well. Shot himself in the head right in front of me. This past week has been the worst of my life.’
‘It’s not exactly been my best, Vinny.’
‘I know it hasn’t, mate. So, what happens now? I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my business partner any more,’ Vinny said. Michael was his partner in the legit business, the nightclub, but Ahmed had been his partner in the drug trade. Thanks to their astute business brains the two of them had built up quite an empire over the past few years, and the bulk of heroin and cocaine currently available on the streets of London was their merchandise.
Ahmed forced a smile at the man he now hated so very much. ‘I was not happy that you left me for dead but now you have explained yourself, I can understand why you did what you did. I am willing to let bygones be bygones.’
Relieved, Vinny hugged his pal. ‘I will make it up to you, I swear.’
‘I know you will. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m very tired and could do with some sleep. When is Champ’s funeral, by the way? Such a shame, he was a good kid.’
Vinny nodded, his face etched with grief. ‘The funeral is tomorrow. We’re having a joint one, burying Champ and Roy together.’
‘What time and where?’
‘The service is at St Leonard’s at two. You can’t come though, mate. You don’t look well enough and my mum and aunt will go apeshit if they see you there. They think you were driving, remember?’
‘And what about Michael?’
‘He knows the truth. I told him it was me.’
‘Well, that’s OK then. I loved Champ, Vinny, and I am determined to pay my respects to him. I don’t care if your mum and aunt hate my guts. I and God know that Lenny’s death had sod all to do with me, remember?’
Aware that Ahmed was being sarcastic, Vinny shrugged. ‘OK, but try and stay out of my mum and aunt’s way. I’ll smooth things over in time, but it’s all too raw at the moment.’
When Vinny said goodbye and shut the door, Ahmed smirked. He had no intention of staying away from Queenie and Vivian. He intended to make life as difficult for Vinny as he possibly could from now on. As for the Judas cunt thinking he had been forgiven, there was more chance of hell freezing over than that ever happening.
Thanks to Vinny, he had endured internal bleeding, three broken ribs and forty-two stitches in his face and stomach. Scars would heal, but Vinny’s betrayal wouldn’t. Every time he looked at those scars, Ahmed would be reminded of what his so-called best friend and business partner had done to him.
When Ahmed had first woken up and learned what had happened, his head and heart felt weighed down with feelings of shock and disappointment. Not any more though. Over the past few days, those feelings had been replaced by fury and an urge to get even.
Vinny Butler had disrespected him in the worst possible way. Moving his body into the driver’s seat, then leaving him for dead was an act of evil that Ahmed could never forgive or forget.
Ahmed grinned as he laid his head back on the pillow. The five most important things in Vinny’s life were money, his liberty, reputation, mother and son. Now, what should Ahmed take away from him first? Decisions, decisions …