Payback

Not for the first time that week, Vinny looked at his brother with renewed admiration. Michael was so much more of a man without that lunatic of a wife around him.

Determined to restore her family’s credibility, Queenie Butler plastered on a false smile as she chatted jovially to the neighbours and locals. Truth be known, she did not want to be at the wake any more than Vivian did, but she was determined to act her way through it.

Spotting old Mr Arthur heading her way with his medals pinned proudly on his suit jacket, Queenie ducked out of sight. Listening to that silly old bastard rambling on about the war was the last thing she needed today of all days. Using the well-wishers for cover, she darted back to the table where Vivian was sitting with Joanna.

‘Brenda is the bane of my life, honestly. Only caught her necking alcohol! Silly little mare is pregnant again, and if she harms that baby, I will kill her stone dead. Sent her back to mine with the kids. Little Vinny was playing up, and Michael’s three were bored.’

When neither Vivian nor Joanna replied, Queenie could not help but lose her cool. ‘Say something then, the pair of you, even if it’s only “arseholes”. Never seen two faces look so much like a wet weekend. Best you snap out of your little sulk, Joanna, else Vinny won’t be amused. I know you’ve got the ike because he told you to sit here while he chats to the men, but men of importance like Vinny always stand with the blokes, love. When they’re talking business, they don’t want their birds stood by their side, do they? It isn’t the done thing.’

‘Can somebody get me another sherry? I’m not walking up the bar myself,’ Vivian said.

When Joanna leapt up to get it for her, Queenie turned to Vivian. ‘Did you see the way Daniel, Adam and Lee greeted Albie at the church?’

‘No.’

‘All over him like a rash, they were. That is definitely not the first time they have met that old bastard. Michael must have taken them to visit him behind my back. I asked Michael outright, but he reckons the boys were just excited because he’d told them Albie was their granddad. I told him not to insult my intelligence. Do I look like I just got off the banana boat?’

‘Is Albie here?’

‘No. Went straight home after the funeral with that drippy brother of his. Wouldn’t have had the guts to come here after the terrible lie he told. I’m surprised the arsehole even had the front to turn up at the funeral.’

‘This is all we fucking need,’ Vivian mumbled, as Mr Arthur sat down in Joanna’s chair.

‘Sorry to bother you, ladies, but I just wanted to pay my respects to you in person and say how very sorry I am for your loss. I also wanted to tell you—’

Before Mr Arthur had a chance to finish the sentence, Queenie cut him dead. After excelling herself being polite to people who got on her nerves all day, she’d reached the point where she’d had enough. ‘If it’s about your war escapades, Viv and I really aren’t in the mood to listen to such cobblers today.’

Mr Arthur looked hurt. ‘I just wanted to tell you about Jeanie Thomas, Queenie. I know you chat to her on her stall sometimes.’

Jeanie Thomas was the mother of Trevor who had run off with Vinny’s first love, Yvonne. At the time, Queenie had been that annoyed she had vowed never to speak to the woman again. But Jeanie was such a nice lady, Queenie hadn’t been able to stay angry with her for long. What had happened was hardly her fault.

‘I’ve not been down the market lately. Not dead, is she?’

‘Jeanie’s in a terrible state, Queenie. Her son moved back to the area recently and he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. Been missing days now he has, and Jeanie thinks that something terrible has happened to him.’

Vivian, who had kept quiet until now, suddenly piped up: ‘Whatever has happened to Jeanie’s son cannot be any worse than what happened to mine and Queenie’s, can it? Now sod off and leave us alone.’

When Mr Arthur scuttled off like a naughty schoolboy, Queenie turned to Viv. ‘I bet Trevor’s disappearance has something to do with Vinny. Both he and Michael went on the missing list earlier this week and I had to look after Michael’s kids, didn’t I? I had no idea Trevor had moved back to the area. Jeanie never mentioned it.’

When Joanna reappeared with two glasses of sherry, Vivian knocked hers back and then stood up. ‘It’s breaking my heart looking at Lenny’s photos on that wall. I need to get out of here.’

‘Wait ten minutes and I’ll come with you,’ Queenie said.

‘No. I did what you asked and came back here, now I want you to do as I ask and leave me in peace for the night. I need to be alone to collect my thoughts. I’ll see you in the morning.’

Clutching Zippy the monkey in her hand, Vivian left the club. Once outside, she held the toy to her nose. She had always begged Lenny to let her wash it, even scolded him and told him he would catch diseases if he didn’t do as she asked, but she was glad now that Lenny had refused, throwing a tantrum every time she asked. The monkey had her son’s scent all over it. Closing her eyes, she whispered, ‘Not long now, boy, and Mummy will be there to take care of you. You just behave yourself until I arrive.’

Vinny Butler was having a chat with David Fraser when his mother rudely poked him in the arm. ‘Me and you need to have a little chat, now!’

Annoyed that she had shown him up yet again, Vinny gave his mother his coldest stare. ‘Mum, this is David Fraser. Mad Frankie’s son.’

Putting on a completely different tone to the one she had just used, Queenie smiled at the handsome dark-haired chap and held out her right hand. ‘Lovely to meet you, David. How is your father?’

‘He’s doing OK, thanks. Giving the screws the runaround as always. I’ll be visiting him again next week.’

‘Well, do give him our regards – not just from me but from all of my family.’

‘Will do. I have to make a move now, Vinny. I’ve got to be somewhere. Look after yourself, and tell your brother I said goodbye.’

Vinny shook David’s hand, then waited until he walked away before tearing into his mother. ‘Do you get off on embarrassing me or something? The Mitchells were stood by the graveside when you and Auntie Viv made a show of me earlier, now you’ve just spoken to me like I’m a ten-year-old child in front of David Fraser. Cheers for that, Mum. He must think I’m some right mug.’

‘I didn’t know it was Mad Frankie’s son, did I? I didn’t even know you knew the Frasers.’

‘There’s lots of things you don’t know about me, Mother. Just try not to make me look a fool in front of people in future, eh? And drop the silly posh voice, it really doesn’t suit you.’

Queenie was not one to be told off. ‘And would one of those things I don’t know about be Trevor Thomas, by any chance? Don’t you even think about lying to me, because I knew you and Michael were up to something earlier this week. Never going to be able to look poor Jeanie in the eye again, am I?’

‘I have no idea what you’re on about, Mum. I haven’t seen Trevor since he ran off with that slag, Yvonne.’

‘Swear on my life,’ Queenie demanded.

Before he could speak, Michael ended the conversation by grabbing Vinny’s arm. ‘Bobby Jackson’s only had the nerve to show up. Shall I throw the cheeky bastard out, or do you want to do the honours?’

Vinny’s lip curled into a snarl. He hated Bobby almost as much as he had despised his father. ‘Where is he?’

‘Stood at the corner of the bar. Christ knows how long he’s been here. I reckon some idiot left the main door open and he just wandered in.’

Usually, whenever the club was open Pete and Paul were on the door, but because they were lifelong friends of Roy and extremely fond of Lenny too, Vinny had given them the day off to enjoy a good drink at the wake like everybody else. ‘He’s overstepped the mark this time, bruv. We can’t let this go, we’ll be a laughing stock.’

Michael nodded. The whole of Whitechapel was aware of the bad blood between Vinny and Bobby, therefore he’d have to be taught a lesson for taking such a liberty.

‘What’s going on?’ Queenie demanded. She could barely hear herself think over Big Stan’s rendition of Johnnie Ray’s ‘Cry’. Talk about murdering a great song.

‘It’s nothing to worry about, Mum. Just an uninvited guest, that’s all. Go and sit back down with Joanna and keep her company for me. I’ll be over with some more drinks in a minute,’ Vinny ordered.

Bobby Jackson had been out on one of his little benders. He had celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday the previous day and ended up pulling some bird in the Ilford Palais, so he was still in yesterday’s clothes. He’d been on his way home when he had spotted the door of the club open, and unable to resist the lure of free alcohol, Bobby had decided to sneak in. The worst Vinny would do was chuck him out, surely?

A sucker for a pretty face, Bobby was busy chatting up one of the barmaids and did not see Vinny creep up behind him. ‘You’re not the first to say I look like Les McKeown. I get it all the time, I do,’ Bobby chuckled.

‘Well, you won’t be looking like Les by the time I finish with you – you’ll be looking more like a fucking corpse,’ Vinny hissed, grabbing Bobby by his long brown hair and dragging him backwards towards the exit.

Having gone to a lot of trouble to model his look on the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers, Bobby was more worried about his appearance than anything else. ‘Mind me barnet, will ya? The door was wide open. I didn’t gatecrash, honest I didn’t.’

Max was singing ‘New York, New York’, and lots of the mourners were in a circle on the dancefloor doing that stupid dance where you put your arms around one another’s shoulders and kick your legs from side to side.

Vinny smiled at Nosy Hilda as he dragged Bobby past her feet. ‘Nothing worse than a pisshead who turns up at the wake in jeans, is there? Didn’t even have the nous to wear black. I don’t know what the world is coming to these days, Hilda. No respect for the dead any more.’

Not one person said a word as Vinny dragged Bobby outside. Nobody followed either. It was none of their business and anybody with even half a brain knew not to interfere.

Joanna Preston was worried. Following Queenie’s stare, she had just seen Vinny drag a man out of the club backwards. ‘Should we go outside and make sure Vinny is all right, do you think?’

Queenie glared at Joanna. ‘Are you tuppence short of a shilling or something? I told you earlier that men like Vinny do not want or appreciate their birds sticking their oar in. How old are you again?’

Joanna’s eyes welled up. She was having her worst birthday ever. ‘I’m eighteen today, and I was only trying to help.’

Feeling a bit guilty, Queenie softened her tone. She’d had no idea that it was Joanna’s eighteenth birthday. Vinny had failed to mention it. ‘Sorry if I was a bit abrupt with you, love, but it’s only for your own good. Did you notice how all these people inside the club, including myself, ignored Vinny dragging that man outside?’

Joanna nodded.

‘Well, that’s what you’ve got to learn to do. Hear no evil, see no evil – you get what I’m saying?’

If there was ever a moment when Joanna wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew, then that moment was now. Did she actually know Vinny Butler at all?

Down the side of the club was a small alleyway where the bins were kept. ‘What you gonna do to me? I’ve already said I’m sorry, Vinny. I didn’t do anything wrong in the club. Please just let me go home.’

‘You did do something wrong, Bobby. You disrespected my brother and cousin by turning up at their wake smelling like a brewery and dressed like a cunt. You also disrespected Michael and myself by entering our club,’ Vinny said, grabbing an empty vodka bottle out of a nearby bin.

Flinching, Bobby put his hands over his head to protect himself. He already lost a clump of hair, he’d felt it rip out as Vinny dragged him along the floor. The next thing he knew, Vinny smashed the bottle against the wall, yanked Bobby’s head upwards by his fringe, then stabbed the jagged edge deep into the left side of his face.

‘You bastard! What you done to me?’ Bobby yelled as blood began to spurt out of his face at a rapid pace.

‘Think yourself fucking lucky I’ve only scarred you, because I am telling you now, you ever cross my path again, Jackson, I will kill you stone dead.’

CHAPTER FOUR

Queenie put her coat on over her nightdress. It was the middle of the night, but she had to check on Vivvy. Sleep was out of the question until she’d put her mind at rest.

Vinny had organized a locksmith to mend the lock and remove the chain from Vivian’s door, so Queenie was able to let herself in with her own key. She poked her head around Viv’s bedroom door and was alarmed to see the bed empty. ‘Vivvy, where are you?’

The answer to Queenie’s question came when she opened Lenny’s bedroom door. Her sister was laid out like a starfish, face down, on the centre of his bed.

‘Vivvy? Wake up, sweetheart.’

After a couple of minutes of prodding and poking, Queenie tried to move her sister. It was then she saw the empty tablet container. Panic-stricken, she let out a deafening scream.

Vinny Butler woke up at midday with the headache from hell. The phone had been ringing all morning, but he had felt incapable of lifting his bonce off the pillow.

Picking up an empty glass, he filled it with water and downed it in one. Since Lenny and Roy’s death, he had kept his promise to Michael and stayed off the coke. Trouble was, before he had snorted the shit he had been able to hold his drink, but now he couldn’t. After cutting Bobby Jackson last night, he had got well and truly hammered.

When the phone rang again, Vinny staggered into the lounge to answer it. ‘Slow down, Mum. I can’t understand you. What’s happened?’

‘It’s Vivian. She’s tried to kill herself.’

Ahmed Zane sat down opposite his cousin in the small restaurant situated just off Tottenham High Road. The establishment had been funded by Ahmed. Burak ran it, and the two men split any profits straight down the middle. ‘How’s business?’ Ahmed asked.

‘Good. It’s been busy lately. How’s that loyal friend of yours? You seen him yet?’

Ahmed told him about Vinny visiting him at home, then filled him in on what had occurred at yesterday’s funeral.

‘So, what happens now? I am still on good terms with the Finsbury Park lads. Do you want me to sort something?’ Burak asked. He was livid at the way Vinny had treated his cousin, especially after the loyalty he and Ahmed had shown him. Burak had got himself involved in three murders on Vinny’s behalf in the past: Karen, the mother of his son, Kenny Jackson and Terry Smart had all had their lives ended prematurely thanks to Burak and his Finsbury Park pals helping Vinny out in return for a substantial amount of cash.

Ahmed took a sip of his Scotch and swilled the drink around in his mouth before swallowing it. ‘Killing Vinny does not satisfy my lust for revenge. I want to ruin him, take away everything of importance in his life, then watch him suffer.’

‘You mean his son? His mother? I can sort that for you.’

Ahmed shook his head. ‘We’ll let the family live for now. Money, his reputation and his freedom are the other most important things in Vinny’s life, and those are the things, if taken away, that will hurt him the most. I plan to strip him of all three.’

‘How?’

‘Not sure yet, but I will find a way. First though, I must be patient. If things start to go wrong now, Vinny will become suspicious. I need him to relax, assure him that I hold no grudges before I strike. Vinny Butler is a clever man, but he is not as clever as me. He who laughs last, laughs the longest, Burak, and that shall be us.’

Nancy Butler was sitting in silence at the dinner table. Her brother was rambling on about his job again, and even though Nancy was pleased that being a policeman obviously suited Christopher, she found the daily conversation ever so repetitive and tedious.

When Christopher began bragging about receiving praise from his boss yet again, before he could actually recite the conversation word for word, Nancy butted in: ‘Isn’t it about time you found yourself a girlfriend, Christopher? I think it would be good for you to have something else in your life other than work.’

Mary stopped chewing her food. Nancy and Christopher had always been so close as children, but not any more.

‘You’ve got more front than British Home Stores, Nancy. How dare you comment on my life when you’ve made such a mess of your own? You should think yourself lucky you have a roof over your head, after the way you’ve treated us in the past, eh, Dad?’

‘Your brother is right, Nancy. He’ll have plenty of time to charm the ladies once his probation period has finished. His career should come before anything else, and if he stays focused, he will climb that ladder to the very top,’ agreed Donald.

‘And when I get to the top, I shall arrest all the scumbags in this world, like your husband and his family,’ Christopher added.

Nancy stood up.

‘Where are you going, love? Sit back down and eat your dinner,’ Mary urged.

‘I’m going to ring Michael. We had a heart-to-heart the other day and he told me a few home truths. He said the boys were unsettled and I should be back at home taking care of them. He’s right, Mum. My sons need me and I can’t stay here for ever.’

‘But I thought you’d left Michael for good?’ Donald queried.

‘I never said that, Dad. All I said was I wanted a break from him to sort my own head and problems out. It isn’t Michael’s fault that I’ve suffered from depression. He has always been a good husband. I shall make sure I bring the boys to visit you regularly, if that’s OK?’

Donald would have been more inclined to argue with Nancy’s decision had it not been for his grandsons. Since meeting Daniel and Adam, Donald had felt so much happier in himself, and he couldn’t wait to spend more time with them.

‘Once a gangster’s moll, always a gangster’s moll,’ Christopher said cockily.

‘Shut up, you,’ Mary ordered her son. She then turned to Nancy. ‘Go and ring him then, love. You owe it to them boys to make your marriage work, and I’m sure now you’re feeling better, it will.’

Queenie Butler sat down next to her sister’s bed and squeezed her hand. The quick reaction by medical staff, plus the help of a stomach pump had saved Vivian’s life.

‘Why isn’t she talking to us, Mum?’ Brenda asked.

‘Because she’s ill, that’s why. Now, I reckon you should take Tara home, Bren. She’s obviously bored and I don’t need her whinging around me. I doubt Viv does either. Go on, off you go.’

As Brenda left the small ward, Dr Baker walked in. ‘I got here as soon as I could. Sorry to hear about what happened. How is our lovely patient?’

Vinny led the family GP outside and gave him a rundown of his aunt’s recent behaviour. He then begged the doctor to prescribe some stronger drugs.

‘I’ll be honest with you, Vinny, nothing I can prescribe is going to work. Your aunt has suffered a mental breakdown due to grief. She needs professional help of the twenty-four-hour kind.’

‘What you trying to say? I ain’t having her put in no loony bin, if that’s what you mean.’

‘A “loony bin”, as you so politely put it, is the only place where your aunt is going to get the correct help for her condition. If she returns home in her current mental state, what’s to say that she won’t make another attempt to take her own life?’

‘Me and Mum will look after her.’

‘Oh, don’t be daft, Vinny. You have a club to run, and if your mother takes on the burden of watching over Viv day and night, then she might end up suffering a breakdown herself. She’s grieving too, the poor woman. I’m sorry to be brutal with you, but I insist your aunt be hospitalized. I am very fond of Vivian and I would never forgive myself if I sanctioned her as well enough to go home, then disaster struck. My conscience won’t allow it.’

Reluctantly, Vinny agreed with the doctor. His mum wasn’t going to be happy, but he would break the news to her gently. Vivian’s welfare must come first.

Michael put the phone down and walked into the lounge. All three of his sons were giggling away at the Muppet Show.

‘Look, Daddy, look,’ Adam urged, pointing at the TV.

Michael grinned. Lee had settled in exceptionally well and he was thrilled by how close the three boys had become. ‘Guess who’s coming home tomorrow?’

Daniel shrugged.

‘Well, come on, guess,’ Michael urged.

‘Mummy?’ Daniel asked.

‘Yep. Are you looking forward to Mummy living with us again?’

When neither Adam nor Lee replied, Daniel thought that it was his duty to do so. He had missed his mum when she had first gone away, but that feeling had now worn off. His mum always seemed to be screaming or crying and he’d come to prefer the house without her. ‘Suppose so, Dad.’

Queenie cried when Vinny broke the news to her on the way home. ‘I can’t have her going to one of them awful places, Vinny. You’ll have to step in and stop it. Give you electric shock treatments and all sorts in them shitholes.’

‘Mum, I can’t stop it. Dr Baker knows what is best, we don’t. I know you want to care for Auntie Viv, but she really does need professional help. We have to do whatever it takes to get her better, and if that means her going away for a bit, then so be it. I promise you faithfully, wherever she goes, I will take you to visit her regularly.’

‘But what about the neighbours? Them nosy load of bastards will have a field day discussing Viv being carted off to the funny farm. No, Vinny. I’m not letting her go. She’ll never live the shame down.’

‘Fuck the neighbours! Surely Auntie Viv’s health is more important than what they think? Anyway, we don’t have to tell them. We can say that she’s gone to stay with a friend in the country to recuperate.’

Queenie looked at her son as if he had gone mad. ‘But she ain’t got no friends. And you know how rumours spread, we’ll never be able to keep it quiet … unless we just keep it between me, you and Michael. Bren can’t be trusted. Got a mouth as big as a shark when she has a drink. The kids can’t be told either. Little Vinny is bound to tell Ben Bloggs, and I don’t want him telling his whore of a mother or thieving old gran.’

‘Calm down, Mum. Nobody will know bar me, you and Michael, I promise.’

Queenie didn’t answer. She was too busy staring at the object on her front lawn. ‘What’s that, Vinny? Is it more flowers?’

Vinny could see better in the dark than his mother and he saw that the flowers were shaped in what looked like a gun. ‘Yeah, it’s flowers. Somebody must have got the day wrong. You go inside and put the kettle on, Mum. I’ll bring these in.’

He went to the arrangement and crouched down, his heart beating faster than its usual pace. The flowers were a mixture of red and white, which his mum hated. She always said it was the sign of blood and bandages and swore it was unlucky. The flowers were made up in the shape of a pistol and Vinny looked at the attached card with trepidation. He was right to be wary. The words read ‘YOU ARE NEXT’.

‘What you doing out there, Vinny?’ Queenie shouted from the house.

Vinny hurriedly stuffed the flowers in the boot of his car, then darted inside the house. ‘The flowers aren’t for us, Mum. They were delivered to the wrong street. I’m going to drop them off at the right address on the way home.’

‘Thank Christ for that! They looked red and white. That’s all we need – more bad luck.’

He tried not to let on, but Vinny was feeling physically sick. Because the flowers had been left on his mother’s front lawn it was hard to say whether the message was meant for her or for him. Ahmed popped into his mind, but Vinny quickly dismissed the thought. Even though Ahmed had forgiven him a bit too easily for his liking, he was sure that a stunt like this was not his pal’s style. If Ahmed planned to harm him, he certainly wouldn’t be issuing any warnings. Perhaps Bobby Jackson had sent them? But Vinny doubted it, given the damage he’d done to Bobby’s face and his threat to kill him. Jackson was a mouthy, gutless piece of shit just like his father had been. The only other suspect Vinny could think of offhand was Johnny Preston. The fact he was in prison wouldn’t have stopped him asking somebody to send the flowers, especially once he’d found out Joanna was pregnant. Well tomorrow Vinny would visit every florist in the vicinity to try and find out who the culprit was.