‘I weren’t that young. That all happened around my sixteenth birthday. I remember it clearly as when I found about about you and that tart, I went for a long ride on my moped to clear my head.’
‘Well, I don’t know why you wasn’t told. Perhaps it was because I was always closer to you than your brothers. You and Brenda were always the apple of my eye. Your sister wouldn’t even talk to me at her engagement party, you know. I tried to wish her good luck, but she all but told me to eff off.’
‘So, where are you living? I know you’re not at the bedsit as I popped round the other day and the bloke downstairs said you’d moved out,’ Michael asked, changing the subject.
‘I had to, didn’t I? That’s why your brother leapt on the stage and outed my lie. He knew I would never be able to stay in Whitechapel after that. You know what people are like around here. I’d have every bastard gunning for me and rightly so, I suppose. I’ve had to move back in with Pauline for the time being, but I can’t stay there for much longer. Once you give your mother that letter, I need to get away. I have to go somewhere where Vinny won’t find me.’
‘Dad, you know we were talking about that Judy Preston? Did she have your kid? Or, do you truthfully not know?’
‘On my life I don’t know, son. I swear I ain’t ever seen or heard a word from her since that day she visited me in hospital.’
Satisfied that Albie was telling the truth, Michael smiled at him. His father wasn’t a bad person. He might be a pisshead and do and say stupid things at times, but his heart was certainly in the right place, which is more than what Michael could say in Vinny’s defence right now. ‘So, where you gonna go? Do you need money?’
‘Yeah, I could do with some readies, boy. I was thinking of going to stay with Bert down in Ipswich. Ivy died last year and he’s rattling about in a house on his own down there now.’
‘Who are Bert and Ivy?’ Michael asked.
‘Your uncle and aunt. Bert’s my elder brother. You have seen him, but not since you were a kid. Your mother never had any time for my family. She reckoned they all had a screw loose.’
Michael put his hand in his pocket and handed his dad three ten-pound notes. ‘Take that for now so you’ve got some beer money. Then tomorrow, I will drive down to Pauline’s gaff and give you some money to go away with. I won’t give Mum the letter until after you’ve gone, OK?’
Albie nodded his head gratefully and pocketed the thirty quid. ‘Do me a favour, boy. I don’t want Pauline to know I’m leaving, so can you meet me at a pub with the dosh?’
‘Which one and what time?’
‘Meet me at the Royal Oak in Green Lane tomorrow at twoish. Pauline’s barred from there. I’ve only got a dustbin liner full of clothes, and I’ll pretend to her that I’m going to the launderette. How will I get to Ipswich by train, Michael? Do you know what station takes me there?’
For the first time in ages, Michael felt dreadfully sorry for his father. Having to leave London and never return because you were frightened of being murdered by one of your own kids was horrendous. ‘I’ll tell you what, Dad. Why don’t you let me drive you to Ipswich? I’ll get Nancy to take a day off work and she can come for the ride too. It will be nice to see Uncle Bert again, and also I’d like to know where you are living so I can pop down and see you from time to time.’
Choked up because one of his family was being so kind to him for a change, Albie let out an uncharacteristic sob and put his arms around his youngest son. ‘You’re a good boy, Michael. The best. Please watch your back with Vinny, won’t you?’
Wiping the tears away from his own eyes with the cuff of his shirt, Michael cleared his throat. ‘Right, I’d better get inside and see how Roy is now. See you tomorrow at two.’
‘Oh, that reminds me. Inside your letter, there is also a short letter for Roy and Brenda too. Make sure you give or read them to ’em one day. But, only when you feel the time is right, of course.’
Nodding, Michael walked away.
Disappointed by her mother’s reaction to her good news, Karen decided to give her neighbour Debbie a knock.
‘Aw, Kaz, I ain’t ’arf gonna miss you, but I am pleased for you at the same time,’ Debbie said, when her friend finished explaining the situation.
‘I wish I could say the same about my mum. I thought she would be thrilled for me, but I just rang her and she said I was a silly girl for rushing into things.’
Debbie chuckled. ‘She sounds just like my mum.’
‘You must come round when I move in. There’s enough room for you and the kids to sleep over,’ Karen said, referring to Debbie’s sons.
‘Oh, I’d love to. Anything to get me away from this shithole for a day or two. Honest, Kaz, I am so thrilled for you. Vinny is incredibly handsome. In fact, on both occasions I’ve met him, he has literally charmed the knickers off me.’
Laughing at her mate’s way with words, Karen put her hand inside the carrier bag she had brought with her. ‘I got this, although I dunno what it tastes like. It’s fizzy wine. I thought we could open it to celebrate my news.’
Debbie ran into the kitchen and came back with two cups. ‘Sorry I ain’t got no glasses. The kids broke the few I had.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Karen said, pouring the drinks out.
Grabbing a pen and paper, Debbie handed it to her pal.
‘What’s that for?’
‘To write your new address down, you div.’
‘Oh, that’s another thing my mother had a go at me about. I was so excited when I went to view the property, I didn’t look at any road signs. It’s in Beckton, I know that, but I’ll have to ask Vinny for the exact address tomorrow. I’ll give it to you then.’
Debbie held her cup aloft. ‘To new beginnings, eh?’
Karen smiled broadly. ‘And health and happiness.’
When the police left the hospital, Queenie took Michael to one side so she could have a word in private with him. The officers had popped in to inform her that they had charged a man called Johnny Preston with the attempted murder of Roy, and he would be appearing in court to be remanded in custody the following morning. ‘Is he to do with that little tart Judy, Michael? Don’t lie to me. I deserve to know the truth, and his name rings a bell,’ Queenie said.
‘Yeah, Johnny’s her brother.’
Queenie was furious. ‘This is all your bastard of a father’s fault. If he hadn’t have suffered from wandering cock syndrome my Roy would still be as fit as a fiddle, not lying in a fucking coma in hospital.’
After the emotional conversation he and his father had just shared, Michael couldn’t help but stick up for him. ‘This ain’t Dad’s fault, Mum. This is revenge for Vinny killing that Dave Phillips. Preston was there when Phillips got stabbed.’
‘Yeah, and why did that happen? To do with your father humping Preston’s sister, if I remember rightly.’
‘Preston only came to the club because Vinny went round his sister’s gaff and threatened her. He just wanted to have it out with Vinny, but Vinny being Vinny had to go one step further and murder his fucking mate. There’s no way Preston meant to shoot Roy. It would have been Vinny he wanted dead, so if you want someone to blame, then blame your own son.’
Queenie was furious that Michael had sided with his father rather than his brother. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself, you. Been a wonderful brother to you, Vinny has. Who do you think put food on the table when you and Brenda were young, eh? Well, it weren’t that useless drunken old man of yours,