‘Snort when you know I’m right.’
Alfie’s roar of laughter made Chloe jump but she continued to listen, her resentment towards her uncle growing greater.
‘You ain’t right, babe. She’s a player.’
‘She’s a seventeen-year-old kid, Alf.’
‘Yeah, a seventeen-year-old kid who wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of Playboy.’
Everything about this moment made Franny want to walk out and go back to her own flat. She hadn’t yet told Alfie about her plans to move in with him and the way the conversation was going she didn’t know if she ever would.
‘Why do you have to be like this, Alfie?’
‘Like what?’
‘Don’t play the innocent!’
Alfie shrugged, he hated it when Franny became difficult. He was used to birds giving him grief; usually when they did he’d just leave them to it and go and find some Tom to fuck or play a few games of poker to get his mind off it. But with Franny he couldn’t do either. Knowing that he, Alfie Jennings, was locked down by a woman pissed him off and fascinated him all at the same time, which in turn made Franny even more attractive to him.
‘Play the innocent! I’d say if anyone had then it’s Chloe. Don’t you see Fran, she’s properly played you. I said to her she could stay for two nights only.’
Franny shook her head, picking up her coat and bag. Even though it was the early hours of the morning, she wanted to go home to her own bed. She didn’t feel like being around Alfie tonight. ‘I’m not stupid, Alf. Of course I know she’s playing me. But don’t you see she’s got nowhere else?’
‘Well she ain’t staying here.’
Franny stood opposite Alfie. She studied his handsome face and gave him a sad smile.
‘Then that makes two of us then.’
Alfie raised his voice in annoyance. ‘You what?’
‘You heard me, there’s no way I’m going to stay here if you throw her out.’
Alfie’s old school instinct kicked in and he growled at Franny, a sneer coming over his face. Love was one thing, but this was another. He was basically being blackmailed by Franny and he didn’t like it. Not one fucking little iota.
‘Sorry darlin’, you may be the woman who’s grabbed me heart but I ain’t letting you grab me balls. No one but fucking no one tells Alfie Jennings what to do.’
Franny stepped in towards Alfie. Her voice was calm but cool. ‘Alfie, I’m not telling you what to do, quite the opposite in fact. I’m telling you what I’m doing. Give me a ring when you’ve stopped being such a prick.’
Franny swung open the living room door, coming face to face with Chloe who had heard every word of the conversation.
‘Get your stuff, Chloe, you can come and stay with me.’
The surprise on Chloe-Jane’s face mirrored that of Alfie’s. Chloe looked first to her uncle, then to Franny and back again. ‘You mean it?’
‘Of course.’
‘No she don’t. This is about me.’ Alfie’s voice was loud and although she ignored it, Franny could sense some hurt in his voice. She swivelled round to look at Alfie.
‘I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, Alfie, but the world does not revolve around you. Contrary to what you think, this isn’t about you. This is about Chloe, your niece. Remember?’
Alfie began to panic, this was the last thing he’d expected. ‘You walk out of here and you won’t be walking back in. You hear me?’ The moment the words came tumbling out, Alfie immediately regretted them, especially saying them to someone as fiery and stubborn as Franny Doyle.
Although Franny knew that Alfie didn’t really mean what he’d just said, her eyes flashed with anger. He was behaving like a spoilt child. ‘Is that what you really want, Alfie?’
It was the question Alfie Jennings hoped that Franny wouldn’t ask. Either way, the answer would make him look like a cunt. If he answered it with the truth – which was, of course he didn’t want her not to come back, in fact he didn’t want her to go – he’d look a soft cunt and he’d be open to any sort of female manipulation in the future. The other way he could answer it was with a lie, which would be to tell Fran that, yes he meant it and she could piss off out of his face. If he told her that he’d not only look a cunt, for the first time in his life he knew his heart would break, so instead, Alfie Jennings did what he’d done whenever he got nicked. He stayed silent. After all, it was his right.
Franny glared at him. ‘Fine, well if you haven’t got anything to say, Alf, Chloe and I will get off. You know where we are when and if you decide to wind your neck in.’ And with that Franny marched out of the room, with an excited-looking Chloe next to her.
The front door banged and Alfie rushed across to the window, watching as they walked down the street. He wondered if Franny could feel him watching. There was a huge part of him that wanted to call her back, but his stubbornness and male pride wouldn’t allow it.
He’d been right about Chloe, she was trouble, and now the thought began to creep in that Franny was too. But then show him a woman that wasn’t trouble, and he’d show them a man. Alfie sighed. Maybe it was better like this. Yes, he’d make Franny sweat for a couple of days, bring her back to her senses and have her scratching down the door to come back. It’d also give him time to concentrate and sort out all this mess with the triads.
As Alfie continued to gaze out of the window, he caught a glimpse of someone looking up. He couldn’t make out who it was but he was certain of one thing. Like everything else in his life at the moment, it probably meant only one thing. Trouble.
‘Uncle Alfie! Uncle Alfie! Open the bleedin’ door will ya!’ Chloe-Jane banged hard on the side entrance of Whispers nightclub. Two days had passed since the last time she’d seen her uncle. And although no doubt he’d been in a huff, getting his bollocks in a twist, as arguments went, it was nothing. She was used to having stand-up rows, followed by fisticuffs. Broken bottles and drunken slurs thrown about by her mother and her boyfriends; that had been Chloe-Jane’s life, so a few choice words were no reason to harbour a grudge. As well as this, she wanted something from Alfie.
About to bang on the door again, it was swung open by a startled-looking Alfie, something which didn’t go unnoticed by Chloe-Jane.
‘Alright mate!’ She grinned, trying to peer over Alfie’s shoulder. ‘Up to no good, are ya?’
Alfie scowled. ‘Has anyone ever told you you’ve got too much chat? Anyway what are you doing here? I thought you’d be somewhere else causing trouble.’
‘Ain’t me causing trouble. What’s going on in there, ’cos whatever it is I bet Franny don’t know nothing about it?’
Alfie stepped out into the alleyway, making sure the side door of the club was closed behind him. He shoved her gently on her shoulder. ‘Piss off, will you. I don’t need you buzzing around here like a fly on a pig’s arse. So do one.’
Chloe-Jane looked nonplussed. ‘Can’t understand what Franny sees in you.’
‘Well it’s a good job it ain’t nothing to do with you, ain’t it?… What is it you want anyway? Oh don’t tell me, money …’ Alfie went in his pocket and took out a roll of twenty-pound notes. ‘Go on then, how much do you want? How much will it cost me for you to go on your merry way?’