Kimberley Chambers - Payback

‘Get away from us. Go on, go away,’ Vivian ordered. Mad Malcolm had a habit of staring at her and Queenie while trying to listen in on their conversations.

‘Gives me the fucking willies, he does,’ Queenie said when Malcolm slunk away like a scolded puppy.

Vivian laughed. She still missed her Lenny like mad, always would, but it was so nice to be able to smile and feel normal again. Some parts of the past seven months were a complete blank to Viv, especially around the time she tried to kill herself and first arrived at Goodmayes. There was no point crying over spilt milk, but Viv could never forgive herself for certain things. How could she have put Queenie through her attempted suicide and chucked all Lenny’s things away? She must have been really ill to do either.

‘I’ve been thinking, Queen. Can we go down to Kings on the first weekend I’m out? I would love a game of bingo and an hour or two in the amusements. I wonder if that handsome Mike is still running the arcade?’

Queenie squeezed her sister’s hands. Vinny had been trying to entice her down to Eastbourne ever since the holiday park reopened in April, but Queenie hadn’t been able to face it. She and Vivvy had loved that place and, without her sister by her side, it just didn’t feel right. ‘Oh, Viv, of course we can. I am so glad to have you back. My life was empty when you were ill.’

Vivian’s eyes filled up with tears. ‘And I’m sorry for what I put you through. I love you, Queen, and once I get out of this funny farm I intend to live the rest of my life to the full. I know we’ve both lost sons, but your Roy and my Lenny wouldn’t want us moping around.’

Queenie smiled. ‘You bet they wouldn’t.’

Michael Butler picked up the newspaper and immediately threw it back on the kitchen top. ‘BURNED ALIVE’ was the front-page headline and Michael could not stomach such stories any more.

Trevor Thomas’s death still played on Michael’s mind. Three days after his remains were found, the police had turned up at the club asking questions. Trevor had been identified by breaks he’d suffered in his collarbone and left leg in the past. He’d also had a plate and screws put in his knee, which made him even more identifiable.

Vinny had been as cool as a cucumber when the Old Bill showed up, insisting that he had not seen Trevor since he ran off with Yvonne. ‘No disrespect, officer, but I was no more than a child when Trevor ran off with my bird. I am now a man in a stable relationship with my second kid on the way. Do you honestly think I would still be bothered about some teenage love affair that happened all those years ago?’

Michael had been anything but cool, but had backed up the alibi that he and Vinny had concocted. Forensics had managed to narrow down the day the fire had been started on, and the guvnor of the Blind Beggar had verified that Vinny and Michael had been in the pub that particular evening.

Thankfully, the police hadn’t returned. Michael had asked Vinny not to talk about Trevor’s death any more. He did not admit to his brother that he kept having reoccurring nightmares about it. What would be the point? Vinny would only have taken the piss out of him.

Daniel and Adam running into the kitchen snapped Michael out of his daydream. ‘We’re going now, Dad,’ Daniel said, hugging his father’s leg.

Michael Butler ruffled his sons’ hair and kissed his wife goodbye. Nancy was spending the night at her parents’ house with Daniel and Adam, which she now did a couple of times a month. Michael was quite happy with the set-up, as it gave him and Nancy a break from one another.

Life had been OK since Nancy came back home, but it hadn’t exactly been a bed of roses. His wife was very needy and it grated on Michael that when he wasn’t around to give her a helping hand she struggled with the basics of motherhood. She also treated Lee differently to her own sons, and that pissed Michael off immensely. In his eyes, if Nancy was a decent human being she would include Lee in the trips to her parents and the days out they had. She knew Lee had no grandparents on his mother’s side.

‘I’m looking forward to seeing the dog, Dad, but I am gonna miss my brothers,’ Lee told his father on the journey to his aunt’s house.

‘I know you will, boy.’ Lee had an aunt in Bow whom he stayed with whenever Daniel and Adam went to their grandparents, and he adored her old bull terrier, Spike.

After Michael had dropped Lee off, he got back in the car and grinned. His best pal Kevin was usually under the thumb but his wife was away visiting relatives, so today he and Kev were going out on a good old-fashioned pub crawl. Letting his hair down was just what Michael needed.

Vinny Butler was feeling anxious. He had never found out who had sent those flowers, and knowing somebody had it in for you, but not knowing who that person was, was driving him insane. He had always been paranoid when it came to his safety and that of his family, and now he felt as though he was constantly looking over his shoulder. He had even purchased two guns recently. One was hidden at the club and the other at home, just to be on the safe side.

Vinny had completely ruled Ahmed out of his list of suspects now. Things had been a bit stilted between the two of them for a month or so after the accident, but they had since got their friendship back on track. The drug business was becoming more and more profitable by the day, and Vinny knew Ahmed well enough to know vandalizing cars and daubing graffiti was not his pal’s style. Like himself, Ahmed had class, and would never resort to something so petty.

Vinny stared at the photo of himself, Roy and Michael that sat proudly on his office wall. It had been taken years ago, long before Roy’s accident. ‘If I were a betting man, Roy, my money would be on either Bobby Jackson or Johnny Preston pulling these stunts. What do you reckon, eh, bruv?’

Averting his focus from his unknown stalker, Vinny thought about Joanna. He had only got her up the spout to piss her father off and pay him back for shooting Roy, yet he was now really looking forward to the birth of his second child. He had dreaded the birth of Little Vinny when Karen was pregnant, but he loved being a dad and was hoping for a daughter this time around. Girls were more of a worry, but far less trouble than boys, he imagined.

Michael Butler was having a whale of a time. He was in the Carpenter’s Arms, and it had been a long time since he had really let his hair down.

‘Slow down a bit, mate. You’re drinking for England,’ Kevin said.

‘You’ve been sinking ’em like there’s no tomorrow as well. Talk about pot calling kettle,’ Michael retorted.

‘Are you insinuating I is black?’ Kevin joked.

Michael burst out laughing. Kev was mixed race and they went back years. When they were in their early teens there had been far fewer black faces in the East End, and whenever the pair of them came across some bigot, Kev would always lay on a thick Jamaican accent just for fun. His mum’s family were white and he barely knew his father, so Michael could never work out how he managed to do the accent so well.

‘What’s up? Who you looking at?’ Kevin asked.

Unable to tear his eyes away from the girl, Michael continued to stare at her. She was tall, dark-skinned, with long glossy hair and the sexiest body that Michael had ever seen. She was wearing high-heeled boots, a black leather jacket that had tassels swinging from the sleeves, and faded jeans.

Kevin changed seats and chuckled. ‘Put your tongue away, mate, you’re a married man now, remember?’

With his handsome face, cheeky grin and legendary chat-up lines, Michael had been a real player in his heyday. He had slept with so many girls his mum and aunt nicknamed him Alfie after the womanizing rogue played by Michael Caine in the film. Meeting Nancy had changed all that, but when the girl locked eyes with him, Michael could only think of one thing.