The Wronged: No parent should ever have to bury their child.... Kimberley Chambers
Mary and Donald had dismissed her as some nutty local scaremonger. But Freda had been spot on. Over the years she’d become a valued friend and she would be sorely missed.
‘Now stop all them tears. I’m no spring chicken, so I can’t complain. I’ve had a decent innings. Open that drawer, Nancy. I wrote a list out last night. The doctor reckons I ain’t got long left, so I need to get my affairs in order. You don’t mind helping me, do you? I’ve no one else I can trust.’
Nancy forced a smile. ‘Of course we’ll help you.’
Michael Butler had just ordered himself and the boys some breakfast when his mother and Auntie Vivian marched into the café like two bulls in a china shop.
‘There you are! I was ringing the club continuously last night and couldn’t bloody get hold of you. I rung Nancy twice and she didn’t know where you were. I wish some bastard would invent a phone you could carry around with you, else what’s the point of having sons,’ Queenie spat, completely ignoring her grandchildren.
Seeing a table full of workmen staring his way, Michael ordered his sons to stay put, then led his mum and aunt outside. ‘I went out with me old mate Kev. I haven’t seen him for yonks. What’s the problem?’
When Queenie and Viv explained word for word about their altercation with the neighbours, Michael lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply to calm his temper. Nobody around here dared disrespect his family. The locals were all too aware of what happened to those who did. Terry Smart, Trevor Thomas, Kenny and Bobby Jackson had all either disappeared or met a grizzly end after falling foul of the Butlers. No one else wanted to meet the same fate.
‘Well? Don’t just stand there like a stuffed dummy. What ya gonna do about it? Vinny would’ve been round there first time I asked. So would my Roy, God rest his soul.’
Michael dropped his cigarette, then stamped on it and twisted his foot as if he were snuffing out the life of a tarantula. ‘Do you honestly still see me as your baby boy, Mum? Or that fresh-faced David Essex lookalike that birds used to chase down the road in the seventies? Or do you just see me as the weakest link of this family? Not up to Vinny’s standards perhaps?’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It was you who sorted Pervy Pat, so I know you’re more than capable. I just meant that Vinny would’ve straightened them bastards out like a shot.’
Michael smirked. ‘Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but seeing as Vinny is currently being detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure for his swift way of dealing with things, I shall sort out this problem in my own sweet time, Mum. It will be dealt with though, I can promise you that. Now, if you don’t mind, I must excuse myself as my breakfast is getting cold.’
Queenie looked at Vivian in sheer amazement as Michael sauntered back into the café. ‘Saucy bastard. Who the hell does he think he is, eh? I won’t be insulted like that, Viv, not by one of me own.’
When her sister went to march back inside the café, Vivian grabbed her arm. ‘Leave it, Queen. Michael does have a point and I trust him to deal with those bastards next door.’
‘But he totally disrespected me.’
‘You were very disrespectful to him. He proved himself good and proper when he chopped that pervert’s dingle-dangle off. Believe me, that boy has more brains and integrity than you give him credit for. He’s a better man than Vinny will ever be, and that’s a fact.’
Johnny Preston felt as sick as a dog as he queued up inside Feltham Borstal. His mother had wanted to accompany him, but Johnny had refused. He needed to do this alone.
Once searched, Johnny was led away from the other visitors and taken down the corridor. Because of who he was he’d been allowed to speak to his nephew away from the prying eyes and listening ears of other inmates and their families.
‘Here we are. There will be four prison officers in the room with you for security purposes.’
‘I would much rather speak to Jamie alone.’
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible. The guvnor’s orders, not mine. Jamie has been involved in numerous violent altercations while in our care, so the boss didn’t want to take any chances. He doesn’t allow many visits of this kind, so you’re lucky you’ve got one.’
Knowing it was now or never, Johnny took some deep breaths to try to calm himself. He couldn’t lose it in there, because if he did and got himself arrested, Deborah would probably divorce him.
‘You OK?’ the screw asked.
Johnny leaned against the wall and nodded. ‘Just give me a minute.’ The last time he could remember his heart beating at such a frantic pace was when he’d been plotted up outside that club waiting to shoot Vinny, and that hadn’t turned out too well. He’d drunk Scotch to calm his nerves and had accidentally shot Roy Butler instead. ‘I’m ready now.’
The first thing that struck Johnny as he entered the room was how different Jamie looked. He was eighteen now, full of muscle and had the body of a man rather than a teenager. His dark hair was cropped, and he had a big scar that ran diagonally from his right ear to the corner of his mouth.
‘Thanks for coming, Uncle Johnny. I had doubts you’d show up.’
Johnny was sure that, had he not been in prison when she was born, had he met his granddaughter, held her in his arms, read her bedtime stories and got to know her little personality, no way could he have stomached this visit. Perhaps the reason he was able to face Jamie was because the only memory he had of Molly was a couple of photographs.
Pulling the chair out from under the table, Johnny sat down opposite his nephew. Jamie had the same piercing green eyes as Vinny, which was no surprise seeing as it was now common knowledge they were half-brothers. ‘Cut the “Uncle Johnny” bollocks, and say what you gotta say. I don’t wanna be anywhere fucking near you, so the quicker you spill your guts and I can get out of here, the better.’
Jamie stared directly into his uncle’s eyes. ‘I asked Nan to speak to you because I wanted you to hear my side of the story. I’ve been framed, Johnny, and you are the only one who can help me. I am so sorry about what happened to Molly. You and your family must have been to hell and back, but I didn’t kill her. I swear to God, I never.’
‘Pull the other leg, it’s got fucking bells on,’ Johnny hissed.
‘What type of monster do you think I am, eh? I could never hurt a little kid. I promise you, if I’d been guilty of such a despicable act, I’d have killed myself by now. What type of cunt could live with themselves after murdering a three-year-old? Not me, that’s for fucking sure.’
If it hadn’t been for the four prison officers standing guard, Johnny would have lunged across the table and beaten his nephew black and blue. How dare he have the front to do what he’d done and then blatantly lie about it?
‘I want to speak to the police and urge them to re-open the case. Molly’s killer needs to be caught.’
Johnny looked at Jamie in disbelief. ‘As if the Old Bill are gonna do that. You were caught with a bedroom full of newspaper cuttings, you’d been ripping missing posters off walls and fucking lampposts, you even rung up the cunting police station and told them you had taken Molly. You were seen sat opposite the club on the day she went missing. Have you hit your head since you’ve been in here? The police got you bang to rights, boy, and you know it. Now why don’t you do me a favour and just admit it. It’s upsetting your nan the way you keep pleading your innocence. You’re making her ill.’
Eyes brimming with tears, Jamie shook his head furiously. ‘No way would I ever admit to something I didn’t do. It’s bad enough that the whole world sees me as a child-killer when I’m fucking innocent. I’ll hold my hands up to the newspaper cuttings, ripping the posters down and phone calls. That was wrong – bang out of order, in fact – and there isn’t a day goes by when I don’t regret it. But I was fourteen years old, for fuck’s sake. And I only did that shit because I hated Vinny so