I cannot fucking believe what I’m hearing. She’s looking at Tommy like he’s a big shot, like he’s a player behind the scenes, only on the other side. She’s impressed; she’s obviously a Hun. We’re having some drinks later, she says to him, having a few people over. You and your friend here are welcome to join us. I’m reduced to the fucking friend already. Sure, Tommy says to her. That would be lovely. Lovely, is it? This guy would do your fucking chump in.

We get up to the room and that’s when I fucking lose it. Do you know how dangerous this is? I says to Tommy. You’re playing with fire right now, I says to him. You don’t know who talks to who. You don’t know what connections these people might have. We’re over here to lie low, I says to him, not to party like we’re fucking Orangemen. But Tommy starts getting that aggressive way of his, and there’s no talking to him, his heart is fucking pounding out his chest, and now he’s talking to himself, about me, right in front of me, he’s shaking his head, these mugs don’t understand, he’s saying to himself, that fucking line that was more frightening than asking somebody if they was a neighbour. I stepped back. There was nothing anybody could do.