Lenny laughed so hard, he had an unfortunate accident and shit himself.

‘Gawd stone the crows! Whatever ’ave you been feeding him, Viv? It smells like a rat crawled up his bleedin’ arse and died.’

‘Good job I bought a spare set of clothes round for him.’ Vivian screwed her nose up. ‘Come on, stinky bum. Bath for you.’

Vinny Butler pocketed his wages and trudged dejectedly down the market.

Roy caught up with his eldest brother. ‘Whassa matter with you? You’ve had the hump all day.’

‘Ripped me strides earlier, didn’t I? I like these strides an’ all. Caught ’em on a bastard nail. I doubt they can be repaired, look.’

Roy glanced at the square of material flapping loosely against Vinny’s right knee. ‘You should just wear your old clothes for work like I do, ya div.’

‘Nothing divvy about wanting to look smart, Roy. You never know who you might bump into,’ Vinny snapped. For the past couple of years himself and Roy had worked as barrow boys on Roman Road market. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they would ride to the Roman on their bikes to help pull the barrows out before school. On a Saturday they would walk there as they did odd jobs for stallholders until it was time to take the barrows back in. The job seemed OK at first, but now Vinny was getting older he couldn’t help but feel it was a bit beneath him. The money wasn’t great and he knew he had the brains to earn far more. Still, the dosh they earned helped their mum out, so until he found something better, he would stick with it.

Queenie handed her sister a cup of tea. Neither of their marriages had turned out to be idyllic, which was why they spent so much time in one another’s company these days. ‘Is Bill coming round tomorrow?’

Vivian shook her head sadly. Her son wasn’t like other children. He was what one doctor had callously described as ‘backward’. ‘I told Bill you were having a bit of a shindy for Vinny’s birthday, but you know what he’s like, said he had to work.’

Queenie subtly changed the subject. When Lenny was born he’d looked and behaved just like any other baby. They’d had no inkling that anything was wrong with him until he was around a year old. The doctors reckoned Lenny being starved of oxygen at birth had led to him having some kind of brain damage. Queenie and Viv adored the boy. He was unique, funny, a real little character, and anyone who met him seemed to fall under his charm. Vinny, Roy and Michael worshipped Lenny too. They called him ‘Champ’ and vowed to always look out for him. Albie and Brenda also loved him dearly. Unfortunately, the only one who couldn’t seem to accept Lenny was his own father. Bill Harris had very little time for his son and Queenie knew how much this hurt her sister. Lenny wasn’t brain damaged, not to them. He was their wonderful special boy.