A woman behind Queenie nudged her. ‘Not bloody fair, is it? Her boys ain’t nice, ya know. Charlie’s OK, but those twins aren’t the full shilling.’

Queenie ignored the woman. Mad Freda was her nickname; she was a well-known local gossip.

Craning her neck, Queenie stared in awe as Violet was treated like royalty, and given her groceries for free. She remembered the days Mary O’Leary would be ushered forwards. Oh how she missed her old friend and her sons. ‘Give my regards to your boys, Violet,’ Sid said loudly.

Other people in the queue wanted to speak to Violet and shake her hand as she tried to leave the shop. Violet looked a bit embarrassed, which Queenie found odd. She would love it if she were in Violet’s shoes.

All of a sudden, Queenie’s spirits were lifted. ‘Queenie!’ Sid shouted. ‘I didn’t see you there. You come to the front of the queue too. I won’t mention no names, but your boy is a legend, clumping that teacher. That tyrant made my sons’ lives hell.’

Aware that most of the queue were staring at her, Queenie marched to the front. ‘Thank you, Sid. My eldest is a good boy. Takes no crap off anybody.’

Sid filled Queenie’s bag up and then refused to take any money. ‘This is on me. Give my love to Vivvy an’ all, sweetheart.’

Queenie felt as proud as a peacock as she turned around to face the queue. The expressions on the majority of the old dragons’ faces were priceless. She thanked Sid and thought of Mary. Queenie hoped she was looking down on this. She would have bloody loved it.

Vinny grinned as Macca held up a sequined blazer. His new best pal had offered to take him out shopping and so far they were having a right laugh. ‘No way am I wearing that, mate. Not even in my coffin.’

Macca chuckled and put an arm around Vinny’s shoulders. ‘I’m only messing with you. Let’s go for a nice meal. My treat. Then I’ll take you to the shop afterwards where I buy all my clobber. You’ll love it. Trust me.’

Vinny grinned at his mate. Macca was so cool. He truly was a dude.

Turning into her road, Queenie bumped into Freddie Angel in uniform. ‘All right, Freddie,’ she said calmly. ‘I’m glad I’ve bumped into you again. You know when we were in Jack’s cafe last Friday and I told you Jack’s son seemed a bit strange. Well, I was right. He assaulted a young girl down our road on Monday. Put his hand up her skirt and touched her noonie.’

‘Between me and you, Queen, that’s not the first time the boy has done that. We’ve had a few complaints down at the station. But you must keep that information to yourself. I know I can trust you.’

Queenie smiled. ‘Of course. So how’s things with you? You sorted things with Shirley?’

‘Yes, I have actually. Any chance we can chat at yours, Queenie? I’ve been walking up and down here for the past two hours hoping to bump into you. I knew you were out, ’cause I knocked at yours.’