Macca yelped, fell to the carpet, head clutched in hands as the blood began to pour. ‘You’re mental, you are.’

‘And you’re a fucking pervert. People like you disgust me. You ever speak to my son again, you’ll be pushing up the daisies. Come on, Albie, we’re going home now.’

PART FIVE

‘The course of true love never did run smooth’

William Shakespeare

CHAPTER THIRTY

I walked around like a zombie over the next couple of days. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or concentrate at work. I even dropped one of Mrs Huntingdon-Brown’s crystal vases and was threatened with the sack.

Vinny refused to talk about what had happened, would not speak about his job or tell me anything. But finally on the Tuesday evening, after I had put Brenda to bed and was alone in the house with my eldest son, he broke down and opened up to me.

I cringed when he explained his job had been to chat up mainly old homosexual men and encourage them to spend money by pretending he was interested in them. Vinny swore he’d never gone into a private room with any of the men like some of the other lads had, but I was still appalled. What must those other lads be feeling? Being groped and Christ knows what else by these old men? And what type of woman runs such an establishment? A vile, disgusting, heartless bitch, that’s who. I knew there and then that I would somehow make sure Aunt Marnie got her comeuppance. I had to. ‘Write down the address of that club for me,’ I demanded.

I knew exactly who to go to for help.

Two days later, I put on my best red frock, smart black shoes, and black coat I only wore for special events and funerals, then I jumped on a train to Covent Garden.

I hadn’t seen Patrick or Daniel O’Leary since they cleared Mary’s house out. In fact I’d completely lost touch with them, so I had to ask Freddie Angel to get me the address of their club he’d told me about. Turned out they’d done very well indeed for themselves. It wasn’t any old club. It was a jazz club.

On the train I thought about Mrs O’Leary. ‘If you are ever in trouble, you go to my boys. I have given them strict instructions to help you in whatever way you need’ were Mary’s words to me. But I couldn’t help but feel uneasy all the same. The thought of seeing Daniel again after all this time filled me with dread. I wasn’t about to disclose too much about Vinny, for the sake of his future, I’d already decided that. I’d tell them just enough to get the job done.

Patrick O’Leary greeted me warmly. ‘What a joy it was, getting a phone call from you yesterday, Queenie,’ he smiled.

I was gobsmacked at how flashy the club was inside. Real leather sofas and armchairs, huge chandeliers, flashy glass tables and it had the jazziest of wallpapers. ‘Wow! Your mum would be so proud of you, Patrick,’ I told him. The club wasn’t open, but I could imagine how glamorous it would look when full of people. There was a big stage and photos of jazz musicians hung on the walls. I had no idea who most of them were, but I recognized Ella Fitzgerald, so presumably the rest must have been just as famous.