Vinny got to his feet and began pacing the room. ‘What’s that slut said to you? Only, she better not’ve been telling lies about me, for her sake.’

‘Sit your arse down now,’ Queenie hissed. She stared her son in the eye. He didn’t blink, a dead giveaway he was either lying or angry. ‘Bonnie has said nothing to me. Apparently, the poor girl is in pieces, won’t come out of her bedroom. Her mother collared me. She knows Bonnie was attacked, so best you tell me the truth, boy, so I can smooth things over. You’re going places, got a good reputation round ’ere. Just tell me what happened and I’ll sort it. Did she lead you on?’

Vinny put his head in his hands. ‘I had sex with her, Mum, but she asked for it. She dressed like a tart every time I took her out. The dress she was wearing on Saturday barely covered her minge and her lils were hanging out. I know a couple of lads who’ve shagged her – she’s easy. I took her out for a meal, treated her proper nice. She came on to me, then went all weird.’

‘Did she try to stop you when you – ya know? Did she say no to you, Vinny?’

‘Well, yeah, but I didn’t believe her. She was always asking me to play with her tits and stuff. She even made me do that when we went for that picnic over Vicky Park. What was I supposed to think?’

Queenie patted the sofa next to her. She didn’t want to believe her number one son was a rapist. He might look older, but he was only fifteen, going through his adolescence, and it was common knowledge that Bonnie Tarbuck was the local bike. Lots of the neighbours had told her that soon after Queenie had moved in. ‘A right little hussy’, Nosey Hilda described Bonnie as.

Vinny sat next to his mum. ‘Son, you were led up the garden path, but what you ended up doing was wrong. Very wrong indeed. I need you to promise me, in future, if a girl says no to you, she means no and you’re to do as she says. You’ve got so much going for you, you don’t want to get a reputation for, ya know.’

‘But you always drummed it into us, never look a gift horse in the mouth, take the opportunities. Bonnie led me on, I’m telling ya.’

‘Don’t you be blaming me. I know it’s difficult to understand, but girls are different to men.’ Queenie sighed. It was clear Vinny couldn’t comprehend what he’d done wrong. That made her furious, yet she had to help him out regardless. ‘Listen, I will speak to Mrs Tarbuck tomorrow and vouch you were home early, OK? What time did all these shenanigans happen?’

‘Around half eleven, I think.’

‘Well, you came in at midnight, so I shall say you were back here at half ten after having a row with Bonnie. Did you walk her home?’