‘You didn’t spit in the trifle, Mum?’ Roy asked, shocked.

Vinny smiled. He felt OK now. Roy was right. Starting a war with the Mitchells over Ronnie’s comments wasn’t worth it. The main thing was, he’d found out the truth. Since he’d confronted his father, he was on a high again. The high he should have been on all day. ‘That’s a classic, Mum. Serves the posh arseholes right for treating you with disrespect all those years. Now, are you two ready for these surprises? They’re the nuts, trust me,’ Vinny teased, dangling two sets of keys.

Brenda and Lenny leapt up. ‘Can we come too?’ they asked in unison.

‘Pinky and Perky, you two are. Come on then,’ Viv said, unsteadily standing up and cuddling her son. Those sherries had gone straight to her head.

Vinny gestured his mum, aunt, Roy, Champ and Brenda to follow him. Michael was still at work in that shitty garage. He wouldn’t be working there much longer, mind, as Vinny had other plans for him.

‘What we doing ’ere?’ Queenie asked, as Vinny opened the door to Eva’s house. Queenie hadn’t been close to Eva, poor woman had been off her rocker. She’d only died this past week.

The house was a new build, same as Queenie’s. Vinny handed his aunt the keys. ‘Welcome to your new home, Auntie Viv. It’s all yours, sweetheart.’

Viv and Queenie were still emotional when Vinny and Roy led them away from Viv’s new home towards the snooker club.

‘I can’t believe it, Queen. I really can’t. It’s the home I’ve always dreamed of, and we’ll be neighbours.’

Queenie squeezed her sister’s hand. ‘My boys are the best. I raised them right.’

‘Will Dad know where we are in our new house, Mum?’ asked Lenny.

‘Yes. If Daddy wants to find us, he’ll still be able to,’ Viv replied patiently. Her son was doing OK in school, but it was clear that his mental age wasn’t up there with the other children. That’s why Viv had decided to wait until Lenny was older to tell him the truth about his father. Hopefully then he would understand.

‘Why you bringing us in ’ere?’ Queenie asked, as her son opened the door to the snooker hall around the corner.

Vinny urged his brother to pour the drinks, like they’d planned earlier. They’d even purchased bottles of ginger beer, knowing the kids might be with them.

Roy handed his family their drinks and urged them to raise their glasses.

Vinny grinned as they did so. ‘Thanks to you, Mum, and the way you raised us, today Roy and I finally achieved our dreams. We’ve bought this gaff and we’re gonna turn it into a proper palace. It’s gonna be blinding.’

Queenie’s eyes welled up, just as Viv’s had done earlier when she’d been shown around her new home. She stood on tiptoes and hugged both her boys around the neck. ‘My babies. My boys. I can’t tell you how over the moon I am. You’ve cracked it.’