‘You knock any booze over West Ham, Canning Town way, Albie?’ asked Micky.

‘No, mate. I’m always a bit wary of punting it off me own patch in case I tread on some bastard’s toes. I can’t be bringing trouble to the door now I got a wife and kiddies.’

‘I got a lot of contacts in Canning Town and West Ham. When we leave ’ere, I’ll take you down there, see if we can drum up some more business for ya. Let me do the talking and don’t worry about treading on anyone’s toes. I’ll check whose supplying ’em first. The whisky, brandy and rum you get hold of is far better than all the other bootleg versions round ’ere. You should expand a bit, Albie. I’ll help ya. I’ll expect an extra discount off me own, mind,’ Micky winked.

Queenie had been surprised when Aggie had moved to Bow earlier in the year. She’d also been a tad jealous as Terry Marney was turning out to be a wonderful husband. He’d actually bought Aggie a home, not just bloody rented it. ‘D’ya feel all right now, Vinny?’ Queenie enquired.

‘Wanna wee-wee.’

‘You can go when we get there, and don’t you dare upset Little Terry today. You made him cry the last time we visited.’

Vinny didn’t like Little Terry. Recalling what had happened the last time he’d visited, Vinny allowed himself a wry smile.

‘Oh my giddy aunt! I don’t believe it! Albie Butler! Even more ’andsome than I remember. Look at you! All grown up. I can still see you in your little shorts holding your mam’s hand as she dragged you off to school. You hated school, ya never wanted to go when you were a nipper,’ chuckled Cilla Watkins, the barmaid in the British Lion.

Albie felt like a teenager all over again as he locked eyes with Cilla. He remembered her birthday was the day after his, which made her thirty-seven now as she was eight years older than him. By God, she was still as buxom and beautiful as ever. Her thick long chestnut hair glistened and her smile was as cheeky as always. ‘Well I never! You’re the last person I expected to bump into today. How long’s it been since I’ve seen you, Cilla? You haven’t changed a bit, darlin’.’

‘I take it you two know one another,’ joked Micky One Ear.

Albie and Cilla locked eyes once more. Both smiled. Cilla had been Albie’s boyhood crush and his first ever sexual experience. How could he ever forget her?

In nearby Bow, Queenie was being shown around Aggie’s palace of a home. She wasn’t a nasty person, and she was pleased for Aggie, but the work Terry had done inside the home and the sweat he’d grafted to attain it in the first place just enlightened Queenie to what a failure she’d married. And to think Terry had first tried to chat her up in the Beehive that New Year’s Eve and she’d mocked him to Doreen for being a coalman. Turned out he wasn’t just a coalman after all. He also grafted all hours with his father, who was a rag and bone man.