He sighed and yawned, passing wind at the same time as he listened to his son, Charlie, on the other end of the line. He felt irritated by the unwelcome disturbance, and he was still slightly on edge from not only someone asking around after him, but also the near miss they’d had back at the warehouse.

He’d been told that it was a safe space, that no one ever went there and up until then, they hadn’t. They’d been able to shoot a few films as well as live stream, but now they’d have to find somewhere else; though he supposed he was lucky that the security guard, or whoever it was who’d disturbed them, hadn’t seen his face. Hopefully, they’d just assume it was a bunch of youths messing about in the warehouse, who’d got a bit out of hand.

Annoyed at the thought of it, Barry growled. ‘What do you want, Charlie? I don’t appreciate being disturbed. Twice in twenty-four hours; it’s a bit much.’

‘Well that’s why I was calling. I … I got the wrong end of the stick.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

‘Well they weren’t so much asking around about you, rather asking about your products. I didn’t realise that until just now. When they spoke to me, they weren’t really clear, or rather I didn’t understand what they were after when they talked to me, so I jumped to the wrong conclusion. You know, better be safe than sorry.’

Barry mocked nastily, ‘Shut up, you muppet, so you’re saying you got me looking over my shoulder for nothing?’

‘Something like that.’

‘You’ve always been a fucking idiot. What did I do to deserve such a son? So, what exactly does this person want?’

‘They’re customers of mine. I’ve known them for a while. They like to do the whole couple thing, and I think they’ve got tired of the girls I can supply, so they’re interested in some of the products you can get your hands on.’

Barry pulled a face, reaching over for the packet of peanuts by his side. He tore them open, pouring half the bag into his mouth. He spoke aggressively, spitting bits of nuts everywhere. ‘You see what I can’t get my head around is, why after all these years of you not bothering to contact me, let alone fucking apologise for ruining my life, would you call and tell me that?’

‘Things change.’

‘Yeah, they certainly fucking do, like I’ve finally got my freedom. Have you any idea what it was like in that place? All because you and your sisters along with that mate of yours, Alfie, couldn’t handle a few games.’