About to walk up the basement stairs, he stopped abruptly, seeing something on the floor. He picked it up. It was a letter addressed to him. With shaking hands, Alfie ripped open the envelope, feeling his legs begin to give way as he read what it said.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

You sent me to prison, Alf,
now I’m coming for you.

‘Alfie?’ Vaughn’s voice behind Alfie made him jump. Strung out, he began to fire his gun over and over again, the bullets ricocheting in the small entranceway.

‘Fucking hell, Alf! Jesus Christ, what are you doing?’ Vaughn grabbed Alfie, slamming him hard against the wall, knocking the gun out of his hand before he pushed his forearm against Alfie’s throat.

His face red with fury, Vaughn spat out his words: ‘What do you think you’re doing? Do you want every single copper descending on this place?’

Alfie shook his head, his eyes wide open with fear, and managing to push Vaughn away from the tight hold he was in and spluttering. Alfie rubbed his neck. ‘No, fuck’s sake, no, of course not!’

Alfie turned to go back into the club but Vaughn, raging, blocked his way. ‘I want an explanation. Now!’

Bending over to rest his hands on his knees, Alfie, shocked by his own actions, tried to play it down.

‘I dunno, mate, I just thought I saw a rat, that’s all. I hate the fucking things.’

Pulling him up and twirling him round to face him, Vaughn furiously shook his head, speaking through gritted teeth. ‘No, no, no, no, you’re not going to try to tell me that you risked the fucking flying squad swooping in, just so you could kill a rat. You need to come up with something better than that, Alf.’

As he spoke, Vaughn glanced up the basement stairs, seeing a stranger curiously looking down at them both. He pulled Alfie inside, immediately punching him hard at close range in the face.

Staggering backwards, Alfie tasted the blood in his mouth but there was something about the physical pain that he welcomed at that moment. His head was a wreck, and anything was better than thinking about those letters. ‘I’m sorry, okay? I fucked up.’

Furious, Vaughn strode up to him, pulling and shaking him roughly. ‘Sorry! Are you kidding? I ain’t going down for you, not for this, not for you shooting a gun out there like you’re cowboy fucking Jo. You need to lay off that coke, Alf. You’re acting crazy and you’re looking rough as fuck. One druggie in the place is bad enough.’

Puzzled, Alfie looked at Vaughn. ‘What are you talking about?’