Eddie stood in the hallway of the pub’s living quarters. He counted the money and nodded. ‘All right, Alec, it’s all here. See you same time next month.’

With all debts and protection money collected, Eddie gave Gary and Ricky a ring to see if everything had gone smoothly their end. Since Paulie had left the firm, Eddie had split the collections in two. He and Raymond did one half of their patch and Gary and Ricky the other.

‘All done, Dad. Everything went as sweet as a nut,’ Gary told him.

‘Good lads. You and Ricky out on the town again tonight?’

Gary laughed. ‘Going to a rave out Watford way.’

Eddie raised his eyebrows at Raymond. He was far too old to understand all this rave lark. Sometimes Gary and Ricky would go to one and not come home for two days.

‘Well, have a good time, and don’t forget Sunday, Gal, will you? Jessica’s cooking a special meal. It’s a double celebration. Make sure you and Ricky are there by three at the latest.’

‘What’s the other celebration, then? I thought we were just celebrating the twins leaving school,’ Gary asked.

Eddie chuckled. ‘There’s more to it than meets the eye. You and Ricky behave yourselves and I’ll see you both on Sunday.’

Ending the phone call, Eddie turned to Raymond. ‘Shall we have a couple of pints somewhere?’

Raymond shook his head. ‘Polly’s off work today, so I’m gonna meet her up town. She wants to do a bit of shopping.’

Smirking, Eddie nudged him. ‘Ain’t shopping for engagement rings, are we, Raymondo?’

‘Not yet. Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know if and when we do,’ Raymond replied, chuckling.

Desperate to cure his dehydration, Eddie passed his house and carried on through the lanes. He had a couple of phone calls to make and couldn’t make them indoors.

The Optimist was a pub only a few minutes from his home. He pulled into the car park and strolled inside. ‘Pint of Kronenberg,’ he said to the barmaid.

Taking his drink outside, Eddie sat at one of the wooden tables. He was sweltering, but there was no way he would take his shirt off. He hated it when he saw geezers in pubs with no tops on. People had no decorum these days, no respect. Ed had a fit body and he wouldn’t do it. These arseholes that chose to strip half naked were always big fat pricks with bellies like darts players.

Eddie rang home first. He needed to make sure all was OK. ‘All right, Jess? I’ll be home soon, love. I bet the twins are happy, aren’t they? Are they home yet?’

‘Yeah, they’re playing with the dogs in the garden.’

‘Give ’em a shout, Jess, I wanna talk to ’em.’