Eddie opened the front door. ‘Well, what’s going on?’ he yelled, as he saw Jessica, Joyce, Stanley and Raymond sitting in the living room with faces like ghosts.

Jessica burst into tears. ‘You tell him, Ray, I can’t do it,’ she sobbed.

‘Fucking tell me then!’ Eddie screamed at Raymond.

‘Sit down, let me pour you a brandy,’ Raymond said.

Eddie was getting more wound up by the second. ‘Fuck sitting down and fuck the brandy. Just spit it out, will ya?’

‘Frankie’s pregnant. She’s left home and says her and Jed O’Hara are getting married,’ Raymond told him.

Eddie couldn’t have been more shocked if an elephant had walked into the lounge. ‘What? Over my dead body. Who told you this?’

Seeing the cold, calculating look in his son-in-law’s eyes, Stanley felt his bowels loosen, and made a quick exit.

‘Where you going, Stanley? Why are you walking funny?’ Joyce yelled at him.

‘I need the toilet,’ Stanley replied, as he did a clenched-arse shuffle down the hallway.

‘There’s something wrong with that man,’ Joyce commented.

Raymond glared at her. ‘For fuck’s sake, Mother, shut up,’ he said as he turned to Eddie.

‘Frankie told us. She came home after you went out. He was with her, that Jed, cocky little bastard he is. I chased him off with a baseball bat. I’d have mullered him if I’d have caught him, Ed, but he ran as fast as a greyhound chasing a rabbit.’

Unable to stop himself, Eddie flew into one almighty rage. ‘I will fucking kill that scumbag pikey cunt. Come on Ray, me and you are going over to the house. I want my daughter home and I want her home now!’

Eddie stormed into the kitchen like a bull in a china shop. ‘This should do the trick,’ he spat, as he grabbed hold of a carving knife.

‘Please, Eddie, don’t go round there,’ Jessica screamed, as she got down on her hands and knees and clung to his legs.

‘Jess, get off of me. This is our daughter we’re talking about, and I need to put a stop to this shit right now. May God be my judge, she ain’t having that pikey cunt’s kid. I’ll rip it out of her with me bare hands if I have to,’ Eddie shouted.

‘You’ll get arrested. Please, Raymond, do something. You’re the only one he’ll listen to,’ Jessica screamed.

As Eddie stormed out of the house, Raymond caught up with him and grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘Listen to me. Jess is right, this ain’t the way to do things. For fuck’s sake, use your brain. It’s broad daylight. If you go round there and stab the cunt, you’ll spend the rest of your life in the nick. Think about Jess. You’ve got a baby on the way.’