East End Jubilee (46 page)

‘A friend of Eddie’s.’

Rose felt her heart miss a beat. She tried to think where she had seen this man before.
Had
she seen him before? As she clutched Donnie against her, the child’s soft sobbing was the
loudest sound in the room.

Payne turned to his cronies. ‘How did he get in?’

They all shrugged. ‘Through the door behind me,’ the man said stepping into the light. Rose knew every eye in the room was on him in sheer disbelief. Despite being small he seemed to
generate some kind of power. Dressed in a dark blue overcoat, he was entirely bald and protruding from his face was an enormous nose.

Payne snarled. ‘Who was supposed to be out there?’

No one answered.

‘Let him go. Let them all go,’ the stranger said quietly.

Payne grinned. ‘You’re not for real, are you?’

‘Oh yes, I’m real.’

‘You’re not the filth?’

‘No.’

Payne narrowed his eyes. ‘So who are you?’

‘I told you. A friend of this man. A friend who will settle the debt.’

Payne laughed out loud. ‘Now you’re going to tell me you’re his fairy godmother and you’ve got two grand stashed under that coat of yours?’

‘Two thousand pounds?’ The little man walked slowly towards Rose, drew out his wallet and opened it. He smiled down at her. ‘Quite a sum from the initial loan.’ He
counted out the large crisp notes. To everyone’s astonishment he offered them to Payne.

The silver-haired man, forgetting himself, dropped the club and grabbed them. ‘Two grand,’ he nodded as he counted. He looked up suspiciously. ‘Is this a wind-up?’

‘No, a business transaction.’

Payne’s eyes narrowed. ‘So what is Uncle Norman going to do with the goose?’ he asked himself out loud. ‘After all the aggro I’ve had with this piece of
shit—’ he glanced at Eddie, ‘I’ll accept this as a down payment for the protection of, let’s see, the future welfare of his family’s life and
limb.’

‘Then greed will be your downfall.’

‘Come again?’ Rose watched Payne thinking hard. His forehead was creased in a frown, assessing just how much more he could capitalize on Eddie’s misfortune.

‘The account is settled.’

‘Bollocks. You’re not walking out of here the way you walked in. You’re on
my
turf now.’

The stranger walked arrogantly up to Payne. ‘Are you such a fool as to believe I did not ensure my safety?’

Payne stiffened. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘If there is one piece of advice I would give you, it is this. Be afraid of me, Mr Payne, be
very
afraid.’

A nervous laugh jangled in Payne’s throat. ‘And why should I be afraid of you?’

The soft voice hardened. ‘I restrain myself from having you arrested only because it would not be in this family’s interest to drag them through hell once more. But should you ever
again attempt to communicate with them, I will hand over to the authorities the evidence my investigators have gathered on your nefarious activities. I have left no stone unturned in my searches.
My lawyers have accumulated sufficient material to put you and your . . . friends . . . away for a very long time.’

Payne was silent, his face totally shocked. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his neck like a terrified Christmas turkey. Rose knew that everyone else in the room was equally shocked.
They were all weighing up who this man was and whether or not he was telling the truth; whether the statement he’d just made was worth taking seriously.

‘Are you prepared to challenge me, Mr Payne?’

‘Who are you?’ Payne murmured hoarsely.

‘I am an extremely wealthy man with a personal army at my disposal. I come well prepared, I assure you. This building is watched, your departure is awaited. Delay any longer and you will
soon understand the full meaning of my words.’

Payne looked round him at the frightened faces of his heavies and the sheer terror that was slowly registering in their eyes. The small man’s gaze bored into him with hatred. He shrivelled
under his coat and stepped backwards towards the door.

‘I’m sick of the sight of you, anyway,’ he threw at Eddie viciously. ‘You’ll never make it straight, with or without this bastard’s help. Two years down the
road and you’ll be flogging your own grandmother for a couple of quid.’

Rose saw Payne hesitate, still uncertain as to what he should do. But he had lost respect in front of his minions and was a beaten man. The back of his silver head was the last thing she saw as
he and his men made a hasty exit. She closed her eyes as if rubbing out the sight forever.

Gentle hands supported her. ‘They’ve gone, my dear. You are safe.’

Rose heard the cries of the children coming towards her. She looked up at the smooth round face with the monstrous nose. ‘You were with Eddie in Hewis, weren’t you?’

‘And you are the young Christian woman who buried a Jew.’

They looked into each other’s eyes. She didn’t know what he meant, not really. But it didn’t matter for now. Eddie was back in the land of the living. They were
all
back
in the land of the living. Thanks to this man.

Friday, 14th December 1956

Eddie watched his wife in the arms of another man and fell in love with her all over again. Except that now his feelings were deeper and more complex than they had ever been
before. His life had changed after Hewis. Not that he’d expected to return to the world he’d left; he wasn’t that much of a fool. He was an ex-con now. He had form. But he
hadn’t been prepared for just how much change there had been.

He watched her with Bobby, dancing slowly under the revolving glass ball of Kirkwood’s Social Club. She was laughing and her hair tumbled over her shoulders. Every now and then a glint of
pearls sparkled from her neck. Thank God he’d redeemed them in time, the first thing he’d done when he started his new job.

She looked stunning tonight in the red dress newly acquired from Solly and Alma’s Knightsbridge shop, of which he was now manager. He desperately wanted to be where Bobby was. Holding her
close, looking into her eyes, those huge brown eyes that never failed to entrance him. He didn’t want another man to touch her. Not even Bobby, his brother-in-law of one day.

Eddie shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden chair. He tried to shrug off the dark mood. After all, the Weavers and Mortons were off to Scotland tomorrow, thanks to Solly and Alma’s
wedding present to the newlyweds. Four poster beds, not to mention a banqueting hall and moat.

‘Come on, get up and dance, you lazy git.’ A powerful hand grabbed his arm. ‘You can manage a shuffle even if you do have two left feet.’

Eddie smiled at his old friend. Anita looked the bees’ knees in a black two-piece with a garland of Christmas tinsel strung round her neck. Her make-up had disappeared and she was swaying
slightly.

‘Who says I’ve got two left feet?’ Eddie pulled her down on the chair beside him. ‘They won’t leave this room breathing.’

She chuckled. ‘It’s true you ain’t no Fred Astaire, darlin’, but after all the Pimms I’ve sunk tonight I’m capable of dragging you round the floor
bodily.’

‘Not with your bad back you won’t,’ he teased.

She clouted him over the head. ‘Don’t you worry about me back tonight, mate. I’m one hundred per cent anaesthetized. Anyway, you can’t talk with your wonky
knee.’

Eddie rubbed it unconsciously. The bone had mended, but he would limp for the rest of his life. He counted himself lucky. It was only his knee that Payne had demolished, not his brain.

‘I think I’ll just have a fag.’ Anita shook out a Player’s from the pack on the table. She put it between her lips and coughed. The next minute it was back in the pack
again. ‘I’m finished with those bloody things. Where’s me drink?’

Eddie pushed her glass towards her. ‘Yeah, and I’ll just finish me beer. Get the old oil going round.’

‘You don’t need any oilin’, darlin’. You’re sexy enough.’

Eddie knew she was three sheets to the wind and wasn’t likely to carry out her threat. He laughed again and drank slowly. At ten o’clock he was well and truly knackered. It had been
a long day. First, Bobby and Em’s civil marriage ceremony at Poplar registry office, then back to the house for the nosh. The street had all been given an invite to the club tonight. Now
everyone, including a few dozen gatecrashers, were enjoying the proverbial knees up.

Eddie peered through the fug of smoke. The bar was surrounded. Most of the Christmas decorations were well and truly massacred in the free for all to obtain booze. Four young men standing on the
dais were dressed in cheap mohair suits and wearing DAs. They were oblivious to the crush and sweating over their instruments; guitar, bass, drums and sax. The tiny dance floor was jam packed,
rocking to the new sensation from the States, Elvis the Pelvis.

The kids would have appreciated the music. A little alarmingly, Eddie found himself missing their company. They’d had a ball today, running around like lunatics and stuffing themselves
silly. David Mendoza and Iris were babysitting. Eddie wished he was home with them, his feet up on the pouffe, watching telly. Blimey, was he or was he not a reformed character? Christ, he’d
even be cooking the grub next!

Anita sighed heavily. ‘Don’t she look beautiful tonight?’

Indisputably, Rose was the most beautiful woman in the room. Under the flickering silver light she swayed in Bobby’s arms. In fact, they looked the perfect couple. His brother-in-law was
not only a looker, but a mover too. Dancing was a skill Eddie had never mastered himself.

‘Well, they tied the knot then,’ Anita said dryly. ‘Never thought it would happen meself.’

‘Just goes to show.’

‘You’ll have the house all to yourselves now.’

‘Yeah, but I’ll miss ’em.’ Em and Will were like part of the furniture now. He was indebted to his sister-in-law and he would not forget his debt. He owed her one and
that was the truth. She’d looked after the kids whilst Rose was at work and contributed to the rent. The bills wouldn’t have got paid otherwise whilst he was away. Not that he had
revised his opinion of Rose as a working woman, but it was as plain as a pimple on a pig’s arse that there was no way they’d have managed if Em hadn’t chipped in. Eddie chewed
agitatedly on his lip. He still lived in hope Rose would chuck in being old Grimmond’s personal secretary. Trouble was, Rose was too bloody good at her job. And he had the unsettling
suspicion she actually liked it. He didn’t go along with women working, never had. They should be with their family, sort out the domestics. His Princess was ten now and Toots eight; they
needed a sharp eye. At almost three, Matthew was into everything. Eddie’s chest swelled with pride as he thought of his son and heir. He adored his girls, but a son was special.

‘It wasn’t a bad ceremony this morning,’ Anita sighed dreamily. ‘Em looked smashing in that biscuit suit and floppy hat. It was next best to a proper dress, though to me,
a register office ain’t quite the same as walking down the aisle.’

Eddie passed no comment. He was just relieved it was all over. He took a long, slow gulp of his beer.

‘Still, you can understand Em being dubious about churches,’ Anita continued. ‘Arthur turned out to be a right perv.’

On that Eddie was in full agreement. He’d never got on with Arthur and didn’t mind who knew it.

‘Just look at her, dancing with my Benny. No more queer jerks any more and she finally chucked away that bloody turban. Bobby’s brought out the best in her, God love him.’

Eddie considered the two figures crushed together on the dance floor. His sister-in-law and best mate were happily making exhibitions of themselves. Em had really come out of her shell. Yeah,
she was a different person to the girl who’d lived with Arthur. Eddie admitted that a bout of green-eye had clouded his opinion of Bobby. Being a con in the nick as opposed to Golden Boy on
the outside was no contest. But he conceded now that Bobby was all right, even if he was like Ali Baba’s bloody genie. The house was bulging with electrical gear. They even had a telly, an
article Eddie never expected to see appear under his roof after Coronation Day.

But Bobby was a decent bloke. He had a nice flat to offer Em and Will. True it was stuck over the shop, but Will, poor little sod, was over the moon with ten square feet of personal territory.
He wouldn’t have to sleep in a tent or in the front room any more. Eddie had never heard the kid complain whilst living in the sardine can conditions of number forty-six. He was fond of his
nephew, more than he let on.

‘Your old man is gonna have a corker when he wakes up.’ Eddie chuckled as he watched his old friend attempting, and failing, to twirl Em under his arm.

‘So will a few dozen others,’ Anita grinned.

Eddie smiled as he wondered if Mr Grimmond would regret offering the social club amenities for the knees-up. The bar had been drunk dry, there wasn’t a packet of crisps left in the place
and even Balaji Patel had downed a Bloody Mary assuming it was tomato juice. Cissy and Fanny had wiped out the buffet table between them. Len Silverman had provided some kosher grub, all gone in
half an hour, kosher subscribers or not. Solly would have approved of that, Eddie thought gratefully.

He warmed inside as he thought of his good friend, Solly Rosenberg. Back in that Godforsaken dump by the wharf, with his head lying in Rose’s lap, his skull more battered than last
Friday’s cod, Solly’s words had said it all.

And you are the young Christian woman who buried a Jew
.

Eddie shook his head in wonder and slipped deeper into thought, replaying in his mind the events that had led to freedom for him and his family. If Rose had never found the shoebox, if
she’d never given back the money, if she’d never buried Olga, if he’d never been sent to Hewis, he’d never have met Solly. And what a friend Solly had proved to be in taking
the Weavers under his wing. Payne had not been the only one waiting for Eddie’s release. Solly, too, had been waiting and watching, formulating a plan to help his old friend.

A sudden burst of clapping startled him. The boys in the band were enjoying an ovation. Anita was whistling through her teeth and clapping.