The Life (32 page)

‘Shall we get a drink, bruv?’

Peter grinned. ‘You took the words right out of my mouth.’

‘Good night or what?’ Liam climbed into the car beside his brother.

‘One of the best, bruv.’

Petey had actually had a good time at his engagement party last night. The spread had impressed everyone, which is exactly what he had wanted. His fiancée, as she now insisted on calling herself, was well pleased; she had deigned to give him a blow job at the end of the night, so he felt he was winning
that
war. Five carats it had taken, but at least he was making a bit of headway. Funny thing was, while she was blowing him, he was thinking about one of the strippers – a young black bird with relaxed hair, and the softest skin he had ever felt on a woman. She had a neat, tight little body, and when she stripped she could mesmerise even the most jaded of men. It was a melon scratcher all right.

Liam had enjoyed the evening, and now he wanted a huge breakfast, and at least three pints of tea. The brothers stopped outside a café in Canning Town. Inside they were treated like visiting royalty and, once they were settled into their seats, they ordered the full English, lit themselves cigarettes, and finally relaxed.

Sipping his tea, Liam said seriously, ‘Those fucking Allens must be on a death wish! What the fuck was all that about last night? Did you see the state of Mum’s floor? It was drenched
and scuffed – they must have been on something fucking good, because no one in their right mind would act like that if they were normal.’

Petey shrugged dismissively. ‘They are chancing their arm, that’s all. Fucking wankers. No brains, either of them – a fucking twelve year old has more nous than those two. They were like amateurs putting on a show. They were lucky they weren’t ironed out.’

Liam nodded in agreement. ‘What are we going to do about them?’

‘I’ll sort them out, Liam. I talked it over with the old man last night, said I’d pull back their earn for a while, keep an eye out, like. I’ve got a meet with them later – me and Danny are going to put the hard word on them, and that should be enough.’

Liam yawned loudly. ‘I know you always got on all right with them in the past, and they must have pissed you off, but you did the right thing not letting off at your own party. Not worth wrecking your night, is it?’

Peter laughed. ‘Imagine Bernadette’s face if it went off at her engagement!’

Liam grinned. ‘She would have had your nuts!’

‘Well, to be honest, bruv, it would have been worth it in that case!’

Peter and Daniel were sitting in Peter’s pub in Essex. Daniel had never been there and he was impressed; it was a really nice place. Country pubs had always been a favourite of his – he enjoyed the anonymity they afforded him. He enjoyed mixing with the locals, as he put it, and not having to talk to people he knew all the time. It was relaxing.

‘Lovely drum, Pete, you got a good spot here. From what I hear it gets packed of a weekend.’

Peter Bailey grinned wryly. ‘You get your half! You should come here more often, it’s a good place. All the lads pop in – I think it’s the local talent. There’s plenty of strange here on a Saturday night. It’s out of the way enough, you know? The Filth are good as gold too. We have a late drink, a bit of music – in the summer it’s perfect really. During the day you get the families, so it’s a good spot.’

Daniel nodded, laughing at his brother’s obvious amazement at the way the pub had turned out. ‘I assume your Petey picked the bar staff? What was the main criteria? Bra size?’

‘He’s like a fucking fourteen year old on his first ride! That Bernadette ain’t got enough going for her to keep him at home. At the moment the attraction is that she is a so-called good girl, and he could never resist them. He’s a fucking savage really – if he spent as much time on actual work, as he did on the nest . . .’

Daniel felt really happy; this was nice, this was what it had been like before he had fucked up. As the years had passed he had become more adept at curbing his natural inclinations. For example, his instinct last night was to take Terrence Allen outside and shove a broken bottle into his face, and he would only have taken him outside because it was Ria’s house, and he wouldn’t want to make a mess; years ago he would have demolished that fucker in a heartbeat. But that was then, and this was now. He still thought he was right, though; people respected what they couldn’t control, what they couldn’t understand. People were still in awe of his reputation as a man who was not only unpredictable, but who was also devoid of emotion when it came to work-related situations. He meted out punishments which were remembered by everyone concerned. He had been swallowing his knob for many years now, but sometimes it was bloody hard to keep a lid on his emotions.

‘She will quiet him down once she produces a child or two. When she’s the mother of his kids he will finally understand about loyalty to women.’

Peter shook his head. ‘I don’t hold out much hope, Dan. He has a roving eye all right – probably got it from my father, whoever the fuck that was!’

They laughed together. Neither of them cared that their fathers had abandoned them; they had been lucky enough to have Theresa as a mother and she had been more than enough as a parent.

‘I’ve told him to get your Danny onboard, and come down on the Allen brothers. I think we have to let the lads be seen to be sorting this one. They ain’t mugs, and this will give them the opportunity to prove themselves – not only to us, but to the public in general. I think we are best playing this down a bit – I don’t think it will gain us anything if we make too much
of it, you know? They will be seen to have lost a considerable amount of earn. The thing is, we don’t want the other families we work with to think that we are without some degree of restraint.’

Daniel nodded, hiding his annoyance. His brother was asking him nicely not to interfere in his usual way – no public hammerings, no crippling, and no outrageousness. After all his years of good behaviour, he resented his brother feeling as though he had to mention it. Daniel was a lot of things, but he was not a fool. Personally, he thought that where the Allens were concerned, his kind of justice was all they would understand. They were bullies, no more and no less, known for their violent outbursts. But, as usual, he swallowed.

‘Fair enough, if that is what you think. But last night we were agreed about the fact they needed a fucking reprimand.’

Peter was expecting his brother to say that. ‘And they got one, we made our feelings crystal clear last night – not only to them but to everyone else there as well. We tugged them publicly; they know the score now. Thing is, my Petey thinks we should sit back now, and see how the Allens react. It’s a new world, Daniel, and if they are sensible they will take onboard the situation they have found themselves in, and hopefully learn from it. If not . . .’ He left the rest of the sentence hanging between them in the air.

Daniel nodded once more. ‘For the record, Pete, I think they need a bit more than a fucking slap on the wrist, whatever Petey thinks. This smells all wrong to me. I know they bring in a decent wedge, and I also know that they are well compensated for it. Without us, and our groundwork over the years, that money they spend like fucking water would be in someone else’s back pocket. All that aside, I will swallow for you, but I feel that I have to give you my honest opinion.’

Peter Bailey respected his brother’s honesty. He had let Petey talk him round about the Allens. He hoped that the lad was on the right track – if he wasn’t then Daniel Bailey would once more be let off the leash, and this time it would be with his blessing.

‘Let’s just see how things progress with the boys, eh? If push comes to shove, we can easily rectify things if they fuck up. I’ve got Delroy keeping a beady eye out as well, so I think we are well covered.’

Daniel sighed. ‘I suppose it is time we let the lads have a bit more leeway but, as I said, if the Allens fuck up again, then their arses are mine.’

Peter grinned, and Daniel saw how old he was getting; they were both looking a bit grizzled. But that didn’t mean they were any weaker, and people like the Allen brothers would do well to remember that.

‘How about a bit of scran, then? I hear the steaks here are lovely.’

The brothers ate together contentedly, each pleased that they were once more relaxed in the other’s company. Peter had felt such rage towards his brother Daniel over the years but, despite all that, he knew that he could trust him more than anyone else – even his own sons. As mad as Daniel could be – and, on a scale of one to ten, Daniel was a resounding twenty – Daniel genuinely loved Peter, and would never intentionally do anything to harm him.

It was a beautiful day, and the brothers enjoyed their afternoon together more than either of them would ever have admitted.

Tania was watching her mum, and she smiled at the way she could manage to do three things at once. She adored her mum; all her life she had been there for her, no matter what, and she had always known that her mother’s main concern was her welfare. As she had grown older, it had sometimes made her feel like she was being suffocated, even though she realised her mother was only looking out for her.

Tania Bailey knew more about her family and the Life than she let on. She had felt the difference in the way she was treated compared to the other girls she had grown up with. Her friends’ parents were the worst offenders, but even at school the teachers had treated her differently; everyone in her class had understood and accepted it.

Tania was aware of the value of the name Bailey, but the knowledge was not something she could share with her mother; her mum liked to think she had shielded her from the worst of it. But the stories about her dad and her uncle were local folklore, and her brothers and cousins were following in their footsteps. Furthermore, Nana Bailey was very loose-lipped with a few drinks in her, which was often these days.

Her dad knew that she wasn’t as innocent about it as she let on, of that much she was sure. Her dad was of the opinion that his lifestyle was something she should appreciate and respect even if she was not an active part of it. As always with her dad, it
was a mass of contradictions, which pretty much summed up him and his personality perfectly.

Tania was aware that she was pretty, but there were not many boys in her orbit brave enough to ask her for a date. That hurt. It made her feel different once more, and not in a good way. It was in junior school that she had started to realise that her family were different somehow to those of her friends’. She was always offered the starring role in the nativity play, she was never
ever
picked on, everyone she knew was overly nice to her; if she went to friends’ houses, their parents treated her as if her presence was what they had lived for all their lives. When she had started to understand, she had felt awful, questioning if people liked her for herself not just because of her name. Even now, in sixth-form college, she was still treated differently to her peers, but she had finally accepted it; she had no choice. She couldn’t change her family. Whereas Delroy Junior had embraced the Bailey name, she had always played it down, making sure that she was never seen as too big for her boots, or spoiled.

She wondered sometimes if her mum knew how she felt, and that was why she over-compensated. Whatever the reason, she knew that, as mums went, she had one of the best ever.

‘Can I help you, Mum?’

Lena smiled and Tania saw sadly that age was finally creeping up on her mum. Her Auntie Ria still wore a lot of make-up, still dressed well for her age, whereas her mum had lost interest. She was happy enough in her house, watching her soaps, and immersing herself in the latest series of
Law & Order
– she loved the American crime programmes especially. Tania knew her mum lived what she would judge to be a good life; she was content.

‘You’re all right, lovely. I’ll be finished in a minute, and we can have a cuppa together. Did you enjoy last night?’

Tania forced a smile. ‘Yeah, it was all right. Personally, I think that Bernadette’s a moron, but Petey knows his own mind, I suppose.’

Lena sighed and, looking at her daughter, her lovely, innocent daughter, she said lightly, ‘Listen to your old mum, Tania. You’ll look back on these last few years and laugh about it one day. When you’re older and you grow up a bit more, you’ll see the crush you’ve got on Petey as no more than the product of a young girl’s fancy.’

Tania could feel her face burning; she was mortified at her mother’s astuteness. Lena went to her daughter and hugged her tightly. ‘Did you think I didn’t know? Darling, all girls go through it, but he’s your cousin, and that is a big part of how you’re feeling. All young girls set their sights on an older man – someone they can trust not to take advantage of them. It’s like a rite of passage. Then, one day, you will meet a nice lad, and it will disappear.’

Tania felt like she could cheerfully drop through the floor with embarrassment.

Lena knew that it had never occurred to Tania that anyone might suss out her little crush. ‘Don’t worry, love, no one else has worked it out. I only know because I’m your mum, that’s all. It’s my job to know these things.’

Tania buried her face in her mother’s chest, loving the familiar smell of her. She had always had the same scent – Estée Lauder perfume, Benson & Hedges cigarettes, and Palmolive soap. It was a comforting aroma, and she loved that it had never changed. She was also surprised to find that her mother knowing her secret made her feel a bit better somehow; it just proved to her once more how close they really were.

‘Does Auntie Ria know?’

Lena hugged her daughter even tighter. ‘If she does, she ain’t
said anything to me about it, and you know Ria, she was never one for keeping things to herself.’

It was exactly what Tania wanted to hear, and Lena knew that.

Danny was so drunk he could barely stand up, and Davey, Noel and Jamsie were aware that they would have to keep an eye on him. It was unusual for him; he was not known for heavy drinking. They were at the Electric Lady, the lap dancing club they had acquired in King’s Cross and, as it was early in the evening, the place was half empty.