LITMIR.BIZ

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and as the two young men walked into the Rib Room in Belgravia, both were aware of the nudges and whispers from snooty onlookers.

      ‘My brothers will be here in a minute. We’re a bit early,’ Michael said, awkwardly. He was well aware that the two posh old trouts on the table behind were looking down on Kevin because of his colour.

      ‘Is they talking about me because I a negro?’ Kevin asked, imitating a heavy Jamaican accent.

      Michael burst out laughing. Kevin had been brought up in Mile End and was as cockney as he was. His dad had gone back to Jamaica when Kevin was just a baby and Michael always joked that the only other black man Kevin had ever met was the coal man when he was covered in soot. ‘Can you imagine the crumpet we’ll pull when we go out for a spin? We can go up Carnaby Street whenever we want,’ Michael suggested.

      Kevin grinned. ‘I reckon we are gonna have the time of our lives now we can get out and about properly.’

      Michael raised his glass and clinked it against Kevin’s. He adored his best pal, his family, his job, and now he finally had his beloved Lambretta, life was all but perfect.

      ‘Bleedin’ posh round ’ere, ain’t it? Talk about how the other half live,’ Vivian said to Queenie. She had never been to this part of London before and it was certainly more wealthy-looking than Whitechapel. Where they lived, the air was polluted by the rotting fruit in the market, and women were on their hands and knees scrubbing their doorsteps daily. Vivian couldn’t imagine the women of Belgravia even knowing what a scrubbing brush was.

      Vinny had chosen the restaurant as a treat not only for his brother, but also with his mum and aunt in mind. The Rib Room had the reputation of selling the best beef in London and Vinny knew how partial his mother and aunt were to a decent piece of steak. ‘We’re nearly there now. Harrods ain’t far from here, you know,’ Roy said, pointing in the direction of the famous store.

      ‘I wanna do a wee-wee,’ Lenny said, holding the crotch of his trousers.

      ‘I think I’m gonna puke,’ Brenda complained, clutching her stomach.

      Knowing how travel-sick his little sister had been once before in his car, Vinny pulled over immediately. ‘You know where the restaurant is from here, don’t you, Roy? Walk down there with Mum, Auntie Viv and the kids while I find somewhere to park.’

      ‘How’s she getting on with that girl at school now?’ Vivian whispered, as Brenda leapt out of the car and began to retch onto a nearby kerb.

      Brenda had started secondary school only a few months ago. In her old school she’d had lots of friends, but in her new one, she had made very few and the only good friend she did have, she’d had a fight with earlier in the week. ‘She was glad I let her have today off to come out with us, but she’ll be OK. You know what kids are like. They hate one another one minute and are best mates again the next. What about Lenny? You told him he’s going back to school after Christmas yet?’ Queenie asked.

      Vivian shook her head. Lenny had always attended mainstream schools, but the teachers had recently struggled to cope with him. They said he needed to go to a school that would be more equipped to cope with his needs. Vivian had been furious at the time and had given the headmaster what for. She wasn’t stupid, she knew her son was different, but she hated hearing other people say it. The local council had come to her rescue when Vinny had gone up there and had a strong word with them. Lenny would very soon be picked up every morning to be taken to a school in Aldgate that had much smaller numbers in the classrooms, more teachers, and most importantly catered for children with learning disabilities. Now Vivian had got her head around the fact her son would be attending a special school, she was quite pleased. Lenny needed more one-to-one tutoring and she wanted him to be able to read and write properly. She hadn’t told him about his new school yet though. She knew what Lenny was like. He would worry and ask her thousands of questions, so she’d decided to tell him only a day or two before he started there.

      ‘Here we are,’ Roy said, nodding towards an opulent-looking building.

      Queenie and Vivian glanced at one another approvingly. They were both thinking exactly the same thing. Vinny and Roy were certainly going up in the world and long may that continue.

      The lunch was a roaring success, but by the time the dessert arrived, Vinny had started to become pissed off. For the past ten minutes all Roy, Michael and Kevin had discussed were girls they’d copped off with or fancied and not only did Vinny think that this was an inappropriate conversation to be having in front of his mum, aunt, Brenda and Lenny, he was also angry as he would rather be talking business. In Vinny’s eyes, earning big bucks was and would always be far more important than some dopey slag of a bird. Yvonne Summers had taught him that lesson.

      Watching his mum and aunt egg Michael on to tell them more about the girl he had recently dated with the massive boobies, Vinny had a sudden urge to smash his glass against the table.

      ‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Queenie asked, as young Brenda and Lenny both nigh-on jumped out of their skins.

      Roy knew exactly what the matter was, but said nothing. Whenever he met a girl he liked, he always played it down to his brother because he knew he would get the third degree otherwise. Not once had Vinny ever liked a girl he had courted and Roy dreaded the day he met the special one whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, as he knew that it would cause murder. All Vinny was interested in was money, notoriety and violence. Anything with tits and a fanny did not come into that category and Roy could never see Vinny getting married himself. He just wasn’t the type.

      ‘You haven’t answered me. I asked you what the matter was?’ Queenie repeated.

      Vinny did his best to disguise his temper. Michael’s birthday had cost him a bloody fortune and had he known beforehand that George Geary would swindle him out of fifteen hundred quid for a licence to serve poxy alcohol, he might not have gone so overboard. ‘I haven’t brought this family to a top-class restaurant so we could spend the day talking about women’s body parts. If I wanted porn, I would have gone to Soho. Brenda and Champ don’t want to listen to such garbage, do they? Young ears an’ all that.’

      ‘We were only having a laugh, Vinny. Nobody said anything bad,’ Vivian said sternly. She was shocked by her nephew’s uncalled-for outburst, to say the least.

      ‘It’s my fault. I started the conversation, so I’ll take the blame,’ Michael admitted sheepishly.

      Looking at his brother’s sorrowful expression was enough to snap Vinny out of his temper tantrum. ‘No, it’s not your fault, it’s mine. I overreacted because I’m just dead excited about your other surprise. That is why I wanted to change the direction of the conversation and I’m sorry for snapping at everybody.’

      ‘Ere you go, bruv,’ Roy said, handing Michael a large brown bag.

      Thinking how lucky his pal was to get so many wonderful presents, Kevin looked over Michael’s shoulder as he opened it. ‘That’s well ace! It’s real mohair,’ he exclaimed.

      Michael couldn’t believe his luck. The Lambretta had been his best present ever and on top of that he had now been given an amazing suit.

      ‘That’s to wear for work,’ Vinny said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

      ‘Christ, I won’t be getting oil and petrol over this. I’ll stick with me overalls for work, thanks,’ Michael chuckled.

      Queenie felt her stomach churn. Vinny had a strange way of dealing with matters at times. Surely offering Michael the job and waiting for his response would have been more appropriate than telling him he had a new job?

      ‘You ain’t working at that shitty garage no more, Michael. Me and Roy popped down there this morning to inform your boss that you won’t be coming back. He was fine about it. He understood that you needed to move onto bigger and better things,’ Vinny explained.

      Lenny and Brenda were happily chatting amongst themselves and had no idea of the importance of the adults’ conversation. Queenie, Vivian and Roy did though.

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