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he had annoyed him. So he stopped what he was doing and, looking into the small man’s wrinkled face, he said seriously, ‘I need the money. What other reason would there be for doing this all day?’
    He said it respectfully, but Louie knew he was also trying to be sarcastic. He understood that, liked the boy for his spirit. He weighed him up; he was very young but he acted like a boy much older than his years. He had the arrogance that extreme youth seemed to command, still sure in the knowledge that he had many years ahead of him in which to live his life and achieve a few of his dreams, his goals.
    ‘Why do you need the money so badly?’
    Danny looked at the older man with a mixture of pity at his obvious stupidity and a natural cunning that made him want to see how the conversation progressed in case he could use it to his advantage. ‘Me mum needs a few quid in her bin, she’s skint.’
    Louie nodded, as if expecting the answer he had received. ‘You’re Big Dan Cadogan’s boy, aren’t you?’
    ‘Why ask me when you already know the answer? It’s not a secret.’
    Louie grinned once more. ‘A little bird told me that he is into a couple of hard cases for six large.’
    Danny forced his face to remain neutral, and he shrugged theatrically, as if this news was nothing to get wound up about. ‘He’ll pay them, what are you fucking telling me for?’
    Louie shrugged back, his shrunken body lost in the folds of his gabardine suit. Then, laughing, he wiped his nose on a dazzling white handkerchief he pulled from his trouser pocket with a flourish. It was like a magician’s movement, exaggerated and over the top, and Danny knew he was paying him back for his overstated shrug.
    ‘Forewarned is forearmed, my boy. Remember that, it will hold you in good stead all your life. Now, shift that lead, Filth will be scrabbling around soon; they know it’s here but they don’t like it if it’s on display. I pay them to look the other way and they take the money, as long as they don’t feel I am extracting the urine, if you get my drift.’ He laughed once more, his bony shoulders shaking with his idea of mirth.
    ‘Out of sight, out of mind. Another great saying to add to your collection.’
    Danny rolled his eyes in annoyance. ‘I’ll bring a pen and paper next time, shall I? Write everything down in case I forget it.’
    Louie walked away, his laugh louder than ever, and Danny watched him with anger and shame in his heart. Six large, that was a lot of money. The few quid for his day’s collar seemed like nothing now. He shook his head at the shock of the man’s words, at the realisation of what they actually meant to him and his family. Six large. It was enough to buy a house, and his old man had gambled it away when they couldn’t even pay the rent on the roof over their heads, let alone buy it. And he was reduced to wearing a pair of boots so dilapidated that even his father had abandoned them. His mother was dressed like someone from the good old days, and his brother and sister were both far too young to understand about the intricacies of money and what you actually needed it for. And yet, despite that, his father, his fucking useless waster of a father, had lost a small fortune on the turn of a card.
    Louie watched the lad as what he had told him sank in. He saw how he picked up the heavy lead and swung it as if it weighed nothing. He knew he would work out his anger before going on his way. He knew the boy was upset and he was sorry for that, but Louie knew that if it had been him, he would have wanted to know about it sooner rather than later.
    He had five daughters himself, five lovely girls with great personalities and no real looks. Danny would have been a blessing for someone like him, someone to leave his business to, someone to carry his name on. Life was unfair, but then you played the hand you had been dealt, as his father had always said. But, if you were really unlucky then you found yourself