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forcing her to touch him in an undesirable place. Absolutely fuming, Vinny had decided to rid Whitechapel of such an unsavoury character and a few weeks later Peter was found at the bottom of the Thames.
    Vinny turned around in his seat. He loved winding the old battleaxe up. The café wasn’t packed, but Vinny could see the worried expressions on the other diners’ faces. ‘Spouting cock and bull again, are you, Freda? Can’t be long now until they cart you off to that funny farm,’ he said.
    ‘Sod all wrong with my marbles. I know exactly what yous Butlers are and unlike everyone else round ’ere, I ain’t bleedin’ frightened to tell you either. You can do me in next for all I care,’ Freda yelled, stomping out of the café.
    Vinny chuckled and raised his eyebrows to fellow customers. It didn’t bother him that Freda accused him of being a murderer in public. In fact, she was doing him a favour as it just made people fear him more.
    With no-one waiting to be served, Mary darted out into the kitchen to fill Donald in on what had just happened.
    Aware that the young boy’s eyes were on him once again, Vinny smiled at Christopher. He had already recognized him as the one who had been sitting opposite the snooker club earlier. ‘Can you show me how to use your jukebox?’
    Christopher ran over to the Wurlitzer. Vinny put on Roger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’, which happened to remind him of himself, then handed the child half a crown.
    Absolutely ecstatic at the unexpected gift, Christopher ran out to the kitchen to show his parents.
    ‘Who gave you that?’ Donald asked, his face reddening with anger, knowing only too well who it was likely to be.
    ‘The man in the suit gave it to me because I taught him how to use the jukebox,’ Christopher explained.
    ‘Can I have some money too, Daddy?’ Nancy asked, tugging her father’s sleeve.
    Donald was fuming. He wanted no involvement with this Butler family and he had always forbidden his children to accept money or gifts from strangers. ‘What have I told you about taking money off people, eh?’ he said, dragging Christopher out of the kitchen by his arm.
    ‘Stop it, Daddy. You’re hurting me,’ Christopher said, bursting into tears.
    ‘Donald, stop overreacting for goodness’ sake,’ Mary urged him. She didn’t want to upset or make a scene in front of their customers.
    Vinny had just dotted his cigarette out and was about to leave when Donald marched up to him with Christopher in tow. ‘Is this the man?’ he asked his son.
    The little boy was sobbing. He not only felt embarrassed, he wanted to keep his half a crown. Nodding his head, Christopher stared at his feet in shame.
    ‘Excuse me, sir. It was very kind of you to give my son this money, but I’m afraid I have brought my children up not to accept gifts off people they do not know, so I insist you take it back.’
    Vinny stared Donald in the eyes and immediately disliked him. He could tell he was one of life’s do-gooders. ‘It wasn’t a gift. Your son earned it by showing me how to use the jukebox,’ Vinny replied casually.
    ‘Well, Christopher won’t be accepting it all the same,’ Donald said, putting the coin on the table and dragging his son away.
    About to tell Donald that he should get off his fucking moral high horse, Vinny saw Christopher’s distraught little face glance around and decided not to bother. The old man was obviously a twat, so what was the point of upsetting the kid even more? Slipping the half a crown into his pocket, Vinny nodded politely at Mary, and quietly left the café.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Determined that their father being hospitalized wouldn’t spoil their younger brother’s sixteenth birthday, Vinny and Roy got up with the larks the following morning and walked around to their mother’s house, pushing the moped between them.
    Both Vinny and Roy had stayed at the club again last night and Roy had just suggested to his brother that they have the upstairs