they both hung onto the memories of the past, both uncertain of the future.
‘Well wake up then. Talk about fucking milking it. I’m surprised you ain’t got bleedin’ udders.’
Alfie Jennings slowly opened his eyes to see Chloe-Jane leaning over him. He croaked, his mouth dry from the anaesthetic.
‘What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Franny?’
Chloe-Jane looked slighted. ‘Well that’s flipping nice ain’t it, next time I won’t bother nicking these grapes for you.’ She threw the bunch of red grapes at Alfie and began to walk away.
‘Oi! Chloe. Wait up girl.’ Alfie called her back, noting how quickly and eagerly she turned round. A tiny shot of guilt hit him. Maybe he’d been too hard on the girl. ‘Listen, I wanted to say I saw what you did back in casualty, whacking Vaughn like that. Some of the hardest men wouldn’t have even done that.’
‘I ain’t scared of no one.’
‘Well, maybe you should be.’
Chloe-Jane looked puzzled and genuinely interested. ‘Why? You ain’t.’
Alfie nodded his head in agreement. It was true what his niece was saying. The only person he’d ever been afraid of was his dad when he’d been a kid, as he’d savagely beaten him on an almost-daily basis. But Alfie’s fear had turned to fearless hatred on the day his mum had killed herself and soon it was his dad who’d been afraid of him.
‘You’re a girl, it’s different.’
Chloe-Jane scoffed. ‘This ain’t Victorian times you know.’
‘Listen, if you’re going to give me another history lesson, save your bleedin’ breath. I never learnt fuck all in school and I don’t want to start learning now.’
‘Has anyone ever told you you’re an ignorant pig?’
Alfie grinned. ‘Yup, plenty, including Franny. Did you come with her?’
Chloe-Jane took the piece of gum she’d been chewing and stuck it on her leg enabling her to tuck in to the bunch of ripened grapes.
‘Nope, and you should be grateful she ain’t here, Uncle Alfie.’
‘Why?’
‘Because if you think it’s painful having your finger chopped off, imagine how it’s going to feel when you have your balls sliced off.’
Alfie closed his eyes again, he was tired and the last thing he needed was the chattering of a teenager but it didn’t stop him being curious as to what Chloe was talking about. He turned his head and opened one eye. ‘And why would I want to imagine that, hey?’
Chloe-Jane grinned. ‘’Cos Franny is going to whip them off when she sees you.’
Alfie snapped. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
‘She knows.’
Alfie paled slightly. ‘Knows what?’
‘Ain’t no good lying, Uncle Alfie, I know, just like everyone else does.’
Alfie pushed himself up, pain rushing through his hand. Panic began to rise inside him and a defensive tone was evident in his voice. ‘Like I said, I ain’t got a clue to what you’re talking about.’
Chloe-Jane shrugged, stood up to go. ‘Okay, well suit yourself. Don’t try to tell me I didn’t warn you.’
‘Wait! Okay, okay, you’ve had your fun and now you can stop playing your games.’
Chloe-Jane looked the picture of innocence. ‘Oh, I’m not playing games, Uncle Alfie.’
Alfie Jennings spoke through gritted teeth. His voice was hushed. ‘What do you want from me, Chloe?’
Chloe-Jane looked genuinely surprised. ‘From you? Nothing. I’m here to help you.’
Alfie looked stunned, before bursting into laughter. ‘Fuck me, I ain’t that desperate.’
The pain in Chloe’s eyes pulled Alfie up. He hadn’t meant to upset her, but it was absurd that he, Alfie Jennings would need the assistance of his wayward niece. ‘I’m sorry, Chloe. But I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous.’
Chloe-Jane wiped away the tear she felt running down her cheek. ‘Well you won’t be saying that when they catch up with you. You should’ve heard them talking.’
‘Heard who?’
‘Del and Vaughn was telling Franny all about the casinos you’ve been running behind everyone’s back. They’re blaming you for the attacks on the businesses in Soho and on that old bird’s café.’
‘Lola?’
‘Yeah, that’s her. Apparently because it’s Lola, one of your own the triads turned over they’re wanting revenge, and when they found out you were involved in it …’ Chloe-Jane stopped to pull a face, drawing her finger across her throat, gesturing it being cut. Alfie gulped.
‘Well thank you for that, Chloe, it’s made me feel a lot better.’
‘No problem.’
‘I was being sarcastic … and do you have to frigging munch those grapes like a bleeding combine harvester? It’s getting on me nerves and I need to think.’
Ignoring Alfie, Chloe-Jane continued popping the grapes into her mouth, chewing loudly in-between her continuing conversation.
‘So what are you going to do then? ’Cos how I see it, them two muppets are going to be putting you in the ground.’
Alfie looked amazed. He gestured his arms widely. ‘Have you come to wind me up?’
‘No, as I said, I’ve come to help you.’
‘And why would you do that?’
‘’Cos I like it here. I like Franny … and I guess you’re alright, but it’s as near to feeling like family as I’ve ever had. And I don’t want to lose it.’
Alfie stayed silent. Chloe-Jane had been down in London for less than a couple of weeks but she’d latched onto Franny like a baby on a tit. He supposed he could understand. Understand how it was when you had nothing and no one around you to care whether you lived or died. He’d been lucky he supposed, at least he’d had his brother, Connor, when he’d been growing up. Chloe-Jane had no one. No one apart from him and Franny.
‘Listen, I appreciate you offering help and everything but …’
‘You better start talking! And quickly. I want to know everything, and don’t try to lie, Alfie. Don’t even think about it, because you’ll wish it was only Vaughn and the others you had to run from.’
As Alfie Jennings looked at Franny Doyle standing furiously at the end of his hospital bed, waiting for him to tell her what was going on, he thought about Chloe-Jane and what she had said. Perhaps having her help wasn’t so stupid after all. But now all they needed to do was come up with a plan …
The girl lay quivering naked on the rusting old bed. Track marks in her arms. The heat of the room made the three onlookers undo the top buttons on their overly starched shirts. In the darkened corner, Mr Lee sat silently, watching with simmering anger, as one of his new investments looked like they were going to pass out.
Over the years his involvement in the sex trade had grown, as the internet had; becoming more lucrative than extortion money, and certainly safer than drug