been there to see your silly face! But what about Titch? She wasn’t in on this, surely?’ The idea seemed to concern him.
‘You’re kidding,’ June reassured him. ‘She’s no different, son – still a goody two-shoes. Fuck knows where she gets it from – must be your dad’s side.’ She giggled. ‘Shivering bleeders, the lot of them.’
‘She’s alright, Mam,’ Vinnie said. ‘We’ve just all babied her, that’s all. And maybe that’s a good thing. When’s she home anyway? I’ve got to get on. People to see, places to go.’
June’s face fell. ‘You’re not out already are you? I was thinking we’d nip down and get some take-outs from the pub. I can pay him on Friday, and we’ll have a bit of a party to celebrate, eh?’
Vinnie shook his head. ‘Sorry, Mam, but I’ve got things I need to do. I’ve got to earn some money and I’ve got a couple of people I need to catch up with. Brendan and Pete, you know? They’ve been in touch and they promised me they’d sort me out when I got home. I’m meeting them in the Bull in a bit.’
‘Tonight?’ June tried again. ‘Can’t it wait till tomorrow? Little Robbie can’t wait to see you – been rabbiting on about you non-stop, he has. He even did you a picture. Another picture,’ she added, looking at him pointedly. She hadn’t intended to bring it up, but where letters and gifts were concerned it had all been a bit one-way fucking traffic these last months.
Vinnie gave her a look that seemed about to be accompanied by a rebuke, but he obviously thought better of it. Good, thought June. She wasn’t having him trying to throw his weight around. She was still his mam and her say-so was her say-so.
‘You just reminded me,’ he said instead, leaping up again and putting his tea down on the mantelpiece. ‘I’ve got something for you.’
He went out into the hall then and returned with the suitcase, which was brown and battered. June had never seen it before.
‘Where’d you get that?’ she asked him. ‘They give ’em out at borstal now, do they?’
Vinnie placed the suitcase down on the sofa and shook his head. ‘One of the screws gave it me,’ he said. ‘Said he didn’t need it any more. So I had something to put my stuff in …’ He opened up the lid.
There were two packages inside, all carefully wrapped in brown paper, and nestled between his few bits of clothing. He lifted one out and passed it to her. ‘Careful, mind,’ he said. ‘It’s delicate.’
June immediately felt bad for feeling cross with him. He might not have written but she obviously had been in his thoughts, after all. She placed the package on her knees and opened it carefully, as directed, peeling back the layers of paper, wanting to savour it, having absolutely no idea what it might be.
‘Oh, you shouldn’t have, Vin,’ she said. ‘It’s not even like you’ve got any money. Oh, Vin, you shouldn’t have!’ she said again, unwrapping the final layer to reveal a china shire horse. And a big one too – almost a foot high, it was, complete with yoke and saddle and even little leather reins. ‘Oh, Vin!’ she said, pulling it free and holding it up so she could properly inspect it. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘Isn’t it?’ he agreed. ‘But give it here a minute, cos there’s more.’
‘More?’ June looked up at him wide-eyed as he took it from her and placed it on the floor.
‘Yes, to go with it. Here,’ he said, passing her another carefully wrapped parcel. ‘Now this one’s really delicate, so just be careful opening it, okay?’
June held the parcel on her lap like it was the Crown Jewels. She didn’t know what it was but it couldn’t have been more precious. She could feel tears pricking in her eyes and if she’d been their Mo looking at her, she’d have given her a slap and told her not to be so daft.
But how could you not? She thought, turning back the paper, how could you not, when … ‘Oh, Vin!’ she gasped, seeing what now sat on her lap. ‘Oh, Vin, this is amazing – it’s fucking gorgeous!’
It was, too. By anyone’s standards. It was a gypsy caravan, just the right size to sit behind the shire horse, made out of what looked like, no, definitely were, matchsticks. The detail was amazing, right down to the tiny curtains that hung in both the windows and the matching seat pads for the tiny table and chairs inside. It was all finished off with a gleaming golden varnish and a tasselled trim running around the arched entrance. It was the nicest thing she had ever seen or owned in her whole life and if a tear slipped down her cheek she no longer cared.
She stood up carefully and took it to the window-sill, clearing a space for it, then fetched the horse to hitch up to the front.
Vinnie looked on all the while. He didn’t say anything but she could see just how proud he was. As he should be, she thought. He was so clever with his hands.
‘I’m going to leave that right there,’ she said turning to hug him. He let her. ‘So all the neighbours can see it and see how talented you are.’
She sniffed and Vinnie laughed. ‘Mam, if you look around you’ll see plenty of them, honest. And the shire horses. Everyone makes the gypsy caravans in borstal and the shops in the town sell the horses to go with them. It’s a right racket.’
‘A racket?’
‘Well, not that kind of racket. But I didn’t just make mine. I made a few of them, actually. Some other things as well. You know, for the other lads, like, so they could take them home to their mams. Kept me in chocs and baccy, that did. And it passed the time.’
‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ June said, clearing the rest of the clutter so her present could be properly centre-stage. ‘I’ve never seen one. Not round here, anyway. Oh, Vin,’ she said, moving the net aside and hooking it round one of the handles. ‘It’s just lovely.’
‘Well, I’m glad you like it, Mam. Cost me a fortune in matches, that did! Anyway, I’d better get on. Like I said –’
‘Things to do, people to see. You already told me. Oh, Vin, can’t you stop at home just for one bleeding night? And what about little Robbie?’
He re-clasped the suitcase clips and lifted it off the sofa. ‘Tell our Titch to nip up and tell him I’ll try to stop by and see him later. Right now I’m off to unpack, okay?’
He crossed the room then and patted her shoulder. He really had grown. ‘Mam, calm down,’ he said. ‘I’m home now, aren’t I? And I’m stopping home. For good. Which means I’ll be here the next day and the next day and the next day. I’m not going anywhere, okay?’
June crossed her fingers behind her back when he said that, hoping against hope that would turn out to be true, and that the stirring of anxiety in her stomach was just indigestion.
She’d take some Milk of Magnesia, she decided. That should sort it.
Vinnie’s room hadn’t changed. Not one bit. It was exactly the same as when he’d left it three years earlier, as if locked in a time warp, or sealed up because the contents were radioactive.
The door creaked as he opened it wider and stepped in. Literally nothing seemed to be different. Not a clean lick of paint, no different blanket top, nothing. Even his old drawers were still drooping out of their casings just the same the day he’d gathered his few things from them and filled the bag he was to take to approved school.
He sighed as he ran a finger along the dust that had gathered on his beloved bookcase and wondered, not for the first time, if all mothers were as lacking as June when it came to making an effort. He felt strangely disgruntled at the prospect of living again amid