The Life (10 page)

Davey shook his head in consternation. Surely his father was going too far now? He looked at the man on the ground. Lenny Jones was a good bloke, with a decent reputation, everyone knew that. He was a diamond geezer. Now he was lying on a cement floor, and he was suffering the humiliation of being beaten up and accused of all sorts. It was wrong. The boys, young as they were, knew it.

Lenny Jones was a hard man in his own right. He had felt he had enough creds to be approached calmly for the money he
owed – not chased as if he was a fucking shank. He had the money, and he was willing to give it up, but he felt he should’ve been asked respectfully and privately. It was six grand, for fuck’s sake, not a fortune. He’d only needed it to tide him over until he could unlock his capital, which was his proceeds from a robbery that he had undertaken with the full knowledge of this man and his brother. He had assumed he would be treated with the same respect that he had shown the Baileys; he had requested permission to knock off a bank on their turf, had negotiated the six grand up front, and had happily agreed to their terms and conditions if the loan was not paid back within the specified time. He had the money well in advance of the due date, so he had not expected this shit.

He deserved respect – he was not a fucking muppet. He still believed in the old-school values, in the old-style manners. He had done a ten stretch without a murmur, had kept his mouth shut, his head down and found it in his heart to be glad for his colleagues who had swerved that particular bullet. He had been in the game for a long time, and had a reputation for paying his bills. He had thought, wrongly as it turned out, that the Baileys would have given him the credit he was due.

Lenny realised he had seriously underestimated the whole situation. He’d forgotten that Daniel Bailey was an animal, a thug, a man who had no real regard for anyone or anything. He already had a bad rep because of his insistence on using violence at every available opportunity.

Lenny looked squarely into Daniel’s eyes as he leaned over him and Daniel saw the hatred there. In his heart Daniel knew he was out of order. This man was more than worth his time and effort, and deserved his goodwill. This was a man who was respected throughout their world. But knowing that just made Daniel dislike Lenny even more. He was like all the old Faces,
thinking they were fucking better than everyone else, just because they had done a stretch, or worked with the old fucking has-beens.

That cut no fucking ice with him. It might with his brother; Peter was in awe of these old boys, listened to their stories of days gone by, laughed in all the right places, talked to them as if they were fucking oracles or suchlike. Peter treated them with kid gloves, as if they were important, as if they were celebrities or something. Well, Peter was soft, and Daniel was done with listening to him.

Taking his leg back, he kicked the man with every ounce of strength that he had left. He saw Lenny’s body rise up off the cement floor, and knew that it had to hurt.

Daniel also knew that Peter was going to hit the fucking roof when he found out about this latest debacle.

Theresa Bailey looked down at her little granddaughter and secretly marvelled at the child’s likeness to her. Theresa was the image of her own mother, and little Tania was the living image of
her
. It was amazing really how seeing yourself in your children or your grandchildren made you aware of your own roots, brought to mind people, and events, that you had not thought about for years. Tania had done that to her. She felt the rejection of her family all over again, as if it was new, had just happened. She saw her sister’s face clearly, the shock and disgust when she saw that Peter was black. Theresa smiled sadly to herself as she remembered.

‘You know, Lena, this little girl is my mother’s double. It’s uncanny. But I suppose that’s the circle of life. Anyway, this little one is the last we’ll see from either of those boys of mine. Imelda will produce now. She’s sensible that one, she’ll have them in her own time. Sure, girls are lucky as shite these days; they can control everything if they use their noggins.’

Lena laughed out loud. ‘I suppose so. But then again is there
ever
a right time to have a baby? All this planning and deciding
when
you will have one! It seems to me as if they are trying to fit childbirth into their lives, but they are still completely unaware of just how powerful having a child actually is. They spend so much time planning everything, they don’t allow for just how fucking intrusive a baby can be. Kids are like a bomb going off
in your life. They are all different, with different personalities, and you can’t plan for that. You have to just go along with them when they arrive.’

Theresa laughed with her daughter-in-law. She was so glad to see her happy at last. She knew these past months had been a nightmare, with all the worry about Daniel. That eejit of a son of hers! He’d shamed her more than anything in her entire life. Her boys had worked so hard for so long to get where they were, and Daniel had crumbled under the pressure within weeks.

He’d always had a temper, an irrational streak, even as a child. But he was her son and she loved him. It was seeing him weak, dependent on alcohol, using drugs, which she could not, for the life of her, understand. He had left this woman basically all alone after she’d given him a child, and Lena had never once brought him to task. The foolish bitch! Theresa would have felt happier if Lena
had
torn him out a second arse,
that
she would have applauded. But her acceptance of his behaviour, her complete and utter refusal to even acknowledge it, she could not fathom. Daniel had left her to mind the child, mind the house, the boys.
His
needs were, as usual, of paramount importance, and Lena had just rolled over for him.

She was, all in all, very fond of her daughters-in-law. Theresa felt blessed that her sons had each found wonderful women, decent women – who were, in reality, far too good for the men they had chosen. Not that she would ever say that out loud, of course. Consequently, she was finding it very hard to forgive her Daniel his treatment of Lena. In fact, she found herself biting her tongue not only with him, but with Lena too. She wanted to shake her so hard she had to physically restrain herself at times. She never interfered with the boys’ private lives; if the girls came to her with a problem, she tried her hardest to be fair.
She was amazed that, more often than not, she found herself coming down on the girls’ side. She loved her sons, but she was not blind to their failings. If she had one criticism of Lena it was that she acted as if nothing was amiss. Theresa, ever the realist, found this was driving her demented. But saying it out loud was tantamount to criticism, which couldn’t be tolerated.

‘There is never a right time for having children, you’re right there, Lena. Look at me, I had two men in my life and, through them, two children. If I had stayed in Ireland, I would probably be married now, a respectable married woman, and surrounded by an army of fecking children. I’d look years older than I am, would have lost all me teeth before I was thirty, and would live my life by the church bells, say the rosary every night, and thank God every day for the life I was living. Instead I came over here, got into trouble – as they called it in them days – and now I have a great life, sure Jaysus, out and about, and still able to enjoy meself.’

Lena laughed again. ‘You’re still gorgeous, even at your age now.’ She’d always envied her mother-in-law’s bright sovereign-coloured hair and porcelain skin.

Theresa smiled. ‘This girl here is gorgeous. I swear I have never seen a child so contented. But don’t say that to Ria – Imelda was a fecker of a baby. She cried for the first two years of her life – miserable as fecking sin she was.’

Lena grinned. ‘I remember. She screamed if anyone even looked at her. I hope little Tania will have a happy life – I really want her to be somebody, you know? I want her to follow her star. I don’t want her to be a part of this life, not when she grows up. I want her to be outside all this. Imelda’s just married her father – or as good as – she is one of us now, and I’m not putting her down, but I want this little one to be able to
choose
what she wants from this life.’

Theresa nodded sadly. ‘That’s exactly what I want for her as well. For all the lads’ hard work, and as far as they have come, I don’t think they are any happier. They thought it was the Holy Grail, that getting to the top would miraculously make them happy. If only life was that easy.’

‘Daniel, talk to me. Are you sure you’re all right?’

Daniel Bailey sighed heavily. His blue eyes were tired-looking, and his mouth was set in a grim line. He had just arrived at their new offices in East London. He poured himself a coffee and sipped it carefully; last time he’d nearly welded his lips together it had been so hot.

When he was finally settled he turned to the question in hand. In his most aggrieved voice he said plaintively, ‘For fuck’s sake, Pete, what do you want from me? What can I do to make you feel better, eh? I’m tired, I admit that. But I have been out on the earn. You know – taking care of business?’

Peter Bailey could feel the anger boiling up inside him. ‘Is that what you call it, Dan? Beaten up any more old men recently?’ Peter was still fuming at Daniel’s vicious attack on Lenny Jones, a man who he had been friends with for years, who had never given either of them anything other than his loyalty and respect. A man who was now half crippled, and unable to button up his own shirt. A man who, thanks to his brother, had nearly been the cause of a fucking war, whose friends had seen to it that
he
, Peter, had been held responsible for making sure this brother of his not only apologised, but saw to it that Lenny was given the best treatment available. Peter had done this without a second’s thought; he would have insisted on that anyway. The upside was that Daniel had
understood – finally – that his actions had consequences.

It had been a learning curve for Daniel. He could see now just how fucking precarious his position actually
was
– especially when you offended just about everyone within a fifty-mile radius. It had taken all that before Daniel had understood just how much damage he had done to their reputations with his arrogance and his temper. He had taken out Lenny Jones on a whim, and look what had happened.

No matter how hard you were, no matter how high you might have risen, without the goodwill of the people on your manor, you had nothing of any worth. Oh, the Baileys were still up there, still on top but, thanks to Daniel, they now had to claw back not only the trust, but also the respect, of the people they dealt with on a daily basis – the people who should have been their allies from the off.

Peter was all right;
he
had been assured of his place in the world. It was Daniel who needed to swallow, who needed to show willing. But as his brother and his partner, Peter was under no illusions that until Daniel proved himself they would both be suspect. If any other firm decided to push for the top right now, Peter knew that there would not be too many people rooting for the Baileys. Daniel had seen to that.

Daniel allowed his brother that remark. He understood that he needed to keep his head down and regain his footing with not only his brother, but the whole of East London. He had shown his hand too soon; he should have waited a while, allowed them to get deeply rooted before he started paying back old scores. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t gathering new ones; he would pay back every one of the fuckers who had questioned his actions and seen Peter as the man in charge of everything, the man who could rein Daniel in.

They were supposed to be the fucking new kings, for
Christ’s sake –
both
of them. And they were not supposed to be questioned about anything. But East London was only available for rent – provided the people renting it were seen as acceptable and did not step out of line.

Peter had understood that from the off, whereas Daniel had not cared one way or the other. He had been forced to swallow his knob now, and he had done it because he knew that if he had refused, his days would have been numbered. He’d had no other choice, but it would never be the same for him now – no matter what he achieved in the future, people would always remember his failures, would repeat this story behind their hands.

The worst thing of all for Daniel was that his brother had no real time for him any more. Peter saw him as a burden these days. He was too loyal to aim him out of it completely, and had stood beside him when other men would have walked away. Peter had guaranteed his safety when more than one man had been baying for his blood over Lenny Jones. Peter had smoothed all that over, and let it be known, on the quiet, of course, that if anyone went near his brother he would feel within his rights to distribute his own revenge. Seeing just how well respected and how well liked Peter was had been the hardest blow for Daniel. Peter’s reputation for settling his scores quietly, with the minimum of fuss but the maximum of violence had given him a certain mystique. Peter’s secrecy made him an enigma. And that gave him an aura of power which Daniel did not share.

Daniel had thrown away his chance to shine, had brought about his own demise and he knew it. He hated that he was now seen as less than his brother. He was the man who had crippled Lenny Jones for no real reason. Lenny Jones, who had had more creds than him, had been the cause of his downfall. Lenny Jones, it seemed, had, inadvertently, been Daniel’s nemesis.

Peter Bailey, his own brother, suddenly seemed like a stranger to him. Daniel watched him as he stalked around the office, wishing with all his heart that they did not have this wedge between them. But
he
had caused this rift, and he hated that the longer it went on, the more he resented this man and everything he stood for.

Davey held his little sister in his arms, laughing at her as she attempted to grab his hair. He never ceased to be amazed how much he loved her. He loved his mum, he loved his nana – they were very important to him – and he loved his brothers and cousins, but Tania seemed to evoke feelings that were even stronger. She smiled up into his eyes, and he felt his heart melt with an overwhelming love. He wondered if it was because he had seen her born, although when he thought about
that
it made him feel ill. He had never felt right about that; his mother was a diamond, but he had seen a bit too much of her for his own good that night.