Butler felt rather nauseous as he paid the jeweller in crisp twenty pound notes.Getting hitched at his age was the last thing he really wanted to do, but since his mum had checked out Denise’s pregnancy story, which her doctor had confirmed to be true, Nancy had barely spoken to him.
Michael loved Nancy more than he had ever loved any girl, and he knew he was on the verge of losing her forever, which is why he had bought the engagement ring today. It was the only rabbit he could pull out of a hat to save their rapidly deteriorating relationship. Surely marrying her was better than losing her, wasn’t it?
Unaware of her boyfriend’s planned proposal, Nancy was sitting on the bench in her favourite little park currently crying on her mother’s shoulder.
‘Oh, Nancy. Why don’t you come back home, love? I can talk your dad and brother around, so don’t you be worrying about them. You don’t want to stay with a lad who’s having a baby with another girl, do you? It’s too much to take on something like that, especially at your young age.’
‘I know you are right, Mum, but even though I hate Michael for doing this to me, I still love him as well. He says he will support his child financially and as a father, but he has sworn to me he wants nothing whatsoever to do with Denise. He reckons she trapped him on purpose by not taking her contraception pill.’
Mary held her daughter’s hands and squeezed them. ‘Only you can decide what you want to do, darling, but let me tell you one thing. Whenever you have a child with someone it creates a strong bond, and this one’s a bond you won’t be part of. I know Michael says he wants nothing to do with Denise, but once she gives birth to his child he will be in contact with her on a regular basis again. How’re you going to feel when she is ringing up every five minutes asking for this and that or telling him the child isn’t well, Nance? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and are beautiful enough to bag yourself any lad you want. I would hate to see you sell yourself short.’
Nancy nodded sadly. What her mum had just said was spot-on and deep down she knew it. ‘I’ll pack my stuff when I get back to Queenie’s, Mum, and tell Michael I’m moving back home. Are you sure Dad will be OK about it?’
‘You leave your bloody father to me, darling. I pulled the wool over his eyes to escape today. I only let him think he wears the trousers to keep him happy. He won’t overrule me, because if he does then I shall leave him. Our home will always be your home, you know that.’
Nancy looked at her watch and silently cursed the time. ‘I’m gonna have to go, Mum. I am already in trouble at work for taking too much time off so I daren’t be late back from lunch. Can you be near the phone if I ring at dead on eight tonight? Make sure you speak to Dad first though so I know everything is OK your end.’
‘I will. When will you move back in?’ Mary asked, her face a picture of happiness.
‘I might as well come back tonight, I suppose. Once I’ve spoken to Michael, then rung you, perhaps Dad will pick me up?’
Mary grinned. ‘You bet he will, and I’ll come with him so you don’t feel awkward.’
‘Thanks for everything, Mum. I’ll see you later,’ Nancy said, before sprinting off.
As Mary walked back to the shop, she could not wipe the smile off her face. She had her little girl back.
At the hospital, Queenie, Colleen and Vinny had just sat down opposite the brain specialist.
‘Well? Have you got the results?’ Vinny asked, impatience creeping into his voice.
‘Yes, I have, and I’m afraid the news isn’t as good as we had hoped for. The scan shows that there has been a considerable amount of damage to Mr Butler’s brain, which is the cause of the paralysis down the right side of his body.’
‘But, he will get better, won’t he? There must be something you can do, surely?’ Vinny interrupted, now agitated.
Bursting into tears, Colleen ran from the room. She was training to be a nurse, therefore knew what the specialist was going to say next and couldn’t bear to hear it.
Queenie sat frozen to her seat. Her heart felt like a lead weight and it was as though time had stood still and she was in a trance. Images of Roy in his younger years flooded through her mind. His first day at school with his little legs poking out of his long shorts. Those same legs sprinting to glory when he won the hundred-yards race at the age of thirteen. Roy dancing with her to Kenny Ball’s ‘My Mother’s Eyes’ on the opening evening of their first ever club. How could it be possible that her handsome, strapping son would never use those legs again?
‘So, what can we do to get him better?’ Vinny asked the specialist.
‘Roy will be given extensive physiotherapy, speech therapy, and help in learning the basics once again. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that your brother will ever live the life that he once did. There has been too much damage to the brain, I fear.’
Vinny was in a shocked kind of stupor. ‘But, he will walk again, won’t he?’
‘Well, obviously miracles have been known to happen, Mr Butler, but if you want my honest opinion, the answer is no.’
When his mother started to cry, Vinny held her in his arms. He could have quite easily broken down in tears himself, but as the eldest child, it was his duty to be a tower of strength, and his mother needed that from him more than ever now. ‘I’ll get Roy the best help possible, Mum, I promise you that. Together, we will get through this. We are Butlers, remember?’
At the nightclub, Karen had just woken up fully clothed with a thumping headache and little recollection of going to bed once again. She half-remembered falling over and Vinny carrying her up the stairs, but she wasn’t sure if she was imagining that part or not.
Karen sat up, perched herself on the end of the bed and stared at her unglamorous reflection in the mirror. She looked like she had two black eyes where she hadn’t taken off her make-up, and her hair stood up on end as if she had been dragged through a hedge backwards. ‘What the hell is happening to me?’ she asked herself out loud. She hadn’t felt right since the terrifying experience she’d suffered on the night of Vivian’s birthday party. The visions of spiders crawling all over the floor, the horrendous metallic taste in her mouth, then the constant vomiting she’d endured throughout the night would be with her for the rest of her life.
The truth of her scary ordeal had come to light the following day. Lenny had been given a couple of LSD tabs at the club by a customer a few weeks ago. He had been told that they would make him feel good and have fun, but frightened to take them himself in case his mum found out, he had decided to give them to Vinny and Karen so they could enjoy themselves instead. As luck would have it, Vinny’s glass that contained the drug had been knocked off the kitchen top by Ahmed’s elbow, so it had been only her that had suffered.
Karen had been furious at Lenny’s stupidity at first, but when Vinny had made him apologize in person, she had found it difficult to stay angry with the boy. Lenny couldn’t help having mental health problems, had seemed genuinely sorry, and had promised never to do anything similar to anyone ever again. Vinny had told Karen that he knew the bloke who had given Lenny the tabs and was personally going to teach him a lesson. He had also given his cousin a good telling-off in front of her too, but what Karen obviously didn’t realize was it was all an act and Lenny had been paid fifty pounds for his part in the drama.
Karen had begged Vinny to tell his family the truth. She felt
