her, Mary shared a smug smile with her daughter. Daniel and Adam already had Donald eating out of the palms of their hands. Gone was her miserable-looking bolshy husband. In his place was a happy, loving grandfather.
Vinny Butler walked into the room and for the first time since the accident locked eyes with the best pal he had left for dead. Ahmed looked awful, wearing only pyjama bottoms his face and body was covered in cuts and bruises.
Ahmed glanced at Vinny, his face devoid of emotion, and then turned to his wife. ‘Make yourself scarce, Anna. Vinny and I have business to discuss.’
When Anna left the room, Vinny’s eyes welled up with pure guilt as he tried to explain his actions on that fateful night. ‘I am so fucking sorry, mate. No way would I have left you if I had thought you were still alive. I really thought you were a goner.’
‘Pour us both a Scotch, then I want you to tell me exactly what happened. I don’t remember anything about that evening at all,’ Ahmed lied. He could sense that Vinny was nervous and so the bastard should be. Making it awkward without being too nasty was exactly how Ahmed had planned this conversation.
Vinny took a large gulp of his drink. ‘Do you remember going to the whorehouse in Dalston?’
‘Nope.’
‘Well, me and you were three sheets to the wind when we got there. We’d been boozing all night at the club. Champ overheard us saying where we were going and begged to come with us. Anyway, we had a great time and I offered to drive your car home. I’d sobered up a bit by then. But as I was driving, some van came towards me with its full beam on. I was momentarily blinded, which is why I lost control. We smashed into a building, but it was the left-hand side of the car that took all the impact. That’s where you and Champ were both sitting.’
‘Carry on,’ Ahmed urged.
Reliving the awful experience was something Vinny would rather not be put through, but what choice did he have? A thorough explanation was the very least he owed Ahmed. ‘Well, I hit my head against the steering wheel and it dazed me for a minute or so. When I came to and looked at you, there was a big piece of metal sticking out of your chest and a small piece in your head. There was blood everywhere. I checked for a pulse and couldn’t find one, then I got out the car to see if Champ was OK. The crash had almost fucking beheaded him. It was awful, the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. I checked you over once more before I left the scene, but I was positive you were dead. I would never have left you to die, you have to believe that, mate.’
Ahmed took a sip of his drink. He had nearly died and had only got out of hospital the previous day. ‘So, was you thinking straight when you legged it?’
‘My mind was all over the place. I was devastated, Ahmed, about you and Champ. It was like a bad fucking dream.’
‘What I cannot understand is how a devastated man would move his best pal’s body into the driver’s seat to avoid taking the rap himself. That is a callous, cowardly act in my eyes.’
‘I just panicked. It weren’t the Old Bill I was bothered about, it was my mum and aunt finding out I’d been driving the motor. If they thought it was me who’d killed Champ, they would both disown me. What did you say to the filth? I wouldn’t blame you if you dobbed me in it. It’s no more than I deserve.’
Ahmed chuckled. ‘I am not a grass, Vinny. It was my car that was written off and I was found behind the steering wheel, so you wasn’t even a suspect.’
‘Have you been charged with anything?’
‘No. I had internal bleeding, therefore needed an emergency operation. I was questioned, but there was no proof I had been drinking because my blood test ended up on the missing list.’
‘Well, I’ll buy you a new car obviously, and thanks for not saying anything. My mum and aunt are absolutely broken-hearted as it is. Roy’s dead as well. Shot himself in the head right in front of me. This past week has been the worst of my life.’
‘It’s not exactly been my best, Vinny.’
‘I know it hasn’t, mate. So, what happens now? I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my business partner any more,’ Vinny said. Michael was his partner in the legit business, the nightclub, but Ahmed had been his partner in the drug trade. Thanks to their astute business brains the two of them had built up quite an empire over the past few years, and the bulk of heroin and cocaine currently available on the streets of London was their merchandise.
Ahmed forced a smile at the man he now hated so very much. ‘I was not happy that you left me for dead but now you have explained yourself, I can understand why you did what you did. I am willing to let bygones be bygones.’
Relieved, Vinny hugged his pal. ‘I will make it up to you, I swear.’
‘I know you will. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m very tired and could do with some sleep. When is Champ’s funeral, by the way? Such a shame, he was a good kid.’
Vinny nodded, his face etched with grief. ‘The funeral is tomorrow. We’re having a joint one, burying Champ and Roy together.’
‘What time and where?’
‘The service is at St Leonard’s at two. You can’t come though, mate. You don’t look well enough and my mum and aunt will go apeshit if they see you there. They think you were driving, remember?’
‘And what about Michael?’
‘He knows the truth. I told him it was me.’
‘Well, that’s OK then. I loved Champ, Vinny, and I am determined to pay my respects to him. I don’t care if your mum and aunt hate my guts. I and God know that Lenny’s death had sod all to do with me, remember?’
Aware that Ahmed was being sarcastic, Vinny shrugged. ‘OK, but try and stay out of my mum and aunt’s way. I’ll smooth things over in time, but it’s all too raw at the moment.’
When Vinny said goodbye and shut the door, Ahmed smirked. He had no intention of staying away from Queenie and Vivian. He intended to make life as difficult for Vinny as he possibly could from now on. As for the Judas cunt thinking he had been forgiven, there was more chance of hell freezing over than that ever happening.
Thanks to Vinny, he had endured internal bleeding, three broken ribs and forty-two stitches in his face and stomach. Scars would heal, but Vinny’s betrayal wouldn’t. Every time he looked at those scars, Ahmed would be reminded of what his so-called best friend and business partner had done to him.
When Ahmed had first woken up and learned what had happened, his head and heart felt weighed down with feelings of shock and disappointment. Not any more though. Over the past few days, those feelings had been replaced by fury and an urge to get even.
Vinny Butler had disrespected him in the worst possible way. Moving his body into the driver’s seat, then leaving him for dead was an act of evil that Ahmed could never forgive or forget.
Ahmed grinned as he laid his head back on the pillow. The five most important things in Vinny’s life were money, his liberty, reputation, mother and son. Now, what should Ahmed take away from him first? Decisions, decisions …
