'I know, love. Like I always say, things work out in their own time.'

Lena nodded. 'Want a cuppa?'

Joe smiled. 'Why not, and make me little bloke a hot chocolate, he loves that.'

As she watched her husband sit the child on his lap, Lena breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief.

She put the kettle on and quickly prepared the mugs, and made Jimmy Junior's drink. He loved his hot chocolate and she should know, he had spent half his life here. With Maggie having been so offish and leaving him with them at the drop of a hat she knew her grandson better than anyone.

There had been times when she had thought her Maggie's behaviour was unnatural. For years she had not treated that boy properly. Oh, she had done everything that was expected, but it was as if he wasn't really hers, that he was someone else's and she had to take care of him. It was as if she was his mother once removed. That was the only way Lena could explain it.

Now, though, her Maggie was back to her old self and she thanked God for that every day of her life. She had finally turned into a proper mother and that child was all the better for it.

There was a knock at the door and she opened it to see Little Freddie.

'Hello, mate, what you doing here?'

He gave Lena that charming, handsome smile he could command at the drop of a hat. 'I just wanted to see you, Nana. Can I come in?'

She opened the door wide then, and he slipped past her happily.

Lena grabbed his jacket and pulled him round to face her.

'Any of your antics and I'll fucking brain you, right?' He looked into her eyes and said seriously, 'Fair enough.' These were two people who understood each other perfectly.

'So, do you think Freddie took it well?'

Jimmy shrugged. 'I really don't know, Glen, but what I do know is, I let him off with a fucking caution. However, he is on fucking trial and even he has to comprehend that much.'

Glenford nodded. 'He is a dangerous fuck, Jimmy.'

'I know that, mate, you are preaching to the converted, but I ain't scared of him. I was, many years ago when I was a kid. But not any more, and he knows that. What I couldn't get through to him, though, was why what he had done was so outrageous, he still doesn't think he's done anything wrong.'

Glenford looked concerned. 'You will regret this. You have taken a viper to your chest, boy, and the fucker will bite you at the first available opportunity. Freddie ain't like other people, Jimmy, he sees the world through his eyes only. You will become the target for his next bout of hatred and violence. But I think you have already worked that one out for yourself, eh?'

Jimmy sighed. 'What could I do, though? If I had aimed him out of it, he would never have let it go. I just couldn't do it to him. I don't want to do that to him. But I had to make him aware of what was going down.'

Glenford grabbed Jimmy's hand and said seriously, 'He is your nemesis, Jimmy. Everybody have one, you're a lucky man because you have your one's address.'

They laughed together, but neither of them thought that it was funny really.

Jackie had her dream. Her husband was coming home every night, and instead of loving it she was hating it. In he came like the big 'I am', expecting all sorts. And if Little Freddie wasn't there he went looking for him.

This was worse than being under house arrest. He mentioned every drink she poured and watched what he wanted to watch on TV. She had always had her viewing down pat, but now she had to make him sandwiches, run up the chippy or the Chinese, and get him beers from the fridge.

Little Freddie had to be on his best behaviour, and she had to sit there and make excuses to nip over the off-licence to get herself a drink. The way Freddie carried on anyone would think they were hard up or something. He was well wedged up, and she even wished he would fuck off round one of his birds' houses. Anything was better than this.

He watched her and all, she could feel his eyes on her.

She had taken to bathing every day just to stop his fucking harping on about the state of her and the house. Anyone listening in would think he had been brought up in Buckingham Palace, but she knew who the real culprit was: Maggie. Maggie was too clean, she was fucking demented with it. The housework would still be there when she was gone, so why devote your life to it?

'Where have you been today, then?'

Little Freddie looked at his father and said quietly, 'I was round Nanny Lena's and Granddad Joe's.'

Freddie drank half his can of Tennents before saying quietly, 'I never said you could go out.'

Jackie was on the edge of her seat. 'I said he could go. What are you saying now, then? He can't leave the fucking house?'

Freddie looked at his wife. She was a mess, a bigger mess than he had first suspected. 'Shut the fuck up, Jackie, I am talking to the organ grinder, not the monkey.'

Little Freddie started to laugh, and he had to hold his hand over his mouth to stifle the sound.

Jackie was drunk and she was fed up with her husband and his constant presence. 'You make me laugh, Freddie Jackson. You come in here and you throw your weight around, and expect everyone to jump to your fucking tune.'

Freddie sighed. This was the woman he knew and loved.

'What's happened, eh? What brings you home here really? Why are you suddenly father of the year? You in trouble of some kind?'

Jackie had inadvertently hit the nail right on the head. She had sensed that the only thing that would get him home early was trouble.

'You haven't listened to a word I've said, have you, Jack? This fucking child of ours is in deep shit. You think he is a fucking choir boy, you think he is being led on by other, more sophisticated boys. Well he ain't, anything he has done he has done on his lonesome. This cunt has all his faculties, don't you worry about that. As for me being in trouble, I might point out that you have spent your whole married life trying to keep me in this house and now I am trying to make something of my son, trying to help him, you want shot. It's a fucking joke, except I ain't laughing. Now you had better calm yourself down, woman, button your fucking mutton and show me a bit of respect, because in a minute I am going to fucking muller you.'

Little Freddie watched them both and decided his mother was right, his father was in it right up to his neck.

Why else would he want to be in this shit hole?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ozzy watched as Jimmy walked into the visitors' room. As he turned out his pockets once more and waited to be searched again, Ozzy observed him with pride.

He was a handsome man, and he also had a real presence. Jimmy had the air about him that most men dreamed of and the walk of a man completely at ease with himself and his surroundings, no mean feat on a unit that was peopled with serious criminals.

Ozzy knew that he had given this man his confidence, and he was proud of that. Jimmy was the son he had never had, and he did think of him as a son. He was a good man, he was a decent man, but most of all he was one hundred per cent trustworthy.

As Ozzy watched Jimmy, he observed the other people around him, noticing that they unconsciously acknowledged him as one of their own, even though he had never served a second's time anywhere. His years of coming here had given him that prison swagger, he was as relaxed here as he was in his own home.

Ozzy's big prayer was that this boy never ever had to experience prison other than as a visitor. It was not an existence that Jimmy would ever accept. Freddie, on the other hand, would relish another stint, he was that fucking stupid, and it was only Jimmy's nous that had kept Freddie on the outside for so long.