'How's Maggie?'

Glenford smiled sadly. 'She been sedated, she be out for the night, and me envy her, Fred, because that child dying has been like a bomb going off among them all. And you know something? I wouldn't be any of they, for all the money in the world. Maggie's mum and dad can't believe him would do something like that, you know. The police were called in of course, but I think they see a tragic accident. What else could it be?'

Glenford sighed heavily once more. 'Why would a little child want to do that to himself? Him just playing, kids so fucking dangerous, you know. It make no sense what they doing, they just kids.' He could hear the upset in his own voice and coughed harshly. 'The bag was stuck to his little face. What a fucking thing to have to live with, that sight, what a fucking sad and terrible situation for any parents.'

'What did the filth do?' Freddie made his voice as neutral as he could.

Glenford shrugged. 'Who know what they thinking, fucking scum they are? But they look at everyone and you could see they sorry as anyone else. It was an accident, a tragic accident.'

Freddie didn't answer him. He didn't know what to say.

Instead he walked into the room where Jimmy sat beside his silent, shattered wife, and quietly shut the door behind him.

Jackie was drunk, drunker than she had been in years. But she didn't want to be sober, and as she watched her daughters drinking with her, drowning out the awful knowledge of that child and the way he died, she knew that they finally understood her attitude on life.

Paul and Liselle were serving up the drinks. It was very rare that this lot drank in their pub, but tonight, they knew, was not the usual. Freddie had rarely allowed Jackie inside what he saw as his bastion of maleness, and when he had, it was always a quick visit. But tonight, they were in for the long haul, they were not going anywhere.

Poor Jimmy and Mags, what a thing to happen to diem. Liselle and Paul were both devastated at the news, and that was why they were serving this lot up free gratis.

Liselle remembered all the times Jimmy had brought the boy in for a few minutes. He had been showing him off really, and Liselle understood that. He had been such a proud father, and he had taken that boy out with him as often as he could.

He doted on him, and everyone knew about poor Maggie. She had been rough after his birth and it had taken her a long time to get back on her feet. Jimmy had taken on the burden of the child without a second's thought. They had finally got back to normal, were a happy little family and then this had to come on top. What a fucking thing to happen to anyone. She was so sorry for them, they were a lovely couple.

The thought of that poor child being dead was more than anybody could bear. The whole place was in silent mourning, except when Jackie Jackson's big trap was flapping of course.

Liselle and Jackie had never got on. Liselle loathed her, whereas she loved Mags. And Jackie had been convinced for years that Liselle had something going with Freddie. Poor Jackie thought that about most women at some time or another, but this knowledge did not stop Jackie getting on Liselle's tits.

Paul thought it was hilarious. Well, good for him, but she was just about on the verge of giving Jackie Jackson a slap. That child was on his way to the grave and she was using him as an excuse to cause aggravation.

For once she was not putting up with it.

The girls, though, were lovely. They were doing their best to keep their mother on an even keel, but one more remark and she was going to start the Third World War.

This place was a private drinking hole, a members' only pub if you like. It was used by specific people and that was its main attraction. Liselle felt now, looking at Jackie and hearing her bloody miserable voice, that Freddie for all his faults needed a bolt hole from this fucking drunken pig who was still trying to cause a row with her after twenty years. Like she would touch Freddie Jackson with a barge pole!

Jackie and her company were not paying for their drinks and she was all right with that, why wouldn't she be? But Jackie was acting like this was her due, like this was her manor and this was her local. Well, Liselle was drinking as well, an unusual occurrence for her, and she was up for a fight herself tonight. She needed to get a few things out of her system, off her chest.

Watching his Liselle eyeing Jackie, Paul could feel the tension rising in the room. Then Patricia O'Malley walked in and he sighed and relaxed.

If there was going to be a tear up, he hoped it would be with Pat and Jackie, and not his old woman, because Jackie was going to have a fight. It was not about when or even if, it was more a case of with whom.

Roxanna watched as Pat came in the pub, and she hoped her mother was going to keep a lid on it. She knew about her dad and Pat, everyone did. And Pat, in fairness, was a nice woman who had always been friendly towards her and her sisters.

And Rox understood her father's attraction for this woman, as she understood his attraction for her. Pat was so in your face, so strong-minded, and so independent she knew that she must do her dad's head in.

Rox was shrewd enough to know that it was also what made him want her. Pat was like a man in some respects, she used men like most men used women.

Good luck to her and all, she had the right idea.

Rox admired Pat and her way of life. Even though she knew her mother would muller her for thinking it, when she saw Pat, which she did a lot because of Dicky and the fact they drank here weekends, she thought she looked great. And when she talked to her, which she had been really wary about doing at first, she had found Pat was so with it, so on the ball and so funny that she had forgotten about her mother's very genuine grievance. And she also knew that Pat gave her father something her mother never would or even could. And that something was plain and simple. She gave him normality.

She was the only woman who could treat him like he treated every woman he had ever come across and get away with it. Consequently, he respected her. She took no shit from anyone and she looked fantastic for her age.

Roxanna actually looked up to her.

Now she was interested to see how her mother coped. with being in the same room with her biggest rival. But then, her mother was gone as always, she was completely out of her brains and as Rox watched her she understood for the first time both why her father stayed around, and more to the point, why he played away from home.

Sipping her tonic water, she watched the different little plays that were being acted out in front of her. Jackie had all but forgotten about poor little Jimmy. She was just drinking now because it was there, and she had taken some coke, because it was there. Her mother was nutting it now, she was rocking. She had seen her like this so many times as a kid, and now she didn't even get annoyed any more.

Her own child would have so much more than that from its mother, she was sure. She was going to be there for it, like Mags and Jimmy had been there for their little man. She rubbed her belly, and imagined giving birth to a child and then losing it. As her granny had said in the hospital, it was the wrong order. You should never have to bury a child. They should be the ones to bury you.

Pat had said her hellos. She had hoped to see Freddie but he wasn't here and his wife was, as always on their occasional meetings, giving her the long look.

Like she gave a flying fuck.

But she liked the girls. They were good kids, despite being spawned by the dirty bitch with the grubby feet and the bloated body. She knew her place, though, so she said, in as friendly a manner as she could, 'All right, Jackie. What a terrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to them.' Pat really meant it. 'Poor Mags, she must be in bits.'