Jackie watched her rival, saw her girls as they smiled and said hello to her and noticed how Paul and Liselle were all over her. Then she remembered this was Ozzy's sister, and in fairness, Pat was always nice to her, never rubbed her nose in it like some of his whores had tried over the years. She quite wanted to start a fight anyway, though she knew any trouble with Pat and she would be the one aimed out the door She was enjoying being with her girls for once and Rox had just brought her another large vodka, so she said sadly, 'She is heartbroken, Pat, as you can imagine.'

Jackie was going to play this one nicely. After all, what would she gain this night from having a tear up? Freddie wasn't here and in her heart she actually liked old Pat.

Pat and the entire bar staff gave a collective sigh of relief.

'Do they know how it happened?'

Rox shrugged. 'It's kids, ain't it, but why he put that fucking plastic bag over his head we'll never know.'

Jackie agreed. 'They think everything's a game, don't they? They never understand at that age the dangers of life. But what a terrible thing to happen to any family.'

They were all nodding their heads sagely, and the girls caught each other's eyes, thankful Jackie was not on one of her mad benders. Yet.

'All right, Jim?' Freddie knew that nothing would ever be all right again, but it was just an expression. Something to say, an opening for conversation.

Jimmy nodded. He had aged in the last few hours and Freddie would lay money that his hair was greyer than it had been this morning. Being so dark they had both gone grey early, and their hair was so thick it looked good on them. They could carry it off, it made them look more manly, somehow.

Right now they looked more alike than ever, but that was mainly because they both looked deeply sad, both looked devastated. They had a secret, and this was the moment that they had to decide what they were going to do about it.

'I am so sorry, Jimmy. I swear that to you, mate.'

Jimmy didn't answer him.

'Please, Jimmy, say something. Please say something.' Freddie was begging, a first for him as Jimmy knew better than anyone.

Jimmy sighed and turned to face him, and when he finally spoke his voice was flat. 'I can't tell you what you want to hear, Fred. I am sorry, but I can't. You told me about him a long time ago, and I was sorry for you, really sorry. But this ain't a fucking rabbit or a neighbour's dog, bad as that was. This was my baby and I can't let this go. I am sorry, mate, but I can't.'

'I am sorting it, Jim, I swear.'

It was the word 'sorting' that did it. They were always sorting things. It was their job, what they did for a living. But you couldn't sort out the death of a child, a death that had been caused by another child.

Except Little Freddie wasn't a child, he never had been. He was an animal, a mad bastard. Until now Jimmy had not really cared about that, but then why should he? He was Freddie's son. Why would Jimmy have ever thought he could encroach on his own life and family like this?

That boy had been an accident waiting to happen, and now it was too late.

'What you going to do then, Freddie?'

Freddie was quiet. He was so quiet, it was as if he were a different person, as if all his life had been leading up to this moment. And who knew, thought Jimmy, maybe it had been.

'He'll be gone soon, I promise you. He'll be gone.'

Jimmy laughed half-heartedly. 'Gone, Freddie? In what way? Dead gone? What?'

Freddie was silent once more. He was trying to gather his thoughts but it was hard, so hard. He wished he had not snorted so much gear. It was point nine, the best you could get and he had been hoovering it up like it was going out of fashion.

'He can't help it, Jimmy. I told you that before, he can't help it.'

Jimmy dropped his wife's hand and it fell on to the bed with a soft thud. Then he grabbed Freddie by the scruff of his neck and pulled him towards him roughly so they were eye to eye, and he said through gritted teeth, 'You brought up an animal. Someone was going to pay for his madness in the end, and you knew that. I have sat here and remembered you learning him to swear, and learning him to fight, and it hit me what you did to him. That boy never had a chance, Freddie, you and Jackie made sure of that. You thought it was funny when he attacked his sisters, when he didn't sleep at night and watched those violent films all the time. You created him, and then suddenly he was a big kid and he wasn't so fucking funny any more, was he? He was in trouble with the school, with the courts, and you still didn't get him any help. You left him to it, and now he has killed my baby and you know he has.'

He threw Freddie away from him then, as if frightened to keep up any kind of contact with him. As if he was tainted.

'We don't know that for sure…'

Freddie was desperate to try to make some sense of it, find some other explanation.

Jimmy shook his head at Freddie's denial. 'Jimmy Junior would never have dreamed of putting that bag on his head. Why would he? And it was tied there to keep it in place. The police will be back, Freddie, you know that because it was tied under his little chin. Joe told me that, because he was the one who ripped it off in the end to save Lena seeing it. The bag was stuck to his little face. That took time, Freddie. It was a fucking premeditated act. My little Jimmy couldn't tie his shoelaces, so how would he have managed to tie that bag up under his own little chin, eh? The cunt, why did he do it, Freddie? Why?'

He was nearly crying again. He was so angry and so sad and he was trying so hard to keep a lid on his emotions.

Freddie shook his head. 'I don't know, Jimmy, I really don't know.'

'You have a lot to answer for, you have so much to answer for, Freddie. Stephanie. Lenny. I gave you a pass every time, and now this is the upshot, ain't it? You and him are like two peas in a pod, you have no care for anyone or anything. It's only my Maggie lying here that is stopping me from screaming the truth from the roof tops, because she would never be able to cope with knowing what had really happened. I don't know if I can, either. All I do know at this moment in time is that Maggie must never know what happened, that her little boy had been forced to put that bag over his head. It would kill her. I can't handle it, Freddie. I keep picturing it in my mind. My little Jimmy would have trusted him, would have wanted to please him, he was scared of him. But I am warning you now. If I even catch a glimpse of your boy, he will know what fucking scared really is, because I will not be responsible for my actions.'

Freddie was crying silently and Jimmy could see him wiping away his tears, but he felt nothing for him or his suffering.

'I've sorted it, Jimmy, I swear to you that I've sorted it.'

Jimmy wanted to laugh again, but he didn't have one laugh in him, and he doubted that he ever would again. This wasn't something that could ever be sorted.

'Just go, Freddie, will you? I don't want to be around you any more.'

Freddie didn't argue with him, he stood up and walked quietly from the room. Jimmy didn't even bother to watch him go.

This was the end of his life, and his wife's life. Oh, they would carry on as normal eventually, they had to. It was what happened after something like this, but that would be it. They would be going through the motions, that was all. No more and no less.

Dianna was scared. She was still seeing her Danger Man and he was still mucking her about. She had slipped away to meet him and he had not arrived.

Now, here she was waiting by the side of the road in the dark and she felt certain that he was not going to turn up. He had done this to her before, and she should be in the pub with her family now, where she belonged. They had experienced a terrible tragedy and she should be with them, not out here waiting for a man who treated her like dirt. Terry Baker was like a drug. She needed him, wanted him and without him she felt as if she was nothing.