Kathleen was still confined to her bed and she was not eating anything of substance. For that matter, she was not even attempting to talk to anyone about what was wrong with her. Eileen was her twin and yet Kathleen still didn't trust her enough to talk to her about anything that was going on with her.
Eileen saw Colleen and Christopher whispering to each other, much the same as she had with Kathleen when they were younger.
'What are you two whispering about?'
Colleen laughed nervously. 'Nothing much. We were just wondering if Lance was going to come home soon, that's all. Do you know when he'll be back?'
It was a fair question, Eileen knew. She knew they were both worried about Lance's return to the house.
She felt so sorry for him because everyone knew that their mum, the woman who had birthed them all, couldn't stand to be in the same room as him. It hurt him, she knew it did. She knew that it had to be the worst feeling in the world knowing that your own mother didn't care about you at all. Lance had known that for years and she had known about it since she could remember. Even these two had sussed that much out.
'Lance is a grown man and he will come home when it suits him.'
Eileen got up then and wandered from the room slowly. She was going out and the last thing she needed was anyone drawing attention to her; she was not silly, she knew that this family could blow up in a heartbeat.
Colleen and Christy waited until Eileen was out of earshot before they started laughing with Shamus. They knew where she was going and who she was going there with. It was strange that the other people in the house had no idea about her secret life.
But then again, she was fifteen in a few weeks and to them she was ancient and they knew that if they opened their mouths she would launch them into outer space without a second's thought.
Jimmy Brick and Spider were in a private club off the Caledonian Road. They were drinking Guinness and dancing warily around each other. Neither of them knew exactly how conversant the other one was with the current state of affairs. This was a very common dilemma for many people in the know.
Conversation could be very difficult because, unless you were partnered with someone, or you had been briefed about a certain person, you could not talk freely to them without the fear of exposing information that could cause potential havoc. Spider and Jimmy went back a long way and so the situation was even more delicate than usual. Jimmy had been off the scene for many years and this was seen as cause for concern by Spider. Jimmy, for his part, knew that Spider had his own little firm and a respected firm at that. He also knew that his old mucker was wary of him because of his prolonged absence. That was something he had not discussed with anyone, of course, and would not do so unless he felt the time was right.
So when Pat finally bowled in surrounded by his boys, young men like him who had done a bit of bird and were willing to work for someone their own age who was going places, they were overly pleased to see him.
Spider watched Pat as he said hello to the right people, shook hands or patted the appropriate backs, and marvelled once more at the boy's natural business acumen. Like his father he knew how to play the game. Only this young man had a hard edge to him that was apparent to anyone who had any dealings with him.
As he sat down, Pat looked tired but both the men could also see that he was more than able to hold his own if it should come to that at any point. His new guys, his new minders, settled themselves nonchalantly around the bar. Spider saw immediately that they were in key positions so that if anything were to happen, they would be available to protect him within seconds. He was impressed; unless you knew the score, no one would have even realised what was going on. This told him that the boy was more protected and far more on the ball than anyone actually realised.
'All right, guys. Sorry I'm late, it's been a heavy day.'
The two men didn't respond, they weren't expected to.
'Jimmy, I need you close; you must have guessed that was coming, mate?'
Jimmy smiled slightly but it was a smile that signified agreement as if he had indeed known what was going to happen all along.
Pat Junior smiled then and Spider saw the menace in him, the real menace, for the first time ever. He had known this boy from birth and now he watched him and he knew that he was a changed lad from the one he had seen grow up. This was a different man to the one who had come home from prison all smiles and group hugs. The man he had weighed out and whose own son had visited and seen all right.
Pat was now someone to be wary of, was someone who had no qualms about erasing the enemy, and the enemy, it seemed, was anyone who happened to disagree with him.
'I'm going to run everything as before. Brewster did a competent enough job but he did not bother to utilise all the different branches of the organisation.'
Pat looked at Jimmy again.
'You know that my father always had his finger on the pulse? Well, Lenny wouldn't let anyone in the firm get near to anyone else. Everything had to go through him and that's why it was so easy to take him out and buy up his so-called fucking workforce.'
He stared at Jimmy then and it took a few seconds before Jimmy Brick realised that he was being dismissed. That Pat had said his piece and wanted him out of the frame until he needed him once more.
Spider saw the look of shock on Jimmy Brick's face and knew his earlier reservations were not without foundation. He also knew that Patrick Brodie Junior was a hard little fucker and he had no fear of anyone or anything.
Jimmy walked away from the table without a word but this was not something he was ever going to forget about. He was humiliated and he looked it.
Spider smiled at Pat and he smiled back at him with eyes that seemed to look through him as if he were a pane of glass.
Spider knew exactly what Pat wanted and he also knew that he was going to give it to him. This boy had the one thing going for him that everyone in their world dreamed of having; a self-belief that was as intimidating to the people around him as it was natural to the man himself. He saw the new crew with him and knew they were all young and up-and-coming. He knew that Patrick was the new kid on their particular block. He had made good friends in nick and he had utilised them with the precision of an army general.
This was a dangerous man, and the fact that he himself had not noticed just how dangerous he was, until now, bothered him more than he would care to admit.
His son, Mac, was as close to Pat as any brother could be, and Spider wondered if his boy understood just how precarious and how dangerous this young man's friendship could turn out to be.
Lil was doing what she had been asked to do by her son and, even though it wasn't hard work or even difficult work, she knew it was important work. For her son it was important and he needed someone he could trust with his life to do it. She was going through everything Lenny had used in his quest for world domination and she had to admit that, like her husband, he had no idea how to guarantee any of his main businesses. He had put them all into the hands of friends; a shrewd move in some ways but not in others. For example, none of them seemed conversant with how to make money from a club and that was easier than conning Social Security. It was a cash business, for fuck's sake, how could you not profit from that? And, also, as she knew to her detriment, if the person died the so-called mates who owned the premises on paper often developed a terrible case of amnesia. After all, they owned everything fair and square, didn't they? She should know, it had happened to her.