He thought back to the day they’d first met, when something in the boy’s eyes had reminded him of his own lost son.
“How far you’ve come, Danny,” he said to himself. “How far you’ve come.”
Not one to wallow in self-pity for long, he decided to get out of the flat and pay Lenny a visit.
True to form, Lenny was washing a car.
“Albert man,” he said, squinting up at his visitor. “You look like you’re running out of petrol. Cup of tea? I’m just finishing.”
“Yeah,” said Albert gratefully. “Cup of tea.”
He followed Lenny to his sitting room at the back of the workshop and took his usual seat.
“How’s the boy?” said Lenny, boiling the kettle.
“Fine, I think,” said Albert. “He’s got another fight coming soon.”
“Who’s he fighting?” asked Lenny as he handed Albert a mug.
“I don’t know, Len,” Albert admitted.
“What, his managers ain’t told you?”
“I’m not involved any more,” said Albert, taking a welcome sip of his tea.
Lenny frowned. “Those bastards got rid of you?”
“Not directly. It was my choice, Len. I think it’s best.”
Lenny set his own tea down on the worktop. “What are you saying, Albert?” he demanded. “You threw away a chance for glory, a chance to have money? Why, man? Why?”
“My glory may have faded, but money and glory ain’t everything,” said Albert with dignity. “Honesty, fair play and truth in the sport I love makes money worthless.”
Lenny sipped his tea, then made his familiar hissing sound. He shook his head. “Principles, principles,” he said. “You know, boy, people go to war on principles. What good does that do, eh?”
“It’s just the way I am,” said Albert. “I can’t change.”
“You’re a fool to yourself,” said Lenny, angry now. “How can you watch Danny’s back if you’re not around?”
Albert bent his head over his tea. “I know, Len,” he answered. “I’m sorry. Now, subject closed.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
LIFE without Albert watching and advising was difficult for Danny at first. But Albert had made his decision, and Danny had to move on.
Danny had been promising his mum that he would bring Ruby round and visit for weeks. It was always a point of friction between Wendy and Danny, with Rosie complaining that she wasn’t seeing Ruby or her son nearly enough. The truth was, Wendy thought Rosie was a bad influence. So, the Bristows’ house was definitely out of bounds for Rosie Watson, and Danny’s visits to his mum’s were limited.
Danny pushed Ruby through the streets to Rosie’s house for a rare visit. Keeping the peace between his mother and Wendy was tricky, and he had often been stuck in the middle since moving out. It was true that Rosie’s lifestyle of partying, drink and fags probably wasn’t ideal, but she was still his mother, and through all her failings, there was indeed love.
Danny rang his mother’s doorbell. The door opened so quickly that it was clear Rosie had been waiting in the hall.
“Danny darling!” she gasped, grabbing Ruby. “Oh look at her, look at her! Come to Nanny!”
Rosie seemed sober and unlikely to drop her grandchild today, Danny decided.
“Ain’t she got big?” cooed Rosie. “She’ll be walking soon. Oh Danny, she’s lovely!”
To Danny’s surprise, the house was spick and span. There were no empty bottles, no over-full ashtrays. The kitchen was cleaner than Danny had ever seen it. A cake sat on the kitchen table, next to the best china tea set that usually only came out at Christmas.
Danny was touched by Rosie’s efforts. “The place looks nice,” he said.
“Well it’s not often I get to see you and Ruby,” said Rosie, with just a touch of venom. “So I wanted to make it nice.”
“I know,” said Danny. “It’s just been so busy. Where’s Ricky?”
“He’s gone to Stratford,” Rosie replied. “He’s doing his Elvis thing in a pub or something called the Two Puddings. How about a nice cuppa? Look, I bought a cake too, your favourite. Angel cake.”
“Thanks Mum,” said Danny, whose last taste of angel cake had been when he was about nine.
“Oh, and I bought some rusks for Ruby.”
With Ruby happily on Rosie’s lap, they sat down for cake and tea.
“Lots of good things happening, Mum,” said Danny, angel cake in hand. “I told you about the new house?”
“Yes you did Danny, I’m pleased for you. Only I probably won’t get to see you at all when you move away,” said Rosie, suddenly crestfallen.
“Of course you will,” said Danny, knowing in his heart that his mum was probably right. With Wendy’s attitude towards Rosie’s lifestyle, the visits would be rare, if at all.
He drank his tea and watched his mother playing with Ruby. Ruby seemed so happy bouncing on her nan’s lap. Danny wished he could change Wendy’s attitude, although he knew that Rosie’s performance as the perfect nan and mother was very unusual. After all, she was never a great mum to Danny, putting him a firm second to her well-known gallivanting. But still, it was good to see Ruby happy in her nan’s presence.
Rosie did all the things that grandparents tend to do. There was “Walkie round the garden!” and “Tickle under there!” – a firm favourite with the sweetly chuckling Ruby. “Peek a boo!” went down a treat too. It was clear that Rosie was loving having Ruby all to herself for once, and Danny was happy for Rosie to have this special time with the granddaughter she hardly knew.
“Ooh look at the time,” Rosie said at last, briskly handing Ruby back to Danny. “I better get going. I’ve got to get to that pub to see Ricky do his thing. Silly sod forgot his Elvis wig.”
The saying “Leopards never change their spots” floated through Danny’s mind. “Yeah, Mum,” he said, trying to paper over the cracks. “We better get going too. It was good to see you.”
Rosie more or less bundled them out the door.
Danny made his way back home, taking the scenic route through the park. He wheeled the pram with the sleeping Ruby to the duck pond and sat down on Albert’s bench.
There was something about this familiar spot that helped him think. Danny looked around at the budding trees and early flowers heralding the beginning of spring, and watched ducklings following their mother with relentless energy. The loss of Albert was the only grey cloud on this beautiful day.
All was as it always was, but Danny couldn’t help feeling uneasy. He had a loving wife, a beautiful daughter, a new home to look forward to. But sometimes, too many changes could be overwhelming.
Where would these uncharted waters take him? Perhaps it was the thought of moving away from the area he had known since he was a baby that was confusing him. And then of course, there was the battle to come. “A life-changing contest,” Costa had said. Danny’s life was already changing.
For the better on paper, but what about in reality?
His thoughts were broken by Ruby’s crying. Danny looked at her cherry-red face and open mouth. She looked like a baby bird, waiting hopefully for its mother to return with food. Reaching into the bag hanging on the pram, Danny picked up the baby bottle of milk his mother had filled before they left. Taking Ruby in his arms, he tucked the bottle teat between her little red lips.
As he watched her feeding, all the grey clouds in his mind disappeared.
Seeing her so helpless and dependent on him cleared his thoughts. The desire to get things right and build a happy future for his baby girl welled up in him, a feeling as strong as the oak tree that they sat under which shaded them from the sparkling sun.
With Ruby fed and happy and trying to munch on one of Rosie’s rusks, Danny wheeled the pram out of the park again. “We should get back, Ruby,” he told his daughter. “Mummy will be wondering where we are.”