Freddie wanted to be a part of that world, because he knew people treated you differently when you had money and possessions. It was human nature. When he went inside the great big gaffs and saw the way they were decorated and the way they were kept, he respected the people who lived there because they had achieved that status.
It wasn't like when you saw rich ponces on the telly who had never done a day's collar in their life, and inherited fortunes and then pissed them away. Who could respect people who had never earned a penny in their lives? It was not the way of his world, you earned shedloads of dosh, so you earned respect.
As he sat in his mother's house, and watched her as she plumped cushions and brought in biscuits, he could not believe that once he had thought this little semi the height of sophistication. His father had been an earner all his life. A grafter, and yet now he realised that if his old man had used his loaf he could have been drinking his tea in a drum worth fortunes.
Even Jimmy was saving up for a deposit on a house, and he knew the boy would get one as well. When Ozzy had explained to him in prison one boring Saturday afternoon about how you worked your way up the housing ladder he had been fascinated. Until then it had never occurred to him, he had thought people who got in debt for a house had to have been off their heads. He had never understood the logic of making money work for you long term.
Freddie's world had been so small, but now he had a son and he was determined that he would have everything a son could possibly have.
'You all right, Mum?' She looked distracted, this woman who had always had a perfectly made-up face, who no matter what happened had always been above hysterics, who was as cool and calculating as a two-ton-an-hour barrister.
She smiled, and he saw the new lines around her mouth, the papery thinness of her skin. She had got old and he had not even noticed.
'Not really, Freddie.'
For the first time in his life she wasn't being strong. He had always relied on her strength because it was what had got him through his darkest hours. No matter what he had done she had been there for him. She had lied, cheated and committed perjury for him and he saw for the first time that she might actually need something back from him.
He sat up and said magnanimously, 'Whatever you want, Mum, it's yours.'
He really meant it and Maddie felt the urge to cry. Her big, blustering son, who like his father was so self-centered he would only give himself a kidney, was trying to be there for her. It was in some ways too little too late. But she was desperate, if she hadn't been she would not be asking. She knew he would understand that.
'Can I ask you a favour, Freddie?'
He smiled. He was being charming, he had a handsome new son whose birth had made him realise that he loved this woman with all his heart. She had gone through that pain to bring him into the world. She was his mother and he was suddenly aware of what that really meant.
She seemed embarrassed and he noticed that her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were pleading with him to help her out, help her say what she wanted to say, and his immediate thought was that she was going to mention his father's latest amour. So he kept silent. He didn't want to start a conversation about his father that they would both regret. Once things were said out loud you could not take them back. It had to come from her and he had to listen and then make a decision over what steps he was going to take to relieve her of her worries.
After a few minutes his mother said quietly, 'I have no money, Freddie, could you please lend me a couple of pounds.'
The shock of her words was like a bucket of ice water hitting him in the face.
Maggie was cuddled up to Jimmy in the back of his car.
It was not ideal but it was warm and roomy and they had made it as comfortable as they could. Jimmy kept blankets in the boot and they snuggled under them together, happy just to be in each other's company.
Jimmy loved the feel of her against him, when they were together like this he understood how men could kill for a woman.
'He's a lovely baby, ain't he?'
Jimmy shrugged and then kissed the top of her head.
'He's a baby, they all look the same to me. At least Freddie's happy, anyway.'
He felt her body shudder against him as she gave a loud snort of derision.
'Fucking happy, he'll make a fuss for a week and then get fed up with it like he always does.'
'That's their business, Mags, don't let it interfere with tonight.'
She wanted to laugh, he was always trying to keep the peace. She understood Jimmy and Freddie were close and she knew he didn't like the way Freddie treated Jackie, but his loyalty was one of the things she loved about him.
In fact it was his loyalty that she would have to depend on in years to come. When she had a couple of kids and the relationship was older. She knew that as time went on and he made his way in their world he was going to have young girls throw themselves at him. You only had to look at Freddie and his father to see how life could develop.
'Let's get married soon, Mags, eh?' He squeezed her to him. 'I have enough to buy a place, we can go looking at the weekend. I want us together like this all the time, I am sick of having to take you home and pretend we ain't shagging at every available opportunity.'
She laughed. 'I am ready when you are, mate.' He kissed her on the lips, and she felt the urgency in him once again.
Sooner rather than later suited her, she just wanted out of her mother's house and into a place of her own. She had it all planned, and she was determined to see that her plans did not go awry. No kids for at least six years, and a nice little business to see her through the future. She felt so lucky, and she prayed silently that they would not end up like Freddie and Jackie.
If he ever stopped loving her like this she knew that she would die inside, and it was this knowledge that helped her understand why her sister and mother acted like they did.
Freddie Senior was in his element. He was experiencing a high the likes of which he had never thought possible.
Kitty Mason had just blown him off and it had left him weak as a kitten and feeling like Tarzan.
She was now rolling herself a joint. She sat cross-legged on the floor, her naked body shining like marble in the lamplight. All the years he had been married he had never seen his wife in the nude, and though he had sown his wild oats he had never had a woman so at ease with herself and her body like Kitty. Even after two kids her body was like a well-chewed Blackpool whelk, not a mark on it!
He could watch her for hours, there was something about her that made him want her like he had never wanted any woman before. He had always had his sidelines, and he had enjoyed them, and then he had left them. They had known the score and that had been their attraction. He took them out and he wined and dined them, gave them a seeing to as and when it suited him. They, for their part, had the opportunity to be seen with a well-known Face and experience the criminal lifestyle of money and long nights out.
It was an arrangement that suited everyone and this state of affairs would carry on until the relationship died a natural death.
But from the moment he had seen Kitty it had been a totally different experience. He had been besotted within seconds.
This was an alien concept to him. Never in his life had a woman affected him so strongly. He knew he was setting himself up for a fall, that the thirty-odd-year age gap could only bring him grief, but he was drawn to her. When he wasn't with her he wondered constantly where she was and what she was doing. Drove himself mad wondering if she was with someone else, more to the point, if she was sleeping with anyone else.
Freddie Senior knew in his heart the way he felt about her was unhealthy. She was like an addiction, yet he could not bring himself to try to give her up. Her little flat was lovely, and even though she had two kids she kept the place spotless. It was nicely decorated, and her kids were well behaved. Kitty was a free spirit, and he was attracted to that. She looked after herself, paid her own bills, had even done her own decorating. She had a strength of character that wasn't apparent to most people and it was that independence that most attracted him.