The Family Firm

Chapter 6

Junior had to make a decision, and he had to make it fast.

He could take the high road and let the bloke mug him off until he was blue in the face. His mum wasn't going to be too pleased if he came home with another black eye, or worse. He could already hear her shrill voice in his ear now, telling him that her heart couldn't take it any more and that he was pissing away all the opportunities she and his uncle Fred had worked so hard to give him.

On the other hand, by slagging him off that wanker Vinny Smith was slagging off his family's good name, a name their people had tried doggedly to preserve. By gobbing off like he was, he was indirectly insulting not only Junior, but the whole Evans family. Standing up to Vinny meant he would be defending his family's honour. His mum had to understand that, didn't she?

So, it was with that reasoning in his head that Junior stopped in his tracks and whipped around to face the other school boy, his hands balled into fists on either side of his stocky frame. 'You wanna say that again, mate? Then say it to my fucking face.'

'Don't act so bloody tough,' retorted Vinny, smug from where he stood. 'The whole school knows; you get into one more fight, you're out for the count. And we all know the only reason you even had a chance since you done Kenny Jones in is 'cause of your pikey uncle.'

Junior's nostrils flared. 'Don't you fucking talk about my uncle. I pull me own weight, dickhead.'

'Well,' said Vinny defiantly. 'Good thing, innit? 'Cause he's a waster just like your dad.'

The reaction came quicker than any conscious thought to enter Junior's mind. In only a second he had Vinny on the ground, cracking his skull into the other kid's nose. It broke on the second impact but he didn't stop there, not until he was dizzy and even then he kept going.

By then, a small crowd had formed around them, the students all watching on with blanched faces and excited expressions. Junior was relentless, his vision gone red, as had his fists, which after sinking punch after punch into poor Vinny's face were now covered in blood.

Not more than a minute had gone by before he felt a sturdy pair of arms prying him off the other boy's lifeless body, but already the damage was done; Vinny Smith's face was reduced to a red pulp and Junior had been the one to do it.

But did he feel any remorse? Did he fuck. The sound of the other pupils shouting was like applause to him, the adrenaline running through his veins like heroin. He knew then as well as he knew his own self that no one would cunt off Freddie Evans Jr any more. He had earned his place in the Evans family and would do his bloody best to defend it right down to the ground.

What satisfied him the most was that he knew his uncle would be proud of him. His mum might take a while to come around, but she always did, after all. Whatever punishment came his way, whether by the school or his dear old mum, would be worth the knowledge that whenever people thought of the Evanses, they wouldn't think of tossers like Vinny Smith. One day, he knew, the name Evans would by synonymous with power, and they'd be on top of the fucking world.

Like Uncle Fred always said, after all.