Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 16:50:30 EDT
From: Djedoric58@aol.com
Subject: THE BULL SINGER, CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

THE BULL SINGER
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

From chapter thirty-seven

 "Bloody hell Jerry! What are you doing here?" Mags pulled the man into the
cottage and slammed the door shut. "Where the hell have you been? I've been
trying to get hold of you for the last twenty four hours."

"Steady on, old chap. I didn't know my presence was going to cause such a
stir. Is the lady all right?"

Gran had come round and was staring up at the man I assumed to be Mags's
researcher friend. "Leslie?"

"Unfortunately not, dear lady, although I am told I do look like him. Allow
me to introduce myself. The Honourable Jeremy Read, at your service." He
tipped his hat at her then removed it with a flourish. "I will admit I
sometimes make a little pocket money doubling for the grand old man of film
whenever the need arises." Once we had moved back into the lounge and Gran
was settled in Rosie's fireside chair, Jeremy offered her his hand. "I take
it you are a fan of Mr. Phillips?"

"Oh, yes." Gran laughed and shook his hand. "I've watched all his films,
and I'm so glad he's still working and making films. I'm sorry I made a
fool of myself just then. I thought my dream had come true and he'd
actually come to see me. I should have thought he wouldn't come here
though; this not being my home address."

Jeremy bowed to Gran then turned to Mags and pointed at him with his silver
topped walking stick. "And you, my friend, owe me a new mobile phone."

"Oh, yes how come?"

"Well I don't much like being chased out of an Italian restaurant by a mad
chef wielding a meat cleaver."  Now read on

"Italy?"

"Yes, I was in Rome at a friend's wedding, so I thought a bit of research
on your behalf wouldn't go amiss. I`m glad I did, too; even if I almost got
scalped for my efforts. That's where I lost my mobile and I certainly
wasn't going to risk having my head slit open to retrieve it." He suddenly
spotted Joey rising from the recliner and said, "And you must be one of the
Triplets." We all stared at him in astonishment, and he grinned and said,
"Someone, make me a good cup British tea and I'll tell you what I found."

Shrugging out of his coat, he let Dad take it from him and he sat down on
the settee. Reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket, he drew out a
thick envelope. "I found the village where the D'Marco's lived around the
time of Angela's marriage and found that the family had moved away. The
villagers were reluctant to talk about them, except one old man who
mentioned that one of the sons had gone to jail. I eventually found the
family living on the other side of Rome, where a Geuseppe D'Marco runs a
restaurant. I went to see him and I assure you, Mags, I was most polite
when I enquired if I might speak to the gentleman about Angela
Chambers. This Sr. D'Marco comes roaring out of the kitchen with the
biggest meat cleaver I have ever seen. Believe me, I got out of there with
seconds to spare. I knew I wouldn't get any information from him so I took
a look at the birth and marriage records, and these are what I found." He
handed the envelope to Mags who tore it open and drew out the
contents. Unfolding them he caught his breath as he read the
documents. "Pete, do you realise what these are?" Joey and I both craned
our necks to look over his arm, and saw they were birth certificates.
Jeremy accepted a cup of tea from Mum and after taking a sip, said "I
wasted some time searching the entries for nineteen ninety two, then I
searched backwards and found those. You must be Pietro but which one are
you?"

Joey glanced up and said, "I'm Joey."

"Ah yes! Geuseppe! So where are Ricardo and Guglielmo?"

Mags answered quietly, "Ricardo is asleep in the bedroom, and Guglielmo was
my Billy."

"Oh, I see. I take it the boys know what happened to him?"

"Pete and Joey do. We haven't had a chance to tell Ricky yet," Mags
replied, "but what I'd like to know is how you knew; we were here" I saw
the suspicion in his eyes. It didn't do to trust just anyone with the bitch
on the loose.

"Remember you gave me your home phone number? I was about to drive up to
your place but I decided to phone you first, and your dad told me where you
were after phoning Elias Chambers. It's a good thing we contacted Elias
because he gave me a message for you. Someone called Benjamin is tailing
Angela.  Have you seen the evening news?" He looked straight at us, as he
added, "There was an attack on a roadside caterer just outside Cambridge,
yesterday. His wife returned from shopping and found him badly beaten
up. He's in a critical condition.  The trouble is, someone reported seeing
a dark grey BMW parked by the trailer shortly before the attack."

As Joey and I exchanged looks of fear, Rosie piped up and said, "Well they
won't find it here. I had Mary drive Harold's car out of the garage and the
other car is locked up inside where no one can see it. Now, if you'll
excuse me, I'll get the supper started. Mr. Crayel, we'll need to extend
the table in the dining room, and there are spare chairs in the bedrooms if
you'd like to bring them out. It'll be a bit crowded in there but at least
we can eat in a civilised manner."

Mary made to follow her into the kitchen. "Can I help?"

"No thanks, Mary. I guessed I would have a few visitors, besides
yourselves, so I made a large pan of stew. I only have to heat it
through. You could lay the table if you like."

Joey whispered in my ear that one of us should check Ricky's bedroom for
chairs, and I took the baby from him and let him go in to check on his
brother as well. Well, that was my excuse to hold our nephew for a bit; I
could also watch Gran and Jeremy sitting together and having a good old
chinwag about old films.

*

Joey's Story

When I approached the bed, I found Ricky already awake and staring around
the room as if trying to puzzle out how he had got here. We had left him
asleep, lying on his back but he had rolled over onto his left side and was
trying to raise himself up on his elbow while his face registered that the
pain killers the doctor had given him were no longer controlling the
pain. He finally noticed me, fell back against the pillows, sighed and
opened his eyes and blinked at me. "Hello Me."

I grinned down at me and sat on the bed. "Hi Ricky." He stared at me for a
moment, and his eyes slowly widened. "You're not seeing things, Ricky and
this isn't a dream. I'm your brother, Joey."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope" I showed him the black and white photograph and he stared at it,
reaching out to touch it, confirming it was real. He turned it over and saw
the faded writing but couldn't read it. I turned it over again and read it
out to him. "Pietro and Angela with their children, Pietro aged two and a
half, and triplets Guglielmo, Geuseppe, and Ricardo, born sixteenth of
February nineteen-ninety. I'm Joseph, you're Richard and the third triplet
was William. You might have known him as Billy Junior who died of cancer a
few weeks ago."

"Billy Junior was my brother?"

 "Yep, Pietro, our older brother is known as Pete. He was with Billy Junior
for a short while. He's here too." Ricky's face crumbled as he reached out
to me.

In seconds we were wrapped in a tight hug, and I felt his body shudder
against mine. "I don't believe this is happening." He sobbed. "I knew there
was someone out there that I should know. How did you find me?"

"That's a long story, Bro, but we're here now, and everything is going to
be okay." I laid him down again and handed him some tissues from a box on
the bedside cabinet, while I fought hard to control my own emotions.

"But how come we didn't grow up together?"

"The short story is, our mum did some bad things in Italy and laid the
blame on dad, and threatened us kids and Dad's family if he didn't plead
guilty. Dad arranged a snatch. Our Uncle William took Billy, Harold took
you, and Harold's sister, Mary, took Pete. They managed to hide us till now
in case Mum carried out her threats. I was the unlucky one; they couldn't
snatch me in time and I ended up with Mum. My life wasn't very nice.  But
that's another story."

From behind a tissue, Ricky choked out, "If only you'd have found me a week
ago. Harold's gone, and my girlfriend is dead, and my baby's going to be
brought up by some stranger. I'll never see him again."

I handed him fresh tissue and stoked his hair back off his forehead. "I
can't do anything about Harold, or Jenny, but perhaps I can do something
about your baby." I got up off the bed. "Just hang in their, Bro, I just
have to get something from the lounge, okay?"

I opened to bedroom door to find Pete and Dad standing close by with the
ladies all looking at me, expecting a chair and a report on Ricky. Pete was
still nursing the baby who was beginning to fret. "He's awake, and I think
it's time he met his son." I took the baby from Pete. "Can you make up a
feed? It'll do Ricky good to feed him." I didn't get any argument about it
except that Pete looked disappointed when I said to hold off for a few
minutes before bringing the bottle in. Going back into the bedroom I saw
that Ricky was now sitting up. "Here we are, Bro. one baby who needs a bit
of love."

Ricky looked at the baby with suspicion and hurt in his eyes. "Nice, who's
is it?"

"Well it certainly isn't mine," I said with a laugh and leaned down to
place the baby in his arms. Once more he burst into tears as he recognised
his son, and he cuddled him gently. He laughed and cried alternately,
clearly wondering how this miracle had occurred. He glanced up at me with
an enquiring expression. "How...?"

"We have a friend who's busy persuading the Social Services that they've
been told a pack of lies, so, you'd better get busy thinking of a name for
him. We need to get him registered first thing on Monday."

Ricky managed to sniff back his tears enough to say, "He's already got
one. It's Harry, after Harold and Monks after my parents."

"How about the surname D'Marco?"

"What?"

I decided it wouldn't hurt to give him a few details. "Our birth name is
D'Marco, and we were born in Rome. Our dad, Pietro D'Marco married Angela
Chambers. When Mum fled to England she took her mother's maiden name of
Street, which is my surname. Pete was adopted by Mary's son, Richard Crayel
and his wife, also called Mary. Harold brought you to England and had you
adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Monks. Our Uncle William and his wife adopted Billy
in Rome and brought him home to England. William was a founder member of
the band that became Billy Junior. He died two years ago and Mags Alton
took care of Billy and they became a couple."

Ricky stared at me, wide-eyed "Mags Alton! the sax player?"

"Yeah, but here's the twist in the tail; it turns out that Mags is Mum's
younger half-brother, and he and Billy never knew they were related because
William died before he could tell Billy of his birth. Billy never knew he
was adopted, and Pete and I only discovered who we were when we decided to
try and find out who our Dads were. Mum forged my birth certificate to show
no father and her name as Angela Street, and that I was born in Manchester
in nineteen ninety-two. We ended up living in a house owned by Mags's dad,
and that's when I found out who Mags was, you see, I..." I felt my cheeks
burn.

"He thought you were Billy come back from the dead?"

Now it was my turn to stare. "How did you know?"

"I don't know; I just felt it. What happened?"

"It was a mistake, he was half asleep and didn't know I was in the
bathroom, and...he kissed me."

Ricky reached out to grip my hand. "Maybe we're more alike than just in
looks. Maybe Billy was too." Harry came awake all of a sudden, screwed his
face and hands up, and got ready to scream. And as if on cue, the bedroom
door opened and Pete came in with the bottled lifesaver. With a smile, he
came to sit on the other side of the bed. "Hi, Ricky, I'm Pete, your older
brother." While I supported Harry, my brothers hugged each other tight and
shed a few tears before Pete let Ricky go and handed the bottle to
him. Ricky laughed through his tears as Harry latched onto the teat and
settled down to feed. "I remember you now," Ricky said to Pete. "You and
Joey were at the apartment."

"Do you remember what happened there?" Pete enquired.

"Could I ever forget it?" Ricky laid Harry across his lap so he could free
a hand to reach for a tissue, wipe his face and blow his nose. "Prescot's
thugs used me as a punch bag then made me watch our stuff being
trashed. Then they dragged me down the stairs and made me watch our other
stuff being burned and smashed up." He touched his face again. "Jeez, my
face hurts!" He touched it again and felt the roughness of his chin. "I
think I need a shave and a shower. Anyway, there I was, wishing I was dead
and thinking I'm going crazy listening to someone telling me to hang on,
that help was coming, seeing myself and talking to myself. Right! Send for
the white van and lock me away! Then you two were there with another guy
keeping me warm. The next thing I knew I woke up in here." Fresh tears fell
as he added, "I've always felt I wasn't alone, that I had a brother
somewhere."

"Me too" I wiped my own tears away and saw Pete do the same.

Ricky shook his head as he watched his son guzzle the contents of the
bottle. "I'm sorry I can't take all this in right now. Can I lie down
please I guess I don't f...fee..ll..."

I caught Harry and the bottle as Ricky collapsed against the pillows. Pete
lifted his head and whipped the pillows away, laying Ricky flat on the
bed. Pete looked hard at me. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking; hole in
the heart?" He rushed into the bathroom, brought out a damp flannel and
wiped Ricky's face with it.

Ricky moaned, gasped for air and opened his eyes. "Mmm what happened?"

"You fainted." Pete wiped his face again. "Does it happen often?"

"Lately yeah. Why?"

"Same here, till a few days ago." I said. "I had a hole in my heart and I
had it fixed last Monday. Billy's was done before Angela kicked off and
caused our break-up. It could be you've got the same problem but we know
just the right person to put you right, don't we Pete?"

"Yeah, thanks to Grandpa Chambers."

"Ricky wrapped an arm over his eyes, still breathing heavily. "I don't get
it. I've hardly ever needed to see a doctor since I was a nipper. Why
didn't it show up earlier?"

"Sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't," I said. "This is the way it
happened to me." Harry growled and pushed the teat out of his mouth and got
ready to bellow. I sat him up and leaned him over my left arm, and patted
his back. Ricky lowered his arm and watched what I was doing. I grinned at
him. "Watch the expert at work, Bro; with Pete and me around, who needs
women?"

As soon as I said it, I knew I had goofed badly. Ricky closed his eyes and
the tears began again. I shoved Harry into Pete's lap and leaned down with
my face close to Ricky's. "Hey, Bro, I'm sorry, I didn't me it that way. Of
course you need Jenny and you'll miss her terribly, but what I meant was,
you'll never be alone ever. I know we can never take her place but we'll
help you look after Harry."

I stroked his hair back off his face and he opened his eyes and gazed up at
me; "Promise?"

I smiled and planted a quick kiss on his nose. "Promise now you just relax
and get some more rest. That's what I was ordered to do when they discover
the hole in my ticker. Pete and I will look after Harry and we'll go and
see how supper's coming along. Rosie's made some stew for us."

Ricky gave me a weak smile. "I know Rosie's stews. You won't be
disappointed. I wouldn't mind some myself."

"When did you last eat?"

Ricky shook his head. "I don't remember. I thin it was the night before
Harold died, except for a bit of breakfast at the hospital this
morning. Food was the last thing on my mind."

"Right! One bowl of `Stew à La Rosie' coming up." There were three dining
chairs in the bedroom. "Come on Uncle Pete let's get these chairs into the
dining room. We can't have your mum and your gran sitting on their thumbs."

Pete took one chair and Harry, and I took the other two, and found Rosie
just about to dish up supper. I took two bowls and begged to be excused,
explaining that I wanted to eat with my brother.

"I'll come too," Pete said and turned to hand Harry to his mother.

"No, that's okay, I can manage." I replied and scooted into the
bedroom. There were things I wanted to say to Ricky that Pete would not
understand I wanted to bond with my brother as soon as possible, and I felt
we had to be alone to do that. What I didn't now was how big a cloud of
trouble I was creating.

* * *