The Guv'nor Read Online Free PDF

I’ve had to give him a bit of a smack for wetting himself, so leave him to think about it in bed until the morning.’
    When we all went to bed at about six, I looked under the covers and his body and bottom were all covered in bloody welts. He just lay there, white faced and shivering. Four years old and beaten worse than a dog. I got into bed and cuddled him, and do you know what that brave little fucker said?
    â€˜I’m sorry I wet meself, Lenny.’ He was sorry – he was smashed to bits and was sorry for causing trouble.
    I could hear that bastard laughing in the other room, and I thought, ‘I’m going to get you hurt for what you’ve done.’ As youngas I was, I could take whatever he could dish out, but I couldn’t bear to see any of the others get it.
    I lay there for hours still holding little Kruger. I heard the telly shut down. We had one by then, and I think it used to go off at about eleven in those days. Still, I lay there until I was sure everybody was asleep. Then I woke up my brother, told the others to keep quiet, dressed us both and sneaked out of the flat. My mate Alfie had a go-kart made from an old pram, and he used to keep it tucked behind the rubbish bin on the ground floor. I got that out real quiet, laid Kruger on it and, pulling him along with a bit of string, set off to take him to my mum’s mum, Nan Campion.
    It wasn’t that far, but it seemed like miles. It started to snow and it was pitch dark. About halfway there I saw a copper but I pulled the cart up an alley and hid until he’d gone by. Don’t ask me why – it was just instinct, just something you always did. Eventually, we got there and the house was all dark but I banged on the door until I got Nan out of bed.
    My eldest sister Linda was there, because Nan had taken her in when Dad died to make it easier for Mum.
    My mum’s brother, Uncle Fred Campion, was there as well. He was halfway down the stairs in his underpants, hair all sticking up. What a diamond of a man. From the day my father died that lovely man bought all our Christmas presents, right up until we were grown up. He never married, just looked after Nan and Linda. Now he’s an old man and things have turned round. Nan’s dead and Linda looks after him. I haven’t seen him for years – you lose touch as you get older, but I’ll always love him for what he did for us. Anyway, when they saw the mess Kruger was in there was hell to pay. Looking back, the scenes in my head are like fast-forwarding a video, all rushing and blurry.
    I’m put to bed, Kruger’s taken to hospital, the police are called and, best of all, as I hoped would happen, Nan sent for her brother, Jimmy Spinks. Why he wasn’t called in years ago I don’t know. I suppose Mum was ashamed of becoming involved with Jim Irwin and kept what went on to herself. Now I’d let the cat out of the bag, not for myself but for my brother.
    My great-uncle Jimmy was one of the toughest men to come out of Hoxton. He was about 21 stone and 5ft 9in, built like an ox, with powerful arms and shoulders, and a fighting reputation that couldn’t be bettered in those days. I’ll tell you more about him in a bit, but right then, when he saw for himself what had been done tothat baby, he tore straight round our flat like a raging bull. The police had already been up to the flat and Mum had talked them out of prosecuting, so I expect that smug bastard thought he’d got away with it again. That was until Uncle Jim came through the door. I learned all this afterwards. He didn’t knock, he actually punched the door open.
    Jim Irwin just had time to come out of the sitting-room before he was battered, semi-conscious, back in again. Now remember, Uncle Jim was twice his age, but Irwin didn’t stand a chance. As he got to his feet those massive fists put him down again, then out came the cut-throat razor. Whether he would have