Back to the bar and ordered double Scotches. Got on the other side of them, I said, ‘What should I do?’

‘Get shot of her.’

‘That’s it… for this I sat through poetry at eleven.’

‘Look Coop, we’re due to take that bank… wot… two weeks… we can’t afford complications, that woman isn’t a loose cannon, she’s a walking time bomb.’

‘Maybe we should postpone.’

He put down his drink, laid a big hand on my shoulder, said, ‘No can do old son, I need the cash.’

‘What else is new.’

‘Straight up… and you need to get that pistol back. Jaysus, all we need is for her to put a bullet in Bert.’

‘Bertr?’

‘Yeah, the fast food guy, if she’s as nutty as she sounds, she’ll go back. It’s what psychos do.’

Lisa, a barmaid, was collecting glasses. A friendly slip of a girl, I was always glad to see her. As she leant over, her breasts brushed my arm and she let the touch linger, her eyes locked on mine. Her perfume had a familiar scent… I asked, ‘What’s the fragrance?’

‘Poison.’

‘I don’t doubt it but what’s it called?’

‘That’s the name.’

It was what Cassie wore. Doc said, ‘She fancies you, that Lisa does.’

‘Leave it out.’

‘C’mon, get the cork outa yer ass. Bring her home, have a nice uncomplicated lass for once.’

‘Jeez, I haven’t the energy.’

‘Here, take this… it’s amyl nitrate, crunch that baby under yer nose, you’ll go like the clappers.’

‘The fuck’s going on. All day people feeding me poetry and dope or is that the other way round, dopes feeding me…’

‘Poetry, dope and rock ’n’ roll, like an Ian Dury song. Go on… go for it. Aren’t I yer doctor.’

‘You know I hate drugs.’

The sun through the bedroom window nudged me awake. I yawned, stretched, feeling good. Lisa woke and gave me a lazy smile. The door crashed open and Cassie was framed there, wearing one of my best shirts, screamed, ‘Oh you bastard, how could you… in our marriage bed.’