He’s such a good bloke John is. You won’t find a bloke who looks after his own more than John does, I’m telling you.
It’s like, you should see John with his family. There he is, this big bloke, all muscles and tattoos and shaved head and all that, and then he’s got these seven little kids all hanging off his arms and his legs and jumping all over him, ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy!’ Sometimes it’s like he’s just this giant big climbing frame. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.
And they’ve got him wrapped round their little fingers those kids, especially the little one Josie. You should see his face when she cries. It’s like he just can’t bear it. It’s like he’d do anything to stop that noise. He’d do anything for that girl would John.
There was this thing Josie wanted for Christmas a couple of years back, some doll or toy or something, I can’t remember, and it was the sort of thing the likes of you or I or John can’t afford. Josie didn’t kick up a fuss or nothing about having it cos she knew daddy couldn’t afford it. They’re not spoilt John’s kids. But John knew how bad she wanted it and of course he had to spend the same money on the others as well cos you can’t treat one kid differently from the others. So what does John do? He does double shifts every single day for two months. That’s sixteen hours a day, every day through November and December just to get up enough money to give that little girl and those kids an extra special Christmas.
He’s got his principles has John and unlike what you can say about most people, he really sticks to them. Like he’s been a union man all his life, has John, not that he’s no commie, he just believes that us workers have got to stick together to provide mutual protection against the unfair treatment of big businesses. His mate Tom Jenkins from work was a union man too but some time in the late nineties just after New Labour got in, Tom jacked it all in, quit the union and everything. Said it wasn’t worth it no more.
Now John and Tom had known each other for years but that was it. John never spoke to him again. Just completely cut him off. And that was more than ten years ago. He hasn’t spoken to him since. Seen him every day at work for over ten years but hasn’t said a word to him since. That’s what I mean about a man having principles and sticking to them.
But when you’re John’s friend, you’re John’s friend, you know what I mean?You can go to him for anything, ask him for anything. I’ve never met anyone as generous as John like that. He’d give the shirt off his back to a mate who needed it. Like that time Luke got in trouble with his dealer and he owed this bloke like three hundred quid or something and of course he didn’t have the money, what with Luke being such a fuck up and everything, and this bloke wasn’t no small time pot dealer or nothing, he was big time and he’d made it clear in no uncertain terms that Luke was gonna lose a couple of knee caps if he didn’t get him the money. Who does Luke go to but John of course? His scraggy-arse druggy mates ain’t gonna help him out are they?
It’s not like John’s the sort of bloke that’s just got three hundred quid in his back pocket. He’s got a job at the post office and a missus and seven kids at home to look after. But he sees what he can do, he calls in a few favours and he has three hundred quid for Luke within twenty-four hours. And you know what? Luke paid him back every penny of that three hundred quid. It took him nigh on six months but he paid back every single penny. Cos that’s what you do innit? Mates stick together.
That’s what it’s like with John. It’s mates before everything except family with him. I’ve seen what he’s done to people who’ve crossed his mates so I should know . It’s all about loyalty. Loyalty to your family, loyalty to your mates, loyalty to the union and loyalty to the country.
There was this one time we’d washed up in Brick Lane after a long old day on the pop and we was looking for a decent curry house, and it was quiet. Most places were closing cos it was really getting on, and we’re looking for somewhere that’s still open and there’s these two Indian lads standing around talking fucking Indian or whatever. Anyway John walks up to them and he’s like, ‘You boys speak English?’ and one of these lads goes, ‘Yes,’ and does this fucking head-waggly thing. And John goes ‘Prove it then. Read this’ and he holds up his wristband thing which has got ‘Britain for the British’ written on it. He holds it away from this Indian lad and the writing’s quite small so the Indian lad has to lean further and further in until he’s almost bending right over and then John brings up his knee straight in this bloke’s nose. This bloke goes over like a sack of spuds and John kicks the fuck out of him. Course we’re all in then, like sharks smelling blood and we do the other lad too. Left em lying in a pool of blood like two rag dolls.
Not long after we find ourselves legging it down some back alley off Brick Lane cos there’s always the Law about round there, and would you believe it? We run straight up to a curry house that’s still open. John’s buzzing and he buys everyone a curry and a pint. A good hundred quid that came to, and that’s with a wife and seven kids at home to support. Such a good bloke.
http://ayellowsmile.wordpress.com/
