Let me set the scene here; it's the mid nineties, I'm a 26 year old man from the South of London. A very popular place known as Kingston Upon Thames; the most perfect place to bring up my family.
My name is Michael, and in this story I'm going to educate you on the complexities of the notorious London underworld; a conundrum really as the main protagonists crave annonimity but wouldn't be where they are without establishing a "reputation".
Now London, like most capital cities is incredibly iconic; steeped in history and legend. I mean, let's be honest it's where our monarch lives. With this history there has always been a substantial criminal underworld, mix that with the volume of people, rocketing successful business opportunities and the various nature of its residents; and you have a lucrative, often explosive mix.
With this melting pot of cultures, money, crime there will always be individuals that will try to control it for their own financial gains. With this being said, there was; at this time one family in particular......... The Adams, aka the A Team. Their rise to the top was one of murder, torture, robbery, extortion and drugs.
Now, before I get sidetracked; I will get to the notorious A Team in further blogs; this is a story about a very close family member of mine. So, back to the title......... Who is James H?
Jimmy was a very successful night club owner and restauranteur; at this time he was in his mid forties. A dapper gentleman who oozed both confidence and authority.
I had always been aware of his reputation although he tried to keep this away from his family; I overheard him once telling a very unpleasant individual that "he could be his best friend or his worst nightmare". To my surprise this struck a look of terror in the individuals face.
Jimmys reputation and position within the community was cemented by the success he had in his late twenties; he was a very prolific armed robber, his speciality was robbing security vans.
Anyone that knows the criminal underworld is aware of the stature of armed robbers is second to none, safe to say the respect he commanded was very well earned.
I had got myself into a situation that Jimmy had basically "sorted" out for me when I was 20; I was eternally grateful and became a manager at one of his clubs in the "West End"
Every night was like a "who's who", we had actors, politicians, wealthy socialites and notorious gangsters from around the city. It was an amazing venue, and remarkably absolutely no trouble.
The club boasted a very affluent membership, we had the most beautiful hostesses that were known as "Jimmys Angels". Owing to the success of the club and Jimmys reputation I was beginning to rise up through the ranks very rapidly.
This had come to the attention of James and one evening he had a "talk" with me; to sum it up he advised me to think long and hard about the decisions you make today as they will effect the rest of your life. You will always be known by the company you keep!!
I had over the previous years listened and learnt from James, I did admire him but I was sensible enough to realise he was unique.