When Christine told me that she got a call from Steph telling her he had days to live I must admit I was very skeptical. The international man of mystery always liked to create drama and make himself look way more exotic than he actually was. However my cynical attitude to his health condition was completely misplaced because Stephen died less than 24 hours after that phone call.

We grew up together, I guess we must have met at the Cochrane House but no idea when. He was a Pape and I was a Prod. He was very opinionated, very moody and when drunk he could start a fight with his shadow. However we had many laughs and many good times and sometimes we crossed the line to the dark side hoping the boys in blue were not around to catch us. He was always game for a laugh and very rarely turned down a challenge and he often got up to mischief and sometimes I tagged along. We never got caught, nearly but we never got caught.

He always had my back, which is something I am very grateful for. The Cochrane House could be absolutely mental at times and there were many fights but I always seemed to come through unscathed.  One party that we had turned into a full on war between the rival gangs and many got caught in the crossfire. Stephen got stabbed in the arm after he had been out there in melee doing his bit and I remember walking about after the police and ambulances arrived looking for him as well as everyone else and I found him in one of the ambulances holding his arm, he said “I got stabbed” I said “ Is it sore?” He said “What do you fucking think!” Then we had a good laugh………

There are too many stories, some I can tell and some I will take to my grave. Stephen was a multi-faceted friend whom I enjoyed being with, well not all the time cause sometimes it was scary if it was the Dark Stephen. One thing he did which I never forgot which made me feel a bit resentful towards him was when he recorded our conversations in his car. One night I caught up with him on the way home from Toledo Junction, I was blootered. We had gone to the hamburger stall, sometimes there was one opposite Toledo where there was a beautiful young girl which everybody chatted up. Stephen gave me the impression that he and she had a thing going and I was extremely jealous. No idea if this was true and looking back I very much doubt it.

As we sat in the car eating our food sometime after midnight we were just talking pish really about anyone and everyone. Someone always upsets someone else and it’s at times like these you confide in your friends if you feel someone has done you a wrong turn. As I found out to my utter horror a few days later when we were out and about during daylight hours, he had recorded everything that had been said in the car that night. He loved to get dirt on folk, a bit of blackmail you could say just so he could hold the cards. I was fuckin’ furious and worried at the same time because there were things I should have never spoken about but as we all know the power of alcohol changes everything.

In February 2018 I went home to get a new visa for China. I was in the UK for a month or so. He came to Johnstone for a few days and Christine, Steph and myself spent the day together around Loch Lomond. We had a great day, mind you it was raining but the banter and the laughs were brill. This is what I really enjoyed with Steph, the banter at times was minted and extreme at the same time and nothing was off limits.

I caught up with him in London for the day before I flew back to China, in fact I remember him insisting that we catch up. He had recently retired and he had a £100,000 from a pension burning a hole in his pocket and we discussed what should be done with all this money. Maybe buy a wee bothy in Scotland or flat and rent it out, travel never seemed to be on the agenda. But I remember him saying that as long as Karen and Joseph are taken care of, then all is well. The penny for me never dropped until I got the call from Christine the other day. When I met Stephen in London he was showing remorse for things done in the past and he wanted to right the wrongs he may have done. I just thought it was old age. I never for a minute put two and two together.

Apparently he has had a lung condition for quite a while and I wager that he knew in 2018 the road he was on. We had a great day walking around Soho, Chinatown and along the Thames regaling stories and reminiscing through a frigid London where for the first time in years there was snow on the ground. The big man hug that we gave each other at the end of the day brought a tear to my eye, my subconscious must have picked up on the subtle messages that I completely missed. I never saw him again or spoke to him after that day, not because I didn’t want to but he just never replied. Now I understand why…..

Stephen Madden was a very private man, saying he was complex is an understatement. I always enjoyed seeing him when I went home and talking shit and remembering times before technology. I guess we’ll catch up on the other side one day……….until then big man rest easy………