by Joan Jonker
That was the last thing on Nellie’s mind. If there was any news to hear, then she wanted to hear it first hand. Not a watered down version that Molly would give her. ‘No, George will be all right, girl, he won’t have even missed me yet. I bet any money he’s only up to page twelve of the News of the World. I’ll come in yours with yer, it’ll pass half an hour away.’
Jack was listening to the wireless when he heard the key in the door, and switched the set off before turning to the hall with a smile on his face. The house never seemed the same when Molly wasn’t in it, not as homely or comfortable, as though the main ingredient was missing. But she was here now, and his heart felt lighter. ‘I expected yer home earlier, love.’ His mouth closed and his eyes widened when his wife was followed into the living room by Nellie, then Ruthie, Bella, and the three lads. ‘I see yer’ve brought company with yer.’
Molly bent down to kiss him before slipping off her coat. ‘I didn’t have much choice. Nellie refused point-blank to go home, and Ruthie and Bella want to ask a favour, so the lads came with them for moral support.’
Nellie made a beeline for her carver chair. From the sound of things there were issues to discuss, and she may as well listen in comfort. And comfort to Nellie included tea and biscuits. ‘Put the kettle on before business gets under way, girl, save breaking off halfway through the proceedings.’
‘If you think this is going to be a party, sunshine, then yer’ve got another think coming.’
‘I’m only asking for a cup of tea, so don’t be so miserable.’
‘No, sunshine, ye’re asking for eight cups of tea, ’cos yer don’t think I’d make you a cup and not everyone else. And the plain fact is, I don’t possess eight cups and saucers.’
The youngsters’ eyes were moving from Molly to Nellie as though hypnotized. Then Ruthie broke the spell. ‘Mam, we only want to ask yer something. At least I want to ask you, ’cos Bella has already asked her mam. So if you and Auntie Nellie could call a truce for a few minutes, we could get it over with and leave yer in peace.’ The girl’s eyes were bright and her laughter filled the room. ‘If yer go back to war, I bet Auntie Nellie will win, she always does.’
This pleased the little woman no end. ‘I won’t be fighting tonight, girl, ’cos I’ve left me pistol at home. But thanks for having faith in me.’
Molly looked at Jack’s face and knew right away he wasn’t in the mood for so many visitors. ‘Can we get down to the favour yer want to ask, Ruthie, or the alarm clock will be going off to tell us it’s time to get up before we go to bed.’
There was much chuckling from the youngsters, who thought Molly and Nellie were funnier than anyone in the pictures.
‘Well, it’s like this, Mam. Yer know me and Bella’s birthdays are very close together, and we’d like to have a joint party. Will yer let us?’
‘In this house, yer mean, sunshine, for you and yer mates?’ Molly’s hand swept round the circle of friends. ‘It’s fine by me, and I can’t see your dad objecting.’
Ruthie pulled a face. ‘I can’t have a birthday party and not invite my sisters and brother. They would think I was mean and didn’t love them. And I do love them, Mam, I really do.’
‘Of course yer do, sunshine, but yer can’t ask Jill without Steve, Doreen without Phil, or Tommy without Rosie. And what about your grandma and granda? That comes to eight and I haven’t even started. There’s me and your dad, plus Bella’s mam and dad, as well. Twelve people so far.’
‘More than that, girl,’ Nellie said, sitting with her hands on the arms of the chair and her face serious. She reminded Molly of a judge presiding over a courtroom trial. ‘What about me and George and Corker and Ellen? We’d all be very hurt if we were left out.’
The look of anticipation on five young faces had now turned to one of disappointment as they did some silent mental arithmetic. ‘That comes to sixteen, I think.’ Gordon Corkhill had been ticking off on his fingers. ‘You’d never get sixteen to fit in this room, and that’s not counting us.’
‘Don’t you be putting a damper on things, lad,’ Nellie said. ‘We’ve had twenty-odd in this room many times. And we’ve had a ruddy good time. If you had a party without me, yer’d have no entertainer and would be sat looking at each other all night, as miserable as sin.’
Five young faces lit up as one when Molly said, ‘I’ve got the very solution to the problem. Nellie’s house is exactly the same size as this. So as she’s volunteered to do the entertaining, we may as well have the party in her house.’
Blessed with her mother’s sense of humour, Ruthie didn’t take long to get in on the act. ‘That’s a marvellous idea, Mam. Why didn’t we think of that before? Me, Bella and the boys will see to the pop, you and Auntie Mary can buy the food as a birthday present, and Auntie Nellie can entertain and keep the party going.’
Nellie’s eyes were almost popping out of her head as she sought an answer to get her out of the hole she’d dug herself into. Then she had guidance from above. ‘Sorry, girl, but that is out of the question. Yer see, when your mam has a party here, the men carry this table to my house. And as yer can tell by just looking round, there’s bags of room then.’
‘That was a nice try, sunshine, but you really didn’t think things through properly. Yer see, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’ll get Corker to give Jack a hand carrying your table down here! There’s an answer to everything if yer use your brains.’ Molly moved her head slightly so she could wink at the youngsters, who were taking in every word and wondering what the outcome would be. Would there be a party or not? The only one without a care was Ruthie. She never had any doubt her birthday party would be in her own home. But she enjoyed these exchanges between her mam and Auntie Nellie, and felt her life would have been poorer without them.
‘It’s not only the space, girl, there’s other reasons why I can’t have the party in my house. One is that I haven’t got enough cups to go round, haven’t got enough plates with no cracks, haven’t got enough glasses, with or without chips. And I haven’t got nowhere near twenty spoons.’
‘And what, pray, would yer need twenty spoons for, sunshine?’
‘For the trifles yer’d have to make, girl, that’s what.’
Molly leaned her clenched fists on the table. ‘While you’ve been telling us all the things yer haven’t got, so you can’t have the party in your house, I too have been giving thought to the matter. And I have reached a decision which all the talking in the world won’t persuade me to alter.’ She stood up straight and eyed each one in the room before saying, ‘Ruthie and Bella can have their party in this house, but only for the seven friends. Parents, sisters, brother, and all other relatives and friends can call with cards and presents, and give their best wishes to the birthday girls. But they cannot stay for a party. There’s too many, and I just couldn’t cope. Besides which, I think the youngsters would enjoy themselves without going overboard. I don’t want the neighbours complaining.’
Molly had hardly finished speaking before she was being hugged by her youngest daughter. ‘Oooh, thank you, Mam, that’s a lovely idea. It means I get to see everyone I love on me birthday, but me and Bella can have our own party for our mates.’ Ruthie giggled. ‘I can be hostess, and Bella can be assistant hostess, just like you and Auntie Nellie.’
The little woman wasn’t too happy with the compromise, ‘Yer said for Ruthie’s six friends, but I can only see five. So were yer including me, girl?’
‘No, I wasn’t! If me and Jack are not coming to our daughter’s birthday party, I’m damn sure you’re not. The boys who will make up the seven are Ken and Jeff. I know Ruthie wouldn’t leave them out.’
‘I hadn’t forgotten them, Mam, I just took it for granted they’d be invited, seeing as they’re part of the gang.’
Molly gazed down at Jack. ‘Is that all right with you, sunshine, or do yer have other ideas?’
‘Suits me fine, love. Like yer said, the youngsters are better on their own.
If yer invite all and sundry, it wouldn’t be their party. But we grown-ups could make a night of it and go out somewhere for a change. Pictures, or the pub on the corner, anywhere the ladies fancy.’
This was more like it, and Nellie sat forward. ‘I’m all for that, lad, it sounds good to me. What had yer in mind?’
But Molly put her foot down before Jack could answer, ‘That’s enough for tonight, Nellie, it’s getting late. We’ve plenty of time to decide where we’d like to go. As long as the kids know their party is definitely in here, then they’re fixed up. So I suggest all those who don’t live here should go home now, and let those who do live here have half an hour’s peace and quiet before going to bed.’
The three boys and Bella were smiling and all talking at once as they made their way into the street. Gordon Corkhill, at seventeen, was the oldest, and he tried to look nonchalant, as though a party for two sixteen-year-old girls was kids’ stuff. But inside, he was looking forward to it. He’d make sure he sat next to Ruthie at the table, even if he had to push the other lads away. And seeing as it was his dad’s gramophone and records that were going to provide the music, then it was only fair that he got to dance with her. If they thought he was going to spend the night putting records on and turning them over just for them to dance to, then they had another think coming. The subject of going dancing hadn’t been discussed tonight because everyone’s mind was full of the party. But he was pretty certain that since Mrs Watson had given Bella permission to go to the local church dance with them, then Auntie Molly was bound to allow Ruthie to join them. And like the other lads, he thought that was great. However, he hadn’t told his mates he had a secret agenda that didn’t include them. He’d waited a long time for the day Ruthie was sixteen, and unless his courage deserted him, he intended to ask Auntie Molly if she would let him take her daughter to the pictures one night. Without the rest of the gang, of course. And if she gave her consent, then he’d ask Ruthie.
While he was climbing the stairs to bed that night, he argued with himself that it should be the other way round. He should ask Ruthie first, then ask her mam. He still couldn’t make up his mind as he lay in bed next to his brother, Peter. Then, when he could no longer keep his eyes open, he muttered softly that he’d ask his dad what he should do, and drifted into a slumber that brought a smile to his face. He dreamt that he was sitting in the back row of the stalls at the Broadway, and he was holding Ruthie’s hand.
Unfortunately, his brother was still awake, and listened as Gordon, blissfully unaware he was talking in his sleep, told of his hopes and plans.
Peter grinned and spoke his thoughts aloud. ‘I don’t think much of yer chances, mate, not with Ken and Jeff in the running with the same idea. Me now, I’ve got me eye on Bella, and there’s no one else in the picture.’
A knock came on the partition which divided the back bedroom into two. On the other side of the partition was the bed shared by his sisters Phoebe and Dorothy. It was Phoebe’s voice coming through the thin wall. ‘Will you two stop gabbing so I can get some sleep? It’ll be time to go to work before I’ve closed me eyes.’
‘It’s not me, our kid.’ There was a grin on Peter’s face. ‘It’s our Gordon talking in his sleep. Don’t be moaning at me, he’s keeping me awake as well.’
‘Give him a kick, that will shut him up. Or turn him on to his side.’
‘Ah, ay, sis, he’s a lot bigger than me, and I’m not taking me life in me hands. If I kick him, he’ll kick me back so hard I’ll go through the wall and end up between me mam and dad. And me dad would be so mad, he’d kick me back to me own bed. And I don’t fancy playing football at this time of night. Especially if I’m the ball.’
Gordon stirred, turned on his side, and, his voice drowsy, said, ‘Will yer shut up and let me get some sleep? Yer can’t half talk, Peter, ye’re worse than a blinking woman.’
In the next room, Corker chuckled softly before putting his arm round Ellen’s waist and making himself comfortable for a good night’s sleep. Life was wonderful when you had a wife and children you adored.
Chapter Ten
‘I enjoyed that cup of tea, girl,’ Nellie said as she put her cup back on the saucer. ‘It’s funny how your tea always tastes better than mine. D’yer think it’s the way yer hold yer mouth?’
Molly gazed into her mate’s eyes for a few seconds before answering. ‘No, sunshine, it’s got nothing to do with the way I hold me mouth. If yer asked me to make a suggestion, I’d say an extra spoonful of tea would help. It would give the water a bit of colour, like, instead of looking and tasting insipid. Another thing that would greatly improve your idea of a good cuppa would be to give the kettle a chance to boil, instead of whipping it off the stove before it can let yer know it’s ready for the pot. Ye’re too impatient, sunshine, that’s your trouble.’
Nellie’s chins were quick to agree. They knew only too well how impatient she was, for when she swilled her face every morning, she forgot they were there. Many’s the time they went a full week before seeing a bar of soap. ‘Yeah, ye’re right, girl, I am inpetous. Always have been. I just can’t help meself.’
‘You’re impetuous, sunshine.’
‘I just told yer I was.’
‘No, Nellie, yer told me yer were inpetous. I don’t know what that means, but if you say so, I’ll go along with yer to save any argument.’
Nellie’s eyes became slits. She didn’t know if her mate was being funny or sarky, but she wasn’t going to ask because she had other things on her mind. ‘Life is too short to be arguing all the time, girl, it’s not worth the effort. But talking of tea, and how to make it, is there another cup left in the pot? Me mouth’s gone all dry just thinking about it.’
Molly tutted. ‘Tea tank, that’s what yer are. If there is any tea left in the pot, it’ll be stiff by now.’
‘I don’t mind cold tea, girl, not to drink, anyway. If I had biscuits to dunk I wouldn’t like it, though.’
‘I’m going to tell yer to help yerself, sunshine, while I put me ironing away. But that only applies to the tea, it does not mean I’ve given yer the go-ahead to the biscuit tin as well.’
The little woman was wearing a smile as she reached for the teapot. A custard cream would be nice, but at least she got half of what she was after. And when Molly had her back to her as she placed her ironing in neat piles on the shelves of the cupboard set into the wall at the side of the fireplace, Nellie put an extra spoonful of sugar in the cup of tepid tea. ‘Have yer thought what ye’re having for dinner tonight, girl?’
‘Not yet, Nellie,’ Molly called over her shoulder. ‘I get a bit fed up trying to find something different for a change.’
‘Yeah, me too! George likes tripe, but me and Paul hate it. Another thing he likes that we don’t is pig’s belly. Ask Paul if he’d like that for a change, and he’d be straight out to the grid in the yard to be sick.’
Molly closed the cupboard door, happy in the knowledge that the week’s laundry had been washed, ironed and put away. ‘I think I’ll settle for sausage, liver and onions. It’s easy and quick to cook, and the three of us like it. I might do a bit of mashed potato to go with it.’
Right on cue, Nellie said, ‘Well, fancy that, now! I was thinking of getting the same meself. Yer must be a mind reader, Molly Bennett.’
‘I’m not a mind reader, sunshine, but I always know what you’re going to say next. I can’t do it with anyone else, only you. Funny that, isn’t it?’
‘Ye’re pulling me leg, girl. Yer must think I’m doolally to fall for that. There’s no way yer can tell what I’m going to say next, when I don’t even know meself.’
‘I’ve spoilt things now, by telling yer.’ Molly walked to the sideboard and pulled open a drawer. ‘I’ll tell yer what I’ll do to prove I’m telling the truth.’ She took a small notebook and pencil from the drawer, then closed it with her hip. ‘You stay where yer are, sunshine, and I’ll sit the opposite end of the table. That way we both know there’s
no cheating. Is that all right with you?’
‘Of course it’s all right with me, girl. I don’t know what the hell ye’re talking about, but you go ahead and tell me what ye’re on about.’
‘Well, it’s like this,’ Molly told her. ‘I’m going to write something down on this piece of paper, and I’m going to make sure you don’t see what I’m writing. Then I’m going to put the paper, folded over, mind, into me coat pocket. And I bet that before we leave this house, you will have spoken the very words that I’ve written down. Then perhaps yer’ll believe that I always know what ye’re going to say before yer say it.’
‘That is one load of double Dutch to me, girl. Are yer trying to tell me that ye’re going to write some words on that paper that I’ll say before we go out?’ Nellie watched as her mate made a circle of her arm around the paper, and began to write. ‘Either I’m going crazy, girl, or you are.’ She watched the pencil moving, and muttered, ‘I hope we both end up in the same asylum for the insane.’
Molly put the pencil down and lifted the paper for Nellie to see. ‘Watch, girl, while I fold it once, then twice. Keep yer eyes on me while I walk to the hall and place the paper in the pocket of my coat.’ The paper in the pocket, Molly returned to stand behind her chair. ‘It’s nearly time for us to go to the shops, sunshine, so I won’t make meself comfortable. Pass me yer cup and saucer so I can rinse them before we go. I hate going out and leaving dirty dishes.’
‘Ye’re too fussy, you are, girl,’ Nellie said, passing her cup over. ‘I don’t care what me house looks like during the day, no one sees it. As long as it’s tidy for George and Paul coming home from work, that’s the main thing.’
Molly came back from the kitchen after rinsing the dishes, and she made straight for the hall to take her coat down from a hook. She looked calm enough, but her inside was doing somersaults. Had she slipped up by making that forecast about knowing what Nellie was going to say before they went out? She’d look a fool if she was wrong, but it would serve her right for being so big-headed. ‘Come on, sunshine, I want to call to Doreen’s and Jill’s, to see if they need anything from the shops, save them going out.’
