East End Trouble

by Dani Oakley

  The doctor said nothing for a moment. He looked at Dave with sad, grey eyes and then carefully guided Dave back towards Lillian’s bed.

  “It’s time to put her down now, Mr. Carter.”

  With shaking hands, for once in his life, Dave did as he was told. He carefully laid his little girl back in her bed, pulling up the covers one last time.

  Chapter 36

  Kathleen was finally going home. She’d been in hospital for over a week. The sister on the ward had wanted her to remain for another day or so, to make sure that she’d properly bonded with the baby. But there was no chance of that. Kathleen wasn’t staying there a second longer than she had to.

  After she had gotten back home, she decided maybe she’d been a little hasty. She was back in her old bedroom, with a little crib set up against the wall for young Jimmy. It was cramped and miserable.

  Kathleen glanced through the rain-splattered window out onto the line of dreary houses opposite and looked at the grey street beyond.

  She was sick of this place. She was going to get out of there the first chance she got.

  She needed to see Martin Morton. The selfish bastard hadn’t even bothered to come and see his son once.

  He obviously believed he could treat Kathleen like dirt and she wouldn’t put up a fight. Well, she wasn’t about to take it lying down, not now that she had Jimmy to think about.

  She looked down at the baby in the crib, his flushed cheeks and his dark hair. He hadn’t been an easy baby so far. He was up most of the night screaming the place down.

  Even the nurses had found him a difficult baby. All Jimmy did was eat, sleep or scream.

  At least he was quite a good looking baby. She’d seen some at the hospital who were downright ugly. She wanted to play on Martin’s ego, and so she wanted Jimmy to look his best when he first saw his father.

  Jimmy stirred in his sleep again, and Kathleen held her breath. Too late. The baby began to scream the place down. Kathleen sighed. It was never ending.

  She got up and walked over to the crib, scooping Jimmy out.

  “Mum,” Kathleen called as she carried the baby down the stairs carefully. “Can you look after Jimmy? I’ve already fed him. I’ve absolutely no idea why he’s decided to cry again. I just want to pop out for a little while.”

  Mary Diamond took her grandson from Kathleen’s arms. “There now, what’s all this fuss, Jimmy,” she said, cradling the little boy and rocking him in her arms.

  “Where are you off to?”

  Kathleen deliberately ignored her mother’s question. “I won’t be long.”

  In the hallway, she paused and looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall. She carefully applied some pink lipstick. She was well aware she wasn’t looking her best. She had bags under eyes, and she hadn’t slept properly since Jimmy was born.

  But that couldn’t be helped. She left the house and headed in the direction of Martin’s club. It didn’t matter how much Martin wanted to ignore Jimmy. The fact was the baby existed, and Martin had to pay for it. This time, Kathleen wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  It was mid-afternoon, and the club wasn’t open yet. Kathleen hammered on the door, and after a minute or so Big Tim opened up.

  He looked down at her, his big face solemn.

  “Is Martin about? I just need a quick word.” Kathleen said, trying to peer around Tim and look into the club.

  Tim didn’t budge, and he didn’t invite her in, even though the rain was falling steadily now, and Kathleen was getting absolutely drenched.

  Kathleen tried to smile at him as if she wasn’t at all bothered by this slight, and this was all perfectly normal. “I’m getting a bit wet out here. Is it all right if I come in for five minutes?”

  Big Tim shook his head. “Sorry, love. I’m under orders not to let anyone in during the afternoons. Martin’s not here anyway.”

  Kathleen clenched her teeth. She wouldn’t put it past Big Tim to be feeding her a lie.

  Martin was probably upstairs right now.

  “I really won’t take long. I just need a quick word.” She lifted her foot and tried to step inside, but Big Tim blocked her path. “I said he isn’t here.”

  Kathleen cursed under her breath.

  Finally, as if he’d taken pity on her, Big Tim said, “He’s taken Babs and the kids out to the country for a couple of days. They’re looking at the new house.”

  Kathleen felt like the wind had been knocked out of her as Big Tim shut the door in her face. Was Martin moving to the country?

  She turned away and walked back home, barely noticing the rain seeping through her clothes.

  She’d just turned the corner and was only a few yards from her front door when a thought occurred to her.

  This house in the country wasn’t just for Martin. He probably wanted Babs and her little brats out of the way. She smiled. With Babs and the kids out in the country, and Martin still in London, things would be a lot easier for Kathleen.

  By the time she stepped back inside, she was dripping wet. But she didn’t care. Things were looking up.

  * * *

  The day of Lillian’s funeral would haunt Dave Carter for the rest of his life. The day had dawned bleak and grey, and as they lowered Lillian’s tiny coffin into the ground, the heavens opened, soaking everyone attending the service.

  Beside him, Sandra gave a raw, strangled sob. He wrapped his arm around her and felt his heart break in two. They hadn’t brought Trevor to the funeral. Rita, from next door, was minding him, but the poor kid didn’t know what was going on.

  Dave had caught him poking his head into his sister’s bedroom, not quite understanding or believing that Lillian had really gone. It was a hard thing for a kid to get his head around. Dave was finding it hard enough himself.

  The horror he’d felt at that dreadful moment when he’d realised there was nothing he could do to save his daughter wouldn’t leave him. He’d had nightmares every night since.

  He’d wanted to hate that doctor. He’d wanted to punch him into next week, but he couldn’t because deep down he knew the doctor had done his best. Lillian was dead before he’d even arrived.

  The doctor had sat beside Dave for an hour afterwards, patiently answering all his questions and demands.

  He demanded to know how on earth it was possible that Lillian had died when just yesterday she was full of beans. She hadn’t even been that ill. Trevor’s initial symptoms had been much worse.

  The doctor had explained that sometimes these things happen, and there was no predicting them. He believed that Lillian had suffered from encephalitis, a fancy word for swelling on the brain. It wasn’t common, but it happened.

  The doctor tried to reassure Dave that he was sure Lillian hadn’t felt any pain and had simply gone to sleep. Dave hoped to God that was true.

  As they turned away from the graveside, he tried to support Sandra’s weight. She was beside herself with grief and could hardly walk.

  When they were halfway back to the church, she gave out a sharp cry, different to her previous sobbing, and Dave looked down at his wife.

  Sandra was clutching her stomach. “The baby!”

  The next few minutes passed in a blur as everyone helped to bundle Sandra and Dave into the back of one of the workshop’s motors and sent them off to the hospital.

  Although he murmured reassuring words and held his wife’s hand in the back of the car, Dave didn’t feel like he was really there. Somehow, he was detached from all of it.

  “Nothing is ready,” Sandra muttered. “I haven’t laundered all the clothes, and we haven’t even given a thought what to call him or her,” she said, looking down at her bump. Then she doubled over as another wave of pain hit her.

  Dave felt a shiver of impatience. What did it matter? It shocked him to the core when he realised he didn’t want this child, not now. It would forever be tied to the loss of Lillian. It felt like his whole body had been filled with despair, infecting every
good thought and turning it around into something bad.

  He rubbed Sandra’s shoulders. “It’ll be all right. You’ll see,” he said, but even as he said the words, he could feel the cold venom in his heart. He didn’t want this child. No baby could ever take Lillian’s place.

  Chapter 37

  Kathleen was absolutely furious. She knew Martin must be back from the country by now, but he still hadn’t shown his face. She gazed down at little Jimmy, who after his last little screaming session, had finally gone to sleep.

  She knew now that Martin was not taking her seriously. If he thought she would go away quietly, then he had another think coming. It was early evening, and she knew the club would just be opening. The club was no place for a baby, but Martin really hadn’t left her much choice.

  Kathleen reached for a blanket and started to wrap Jimmy up and then transferred him to his pram.

  Mary looked up from her knitting. “What are you doing?”

  “I need some fresh air,” Kathleen said. “I won’t be long.”

  “Do you want me to look after Jimmy?”

  Kathleen shook her head. “No, I’m taking him with me.”

  Mary looked out of the window and then back to Jimmy’s pram. “Well, keep him wrapped up. There’s a chill in the air this evening.”

  Kathleen walked briskly along the road, not wanting to give herself a chance to change her mind. The club would be busy and full of people. People who would love to gossip about her situation. This wasn’t exactly the way she planned everything to go, but it was all Martin’s fault. He could have come to see them quietly, and nobody would have had to know. He was forcing her to do this.

  There was only a short line outside the club, and Kathleen wheeled the pram right up to the doormen. She couldn’t see Big Tim, and she didn’t recognise the two men on the door.

  She cleared her throat, feeling embarrassed because the line of people were gawping at her. “I’m Kathleen Diamond,” she said. “I’m here to see Martin.”

  She leaned on the pram, to tip the wheels up, so she could get inside the door, but the two men stood in front of her blocking her way.

  “No kids in here.”

  Kathleen was close to tears now. “I need to see him,” she hissed. “So you get him out here now to talk to me, or I’m going in there.” She jabbed a finger in the direction of the club.

  “No, you’re not,” one of the doormen said, standing beside the other man blocking her path. “We are under orders not to let you in.”

  Kathleen’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment. How could Martin treat her like this? The bastard. And what about poor Jimmy? He’d never done anything to deserve this.

  “This,” Kathleen began in a high-pitched shriek, pointing at the baby. “Is Martin Morton’s son. I’m here so we can see him.”

  Everyone in the line outside the club was now looking in Kathleen’s direction, and quite a few people inside the club were now peering through the windows and gathering by the door to see what all the fuss was about.

  Kathleen felt her lower lip wobble.

  One of the doormen took pity on her and patted her on the shoulder. “Look, it’s not the time or the place. Why don’t you see him tomorrow, eh?”

  It slowly sunk in. Kathleen was never going to get past these two on the door, and all she was doing was making a spectacle of herself.

  She took a step back, pulling the pram with her, and she just happened to look upstairs. A curtain twitched and then closed, but not quickly enough.

  Martin bloody Morton had been up there, looking down at her, enjoying every moment of her humiliation.

  Kathleen was fuming as she tightly gripped the pram, wheeled it around and stalked off up the road.

  But she wasn’t going home. She was going to get her own back on Martin Morton, and she was going to do it now.

  * * *

  Kathleen walked along Bread Street looking for number thirty-six. She’d never visited Martin’s house before, but she knew the address. The door had been painted in thick, green, glossy paint. It was a large three-storey townhouse, much larger than the house Kathleen shared with her mother, Mary.

  Kathleen began to feel a little less confident. The last time she’d seen Babs, the woman had scared the life out of her. But she glanced down at little Jimmy lying quietly in his pram and decided she had to act now. She had a responsibility to him.

  She raised a hand and rapped twice on the door.

  She could hear the laughing and joking of children from inside and then held her breath as the door opened.

  The house was warm and well lit, and Kathleen felt a pang of resentment.

  When Babs saw her standing on the doorstep, her eyes widened, but otherwise, she showed no sign outward sign of her emotions at all.

  Babs crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?” she asked in a low, dangerous voice.

  Kathleen’s knees were practically knocking together, but she gathered up her courage and stuck her chin in the air. “We have a matter to discuss,” she said. “May I come in?”

  Babs pursed her red lips in a tight line then looked across the street and saw the curtains twitching. The lady opposite was having a right old nosy, so Babs nodded, and stood back to let Kathleen enter.

  Kathleen gathered Jimmy in her arms and left the empty pram against the wall outside.

  The house was lovely and warm and had been freshly decorated. This was the kind of place she and Jimmy should be living in. Martin could clearly afford it.

  “Hello,” said a little voice, and Kathleen looked down to see Martin’s daughter staring up at her. “Can I see your baby?” she asked.

  Kathleen didn’t know where to look or what to say. Babs stood rigidly by her side.

  Finally, Kathleen kneeled down, so that Ruby could get a look at little Jimmy.

  She reached out and stroked his cheek with her chubby hand and then grinned up at Kathleen.

  “Go in the front room, Ruby, and play with your brother. Keep an eye on baby Emily. I’m going to talk to this lady in the kitchen.”

  Ruby did as she was told, and Kathleen followed Babs into the kitchen.

  Babs closed the door behind them so that the children couldn’t overhear.

  “You’ve got some bloody nerve coming here, lady,” Babs snarled as soon as the door was shut.

  Kathleen clutched Jimmy to her chest. “I didn’t have a choice.”

  Babs crossed her arms and leaned back against the kitchen worktop. “Explain yourself.”

  Kathleen licked her lips and then held up Jimmy. “Martin got me pregnant,” she said. “This is Jimmy.”

  Babs sneered at her. “And what do you expect me to do about it?”

  This wasn’t going the way Kathleen had planned. She’d expected a little bit of anger from Babs, but she’d hoped Babs would be a little more sympathetic. After all, Martin had treated them both badly.

  “I was naive,” Kathleen said. “And he took advantage of me. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I had no idea you were pregnant.”

  Babs’s expression was still hard.

  Kathleen thought frantically. She didn’t know what else to say. She could only hope that this surprise visit had been enough, to shock Martin into action. Once Babs told Martin about Kathleen’s visit, surely that would be enough to force Martin to come and talk to her.

  “It’s hard to look after a baby on my own. You know what it’s like. It’s worse for me as I don’t have a job, and I’m living at my mother’s,” Kathleen said, pleading for Babs to understand and offer a little bit of sympathy.

  But she was out of luck. Babs shook her head. “I can’t believe your nerve. You’ve actually come around here to ask me to help you, haven’t you?”

  Kathleen swallowed hard. “I thought you could just have a word with him. You know, tell him that Jimmy is his responsibility.”

  “Get out of here before I throw you out, you stupid cow,” Babs roared.

  Kat
hleen didn’t need to be told twice. She ran as fast as she could out of the kitchen and along the hallway, practically throwing poor Jimmy back in his pram before hightailing it up the road.

  Chapter 38

  They had all left him. His mum, his dad and even his sister. And to make it worse, they’d left him with Rita from next door. He didn’t like Rita. She smelled funny. Mummy had said that was because she wore too much scent, but Trevor just didn’t like her.

  Rita was calling his name now, but she’d never find him. He was hiding in his secret place. The same place he’d hidden during hide and seek games with Lillian, and she’d never managed to find him.

  He shifted his position to get more comfortable beneath a pile of blankets at the bottom of the wardrobe.

  Everything had gone crazy recently. Just after they’d been ill with measles. Mummy said Lillian had gone to heaven, but Trevor didn’t know whether to believe her or not. All of Lillian’s things were still in her bedroom as if she might come back. Trevor thought perhaps she’d gone to heaven for a visit. He liked the idea of that. When she came home, Trevor had lots of questions he’d like to ask.

  “Trevor! Trevor!” Rita’s voice came bouncing through the walls.

  Trevor rearranged his blankets to get more comfortable.

  Mummy had said she’d only be an hour, but they’d been gone nearly all day. Trevor had eaten breakfast and lunch, and he knew it was almost dinnertime now because it was getting dark.

  He hoped they hadn’t gone after Lillian. They’d always preferred Lillian to him, especially his dad.

  Trevor felt very sorry for himself and rubbed his eyes with the blanket. He wasn’t crying. He didn’t cry anymore because he was a big boy.

  “Trevor! Where are you, you little bastard?”

  Rita was only calling him that because there was nobody else here. She was always nice to him when his mum or dad were around. She wouldn’t dare call him a little bastard then. But what if they never came back, and he was stuck with Rita for good?