East End Jubilee

by Carol Rivers

  ‘Why aren’t you eating dinner?’ Donnie asked as they sat at the kitchen table at one o’clock.

  ‘I ate while I was cooking.’ Rose trailed the thick gravy over the stew on their plates. She was too disappointed to eat. Eddie hadn’t shown up.

  ‘What are we doing this afternoon?’

  ‘We’re walking to Poplar.’

  ‘I don’t like long walks.’ Marlene pushed her spoon away.

  ‘Walking is good for you. It’ll be nice to see somewhere different.’

  ‘What are we going to do in Poplar?’

  ‘I’m telephoning about Daddy.’

  Both girls looked up. ‘Can’t we use Mrs Wright’s telephone?’ Donnie asked.

  ‘Once was enough to ask a favour.’ Rose looked sternly at their plates. ‘Now, finish your dinners before they go cold.’

  They ate in silence, which Rose knew was a bad sign. Dinner times were always noisy and fun. After she’d washed up and the girls had scrubbed their hands in the big white sink in the kitchen, Rose went upstairs and changed. She put on a cotton dress and cardigan and brushed her long brown hair, then pinned it into a roll behind her head. By two o’clock they were ready. Rose couldn’t wait to get there.

  They passed The Lock and Key at the top of a short uphill road and, as the children skipped ahead, eager to play in the park, Rose wondered if Eddie was the topic of conversation in the public bar. A frequent user of the pub, he was known to most of the regulars. The market traders congregated there, as did the scrap metal dealers who were enjoying, as Eddie put it, ‘the life of Riley’. After the war scrap had become a lucrative business as the metal was melted down and sold for good money to the building trade. Rose loved the sight of the brightly painted pub. During the war so many pubs, churches and schools had been blown apart or damaged and many of the grimy, smoke-covered houses they passed were uninhabited.

  Rose recalled the war years with mixed emotions. The sudden death of her parents had been devastating, but Rose had found herself a job and put to use the typing and bookkeeping she’d done at school. Although she hadn’t been a very fast typist at first, by the time she left Horton’s she was.

  Rose watched Marlene and Donnie as they skipped under the plane trees. Once they had been plentiful on the streets, now they looked grey and sparse even though it was summer. Perhaps they remembered the war too when the bombs had fallen and left craters where a profusion of lovely tall trees had once grown.

  Further on they came to more terraced houses. These backed on to the docks where the cranes, boats and bridges were all in working order again. The island was experiencing a new lease of life. It was wonderful to see the barges and ships move effortlessly down river. She never tired of watching the sun rise or set at night, knowing that just over the rooftops the Thames was changing into a wild ribbon of orange.

  Rose loved every square inch of the island. It was a survivor, just as she was. Even the smell of the dustbins that stood by the doors as the kids played round them was familiar. All the children looked happy. Rose knew that most of them had been given, officially or not, the rest of the week off.

  ‘Where’s this park?’ Marlene was dragging her heels. ‘Me feet are tired.’

  Rose ruffled her red hair. ‘They weren’t tired just now when you chased that cat.’

  ‘I only wanted to stroke it.’

  ‘More like pull its tail,’ Donnie grinned. ‘Just like you do with Sooty across the road.’

  ‘I never!’ Marlene was bright red.

  ‘You do. You make it hiss.’

  ‘It’s always hissing.’

  ‘Yes, because you always pull its tail.’

  Rose pointed across the road. ‘Look, there’s the park.’ She looked for the bright red telephone box. It was on the other side of the road.

  ‘Can we play on the swings?’

  ‘Yes, but stay together.’

  ‘Are you going to speak to Daddy?’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Once they were occupied, Rose made her way to the telephone box. She pulled open the heavy cast iron door. Inside it smelt of cigarettes and beer. Placing her pennies on the shelf, she lifted the heavy Bakelite handset, reading aloud the numbers she’d written on a piece of paper when she’d used Joan’s telephone.

  ‘I’m Rose Weaver,’ she said when she heard the deep voice of the policeman. ‘My husband, Eddie Weaver, was due to appear at central London magistrates’ court today at nine o’clock. I’d like to know what happened.’

  After a long silence, the man said, ‘Hold on.’

  Just as before, there was a series of clicks. Rose wondered when her money would run out. She wished she’d brought some more of the coins from the bottom of the shoebox. She had only ever used a public telephone to call Em before and that was not very often. Dialling and pushing the money in was a frantic business.

  The voice returned. ‘Edward John Weaver was remanded in custody this morning. Bail was refused.’

  Her mouth fell open. ‘But why? I was told he would get bail!’ Rose couldn’t believe it.

  ‘The police opposed bail. All I can tell you is he was remanded in custody until a later date.’

  ‘But . . . but when can I see him?’ she managed to ask as she sagged against the glass panes.

  ‘That’s not up to me.’

  ‘Who is it up to, then?’

  ‘The prison will send you a visiting order.’

  Rose gasped. ‘What prison?’

  ‘You’ll be notified in due course.’

  She couldn’t take it all in. Eddie was in prison. They weren’t going to let him come home. Suddenly the pips went and the line went dead again.

  ‘Did you speak to Daddy?’ Donnie was breathless as she ran over from the swings.

  ‘No, to someone else.’

  ‘A policeman?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Is Daddy coming home?’ Marlene joined them.

  ‘I don’t know when exactly.’ Both girls stared at her, waiting for more. Rose couldn’t tell them their daddy was in prison. ‘He sends you his love.’

  ‘How do you know that? Did the policeman say?’

  Rose nodded. ‘Do you want to play on the swings a bit longer?’

  ‘I need a push.’ Marlene wiped her dirty fingers across her face.

  Rose didn’t want the girls to know how worried she was. Luckily they forgot to question her as they enjoyed their rides on the swings and played with some other little girls.

  When they were occupied she sat down on the park bench. Eddie was in prison. What prison? And when would they send her a visiting order? She had never been inside a prison before. She recalled a family, the Dobsons, who had lived at the end of the street but had now moved away. The father and three sons were in constant trouble. She had pitied Elaine Dobson who had tried to live a decent life despite the frequent incarceration of her husband and sons.

  Had she looked down on that woman, indeed on anyone who suffered in the same way? she asked herself. Well, she herself was now in that same situation and like Elaine Dobson she had to face the street. It was up to her to show everyone the Weavers were still a close family.

  On Friday morning, Anita called round. ‘Sorry I couldn’t get in yesterday. Me father-in-law had one of his turns and we was out till late.’

  Rose was washing up at the sink. She hadn’t stopped thinking about Eddie. She hadn’t slept and had no appetite. ‘Is your father-in-law all right?’ she asked vacantly.

  ‘As right as he’ll ever be. It’s his heart, you see. One of those thirsty ones. Needs a lot of filling up.’ Anita rolled her eyes. ‘Benny maintains it’s the Argentine blood. More like the bottle, I say. Anyway, enough about us,’ she finally looked at Rose. ‘Well, where’s Eddie?’

  Rose dried her hands on the towel. ‘Let’s go in the front room.’ The girls were playing in the street as usual and Rose sat on the couch, looking at them out of the window. ‘Eddie’s in prison.’

  Anita gasped
as she sat beside her. ‘What!’

  ‘He was remanded in custody. The police wouldn’t agree to bail.’

  Anita looked confused ‘But he ain’t murdered anyone. What right have they to keep him in?’

  ‘I’d like the answer to that meself.’

  Anita snorted. ‘How bloody ridiculous! You know what I think? Them coppers wanted a result when they searched your house. They must have thought that something was hidden here to have gone to all the trouble. I don’t like to think it, but maybe someone’s trying to fit Eddie up.’

  Rose’s chin wobbled. ‘You think someone would do that?’

  ‘It’s not out of the question, is it? A business rival, or some mean sod spilling beans to the coppers and putting the finger on Eddie – well, it would account for a lot of what happened, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, but it seems so far-fetched.’

  ‘So does what’s happened over the last few days and I ain’t talking about the Coronation.’

  Rose let out a long and shaky sigh. ‘Who would hate Eddie that much?’

  Anita patted her arm. ‘Now, I’m only throwing around a few ideas here,’ she said as she saw Rose’s worried expression. ‘When can you see him?’

  ‘I have to wait till I hear from the prison.’

  ‘How long will that be?’

  ‘I don’t know. And I couldn’t just go knocking on a prison door, I suppose, even if I knew which one it is.’ Rose stared at the radiogram. Should she confide in Anita about the shoebox? It was weighing heavily on her mind.

  ‘Have you heard from Em yet?’ Anita asked.

  ‘No. I only posted me letter yesterday.’

  ‘I don’t mean to keep on, but how are you going to manage? I mean, do you have any money put by?’

  Rose bit her lip. ‘I’ve got more than I thought.’ She paused. ‘Neet, there’s something I want to get off me chest. I’ve got to share it with someone or I’ll bust.’

  ‘Blimey.’ Anita lowered her cup into the saucer with a clatter. ‘Not more bad news?’

  ‘No . . . not really.’

  ‘You’ve got me guessing, girl.’

  ‘I found some money.’ Rose paused.

  ‘Yeah? How much?’

  Rose went pink. ‘Five hundred pounds.’

  Anita sat in silence, but not for long. ‘Five hundred quid! Are you certain?’

  ‘Positive.’

  ‘Where did you find it, for God’s sake?’

  ‘There.’ Rose nodded to the radiogram. Both women stared at the big, highly polished walnut case.

  ‘Under that old thing?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you didn’t know it was there when the police searched?’

  Rose closed her eyes at the thought. ‘Thank God I didn’t. All I was worried about was Mum’s pearl necklace wrapped up in Eddie’s socks. It wasn’t until I sat down on Wednesday night and found meself staring at the radiogram that the thought crossed my mind about Eddie’s hidy hole. He used it for a few bits and pieces, but that was ages ago. I was gonna dust under the gram to keep me mind occupied, but when I pushed it back, the boards were spotless. ‘’Course, I had to have a look then, didn’t I?’

  ‘Blimey, if that was Benny’s hiding place I’d be down it the moment he walked out the door. Amazing the coppers didn’t find it though,’ Anita murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘Your old man is a dark horse.’

  That was exactly what Rose had been thinking. She’d known Eddie since they were kids. He was just a few months older than her and they’d attended the same school. Raised in a large family by foster parents he’d never had much of a home life, but his quick wit and broad sense of cockney humour had endeared him to his friends, especially Rose. She was well aware of his keen eye for a business proposition but during their marriage her reluctance to enquire into his affairs, their compromise as she thought of it, had broken all boundaries. It was as if she’d been afraid to ask for fear of what she might hear in return.

  ‘Five hundred smackers will see you all right whilst Eddie’s out of action.’

  ‘Yes, but I wish I knew where it came from.’

  ‘Only Eddie can enlighten you on that score,’ Anita remarked dryly.

  ‘It’s a large amount of money.’

  Anita nodded, calculating swiftly. ‘Five hundred quid ain’t chicken feed and that’s the truth. It could feed you, pay your rent and settle all your bills for a year and still leave you plenty left over.’

  Rose looked up. ‘Some of it must be the Parkers’.’

  Anita scowled. ‘You and your conscience, Rose Weaver. You gotta put your family first now.’

  ‘I don’t want people to think Eddie swindled them. By rights fifty pounds is theirs.’

  ‘You’re not thinking of giving the money back?’ Anita sucked in a sharp breath.

  Rose chewed on her lip. ‘There would still be plenty left.’

  Anita sighed and lifted her hands. ‘Well, I don’t know what Eddie would say about that. And anyway, won’t questions be asked as to where you got the money to give to them?’

  Rose shrugged. ‘I’ll just say that after giving the matter some thought and as a gesture of goodwill, I’m returning the money they gave to Eddie.’

  They lapsed into silence,staring at the radiogram under which was hidden Eddie’s treasure. After a while Anita glanced at the wooden clock on the mantel. ‘I gotta go. Will you be all right?’

  Rose nodded. ‘Are you cycling today?’

  ‘No, bussing it. Me back’s playing up.’

  ‘You should rest more.’

  Anita laughed coarsely. ‘Yeah, in me dreams. But I’m off tomorrow. We’ll have a nice long chat on the way to market. You are still coming, aren’t you?’

  Rose shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’ They always walked to Cox Street market on Saturday mornings to buy cheap veg and meat for the week.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

  At the front door Rose leaned forward and kissed her friend on the cheek.

  Anita looked surprised. ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘For listening to me.’

  Her friend smiled. ‘You’ve done the same for me often enough.’

  ‘We’re lucky to have you and Benny as friends.’

  Anita shook her head. ‘Do you remember when we first moved back to Ruby Street after our Dad died? Everyone gave us a wide berth, ’cos they classed Benny as black. And it wasn’t until Eddie took my old man to The Lock and warned everyone they’d have to answer to him if they didn’t drink with Benny, that things changed. Your Eddie had the courage of his convictions. We won’t forget that in a hurry.’

  Eddie’s generous nature was why Rose loved her husband so much. He treated everyone the same. He was first to approach the Indian family who moved into the Dobsons’ house two years ago, when he’d marched down there one Saturday morning, knocked on the door and took Mr Patel’s hand. He didn’t care about colour or creed. As long as a person returned the time of day, Eddie was happy. Just like the Parkers. Eddie hadn’t cared they were the odd couple. Rose knew he’d felt sorry for them too, just as she had.

  Rose waved goodbye. Her gaze went to Marlene and Donnie playing marbles in the street. She was filled with a love for her family that went deeper than anything she had ever known before. Despite all their troubles, she believed in her husband’s innocence; he was an honest man and somehow she would prove it.

  Chapter Five

  Anita called round on Saturday morning. ‘Did you buy yesterday’s Evening Gazette?’ she demanded immediately.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then you’d better see this.’ She produced a folded single sheet of newspaper and handed it over. ‘I’ve had it in my purse to show you.’

  Rose read the two short lines. ‘Oh, Neet!’

  ‘Well, it ain’t very much. Just what the charges were and that Eddie’s been remanded in custody. Not exactly headlines, love. Luckily they’re still banging on about the Coronation.’
/>   ‘Do you think everyone round here read it?’ Rose asked dejectedly.

  ‘Everyone knew anyway.’ Anita replaced the cutting in her shopping bag before Rose could agonize again. ‘I thought it was best to show you and get it over with. Now, come on, don’t look so glum, it ain’t the end of the world. In fact it was a blessing Eddie’s trouble arose at this time ’cos no one’s bothered about the small fry. All they want to see is the Queen and the Royal Family, dressed up to the nines.’

  But Rose turned and walked to the kitchen. ‘I know what that poor Elaine Dobson felt like now. No wonder she kept herself to herself.’

  ‘Yes, poor cow, she had a lot on her plate,’ Anita agreed. ‘But you’re not in the same league as the Dobsons. They were a rough lot.’

  ‘Even so my sympathies are with her.’

  Anita caught her arm. ‘Listen, your situation is different altogether and you want to remember that. Now fetch your coat and we’ll go up the market.’ She frowned at Rose’s apron and slippers. ‘Blimey girl, you look like Mrs Mop.’

  Rose shook her arm free. ‘You walk on, Neet. We’ll catch up.’

  ‘No you won’t,’ Anita guessed. ‘You’ll stay in and mope all day.’

  ‘Hurry up, Mum!’ Alan called from the open front door. He was the older of Anita’s two sons and at fifteen looked smart in his white cotton poplin shirt, slim jim tie and dark trousers. He had combed up a quiff of dark hair and plastered it with Brylcreem. Fourteen-year-old David looked round his brother’s shoulder and gave Rose a cheeky smile. He was an inch or two shorter than Alan but in looks both were a replica of Benny.

  Donnie and Marlene came tumbling down the stairs. They paused to stare at the boys then ran to Rose. ‘David and Alan are coming with us,’ Donnie whispered excitedly. Rose knew she had a crush on David.

  ‘You girls all ready?’ Anita asked and they nodded, looking back shyly towards the front door.

  ‘It seems I’m outnumbered,’ Rose said resignedly. ‘I’ll get me bag.’

  Five minutes later they were on their way. ‘Life has to go on,’ Anita was lecturing her as they went. It was a dry, fine morning and the two girls were laughing and giggling as they walked ahead with the boys.