Strolling With The One I Love

by Joan Jonker

  ‘I’m afraid they’re not going to be allowed to bury their heads in the sand for much longer, Greg, because yer see a woman saw yer in the entry with Margaret, and she saw what was happening.’ For a moment Kate thought he was going to faint. His face ashen, he stepped back as though he didn’t want to hear what she was saying. ‘Look, I’m not very happy about giving yer this news, and neither Margaret nor her parents have been told, but the woman who saw yer thinks it right they should know. I asked her not to speak out until I’d had a word with you. I thought perhaps now you’d admit you are the father of the baby, and tell your parents. If yer don’t, they’re in for two shocks. First that the baby is yours, and second that yer were seen in the entry by a neighbour. Yer might like to save them from the shame of that.’

  ‘Yer wouldn’t tell me mam, would yer?’ He was obviously afraid of hurting his parents. ‘It would break her heart.’

  ‘I told yer I hadn’t come to cause trouble and I haven’t. Neither am I threatening yer. But what I have told yer is the truth. Wouldn’t it be better for you to tell yer parents that you are the father of the baby Margaret is carrying than leave them open to gossip? Not to mention what the Blackmore family will have to go through when it becomes obvious Margaret is expecting. At the moment nobody knows anything except meself and a friend, and I can promise yer it won’t go any further.’ Kate could see Monica waving to catch her attention. ‘I’ll have to leave yer now because I need to get home and see to my family. It’s up to you what yer do, it’s your life. But don’t forget, yer’ll have to live with the consequences.’

  When he saw Kate turn to walk away, Greg seemed to come to life. There were lots of questions running through his head and this woman was the only one he could ask. ‘Will yer not tell me what yer name is?’

  Kate smiled, her heart lighter now she’d actually done what she’d set out to do. But she still felt sorry for this lad whose world had probably just turned upside down. ‘Me name is Kate Spencer, sunshine, and if there’s anything else yer’d like to know, I’ll help yer if I can. But yer’ll have to be quick, my husband will be worrying.’

  Greg had a feeling he could trust her so he asked, ‘What d’yer think I should do? I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. I was stupid, I never should have done what I did. And worse still, I should never have lied to me mam and dad and Margaret’s parents.’

  ‘Do yer like Margaret, sunshine?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s a smashing girl and we got on great. We’d still be friends if it hadn’t been for my stupidity. I must have been mad! It was all my fault, but I left Margaret to carry the can. Doesn’t say much for me, does it?’

  ‘Then why don’t yer see her and have a good talk to her? I’m sure yer’d find some way of meeting her. Yer know where she goes dancing and where she works. It’s for the pair of yer to sort out what yer want to do, then tell both sets of parents. That’s the advice I’d give yer if yer were my son. I’d be hurt, like your mam will be, but I’d try and give my son as much help as I could, for the sake of the child.’ Kate touched his arm. ‘After all, this baby didn’t ask to be born.’ She was stepping down from the pavement when a thought struck her and she quickly drew back her foot. ‘By the way, nobody knows about this woman who saw yer in the entry, only me and a friend, and I’m hoping nobody need ever find out. I wouldn’t mention it to Margaret if I were you, she’s got enough on her plate without thinking the whole neighbourhood is talking about her. Anyway, the best of luck, sunshine! Ta-ra!’

  Kate hurried across the wide road. As she neared the pavement, she heard Monica hiss, ‘Carry on walking down the street, girl, ’cos he’s still watching yer.’ So Kate carried on, hearing her friend’s footsteps behind her.

  ‘It’s okay now, kid, we’re out of sight.’ Monica linked arms with her. ‘This street will take us to Marsh Lane, and we’ll walk up there to Stanley Road where we can get a tram.’ She could barely contain her curiosity. ‘Well, don’t keep me in suspense, how did yer get on? And what was your impression of him?’

  ‘If yer’d slow down a bit, I might be able to tell yer! Yer walking me so fast I’m out of breath.’ When their pace slowed, Kate gave a sigh of relief. ‘That’s better, me heart isn’t going hell for leather now. Anyway, I thought he was a nice lad. A bit confused, which is only natural, with his head telling him one thing and his mother telling him another.’

  ‘Take me through everything that was said, girl, and how he responded. Don’t leave anything out, ’cos I deserve to be included after standing like a lemon on the other side of the road trying to lip-read.’

  As they walked up the two streets that would take them to Stanley Road and the tram to carry them home to their families, Kate repeated everything. ‘So there yer have it, sunshine, yer know as much as me now.’

  Monica was very impressed. ‘Ay, yer did very well, I’m real proud of yer. What d’yer think he’ll do now he knows about Winnie?’

  ‘I never mentioned her by name, so for heaven’s sake, Monica, don’t you either! She’d go mad if she thought I was broadcasting it everywhere. She will tell Betty if nothing comes of this meeting with Greg, but I’ve got a feeling she won’t have to. I don’t know what makes me think so, but a little voice in me head is saying that some good will come of our journey to Seaforth. That our time wasn’t wasted.’ Kate pulled her friend to a halt and said, ‘If I tell yer what I’m hoping will happen, yer won’t repeat it or tell me it’s wishful thinking on my part, will yer? Promise?’

  Monica made a sign across her chest. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, if this day I tell a lie. Go on, girl, yer’ve done well so far, I’m not going to disagree with anything yer say.’

  ‘Well, as yer know, I suggested he try and see Margaret so they could sort things out between them. I’m praying he takes me up on that, and in the end does the right thing by her. Then the story would have a happy ending for everyone.’

  ‘I hope we find out if anything comes of it.’

  ‘That’s your part of the operation, sunshine. You keep in touch with Betty. She’s bound to tell yer if Greg puts in an appearance.’

  Monica tugged on her arm. ‘Here’s our tram, girl, don’t let’s miss it or my feller will lock me out.’

  Greg stood watching the woman walk down the street away from him. She’d said her name was Kate Spencer and she lived near him, but he’d never seen her before. She was nice, though, and didn’t treat him like the rotter he felt. It was because she didn’t condemn him that he stopped to think seriously about what she’d told him. Had she approached him in a bullying manner, he would have bluffed his way out of it and sent her packing. He knew only too well how badly he’d behaved, and wasn’t proud of himself, but he didn’t need a stranger lecturing him about it.

  ‘Are yer waiting for someone, Greg?’ The man coming through the gates worked on the same furnace as him. ‘Let yer down, has she?’

  ‘No, I’m not waiting for anyone, Ted, I was just taking advantage of the fresh air after being in that stifling foundry all day.’

  ‘Come on, I’ll walk with yer to the tram stop.’ Ted jerked his head.

  ‘I think I’ll walk part of the way home, Ted, get some clean air in me lungs. I’ll walk with yer to the stop, but I won’t get on the tram. It’s shanks’s pony for me.’

  ‘It’s easy to see you haven’t got a wife waiting for yer.’ Ted was a man in his fifties, old enough to be Greg’s father. ‘If I’m five minutes late, the wife’s at the door with a face on her that would stop the clock. Frightening it is.’

  ‘I bet she wouldn’t like to hear yer saying that.’ Greg tried to sound interested, but really his mind was miles away. ‘She’d take the poker to yer.’

  Ted heard a tram rumbling behind them and took to his heels. ‘I’ll see yer tomorrow, mate, if I can dodge the poker.’

  Left alone, Greg walked slowly, deep in thought. There was a niggle at the back of his mind, telling him his mother would go mad if he was late getting home
and his dinner ruined. But for once he decided to banish all thoughts of her and concentrate on what he would like to do with his life. He thought of Margaret, and how he’d used her then left her to shoulder all the blame. She must really hate him now. He had wanted to go round to her house and talk to her only his mam and dad wouldn’t hear of it. But like that Mrs Spencer had said, it was up to him and Margaret to sort out what they wanted, then tell their parents. And he should be man enough to do that. He’d be twenty very soon, old enough to think for himself. And Mrs Spencer had given him plenty to think about.

  Forgetting the time and his ruined dinner, Greg asked himself if he had the nerve to seek out Margaret? And if he did, would she even talk to him after what he’d done to her? He’d called her a liar by saying the baby she was carrying wasn’t his. Could he ever expect her to forgive him for that? He could soon find out by asking her, but was he man enough to try?

  Billy was playing in the street when Kate and Monica turned the corner. The boy raced towards his mother. ‘Where’ve yer been, Mam? We’re all starving! I’ve only had a round of bread, our Nancy wouldn’t let me have any more.’ The smell from the parcel his mother was holding close to her chest wafted up his nostrils and the frown on his young face turned to a wide grin. ‘I’ll let yer off this once, seeing as yer’ve come bearing food.’

  ‘If any of the neighbours heard you, they’d think I starved yer! This is the very first time in yer life that I haven’t been in when yer’ve come home from school, so don’t pretend ye’re badly done to.’ She passed him the steaming parcel. ‘Run on with these, sunshine, and ask yer dad to put the kettle on.’

  When they got to Kate’s front door, Monica said, ‘Well, it’s been a good day, girl, thanks to you. A day of accomplishments, wouldn’t yer say?’

  ‘More a day of hope, I think. Only time will tell, though. Anyway, I’ll see yer tomorrow, all being well. Ta-ra!’

  John was in the kitchen setting the plates out, and Kate grinned when she heard him growl, ‘Keep yer dirty fingers off the chips, Billy, or yer’ll poison the lot of us.’

  ‘I only pinched one, Dad! I haven’t mauled the whole lot!’

  Nancy was setting the knives and forks out. ‘He’s a holy terror when you’re not here, Mam. Yer should have heard him ’cos I’d only let him have one slice of bread. I told him it’s not a tummy he’s got, it’s a bottomless pit.’

  ‘Ah, well, we’ve got to make allowances for him ’cos he’s a growing lad.’ Kate walked to the kitchen door. ‘Am I going to get waited on tonight?’

  John was happy to see her smiling face. It meant she hadn’t had a hard time with the lad she’d gone to meet. ‘You are, my love, if this son of ours will move out of the way. He’s actually counting the chips I’m putting on each plate! And yer’d better tell me how many scallops are in the other parcel before he bursts a blood vessel.’

  ‘There’s two scallops each, so don’t be moaning, Billy,’ Kate said, ‘’cos I’m dead tired and me feet are killing me.’

  ‘How did yer find Monica’s sister?’ This was one way of finding out quickly if things had gone well, instead of having to wait until the kids were either out playing or in bed. ‘Does she need looking after?’

  Kate crossed her fingers before telling the lie. ‘She’s just been a bit under the weather, that’s all. But I’m sure she’ll be fine in a day or two. There’s no need for me and Monica to go again, thank goodness.’

  John had to be content with that until the children went out to play for the last hour before dusk. Then he stretched his long legs, made himself comfortable and lit a Woodbine. ‘Well, let’s have it, love.’

  So for the second time in an hour, Kate had to go over the whole episode again. When she’d finished she sighed. ‘So now we’ve just got to wait and see.’

  ‘I didn’t think yer’d have the nerve to go through with it,’ John admitted. ‘But I’m really proud of yer, love.’

  ‘I’m pretty proud of meself, even though I shouldn’t say so. And I feel certain some good will come of it.’ She tilted her head and smiled across the room at him. ‘There’s another thing I’m certain of, which I believe will be of more interest to you.’

  ‘Oh, aye, love, and what’s that?’

  ‘That this is one night I will not be having a headache.’

  John’s smile was full of mischief. ‘I think I’ll put the clock forward half an hour. The kids won’t notice.’

  ‘Don’t you dare! You’re terrible, you are!’ Kate tried to look as though she disapproved of his suggestion, but she couldn’t keep a smile back. ‘Make it fifteen minutes forward and I’ll go along with yer.’

  Chapter Six

  Greg took a key from his jacket pocket as he neared his home. He was three-quarters of an hour later than his usual time for getting in from work, and knew his mother would be in a state. He could see it in his mind’s eye now. She would take off on him as soon as he put his foot over the door, mad at him because his dinner was ruined, and also because she’d been worried sick in case anything had happened to him. She liked everything to be just right, did his mam. Meals on time, and everywhere in the house immaculate. She was very houseproud and kept their small two-up-two-down like a palace. If you dropped a crumb while you were eating, you could bet your life it would not have time to reach the floor before his mother caught it and threw it in the grate. She was so fussy, she sometimes got on his nerves, and his dad’s, but they both loved her dearly, no matter what.

  Greg felt so sad and guilty that he was about to hurt her more than she’d ever been hurt in her life. He would give anything not to have to do it, but on the long walk home he’d considered every aspect of the situation, and all the people who were suffering because of his actions. He had committed a terrible wrong. The only way forward, for all concerned, was for him to put things right.

  ‘Where the blazes have yer been?’ Maude Corbett had the front door open before her son had a chance to put his key in the lock. ‘I’ve been backward and forward to the ruddy window for the last half-hour, sick with worry in case yer’d had an accident.’ As he passed her, she added, ‘And yer bleeding dinner has dried up, it’s not fit to eat now!’

  His father, Albert, lifted his eyebrows in sympathy for what he knew his son was in for. He’d had to listen to his wife’s ravings for nearly half an hour, and his head was aching. ‘Let the lad get in before yer take off on him! Yer’ve got yerself in such a state, when there’s probably a perfectly good reason for him being late. I did try to tell yer that, but would yer listen? Would yer hell! Yer had the lad in hospital after being run over by a car or tram. Yer always think the worst, you do, woman!’

  Maude took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves before asking, ‘What kept yer so late, love? Yer know I worry about yer.’ Greg was her only child and she’d always watched over him like a mother hen. ‘Tell us, then I’ll do yer some chips and an egg.’

  Greg swallowed hard. He couldn’t sit and eat a meal, it would choke him. He had to unburden himself now, and suffer the consequences, as he knew they too would suffer. ‘Sit down, Mam, there’s something I’ve got to tell you both.’

  ‘Leave it until yer’ve had something to eat, son,’ she said. ‘Yer’ve usually had yer dinner by this time, yer must be starving.’

  ‘No, I want to tell yer now, while I’ve still got the courage.’ He waited until his mother was seated, then took a chair opposite. He clasped his hands and laid them on the table, bowing his head. When he looked up, it was to see a worried frown on her face, and for a split second he thought he couldn’t go through with it. But if he chose the easy way out now, he’d have to live with it until the day he died.

  ‘I’ve been a coward, Mam. I lied to you and me dad about Margaret. I am the one who got her into trouble, but I didn’t have the guts to admit it.’ He heard her gasp, and also his father’s sharp intake of breath. ‘I’ve got to put things right, Mam, I can’t leave her to shoulder all the responsibility when
it was more my fault than hers.’ He lifted a hand. ‘No, let me finish, Mam, please. I know this is breaking yer heart, but it’s not easy for me, either. And just think what Margaret and her parents have been going through, particularly when I said the baby had nothing to do with me. How could I do that to her?’ His head dropped. ‘It was all my fault. I persuaded her to go down an entry for a kiss, she really didn’t want to, yet she’s been left with all the shame and the worry.’ Suddenly it all became too much for Greg. His shoulders shook with the sobs he’d tried to hold back. ‘What sort of a man does that make me? A liar and a coward.’

  Maude wiped away her tears with the back of her hand as she rounded the table to hold her son in her arms. Seeing him crying, and calling himself a liar and a coward, helped her to forget for a while the devastating news she’d been told. He was now her main concern. ‘Don’t cry, son, ’cos yer’ll have me at it. I won’t say that me and yer dad aren’t shocked, it’s the last thing we expected. But what’s been done can’t be undone, and what’s been said can’t be taken back. Both me and yer dad said some pretty nasty things to Margaret’s parents when they came around, but it’s never too late to say ye’re sorry or ask forgiveness. We’ll do anything to help, and it’s not the end of the world. There’s still time to put things right with the girl but I wouldn’t want yer to rush into asking her to marry yer if yer don’t love her, because that would mean two people imprisoned in a lifetime of unhappiness.’

  Maude felt she couldn’t say any more right at that moment. Shock was beginning to set in, and the implications of his confession were making her feel sick. ‘Look, I’ll put the kettle on while you have a good talk to yer dad, man to man, like. Yer might find it easier talking to him.’ Maude made her way through to the kitchen where she leaned against the sink and softly cried her heart out.

  ‘I’ve got to say it’s bad news, Greg, I would never have thought that of yer.’ Albert wasn’t going to smooth it over, the lad had to be made to realize exactly what trouble he’d brought to their door, not forgetting the heartache of the young lass and her family. God, how they must be suffering! ‘What on earth possessed yer to do this to a young girl? It could ruin her life because no decent man would take her on, knowing she’s got an illegitimate child.’ His voice softened when he saw the despair in his son’s eyes. ‘Yer said yer were going to see her. Well, it’s the least yer can do. Although saying ye’re sorry yer lied and left her in the lurch isn’t much use to her.’