The Girl From Number 22

by Joan Jonker

  Annie picked her way over the cobbles. ‘I’m afraid I’m not very exciting company, Hetty. I’ve got no jokes up me sleeve. In fact I couldn’t tell a joke to save me life.’

  The women walked three abreast down the street, which was a regular experience for the two mates, but a new one for Annie.

  ‘Hetty will tell yer some jokes, Annie,’ Ada said, a smile on her face. ‘As long as yer don’t mind dirty ones. She makes me blush sometimes when she’s telling them to the man in the butcher’s. And his face goes as red as the blood in the meat he’s got on the chopping block.’

  Hetty gasped. ‘Ada Fenwick, I’ve never told a dirty joke in me life. I don’t know any, and I don’t want to, either! If you told one, I wouldn’t listen.’

  Ada’s head went back when she chuckled. ‘Yer’d have to listen to know whether it was a smutty joke or not, sunshine. And by then it would be too late. The damage would have been done, and your mind sullied for ever.’

  ‘Trust you to think of that.’ Hetty jerked her head at Annie. ‘She’s got an answer for everything. I’ve never known her lost for words in twenty years.’

  ‘I’m often lost for words,’ Annie told them. ‘I think it’s being on me own too much. I don’t know what to say to people.’

  ‘Surely yer have the children to talk to? Mine never stop. Except when they’re asleep.’ Ada glanced sideways to where Annie was walking on the other side of Hetty. ‘When we’re sitting round the table having our dinner, it’s hard to get a word in sideways. They’ve all got something to say, and they’re all talking at once. And my feller is as bad as the kids, he won’t be left out.’

  ‘Oh, my husband doesn’t talk very much.’ Annie decided to drop a hint, and gradually build up to the truth about her husband. ‘When he does, it’s usually to find fault. He’s not the easiest person in the world to live with.’

  ‘Then yer haven’t got him house-trained, Annie,’ Ada said. ‘I started with Jimmy on the day we got wed, and he’s well trained.’

  ‘Take no notice of her, Annie, ’cos Jimmy can stick up for himself,’ Hetty said. ‘To hear my mate talk, anyone would think her husband was henpecked. But I can tell yer, he’s far from it. He’s got a smashing sense of humour, and always good for a laugh. And Danny takes after him.’

  Ada narrowed her eyes. ‘How come yer know so much about my husband, Hetty Watson? Yer must stand with yer ear glued to the wall.’

  ‘I don’t need to, girl, ’cos yer’ve all got loud voices,’ Hetty told her. ‘We’d have to put cotton wool in our ears if we didn’t want to hear yer. But we do want to hear yer, especially the laughter. Even though we don’t know what ye’re laughing at, we all laugh with yer.’

  ‘It’s funny how laughter can be contagious, isn’t it?’ Annie said. ‘If I hear anyone laugh, it always brings a smile to my face.’

  They were walking along the main shopping street by this time, and Annie still hadn’t plucked up the courage to invite her two neighbours over for afternoon tea. She was telling herself if she didn’t speak now it would be too late. They’d be parting company soon, for the butcher’s would be the first call for the two mates, and Annie didn’t want to ask in front of strangers. Then the problem was solved for her.

  ‘It’s my turn to buy the cakes today, Annie,’ Ada said. ‘So, unless yer have a more pressing engagement, then it’s two o’clock at my place.’

  Annie pulled on Hetty’s arm and they came to a halt. ‘Oh, I was going to ask yer over to mine this afternoon. To repay yer kindness, like. My living room isn’t as posh as yours, but I’m sure neither of you are the type to lift me rug to see if I’ve brushed the dirt under it. Me house may be humble, but it is clean.’

  ‘I’m sure it is, sunshine, I wouldn’t expect anything else,’ Ada told her. She was surprised by the invitation, and beginning to wonder if she was wrong in her judgement of the Phillips family. But she and Hetty had a routine, and for today they’d stick with it. ‘Would yer mind if we swapped round, Annie? You come to me today, and tomorrow me and Hetty will come to you? I know it sounds daft, but I’m a creature of habit, and I go all funny if I don’t stick to me normal routine. Yer don’t mind, do yer?’

  ‘Of course Annie won’t mind, will yer, girl?’ Hetty asked, raising her brows. ‘A cake is a cake, no matter which house it’s eaten in.’

  ‘That’s fine with me.’ Annie nodded. ‘Ada’s today, and mine tomorrow.’ She was feeling light-hearted now. It was something to look forward to, and Jenny would be pleased that she was to have company on two afternoons.

  As soon as Jenny closed the kitchen door behind her, she asked, ‘Well, did yer have yer visitors today, Mam?’

  ‘I didn’t have visitors here, sweetheart, I went visiting instead.’ Annie held her cheek for her daughter’s kiss. ‘Ada and Hetty take it in turns to share a pot of tea every afternoon, and today was Ada’s turn. So we settled for me going over there today, and tomorrow they come over here.’

  Jenny took her coat off and folded it over her arm. ‘That’s good, Mam. Did yer enjoy yerself?’

  ‘It was fantastic, sweetheart. I feel like a new woman. Ada and Hetty are so funny I never stopped laughing. Me sides were sore with it. Ada is the one for making up tales, and Hetty falls for them. They pretend to have rows, shouting at each other, but they’re really the best of friends.’

  Jenny studied her mother’s face. ‘Yer don’t only feel like a new woman, Mam, yer look like one. I’ve never seen yer eyes sparkle like that before, and yer look years younger.’

  Annie smiled. ‘That praise will be giving me such a big head, Jenny, I won’t be able to get through the door. Now, go and hang yer coat up. Ben will be here soon, and I’ll put the dinner out. I’ve made barley broth with dumplings, and if the smell is anything to go by, it’s delicious.’

  ‘What’s delicious, Mam?’ Ben slipped into the kitchen, then closed the door with his bottom. ‘Apart from yerself, that is.’

  ‘Oh, dear, the compliments are flying tonight! Yer sister reckons me eyes are sparkling, and I look a lot younger.’ Annie shivered when Ben pressed his cheek to hers in a kiss. ‘Go and get a warm, son, yer face is like a block of ice.’

  Although Annie kept an ear cocked for the sound of a key in the door, the meal was a happy one. She had Jenny and Ben laughing at some of the comical sayings of Ada, and how she wound Hetty up to tantalise her. ‘It was only for two hours, but they really cheered me up. and I’m looking forward to having them here tomorrow.’

  Then the mood changed when they heard the front door open. Smiles faded from faces, and silence reigned. Before his father entered the room, Ben picked his plate up and moved to sit in the chair at the end of the table. This would put him out of reach of his father’s temper.

  ‘What are yez all sitting like stuffed dummies for?’ Tom’s eyes darted round the room, looking for something to pick on. ‘I heard yer laughing when I passed the window. What were yer laughing at?’

  Jenny sensed her mother’s body stiffen in fear, and this saddened the girl. They shouldn’t have to live like this. They could be a happy family, if it wasn’t for the rotter eyeing them with a sneer on his face. ‘I was telling them about a girl I work with, if yer must know. But it wouldn’t be of any interest to you.’

  Tom Phillips ignored his daughter and jerked his head at his wife. ‘Get off yer fat backside and get my dinner on this table. Make it snappy.’

  ‘Me mam hasn’t finished her dinner yet,’ Jenny said. ‘It won’t hurt yer to wait five minutes, yer’ve only just walked through the door.’

  ‘I’m talking to the organ grinder, not the monkey. So you keep yer bleeding trap shut, or I’ll shut it for yer.’

  Annie pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘It’s in the oven. I’ll get it.’

  But Jenny pulled on her mother’s arm. ‘Sit down, Mam, and finish yer dinner. Ye’re not his slave. Let him wait, it won’t kill him.’

  Tom growled in anger. As he walked towards his wife, h
e was undoing the buckle of his belt. ‘Get off yer backside, I said. Now move!’ He pulled the leather belt free of his trousers, and began to wind it round his hand. He stopped winding when there was about twelve inches of leather dangling, with the steel buckle at the end. He laughed as he raised the belt to let his wife see what he was going to beat her into submission with. He licked his lips in anticipation, thinking he wasn’t going to let her get the better of him. He was the boss in this house, and he’d teach her not to forget. But he hadn’t reckoned on the hatred his daughter felt for him.

  Jenny jumped from her chair and put herself between the belt and her mother. ‘Don’t you dare use that on my mother. If yer must fight, pick on one of yer drunken cronies, someone yer own size.’ She snorted in scorn. ‘But yer wouldn’t do that, ’cos ye’re too much of a coward.’

  The sound that came from Tom Phillips’s mouth was more animal than human. ‘You stuck up bitch, I’ll have yer for that. Yer’ll be on yer knees begging for mercy by the time I’m finished with yer.’

  Ben watched in horror as his father raised his arm, the belt buckle danging, and the steel glinting in the gaslight. The boy was paralysed for a brief second, as his brain took in the scene that was unfolding. Then he jumped to his feet and made a dive for the upraised arm. He managed to push it sideways, so the blow landed on the sideboard, and not on his sister.

  Annie had watched, horrified and racked with guilt. She loved her children dearly, every bone of them, and it tore her apart to have to witness them grapple with their father to protect her from his blows. They didn’t know, for she would never tell them, that the man she had married made her suffer every time something happened to upset him. He was crafty, as well as violent. He always belted her where the bruises wouldn’t be seen. Never a night went by when he didn’t shame her in bed. And if she didn’t do his bidding, her punishment would be a blow in the small of her back, on her tummy or between her shoulder blades. And he did it knowing she was too ashamed to tell anyone. All these years she had suffered in silence for the sake of the children. And watching them now, standing between her and a madman, she felt her fear turn to anger.

  Without saying a word, she made her way to the kitchen. Opening a drawer, she took out a wooden rolling pin. Fear had numbed her brain, and she felt calm as she walked back into the living room with her arm down by her side, and her hand gripping the rolling pin.

  ‘Sit down, Jenny, sweetheart, and you, Ben. Leave this to me.’

  ‘That’s right, yer little bastards, sit down and watch while I teach yer mother a lesson.’

  Everything happened so quickly after that, the children didn’t have time to protest. For as Tom Phillips’s arm came down with the belt, Annie used all her strength to bring the rolling pin up, to deflect his aim. And when he yelped with pain, she brought it down again with full force. Her upward swing had caught his wrist, her downward, his fingers.

  ‘You bleeding cow! You stupid bleeding cow!’ The belt was thrown to the floor as Tom nursed his hand. ‘Yer’ve broken me fingers, yer bleeding cracked mare.’ Pacing the floor with his hand cradled, he swore, ‘Yer’ll pay for this. Oh, yeah, yer’ll pay for this all right. If yer’ve broken one of me fingers, I’ll break every one of yours. I’ll have yer on yer knees, pleading for bloody mercy.’ He kicked a chair out of the way. ‘Yer’ll get no mercy from me, though. What yer will get is the hiding of yer bleeding life. When I’ve finished with yer, yer’ll be sorry yer were ever born.’

  ‘That’s how I felt the day after we got married.’ Annie was churning up inside, but she spoke calmly. ‘That’s the day yer showed yer true colours, and I realised I’d married a bully. That day I was sorry I’d ever been born. And I’ve been sorry every day since. The only good thing that came out of our marriage was the children. I love them dearly, but regret that it is through me they have to suffer having you as a father.’

  When Tom made a move towards her, anger and hatred in his eyes, Annie lifted the rolling pin and shook it in his face. ‘Yer would be a very stupid man to try. I wouldn’t think twice about hitting you over the head with this.’

  Tom was seething, his face contorted as he sucked in his breath. ‘Get me bleeding dinner.’ He banged on the table with his good hand. ‘Get it now, I’m starving.’

  Jenny and Ben had been watching and listening with eyes wide. They had never known their mother stick up for herself before. They felt proud of her, but also afraid for her. This was a one-off, and they knew their father would make her suffer for what she’d done. But it wasn’t over yet, for their mother had another surprise in store.

  Standing in front of her husband, Annie stared at him for several seconds without even blinking. Then she said, ‘If yer want any dinner, yer can get it yerself. It’s in the oven keeping warm. Me and the children are going for a walk. We don’t want to go for a walk on a night as cold as this, but we need some fresh air in our lungs. We’re going out to rid ourselves of the nasty smell that’s in this room.’ She turned to the children. ‘Get yer coats on, kids, and let’s get out of here.’

  Her children either side of her linking her arms, Annie walked quickly, as though she wanted to put distance between her and the man she’d left shouting obscenities after them. The street lamps were lit, and as the trio passed them they could see their breath floating upwards in the cold air. ‘If either of yer had made plans to go out tonight, then go. Don’t let that brute take away all yer pleasure.’ Annie squeezed their arms. ‘He’s ruined my life; don’t let him ruin yours. And don’t worry about me, I’ll be all right.’

  Ben shook his head. ‘Nah, it’s too cold to walk to me mate’s and then back home again. I’ll stay in with you.’

  ‘I wasn’t going out anyway,’ Jenny said, crossing her fingers. She didn’t like telling lies to her mother, but this was an emergency. She had arranged to go to the pictures with two mates from work, but it couldn’t be helped. She would worry herself to death all the time she was out, in case her dad took off again. She’d make an excuse to her friends at work tomorrow, they wouldn’t mind. And there were two of them, it wasn’t as if she was letting a girl on her own down. ‘We’ll have a game of cards when we get back, in front of the fire.’

  They walked quickly, to get the circulation in their feet moving. And it was when they reached the corner of their street that Jenny said, ‘Yer’ll have to watch out, Mam, ’cos me dad will have it in for yer.’

  ‘I’ll be all right, sweetheart, I’ll sleep on the couch. It’ll be comfortable enough, and the room won’t be cold ’cos I’ll bank the fire up.’

  Jenny shivered, but it wasn’t with the cold. It was the thought of her father sneaking downstairs when he thought they were asleep, and beating her mother up. ‘Yer can sleep with me, Mam, we’ll keep each other warm. It’s only a single bed, but we’ll manage. We’re both thin, and we can cuddle up.’

  ‘Yeah, you do that, Mam, it’s a good idea.’ Ben was blessing his sister, for he knew she wouldn’t let any harm come to their mam. ‘Me dad won’t go in Jenny’s room.’

  ‘It’s too cold to stand talking, me teeth are chattering,’ Annie said. ‘Let’s make for home. And I will come in your bed tonight, sweetheart, thank you.’

  They were nearing their front door when Jenny pulled them to a halt. ‘Mam, yer’ll still have the neighbours over tomorrow afternoon, won’t yer? It’ll buck yer up, and yer’ll feel better having friends in who’ll make yer laugh. Even if it is only for a couple of hours, it’ll make yer feel better.’

  Annie felt in her pocket for the front door key. ‘Yes, I’ll have them over, sweetheart. I wouldn’t put them off, not after they’ve been so kind to me. And a damn good laugh will do me the world of good.’ But as she turned the key, and thought of the evil man she would have to face, she let out a sigh.

  The back bedroom in the small two-up-two-down house was divided in two by a wooden partition running down the middle. Most families in the street had partitioned the room off, for as the child
ren grew older, the girls and boys wanted privacy. But there was barely room to move, with a single bed taking up all the space. However, with Annie and Jenny cuddled up close for warmth, they didn’t feel cramped. And it wasn’t long before Annie could hear the gentle breathing of her daughter, and the snoring of her son through the wooden partition. She felt a sense of contentment, tinged with sadness, for this was the first time since she got married that she was lying next to someone who really loved her. And soon, her mind free of the worry of her husband’s hands mauling her, or his fist in her back, she too was sleeping soundly.

  Annie ran her life like clockwork, for Tom Phillips was always on the lookout for something to complain about. So every morning without fail, she was awake at six o’clock. This gave her time to clean the grate out and light a fire, before starting on the breakfast. She didn’t need the help of an alarm clock to wake her, for her brain was finely tuned after a routine of twenty years. So the next morning, waking at her usual time, she lay in the dark for a few minutes, her mind going over the layout of the room. She didn’t want to make a noise and disturb her daughter, not when Jenny was sleeping peacefully.

  It was pitch dark outside, and not being familiar with the small room, she sat on the edge of the bed and put her hands out to feel the wall. Then she stood up and groped her way to the door, and then out to the staircase. The lino was freezing under her feet, and she shivered as she lowered herself down each of the stairs, careful to keep to the side so they wouldn’t creak. Once in the living room, she closed the door softly and felt for the box of matches she kept on the sideboard behind the glass bowl. Two minutes later, the gas mantle was lit and the flickering light cast an eerie glow over the room. Annie told herself the sooner she got the fire lit the better, it would cheer the room up a bit. So she set to, raking the ashes out of the grate on to the hearth. She was on her hands and knees brushing the hearth when she heard the door behind her open, and her blood ran cold. Her first thought was that her husband had heard her coming down, and had followed with the intention of seeking revenge. She was scrambling to her feet, her mind telling her she would be more able to protect herself if she was standing up, when she heard her daughter’s voice. ‘I felt yer getting out of bed, Mam. What time is it?’