The Girl From Number 22

by Joan Jonker

  ‘Is that all yer’ve seen of him?’ Annie asked. ‘Didn’t he say anything to yer?’

  Jenny shook her head. ‘Only that yer’d gone to the chippy. What is going on, Mam? Has he been at yer again?’

  Annie crossed the room to close the living room door. ‘I’m sorry there’s no dinner ready for yer. I’ve been standing at the bottom of the entry waiting to explain everything to yer, but yer must have been early getting home. Ben said he’d hang on and wait a bit longer, but it was cold for him to stand around, so I made him come with me. Which was lucky, for he could still be standing there.’

  ‘Mam, what happened?’ Jenny asked. ‘It must have been something bad for yer to come and meet me and Ben. What’s me dad been up to, and why is he home so early?’

  ‘Sweetheart, today has been a nightmare. The worst day of me life.’ Tears threatened and Annie’s voice was husky. ‘I’ll tell yer the worst part quickly, then I’ll explain the rest when we’re walking down to the chippy. It’s going to have to be fish and chips tonight, there’s nothing else ready. And yer’ve got to have something to eat, yer must be starving.’

  ‘What about me dad?’ Ben asked. ‘Are we bringing some back for him?’

  ‘No, sweetheart, we’re not. If yer dad is hungry, he can go out and get his own. I’ll not be at yer father’s beck and call any more. Just sit down and listen, while I tell yer what he did to me today.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‘I couldn’t tell yer while Annie was here,’ Ada told her husband as the family sat down to their dinner. ‘It would have embarrassed her.’

  ‘Why was she crying when we came in from school, Mam?’ Paul asked. ‘Had she hurt herself or something?’

  ‘No, sunshine, she hadn’t hurt herself.’ Ada tried to tread carefully, reminding herself that little pigs have big ears, and Monica and Paul couldn’t be trusted not to repeat to their friends what they’d heard. ‘Her pride was hurt, that’s all. She’d had a row with her husband and was a bit upset.’

  Paul jerked his head back and his eyes went to the ceiling. ‘That’s daft that. A grown woman crying ’cos she fell out with her husband.’

  Monica gave him a dig in the ribs. ‘You don’t have no sympathy for anyone, you don’t. I felt sorry for Mrs Phillips, and I think she’s a nice woman.’

  ‘Had she been crying, love?’ Jimmy asked, looking puzzled. ‘I must admit I was little surprised to see her here, ’cos I didn’t know yer were so friendly with her. Certainly not pally enough for her to come to you for a shoulder to cry on.’

  ‘Me and Hetty are the only ones in the street she knows,’ Ada told him. ‘And I didn’t mind her coming, she’s a good, respectable woman.’

  ‘Yes, she seems nice, Mam,’ Danny said. ‘But I thought she had a grown-up son and daughter? It’s a wonder she wasn’t home getting their dinner ready. After all, the row with her husband was probably no more than a slight difference of opinion. I bet as soon as she got in they kissed and made up.’

  ‘I think it was more of a row than a spat, sunshine. The same as me and yer dad have rows now and again, but ours don’t last long and are soon forgotten.’ She raised her brows to her husband, and then her eldest son. And the look told them there was more to it, but she was not prepared to tell them in front of the children. ‘Every family have the odd tiff, they wouldn’t be normal if they didn’t. And I don’t want anything heard in this house to be broadcast in the street. Monica and Paul, did yer hear what I said?’

  There was a look of disgust on Paul’s face. ‘Me and me mates have got more to talk about than some woman crying over nothing. But yer’d better tell our Monica to keep her trap shut. She’s like all women, loves to gossip.’

  Monica didn’t answer with words, she answered with action. Paul yelped when she delivered a sharp jab in his ribs. ‘You are the one with the big mouth, our Paul. It’s so big, yer could get a football in it.’

  Paul frowned as he sought to find an answer to that, but he couldn’t think of one that would beat it. ‘I’ve finished me dinner, Mam. Can I go out now? I promised me mate I’d go round for a game of snakes and ladders.’

  ‘After yer’ve taken yer plate out and washed yer hands, then yer can go out.’ Ada turned her eyes on her daughter. ‘Are you going to Audrey’s, sunshine?’

  ‘I said I might, but I don’t think I will ’cos it’s freezing out.’

  ‘If yer got well wrapped up yer wouldn’t feel the cold.’ Ada had been hoping both children would be going out so she could tell Jimmy and Danny the real story about what had happened in the house opposite. ‘You and Paul take yer plates out, and I’ll follow yer to the kitchen ’cos I want to have a word with yer.’

  Paul was standing with his plate in his hand ‘What about, Mam?’

  ‘If I wanted yer dad and Danny to know what I have to say, then I wouldn’t be wanting to do it in a freezing kitchen, would I, soft lad? Go on, on yer way. I’ll follow yer out when I’ve finished eating me dinner.’

  After waiting until she could hear the children squabbling about who should be first at the sink, Ada said in soft tones, ‘There was murder over the road this afternoon, but I don’t want the kids to hear, ’cos yer know what they’re like for repeating things. I’ll tell yer the tale when they’ve gone out.’ She pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘And what a tale it is, too! It’ll make yer hair stand on end.’

  As she walked towards the kitchen, Ada heard her husband’s chortle as he said to Danny, ‘Yer mam doesn’t half like to exaggerate. Cut everything she says in half, and yer’ll probably get somewhere near the truth.’

  Ada turned. ‘In that case I’d better make everything out to be twice as bad as it really was, so when yer cut it in half, yer’ll end up with the truth.’

  Paul was drying his hands on the piece of towelling hanging on a hook behind the kitchen door. ‘The truth about what, Mam?’

  Ada told him, ‘That’s for me to know, sunshine, and you to find out.’ She closed the kitchen door before putting a finger to her lips. ‘Keep yer voices down. Now, have yer forgotten it’s Danny’s birthday tomorrow?’

  ‘We haven’t forgotten, Mam,’ Monica said. ‘Me and Paul were talking about it last night. We’ve kept a penny of our pocket money to buy him a card, but we can’t buy him a present ’cos we’ve no more money.’

  ‘When ye’re going out tonight, I’ll come to the door with yer. I’ll give yer sixpence each, that’s all I can afford. But it’s enough to buy him a little something to go with the card. Hankies, perhaps, a comb, or even a slab of chocolate. He’d be happy with any of those.’

  The children were delighted, feeling very grown up. ‘I’ll get something on the way home from school tomorrow, Mam,’ Monica said. ‘And I’ll ask the shop to put it in a nice bag.’

  ‘We could club the money together,’ Paul said, ‘and that way we could buy him all three things. That would be good, wouldn’t it, Mam?’

  ‘Smashing idea, son. He’d be so happy he’d think it was his birthday.’

  Paul opened his mouth to speak, then closed it quickly before he made a fool of himself. His mother was always quick off the mark with a joke. ‘I’m ready to go out now, Mam, so yer won’t forget to come to the door with me, will yer?’

  ‘I’ve only got to dry me hands,’ Monica said, ‘so yer can hang on and wait for me. While we’re walking down the street, we can decide what to buy Danny. And I hope ye’re not going to be awkward, like yer usually are.’

  ‘Well, I like that!’ Paul’s face was a picture of injured innocence. ‘Just listen to Miss Goody Two-shoes.’

  ‘Before there’s any argument, let me tell yer that the money only comes if yer behave yerselves. So it’s up to you.’

  Monica jerked her head at her brother. ‘Come on, Paul, let’s put our coats on and get out before you say anything that costs me a tanner.’

  Paul had his head bent as he followed his sister out of the kitchen, but under his breath he muttered, ‘She’s a righ
t pain in the neck.’

  Ada was behind him and heard. She tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Yer must have been sitting in a draught, sunshine.’

  Paul turned his head. ‘What makes yer say that, Mam?’

  ‘I heard yer saying yer had a pain in the neck.’ Ada chuckled silently when her son went the colour of beetroot. ‘Yer see, sunshine, yer never know who’s walking behind yer, listening to what ye’re saying.’

  ‘It was only in fun, Mam. I didn’t mean it.’

  Ada bent to whisper in his ear. ‘A certain person wouldn’t have liked it. She’d have clocked yer one.’

  Paul grinned up at her. ‘I know that, Mam! What did yer think I whispered it for?’

  Monica was standing by the front door with her coat on. ‘Come on, slowcoach, it’ll be time to come home before we get out.’

  ‘Don’t forget ye’re to be in by half eight, Paul, no later.’ Ada followed the two children to the door. ‘And nine o’clock for you, Monica. I don’t like you out on these dark nights.’

  Both children promised to be in on time, and after seeing them off Ada returned to the living room rubbing her arms briskly. ‘The best place is at home in front of the fire tonight. It’s freezing out there.’ She eyed Danny. ‘If you go out, yer want yer bumps feeling.’

  ‘Don’t feel the cold when I’m dancing, Mam.’ Danny’s dimples deepened. ‘I’d be colder sitting in by the fire than I will be doing the quickstep.’

  ‘Never mind the weather,’ Jimmy said. ‘What’s this tale ye’re going to tell us which will make our hair stand on end?’

  Ada pulled her chair closer to the table and leaned her elbows on it. ‘Before I start, Jimmy, I want yer to know this is not one of me make-up tales. If I never move off this chair, I swear every word out of me mouth will be true.’

  ‘Before yer tell us what happened this afternoon, love,’ Jimmy said, ‘tell us first how yer came to be so friendly with Mrs Phillips.’

  Ada glared at him. ‘Who’s telling this story, sunshine, you or me?’

  ‘You are, love, but I like to get the full picture in me mind. Like how well did yer know her before today?’

  Danny butted in. ‘And I hope it’s not going to be a long story, Mam, or I’ll be late getting to Blair Hall.’

  Ada took her elbows off the table and sat back in the chair. ‘Sod the story! I’ve gone off telling yer now, so forget it.’

  ‘Ah, ay, Mam, don’t be like that,’ Danny said. ‘It was only a joke.’

  ‘There’s nothing bleeding funny about standing between a drunken man and his wife!’ Ada sat forward again. ‘Or being called a gasbag and told to get off me fat backside. Not only me, but Hetty as well. And he raised his fist to me face and said if I didn’t want a taste of it, I should get me fat backside out of his bleeding house.’

  The smile faded from Danny’s face, while Jimmy put his knife and fork down. ‘Is this Mrs Phillips’s husband ye’re talking about? Did he really swear at you and Hetty, and threaten yer with his fist?’

  ‘He swore at both of us, but he didn’t threaten to hit Hetty. Yer see, she didn’t open her mouth, she was petrified when he started bawling and cursing at Annie. Yer should have heard the way he talks to his wife, he treats her like a piece of dirt. And I wasn’t going to sit there and let any man hit a defenceless woman. Especially one as nice as Annie. So I stood up to him, and that’s when he threatened to hit me.’ Ada sighed as the memory came back. ‘Anyway, I’ll start from the beginning, and tell yer what he’s like.’ Then she glanced at Danny. ‘You don’t have to stay in, sunshine, get yerself ready and go to the dance. Yer’ll enjoy yerself more than listening to what I have to say about our new neighbour. I won’t call him a man, it would be an insult to all the good men. He’s an animal. So go ahead, Danny, get yerself washed and ready to go out and have some pleasure.’

  ‘Not on your life! I’m not having some drunken bully threatening you! I’ll listen to what yer’ve got to say, then I’ll go over with me dad and have words with the blighter.’

  Jimmy shook his head. ‘No, I’ll go over on me own, son. It wouldn’t look good if the two of us went over.’

  ‘Neither of yer are going over,’ Ada told them firmly. ‘Tom Phillips wouldn’t take a blind bit of notice of yer. He’d been boozing, and was in a drunken rage. I’m not making excuses for him, ’cos I think he’s pathetic. And a good beating is what he needs. But whatever yer did, Annie is the one who would suffer. Her and the two children.’ Ada went on to tell them the whole story, and explained why Annie was there when they came home from work. She left nothing out, telling of the daily beatings and humiliation Tom Phillips put his wife through. And how she’d suffered in silence because of the two children. When she told how Jenny and Ben had saved Annie from a beating with his belt buckle, she heard both men gasp. Their tight faces told of their disgust and anger.

  ‘He wants sorting out for once and for all. And it needs a man to do it. By the sound of things he’s only a bully with his wife and children. Easy targets for him.’ Jimmy snorted in anger. ‘What sort of a life is it for two young people, who should be enjoying themselves?’

  ‘A life of hell, that’s what it is,’ Ada answered. ‘The boy, Ben, hasn’t long left school, and his father gives him a dog’s life. The poor kid only has to look sideways and he gets a belt. And according to Annie, life in the house would be ten times worse if it wasn’t for her daughter, Jenny, who is beginning to face up to her father.’

  She rubbed a finger over the pattern on the tablecloth. ‘I feel heartily sorry for them, and Annie. She’s a really nice person, and she deserves a damn sight better than to be living with a head case like Tom Phillips.’ She looked up to say, ‘D’yer know, Annie has had to up sticks every couple of years and move to another district? They’ve never stayed in one house for very long because of the queer feller. He picks fights with neighbours when he’s been drinking, then they’re hounded out of the street. He doesn’t care, ’cos he knows Annie will find another house they can live in for a year or two. Neither Annie nor the children know what it is to have a proper home, with friends and neighbours. And Annie has never told a living soul, until today, what a hell their lives have been. Not even her parents or sisters, for she’s too ashamed. Today was the first time she’s opened up to anyone, and once I’d coaxed her a little, it all came tumbling out. She told us about the way Tom Phillips has treated her since the day they got married. And once she started getting it off her chest, she poured her heart out to me and Hetty. I don’t know how I stopped meself from crying, but I kept telling meself it would make Annie worse if she thought I felt sorry for her.’

  ‘Anyone that didn’t feel sorry for her would have to be made of stone, love,’ Jimmy said. ‘I don’t know the woman, or the kids, but I know that’s no life for them. The man doesn’t seem to have any feelings of love, or pride, for his family.’

  Danny nodded his head. ‘I know how yer feel, Mam, ’cos my blood is boiling. Like me dad said, he needs sorting out.’

  ‘I haven’t told yer the whole of it yet.’ Ada sighed. ‘How he punches her in bed every night, in her stomach, or the middle of her back. He seldom hits her anywhere where a bruise would show, he’s too crafty for that. And he’s laughing while he’s doing it, ’cos he knows she won’t cry out for she wouldn’t want the kids to know and be upset. She’s black and blue all over, from the neck down. To show she wasn’t telling lies, she pulled the neck of her dress down, and there were bruises of all colours. When I saw them, I was so mad I’d have throttled him if I could have got my hands on him. I was sorry I hadn’t clocked the sod when I had the chance.’ Ada’s nostrils were flared and her voice defiant. ‘I’m really glad I made her come over here with me and Hetty. She didn’t want to, I had to talk her into it. She felt she was being a nuisance, burdening us with her troubles. But if I’d left her there, he’d have battered her, I know he would. All because she was having two neighbours in for a cup of tea. Apparently he’s never al
lowed that in all their married life. The miserable bugger doesn’t think Annie should have any life of her own. She’s there to look after him, be at his beck and call, not to make friends with the neighbours.’

  ‘Why has she put up with it for so long?’ Jimmy asked. ‘Surely she should have gone to the police and reported him? A night in the cells might have knocked some sense into him. And the police would have ticked him off.’

  Ada shook her head. ‘It doesn’t work like that, sunshine. Apparently some of the neighbours in several of the streets they’ve lived in have sent for the police when Tom Phillips has been rotten drunk and belting hell out of Annie and the kids. The police came, but they said they can’t interfere between man and wife. They said it was a domestic issue, and they weren’t allowed to get involved. It was against the law to interfere in a domestic row.’

  ‘That’s crazy!’ Jimmy was shocked. ‘If that’s the case, then someone should alter the law. No man should be allowed to batter his wife and kids and get away with it.’

  ‘I know that, love, the same as you. But, sadly, Tom Phillips knows he can do what he likes and no one will lift a finger to him.’

  ‘If I ever meet him in a dark entry, Mam, I’ll lift more than a finger to him.’ Danny was really incensed that any man would hit his wife and children. He had never known any violence in his home, except for a slap on the backside when he was young and had given his mother cheek. It was the same with all his mates if they answered back. But punishment never went beyond that. ‘If he was taught a lesson, it would force him to change his ways.’

  Jimmy had been thoughtful while Danny was talking. Now he said, ‘It’s a wonder the Bowerses and the Bensons don’t hear what’s going on, living either side of the Phillipses. These walls are so thin yer can hear when anyone raises their voice.’