Crystal's Song

by Millie Gray

  After the ceremony, the family all grouped together outside St John’s East Parish Church to have their photographs taken. Tess, her father thought, made a beautiful bride. As for the groom, Tam still couldn’t warm to him. Even last week, when he came along to the showing of presents, Rupert had to demonstrate yet again how clever he was. This time his target was Dinah and she felt humiliated when he announced to the gathering just how much time and money she wasted every day. “Mrs Glass,” he sneered patronisingly, “have you ever thought about how much those cigarettes cost that you light up every half hour or so? And how much time you waste sitting down to have a puff, not to mention having to rest because of your cough?”

  Rupert had met Granny Patsy only once before and was decidedly taken aback when she curtly retorted, “I don’t know how to say this politely, but have you ever thought how much time you waste by letting your belly rumble afore you’ve put your brain into gear?”

  The assembly all laughed but luckily the photographer defused the situation by calling for Dinah and Tess to pose together. Tam, who was still chuckling inwardly, took a step back to admire his wife and daughter. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at them. They were his pride and joy. However, as he gazed at Dinah, who was now looking more beautiful and entrancing than ever, he felt a strange sense of dread come over him. Was it just that he had to accept that his children were all growing up and would all too soon be flying the nest? Maybe his dislike of Rupert had made him particularly apprehensive; all he could hope for here was that his other children would marry people he could get on with – and admire. As his feeling of foreboding deepened, he just hoped it was not the prelude to something more sinister.

  The reception went well. Everyone complimented Dinah on producing such succulent steak pies followed by trifles, only one of which had been dropped on the floor by Tam’s brother, Archie. The mess was cleared up by the time the accordion player arrived and the dancing began.

  The bride and groom had departed but the party was still in full swing when Tam had to announce it was now eleven-thirty and since tomorrow was the Sabbath the festivities had to be brought swiftly to an end.

  Crystal (having officially adopted her beloved nickname) had declined Bing’s offer to walk her home. She truly did like him but felt she didn’t wish to get into a serious relationship – well, not right now, but maybe one day … Well, didn’t everyone deserve to have a dream? And, who knows, dreams just might come true.

  She was walking alone down Restalrig Road when she saw a group of youths who seemed to be harassing someone. When she drew level, she became aware that the person being bullied was her Uncle Archie. Poor Archie, who they said was “slow”, had his hands covering his head and was begging the thugs to leave him alone.

  “Right!” Crystal shouted, bursting into the group. “You just leave him alone! You’re a pack of yellow-livered cowards.”

  “Says who?” came the mocking reply from the leader of the gang.

  “Says me,” Crystal defiantly replied.

  “And what are you going to do?” sneered the youth, going over and starting to poke Crystal in the shoulder.

  “Her? Nothing. But me, plenty if you don’t get your hands off her,” a voice rang out.

  Crystal sagged with relief. She knew that voice so well and so did the gang, who began to disperse and saunter off.

  “Thank you, Sam,” said a tearful Crystal, as she helped her uncle to his feet. “They’re just scum. My poor uncle doesn’t bother anyone. Just goes to his work every day. And he did so enjoy himself at the wedding.”

  “Come on now,” said Sam, linking his arm through Archie’s. “We’ll just walk you home and then I’ll see …” Sam had forgotten Senga’s name again so he just continued with “… see Crystal home.”

  “Funny,” mumbled Archie as they set off, “hoo everybody caws her Crystal noo instead of Senga. Wonder wha changed her name?”

  Crystal didn’t volunteer an explanation but she did begin to realise why she’d resisted Bing’s attentions yet again. Every time she was beginning to weaken and think about saying yes to a date with Bing, Sam Campbell seemed to turn up.

  20

  There was a gentle knock on the outside door before it opened and in walked Etta.

  “You must be psychic,” exclaimed Dinah as she dashed into the bedroom and came back carrying a large carrier bag from which she took a dress, a jacket and then a hat.

  “Another wedding in the family?” asked Etta, feeling the glossy fabric of the dress.

  “No,” Dinah retorted. “Remember last week I told you that Tam’s graduating this Friday and as me and his mother Mary are both going to see him,” she giggled, “getting … capped, I thought I’d splash out and go to the do all dressed to kill!”

  Etta smiled. “You’ll sure knock all the fuddy-duddies dead with that outfit!”

  “Here! Did I tell you he’s got the job at David Kilpatrick’s as a Technical teacher, starting in August?”

  “David Kilpatrick’s? Now is that no where his prisoner of war pal’s the deputy head?”

  Dinah snorted before replying, “Yes. But my Tam got the job on his own merits. Hasn’t he just been told he’s top student of the year? And would you believe, he’s getting presented with a medal by Moray House College to prove it. I’m really pleased about that so I can show it to folk like you, Etta, who dinnae really believe it!”

  “Here, dinnae get so shirty. I was just saying.”

  “Sorry. But here! Is there something on your mind?”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Just that you’ve been round at least five times in the last three days and you always seem to be wanting to say something important and then you just gossip.”

  A long silence followed which allowed Dinah to put on her new hat and stand back awaiting Etta’s approval – which didn’t come. However, Etta did manage to stammer, “Och, Dinah, it’s that blooming man of mine, Harry, blackmailing Jacob again. You know how he hasn’t done a hand’s turn since he was demobbed at the end of the war. My little indiscretion that resulted in our Bill’s arrival gave him the excuse never to look for work. Lazy sod, so he is.” Etta was now becoming quite emotional. “He says that if Jacob doesn’t give him two hundred pounds so he can emigrate to Australia – he’ll put an advert in the Evening News saying …” Etta looked about the room to make sure she and Dinah were alone before she whispered, “that our wee lad’s no his and that his father is …”

  Dinah took off her hat, sat down on the settee and patted it, motioning to Etta to come and sit with her. “I know two hundred pounds is a lot of money but would it not be cheap at the price if he went to Australia and … got lost?”

  “Hmm,” Etta snorted. “Last year he stung Jacob for fifty pounds – said he’d been offered a job in Spain picking oranges!”

  “Picking oranges?”

  “Aye, and we should have known it was a con because he’s aye so befuddled by the booze we have to provide that he cannae even pick his nose – never mind oranges.”

  “What a bugger.” Dinah sat thoughtfully for a minute before tapping Etta’s hand and saying, “How about you call his bluff and say, okay, but make it clear you’ll buy the boat ticket and then you and I can see him aboard and no leave Liverpool docks until his ship sails?”

  Sighing, Etta replied, “Wish it was as easy at that.” She then changed the subject by asking, “But here, know how you were telling me you and Tam had been looking at the end-terraced villa down in Restalrig Road? So what’s the latest?”

  Dinah grinned and hunched her shoulders in delight. “We’ve got a mortgage from the Halifax Building Society – them up in George Street. See, when you’re a professional it’s easier to get a mortgage, whether you can pay or no.”

  “So I take it the offer’s in?”

  “Aye, we’ll ken next Friday.”

  “Good for you.”

  “To be truthful, I’m a wee bit scared of that mortgage th
ing. But we had to do something. This wee hoose here has been great and I do love it, but with Johnny getting demobbed and coming home in the next two weeks and Joe needing a bed all to himself because he lies asleep scoring goals all night … As for Crystal – well, there’s no sign of her being taken off our hands. And Elsie’s now starting to work … did I tell you she’s got a start at William Nimmo’s, the big Leith printers, as a trainee layer-on – and as she’s clever, she’s also going to be copy-holder!” Dinah, so proud of Elsie’s achievement, savoured the moment before saying, “Then there’s our baby, Myra, now turning five and if that’s no enough to be over-crowding us, now that Tam’s dad, Jack, has done the decent thing at last and got to hell out of oor road …”

  “Do you really think there would be no chance of him getting into heaven? I mean, did he no repent afore he went?” enquired Etta, who was still a gentle creature at heart and didn’t like the thought of anyone, even Jack Glass or her Harry (when he did go), roasting in a fire for ever.

  “No repent? Look, Etta, he dropped down deid but even if he’d been given two years’ warning it still wouldnae hae been time enough for him to confess aw his sins.”

  “Okay. But what difference will his going make to you?”

  “Well, Tam’s now saying, that if anything happens to his mother, then Archie will be coming to bide with us,” said Dinah, with a sigh.

  “But he’s a canny cratur, Dinah. He’ll no cause you any bother. You wouldnae want him having to go to the Model Lodging House, would you?” Etta argued.

  “Suppose not. And by the looks of Mary, since she and my Mammy are forever going on Mystery Drives and weekends away to Blackpool, she might well go on forever.”

  “Talking of that, is it true that when you all got down to the crematorium, Mary asked that lad, Bing, who’s nuts about Crystal, to make sure and put an extra shovelful on, specially for Jack?”

  “No,” laughed Dinah, “but right after the service, we did go and hae oor tea oot in Smith’s Tea Rooms on the corner of Morton Street and Duke Street and then we went up to the Empire Theatre. Lucky we were, getting the last tickets for Vera Lynn’s show. Great singer she is. Mind you, Mary thought that her singing ‘We’ll Meet Again’ was a bit depressing!”

  Etta too was now laughing but when Crystal came in the smile died on both their faces. “What is it, hen?” asked Dinah. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, Mammy, Sam Campbell’s going off to do his National Service and when he comes back he’ll be joining the polis!”

  “Mmm,” uttered Etta, taking out a packet of cigarettes and handing one to Dinah while lighting another for herself. “There’s a plus in everything?”

  “And what plus is in it for me when he’ll probably be killed?” whimpered Crystal.

  “Just that you might see sense and get courting that lad at the crematorium.”

  By now Dinah had her cigarette half-smoked but on the next draw she started to cough violently. “Time you saw about that cough, my lady,” advised Etta, who had also begun to clear her own throat.

  “Suppose I should,” spluttered Dinah. “But this bark’s because … I just can’t stop laughing! Oh Etta, d’you not think that if a lad’s been with the dead all day long he should be looking for someone a bit more cheerier than my Crystal?”

  21

  The middle-aged man ran his hands over his worn and dusty boiler-suit before placing his right palm on the recently painted wrought-iron gate while grabbing his chin with the left. He desperately wanted to open the gate and walk up the path that led to the rather imposing (as he saw it) semi-detached villa – but he somehow lacked the courage. Luck was on his side, however, for without warning the half-glass door of the house was thrown open wide and Etta called out, “You going to stand there all day, Archie?”

  Still hesitant, Archie opened the gate and began to creep up the path, again running his hands over his overalls. “Is Dinah in?” he asked. Etta nodded. “Do you think she’ll want me to go round to the back door seeing I’ve still got my working claithes on?”

  “For heaven’s sake, Archie, don’t be so daft.”

  His face turning crimson, Archie half-hung his head before piteously retorting, “I’m no daft.” He paused before adding, “I work the hale time. And take my wages hame to my Mammy every week.”

  Etta winced before skipping down the path to take Archie by the arm and steer him indoors. “I know you’re no daft. Sorry. It’s me that’s daft saying a thing like that. But Archie, there’s no way that Dinah would have you going to the back door. You’re family and we all love you.”

  Dinah was in the kitchen, which was next to the back living-room, and she called out, “Here, Etta, did you say Archie boy was coming in?”

  “Aye, and here he is. Meaning to go round to the back door, he was. Huh!”

  Emerging from the kitchen, Dinah dried her hands on a towel. “Why would you want to do that? But here! Why aren’t you at work?”

  “Sent hame,” Archie replied, going over to Dinah and pointing a finger towards his swollen cheek. “Look. Mammy said if my rotten tooth was to bother me again I was to come round to you.”

  Peering into Archie’s mouth Dinah could see the problem. “Need to get you to a dentist, Archie,” she announced, glancing up at the clock and wondering if she could get him to one and be home in time for Joe and Myra coming out of school.

  Archie immediately backed away from her, shouting, “Naw, naw. You’re no taking me down to that roughie in Bonnington Road.”

  “What roughie is he talking about?”

  “Och, Etta, don’t tell me you’ve never heard about Miss Cowie. She’s real rough and a true sadist. Hasnae heard of anaesthetics, straps you into the chair and then throws her leg up on your chest to haud you down afore hauling your tooth out – and often enough she pulls the wrong yin!”

  Archie had collapsed on a chair and his pallor was a mixture of white and blue. “I’m no going there. I’m no going there. I was ta’en tae her when I was just five … and I’ve never been back. Wouldnae even go to the school dentist down in Links Place efter that Miss Cowie scared me so much. Blood everywhere, so there was. And she didnae even get my tooth oot.”

  “But if she didn’t pull your tooth out, where did all the blood come from?” enquired Etta.

  “My nose,” replied Archie. “Because when she saw me running for the door she socked me a shot.”

  “Okay, okay. Just calm down, Archie. There’s no use taking you to Miss Cowie – because she’s deid and I havnae the time to do a séance. So we’ll just skip down the road to my dentist in Vanburgh Place.” Archie shook his head. “Look, son,” Dinah went on, “I promise you Mr Wilson will put you right to sleep and when it’s all over your tooth will be out and the pain gone.” Archie shook his head again. “You just cannae go on with the agony, Archie. And know something? Rabbie Burns didnae call it ‘the hell o’ aw diseases’ for nothing. You’ve been real brave this far, but let’s put an end to it.”

  “Wish Mammy hadnae gone off on that Mystery Tour to North Berwick.”

  Dinah thought, “So do I. And why did they always say they were off on a Mystery Tour when they knew full well, before they left, that they would be landing up just where they wanted to be – in North Berwick for the mandatory fish tea followed by some Luca’s ice cream.”

  Archie winced again and gently rubbed his cheek. “Promise I’ll feel nothing?” Dinah nodded reassuringly.

  Dinah and Etta waited anxiously in the waiting room and both heaved a sigh of relief when Mr Wilson came out and said he had removed two additional teeth that would have caused bother in the next wee while and that he’d also cleaned up Archie’s mouth. He hesitated briefly before adding that since he was having difficulty rousing Archie, he’d sent for Dr Hannah just to give him the once-over.

  Mr Wilson had just imparted this news when Dr Hannah arrived, smiling to Dinah and Etta, both of whom were patients of his. He promptly disappeared into the surgery and w
hen he reappeared, physically assisting a revived Archie, both women tangibly felt released from the sense of terror that had engulfed them. With shaking hands, Dinah took out her cigarettes and lit up one but was immediately overtaken by a fit of coughing.

  “Here. That cough sounds as if it’s coming from the soles of your boots, Mrs Glass,” observed Mr Wilson.

  Dr Hannah took the cigarette from Dinah and stubbed it out before saying, “I think it’s about time you came down to see me about your chest.”

  “I did come down last week but there were twenty people waiting in your surgery. And after being told there were only you and young Dr Milne on duty, I came away. Just couldn’t wait well over an hour – so I thought, why bother?”

  “Believe you me, it’s more than important that you do bother. So I’ll expect to see you tomorrow!”

  Dinah wanted to go on with her explanation but the doctor’s abrupt departure put an end to that.

  By the time Dinah and Etta had helped Archie up the road, the children were home from school. However they needn’t have worried as Tess had already arrived, and, knowing how hungry children always were when they came in from school, she had spread some jam on bread. Not only was that a real delicacy for Joe and Myra, it was also a pleasure for Etta’s son, Bill, who always came first into the Glass household for a jammy piece before returning to his own home.

  Tess’s face was full of concern when she looked at her uncle’s face, so drawn and sickly. “Whatever happened?” she gasped.

  “Got three teeth out, he did,” Dinah replied. “But once he’s had a good sleep he’ll be right as rain.” Turning to Archie, she ordered, “Now, take yourself upstairs and get into the bed in the back room and no one will bother you. And you’ll be sleeping here all night.”