Birmingham Blitz

by Annie Murray

  ‘When’re we on then?’ Nan asked. She’d put her squeeze box down at the side of the piano.

  ‘You’ll be called,’ Doris said. ‘Ray ’ere’s our master of ceremonies for the evening. ’Ere Ray – get Mrs Rawson and ’er family a drink, will you?’

  There were a couple of barrels of beer, courtesy of Mr Broadbent, and a whole assortment of cups and glasses on the table. We’d brought a few ourselves, as well as sandwiches to add to the collection.

  ‘Tizer for you kids?’ Ray said. As he was opening the bottle with a ‘swoosh’ noise, I couldn’t help myself keep looking round at the stairs, every time there was the movement of someone arriving. I knew that until the Broadbents were here the place wouldn’t feel complete.

  Nancy came up with another girl who I thought looked like her sister. She was wearing a black dress with huge pink roses on and dashes of white in it, with a nipped waist. I saw Nan stare at her. ‘Is that that Nancy you were on about? Looks a bit of a hussy to me. And that’s a lower neckline than’s good for ’er – she could catch a cold down there.’

  Some people had already sat down on the chairs and boxes and a few other kids had arrived, so Tom and Patsy were chasing round with them and Lil just let them get on with it. She’d gone over to the piano where Tony, one of the lads from the main factory, was tuning up on it, improvising, feeling his way into songs. He was good, had the touch, and Lil leaned with one arm against the top of the upright humming bits she recognized, winking down at him. He was such a young feller I could see he was dazzled by her, this gorgeous woman with red lips, raven hair and sequins on her dress. He stopped for a minute and they talked, then tried out the openings of some songs together. Not to be outdone, Mom went over with her tumbler of ale and joined in. I was proud of them both.

  Please Mom, I thought, don’t drink too much tonight. Just don’t let me down.

  I stood beside Nan, who’d taken a seat to rest her knee. A cheer went up as a trail of coloured bulbs which’d been strung across the top of the banner lit up, bright as boiled sweets although it was still golden daylight.

  ‘This is one show’ll have to be over by blackout time!’ Ray announced.

  ‘Let’s get on with it then!’ another voice shouted. ‘What’s all the hanging about for?’

  More claps and cheers. The place was filling up and they were getting impatient. We all wanted to break the hard lines of ordinary days. We wanted to laugh, to sing and forget.

  Mom and Lil came over, gathering up the kids, and stood by me and Nan, leaving the seats for other people. As the piano struck up again Nan turned to me. ‘You look very nice tonight, Genie.’

  I had to bend my head to hear her and smile. ‘Ta Nan.’ I had on the polka dot dress Mom’d put together, with its little scarf and I’d curled the ends of my hair and pinned it so it hung nicely round my ears.

  Ray, Doris’s husband, looked more the type to be handy with his fists than his wit but he stepped forward to do his bit as Master of Ceremonies and erupted into a patter that took us all by surprise and soon had everyone laughing and cheering.

  Nan leaned over to me. ‘I knew I knew that feller’s face. Used to work the Bull Ring, selling crocks or summat. Haven’t seen him in a while.’

  When she said that, I remembered him too. ‘He’s on munitions now.’

  ‘And our first number tonight,’ he was shouting in his gravelly voice, trying to beat the catcalls and whistles. ‘I tell yer, if yer don’t settle down you lot, there won’t be time for any bleeding show!’

  More cheers and raucous laughter but the message seemed to have sunk in. Gradually they got settled down. But when I looked round I saw Mr Broadbent arrive at the top of the stairs, a woman behind him I’d never seen before, blonde, with sharp, rather haughty features.

  ‘That them?’ Mom whispered to me.

  I nodded. ‘She must be one of the daughters.’

  Behind me I heard a voice say, ‘I s’pect Mrs B’s got the other sister at her beck and call at home.’

  In the front row people were standing and shuffling along as Ray commanded, ‘Make room now, ladies and gents, make room there.’

  As they moved to the front I saw the one thing that I needed to see before whipping my head round to the front so it wouldn’t be obvious I was staring. Joe was following behind them. He was here. My heart answered, speeding up.

  Mr Broadbent senior and the daughter accepted seats in the front row, she looking like a chilly-eyed cat and Mr B with smiles to each side.

  ‘Another space here!’ someone called in a voice that sounded decidedly like Nancy’s.

  ‘That’s all right,’ Joe’s voice came from close behind me. ‘I’m happy to stand, thanks.’

  My skin was up in goosepimples, knowing how close he was to me. As Tony struck up on the piano again I found courage and turned round.

  ‘Hello again, Genie. OK if I stand here?’

  ‘Course. Can you see over my head?’

  He gave a laugh. ‘With plenty to spare.’

  The first person on stage was one of the main factory workers called Dick. ‘This is Dick Busby,’ he kicked off, ‘talking to you from a munitions factory somewhere in the Midlands,’ which earned him a clap before he’d even got started on his string of corny jokes, trying to sound like Arthur Askey. He told them pretty well in fact and bowed himself off.

  Then it was Joan’s turn. She was plump, middle aged, apple cheeked, and waddled forward with a length of white string, an empty milk bottle and a deadpan face, and proceeded to perform a series of antics. After a few minutes of this there wasn’t a person in the audience who wasn’t laughing until they ached and not one of us could have explained why. I could hear Joe behind me and after a few more manoeuvres from Joan we were all helpless with it. Eventually she gave a sniff as if we were all completely beyond her in our stupidity, wound up the string, picked up the bottle and marched off to the loudest possible applause.

  ‘By special request from our pianist here, we’re now going to ’ave a song. I’d like to call upon Mrs Lilian Heaney!’

  Lil went up to the front wearing a blush that only made her look more ravishing than ever. The silky green dress she wore hugged her lithe figure, its sequins winking in the sunlight. She’d pinned a dark crimson rose behind her left ear and stood swaying to the rhythm of the piano. She sang a couple of Cole Porter numbers. After the first one, into which she poured all the longing of her own sad heart, because that was the gift she had, I felt Joe’s breath on my ear.

  ‘She’s a real find, isn’t she? Who is it?’

  As I was turning to answer he moved forwards into Lil’s place.

  ‘That’s my auntie Lil.’

  ‘Your aunt?’ He looked at me, then back at her. ‘She’s got real talent.’

  I smiled, pleased for Lil as her rich voice poured out over the Birmingham rooftops and her fairytale face to go with it cast spells in people’s mind. The clapping was at least as loud as for Joan with her bottle and string. Joe moved respectfully out of the way when she came back to us. I saw Mom whisper something to Lil.

  There were more jokes, some told to laughs, others to groans, while helpings of ale were passed round and we polished off the last of the sandwiches. Poems, some politer than others. The pianist played dance music on his own. Nancy got up, eyes fixed on Joe, to do a gypsy dance which went off a bit half cock but could’ve been worse. Just about. She gave me a filthy scowl as she flounced back to her seat to not exactly rapturous applause.

  ‘We ’ave some guest performers here tonight. We can’t give you the Andrews Sisters from Hollywood but we do ’ave our very own Andrews Sisters of Balsall Heath! Let’s hear it for Doreen, Lil and Genie and their accompanist, the much esteemed Edith Rawson!’ He put his hands together and led the applause and we went to the front, Nan carrying her stool. She settled herself on it with the accordion, arms through the straps.

  Lil, Mom and I arranged ourselves round behind her and Lil did the introductio
ns.

  ‘We’ve got a number of songs for you tonight—’ This was interrupted by clapping. They were all getting pretty merry out there, and this was a special night. They were going to milk every second of enjoyment out of it before the dreary return to the factory.

  We started off with sing-along numbers like ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ and ‘The Lambeth Walk’ and everyone joined in at the top of their voices, stamping and clapping. We spun ‘The Lambeth Walk’ on faster and faster until we were all falling over ourselves with the words and laughing and Nanny Rawson’s fingers were a blur on the keys of the squeeze box, her right foot madly tapping the rhythm. It was going fine. The whole evening had gone well and I knew I had wings, lifting me specially, because Joe Broadbent had stood behind me all the way through. He’d sought me out. I saw him watching the four of us, all so colourful – Mom in red, Lil sea green, me blue and Nan also in a royal blue dress, all so different but with our voices blending. I saw Joe was smiling, singing along with everyone else. Please God, I thought, don’t let anything go wrong tonight . . . just this once.

  After the rapturous end of the song Lil held up her hand to quieten them. ‘Right, you’ve had your fun. Now it’s time to settle down for summat more serious.’ There was a good-natured groan from out front. ‘We’re going to turn the tempo down now and turn our thoughts to –’ she drew the word out to raise a laugh, ‘lu-u-urve.’

  ‘Oooh!’ everyone responded.

  Nan struck up and Lil sang the verse of ‘The Very Thought of You’, her voice rising to bring the rest of us in for the chorus, and then our voices chimed in, harmonizing, Mom quite in control tonight, her voice high and lovely.

  I’d barely ever sung with them in public before, although at home we sang together in the normal course of things. We hadn’t practised, there was no time for any of that, but I found I could move easily in time to the music and the songs were so familiar it came as naturally as singing in a bath tub.

  When that was finished Lil stepped forward again. ‘And now, since she’s our excuse for being here at all, we’re going to hear from the little ’un.’

  With a huge jolt I realized it was me she was on about.

  ‘She don’t usually sing with us, this one. Says she hasn’t got a voice.’ There was a pleased laugh from in front of us, although the only face I fixed on at that point was Nancy’s and hers was full of spite.

  ‘We think it’s about time she joined the troupe. So, judge for yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll help her along from the back of course, but now I give you my lovely niece – we’re all very proud of her – Eugenie Watkins. Step forward, Genie!’

  Heck, I hadn’t been expecting this! But I couldn’t exactly let them down now, could I? Even Mom was smiling. I moved nearer the front of the stage, my suddenly damp hands smoothing the front of my dress, but I hoped, looking more composed than I felt.

  ‘Let’s hear yer, Genie!’ someone shouted.

  I gave a little bow and turned to Lil with a grin. ‘I’ll get you for this afterwards.’ Everyone laughed. More quietly I gave her a choice of song.

  It went almost silent then, and into the quiet Nan struck up on the accordion. The sun was setting, had sunk behind the factory walls and the air was smoky. The faces in front of me had fallen into shadow.

  I sang an old song, a beautiful song, ‘I’ll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time’, and when I’d gone through a few of the lines I heard Nan, Mom and Lil join in with me and felt them hold me up, give strength to my voice, which was tuneful enough, but weaker and smaller than theirs. I’ve no idea how I sang, how it sounded, but I know I tried to do it the way Lil did, pouring everything I could into it. That song promised things would turn out happily in a time of flowers and it was something all of us ached for. Things had to get better. And while I stood out there I thought my family should spend all their time singing because the songs went through and out the far side of everything else and let everyone be happy together.

  I sang the final notes of the song and bent over in a bow. When I stood up I caught Joe’s gaze fixed on me. His eyes were full of a quiet seriousness, but when he saw me looking he smiled back at me and raised his hands to show how hard he was clapping.

  ‘Wasn’t she lovely?’ Lil quizzed the audience, and they roared back. ‘Shouldn’t she sing with us all the time, eh?’ Another outburst of agreement. My cheeks were on fire. So was my heart, to tell the truth. ‘For anyone who doesn’t already know it, Genie’s a great kid. And I’m going to give her the choice of our last song tonight.’

  ‘Make it something jolly!’ someone shouted. They wanted something to jump around to. OK, we’d let them have it. ‘What about “Run Rabbit”?’

  And so it was, and we went back to our places still singing. I felt proud to bursting. Joe’s obviously admiring expression had given me a rare pride in who I was and my family. We may have been a complete mess in every other way but this was something we could do. It was us at our finest and I’d been included too. As I moved to my place I saw Joe’s sister, Marjorie, lean towards her father and make some comment. Joe was still clapping.

  ‘That was so good,’ he said as I reached my place. This time it was he who seemed more shy of me.

  Mom touched my shoulder as she passed me and found me a smile. ‘That was lovely, Genie.’

  ‘Have you really never sung like that before?’ Joe asked, lips close to my ear.

  ‘Only at home. I leave the performing to the others usually.’

  ‘It was tremendous – listen, you can hear everyone loved it!’ Only now were they winding down the clapping.

  Joe made sure he stayed next to me this time and Mom and Lil squeezed in closer to the wall. The sun was going down fast now and very soon the coloured bulbs glowing there against the brickwork would have to be switched off.

  After a couple more numbers, both saying we were a hard act to follow, Tony played ‘God Save the King’ and everyone stood and blasted it out, loud as they could.

  ‘Come on you lot,’ Ray shouted. ‘Once more – and make it so that bleeder Adolf can ’ear it this time!’

  When it was over everyone was suddenly milling about picking up chairs and clearing the trestle tables or trying to get to the stairs. A few were detailed to stay on and finish off after the rest had gone. The light was dying and there was a rush to get it finished, make the place dark.

  Mr Broadbent and his daughter came up to us as we were shuffling towards the stairs.

  ‘That was a real treat,’ Mr B said kindly. He was a smaller man than his son, with his hair now steely grey but the same very dark brown eyes. His face always looked lined and tired. ‘I’m glad you could all come. I didn’t know we had such a budding little talent in the warehouse.’

  ‘It were a pleasure,’ Nanny Rawson said.

  Even the sister smiled. She didn’t seem all that bad up close. Probably just shy. ‘It was really nice,’ she managed to say.

  And then they were gone, carried along in the tide moving into the stairwell, and Joe turned to say a quick goodbye which felt snatched and unfinished. Fittingly, as they vanished, the necklace of coloured lights went off, leaving us with only a shred of moon to see by.

  At the top of the stairs I felt someone push up next to me and grab my arm, pinching it. ‘Proper little bitch of a show off, aren’t you, Genie Watkins?’ Nancy dug her nails into my wrist. ‘You’ve spoilt everything, you ’ave. I ’ate you.’

  ‘Get off!’ I yanked my arm away. ‘You’re hurting me, you barmy cow you. Why don’t you just get home and hang up that chest of yours, Nance, before it falls out the front of your dress?’

  ‘What was all that about?’ Lil asked when I’d shaken Nancy off.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘Nothing that matters anyhow.’

  People didn’t hang about outside. We all had homes to get to and work to do and the street was dark and deserted now except for us.

  ‘We’ll come down your way,’ Mom was saying to Nan. ‘It’s
not the quickest, but we might as well all stick together.’

  ‘Coming for a cuppa?’

  ‘Nah – best get back to Len,’ Mom said. I guessed it wasn’t tea she was interested in either.

  We’d only got to the end of the road when we heard footsteps running up behind us.

  ‘Someone’s in a rush,’ Nan said. We all pressed into the side.

  The running slowed.

  ‘Hello? Is that the Watkins family?’ His voice. ‘I wanted a quick word with Genie.’

  We wouldn’t be a minute, I told the others. I persuaded them I’d catch them up, and we were left alone. I could barely see his face in the moon’s tiny threads of light.

  ‘I couldn’t go just like that. I told them I’d left something—’ I could hear his quick breathing. He was nervous. ‘Would you think of coming out with me, Genie? Say tomorrow night?’

  Mom was sitting there staring at nothing, miles away.

  ‘How do I look? Mom?’

  ‘Very nice.’ Sounded as if it was all too much effort for her to speak.

  ‘The dress is smashing. Thanks again for making it.’ It was the blue and white one again. I had nothing newer.

  No answer.

  ‘Look, Mom—’ I went and squatted by her chair. ‘I’m sorry to go out and leave you tonight, but Lenny’ll be home soon. And you have said you could do with a quiet rest.’ Umpteen times in fact.

  She nodded but I could tell there were tears not far away. We’d already been through how it wasn’t all bad, what good form she’d been in at the show.

  ‘But I’m cut off from everyone – everything,’ she moaned. ‘I feel as if I’m locked in a cage . . .’

  Now she was getting worked up. ‘It’s all right for you,’ she said, jerking her head from side to side against the back of the chair in frustration. ‘It’s all bloody right for you, isn’t it? Even that fathead Len has someone . . .’

  I stood up, backing away from her. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ll be late. I promised . . .’

  ‘He won’t want you!’ she shrieked after me. ‘What would he want you for? He’ll think he’s too good for you, you wait and see!’