Love on the Dark Side of the City

by Kennedy, Thomas

  “Well Megan. I can interview you. We could use a chambermaid. Do you know what that is?”

  “No. Me mother had a chamber pot for the toilet, is it something to do with that?”

  “No, it is someone to keep the bedrooms tidy and to look after the girls who live here. A maid. Do you understand?”

  “Yes miss.”

  “This in not a respectable house” Sonia continued. “The girls who live her are lap dancers. Do you know what lap dancers are?”

  “They dance half naked for men. I could not do that. Traveller girls don’t show themselves to anyone except their husbands. Not that I am married.”

  “You are a good girl, you should look for a job in a respectable house Megan.” Sonia counselled, softly.

  “No respectable house will ever take a Traveller. I won’t get a job unless you give me one miss.”

  Sonia appraised the young girl in front of her. She could use a willing helper in the house. “Would you be prepared to train?” she asked.

  “Yes miss. But not the dancing.”

  “I know. The job is in this house. The dancing is in town. In this house the girls are just girls. No men are allowed in here. We are very strict.”

  “I’d like to train,” Megan offered. “I have never been inside a house, not really. I’d love to learn all about a house. When I marry I am going to live in a house.”

  “Are you Megan? And who will you marry?”

  “Not an itinerant, no Travellers for me. I want to change, I want…” Megan trailed off with a blush.

  “Have you met somebody?” Sonia asked, instinctively understanding that this was the reason the girl wanted to change her life.

  “He’s a black,” Megan said with a blush. “He is lovely. My dad would kill me. He wants us to marry in the family, with other itinerants.”

  “Where will you live Megan”?

  “Can I live here? I’ll work very hard, I don’t mind if I have to be a maid late in the night. I won’t let you down.”

  “Do you have a passport?” Sonia asked.

  “No miss.” Megan replied, she did not know of any Traveller who had a passport. “I think you need an address for a passport,” she added.

  “When you are sixteen you also need your parents permission. Would you get it? Your father would have to sign a paper so you could get a passport.”

  “Me dad would sign anything when he is drunk” Megan replied. “Why would I need a passport?”

  “Because Mr. Slovieg, who owns this house only employs girls who will give him their passport for safekeeping. That way they can’t just disappear and let him down. It is his policy and it applies to everyone.”

  “How will I get a passport?” Megan asked her eyes pleading.

  “I can get the form and use this address. But your father will have to sign it. He must not turn up here and make trouble. Can you guarantee that?”

  “Yes miss,” Megan lied. If her father found out he would come and drag her home. But that was something she would worry about if she got the job.

  “You will have to dress in a maids uniform and you will have to be very hygienic.”

  “Hygienic?” Megan asked

  “Personal hygiene. I expect you to wash everyday and to have a shower every morning.”

  “I always wash miss,” Megan said blushing. “I am not dirty.”

  “Do you have a shower at home?”

  “No miss, I never had a shower, but we have a basin in the Caravan and the river or the canal. We manage.”

  “Manage won’t be enough here. You have to row in or you are out.”

  “Miss, I’ll do anything you say except the dancing, the lap dancing.”

  “There will be no need for that,” Sonia said with a laugh, “Although you are pretty enough. You might not be too bad at it.”

  “I’d die Miss,” Megan said and Sonia realized Megan was too close to tears to banter with.

  “You will have a shower now and try on the uniform. If it fits fine, if not we will have it taken in.”

  “Does that mean I will get the job?” Megan asked her eyes dancing with excitement.

  “One weeks trial.”

  “Thank you miss.”

  “Can you read and write?” Sonia asked as an afterthought.

  “Yes miss. I did primary school. And me Mammy asks me to read the paper sometimes because her eyes are not up to it.”

  “Good. I will take you to the shower room and leave you too it. Have a good scrub and then put on the uniform and then come back to me. In the meantime I will fill out the passport form. We keep a supply of forms here as we have a lot of dealings for the girls. Here…” Sonia handed Megan a piece of paper and a pen. Put you full name and surname and date of birth on this. Then follow me.”

  Megan wrote out her details in careful longhand and gave the piece of paper back to Sonia.

  “I hope I don’t regret this,” Sonia added, “I am putting action where my mouth was. Don’t you let me down Megan.”

  “I won’t miss.”

  Megan followed Sonia into an adjoining room where Sonia retrieved a uniform from the wardrobe. It was a black dress with a white fluffy blouse.

  “There are tights to go with this, but we can get them later. And you will need a pair of black shoes. We can get those later. Your runners are not allowed. Understood?”

  “Yes miss.”

  Sonia led her to her shower room. The air still had a trace of perfume from Sonia’s shower earlier that morning.

  Megan looked awestruck at the dresser with mirrors and perfumes and bottles. Sonia turned on the shower and got a large full fluffy pink towel from the rack.

  “Undress, shower, dry yourself. Only then are you allowed to put on the uniform. Understood?” she instructed, “ Dress in the uniform and come back to me in my office. You have privacy here, so don’t be embarrassed, you have this bathroom to yourself and there is a lock on the door. Don’t be too long.”

  With that Sonia left Megan on her own.

  Embarrassed at first, and then more decisively, Megan undressed herself. She almost jumped when she saw a reflection and then realized it was herself in a full-length mirror.

  She admired herself for a moment, reflecting that this was the first time she had seen her full naked reflection, and then blushed and got a towel to cover her nakedness. None else had ever seen her either. Her husband would be the first and last and only one to enjoy that privilege.

  The shower was a little too warm, but she did not know how to use it so she let it run down her body and as she warmed up she had the most luxurious experience of her life. She loved the perfumed soap and shampoo. She remembered seeing a hair dryer on the dresser and decided to use the perfumed shampoo to wash her hair.

  Yes Megan decided, I am going to get out of being an itinerant. Wait until I tell Adizua about today, he won’t believe it.

  When she was finished Megan put her pants back on and put on the uniform.

  Sonia smiled when Megan appeared at the door of her office. Megan’s hair was still damp and she looked very clean. It was clear that the uniform would need a bigger bust measurement.

  Sonia was pleased that Megan was pretty under neat all the grime. The other girls would be happy to have a pretty maid.

  But then a thought struck her. She would have to keep Ivan away from Megan. If she hired Megan, then she took responsibility for her welfare. This girl was too innocent and vulnerable, and also none of the girls in the house trusted Ivan.

  “I’ll take your measurements and then you get dressed. I’ll arrange the uniform for Monday and also shoes if you can give me your shoe size. You can report back here next Monday. I’ll tell cook and the other servants. You still sure you want to do this?”

  “Yes please miss.”

  “I have filled out a passport application form for you. You will need to get your parents to sign it and you will need to bring your birth certificate. Can you arrange this?”

  “Yes Miss.�
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  “And you will come and live in this house and there will be no trouble about it?”

  “Yes Miss,” Megan said and her excitement and pleasure was obvious.

  Meanwhile in the garden of the house, Maureen walked slowly and talked to Ivan. She knew that she had passed from her initial objective of distracting the security guard while Megan called to the kitchen, and that she was enjoying the attentions of the Russian.

  Ivan had a friendly eye for the ladies and a big smile and an embracing laugh. Maureen basked in the warmth of his attention, responding to his interested and exploring questions about her life. He laughed at her stories about Jimmy Mac and was attentive and courteous and concerned as she explained about the predicament of her boy friend and intended.

  “Five years?” he repeated after she told him.

  “Yes but it’s his first offence. He had a weapon, which made it serious, and he got jail. He will be out in six months time.”

  “And what about you pretty maid, is all your beauty going to waste while this man spends his youth in jail. You need to be loved. You need the excitement of living.”

  ‘Ah go way,” Maureen said, embarrassed at his effusiveness, “we manage to get our own excitement.”

  “I would love…” Ivan said in his deep warm Russian voice, “to take you out and show you the world, the bars and the dances. You would love it.”

  “Nobody lets us Travellers into bars and pubs, not if they can help it.” Maureen said dismissively.

  “If you were with me they would think you were Russian. You would say nothing. Be a silent mysterious Russian princess. What would they know?”

  Maureen laughed at the prospect. “You’re mad Ivan.”

  “No. Not mad. Bad,” Ivan said with a laugh, and took her by the elbow and danced a few steps before she released herself.

  “I am serious,” Ivan said as they both stopped for a moment. Their eyes met.

  “You can bring your friend,” Ivan added as he sensed she was interested but still about to refuse. “We will fool the world for a night and you will see this city in a new way. Not from doorways and begging in the rain. I have money. I will take you and your friend to the best places and you will be admired. You will see what it is like to be alive,” Ivan continued persuasively. “Like Cinderella. I can get you home by midnight. It will be fun. Come.”

  “Maybe?” Maureen said still doubtful. If they were found out their fathers would skin them alive. She wondered would Megan be up for it.

  “I’ll have to ask Megan.” She added doubtfully.

  “Does Megan have a boyfriend?” Ivan persisted.

  “No, unless you count that black fellow.”

  “Black fellow?”

  “Yes, we met a black fellow, an illegal immigrant. He came to our camp. We let him off in town. I saw Megan with him one evening. They go to a squat and talk. I have not let on I know. Megan thinks she has a big secret. If I tell her father she will have a sore backside I can tell you.”

  Ivan laughed, “you should not be unromantic Maureen. Let her bring her black fellow and we will have a fine night. No one will know. It will be fun. I would like very much to enjoy your company Maureen, I like you a lot.”

  “I have a boyfriend.”

  “You told me and I know. I know he is in jail and you are worried about him. But nobody will see you out with me. Talk to your friend Megan and get her to agree. I will meet you at St. Stephens green at eight of the clock on Monday night. Be there, don’t disappoint me.”

  “There’s Megan. I have to go” Maureen said as she saw Megan come out of the kitchen, carrying a small plastic bag with her takings from the cook.

  As Maureen turned to go Ivan took her hand and pulled her to him. Maureen looked up at him with amused eyes. Then their eyes met and she looked down. Ivan kissed her forehead and their eyes met again. “I am full of hope,” he said, “please.”

  “Eight O’Clock, St Stephens green” Maureen said and ran from him, gathered up Megan and ushered her towards the gate.

  “What’s’ the rush?” Megan asked.

  “Just wait ‘til I tell you,” Maureen said, her eyes dancing with excitement.

  Ivan watched them go. He would arrange to take Monday evening off. Monday was a quiet night at the club. This was too good an opportunity to miss. He waved in return as Maureen waved at him from the gate just before they disappeared from view.

  Chapter fifteen

  Sara pushed through the door marked ‘House-manager’ and wandered into Sonia’s rooms in Morehampton road.

  “Sonia” she called, “you at home?”

  Sonia came out of her bedroom in a towel and it appeared she was just out of the shower. “Hello Sara. What is it?” she asked.

  “Tonight we have our double date” I presume it is still on?”

  “Yes. Is your friend Frank coming?”

  “I am meeting him at the top of Stephen’s Green and then we will join you in the Barclay Court. O.K.?”

  “O.K, see you” Sonia called as Sara went out again. It was eight in the morning and clearly Sara was just returned from her previous night on the town. “Get a good sleep,” she called as Sara closed the door.

  Sonia had a few things to do in what looked like being an easy day.

  Her first appointment was at nine with Ivan for their weekly security review. Usually this was a formality but from time to time they had to cooperate on cases relating to the girls. As Sonia dressed she worked out what to say to Ivan and then Kathleen the cook brought in her Breakfast.

  “Morning Kathleen,” Sonia said cheerfully. “Is Ellen in yet?”

  “Not to lunch time, she is rostered for the late shift.”

  “I have a new starter today, that is if she turns up.”

  “A new maid I hope, Ellen and me, we wondered if you would ever find someone. The girls are so untidy, poor Ellen can’t cope.”

  “I have hired that traveller girl, Megan,” Sonia announced.

  “What!” Cook nearly dropped the tray she was placing on the table in front of Sonia. “A Traveller? It will be nothing but trouble.”

  “I know it is a risk, but she asked for a job and I gave her one. We need a lady’s maid for the girls and not many are suitable for that type of work.”

  “And you think a Traveller girl will be?” Cook asked, almost demanded, her voice very hostile.

  “It is my decision,” Sonia said, feeling that Cook was beginning to forget her place.

  “Mark my words, we will suffer. First we will be robbed and second we will be pestered by every Traveller in town all looking for handouts.”

  “Let us give her a chance. She says she wants to leave the Traveller life and she seems to mean it. Why would we not give her a chance? We do need a maid for the girls.”

  ‘You are in charge,” Cook said huffily, “but I will keep my eye on her, and so will you if you have any sense left.”

  “Calm down Kathleen, and send Housekeeper to me when she comes in so I can inform her. We need to begin a training program for Megan.”

  “She’ll not turn up,” Cook said as she retreated towards the door. “She’ll need some training if she does.” And with that Cook was gone in a huff.

  With a sigh Sonia began her Breakfast. Cook had a soft heart and Sonia was confident she would come around if Megan were even half good. The housemaid might be less flexible as she was older, now in her sixties, and might feel threatened by a young newcomer. On the other hand she had trained when she was young in some of the best houses in Dublin and if she could be persuaded to take Megan under her wing she would give Megan a great training in her duties.

  After breakfast Sonia met with Ivan to cover security matters.

  “I have two issues this week Ivan” Sonia began briskly. “First I have a concern in relation to Sara and second I have hired a new Ladies Maid and I need to appraise you of this.”

  “Which first?” Ivan asked. “And I have one more.” He was not given to small ta
lk when he discussed business with Sonia.

  “Sara is my first issue. What do you mean one more?”

  “You Sonia,” Ivan said flatly. “I have been curious where you go so I have had some following. Turns out interesting. First you work as a waitress in a cheap café. Second you are having some affair with a Polish Jew.”

  “This is none of your business,” Sonia said frosty and taken aback in surprise.

  “I must report to Solveig,” Ivan said simply.

  “My affairs are my own business” Sonia replied haughtily, She was furious at the thought that Ivan or one of his men had been spying on her.

  “Why you work elsewhere? Solveig will want to know.”

  “I will talk to Solveig” Sonia replied.

  “Good,” Ivan said flatly. “Do talk soon or I have to report? I give you opportunity to tell Solveig first. This you should appreciate.”

  Sonia considered for a moment and then decided that Ivan was right, he was only doing his job. Solveig was paranoid about behaviours that might cost his club license in conservative Ireland and expected Ivan to be aware of what other employees were doing. It was a tightly run ship.

  O.K. Ivan” she said, spreading her hands in a ‘lets’ cool it’ gesture. Thank you for talking to me first. The Polish gentleman is my friend. I will not discuss that further. The job in the café has a purpose.”

  “Purpose?”

  “Yes Ivan. I intend soon to talk to Solveig. I need to get permanent residence in Ireland.”

  ‘Why now?” Ivan cut across her.

  “Because,” Sonia countered, “I have spoken to Solveig. He does not want to support me for permanent residence through my job as house-mamager.”

  “Is a good job?”

  “Yes, but Solveig is nervous of anything which brings attention to his operations. So I asked him and he said no. So I asked if I pursued another route, if this is O.K., and he said maybe.”

  “So you think waitress job gets you work permit?”

  “No Ivan. I have a work permit, what I need is permanent residence. I intend to set up my own business. I am doing the waitress job just for a few months to learn the business. Then I will set up my own business and then I will get a permanent resident permit and then I can bring my son Sergie to Ireland. This is my big plan.”