Try a Little Tenderness

by Joan Jonker

  ‘Ta-ra, girls, see yer tomorrow.’

  Amy was grinning as she moved the basket to her other arm so she could walk on the inside and link her friend. ‘I enjoyed, that, girl. We had a good laugh, didn’t we? And in case yer haven’t noticed, the rain’s gone off.’

  ‘It went off twenty minutes ago, sunshine, but you were too busy talking to notice. I’m going to get me stew on, then put me clothes out again. With a bit of luck we’ll get them dry this afternoon.’

  Amy looked at Mary out of the corner of her eye. ‘I heard yer telling your Laura off on Friday night, girl. Had she been giving yer cheek?’

  ‘That’s nothing unusual, is it, Amy? She’s gone really hard-faced and is always giving me cheek. She went too far on Friday, though, and I slapped her face.’

  ‘She is cheeky, I’ll grant yer that. Not only to you, either.’ Amy wanted to say more, but bit on her tongue. She could tell Mary a lot about that eldest daughter of hers, so could many of the neighbours in the street. But everybody kept quiet because, apart from Laura, the Nightingales were well-liked and respected. ‘Never mind, she’ll change when she starts work. It’ll be a case of having to, ’cos if she gets a job in a factory none of the women will take any lip from her.’

  ‘I hope ye’re right, Amy, because I do worry about her.’

  ‘Of course I’m right.’ Amy squeezed her arm. ‘Vampires are always right, aren’t they?’

  Chapter Two

  Mary sat one side of the hearth sewing a seam that had come undone in Jenny’s gymslip, while Stan sat facing her, reading the evening paper. It was the best time of the day for Mary, when the girls were in bed and she and her husband could discuss the events of the day, or sit in companionable silence. At the moment the only sounds in the room were the rustle of newspaper when Stan turned a page, the ticking of the clock and an occasional spurt from one of the coals.

  With a sigh of contentment, Mary sewed the last stitch and snapped the cotton between her teeth. ‘That’s one job done, thank goodness. With a bit of luck Jenny will get a few more months’ wear out of it.’ She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. ‘I’ll leave your socks until tomorrow, it’s hopeless trying to sew in this light.’

  Stan looked over the top of the paper. ‘I think the gas is going, love, it’s taking me all me time to read. Yer’d best put a penny in the meter before it goes altogether and we’re left in the dark.’

  ‘I can remember the time when yer’d have been glad to sit in the dark.’ Mary grinned. ‘Stealing kisses when me mam and dad had gone to bed.’

  Stan lowered the paper to his lap. ‘That brings back a few memories. I used to dread the sound of yer mam knocking on the floor with her shoe.’ He chuckled. ‘If she didn’t hear me leave right away, she used to bang so hard I expected the ceiling to cave in on us. I got the distinct impression she didn’t trust me.’

  ‘All mothers are like that with their daughters. I used to call her for everything, saying she was treating me like a child. Now I’ve got daughters of me own, I understand why she was so protective. I’ll always regret not telling her that she’d been a good mother and I loved her dearly. The trouble is, yer think yer’ve got plenty of time to say all these things; yer don’t expect yer mam to die at fifty-two.’

  ‘Yer mam didn’t need telling, pet, she knew yer loved her.’

  ‘She probably thought me dad loved her, as well. Yer would after being married for nearly thirty years, wouldn’t yer? I thought he doted on her, they always seemed so happy.’ Mary gave a deep sigh. ‘But he couldn’t have loved her that much, could he? Not to have married again six months after she died. And to a girl only half his age. A man of fifty-five, trying to act as young as the girl he’d wed. I’ll never forget the first night he brought her here and she was all over him. She seemed to be flaunting him, as though to say “Look what I’ve got”. I didn’t know where to put meself, and me older than her. He didn’t take long to forget me mam, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that.’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got to say it was the biggest surprise I’ve ever had in me life. If she’d been older I might have understood him marrying for companionship, but she’s a fly turn, just out for a good time. I’ve seen them a few times down Walton Road, and a stranger seeing them would take them for father and daughter until they saw the antics out of them. Stupid bugger, that’s all I can say.’

  ‘I often wonder what me mam’s old neighbours make of it. Especially the woman next door, Monica Platt. Her and me mam were real good mates. All the years they lived next door to each other never a cross word passed between them. And me dad used to be friendly with her husband, Phil – they used to go to the pub together a couple of times a week. I bet they’re not so friendly now he’s married a slip of a girl. They probably think he’s lost the run of his senses, and they wouldn’t be far wrong.’

  The gas-light started to flicker and Mary jumped to her feet. ‘I’d better feed the meter while I can still see it, save me fumbling around in the dark.’

  ‘Here yer are, I’ve got a penny in me pocket.’

  ‘No, I’ve got me week’s supply on the kitchen shelf.’ Mary reached up to where she kept the pennies, and as her hand covered the one at the top of the pile, a frown crossed her face. She lifted them all down and her frown deepened when she counted them. She’d put six there when she’d got back from the shops, she was certain of that, and now there were only four. When one had gone missing last week she’d put it down to a mistake on her part and thought no more of it. But she hadn’t made a mistake today, that was definite.

  Mary bent down and pressed a penny into the meter slot, then she turned the knob and waited for the coin to drop. Someone had taken two pennies and it wasn’t something you could just brush aside. But if she mentioned it to Stan now, it would only cause trouble and spoil the closeness there’d been between them. He hadn’t taken them, that was a cert, so that left the two girls. She’d have a word with them in the morning – try to sort it out without involving her husband. And she pushed aside the thought that there was no need to have a word with both of them because, God forgive her, she knew which one would be the thief.

  Stan folded the paper up when Mary came back into the room. ‘How about a cup of tea and then an early night in bed, love?’ There was that special look in his hazel eyes which never failed to set Mary’s pulses racing. ‘It’s yer own fault for reminding me of the days when we were courting.’

  ‘You cheeky beggar!’ Mary didn’t need to put a smile on her face, it came of its own free will. She’d sort out the problem of the missing pennies tomorrow, and make sure it didn’t happen again. But tonight belonged to her and Stan. ‘I’ve a good mind to tell yer I’ve got a headache, that would dampen yer passion.’ She huffed. ‘Reminding indeed! That’s an insult, that is. I’m going to have to ask Amy for some tips, see where I’m going wrong. She said every time Ben looks at her his eyes fill with desire for her voluptuous body.’

  ‘She’s a corker, she is.’ Stan laughed. ‘She’s got a voluptuous body all right, yer could lose yerself in it.’

  ‘I’ll put the kettle on while you dream of Amy’s body. When I see her tomorrow I’ll tell her what yer said and she’ll be over the moon.’

  ‘Ooh, don’t tell her, love, I’d never hear the end of it. She’d be waiting for me coming home from work and she’d make a holy show of me in the street.’

  ‘Be a coward and come in the back way, then.’ Mary was chuckling as she walked through to the kitchen. ‘By dinnertime tomorrow, Wilf the butcher, Billy the greengrocer and Greg from the Maypole will all know that yer fancy her.’ She popped her head around the door. ‘Of course, if yer treat me right I promise not to tell her.’

  ‘That’s blackmail, that is.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. Isn’t it lovely? I’ve got yer in me clutches now, so behave yerself.’ She gave him a broad wink. ‘No, on second thoughts, I don’t want yer to behave yerself.’

  ‘I’ve no intenti
on of behaving meself, love, not tonight.’

  ‘That’s all right, then. I’ll see if I’ve got a Beechams Powder in the house, just in case I feel a headache coming on.’

  Mary carried a plate of toast through the next morning and placed it on the table. The two girls were sitting next to each other and Mary stood opposite, her knuckles white as she leaned her weight on the table. Since Stan had left for work she’d been rehearsing in her mind how she would broach the subject. But there was no nice way of doing it, so she gazed from one to the other, and said, ‘There’s two pennies missing from me gas money. Who knows anything about it?’

  Laura’s reply came quickly. ‘Don’t look at me, I don’t know nothing about it.’

  Jenny looked puzzled. ‘What d’yer mean, Mam, two pennies have gone missing?’

  ‘Just what I said, sunshine. I put six pennies on the shelf when I came back from the shops, but when I went to get one for the meter last night, there were only four there. And they couldn’t have walked away by themselves.’

  Laura bit off a piece of toast and talked through a mouthful of the crispy golden bread. ‘Me dad must have taken them for his fare. Ask him when he comes home.’

  ‘And shall I ask him if he took the one that went missing last week? No, yer can leave yer dad out of this, he didn’t take them. So I want to know what you two know about it?’

  Jenny’s head was bent over her plate and her voice was low. ‘I didn’t take them, Mam. That would be stealing.’

  ‘Ooh, listen to Miss Goody Two-shoes,’ Laura mocked. ‘Never does nothing wrong.’

  ‘Less of that, Laura.’ Mary’s voice was sharp. ‘Your sister’s said she didn’t take them, so what have you got to say for yerself?’

  ‘I didn’t take yer rotten pennies.’ Laura chewed on the last bit of toast, a bold look in her green eyes. ‘They must have dropped off the shelf and fallen behind the cupboard.’ She licked her fingers before pushing her chair back. ‘Or yer could have been mistaken and only put four there in the first place. Anyway, it’s time we were on our way to school if we don’t want to get the cane for being late.’

  ‘Sit down,’ Mary said, her face set. ‘Neither of yer leaves this house until we find out what happened to those pennies. I’m not so well off I can afford to lose them, but that’s not the real issue. If there’s a thief in this house I want to know who it is.’

  Laura laughed. ‘Don’t be stupid! Yer can’t keep us off school, me dad would go hairless if yer did that.’

  Mary leaned forward so her face was on a level with her daughter’s. ‘Don’t you ever dare call me stupid or I’ll give yer the hiding of yer life. If I say yer not going to school, then that’s the end of the matter. And don’t threaten me with telling your father, because yer won’t need to, I’ll do it meself.’

  ‘Mam, we will get into trouble if we don’t go to school,’ Jenny said. ‘We’ll get six strokes of the cane and be behind with our lessons.’

  ‘No, yer won’t get the cane because I’ll give yer a note to take in. But neither of yer leave here until the matter is settled. If a thief gets away with it once, they’ll steal again, and I’ll not entertain it in this house.’

  Jenny was near to tears. She enjoyed school and was an eager pupil. If she missed a day she’d be behind her friends. ‘That’s not fair, Mam, ’cos I haven’t done nothing wrong. I haven’t got the pennies and keeping me off won’t help yer find them.’

  ‘Oh, shut yer face,’ Laura said, giving her sister a sharp dig in the ribs. ‘Ye’re a proper whinger, you are.’

  ‘I’d rather be a whinger than a thief.’ Jenny had put up with a lot over the years, taken the blame too often for her sister’s misdeeds. She’d tolerated it for a quiet life, but having to miss school was the last straw. ‘I think me mam’s two pennies are in yer shoe. I saw yer messing around when I was getting dressed but thought nothing of it.’

  Before Mary realised what was happening, Laura had grabbed locks of her sister’s long golden hair in both hands and was pulling hard, a vicious look on her face. ‘You rotten liar! I haven’t got nothing in me shoes.’

  Jenny was wincing with pain as she pleaded, ‘Let go, ye’re hurting me.’

  Mary rounded the table and took hold of a handful of Laura’s dark hair. ‘Let go, or I’ll give yer a dose of yer own medicine.’ The threat didn’t work, but a sharp tug did. ‘Now stop this fighting right away, d’yer hear me? Sit up straight in yer chairs and behave yerselves.’

  Mary sighed as she gazed down at her daughters. Was she going too far? Making a mountain out of a molehill? No, she told herself, she couldn’t just let it go. It was one penny last week, two pennies today, what would she do when it came to sixpences – let that go as well?

  ‘Laura, have you got the money?’

  ‘No, I haven’t! She’s a liar, trying to get me into trouble.’

  Jenny’s face was white. ‘I might be wrong, Mam.’

  ‘Right, well you go off to school now, sunshine, and Laura will follow in five minutes. I’m not having the two of yer fighting in the street. If yer run all the way, yer’ll make it in time.’

  Jenny grabbed her coat off the hook behind the door and was out of the house like greased lightning. She knew her sister would have it in for her, but if Laura hit her she wouldn’t just stand there like she usually did, she’d fight back this time.

  Mary waited until she heard the front door close, then sighed. ‘I’ll ask yer again, Laura. Have yer got the money in yer shoe?’

  ‘No, I haven’t, so there!’ Laura tossed her hair. ‘I told yer that once, so why ask?’

  ‘In that case, yer won’t mind taking yer shoes off for me.’

  ‘Oh yes, I would mind! I’m going to tell me dad on yer, he’ll have something to say.’

  ‘If I were you I wouldn’t mention it to yer dad, he’d be so disappointed in yer. If yer’ve got the money, hand it over and we’ll say no more about it. I won’t tell yer dad or Jenny, or anyone. Unless it happens again, and then I will shout my mouth off.’

  Laura glared. All this for two lousy pennies. But she could tell by the set of her mother’s jaw that she meant every word she said. ‘Oh, all right.’ She bent down and took a shoe off then emptied it over the table. The two coins rolled towards Mary, who stopped them with her hand. ‘I wouldn’t have to pinch if yer gave us enough pocket-money.’

  Mary felt no anger, only sadness. ‘We give you as much pocket-money as we can afford. I have to rob Peter to pay Paul every week, but you wouldn’t understand that. Well, yer might understand, but yer wouldn’t care. All yer think about, Laura, is yerself. I’ve always known yer were selfish, but I never dreamt yer would stoop to stealing from yer own mother. I won’t tell yer dad about this because it would kill him. So I’ll give yer one more chance. But a word of warning … nobody likes a liar or a thief and yer could end up without a friend in the world.’

  Laura bent to put her shoe back on. ‘Yer won’t tell anyone, will yer?’

  Mary sighed and shook her head. ‘No, not this time. But do it again, sunshine, and I’ll be the one who goes running to yer dad.’ She waited until her daughter straightened up and held out her arms. ‘Come and give us a kiss and say ye’re sorry, and promise me faithfully yer’ll never do it again. Yer see, Laura, if anyone found out, they’d never trust yer again, and yer don’t want that, do yer?’

  When Laura walked into her mother’s arms, sobbing that she definitely wouldn’t do it again, the tears she shed were not of shame or remorse. They were tears of relief that her father wasn’t going to find out, and regret that she’d been caught. And there was a certain amount of self-pity as she told herself she was stupid to have taken the two pennies. If only she’d been satisfied with one, like last week, her mother probably wouldn’t have noticed.

  ‘Come on, now, sunshine, wipe yer eyes and get going. If yer run like the wind yer might just make it before the bell goes and the gates are closed.’

  Mary’s heart was heav
y as she watched her daughter running down the street. She’d keep her promise and not mention the matter to a living soul. But as she closed the front door, she let out a deep sigh. She wanted to believe Laura when she promised not to do it again, but try as she might, Mary couldn’t help feeling that the tears and promises were an act put on to get her out of trouble. And she doubted that her daughter meant a word of what she’d said.

  Gasping for breath, Laura slipped through the school gate just as it was being closed by Mr Johnston, one of the teachers from the boys’ school. The two schools were housed in the same building, but the two sexes never mixed. Even the playground was divided by high iron railings.

  ‘Leave the house earlier in future, or you’ll be locked out.’ Mr Johnston’s voice was stern, his eyes angry. ‘All the children are in assembly now, so wait in the corridor until prayers are over, then report to Miss Harrison’s office.’

  Laura gaped. You only reported to the headmistress’s office if you were going to get the cane. ‘I couldn’t help being a bit late, Mr Johnston, it wasn’t my fault. Me mam’s not feeling well and sent me on a message to the corner shop.’ The lies dripped off her tongue. ‘And I ran all the way, honest. I ran that fast I’ve got a pain in me chest.’

  ‘You have missed assembly and Miss Harrison will want to know why.’ The giant key to the school gate was tapped on the palm of the teacher’s open hand. ‘I suggest you make your excuses to her and she will judge whether you deserve to be punished or not.’

  He walked ahead of Laura through the double doors, and without a backward glance he turned sharp left towards the ever-locked door which separated the two schools. The girl was so angry she felt like pulling tongues behind his back, but thought better of it. She was in enough trouble without asking for more. With a bit of luck the headmistress might believe her story about being sent to the shops, especially if she offered to bring a note in tomorrow from home.

  The corridors were empty and quiet with everyone in assembly, and as Laura stood outside Miss Harrison’s office the silence played on her nerves. The headmistress was very strict and feared by all the children. A smile on her face was a rare sight indeed. It wasn’t going to be easy to pull the wool over her eyes, but she could only try. Getting six strokes of the cane off a woman who looked as though she thoroughly enjoyed inflicting pain, was no laughing matter.