by Sheila Riley
‘American!’ Susie’s dark-pencilled eyebrows shot up to her peroxide lightened hair. ‘Trust you to go one better than anybody else in Reckoner’s Row. That stone is enormous.’ She had seen nothing like it in her life. ‘Your chap must have been a millionaire!’ she said, twisting her hand one way then the other, examining the ring in forensic detail, while ignoring the disgruntled tut from Ada, who pushed a cup of tea across the table. ‘Is it real?’ Susie asked, patting platinum curls into place when Danny came into the room. ‘I’ve never seen such an odd-coloured stone before. It’s one of those costume jewellery types. I’ve got an uncle in the trade. He knows everything there is to know about these things.’ Susie helped herself to a spoonful of gloopy condensed milk that lightened the weak brew, and sweetened it too, a compromise with sugar still rationed. She watched the milk pour from the spoon into her tea.
But the sight of it made Grace’s stomach heave, and she hurried out of the room to the back door. She had to get out of here fast.
Ada’s eyebrows knitted when she watched her daughter hurry down the back yard to the lavatory and worried she might be sickening for something.
‘Probably all that travelling,’ Susie said.
‘Or plain tired.’ Ada shook her head. ‘She’s been travelling for months – she must be used to it by now.’
‘What I wouldn’t give to have a ring like that,’ Susie said, as Danny slid a little further down his chair. Holding up her hand to the bright spring light that had crept over the roof and was now coming through starched net curtains, the myriad colours bouncing off the pink stone entranced Susie, like a child.
‘It’s amazing how much it looks like a genuine diamond,’ Susie said. ‘I just thought a stone that size would be beyond the wages of an ordinary working man.’
‘And what would you know about “genuine” diamonds?’ Ada said with a hint of contempt while Susie remembered how protective she was of her family. The Harrises could do no wrong in Ada’s eyes. You were for them or you were an outsider. There was no happy medium. Only the best for her lot. The proud matriarch of the family got so high up Susie’s nose it made her eyes water. ‘My Grace has the world at her fingertips,’ Ada folded her arms and pushed up her proud bosom, ‘the talent, the ring. She’s got it all.’
‘Pity about the wedding though.’ Susie’s expression was one of pure innocence. But Ada knew better. An only child, her parents wouldn’t dream of letting her sail round the world. Not even to mix with the rich and famous. ‘Poor Gracie.’
In the drab, post-war streets of broken and dilapidated houses, girls like Susie clung to anything that had a whiff of glamour. A new lipstick. A pair of nylons. A love story on the pictures. Anything to banish the grey world outside.
While Grace, the colour of burnished gold, her mousey hair now shining with caramel and cream flashes, highlighted by the sun, looked every inch a star. Susie who prided herself on making her own clothes, and colouring her hair with peroxide from the chemist, felt dull in comparison. She could only dream of making the clothes Grace wore. Where would she get the material, for a start?
‘Her clothes must have cost a fortune.’ Susie sighed.
‘My Grace could wear a potato sack and look good.’
Susie rolled her eyes. Ada thought her kids so sweet it was a wonder she hadn’t eaten them. ‘I can’t get over the way her voice has changed,’ Susie said, alluding to how strange it was that Grace no longer spoke like the rest of the people of Liverpool. ‘She speaks posh.’
‘She speaks properly,’ Ada corrected her, and Susie felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck.
‘I was thinking more about the American words,’ Susie answered, ‘that’s swell instead of nice. Or Mom instead of Mam or Ma.’ She was just so false!
‘She’s been having her voice trained,’ Ada said, ‘isn’t that marvellous?’
‘Marvellous,’ Susie replied, deadpan, taking off the ring when Grace came back into the room. It wasn’t fair, Danny, the most eligible man for miles, was not in the least bit interested. They had gone to the pictures a few times, but Danny never ventured as far as a peck on the cheek let alone a full-on kiss. Three years! There must be something wrong with him. Then, dismissing the thought she knew Ada would not be able to keep something like a war wound private.
Straightening her spine Susie thought about going home when Ada said, ‘I didn’t show you the necklace Grace brought me, she gave it to me in the kitchen.’ She reached into her pinny pocket for the navy-blue leather box before taking out the necklace that matched the engagement ring in the same dusky pink colour. Going to the mirror over the fireplace, Ada put it against her and examined her reflection.
‘My life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t bring her something back.’ Grace laughed, knowing there was many an accurate word spoken in jest.
‘This will go with my maroon blouse,’ Ada said. ‘What do you think, Susie?’
‘It’s lovely, Mrs Harris.’ Susie gave a pale imitation of a smile, wishing Grace had given the necklace to her. She could have made Danny’s eyes pop wearing a necklace like that.
‘I’ll wear it when we go to the Tavern for your birthday,’ Ada said.
‘Don’t go to any trouble on my behalf,’ Grace said. The last thing she wanted was to spend the night in the local alehouse being ogled and cajoled to sing another song.
‘Aren’t you feeling well, Grace?’ Susie asked, noting her friend’s putty-coloured pallor. ‘You love a good sing-song round the old Joanna in the Tavern.’
‘Maybe it’s something you ate. I'll get you a powder, you’ll be as right as rain.’ There was something wrong with their Grace, Ada could feel it in her bones. Her daughter was not her usual bubbly self as she had been when she came home last time. ‘It’s not good for a girl to be away from home for so long.’
‘But, Mam…’ Grace slipped back into the Liverpool vernacular. She knew that it was traditional to have a few drinks in the local, but the Tram Tavern was the last place she wanted to be.
‘No buts, my girl,’ Ada said, ‘you’re going and that’s an end to it.’
Susie was complaining about Henry again as was her wont and Ada was fed up with her muscling in.
‘…I said to him, I said, if you think I’m taking orders off a skivvy you can think again!’ Susie, on her third cup of tea, had tucked into the feast Ada had prepared for Grace's homecoming without a word of thanks, and Ada decided the girl might not be a suitable choice for Danny after all.
‘And what did he say to that?’ Grace asked.
Having read all the articles on etiquette, Ada knew, even if your guest was boring the Bejaysus out of you, a hostess must be gracious at all times. Although she felt peeved Susie was taking centre stage at her only daughter's homecoming.
‘I told Skinner where to stick his job,’ Susie said.
‘Meggie fell on her feet when she found Henry, that’s for sure,’ Ada agreed. ‘He’s got a good business there and is canny with money, rolling in it they are, money coming out of their ears with the haulage business and the boarding house.’
‘Boarding house?’ Susie asked, intrigued. She didn’t know everything, it seemed. But Ada, being Henry’s cousin, knew everything about everyone.
‘It’s not a boarding house since his mother popped her clogs, God rest her weary bones.' Ada made a quick sign of the cross over her bosom. 'Meggie couldn’t get shut of the lodgers quick enough when Aunty Cissie passed,’ Ada said, stabbing the table with her index finger, and went on in a voice dripping with malice. ‘Now you tell me why they need a house of that size just for two of them?’ Her lip curled, turning down at the edges. ‘It wasn’t like they would fill it full of babbies, now was it?’
‘Henry is your cousin, why would you talk about him like that?’ Grace said to her mother, having forgotten that in this close-knit community minding other people’s business was a way of life.
‘Never mind about that now,’ Ada said, when she saw the dete
rmined set of her daughter’s mouth, and suspected Grace did not approve of the way the conversation was going. It seemed like their Grace had grown out of the habit since working on cruise liners, and although Ada liked to see her offspring bettering themselves, she hoped their Grace wasn’t getting above herself.
‘Skinner begged me to stay.’ Susie had to raise her voice over the criss-cross conversation and Ada, elbow perched on the table, her chin cupped in her palm, made circular motions with her other hand, urging her to get on with it. ‘I told him straight!’ Susie said, scraping her cup along the saucer, setting Ada’s teeth on edge, and sipping her tea with all the indignation she could muster. ‘I’ve kept that office going for nigh on three years and what thanks do I get? None.’
‘So you won’t go back, then?’ Ada asked and Susie gave an evasive shrug of her shoulders.
‘Evie Kilgaren can’t run that office without me, I’ve got a system, you see. I was an office clerk when she was the charlady at Beamer’s.’ Susie had other reasons for not staying away from the office. The way Danny looked at Evie when he thought nobody was looking had not escaped her notice. While the cat’s away... ‘I can’t believe Auld Skinner would use a skivvy to run the office over me.’ It incensed Susie. ‘I’m not saying she doesn’t have her place. The files are in the right order and the place has never looked so neat, but I mean…’ She did not say what she meant, knowing she could not disrespect Mr Skinner in front of his own family, but it didn’t stop her thinking what would happen if she let him know what she had heard. He would soon change his tune when she told him she was aware of his wife’s past. The information would wipe that cocky smile off his face, and put Miss Prim and Proper Kilgaren right back where she ought to be, scrubbing floors.
‘Right, I’m just going to see Angus in the Tavern,’ Danny said knowing his father had already made his escape there. He had heard about as much as he could take of Susie’s whining voice.
‘Well, I’d better be off too,’ Susie said with blatant haste. ‘Things to do. I’ll let you walk me up the street, Danny.’
‘Didn’t I hear you say you wanted to stay and look at our Grace’s photos?’ Ada’s telling tone grated on Susie, who didn’t want to miss the chance of being seen walking on the arm of handsome Danny Harris.
‘We'll have a look tomorrow, see you then, Grace.’ She gave Grace a peck on the cheek and scuttled out, realising Danny was already halfway out of the door.
13
‘Thank you, Lord, for all we’ve had – a little bit more, and we’d have all been glad,’ Evie said the prayer her mother used to say after meals when they had little to eat, and even though she and Jack were working and could now afford to buy food, rationing was still a dominant problem. You had to get to the shops early and Evie spent most of her dinner hour in one queue or another.
Stacking the empty plates, she tried to ignore the look of hope in Lucy’s eyes knowing her younger sister loved something sweet to finish her meal, but that wasn’t always possible with the shortages.
‘By the time I got to the front of the queue at the baker’s, all he had left was a small bun loaf,’ Evie explained, hoping their Jack wasn’t going to be late tonight, otherwise his stuffed hearts and mashed potato, which she was keeping warm on a pan of boiling water, would dry up.
‘I don’t mind.’ Lucy’s words sounded convincing, but her slumped shoulders told the truth.
‘I’ll get out early tomorrow and be first in the queue.’ Evie turned as the kitchen door opened and she saw her seventeen-year-old brother Jack sauntering into the kitchen with a smile on his face.
‘You look like the cat who got the cream,’ Evie said, thrilled that he had settled down to work and had not been tempted to listen to talk of easy money from her mother’s lodger, who called himself a businessman and lived off various nefarious dealings.
Jack took off his cap and, as was his usual trick, threw it like a flat stone on water across the room, expertly landing it on the cellar door hook. Rummaging in his pocket, he took out a brown paper bag, which he placed on the table like it was the crown jewels. His eyes alight, he nodded to Lucy and then to the package.
‘I've got a surprise for you,’ he said, silently urging his sister to take a look inside. As they opened the bag, he said proudly, ‘the Missus made treacle toffee and she gave me these to bring home.’
‘God bless, Mrs Skinner.’ Lucy’s eyes devoured the dark sweet toffee, hoping her tongue would soon do the same thing. ‘This is a rare treat.’ Sweets were still on ration, and there was no sign of them being taken off any time soon. ‘Treacle toffee is my favourite.’ Lucy’s lilting brogue took on a wondrous tone.
‘Then you are in for another treat tomorrow,’ Jack said. ‘Danny brought back apples when he went to Netherford, and the missus is making toffee apples.’ He always called Meggie the missus, thinking nothing of it, harking back to the days of the farmer’s wife in Ireland. But everybody knew who he meant.
‘Smashing!’ Lucy’s sweet tooth was a burden in these days when rationing was still part of their everyday life even though the war had been over five years.
Soon the room was filled with a contented silence after Jack handed Lucy a cone shaped paper bag before sitting at the table, and Lucy took out a piece of toffee and popped it in her mouth; closing her eyes she relished the delicious taste.
Jack mopped up the gravy, cleaning his plate with a crust of bread before draining his cup of unsweetened tea. When he sat back, satisfied with his lot, he spoke to Evie.
‘So, how did your day go with Lady Muck?’ he asked as she unravelled one of her mother’s old cardigans so she could knit another one for Lucy.
‘Still as hopeless as she’s always been, she’s spent more time clock-watching than working,’ Evie answered, clicking furiously as she filled the knitting needle with the first row of stitches. ‘I don’t know why Mr Skinner keeps her on.’ She clearly remembered the days when she completed Susie’s clerical work even though she was only the cleaner at Beamer’s Electrical Works, and the girl obviously expected it to continue. ‘Susie is a lazy article who is biding her time until something or someone better comes along.’ But Evie knew all that was going to change.
‘She’s all hot air, not clever like you, Sis.’ Jack was pleased his sister had got the job in an office nearer home, she was more content, less worried, even though she still worked hard.
‘You get nowhere resting on your laurels,’ Evie said, determined to make something of herself and her family. ‘I worked hard to get the qualifications I needed to have a better standard of living for all of us.’
‘Nobody can say you’re a quitter, that’s for sure,’ Jack said proudly.
‘I’m not, and nor are you, Jack.’ She had been earning good money in River Chambers and Mr Skinner not only matched her wage, he bettered it by two pounds a week, but according to the accounts, positivity may be overlooking prosperity, and sooner or later, sacrifices were going to have to be made.
Evie didn’t want to be the new broom that swept some of the workforce out of a job. Hopefully, the situation would not come to that, and she would be able to turn the business round as she was brought in to do. The added incentive of working closer to home meant Lucy would not feel as if she had been abandoned yet again.
‘If it’s Susie Blackthorn you’re worried about…’ Jack said, following her out to the back kitchen with his plate.
‘Not in the slightest,’ Evie answered, taking the plate. She washed it in the warm water, then put it on the wooden draining board. ‘I can hold my own with the Susie Blackthorns of this world, and I’m not scared of hard graft either.’ She could not contemplate going back to the days when she had to decide whether to pay the rent or feed her family.
‘You’ve made a safe, secure home for me and Lucy,’ Jack said, aware his older sister had done better than anybody expected her to after their father was jailed for their mother’s manslaughter.
‘Thanks, Jack, I would
n’t want it any other way.’ Evie wasn’t responsible for the sins of her father, and vowed she and her family would stay in their own home, not run away through some sense of shame. She had held her head high, urging Jack and Lucy to do the same, and settled into the dockside community with a sense of hope in the future. Connie, the landlady of the Tram Tavern, was always ready to help when she could. If Lucy needed anything, she only had to go next door. In return, Lucy looked after Connie’s son Fergus.
For the first time in years, Evie felt that life had taken a turn for the better. If only it could stay that way. But she couldn’t complain. Jack was looking out for the family too, and putting up with Susie Blackthorn for a few hours every day was the least of her worries.
‘Don't worry about Susie, she's only hanging on by the skin of her teeth.’ Evie laughed, recalling the office manager, Miss Hawkins, from Beamer’s, who’d said the very same thing the day the factory closed through lack of fuel during the big freeze.
‘I can’t see why the auld man hasn’t already given Susie the push,’ Jack said.
‘Maybe she knows something that nobody else knows,’ Lucy piped up.
‘I thought that, too.’ Evie said, her brows puckering. Now she could not get the notion out of her head. There was many a true word spoken in jest.
Picking up her suitcase later, Grace felt the sudden need to put her head down in her own bedroom and rest. She had distributed homecoming gifts, including Brandy and cigarettes, which Bert, her father stowed away in his own bedroom in case anybody should expect him to share, which he never would. There were trinkets and ornaments from the various countries she had visited for her mother, a sleeve of two hundred cigarettes for Danny and plenty of keepsakes and foreign coins for Bobby, who would add them to his collection.
Grace felt as if she had been on a continuous rollercoaster ride since she got back home. She had forgotten the frenetic energy her family could produce just by holding a conversation. They were eager to get as much information about her trip as possible; her homecoming was always going to be a cause for celebration and a singsong. Her mam had told everybody she met about her return to the Row.
