A Cockney's Journey

by Eddie Allen

  “Do you believe, Eddie?”

  “Absolutely!” I said, a big smile on my face.

  “Do you believe in Jesus, Eddie?”

  “Yes! I don’t even have an ounce of doubt in my mind about his existence.”

  “Then you must believe in God!” she exclaimed.

  “Not necessarily. As I said before, there’s something there but not an old man with a white beard sitting on his throne high up in the clouds who, when he’s angry claps his hands to release thunder and lightning. That’s what they teach you as a kid. Total rubbish,” I said, with some certainty.

  Rose looked shocked and bewildered. “You really are a remarkable young man, Eddie,” she stated, grinning.

  I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see how the time had flown.

  “Blimey, it’s three thirty. I have to go Rose. He wants me in at four.”

  Rose looked at me all seriously and with a sharp tone she implored, “You must try and stop him coming through, Eddie, otherwise he’ll make your life hell.”

  “How can I stop him? I pleaded.

  “When you go to bed, imagine you’ve covered yourself in a white light, like a sleeping bag, and pull it over your head. Ask your guardian angel to protect you during the night. And most of all think happy thoughts.”

  “OK, Rose. I’ll do that tonight.” She sounded just like my nan then.

  “Promise me, Eddie,” she begged.

  “I promise, Rose. Thanks for the tea and the lovely cake. I will see you later.” As I left the house, she blew me a kiss and waved goodbye.

  “Take care of yourself, Eddie.”

  I disappeared down Talford Road, heading towards hell. That’s where I unfortunately lived, and suffered in silence.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Trrring! Trrring! I awoke instantly, fumbling in the dark, trying to shut the alarm clock off. Bloody noise it made. I was sure it would wake the whole house up. I switched the bedroom light on: five o’clock on the dot. Good job my mother let me borrow her alarm clock. I would never have got up otherwise. I got dressed and quietly headed towards the bathroom. After a quick scrub-up, I went downstairs and opened the front door. It was dark outside, with a ground frost, and extremely cold. I started walking towards Lyndhurst Way, but just as I reached the end of the road, I heard a noise behind me. The sound of screeching and jangling filled the still morning air. The sound grew closer and then went past me. It was a milk float. The poor milkman was dressed to the hilt with a scarf wrapped around his face.

  No doors on that float. He must be freezing, the poor sod.

  I eventually arrived at the market. Inside was a hive of activity. Stallholders and shops were busy getting prepared for the day. I hunted round for Laurie’s fruit and veg shop. I could hear music from several radios and not one was on the same station as the other. It was a bizarre jumble of noise. I eventually found and stood in front of Laurie’s shop. Glancing around the stall, trying to catch a glimpse of him, I stood listening to Jim Reeves, T-rex, Dean Martin and the Beatles all at the same time.

  Absolutely mental.

  “Eddie! You’re nice and early,” came a shout from Laurie.

  I turned round and saw he was pulling a trolley up the walkway. I glanced at my watch. Blimey, it’s only five forty. Boxes of bananas, sacks of spuds and endless trays of tomatoes were stacked high on the trolley. Laurie pulled the trolley around the back of the shop.

  “Give me a hand, Ed. Stack the spuds over there by the cabbages please, mate.” I unloaded all the spuds and put the trays of tomatoes on display.

  “Here you are,” Laurie handed me a few bunches of parsley and dill. “Sprinkle theses around the edges, it makes the toms look delicious!”

  One thing about Laurie; he certainly knew how to sell his fruit and veg. His displays were spectacular and full of colour. After finishing the banana display, Laurie showed me how to weigh the fruit and veg, rather simple; you just used different cast-iron weights to determine what was what. I was already really enjoying my new job. I felt so comfortable in his company.

  “You need a cap, Ed,” Laurie reckoned.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Goes with the job description. Here you are, try this on.”

  He handed me a checked flat cap and gestured me to put it on.

  “There you go, lovely fit!” he chuckled.

  I then picked up a broom and swept the mess from the floor, putting all the empty bags and boxes on the trolley.

  “If you go down to the end of the market, there’s a lot of large bins,” Laurie said, pointing the way. “Oh, and Eddie, squash all the boxes up, will you?” he asked.

  “OK, boss!” I said with a smile.

  “On your way back, Ed, can you get three bacon rolls and three teas from the café please?” he handed me a ten bob note.

  “Any sugar?” I asked.

  “No thanks, not unless you take it, mate.”

  I pulled the trolley up the walkway to the rear of the market. I noticed the café as I walked past, towards the bins. After disposing of all the rubbish, I parked my wheels outside the café and walked in.

  “Morning,” I said, cheerfully. I ordered the teas and bacon rolls and after a few minutes, they appeared on the counter.

  “That’ll be three and six, son.”

  I glanced in the direction of the till. A white-haired old lady with a hair net on was perched on a small stool, Her head was just about visible from the counter. I handed her the note and she struggled to reach over and give me my change. I put the teas and rolls on my wagon and, with a slight yank, we were rolling slowly towards the shop. As I neared the shop, I stopped dead in my tracks, absolutely gobsmacked. With my own eyes, I saw a vision of complete beauty; a girl with long blonde hair and wearing a grey cap was serving a customer. My God, she’s beautiful, I thought. As I got closer, I noticed she had a denim mini-skirt and brown, thigh-length, lace-up boots with a white roll-neck jumper. Why couldn’t I look as good as that in my roll-neck, I laughed to myself. I dragged the trolley round the back and entered the shop, carrying the teas and rolls.

  “Good lad! I’m gasping!” Laurie said, while he rolled a fag.

  “Eddie, this is my daughter, Candy.”

  “Hi, Ed,” she said with this spectacular smile. Her eyes were large and bright blue with long lashes.

  My God. She could pass as a model. She’s absolutely gorgeous.

  “Pleased to meet you, Candy,” I muttered as I handed each of them a cup of tea and a bacon roll.

  The morning flew by; I served six customers and short-changed two. Candy thought it was hilarious.

  “Don’t worry. I did the same thing for a week when I first started working with Dad,” she laughed.

  Just like her dad; a bloody diamond.

  “You can take your lunch break now, Ed,” said Laurie.

  “How long shall I take, Laurie?” I asked politely.

  “Forty-five minutes, alright, Eddie?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  I spent nearly every lunch break browsing in the market shops. Fascinating place. You could buy practically everything from furniture to fruit and veg. One particular shop had me totally fascinated; I couldn’t keep away. I was absolutely mesmerised by its contents. The smell of jasmine filled my nostrils as I entered the shop. I noticed quite a few joss sticks burning in different types of holders and in the background I could hear peaceful music. The sound of the ocean accompanied by whales singing filled my ears with joy. Wind chimes hung from the ceiling and on the walls were various African and Egyptian masks looking very glum. On display were birthstones, tarot cards, candles, lucky charms and bracelets and in the far corner were a variety of books on psychic help and spiritual awareness.

  “Can I help you, young man?” said a lady who was sitting in some sort of rocking chair, puffing a cigarette. She had a ring of daisies nestled in her dark hair and she wore a multi-coloured floor length gown. Around her neck and wrists were several trinkets a
nd in the middle of all this was a large, beautiful cross and chain which sparkled in the light.

  “I’m just looking, if that’s OK?” I said quietly.

  “You are more than welcome, young man,” she said with a broad smile. On the floor was a large Buddhist monk sitting with his legs crossed. I smiled as I touched its head and ran my fingers down its arms. So this is where Rose bought her monk, I thought, with a large grin.

  “Do you like that statue?” she asked.

  “Yeah I do. My friend Rose has got the very same one,” I said smiling.

  “Ah, you know Rose the medium from Talford Road?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I do. She’s a fantastic and loving lady,” I remarked.

  “Rose often comes in my shop for a chat. You must be Eddie?”

  “That’s right! How do you know?” I said, slightly concerned.

  “Before we go any further with this conversation, Eddie, my name is Clare, Rose and I go back a long way. She told me that she had employed a local lad to help around the house and garden and mentioned your name. Rose speaks very highly of you and any friend of Rose’s is a friend of mine,” she said, smiling

  I looked at my watch and realised my lunch break was nearly over.

  “Do you work in the market, Eddie?” Clare asked.

  “Yeah, I started today in Laurie’s fruit and veg shop. I only work on Saturdays at the moment.”

  “Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing quite a lot of you, then,” Clare smiled.

  “If you don’t mind? I just love your shop, Clare.”

  “As I said, you’re always welcome.”

  I waved goodbye and made my way back to the shop. I passed a hardware shop and glanced in the window. Blimey, they are still selling fireworks. I remembered firework night; I sat on my bed, watching through the window. All the neighbours in the street had firework parties. I asked my father if we could have some fireworks, but he just shouted at me and slapped my face for asking. I didn’t even get a sparkler.

  “Excuse me son? You going to stand there all day,” came a voice behind me. I turned round as an old lady pushed passed me and entered the shop muttering something about youngsters of today. I made my way back to work. As I walked through the back of the shop, Candy was standing with her coat on.

  “Good, on time,” she smiled. “My turn, See you later.”

  She left the shop in a hurry and disappeared down the walkway. Now, Candy being Candy, and Laurie’s daughter, she always had well over an hour for lunch and most of the time she would be forty-five minutes late. According to Laurie, Candy could sell sand to the Arabs, and Laurie never questioned her time-keeping. That’s where I come in, I thought. I started to fill up the trays that were half empty. Tomatoes, bananas, spuds, avocados, cucumbers, greens and beans, ready for the afternoon.

  “My parsnips not selling well at the moment?” Laurie sighed, scratching his head and looking confused.

  My first day’s work was nearly done. Fortunately, my thumb held up OK and no one was any the wiser. Laurie’s parsnips sold out in the afternoon, much to his delight, and Candy was electric, buzzing about and singing to Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs’ ‘Seaside Shuffle’ every time it was played on the radio. My God, what a mover. No wonder all the old guys wanted her to serve them, much to the distress of their wives. I’ve never seen so many young guys buying fruit, either. Mind you, if I were seven years older I’d probably do the same. I mean Candy was tasty, but the only problem was that she knew it! And boy, did she play on it. I looked at my watch. It was five o’clock and the market was still full of shoppers, running in and out of shops. The butcher’s had a queue ten deep.

  “What time does the market shut?” I asked Candy.

  “Oh about six, Eddie, not long now,” she winked. “What are you up to tonight?”

  “Not much, I’m not allowed out till Sunday daytime.” I sighed.

  “You’re joking? After a hard day’s graft, you’ve got to go out and chill,” she insisted.

  “Not me, he won’t let me out by the time I get home.” I told her.

  “Who’s he?” Candy asked.

  “My old man, he’s a proper head-case and the less I do to upset him the safer I am.”

  “My God,” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Yeah, my God,” I said. “You should count your blessings. Laurie’s a lovely guy.”

  “I know, I’m really lucky,” she said with a smile.

  “Right then, let’s be ’avin’ ya. Time to call it a day,” Laurie yelled. “Pull the trolley in the shop, Eddie, while Candy and me pull down the shutters.”

  I did as I was asked and dragged in my partner. Laurie winked at me, “Good day’s graft, Ed. Well done. Here you are.” He handed me a brown envelope with my wages in. My first wage packet: I was really excited. I carefully opened it and pulled out a five-pound note, followed by two one-pound notes. Blimey, seven pounds! I’m loaded!

  “Cheers, Laurie,” I said, waving the envelope in his direction.

  “You earned it, boy. Listen. Can you make four o’clock next Saturday?”

  “Yeah, why?” I asked enquiringly.

  “Me old back is giving me jip and I need help loading up at the wholesalers. I’ll pick you up at Lyndhurst Way, is that OK?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine Laurie.”

  “Great! Have a good week, son.” Laurie said smiling.

  I left the market and started to walk home, feeling very proud of myself. After a couple of minutes I heard a loud beep behind me, I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Candy waving at me from her car.

  “Want a lift, Eddie?” she shouted through the car window.

  I ran across to the other side of the road. “If you don’t mind?” I said.

  “If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered,” she laughed.

  The passenger door flung open. The next ten minutes were very, how should I say, interesting, and alarming at the same time!! I jumped in the passenger seat of this old Triumph Herald. If it were anyone other than Candy, I would have walked. As I shut the door, the wing mirror fell off and smashed on the floor.

  “Don’t worry about that, Ed. There’s always something falling off this motor,” she laughed.

  She crunched into first gear, pulling away so fast that my head nearly shot off. She was hurtling down the street like a Grand Prix driver trying to get pole position on the grid. My eyes were fixed firmly ahead, watching in disbelief while holding my breath. Suddenly there was this nasty smell and my eyes started watering and stinging. The inside of the car was engulfed in bluish-grey fumes. I looked down and noticed that to my horror! There was a hole in the passenger side floor. Bloody hell! I’m inhaling exhaust fumes, I thought. I rolled down the window and a gush of freezing air filled the car, sucking out the fumes. My nostrils and eyes were stinging. I breathed in the night’s cold air gasping.

  Blimey, that was close.

  What troubled me was the fact that Candy hadn’t even noticed. The car was flat out as we approached the junction at the end of the road and the quick drop in speed I anticipated never happened. My God, she’s not going to stop. She must stop. All of a sudden, she slammed on the brakes, realising she wasn’t going to make it. The dopey cow yanked on the hand brake and the car shot across the junction, spinning round like a Catherine Wheel. By some miracle, there weren’t any cars coming in either direction and we came to a grinding halt halfway up the street on the other side of the junction, pointing in the opposite direction. Candy looked at me, laughing.

  “That’s the second time this week I’ve done that.”

  I sat there, wide-eyed and speechless. She crunched into reverse, quickly spinning the car around and she sped down Lyndhurst Way like nothing had happened.

  “Just here will be fine, Candy,” I said, begging her to pull over. The car screeched to a halt. Thank God, I thought. I jumped out, shut the door and thanked her through the open window.

  “No probs! See you next week, Ed,” she
said with a glint in her eyes. With that, the car disappeared in a cloud of exhaust smoke. I walked up my street, still shaken from the experience. As I approached the back gate, I saw Tony and Brian walking towards me.

  “Alright, Eddie, Just finished?” Brian asked.

  “Yeah, Bloody hard graft, I’m knackered.”

  “We’re going round the café for a couple of hours, fancy it?”

  “Not tonight, I’ve been up since five. I need some grub and sleep. What you doing tomorrow?” I asked, yawning.

  “We’re all meeting at the pit at ten,” Tony said.

  “OK, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I shook hands with the both of them and went through the gate. I opened the back door and on the table was a half-drunk bottle of whisky. Oh no, not now. I shut the door and took a deep breath. I stood there in silence, my eyes and ears monitoring every sound and movement. I slowly walked across the kitchen floor. I looked around to see if any dinner had been left for me; nothing was visible. My instinct told me to get out of the house, but I never listened. I heard a grunting noise from the living room and then all of a sudden he came staggering out of the living room and down the hallway, finding it hard to keep his balance. He fell against the wall while holding an empty glass. He spotted me and glared. I froze rigid to the spot.

  “Oh, you’re in, you little shit,” he slurred.

  “Yeah, I’ve just finished work. Where is every one?” I asked.

  “Your mother, brothers and sisters are out for the night.”

  “Oh really? Where have they gone?” I asked quietly.

  “None of your business,” he screamed. He walked over to the table and poured himself a large glass of whisky. He was staring at me with eyes that were bloodshot and wild with anger. He gulped down the whisky like it was water. I stood there in silence, not moving a muscle, for I knew that the slightest thing would set him off. I could feel the fear consuming my body. He staggered to where I was standing and, putting his arm around my shoulder, he grabbed my collar. I felt his grip tighten as he crunched my collar into his fist.