by Joan Jonker
There was silence for a while, then Corker heard feet slithering along the lino on the landing. He looked up to see his mate standing at the top of the stairs wearing a vest and long johns, and rubbing his eyes as though he didn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘Corker, what the hell are yer doing here at this time of the morning?’
‘Robbo, the streets were aired off hours ago. And before I get a kink in me neck looking up at yer, will yer get dressed and come down?’ Corker’s guffaw echoed in the rather gloomy hall. ‘I’ll tell yer what, mate, ye’re not a pretty sight to see. I just wish the crew were here to see yer now, yer’d never live it down. And I’m glad I’ve had me breakfast because I wouldn’t be wanting it now, that’s for sure.’
Ken Roberts grinned. With an arm across his waist holding the long johns up, he scratched his head. ‘You don’t look any better when yer first get up. In fact, yer look twice as bad ’cos ye’re twice the size of me.’
‘Put some clothes on and get down these stairs before I run off with yer wife.’
A loud whisper came floating down. ‘Is that a threat or a promise, Corker?’
Alice came into the hall brandishing a fist. ‘I heard that, yer lazy swine! If I could get meself another feller I’d be off like a shot. And I wouldn’t care if he had a face like the back of a bus, as long as he had a few bob in his pockets.’ She tugged on Corker’s arm. ‘He’ll stand there talking all day if yer let him. Come and sit down, the kettle’s nearly boiled.’
‘How’s the family?’ Corker asked as he sat across the table from Alice. ‘Keeping well, I hope?’
‘Yer know our Janet’s got a baby, don’t yer? They called it Gary, after the flamin’ film star, would yer believe. Still, everyone to their own taste. Six months old he is now, and as bright as a brass button. Janet wheels him around every afternoon, and as soon as he sees me his arms and legs start kicking until I lift him up. I get told off for spoiling him, but what the hell! If can’t spoil me own grandson, who can I spoil?’
‘And Shirley?’
‘She’s still at home but courting strong. She works at Vernon’s and is saving up like mad for her bottom drawer.’ Alice rested her chin in her hand when her husband came into the room. ‘I didn’t hear yer coming down the stairs.’
‘I’m in me stockin’ feet, aren’t I? I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find me ruddy shoes!’ Ken grinned and slapped Corker on the back as a way of welcome. ‘We went out on the razzle last night and I don’t even remember going to bed.’
‘Hang on a minute, let’s get this story straight,’ Alice said. ‘I went out for a drink, you went out on the razzle. For every drink I had, you had three.’
‘That explains why me head’s spinning, but it doesn’t explain why I can’t find me shoes.’
‘If you want to go out and get yerself plastered, Ken Roberts, then that’s your lookout. Don’t come crying to me ’cos yer can’t find yer ruddy shoes.’
‘But I need them to go down the yard! I can’t go in me socks.’ Ken was rubbing the back of his neck and grimacing. ‘Me flamin’ neck’s sore, as well. I feel as though I’ve slept on a sack of coal.’
At that moment, Corker just happened to glance at Alice as she lifted the cup to her lips, and caught a smile playing around the corners of her mouth. She’s having him on, he thought. I bet she knows where his shoes are. ‘It’s a wonder you didn’t see what he did with his shoes, Alice. Haven’t yer any idea?’
The smile was still hovering as she said, ‘He could try looking under his pillow.’
‘Why the hell would I do that? No matter how drunk I was, I wouldn’t be daft enough to put me shoes under me pillow. I must have left them down here somewhere.’
‘No, yer didn’t.’ Alice was very definite about that. ‘I’ve cleaned this place from top to bottom while you were lazing in bed.’
‘Try under yer pillow, Robbo,’ Corker suggested. ‘Yer never know.’
‘Oh, for crying out loud!’ Alice’s cup was returned to its saucer. ‘I’ll go and get yer flamin’ shoes for yer! And yes, they are under yer pillow.’ She pulled a face at Corker. ‘I put them there hoping they’d stop him from falling into a deep sleep and snoring his head off. Yer’ve no idea what it’s like sleeping with him when he’s had a few. He sleeps on his back with his mouth wide open and it’s like listening to a symphony orchestra. One what hits all the wrong notes and plays loud enough to split yer eardrums.’
Corker’s head went back and he roared with laughter. ‘Yer don’t have to tell me about Robbo’s snoring, or any of the other lads. We’ve all suffered from it. But I’ve never heard it compared to a symphony orchestra before.’ Once again his head went back and his laughter filled the room. ‘“One what hits all the wrong notes and plays loud enough to split yer eardrums.” I’ll have to remember that to tell the rest of the crew. I think it’s bloody brilliant.’
Alice scraped her chair back and with her hands flat on the table she pushed herself to her feet. ‘I was being polite, Corker. Yer should hear some of the things I call him when he’s in full flow and I’m tossing and turning, and can’t get to sleep even though I’m dead tired.’ She gave her husband a withering look before making for the stairs to retrieve his shoes.
‘I’ve never realised it before, but your wife is quite a wit.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Ken stood with his hands on the back of a chair. It was no good sitting down because his need to go to the lavvy was now becoming desperate. He hoped Corker said nothing to make him laugh. ‘And she’s also a bloody good liar! She forgot on purpose to tell yer she can lick me when it comes to snoring. That’s why I always have a few drinks so I can get to sleep before her. Otherwise I lie there thinking the blitz has started all over again. Air-raid sirens, ack-ack guns and bombs dropping, she goes through the whole lot. But if I tell her that she goes all huffy, like women do, and says she doesn’t snore at all and won’t speak to me for days.’
‘But yer wouldn’t swap her for a big clock?’
‘Indeed I wouldn’t, Corker! I know when I’m well off.’
‘Here yer are, misery guts.’ Alice thrust the shoes at him. ‘And don’t sit down there on yer throne for too long, or this pot of tea will be stiff.’
When Ken had completed his ablutions and sat at the table next to his wife, Corker said, ‘Now yer look more like me shipmate! Standing at the top of those stairs I didn’t recognise yer as Robbo, the bloke I share watches with.’
‘You’re the only one who calls him that, yer know,’ Alice said, hoping to impress Corker with the delicate way she held her cup. ‘He gets Ken off everyone else.’
‘Not on the ship he doesn’t. The only one he gets his full title off is the skipper.’
‘I don’t dare what anyone calls me.’ Ken offered his packet of Woodbines. ‘Here yer are, have a fag and tell us what brought yer here.’
‘I’ll have one of me own if yer don’t mind.’ Corker brought out his Capstan Full Strength. ‘I never feel I’ve had a smoke after one of them.’ He waited until both cigarettes were lit, then said, ‘I was asked if I know a family called Lofthouse, who live in Tetlow Street. Now I’ve never heard of them, but I thought with you living so near, you might have. So, with the sun cracking the flags, I decided to take a walk down and ask yer.’
‘Yeah, they live at the back of us, don’t they, love?’ Ken began to show interest. ‘Their entry door is about four doors down from ours. Why?’
‘Nothing really, just a bit of information. What sort of a family are they?’
‘Ada and Jim Lofthouse are the salt of the earth,’ Alice said. ‘Always got a smile for yer and never fail to stop and ask how the family is.’
‘Have they got any children?’
Ken put a hand on his wife’s arm to tell her to leave him to do the talking. After all, he was the one Corker called to see. ‘They’ve got two lads. The eldest, Alan, is about twenty-three and Len is roughly two years younger.’
‘Nice lads, are the
y?’
‘Alan is, he’s a really good bloke. Takes after his dad, always friendly.’
‘And his younger brother?’ Corker asked. ‘Is he the same?’
‘Don’t his parents wish he was! He’s caused them nothing but trouble from the time he started school. And what a miserable, surly bugger he is! Yer never get a word out of him, never mind a smile. And he’s a right bad ’un.’ Ken took a last drag on his cigarette before flicking it into the grate. ‘There’s a rumour—’
Alice put a hand over her husband’s mouth and cut off his words. ‘Don’t say anything else, love, not one word! Keep it to yerself or we could end up in trouble.’ With her hand still keeping Ken quiet, she looked at Corker for understanding. And what she said next kept him amused all day. ‘I had to shut him up, or he’d have said something he shouldn’t. The rumour he nearly told yer is rife in the neighbourhood. The lad is supposed to have got a girl in the family way before he went in the army, but now he’s saying the baby isn’t his. But true or false, my feller has no right to repeat it.’
Corker studied her face to see if she had deliberately let the cat out of the bag but her expression was one of innocence. Not knowing what to say, he looked at Ken and they both burst out laughing. ‘I don’t know quite how to answer that.’
‘Don’t bother, Corker,’ Alice said, chuckling away merrily. ‘I don’t think men are any good with gossip, they don’t make the best of it. My feller isn’t anyway, he always gets the wrong end of the stick. So I thought I’d do it for him.’
‘What sort of information were yer after, Corker?’ Ken asked. ‘Is it old friends of the family who want to get in touch?’
‘No, nothing like that.’ Corker dropped his head for a few seconds to give himself time to think. When he looked up, it was on Alice he fastened his eyes. ‘Can I trust yer to keep a secret, Alice? It’s important.’
‘Of course yer can! I’ve been acting daft with yer, but I’m not always like that. What I told yer about the lad at the back, that’s no secret, everyone in the neighbourhood knows. The girl that had the baby to him, she’s practically shouting it from the rooftops. She said he promised to marry her, but now he runs a mile if he sees her. Her whole family are gunning for him.’
‘Her name wouldn’t happen to be Joan, would it?’
‘How did yer know that?’
‘Come on, Corker, out with it,’ Ken said. ‘Yer didn’t walk all this way out of idle curiosity, did yer?’
‘No, I didn’t. This Len feller is courting the daughter of a very good friend of mine. None of the family like him, but the girl is infatuated and won’t hear a wrong word against him. This Joan turned up at the corner shop last week, asking if anyone knew a girl who was going out with a bloke called Lofty. It was through her we found out he lived in Tetlow Street. We connected the nickname and here I am! There’s only one other person beside meself who knows about this. The girl he’s courting doesn’t know and neither do her family. And I’m going to have to consider very carefully whether I tell them or keep me mouth shut.’
‘If it was a daughter of mine going out with him, I’d want to be told,’ Ken said. ‘Because believe me, Corker, the lad is a bad lot. Ask anyone in the streets round about and they’ll tell yer the same thing. He was always pinching children’s toys when he was young, then it went on to bikes and footballs. I used to feel sorry for his parents ’cos they’re nice, decent folk, and they had years of neighbours knocking on their door with complaints. Mind you, that was before he left school and started work.’
‘Oh, he doesn’t pinch bikes or footballs any more, I’ll grant yer that.’ Alice’s voice had more than a hint of sarcasm. ‘He gets a girl in the family way, instead! His mam walks down the street with her head bent in shame, and his dad’s put years on, poor bugger. If I were you, Corker, I’d find some way of letting the girl know. Better she finds out now before it’s too late. If she married him, she’d be letting herself in for a life of heartache.’
Corker sighed. ‘I’ll have to think of something. But are yer sure that the baby is his?’
‘I don’t think there’s any doubt. The girl, Joan, is a bit of a hard knock, but I don’t think she’d lie about a thing like that. She was writing to him when he was called up, but when she wrote and told him she was expecting, then his letters stopped. And she wouldn’t be the first girl he’s messed around with ’cos I’ve seen him down this entry with different ones. He was only sixteen the first time I caught him with his hand up a girl’s dress. I chased the pair of them, calling them all the names I could think of. And threatening to tell both their parents. I never did, though, ’cos I didn’t want to cause no trouble and I thought that after me catching them in the act they wouldn’t do it again.’
‘It gets worse by the minute,’ Corker said. ‘He sounds a right bad lot. The girl he’s going out with has two brothers and they’d kill him if they knew. But I’m going to have to be careful because I don’t want to embarrass her or dent her pride. If I can put her wise without her family finding out, I will do. She’s too nice to be made a fool of, and I’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.’
Corker looked sad as he stroked his beard. ‘God knows how I’m going to do it though. I mean, I couldn’t tell her, it would be far better coming from a woman. But if I told her mother it would only make matters worse because she’s been telling her daughter the lad was no good from the day she clapped eyes on him. And there’s nothing so humiliating as somebody saying “I told yer so”.’ He was very careful not to mention Lily’s name in case it ever rebounded on him. ‘The best thing I can do is talk it over with the woman whose concern brought me here today. She’s me best bet.’
‘Will yer keep us informed, Corker?’ Alice could think of hearing no better news than that Len had got his comeuppance. The hard-faced rotter had got away with far too much. ‘I’d like to know if the girl’s got the sense to chuck him.’
‘I’ll let yer know if I can, but things are not going to happen that quick. No one is going to blurt it out, it’s got to be done sensitively so as not to hurt her. And I’m hoping the matter will be in the hands of a very capable lady later today who will decide if, when and how. So it could be I won’t know anything meself by Sunday, when me and Robbo are due back on the ship. But I promise yer’ll be brought up-to-date as soon as possible. After all, you’ve been a fountain of information. When I came here I was thinking I’d be lucky if yer just knew the Lofthouse family. I never expected to get the whole low-down on them.’
‘I’m glad me and Ken were able to help, but I would be grateful if yer could let me know the outcome, some time.’ Alice felt the teapot standing on a chrome stand in the middle of the table. ‘This has gone cold, I’ll make us a fresh one.’
‘Not for me, thanks, Alice, I’ll be on me way. When I’m on leave, I spend a few hours every day with me ma. And I’d lay odds that right now the kettle is whistling on the hob and she’s back and forth to the window to see if there’s any sign of me.’ Corker stood up and pulled on his peaked cap. ‘It’s been nice seeing yer again, Alice, and I’m grateful for all yer help. It’s not a very pleasant story I’m taking back with me, but it’s definitely one a certain person should be aware of.’ He grinned down at his shipmate. ‘I’ll see yer on board, Robbo, and while I promise not to tell the lads about this apparition appearing at the top of the stairs, I won’t be able to resist the shoes under the pillow lark. I think that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.’
Alice preened. ‘I could tell funnier tales than that if yer weren’t in such a hurry. Yer want to come up some time with yer wife and we can go for a drink.’ She pushed her chair in. ‘I’ll see yer to the door.’
Ken jumped to his feet. ‘We’ll both see yer to the door. It’s not that I don’t trust yer, Alice, but it wouldn’t be the first time yer’d concocted tales about me so yer could get a laugh.’
So it was that Corker was waved off by man and wife, their arms around each ot
her’s waists. They could be fighting like cat and dog one minute, then laughing their socks off the next. They were lucky enough to have what every marriage needed – a sense of fun.
Corker was so deep in thought as he walked home that nothing he passed registered in his mind – not the people or the rattling of trams or the noisy motors of buses coming and going to the city centre. He didn’t even see the confectioner’s shop where he intended buying cakes for his mother. He kept going over all he’d heard and the more he went over it, the more sad and disgusted he was. Sad for the distress this was going to cause Lily, and disgust for the bloke who’d been stringing her along. She had to be told, there were no two ways about it. It would be a poor friend who had this knowledge and kept it from her.
Lizzie Corkhill was standing on her front step looking down the street for sight of her son. Her face registered surprise when she heard her name called and turned her head to see him coming from the opposite direction. Her heart filled with love, as it always did when she saw the man whom everyone called the gentle giant. He was that, of course, but to her he was the best son any mother could have. ‘Where’ve yer been? I’ve been looking out for yer.’
‘I had to take a message to one of me shipmates.’ Corker put his massive hands around her waist and lifted her back into the hall. There he held her frail body close and planted a kiss on her lips. ‘I suppose yer’ve had the kettle on the boil for an hour.’
‘More than that, I expected yer ages ago.’
‘I did intend getting the tram or the bus, but it’s such a lovely day I decided to use shanks’s pony and it took me longer than I thought it would.’ As they walked into the living room, he said, ‘I’ve got confession to make, Ma. I was going to treat us both to a cream cake, but I clean forgot about it on the way home until I was well past the shop.’
Her head as far back as her neck would allow, she gazed up at him. ‘Well, it’s a good job I made some fairy cakes this morning, isn’t it? I must have remembered me son’s got a head like a sieve.’
