by Joan Jonker
‘Only when it comes to things that aren’t really important. Like I’ll never forget I have the best mother in the world and I love the bones of her.’
‘Away with yer! Anyway, now ye’re here, I’ve got a job for yer. As yer can see, I’ve got no net curtains on me back window. That’s because the hook the wire goes on has come out of the wood. So while I’m seeing to the tea, would yer mind screwing it back in again for me? I feel naked without the nets up, ’cos the people at the back can see in from their bedroom window.’
Corker chuckled. ‘And what would they see if they were nosy enough to peep? Yer haven’t got a secret fancy man, have yer?’
Lizzie huffed. ‘I don’t comb me hair in the morning until I’ve had a good wash, nor do I put me teeth in.’
Corker’s chuckle became a loud guffaw. ‘Ma, they’d need a ruddy good telescope to see yer hair was out of place and yer didn’t have yer teeth in! Anyway, when did this hook have the cheek to come out of the wood?’
When Lizzie grinned the lines on her face became deeper. ‘An hour ago.’
‘What am I going to do with yer, Ma? Fancy leading me on to believe the folk at the back had a free peepshow! Especially the feller with the telescope.’
‘What feller with the telescope?’
‘The bloke who went out and bought one the minute yer curtains fell down! He might have been of the opinion that a young bit of stuff lived here and he’d be quids in.’
Lizzie clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. ‘Big and all as yer are, ye’re not too big to have yer ears boxed.’
‘Shall I get the chair for yer to stand on, Ma?’
‘Yer’ll get that hook in, that’s what yer’ll do. And give me less cheek, that’s another thing yer’ll do. Otherwise there’ll be no fairy cakes for you!’
‘Then let’s get about our business, eh? I’ll get the screwdriver while you see to the tea.’
Facing each other across the table a short time later, Lizzie asked, ‘Is Ellen all right?’
‘Yeah, she’s fine. I wish she wouldn’t go to work, though. There’s no need for it now, with two of the girls working. There was no need for it before, because I can keep the family, but she can be stubborn when she wants. But having said that, I really think it does her good to be meeting people all day. She’s a completely different woman to the one she was years ago.’
‘I hope I’m not speaking out of turn,’ Lizzie said, ‘but she’s saving up to buy herself a nice rig-out for the wedding. With the two girls being bridesmaids, she said she wants them to be as proud of her as she will be of them. And I for one don’t blame her because I remember the years she had to walk around like a tramp. So I hope she splashes out and buys herself whatever takes her eye, and to hell with the ruddy cost.’
Corker smiled. His mother had really taken his new family to her heart. Being part of that family had filled her life with interest and love. ‘I hope you too are going to be dressed up to the nines on that day?’
‘I’ll surprise the lot of yer, son! I’ll probably even surprise meself! Molly and Nellie are taking me into town one day to help me choose a rig-out and they’ve warned me they won’t let me buy anything old-fashioned. So don’t be surprised if yer see yer old ma looking like a twenty-year-old.’
‘It should be some wedding! I thought I might have to skip a trip, ’cos there’s no way I’d miss seeing some of me very favourite people married. But as luck would have it, I think we’re due to dock about four days before.’ Corker had his fingers laced and was circling his thumbs around and around. ‘I was so pleased, and proud, when Phil asked me to be his best man. I wouldn’t disappoint him for the world.’
‘Yer’ll need a new suit, son, ’cos being a best man is important.’
‘I’ll get one on me next trip. They’re cheaper abroad and they’re made to measure. Yer choose yer material and get measured up one day, then go back for it the next. Yer can’t beat that, can yer?’
‘It’s just as well, ’cos yer’d never get one off the peg to fit yer.’ Lizzie’s frail, veined hand covered his. ‘Get a nice grey one, son, to please yer old ma.’
‘Grey it shall be, Ma, if that pleases yer. And what shall I wear with it? A white shirt and a deep maroon tie?’
‘That sounds just the ticket, son. How did yer guess what I was going to say?’
‘Because I can read yer like a book. And because we have the same taste. Yer see, I’d already decided on grey, white and maroon. So that makes two satisfied customers, eh?’
‘Like mother like son, eh?’
‘And I know no one who I’d rather take after than you, Ma.’
When Corker got home from his mother’s he began to prepare the evening meal for when Ellen and the two girls got in from work. And he had his eye on the clock for the boys coming in from school expecting a cup of tea and a jam buttie to see them over until their hot meal was ready. But his mind wasn’t really on what he was doing, it was too full of what he’d heard about Lily McDonough’s boyfriend. He needed to get Molly on her own to pass the information on to her, but how he was going to do that he didn’t know. She was very seldom on her own and it was important that nobody else heard what he had to say.
‘I’m in, Dad!’ Peter, at twelve the baby of the family, poked his head around the kitchen door. ‘When I’ve had me cup of tea, can I go out to play? I’ve promised to have a game of ollies with Harry.’
‘Then change into your old kecks before yer go out. Yer mam will have yer life if yer kneel in the gutter in those.’ Corker put the pan of potatoes on the stove and turned the tap on to rinse his hands. ‘You get changed while I pour yer tea out. And I want yer to do me a favour and take a note to Mrs Bennett. I’ll write it out while ye’re upstairs.’
Peter’s socks were around his ankles and he bent to pull them up. ‘Why can’t I just tell her the message, Dad?’
‘Because it’s private. And I want yer to make sure she gets it. Don’t pass it on to Ruthie in yer hurry to be with yer mate, either. I want it put into Mrs Bennett’s hands and nobody else’s. Understand, son?’
‘Yeah, OK, Dad!’ Peter took the stairs two at a time, whistling happily, a twelve-year-old boy without a care in the world. Except that he was determined to beat Harry at ollies tonight. He’d lost one to his mate last night and intended to win it back.
While he was out of the room, Corker sat at the table putting a note together for Molly. In it he said he had something important to tell her but it had to be in strict privacy. And he asked her to let him know how that could be arranged. He was folding the slip of paper when Peter came bounding down the stairs. ‘Pass me an envelope out of that drawer, will yer, please, son.’
‘Yer’ve no need to put it in an envelope, Dad, it’s only going next door! I promise not to read it and I won’t put me dirty hands all over it.’
‘Peter, do as I tell yer.’
The boy grinned and shrugged his shoulders as he pulled open a drawer in the sideboard. Grown-ups didn’t half have some daft ideas sometimes. What a waste of a good envelope!
‘What’s this?’ Molly ran her hands down her pinny before reaching for the envelope. ‘Yer dad hasn’t written me a love letter, has he?’ She was running a finger under the flap as she smiled down at Peter. ‘I should be that lucky, eh?’
The lad could see his mate beckoning impatiently and was eager to get away. He had to win back the ollie he lost last night because it was his bobby dazzler with lots of different colours running through it. ‘I’ll see yer, Mrs Bennett!’ With that he took to his heels and ran, his socks falling back around his ankles as he did so.
Molly couldn’t wait to read the letter so she opened it standing on the step. It would be one of Corker’s jokes and she was smiling in anticipation as she started to read. But the smile faded as she read the contents. Corker hadn’t actually said he had bad news, but she had a foreboding that there was trouble.
Slipping the envelope in the pocket of her pinny, she
stepped down on to the pavement and hurried the few yards to the house next door. She didn’t waste time in case Nellie was looking through her curtains as she often did, nor did she waste words in case there were ears listening. ‘The girls are both going out tonight. Jill and Steve are going to the flicks and Doreen will be over the road at Miss Clegg’s until about eleven. So can yer nip down about ten? Ruthie should be in bed by then.’
‘Suits me, Molly.’
She searched his eyes for a clue, but they weren’t giving anything away. But the thought of waiting until ten o’clock didn’t appeal, ’cos she’d be a nervous wreck by that time. So she asked, ‘Is it to do with a certain feller?’
Corker turned his head and cocked an ear. He’d heard the latch on the kitchen door being dropped and knew it was fourteen-year-old Gordon letting himself in from school. ‘Yeah, ye’re right, Molly. But I’ll see yer later, OK? I can hear our Gordon, and he’ll be wanting a drink and a jam buttie.’
With that Molly had to be satisfied. ‘See yer later, then.’
There was mounting horror on Molly’s face as she listened to what Corker had to say. He started at the very beginning and didn’t leave anything out. And as he talked, Jack kept shaking his head and clicking his tongue in disgust. He was very straitlaced, was Molly’s husband, and having a baby out of wedlock was against everything he believed in. And he had no time for thieves or liars.
When Corker had finished, Molly fell back in her chair. ‘Oh, my God!’ Her tummy was churning over. ‘What a rotten swine he is! Lily doesn’t say much about him, but I do know she told Nellie the reason he was quiet and didn’t like mixing in company was because he’d had an unhappy home life.’
‘No truth in that at all,’ Corker told her. ‘My mate and his wife said Len’s parents are two of the nicest people yer could meet. He’s led them a dog’s life since he was old enough to go to school. My mate isn’t one for gossip, and I’d take every word Robbo said as gospel. And his wife, Alice, she wouldn’t make anything like that up.’
Molly took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly. ‘Where do we go from here? Nellie and George will go mad, not to mention the boys.’
‘I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell them,’ Corker said. ‘It’s going to be bad enough for Lily to find out her boyfriend is a rotter, but it would be ten times worse if she knew everyone was aware she’d been taken for a fool. If she could be taken aside and told quietly it would be better for all concerned.’
‘That’s not going to be a very pleasant task for anyone,’ Jack said. ‘I know I wouldn’t like to be the one to do it. Lily could hold it against the person for the rest of her life, even if that person was only doing it for her sake.’
‘I know of only one person who could do it in such a way that Lily would harbour no ill-feelings. Someone who is caring, and would know the right words to use to soften the blow.’ Corker raised his bushy eyebrows. ‘And that person is you, Molly.’
‘I couldn’t do it!’ Molly was horrified at the thought. ‘Lily would hate me if I told her all you’ve told us. She’d never look me in the face again.’
‘What’s the alternative?’ Corker asked. ‘Who else is there? Not one of her family, because the first thing they’d do would be to march en masse up to Tetlow Street to knock hell out of the bloke! And that would mean the whole world knowing Lily’s business. I don’t think that’s what she’d want, do you?’
Molly sighed and cupped her chin in her hand. ‘I don’t think I could do it, Corker. I know I sound as though I’ve every confidence in meself, but I’m really a coward at heart.’
‘She’s yer best mate’s daughter, Molly, so do it for Nellie’s sake.’
Molly gripped the arms of the fireside chair and closed her eyes. She couldn’t do it! She couldn’t stand in front of Lily and tell her something that would break her heart. Then in her mind’s eye a picture of Nellie appeared. And her chubby face was creased in a smile while her eyes were glistening with mischief. If the roles were reversed and it was one of Molly’s girls in trouble, there’d be no hesitation on Nellie’s part. She’d be right there to help her mate out.
‘OK, I’ll do it, Corker – but it’ll have to be in me own way and the time and place will have to be just right. And that’s going to be the biggest problem, for I only see Lily on her own once every blue moon.’ Molly didn’t relish the thought and she was shaking inside. But as Corker said, what was the alternative? They couldn’t leave the girl in the dark, it wouldn’t be right. ‘I’ll put me thinking cap on and see what I can come up with. But I’m going to tell her a lie and say I’m the only one who knows. That way, if she sends him packing, which she’s bound to do, she’ll be able to look people in the face and say they’d had a blazing row and she’d finished with him.’
‘It’s only a white lie, Molly, and all in a good cause. Apart from yerself, there’s only me and Jack knows. Robbo and his wife haven’t a clue about Lily ’cos I never mentioned her name or anything about her.’
‘It’ll knock her for six, love, of course it will,’ Jack said. ‘But she’ll get over it and find herself a decent lad. And given time, she’ll thank yer.’
Corker rubbed his hands together, glad he’d got all that off his chest and the matter was in the capable hands of Molly. ‘Now, seeing as I’ve made yer both miserable, I’ll have to do something to cheer yer up. Yer see, me visit to me mate’s wasn’t all doom and gloom. His wife Alice is an absolute scream and she had me in stitches.’
Molly thought nothing would bring a smile to her face, not tonight anyway. But hearing about the apparition at the top of the stairs, and Robbo’s state of undress, brought forth a low chuckle. And Corker was so good at describing the expressions on Alice’s face when her husband was hopping from one foot to another because he wanted to go down to the lavvy but couldn’t find his shoes, the chuckle became a laugh. By the time he’d told them about the shoes being under the pillow, and Robbo’s snoring being likened to a symphony orchestra that was out of tune and played loud enough to split yer eardrums, both Molly and Jack were laughing heartily.
‘This Alice seems a good sport,’ Molly said. ‘Yer’ll have to bring her and Robbo down one night and we’ll have a good laugh.’
‘He’s as funny as her! When she’d gone up to get his shoes, he told me she snores worse than him! He said it was like being in an air raid, with sirens going, ack-ack guns blazing and bombs dropping. But if he tells her she gets a cob on and won’t speak to him for days.’
‘Yer’ve cheered me up, Corker,’ Molly said, wiping her eyes. ‘Life doesn’t seem as miserable as it did ten minutes ago.’
‘I’m glad about that, Molly, ’cos I wouldn’t like to think I’d left yer with a load of worry on yer mind. But if yer feel all right, I’ll love yer and leave yer. Ellen will think I’ve left home and will have the bolts on the door. I’ll see yer both tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless.’
Chapter Seventeen
‘How about going into town today, girl, and looking at the wedding hats?’ There was eagerness in Nellie’s eyes as she grinned at her friend. This wedding couldn’t come quick enough for her, but she wouldn’t dare say that to Molly, who was wishing she had a few extra weeks. ‘Just to look, yer know, not buy.’
‘There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of me buying, sunshine! A hat is not on top of me list of priorities.’ Molly sighed inwardly. If her mate knew what she knew, the smile would soon leave her face. But, please God, she would never have to know. ‘Not that it isn’t important, ’cos it is! As soon as I’ve got the reception in hand, like having the money to pay for it, then it’s you and me down to Lewis’s to buy two of their poshest hats.’
‘We could still go and have a look, girl, that wouldn’t cost nothing. We could try some on to see what style suits us, and we’d get an idea on price.’
Molly didn’t have the heart to disappoint her. In fact, she felt like gathering her in her arms and giving her a big hug. ‘OK, but I
’m not spending any money. Every penny counts at the moment. I remember me mam saying once that if yer look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves. Well, I’ve been working on that and looking after me pennies, but I can’t see the pounds looking after themselves.’
‘I’ll mug yer on the tram there and back, girl, so it won’t cost yer nothing. I just want to see what these middling hats look like and if one would enhance me natural beauty.’
Molly chucked her under the chin. ‘With your natural beauty, sunshine, it wouldn’t matter if yer wore a beret.’
Nellie huffed. ‘I’m not wearing no ruddy beret! How soft I’d look with everyone else got up like a dog’s dinner! No, ta very much, I intend outshining the lot of them. If I’ve got to have a small hat, it’ll have such a bloody big ostrich feather in that yer won’t be able to miss me.’
‘That is something I’ve got to see.’ Molly grinned and waved to a chair. ‘Sit yerself down while I go upstairs and put a pair of stockings on. I’m not going into town bare-legged.’
‘There’s no need for that! Now if yer’d said bare-arsed, then I’d agree. But who the hell is going to look at yer legs?’
‘Yer never know yer luck in a big city, sunshine.’ Molly made for the door. ‘I’ll only be two ticks.’ It was with a heavy heart she climbed the stairs. The knowledge she carried with her was becoming more of a burden every day. It was Thursday now, and she’d never even set eyes on Lily, let alone got her on her own. And it was hard trying to keep a smile on her face when she was with Nellie. Something had to happen soon or she would make herself ill.
‘There’s a bus coming,’ Molly said. ‘D’yer want to get that or wait for a tram?’
‘We’ll wait for a tram. The steps on the bus are high, and me legs are too short. By the time I get one foot on the platform me knee’s under me chin and the driver gets a good look at me bare flesh, me garters and me bloomers. And I have to pay for the privilege! It should be him what pays me for the peepshow!’
