A Sister's Shame

by Carol Rivers

  ‘I remember the time neither of you would go out wearing different dresses,’ said Ada, sliding her small bag over her arm. ‘Now look at you both.’ She frowned. ‘Vesta, that neck is rather low.’

  ‘It’s fashionable, Mum. I won’t get cold.’

  ‘It wasn’t the cold I was thinking of,’ remarked Ada, raising her eyebrows.

  Vesta threw a dark glance at Marie, who quickly smiled.

  ‘Elsie will be waiting,’ Marie said hurriedly, and was relieved when Ada nodded.

  ‘Come along then,’ she smiled. ‘We mustn’t be late.’

  When they walked into the hall, Elsie was already there. She was staring up at the first-floor half-landing and to the heavy oak banister where a little brown monkey with owl-like eyes and a white chin was perched. Between his sharp teeth was a cigarette.

  ‘That bloody Kaiser,’ Elsie swore loudly. ‘He’s pinched me fags again. And this time he’s flamin’ lit one. The smoke is coming out of his ears. Look!’

  Everyone stared upwards. To Marie’s amusement, the monkey chattered loudly and swung from one banister to the other. His long spidery legs and tail latched onto whatever hold he could find.

  ‘Don’t you drop that fag on me carpet, you little devil,’ cried Elsie, ‘or I’ll skin you alive. And that’s a promise!’

  By now, everyone had begun to laugh, even Elsie, who was familiar with Kaiser’s tricks. After a small accident when a lighted cigarette he’d dropped on the carpet had almost caused catastrophe, she kept a vigilant eye on his antics.

  ‘Where are you, Wippet?’ Elsie shouted up the stairs to the top-floor resident. ‘Come and get your sodding animal and lock him away!’

  There was a light shuffling sound and a small man appeared, no taller than a child, with a round smiling face. He was accompanied by a pretty blonde girl, another lodger, Nina Brass. Marie smiled at Wippet and Nina. She liked both of Elsie’s top-floor residents and Kaiser was a favourite with everyone, despite inciting the landlady to bad language.

  ‘Sorry, Mrs G,’ apologized the little man, climbing on the banister and sliding down it to the last stair. ‘Come here at once, Kaiser!’

  The monkey, who was hanging from the cobweb-covered chandelier, made a defiant screeching. Everyone laughed again. Wippet and Kaiser had formerly been a sideshow at a fair and never failed to amuse. Marie knew Wippet was very brave. His acts at the fairground had included being tied with chains underwater and being shot from a cannon. His dark hair was short at the back and sides and had little patches in it, where for some reason the hair wouldn’t grow.

  Nina, who had come downstairs the conventional way, held out her arms and the monkey jumped into them. ‘Naughty boy, Kaiser,’ she whispered affectionately.

  ‘Sorry, Mrs G,’ apologized Wippet once more.

  ‘He’s dropped a fag end somewhere,’ said Elsie sharply. ‘We’re going out so you’d better find it, Wippet, before I come home to find me place on fire.’

  ‘Don’t worry. It’s here.’ Wippet picked the cigarette butt from the stair and crunched the lit end with his stubby fingers. ‘This won’t happen again.’ The monkey chattered and pushed his furry knuckles around his eyes. ‘He’s sorry, Mrs G. See, he’s crying.’

  Everyone laughed again, and Elsie relented. ‘Poor little bugger. He shouldn’t be cooped up all day in that cage of yours. He should be free, swinging from trees in Africa or wherever he comes from.’

  ‘Oh, he was born in a circus,’ Nina said as she held the little monkey close, ‘and wouldn’t leave Wippet even if he could.’

  Marie knew that Nina worked as a cloakroom attendant in one of the West End clubs. She was rather glamorous, dressed this evening in a cream-coloured pleated skirt and top, and her blonde hair was long and smooth. It always amazed Marie that she didn’t appear to have a boyfriend. She seemed more Teddy Turner’s type, though Marie had noticed that she rarely spoke to him if they happened to pass on the stairs.

  ‘You all look very smart,’ Nina said in her quiet voice. ‘Are you going somewhere special?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Vesta at once. ‘To the Queen’s, to see Teddy.’

  Nina didn’t reply. Marie felt sorry for her. She never seemed to have any friends other than Wippet. Elsie must have felt the same, she decided, as Elsie said quickly, ‘You’re welcome to join us, ducks, but you’ll have to pay for yourself.’

  ‘That’s very nice of you, but no thanks.’ Nina turned and ran up the two flights of stairs with the little monkey safe in her arms.

  ‘Well, we ain’t asking you, love,’ chuckled Elsie to Wippet as he lingered. ‘This is a girls’ night out.’

  Wippet laughed as he moved his small body almost painfully up the stairs. ‘I wouldn’t be able to see over the heads anyway, Mrs G,’ he joked, and then, turning slowly, he added, ‘but next week Kaiser and I are to return to the travelling fairground at Blackheath for a few days and perform a special trick. So if you all want to come and see us, you’re welcome.’

  ‘What’s the trick?’ asked Elsie curiously.

  ‘I hope to escape my chains underwater.’

  Marie gasped. ‘Ain’t that dangerous?’

  ‘Only if I can’t undo the locks. Then that will be the last you will ever see of poor Wippet!’

  A gasp went round all the women before, finally, he grinned and went upstairs.

  ‘Why did you ask Nina to come with us?’ Marie heard Vesta ask Elsie as they trooped outside.

  ‘She ain’t a bad kid,’ Elsie said kindly. ‘Thought I’d make the offer as she looked a bit lonely.’

  ‘Didn’t fancy her tagging along,’ Vesta said as she fell into step with Marie, behind Elsie and Ada. ‘She’s a strange sort. So is that Wippet. They make an odd couple, don’t you think?’

  ‘I like them,’ Marie shrugged. ‘Wippet’s always very friendly and so is Nina, though she doesn’t say much.’

  ‘Wippet worked at a fairground before he came here a couple of years ago,’ Elsie said, over her shoulder. ‘He rescued Kaiser from a circus and taught him tricks to use in their act. Wippet and Nina might look a bit strange, but I ain’t ever heard a bad word come from either of them.’

  Marie noticed that, at Elsie’s tactful rebuke, Vesta lost interest in the subject. Soon she began to talk about Teddy again. Marie smiled to herself. The characters in this house were what she loved most about living in Sphinx Street. Even Elsie was eccentric, this being apparent tonight as she led the way, dressed in all her finery. She had a love of gold, and was flaunting it: gold rings on her fingers, and a gold and black turban-shaped hat with a feather stuck in the folds. Her chocolate-coloured suit had little gold flecks in the fabric, which sparkled on her small, round figure. Her greying hair, which she died with henna, was twisted into kiss curls under her hat. For a woman in her seventies, she looked rather admirable. Marie had once heard her father remark that, thanks to Joe’s parents, Elsie wasn’t short of a bob or two.

  ‘I’ve never been so excited,’ breathed Vesta, as the theatre came into sight. ‘My heart is pounding so loud I can hear it in me ears.’

  Marie felt excited too. It wasn’t often they had this kind of treat. She wondered if Bing really would be there, or had he been joking? If they did bump into him, she hoped that this time Vesta would mind her manners.

  Chapter 4

  Marie closed her eyes at the pain of her crushed toe whilst Vesta tried to distance herself from a small man with crooked brown teeth. In his arms he held a newspaper on top of which was an assortment of foul-smelling vegetables.

  ‘Keep away from me!’ Vesta exclaimed, trying to distance herself. ‘You won’t be allowed in the theatre with that.’

  ‘Who’s gonna stop me?’ demanded the man.

  ‘Take no notice,’ Marie whispered. ‘He won’t get very far before the manager sees him.’

  ‘I just hope he doesn’t sit next to us.’ Vesta moved up as far as she could.

  The queue outside the theatre was supposed to be l
ining up in order, but as it was not a famous revue being performed and the seats were very cheap, it was first come first served. Everyone wanted to sit at the front. Marie had just been knocked by a large woman smelling of beer and perspiration, whilst Elsie and Ada, having got closer to the doors, were determined to hold their positions. Elsie’s feather was waving this way and that and her loud voice could be heard as she spoke to the busker who held out his battered hat.

  ‘Clear off, unless you want to deafen me!’ she ordered, her feather shivering indignantly. ‘We’re waiting for Hector Haskins, I’ll have you know. This is his pitch and he’s got a voice that knocks socks off yours.’

  Marie had hardly been able to hear the young man’s rendition of Al Bowlly’s ‘I’ll String Along With You’. He had soon lost heart at Elsie’s rejection and made a swift retreat as one or two fists were shaken. Marie hoped her father would make a better impression on the crowd.

  Everyone was out to enjoy themselves, whether by praise or ridicule. Amateur night was a favourite, where both street and stage performers were judged, sometimes unfairly, according to the public’s mood.

  Marie glanced at the posters hanging on the Queen’s dirty walls. They announced the forthcoming shows, though she didn’t recognize any names. The famous old theatre used to have many well-known acts appearing on its stage, from the twins’ namesakes, Vesta Tilley and Marie Lloyd, to the famous Charlie Chaplin. But as cinemas had become more popular than theatres and music halls, the big stars rarely appeared at the Queen’s any more. Marie thought that was a great pity, though she also liked to go to the pictures. There were any number of cinemas in the East End now: the Grand Palace Picture Theatre opposite the Blackwall Tunnel, the Grand in Tunnel Avenue and the Pavilion in the East India Dock Road. The Pavilion had been the first to offer talking pictures and the others had quickly followed. Luckily for her father, though, the Queen’s had managed to attract a big audience tonight.

  ‘I really don’t think people should carry on like this,’ said Vesta, trying to steady herself and clutching her bag against her chest. ‘Throwing rotten veg and yelling must put the performers off.’

  Marie stepped back sharply as the big woman yelled at the top of her voice, ‘When are you going to open them doors?’

  ‘If it’s Teddy you’re worried about, I don’t think any of the girls who’ve come to see him would throw anything,’ Marie replied with a smile.

  ‘He’s too talented by far to get boos,’ nodded Vesta, though Marie had really meant that Teddy had all the confidence and charm of a man who knew his looks could speak for him. As for his voice, well, that remained to be heard. And even if Teddy was a looker, the East End crowds were notoriously hard to please.

  Just then, a deep, rumbling voice boomed out and Vesta clutched Marie’s arm, exclaiming, ‘It’s our dad!’

  Sure enough, Hector sauntered along the road. When he saw his family and Elsie, he swept off his hat to reveal his thick dark hair.

  Marie was filled with pride. He began by singing ‘Oh! Susanna’, and performing many flourishes, like the singer who originally sang the song, Carson Robison. But everyone was eager to get inside the theatre and Hector was being ignored.

  ‘This is our dad!’ shouted Marie to anyone who would listen, her cheeks pink with excitement.

  ‘I shouldn’t broadcast the fact, love,’ warned the lady behind her. ‘Not until you’re out of range of this tomato.’

  Vesta pulled Marie back as the crowd began to shout insults at Hector.

  ‘Where did you appear from?’ shouted a woman behind Elsie. ‘The cemetery?’

  Elsie turned and glared at her. She shoved the woman back with some force. ‘Take that, you silly cow, and shut up or else you’ll have Elsie Goldberg to deal with.’ Elsie grabbed a soggy vegetable from the woman’s bag. ‘How would you like a bit of your own medicine, eh? Strikes me that pasty mug of yours could do with a bit of colour.’

  The laughter changed to a great cheer and, knowing the crowd loved a fight, Elsie did a little bow as the woman backed away.

  Marie knew that Elsie had learned to handle roughnecks from her years running the Cubby Hole. She turned triumphantly to Hector and shouted, ‘Go on, ducks, give ’em all you’ve got.’

  Undaunted, Hector took up his position again and began to sing, ‘On Mother Kelly’s Doorstep’.

  Elsie moved close to Marie and Vesta. ‘Flamin’ ’ooli-gans,’ she growled. ‘Never mind, we’ll be in them doors soon. Now, give your dad a big clap and the others will join in!’

  When Hector had finished, Marie, Vesta, Ada and Elsie all cheered. But as the theatre doors opened and the masses rushed in, Hector was soon forgotten. Marie saw him hurriedly run to catch a halfpenny that rolled his way.

  Her heart ached to see her father ignored and unappreciated. How did a man of such talent end up trying to win the crowd’s approval by performing silly songs in the street? She knew Vesta was thinking that too.

  Once inside the theatre, with the tickets bought, they all followed Elsie down to the front stalls. Their seats were only six back from the first row, an excellent spot and directly in front of the stage. The orchestra, consisting of a pianist, a violinist and bass player, was tuning up. Marie’s glance went straight up to the gallery, but there were too many people coming and going for her to be able to pick out Bing and Charlie.

  Elsie made herself comfortable next to Ada and ushered the girls past. As Marie settled in the comfortable seat, she gazed round. The theatre’s exterior was plain and shabby, with no wide carpeted steps, and marble and glass foyers, as some of the West End theatres had. But inside, the red, green and gold colours of the beautiful Victorian upholstery and ornate architecture gave the place a rich and dramatic feel. Even the cubby hole at the side of the stage from where the manager kept a watchful eye and the ladies’ cloakrooms were all old-style elegance.

  When the lights dimmed, there was a sudden silence. The musicians began to play and for the next hour, Marie was transported to another world. The one that she and Vesta had always dreamed of joining.

  They watched in awe as the acts performed. Some, like the comedian who wasn’t very funny and bored the audience, were booed off. The ventriloquist whose lips could be seen moving soon disappeared under a hail of tomatoes. But all the singers had strong voices. The men and women knew how to entertain the audience and got them to join in the well-known songs. Marie knew Vesta was imagining herself on the stage, dancing along with the pretty, slender dancers of the chorus line.

  When the break for half-time came, Marie and Vesta hurried to the cloakroom. All the women were discussing the acts, and a young girl in front of them in the queue said she’d heard a handsome singer, who worked at the new club called the Duke’s, was up next.

  Vesta’s cheeks went bright red. ‘She means Teddy,’ she whispered to Marie. ‘Just think, we know someone who works at a posh club like the Duke’s.’

  ‘We don’t really know if it’s posh,’ Marie said unwisely, drawing a look of horror from Vesta.

  ‘Of course we do,’ she spluttered. ‘Teddy told me that it’s a cabaret club and the owners will only hire the best acts.’

  ‘You seem to know a lot.’

  ‘That’s because I show an interest – unlike some,’ Vesta answered sharply and, Marie thought, rather offhandedly. ‘Come on, there’s a lav empty!’

  By the time they returned to their seats, the lights were just going down. Elsie and Ada had brought sweets and noisily opened the bag of wine gums. In the exciting tension of the moment, Marie forgot all about the Duke’s, which so far had occupied her thoughts. Teddy had said the club was the smartest and classiest in the East End. But sitting here, in this historic old theatre, Marie felt that this atmosphere was going to be hard to beat.

  The curtains drew apart to reveal the presenter. He was an elderly man who had worn a gaudy checked suit for the first half but had now changed into a dress suit with a frilled white shirt and cuffs. He asked t
he audience to give a big welcome to the popular singing artiste Teddy Turner.

  The audience held its breath as Teddy strode onto the stage. There were squeals of delight from the women, and Marie heard Vesta gasp, ‘Isn’t he handsome?’

  Marie nodded. Tall, dark and dramatically handsome in his black evening suit, he gave a wide smile and touched the red rose in his buttonhole. He straightened his sleeves, while his dark eyes roamed the audience in a slow, enticing manner. His hair was slicked back even higher than usual in a glossy wave, and his eyes were framed by two distinctive black eyebrows. Marie wondered if he had drawn them in with pencil, they looked so perfect. She turned to Vesta, who seemed about to faint. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, and her mouth had fallen open as she took halting breaths.

  Drawing himself up, Teddy put his smooth lips close to the microphone. He began to sing, ‘I’m Through With Love’, a song made popular by Bing Crosby. Marie noticed he started off in a low, drawling voice that didn’t quite match the tune the musicians were playing. As hard as he tried, he just couldn’t keep the rhythm. Eventually he resorted to humming and ad-libbing some lines. To Marie’s surprise, two girls in the front row let out screams. The manager rushed out to try to control them. But undaunted, Teddy sang on, causing an even greater stir in the audience.

  ‘Oh my God,’ gasped Vesta as he ended his first song. ‘Didn’t I tell you he was a wonderful singer?’

  Marie stared at her sister. Was Vesta really listening to the same person as she was?

  Marie glanced at Elsie, who raised her eyebrows. ‘All the young girls seem to like him, and why not?’ commented Elsie. ‘He’s a charmer, without doubt. But a singing voice that boy has not got.’

  ‘Oh, Elsie!’ exclaimed Vesta, astonished. ‘He sings like an angel!’

  An older woman in the seat in front of them turned round. ‘He ain’t my cup of tea either. But he can certainly put on the style.’

  ‘What about you, Mum?’ Marie asked.

  Ada frowned and gave a bewildered shrug. ‘Perhaps this is the modern thing,’ she said diplomatically, ‘and we older women are a bit behind the times.’