by Joan Jonker
Eva shook her head to clear the memories, and smiled at her daughter. Poppy was still standing in the middle of the room, and she raised her brows questioningly. ‘A penny for them, Mam. You were miles away then.’
‘No, I was only thinking what we could do with the coat for the best. I could wash it tonight, let it dry for a day or so, then take it into work with me and do the best I can. It won’t be perfect because of the ragged tear, but it would do you a turn until you got another.’ Eva sighed. ‘But what could you wear in the meanwhile?’
Poppy shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’ve got that grey three-quarter-length, though heaven knows that’s seen better days. Still, if I wear a colourful scarf to brighten it up, it wouldn’t look too bad. Not tonight, though, ’cos I’ve got a date. I’ll wipe the dirt off this coat as best I can, and hope no one notices the blinking tear.’
‘Who’s the date with?’ David asked. ‘Anyone we know?’
Poppy slipped the raincoat off and draped it over her arm. ‘You don’t know him. His name’s Pete and I met him at the Grafton. And before yer give me the third degree, he’s tall, dark and handsome, and a smashing dancer.’
‘Julie usually goes to the Grafton with you,’ Eva said, her eyes narrowed. ‘Is she going on the date with you?’
‘She met a bloke as well, Mam, and she made a date with him. His name is Jim, and they’re going to the flicks. But we’re not going out as a foursome. I don’t know where I’m going with Pete; probably to the pictures.’
‘Why don’t you ever bring any of the blokes home with you?’ David asked. ‘You know our mam worries about you, which she wouldn’t do if she knew who you were going out with.’
‘You’re a fine one to talk,’ Poppy said. ‘What about the girls you go out with? Yer’ve never brought one home for Mam to see if she approves.’ Then her mouth stretched in a smile and her eyes twinkled, ‘I know, Mam, it’s because the only girls he can get are either cross-eyed or buck-toothed.’
David’s guffaw brought a smile to his mother’s face. She was proud of both her children, and happy that they got on so well together. ‘I’ll tell yer what, sis, I’ll bring my date home if you’ll bring yours.’
‘I’m not bringing a bloke home when I’ve only just met him. If I said I wanted him to meet my mother, he’d think I was serious about him and run so fast I wouldn’t see his heels for dust.’
Eva leaned against the sideboard, her arms across her tummy. ‘D’yer know anything about this Pete? Tall, dark and handsome isn’t enough. I’d rather yer had a steady boyfriend who was honest and hard-working. Being a good dancer doesn’t mean a thing. Yer can’t spend the rest of yer life dancing.’
‘Mam, I’m nineteen! It’ll be a few years before I think of courting and getting married. And I don’t know how we went from me not having a coat to wear, to me going to the flicks with a bloke who is nice enough to keep me company, but not the sort I’d fall head over heels for. When I do meet someone I really like I’ll let yer know. But I warn yer, it might be a long time, because my ideal man would look like Cary Grant, sing like Frankie Lane and dance like George Raft. Oh, and he’d have to be rich enough to keep me in nice clothes.’ Poppy took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. ‘That’s the longest speech I’ve ever made, and I’m back to square one with no coat to wear.’
‘If you’re only going to the pictures, you can wear the raincoat,’ her mother said. ‘No one is going to see it. It’s dark out and dark in the picture house.’
David left his seat to put his arm across his sister’s shoulder. ‘I go on full pay soon, kid, and although it’ll take me a few weeks to sort me money out, I promise I’ll go half with yer for a new coat.’
‘I’ll help out, too,’ Eva said. ‘The three of us can each put ten bob away for four weeks, and that should be enough for a good coat.’
‘I can’t let yer do that,’ Poppy said, her eyes wet with tears she was determined not to shed. ‘You’re the best mam and brother anyone could have, and I love yer very much. But I’m a big girl now, and I’ve got to learn that if I want anything, I’ve got to save up for it. I can’t sponge off you. I earn a wage same as you, and if I have to stay in every night for a few weeks, it won’t kill me.’ The threat of tears gone, her eyes filled with mischief and she giggled. ‘If Pete turns out to be good company, I won’t need to use my own money. I’ll see if he takes me in the best seats tonight, and if he does I’ll know he’s not skint and make another date with him. That’s if he asks me, of course.’
‘You shouldn’t do that, sweetheart,’ Eva said. ‘It wouldn’t be fair on the poor man if you lead him on just for the sake of using him.’
‘Oh, Mam, I was joking! You should know me better than to think I’d really give any bloke the runaround for the sake of a few bob. I like nice clothes, yer know that, but I’m fussy how I come by them. And if you’ll tidy the raincoat up as best yer can, I’ll wear it until I’ve saved up for a new one.’
David left his chair and made a dash for the door. ‘I bags the bathroom before you, sis. I didn’t realize the time with all the talking. If I don’t put a move on I’ll be late for my date.’ Taking the stairs two at a time, he called down, ‘Ten minutes, kid, I promise.’
Poppy stood in the hall with hands on hips and shouted up the stairs, ‘You sneak, David Meadows! What sort of man would treat a lady like that?’
‘A man who doesn’t want to keep a lady waiting, that’s who.’ The bathroom door closed on his voice promising, ‘Ten minutes, kid.’
Poppy put her arms round her mother and hugged her tight. She could remember her father, and knew how much her mother missed him. And she remembered how hard she’d worked to keep the house going. ‘I’ll stay in tonight, Mam, and keep you company. I know it’s mean to let Pete down, but if I ever see him again I’ll say I didn’t feel well.’
‘You’ll do no such thing, Poppy Meadows; that would be a mean trick. And you shouldn’t tell lies, ’cos God will pay you back if you do. So let’s see if we can sponge the dirt off the raincoat and make it presentable. Not that your date will worry about how it looks, anyway. He’ll be too busy looking at your pretty face.’
In the kitchen Eva spread the raincoat over the scrubbed wooden table. ‘One thing yer have to be thankful for, sweetheart, you’ve had plenty of wear out of it.’ She ran a clean cloth under the tap, then wrung the excess water out. ‘If it had been a good coat, I would have agreed with David that yer should have let the bloke buy you a new one.’
Poppy was leaning against the sink, watching. ‘I could never do that, Mam; my pride wouldn’t let me. Anyway, there’s no point in dwelling on it: what’s done is done and we can’t turn the clock back. At least I was knocked down by a very handsome toff, and not a scruff.’
Eva lifted her eyes from the coat she was wiping down. ‘Oh, so he was handsome, was he?’
‘Yes, I’d say he was. And his girlfriend was beautiful. Well dressed, make-up perfect, and the perfume she had on certainly wasn’t one and eleven a bottle like the one I use. But for all that, both of them were really nice to me. They were genuinely upset by what happened, and even asked me if I would like to go with them to get cleaned up.’
Eva showed her surprise. ‘You didn’t mention that before, sweetheart! Where were they going to take you?’
‘I couldn’t tell yer that, Mam, because I just wanted to get away as soon as possible. They came out of one of the office buildings, but I was so embarrassed I couldn’t tell yer which one, except it was in Castle Street, on the left hand side going up.’
‘Don’t you think yer were a little hasty, sweetheart? You weren’t pushed over on purpose. It was an accident.’
‘I know that, now I can think straight. But it wasn’t exactly pleasant lying flat on the pavement and having people gathered around me. I felt really stupid. Hysterical, really. I even started laughing, so yer can tell how hysterical I was. And I took it out on the man and his girlfriend. I was really rude to them, and I�
�m sorry now. But it can’t be helped; it’s over and done with.’
Eva lifted the coat off the table and held it up for inspection. ‘I’ll stand in front of the fire with it while you’re getting washed. It’s come up all right, so no one will ever notice.’
‘You’re an angel, Mam.’ Poppy gave her a hug. ‘I’ll run up and get meself ready ’cos I’m late already. I’ll wear me blue dress; it’s me favourite.’
Peter Broadhurst had been standing by the bus stop for twenty minutes and was giving up hope. Three buses had stopped while he’d been there, and each time he’d had to stand back so the driver wouldn’t expect him to jump on board. He was a nice-looking man, over six foot and well built. With black hair, deep brown eyes, a dimple in each cheek and healthy teeth, he was never short of girlfriends. And he wasn’t used to being kept waiting. He looked at his watch now and saw it was nearly eight o’clock. He’d never waited this length of time for anyone before. But this date was one he’d looked forward to, and he was disappointed. The girl he’d arranged to meet, who’d said her name was Poppy, was the most attractive girl he’d ever seen. And she wasn’t coy or fawning like some girls, which he couldn’t stand. Poppy, if that was really her name, had refused when he’d asked her for a date, and it had taken all his powers of persuasion to talk her round. He gave a sigh of disappointment, because he’d been looking forward to seeing her again. Still, he’d been let down and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He turned the collar of his overcoat up and was about to walk away when he saw her hurrying towards him.
‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ Poppy said, slightly out of breath with walking quickly. ‘I had an accident with my coat, and I almost didn’t come because I didn’t expect you to wait so long.’
Peter was studying her face as she was speaking, and he told himself she was exactly the same as the vision he’d had of her in his mind since he’d met her at the Grafton. He’d never been as attracted to any girl as he had been to her, and now, by the light from the street lamp, she was even more beautiful than he’d imagined. ‘I’d almost given up, but I’m glad now that I waited that little bit longer.’ He cupped her elbow. ‘You are well worth waiting for. A sight for sore eyes, a vision to delight the eye.’
‘Don’t overdo it, Pete. I can’t stand false flattery.’ Poppy grinned, ‘Don’t take any notice of what I said, ’cos there isn’t a female alive who doesn’t like to be flattered. By the way, is your name Pete?’
He shook his head. ‘I get Peter at home. Only a few of my friends call me Pete, and never within earshot of my mother, who says, “His name is Peter. Had I wanted him called Pete, I would have had him christened Pete.”’
‘I’m on your mother’s side,’ Poppy said. ‘Peter is a nice name.’
He cupped her elbow. ‘Where would you like to go? Dancing or the pictures? Mind you, we would have missed all the shorts at the cinema.’
‘Let’s go to the pictures,’ Poppy said. ‘Myrna Loy is on at the Odeon, and I could do with a good laugh. We’d be in time for the big picture. Unless there’s somewhere else you would prefer to go? I’m easy.’
‘It’s what you want, Poppy. I asked you out.’ He turned his head, ‘There’s a tram coming now, or would you prefer to wait for a bus?’
‘No, I love the trams. They’ll all be gone soon, they reckon, and there’ll only be buses. I’ll be sorry, ’cos they’ve always been part of Liverpool and I’ll miss them.’
‘Then let’s make a run for it.’ Peter grabbed her hand and pulled her after him. ‘Make the most of them before they disappear.’
Seated by the window on the tram, Poppy said, ‘You’re nothing if not a man of action, are you? You really pulled me off me feet then. For a while I had visions of being flat out on the ground for the second time today.’
Peter paid the conductor for two tickets to Lime Street, then turned to ask, ‘What did you mean? Have you fallen over once already?’
A smile hovered around Poppy’s mouth. ‘I didn’t fall, I was pushed. And that was the reason I was late meeting you. My mother had to wash the dirt off this coat and make it presentable.’
‘Who the heck pushed you over? Were you larking about?’
‘I wasn’t larking about, I’m too old for that. No, some bloke pushed me over with his umbrella. He couldn’t help it – he didn’t see me because he was opening it up. But I landed on the ground looking ridiculous.’
‘I don’t believe you could ever look ridiculous, Poppy. And by the way, is Poppy your real name? I’ve never known a girl with that name before.’
‘I’m not the only girl in the world called that, it’s just that there aren’t many in Liverpool. It was my dad who chose the name for me, and my mam gave in to him. I’m glad she did ’cos it means I’ll never forget him. I was eight or nine when he died, but I can remember him telling me one day that him and me mam had gone for a walk in the country with my brother David in his pram, and they came across a field full of poppies. My mother was expecting me at the time, and that’s why my dad chose the name. So there you have it, Peter: my life story on the tram going into Liverpool.’
‘It’s a nice story, and I’m on your dad’s side. I think it’s a lovely name and it suits you.’ Peter glanced through the tram window and saw they were passing St George’s Hall. He jumped to his feet, saying, ‘This is our stop.’
Poppy stood in the foyer of the cinema and waited for Peter as he went to the kiosk for the tickets. When he came back, he handed her a box of Cadbury’s chocolates. She felt embarrassed, hoping he wasn’t leaving himself skint. ‘You shouldn’t have bought them, Peter. I’m quite happy coming to the pictures.’
‘I have a fairly decent job, Poppy, so you don’t have to worry your pretty head about me. And now, if we don’t want to miss the beginning of the big picture, I suggest we move ourselves.’
When the usherette showed them to seats in the back stalls, Poppy’s mind went back to when she’d laughingly told her mother that if her date took her in the best seats she’d know he wasn’t skint. But that had been in fun, and the truth was she didn’t like blokes spending money on her, especially if they were on poor pay.
They had only just settled in their seats when the lights were dimmed, and Poppy sat back to enjoy Myrna Loy, one of her favourite stars. She opened the box of chocolates, offered it to Peter, and said, ‘Help yourself, save me passing it to you.’ Then she fixed her eyes on the screen, and was laughing at the antics of Myrna Loy and her dog when she felt a hand covering hers. She froze for a few seconds, thinking she didn’t even know the bloke and he had a bit of a cheek. Then she decided it would be childish and churlish to make a fuss. So she ate the chocolates with one hand while her other remained captive.
When the lights went up, Peter was very attentive. He took the half-empty chocolate box from her, then turned up the seats to make the way out of the row easier. Once outside the cinema, he put his arm round her waist as they walked to the bus stop. Poppy felt he was being over-familiar, but he’d behaved more like a gentleman than many of the men she’d dated, who had straying hands. Some of them thought that when the lights went down in the cinema it was time to get something in return for the money they’d forked out for her ticket. She’d walked out halfway through a film more than once because she couldn’t stand being mauled.
‘You don’t have to see me home, Peter,’ she said. ‘Not if it’s out of your way.’
‘Good heavens, Poppy, what sort of man would let a young lady make her own way home after a date? I don’t know about any of the other dates you’ve had, but this date takes the young lady right to her front door, so I know you get home safe and sound.’
Poppy couldn’t resist the retort that came to her lips. ‘Even on the first date? I mean, I wouldn’t mind to the top of the street, but to the front door suggests I’m not capable of looking after myself.’
‘Not at all,’ Peter told her. ‘I believe you are more than able to look after yourself. Perhaps I’m old-
fashioned, and if you think that, well, I’m sorry. But that’s the way I’ve been brought up. If I offended you, then I apologize.’ He handed her the half-empty box of chocolates. ‘If you prefer to make your own way home, I won’t stop you.’
Poppy reached for his arm as he turned to walk away. ‘Good grief, Peter! What are yer taking the huff over? I didn’t mean to insult you.’ She waited until he was facing her before she told him what she hadn’t even told her mam and her brother. ‘I’m not usually so sarcastic, letting me tongue run away with me like that. I told you what happened to me this morning, and I’ve made light of it to everyone because I didn’t want them to feel sorry for me. So, trying to be clever and brave, I put a false face on. And I’ve done the same with you. The only reason I’m telling you this now is because I don’t want you to think I’m rude and sarcastic. The truth is, though, it wasn’t only me pride that was hurt, it was the bottom of me back and me two elbows. And it was a shock to me whole body. I ache all over. I didn’t tell me mam or she’d be worried sick and fuss over me. And my brother would have insisted on finding the bloke who knocked me over and giving him a piece of his mind.’
‘Here comes the bus, Poppy, and I’m getting on it with you, even though it is out of my way. I asked you for a date, you agreed, so let’s do what most couples do when they date. I’ll take your arm and see you home safely. And in return, you can be nice to me and say that if I ask you for another date, you’ll agree.’
Sitting by the window on the bus, Poppy couldn’t find any excuse in her head not to like him. He was good-looking, dressed and spoke well, and wasn’t big-headed or pushy. ‘We could go dancing one night,’ she told him. ‘I’d have to meet you inside because I always go with my friend Julie. We’ve been friends for years and I wouldn’t let her down.’
