Stay as Sweet as You Are

by Joan Jonker

  George chuckled. ‘Yer never say anything, but I bet yer don’t go short.’

  ‘I have me moments, George, but I’m choosey. In every port there’s young girls and women hanging around outside the docks, hoping to make a few bob. But yer never know what yer could pick up off them. Some of the crew can’t wait to get ashore and they’ll go with anyone wearing a pair of knickers. But that’s too risky for me, I’d rather do without.’ Titch picked up the empty glasses. ‘I’ll get these filled up. I’m hoarse now with all the talking.’

  Bob watched him walking to the bar, laughing and chatting to neighbours as he went. ‘I can’t make up me mind whether I envy him or not.’

  George shook his head. ‘It wouldn’t suit me. I’m more than happy with me life as it is. I’ve got a job, which is more than can be said for some of the poor buggers around here. And I’ve got a loving wife and two fine children. I consider meself a rich man.’

  And a lucky man, Bob thought. A very lucky man.

  ‘Who’s a rich man?’ Titch asked, setting the glasses down carefully. ‘Has someone come up on the pools?’

  ‘I’d have a job, seeing as I don’t do them,’ George said. ‘No, I was telling Bob I’m very content with me life. There’s more ways of being rich than having money.’

  ‘I should bloody well think yer would be content with a wife like Irene! She’s got everything it takes to make a man happy, and she’s a good mother. I’d even give up the sea if I could find someone like her.’ Titch drank deeply, smacked his lips and wagged his head from side to side. ‘There’s nothing to beat the taste of draught bitter.’ He looked across the table as he reached in his pocket for his pipe. ‘How about you, Bob? Unless I’m very much mistaken, relations between you and Ruby seemed a bit strained tonight.’

  Bob took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. ‘She’d try the patience of a saint, Titch, and that’s putting it mild. Look at tonight, for instance. Wouldn’t yer think she’d have offered to stay in and mind Lucy? But no, she’s too selfish to put herself out. She’s only going to see a mate, for God’s sake, it’s not as though she had something important on.’

  Titch puffed until the tobacco caught, then threw the match in an ashtray. His eyes on his pipe, and his voice low, he asked, ‘Have yer ever tried putting yer foot down with her?’

  Bob was fed up pretending, there was no point in it. Besides, these two were his best mates. If he couldn’t talk to them, who could he talk to? ‘Apart from giving her the hiding that most husbands would have given her by now, I’ve tried everything. She’s changed so much over the last few years I hardly know her any more. If I said she was as hard as nails, that would be being kind to her. I’ve tried coaxing, threats, even docking her housekeeping, but none of it has any effect. I just don’t know what to do any more. I’m at my wits’ end. If it was only meself that suffered I wouldn’t mind so much. But it’s Lucy I’m concerned about. She’s at an age now where she needs a motherly figure, someone she can confide in. She deserves that at least, ’cos she’s a lovely kid.’

  George had been listening with head bent. He was glad Titch had brought the subject up, it was something he’d wanted to do for ages. It was only because he was afraid of embarrassing Bob that he’d held back. ‘I don’t like to interfere between man and wife, but for Lucy’s sake I will. She does need someone she can talk to. Someone who will explain how yer body changes when yer get in yer teens, and other facts of life. And with the best will in the world, Bob, I can’t see Ruby being that someone. I think yer best bet is Irene. She’s very fond of the lass, and they’re getting to know each other now. She’d be the ideal person to answer questions and confide in. So if I were you I’d have a word with Lucy and encourage her to call into ours more often. Tell her she doesn’t have to wait to be invited, like she is when she plays cards with the boys, but any time. Even if it’s only a case of popping her head around the door, or staying for ten minutes. That way she’d get to know Irene better, and in time, come to trust her.’

  Bob lowered his eyes. Once again Ruby had made him look like a weak fool – a man who couldn’t even control the woman he married. Well, he might be weak, but he wasn’t going to let his beloved daughter suffer for it. ‘I appreciate all yer’ve said, George, and I’ll do me best to see Lucy spends more time in your house. I do worry about her when I’m at work, yer know, she’s never out of me thoughts.’

  ‘By the way,’ Titch said, ‘I’m taking George’s boys to first-house pictures tomorrow night and I said I’d ask Lucy to come, too. Is that all right with you?’

  Bob’s troubled face broke into a smile. ‘I’ll say it is! She’ll be over the moon. And thanks. I might be unlucky in love, but I’m certainly not unlucky with me two mates. Ye’re the best, bar none.’

  Titch pushed his stool back and reached for the glasses. ‘I’ll get them in again. The rate we’re going, we’ll never get drunk tonight. And if I go home sober, me ma will think I’m sick and send for the doctor.’

  Chapter Five

  ‘Yer should never go out boozing when ye’re on early shift.’ Bob sat in the canteen with his elbows on the table and his head in his hand. ‘It’s nice when it’s happening but yer don’t half pay for it the next morning.’

  ‘I don’t know how yer can afford to go drinking through the week,’ Billy Gleeson said, chewing on a sandwich. He was tall and thin, was Billy, with a long thin nose, pale blue eyes, and a mop of ginger hair. He had a sprinkling of freckles on his face right now, but come the summer he’d be covered in them. ‘I know I couldn’t. Saturday night, and that’s me lot. I’m skint the rest of the week. The odd half-pint, maybe, if the wife’s got any coppers to spare. But that doesn’t happen very often and it’s only enough to whet me whistle, certainly not enough to give me a hangover.’

  ‘I wasn’t spending me own money, Billy. Well, I mean, yer can’t spend what yer haven’t got, can yer? No, one of me mates, a neighbour, is a seafarer and he came home yesterday. It’s been a ritual for years now, that the day he comes home he takes me and another mate out to celebrate. That’s if I’m not on afternoons, of course. The trouble is, he can drink like a fish and thinks everyone’s the same.’

  ‘Is this bloke married?’ Peg Butterworth asked. ‘I could do with meeting a feller with a few bob to his name.’

  ‘Peg, yer’ve already got a husband,’ Billy reminded her, ‘and three kids.’

  ‘Yeah, a husband who never has a bean, and three kids what are little buggers.’ Peg could call her family fit to burn, which she often did in very colourful language. But let anyone else try and she’d marmalise them. ‘Anyway, Billy Gleeson, mind yer own ruddy business, no one asked you to stick yer oar in. There’s no harm in me asking Bob a question, even if it does look as though I’m not going to get a bleedin’ answer.’

  ‘No, he’s not married, Peg,’ Bob told her. ‘And all the questions I know ye’re going to ask, I’ll answer in one go. He’s tall, built like an ox, and I guess women would say he’s very attractive. He’s a nice bloke, and very generous.’

  ‘Lead me to him. I’ve been looking for someone like him all me life.’ When Peg smiled, it changed her face from being ordinary, to being easy on the eye. ‘Tell him yer’ve got a mate in work who’d like to meet him.’

  ‘D’yer want Bob to ask if he’d like to meet yer husband, as well?’ Billy asked. ‘And yer three children?’

  ‘Oh, ye’re there again, are yer, nose fever? I’d never get a bit on the side with you around, you old misery guts.’ Peg turned to the woman sitting next to her. ‘He’s a right pain in the arse, isn’t he, Elsie? A girl gets the chance of living it up for a change, and he has to go and put the blocks on it.’

  Bob felt something brush over his foot, and after checking under the table, he looked across to where Kate was sitting. ‘Eat up,’ she said, ‘it’s nearly time to go back to work.’

  He pulled a face. ‘Me tummy’s upset, I’ve no appetite.’

  ‘Yer can’t wor
k on an empty stomach.’ Kate had kept a friendly eye on him since the episode of the doorstep sandwich. He and Billy had sat at the women’s table every day since, and the two seats on the bench were always left free for them. ‘Yer’ll feel better if yer get some food down yer.’

  Bob smiled and took a sandwich from the box in front of him. ‘If you say so.’

  ‘I do say so,’ Kate said, returning his smile. ‘Anyway, how’s yer daughter?’

  Interest flared in Bob’s eyes. ‘She’s fine. In fact, I bet at this moment she’s got a big smile on her face. The bloke I’ve just been telling yer about, he’s taking her to the pictures tonight, with the two lads from next door. She’ll be like a cat on hot bricks all day, full of excitement. And it’s her birthday next week, that’s something else for her to look forward to.’

  ‘Will she be having a party?’

  Bob lowered his eyes. He was too ashamed to tell Kate his daughter had never had a birthday party in her life. ‘No. Instead of a party I’ve promised to take her into town for a new coat. If I’ve any cash left, I’ll treat her to tea in the Kardomah.’

  ‘Oh, that’s nice, she’ll like that.’ Kate looked puzzled. ‘Will yer wife be going with yer?’

  Bob raised his head and faced her. ‘No, my wife will not be coming, Kate.’

  ‘Don’t tell me you two haven’t made it up yet?’

  Bob glanced at the others sat at the table, but they were too busy listening to Elsie Burgess telling them about a woman in her street who was getting her milk for nothing because she was having it off with the milkman. He sighed and turned his gaze back to Kate. ‘Me and the wife are having a hard time, I’m afraid. We don’t see eye to eye at all.’

  ‘Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s not still over yer carry-out, is it?’

  ‘No, nothing as trivial as that.’ Bob met her eyes. ‘It’s a long story, Kate, and this isn’t the place to tell it. Anyway, yer’ve probably got enough troubles of yer own without listening to mine.’

  ‘Sometimes it helps to get things off yer chest. And I’m a good listener.’

  ‘Another day, perhaps.’

  There was a burst of loud laughter and both turned towards Elsie, who was still holding forth. ‘I’m telling yer, it’s the truth! Her feller comes out at half-seven, and the milkman goes in at eight. Yer can set yer alarm by them.’

  ‘Come off it,’ Peg Butterworth said. ‘He probably goes to every house in the bleedin’ street! Yer can’t tell me he’s having it off with everyone, unless he’s got the strength of a ruddy lion.’

  ‘Yes, he does go to nearly every house in the street, I’ll grant yer that. But he doesn’t go inside every house and stay for half an hour, leaving his pony and trap outside. It’s a dead give-away, that is. The stupid cow must think we were all born yesterday.’

  ‘D’yer not think,’ Billy said, his face straight, ‘that ye’re all being bad-minded? The poor bloke probably gets a cup of tea off her.’

  That got Elsie on her high horse. The arms were folded and the bosom hitched. ‘Well, you tell me how come the woman who lives opposite saw the milkman at the bedroom window? He wouldn’t be going upstairs for a cup of tea, now, would he, smart arse?’

  Peg’s eyes were glinting wickedly. There was nothing she liked more than to get Elsie’s dander up. ‘Perhaps she’d asked him to fix the bedroom curtains or something. Or, she could have had a bad back and asked him to make the bed for her. And being an obliging man, he didn’t like to refuse.’

  ‘Oh, he’s obliging all right.’ Elsie’s lips were a thin straight line. Here she was with a bit of juicy gossip, and they didn’t believe her. ‘And I suppose yer’ll say the coalman is obliging as well?’

  ‘What the hell has the coalman got to do with it?’ Peg asked. ‘Yer can’t tell me he comes around at half-eight after the milkman’s left?’

  ‘Because she’s bleedin’ well having it off with him, too!’ Elsie was getting to the state where she felt like clocking every one of them. ‘Hers is the only house he goes in, and he’s there for half an hour. Every Tuesday, like clockwork, he goes in with hands as black as the hobs of hell, and comes out with them snow white.’

  ‘The simple answer to that, Elsie, is that the woman asks him to wash his hands before he makes the bed.’ Billy was really enjoying himself, he thought it was hilarious. ‘That’s what anyone would think if they didn’t have a bad mind.’

  ‘What would yer say if I told yer that the milkman doesn’t get no money, nor the coalman?’ Elsie was red in the face by this time. ‘I suppose yer’ll say that apart from being very obliging and making her bed for her, the two bleedin’ men are also very generous?’

  Peg slapped her on the back. ‘No, queen, we think it’s the woman what’s generous. I mean, everyone in your street can’t be wrong, can they? But just out of curiosity, what film star does this generous woman look like? She must have plenty going for her, snaffling two men from under yer noses.’

  ‘She’s nothing to write home about, that’s what we can’t understand.’ The bell rang to signal it was time to get back to their workbenches, and as she stood up, Elsie got her own back. But she made sure she wasn’t standing too close to Peg when she added, ‘She looks a lot like you, actually, now as I come to think about it.’ Before her mate had time to digest her words, she took to her heels and legged it, with Peg in hot pursuit.

  As they walked through the canteen door, Bob said, ‘It’s amazing what a good laugh can do, isn’t it, Kate? I feel a helluva lot better than I did an hour ago.’

  Kate grinned. ‘I thought Elsie was going to burst a blood vessel when they were pulling her leg. She wanted to be dead serious and they wouldn’t let her.’

  ‘We still don’t know whether the woman’s a harlot or just a pleasant, friendly soul who likes giving out cups of tea.’

  ‘I think that’s the trouble. The whole street doesn’t know what to make of it either.’ Kate veered to the left when they came to the nut and bolt section. ‘I’ll see yer tomorrow, then, Bob.’

  ‘Yeah, see yer tomorrow, Kate. Take care.’

  Lucy sat at the table, her head bent as she chewed on the over-toasted bread. She didn’t look at her mother who was sitting in her favourite chair, smoking as usual. It was seldom you saw her without a cigarette these days, she was always puffing away like a chimney. But Lucy wasn’t going to do or say anything that would bring on her temper. Today she wanted to go out to school without having to listen to a load of abuse. She was so excited about going to the pictures with Mr Titch and the boys, she wanted nothing to happen that would mar her happiness.

  Ruby watched her daughter through a cloud of smoke. She’s keeping her nose clean today, she thought. And well she might, with all the attention she was getting. New clothes, bought with money that should have come into the housekeeping purse, going in next door to play cards and be fussed over, even though she knew it was against her mother’s wishes that she got matey with that crowd. And now, to top it all, Titch McBride was taking her to the pictures tonight. He’d spurned Ruby’s offer of a cup of tea and a friendly chat and was rubbing salt in the wound by taking her daughter out. And all these things had been sanctioned by her dear husband. Well, there was little she could do to pay Bob back, but she could certainly make life unpleasant for his daughter.

  Lucy lifted her head when she heard a chair on the opposite side of the table being pulled out, and her heart dropped when she found herself looking into her mother’s face. Another five minutes and she’d have been away. Oh, why hadn’t she put a move on and been out of the house by now?

  ‘So ye’re away gallivanting tonight, eh? Off to the pictures with the great Mr Titch. It’s a fine life ye’re having these days.’

  ‘He’s not only taking me, Jack and Greg are coming, too!’ As Lucy picked up her plate, she told herself not to be drawn into an argument. That was what her mother wanted, she could tell by the glint in her eyes. But she couldn’t not stick up for someone who was
a friend and always good to her. ‘I think it’s nice of him to take us, so there!’ With that, Lucy marched out to the kitchen and put her plate down. The sooner she was out of the house the better. Her mother wouldn’t be able to pick on her tonight because her dad would be in.

  But Lucy hadn’t reckoned on Ruby’s burning desire to take her spite out on someone. And the only person available was her daughter. So she waited until the girl was putting her coat on in the hall, with her back to her. Then, silently creeping up behind her, she put her hand up Lucy’s dress, and with thumb and forefinger, pinched the flesh at the top of the girl’s leg as hard as she could.

  Tears welled up in Lucy’s eyes. ‘Stop it, ye’re hurting me!’

  ‘That, you little faggot, is the general idea.’ With an evil look in her eyes, Ruby spun the frightened girl around and pressed her face close. ‘And that’s one place yer won’t be showing yer dad, isn’t it?’

  Lucy made a dash for the front door. When it was open, and freedom at hand, she dared to looked back. The pain, the injustice and the sadness in her heart, gave her the courage to cry out, ‘Mothers are supposed to love their children, but you don’t love me, you hate me!’

  ‘Are yer putting yer best dress on, pet?’

  ‘Yeah, we can’t let the side down, can we?’ Although she didn’t feel like smiling, Lucy managed one for her dad. He looked so happy for her she didn’t want to spoil it. How different it would be if he could see the inside of the top of her leg. There was a big ugly bruise there, and the skin had been broken where her mother’s nails had dug in. It hurt like anything when she walked and her two legs rubbed together. And she’d been in pain all day, sitting on a hard bench at school and wishing there was someone she could ask for help without fear of them getting in touch with her dad. ‘I’ll go and get changed now so I’ll be ready in time.’