by Joan Jonker
‘He sounds quite a character.’ Millicent’s face was alive with interest. ‘I’d love to meet him.’
‘Well, yer never know yer luck in a big city, girl! We might be able to arrange a meeting.’
Molly was getting fidgety. It was all right for Nellie, she could talk till the cows came home, but if they didn’t make a move she’d be late getting to the school. ‘Come on, missus, let’s get goin’.’
‘All right, girl, I’m on me way.’ With both hands pressing on the table, Nellie levered herself up. ‘It’s been a very interesting couple of hours, Millicent, thanks to you.’
‘Yes, you’ve been very kind.’ Molly felt in her pocket for a loose penny and handed it to Susan. ‘Here yer are, sunshine, that’s for bein’ a good girl.’
‘I’m sorry you’ve got to go.’ Millicent was clearly disappointed. She’d really enjoyed the company and her voice was hopeful as she asked, ‘Will yer come again?’
‘Oh, I don’t think that would be wise, do you, Nellie?’
Nellie shook her head and her chins. ‘Not under the circumstances. Yer see, we might decide to send that letter an’ it wouldn’t do if we were seen in the vicinity. They’d soon put two an’ two together.’
‘Well how will I know what’s going on?’ Millicent cried. ‘Yer can’t leave me in the dark, now can yer?’
‘Write down yer name an’ address an’ we’ll write an’ tell yer what we’re up to.’
Millicent pulled open a drawer of the sideboard and rummaged until she found a piece of paper and a pencil. ‘Don’t yer let me down, now,’ she said as she scribbled. ‘I’ll be watchin’ for the postman.’
‘Scout’s honour.’ Nellie folded the paper and pushed it in her pocket. Then she bent to kiss Susan. ‘Yer’ve been as good as gold … a credit to yer mam.’
They were walking down the hall when Millicent grabbed Molly’s arm. ‘Oh, I’ve just remembered something! I heard that the Bradley man’s been told they’re taking his railings away from around the yard.’
‘Who’s takin’ his railings?’ Molly looked puzzled. ‘An’ why?’
‘Haven’t yer heard? They’re taking all the railings from around the parks and everywhere. Anything made of iron is being confiscated to be used to make guns an’ tanks … that’s what my husband says.’
‘They’re not gettin’ my poker,’ Nellie said before Molly could argue about the certainty of there being a war. ‘I use that for me own personal war … to keep my feller on his toes.’ Laughing at her own joke, she waddled towards the front door.
Millicent stood on the step, sorry to see them go. Then she had a thought which brought a smile to her face. ‘Without those high railings, the scrapyard’ll be easy pickings, won’t it? He’ll come in one mornin’ an’ find everything’s been nicked. That would be real justice, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yeah.’ Nellie’s imagination was fired. ‘Couldn’t yer get a posse up, like they do in the cowboy pictures? Empty the whole bloody place out? Oh, what I’d give to see his face if yer did. Give him a taste of his own medicine an’ see how he likes it.’
‘If I had your address, I could write an’ let yer know if I hear anythin’ that might be of interest to yer.’
Molly pulled on Nellie’s arm, worried that she had to go home first to put the dinner on, then out again to pick Ruthie up. ‘I’ll drop yer a line in the next day or two, an’ me address will be on the letter. But right now we’ll have to dash … ta-ra.’
Nellie, being dragged sideways down the street, waved. ‘See yer, Milly! Don’t take any wooden nickels … ta-ra!’
Chapter Seventeen
Maisie handed the customer her change. ‘There yer are, Mrs Purley, a thrupenny joey … don’t go mad an’ spend it all in one shop.’ She reached for the basket standing on the counter. ‘I’ll put yer shopping in for yer.’ Glancing down to where Molly was waiting patiently, she winked. ‘Won’t be a tick, Molly.’
‘Time’s on our side, sunshine, I’m in no hurry.’
‘There yer go, love.’ Maisie lifted the handle of the basket. ‘It’s pretty heavy! If yer not waiting for the groceries I could have it delivered to your house, save yer lugging it. Young Peter Clarke would nip around with it when he comes home from school.’
Mrs Purley tested the weight. ‘No, I can manage. I’ll keep swapping hands. Thanks, Maisie, I’ll be seein’ yer.’
Molly ran to open the shop door for the slight elderly woman. ‘Ta-ra, sunshine.’
‘I was hoping yer’d come.’ Maisie lifted her foot and grimaced. ‘D’yer know, I’ve got a corn on me little toe an’ it’s giving me hell.’
‘That’s not why yer were hopin’ I’d come, is it?’ Molly grinned. ‘So yer could have a good old moan?’
‘No, but now yer come to mention it, I may as well make use of yer. Keep an eye on the shop for us while I put a corn plaster on.’
‘Where’s Alec?’
‘We’re running low on bread, so he’s nipped to the bakery.’ Maisie’s voice grew fainter as she walked through to the back. ‘He shouldn’t be long.’
‘If he’s more than half an hour I’ll be clockin’ on for wages.’ Molly leaned her elbows on the counter. ‘What was it yer wanted to see me about?’
‘Hang on a minute.’ There was silence for a while, then Maisie reappeared, wincing each time she put her right foot to the floor. ‘I’ll have to put a hot poultice on it tonight, see if I can draw the blasted thing out.’
‘Thank God I don’t suffer with corns. Nellie does though … she’s got them on both of her little toes.’
‘She has my sympathy.’ Maisie pulled a small three-legged stool from under the counter and sat down. ‘May as well rest it while there’s no customers in the shop.’
‘Gee, thanks, pal! Don’t I count as a customer?’
‘Oh, yer know what I mean,’ Maisie said, reaching into the glass display cabinet and picking out a slab of chocolate. She broke it in two and slid one of the pieces along the counter to Molly. ‘Get yer mouth around that while I give yer the message. I had a phone call from Corker an’ he asked me to tell his mam, an’ Ellen, that his ship’s docked in Portsmouth. He’s tryin’ to get a few days’ leave but he’s not sure yet. Either way, he’s goin’ to let me know.’
Cadbury’s chocolate was one of Molly’s failings. She couldn’t resist its creamy-smooth texture and would suck it slowly to make it last longer. ‘It’s been a long trip for Corker this time.’ Her tongue flicked over her lips. ‘An’ he won’t be very happy bein’ stuck down in Portsmouth. Even if he does get a few days’ leave, two of them will be spent travelling there and back. I wonder how come they docked there instead of Liverpool?’
‘I dunno, Molly, but things are changin’ so fast yer can’t rely on anythin’. We notice it more, having a shop. There’s a shortage of lots of things that up until lately we took for granted. For instance, our delivery from the wholesaler this week was way down on what we’d ordered. Alec rang them to see if they’d sent us the wrong order, but they told him their supplies had been cut an’ they couldn’t do anything about it. So take my advice, Molly, an’ shop early on in the week before we run out of the likes of butter an’ marg. An’ yer can forget bananas, they’re a thing of the past … can’t get hold of them for love nor money.’
‘Things are lookin’ pretty grim, aren’t they?’ Even Molly could no longer delude herself about the possibility of war. Every night in the Echo there was talk of factories being taken over to make uniforms, gas masks and parachutes. Air-raid shelters were being built in different parts of the city, and shops were advertising material for making blackout curtains.
Molly let out a deep sigh. ‘It’s a great life if yer don’t weaken, isn’t it, Maisie? Yer just get the kids grown up, have a few bob in yer pocket when they start work, an’ what happens? Some stupid, jumped-up bugger starts a flamin’ war!’
‘I lie awake in bed every night thinkin’ about it.’ Maisie rolled the silver paper fro
m the chocolate bar into a ball and threw it on the floor. ‘Our fellers won’t be called up … not at the beginning, anyway. It’s the young ones that’ll go first.’ She rubbed a finger over a crack in the counter. ‘You remember the last war, don’t yer, Molly?’
‘Too true I remember it! I’d only just left school when it was over.’ Molly’s laugh was hollow. ‘Wasn’t it supposed to be the war that ended all wars? Some joke, eh?’
‘It’s the young lads I feel sorry for … the likes of Steve. Nobody asks them if they want to fight, they just get a letter tellin’ them they’re goin’ in the army or the navy an’ they have to like it or lump it.’
‘Yeah, yer right there, sunshine. D’yer know what I think? I think that the people who decide there’s going to be a war, well, they’re the ones that should be in the firing line. Put a rifle in their hands and stick them in the front of the troops, see how they like it.’
‘It isn’t that easy, Molly.’
‘No? Well, I think it is. The first sign of fightin’ and they’d do it in their kecks as they were runnin’ for cover. If they want a war, let them have a bloody war, but leave the rest of us out of it.’ Molly banged her fist on the counter. ‘The big nobs won’t be anywhere near the fighting! Stuck behind a desk somewhere safe, they won’t be in any danger. Like that Miles, in Jill’s office! His father’s in the know, so he’s got himself a nice safe job in the Ministry of Defence. They say money talks, and by God it’s true.’
‘But it’s not us that wants a war, Molly,’ Maisie said, in an attempt to make her see reason, ‘it’s that Hitler. An’ we can’t just sit back and let him get away with what he’s doin’.’
‘I could … very easily.’ Molly’s chest was heaving and she could feel herself getting all het up. And for what? It wouldn’t solve anything. ‘Anyway, Maisie, it hasn’t started yet, so let’s just live in hope that either Hitler comes to his senses or some bugger shoots him. I’ll pass Corker’s message on to Ellen an’ she can let his mam know.’ She squared her shoulders and rose to her full height. ‘Now, corn or no corn, yer can get off yer backside an’ get me a quarter of brawn, a tin loaf an’ half of marg.’
‘Okay, boss!’ Maisie held on to the counter and pulled herself up. ‘I’d love to see you in a room with Hitler … yer’d flatten him.’
‘Flatten him! I’d bloody crucify him … an’ all his ruddy cronies. An’ I wouldn’t need any help, the way I feel now. I’d do it all on me own.’
‘The love of your life ’as just come in.’ Maureen nudged her friend. ‘His eyes are everywhere, lookin’ for yer.’
‘Don’t let him see you lookin’,’ Doreen hissed. ‘I don’t want ’im to think I’m runnin’ after him.’
‘If yer not running after him, what the hell are we doin’ here?’ After a quick glance across the room, Maureen smiled knowingly. ‘Ay out, he’s on his way over.’
‘Don’t you let on yer’ve seen him, Maureen Shepherd, or I’ll never speak to yer again.’ Doreen felt a light touch on her arm and in the short time it took her to spin around, the frown on her face had been replaced by a smile. ‘Hello, Phil.’
‘I’m a bit late tonight, I had to work overtime.’ Phil took her elbow. ‘Shall we dance?’ He was leaning her towards the dance floor when he turned his head and grinned at Maureen. ‘Hiya, Mo.’
‘Hiya.’ God, but he’s handsome, Maureen thought, her heart beating fifteen to the dozen. He stands out a mile from all the other blokes. If he wasn’t so smitten with Doreen I’d make a play for him myself.
‘I nearly didn’t make it tonight.’ Holding Doreen close, Phil slowed down to gaze into her face. ‘We’re mad busy an’ the boss asked me to work until ten o’clock.’
‘How did yer get out of it?’
‘Told him I had a heavy date with a girl outside Reece’s.’ White teeth gleamed and blue eyes twinkled. ‘I said if I didn’t turn up she’d be left stranded in town on her own.’
‘You fibber! Fancy tellin’ lies like that!’
‘Why? Didn’t yer care whether I came or not?’ The look in Phil’s eyes was so tender it made Doreen go weak at the knees. ‘If I hadn’t turned up, wouldn’t yer have been a teeny-weeny bit disappointed?’
It was six weeks since they’d met and Thursday nights were the high spots of Doreen’s life. She was counting the days to her sixteenth birthday, when she thought her mother wouldn’t object to her going out on a date with Phil. She’d take him home first, of course, to meet the family, so they’d know she was in safe hands. After all, no one could help but like him, he was nice in every way. ‘Yes, I would ’ave been disappointed.’ She smiled into his face. ‘I’d have had no one to dance with.’
Content with her response, Phil lengthened his strides to match the tempo of the slow foxtrot. ‘Is this the night I get to walk yer home?’
‘I’ve explained to yer about Mo … I can’t leave her. An’ I can’t expect her to tag along with us, she’d be embarrassed. Apart from that, me mam would do her nut if she knew I was on me own with a feller she didn’t know. But when I’m sixteen yer can walk me home an’ I’ll take yer in to meet me mam an’ dad.’
‘Where do yer live, by the way?’
Doreen was looking over his shoulder when she gave him her address and missed seeing his face drain of colour. But when he stumbled and trod on her toe, she cried, ‘Hey, watch it! Yer nearly crippled me!’
‘Sorry.’ Phil Bradley felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. The only girl he’d ever really fallen for, and she had to live in the same street as himself. She’d know all about his family. It wouldn’t do any good telling her he wasn’t like the rest of them, that he hated the life they led and was waiting for the day when he would earn enough money to get a place of his own, somewhere miles away. As long as he lived under the same roof he’d be tarred with the same brush.
‘What’s the matter?’ Doreen asked. ‘Yer’ve gone very quiet.’
‘I’m tired, that’s all.’ His heart filled with despair and a sense of hopelessness, Phil tried to smile. ‘I’ve been workin’ too hard.’ Not for the first time, Phil wondered why his mother had married Tom Bradley. He would rather have been branded illegitimate than be a member of that family. He’d known from an early age that the man he called ‘Dad’ wasn’t his real father. Hadn’t he had the word ‘bastard’ thrown at him every time he refused to go out stealing? To give his mother her due, she had tried to shield him, because in her own way she did love him. But she was under the thumb of the man she’d married, and over the years Phil had seen her grow harder and coarser. There were times when, hearing her cursing and shouting obscenities in the street, he came close to hating her for bringing him into the world.
‘Yer do look tired.’ Doreen searched his face. ‘Have yer far to walk home?’
‘Er, no! I only live five minutes’ walk from here.’ Even as he spoke, Phil was asking himself what was the use of lying. He couldn’t hide who he was from someone who only lived down the other end of their street. The only reason they’d never bumped into each other before now was because he always used the back entries.
His head pounding, Phil went through the dance routine automatically. Why was life so unfair? He was ashamed of his family, but never had he done anything himself to be ashamed of … not that anyone would believe it, with the reputation the Bradleys had. So what could he do? Tell Doreen the truth and hope she’d understand, or disappear from her life? Neither of the options appealed to him. He couldn’t bear her rejection, it would break his heart. And even if she herself didn’t reject him, her family certainly wouldn’t welcome him with open arms. And who could blame them?
No, it was best to make a clean break. Taking a deep breath, Phil said, ‘If I’m not here next week, yer’ll know I’ve had to work late.’
‘Ah, no! We only see each other once a week as it is!’
The disappointment on Doreen’s face caused hope to flare in Phil’s heart. She’s as taken with me as I am wit
h her! Perhaps if I … No, you can put that out of your head, he told himself. She likes you right enough, but she doesn’t know your name is Philip Bradley.
‘Go on, don’t be a meanie.’ Doreen fluttered her lashes at him. The thought of going two weeks without seeing him was one she couldn’t bear. ‘Tell them yer not feelin’ well or something.’
As he looked into her eyes his resolve melted, while the hatred he felt for his family built up. Because of them, he was going to lose the girl he had fallen in love with. But he had to see her again, just one more time. ‘Okay, I’ll do me best.’
‘That’s not good enough.’ Doreen pouted. ‘I want yer to promise yer’ll definitely be here.’
Phil smiled, even though his heart was aching. ‘I promise.’
‘The way you’re goin’ on, yer’ll be married before your Jill.’ Maureen grinned as she rubbed the sleeve of her coat across the steamed-up window of the tram. ‘Like two flamin’ lovebirds, yez are.’
‘He is lovely, though, isn’t he, Mo?’ Doreen’s eyes were dreamy. He definitely liked her, she could tell by the sad look on his face when she’d said good night to him … as though he didn’t want her to leave. ‘I think me mam will approve, don’t you?’
‘If she doesn’t, my mam will.’ Maureen peered through the cleared glass. ‘This is your stop, kiddo. I’ll see yer in the mornin’.’
‘Yeah, okay. Ta-ra, Mo.’
Doreen jumped from the tram, waved to Maureen, then ran up the street, hugging herself. In a couple of weeks, when he’s walking me home, I wonder if he’ll kiss me? I hope so, because I’ve never been kissed before. Not a real kiss, like you see on the pictures. Mike’s had been more brotherly pecks. He was a nice lad, was Mike, and she was fond of him. But he didn’t thrill her as Phil did, didn’t stir her emotions.
Doreen rummaged in her bag for her door key, and as she slipped it into the lock she was humming with happiness. She’d heard people talking about love at first sight and had thought it was a load of old tripe … but it was true! The minute she’d clapped eyes on Phil she’d fallen for him, hook, line and sinker.
