by Annie Groves
One afternoon when Levi was out at one of his endless meetings and she was alone on the stall, she found the wooden steps that folded into a chair and climbed up to examine the shoebox more closely. She sniffed the herbs, inhaled and shut her eyes. There was something in the distinctive odour that took her back to that troopship journey to England, to the back streets and music clubs of Rangoon where men chewed roots and grinned, the sort of dens of iniquity that the headmistress of her school warned her girls never to go near but all had risked a peek in, nevertheless.
It didn’t look like tobacco but it was dried and crushed, hidden up there for a reason. Perhaps it was a potent concoction, as Enid had said, highly prized and efficacious, subject to strict rationing. It was not fair that Levi gave it only to his men friends, so she pulled out two packets and stuffed them in her overcoat.
Maria’s mother-in-law had a terrible backache. Why should she not have some relief from her pain? How could he be so mean as to ration it only to men?
If Daw Esme only knew about his cheating heart it would ‘upset the applecart’, as she often said. Daw Esme was a fair woman, distant, strict. A mother deserved more respect from her son but as the proverb said: bone in chicken, relatives in man, that one can’t avoid.
There were so many secrets in the household. Division House, it should be called, not Waverley. How the two lodgers and their daughters were closer relatives than everyone thought, how Lily’s wedding day never came, how she, Susan, had kept her own store of pure gold bangles hidden from prying eyes to buy extra treats for Joy, how they must always lock the bathroom door from Levi’s Tom peeping. Nothing was as it seemed but as the proverb said: ‘You can stop speaking to someone but you can never stop being related to them.’
Ana was training to be a real nurse, thanks to kind Diana and Eva. Maria spent more time now in Lavaroni’s with Queenie, but the gang always met up at dancing class to watch their girls blossoming into star turns. Joy was a little slower than the others but Su was teaching her to dance Burmese style and one day Miss Liptrot would give her a solo spot in the big display. She would have to wear the full pwe costume and that would cost money.
If Auntie Betty, God protect her eternal soul, could see her standing like some common servant here, she would be shocked. But it would do for now until that great day when Joy Liat would make them all proud. She must be educated to marry well and then she would repay her mother for all her sacrifices by producing many grandchildren in the big house with many chimneys. That was what was keeping Susan smiling.
Everything she was doing was for Joy. Only the best school, the best clothes, the best chance for her to shine would justify all her sacrifices.
She did not trust the Winstanleys to help her achieve this goal. Only foreign mothers shared the same dream. Su, Ana and Maria would make a good team if they stuck together.
She smiled to herself, thinking of all the ammunition she had about Levi’s devious scams: the false accounting, private prescriptions and the obnoxious attempts he made to seduce her. If only he knew how repulsive he was to her, a mere shadow of his brother’s handsome features.
Levi was a big bellied man with a flabby mouth. How had Ivy ever managed to kiss such a horror. He reminded her of one of the gargoyles grinning from the roof of the ancient parish church, lewd-eyed, bold and grotesque. Yet there was something compulsive in looking on such a sight, if only to mock it. This made all his fumblings bearable.
His weaknesses made her feel strong and strangely superior. I am smart biscuit lady, she thought. I will watch you and bide my time.
One day he would go over the top and she would be waiting then to show him up for what he was. She had the family name to think of, she had the ear of his mother and the Olive Oil Club to back her up. He would get what was coming to him in spadefuls for all he had dumped on to her in the past.
When Lily came to collect Joy for her dancing class, Susan slipped the packets in her pocket for Maria.
‘Tell her to give this to Nonna Valentina for her bad back. It is a very special herb to give good relief. She must brew in tea or put it in a pipe and smoke it, I think. Let me know how it works. There is more where that came from,’ she laughed.
‘If it’s that good, I’ll take some for Walt to try out. His back’s been playing him up again.’
It was a week later that Maria rang the house and asked them to stay for supper after dancing rehearsal and babysit while she had another session with Sylvio. ‘I can’t ask Nonna. She thinks it not right for married woman to go out alone at night.’
‘How’s her back?’ Lily asked.
‘I need to talk to you about that,’ Maria said. ‘But not over the telephone.’
Su made a note to slip some more packets of the potion into her bag and when they arrived at the flat, bringing Rosa back with them, Maria was chopping onions, tears rolling down her face.
‘Watch out, your mother-in-law’s talking about you,’ laughed Ana, who had Greek sayings for every occasion.
‘Not me…not me, but Susan. Nonna Valentina lives in praise of your wonderful remedy. She has had the best night’s sleep in years but sadly I told her there was no more. Do you know what that stuff is?’ She turned her black eyes, red-rimmed with crying and laughing.
‘It is Winstanley’s Wonder Weed.’ Su winked at Lily. ‘You like it? I have some more here,’ she smiled, pulling a packet out of her bag.
‘Put it away! You want we all go prison and lose our girls?’ cried Maria, crossing herself. ‘It’s hashish!’
‘What you mean, hash…How you know?’ cried Ana, crossing herself as well.
‘I give my mother-in-law the packet to make tea but that greedy woman grabs one of the Santini boy’s pipes and mixes with tobacco and smokes it. Suddenly she is not dragon but sweet smiling lady full of joy, and then she falls asleep. Then Toni comes in and shouts. “What’s that stink?” and look at me with dagger eyes. “Where you get this?” he screamed, and threw the packet on the fire. I said it was a gift, that you gave it to her in all innocence, but he started laughing and told me that it was not something to give his beloved mamma ever again.’
‘So what is so special about it, then?’ Su asked.
‘Susan, it is marijuana, hemp, dope…not allowed. If they find I smoke dope I will lose my job, we’ll lose café. Where did you get it from? Not your shop? Get rid of it or you and Lily will be in heap of trouble.’
‘Not before I try it for size. If it is so special I want to know what the fuss is about,’ Lily answered, making to take the bag. ‘Let’s have some and see for ourselves.’
‘Not in my flat you won’t. The smell can drift down the stairs and anyone in the parlour might recognise it. I warn you, it’s not the stuff to smoke around babies or children. If the police get hold of your source, Winstanley Health and Herbs will be history,’ Maria said, wagging her finger.
‘We could make herbal tea,’ Su offered, but Maria was having none of it.
‘Toni and Angelo know you’ve got it. They think you all make fool of Mamma. I tell them you innocent girls, just trying to help Mamma. Just get rid of all of it, for everyone’s sake. You are holding a grenade in your bag. It go off and we are all in trouble.’
‘What shall we do, Lily? If Daw Esme finds out what Levi’s up to, she will close down the stall and there will be no job and no money for you. She will blame us and I will lose my job too. I am sorry,’ Su cried. ‘I wish we had never looked, but we wanted to give Nonna Valentina some relief. If she has no pain, she is kind to you and will let you have your own life. I’m sorry.’ Su suddenly felt a wave of panic at the piles of hash in the shoebox. ‘Levi is a crazy man.’
‘No, he is clever man. What better cover for a drug than to put it on a shelf in a herbal shop? Who would ever suspect?’ said Maria. ‘You’ll have to get rid of it.’
‘How?’
‘We’ll think of something.’
All the way home Lily wrestled with this terrible discovery.
What should she do? If the police found out what Levi was up to, they’d close down the stall, and with no business there’d be no money. What a disgrace if it all ended in the courts!
‘So sorry, all my fault,’ wept Su from the back seat of Gertie. ‘I want to help everybody and now I bring shame on Daw Esme.’
What on earth were they going to do? The drugs must be got shut of to save the family honour, but how? Freddie would’ve known what to do, Lily thought. He must have seen plenty of that stuff in the Far East. Oh heck, and now Walt’d got some in his pocket too.
Lily tossed and turned all night. A time bomb was waiting to go off on the cubbyhole shelf and the clock was ticking away. Their good name was at stake. Her brain ached with thinking of schemes to dispose of it all without drawing suspicion. Her dreams were full of leaves, dried tea leaves floating like confetti over the town hall steps.
‘Must go early,’ she yelled from the door the next morning, grabbing a piece of toast and Marmite and rushing for the first bus into town, to open up the stall before Enid arrived. How could she live with herself if such an innocent was brought before the court as an accomplice? It was all Levi’s doing, so it was up to her now to sort the matter out once and for all.
She should just face Levi with it, challenge him outright, but she felt a coward. Although what the eye doesn’t see, the heart won’t miss, she thought as an idea slowly formed in her mind.
Her hands were shaking as the shoebox came down off the shelf and she opened it. One by one she unwrapped each twist, shook out the contents into a paper bag and replaced each sachet as best she could with a mixture of dried herbs: sarsaparilla, meadow sweet, camomile and lemon balm and a sprinkling of the weed on top so it smelled right. She replaced the twists carefully in the box so it looked undisturbed. The hemp she siphoned into a jam jar for future use and popped it in her shopping basket under the counter.
Only then could she relax and only then were the canvas curtains opened to reveal the stall to the public. She put on her white shop coat and smile.
Enid was surprised to see her in so early but Lily fled to find some sequins for Joy’s special pwe headdress. The jam jar was burning a hole in the bottom of her basket.
No sign of the tampering was noticed and, anyway, Levi would say nothing. How could he confess to dealing in drugs? No one was supposed to know about this secret hoard or its significance.
Lily was going to watch to see who came for their supplies. She was still too shocked at Levi, still couldn’t believe he was capable of such treachery. What had happened to her brother to make him do this?
Over the next few weeks it became clear that he hadn’t a clue what he was selling. She didn’t flush the herbs down the pan; something stopped her. No, this was her insurance. It was proof. If Levi ever turned nasty she would confess everything to Mother. Two could play silly games.
When he appeared at the breakfast table the following week with a black eye and bruises, Esme was quick to give him a grilling.
‘Son, whose war have you been fighting?’ she asked, but he shrugged it off.
‘Just an argument with the coalhouse door in the ice,’ he replied as he tucked into his fry-up.
Ivy said nothing but she turned to the others and snapped, ‘Don’t go looking at me! I’d nothing to do with it so you can take that smug look off your face, Susan Brown.’
Later in the morning Levi darted down to the telephone kiosk and returned with a face like thunder.
‘Anything the matter?’ Lily couldn’t resist, her eyes wide and innocent.
‘Nothing I can’t handle. You can’t trust anyone,’ he muttered. ‘No one’s been fiddling in the back, have they?’
Now was her perfect chance to confront him but she flunked it. ‘Why should they? But you’re right, though, not to trust anyone, not even your own kith and kin.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Think about it,’ she said.
None of his special customers ever came when Lily was on duty. She’d eyed him all morning like a hawk. The telltale jar was hidden in her hope chest at the foot of her bed alongside the embroidered tablecloths, pillow slips and nightdress holder.
Curious, she had sniffed the weed. It sort of smelled harmless, like stale Weetabix. It certainly looked harmless.
The box on the shelf stayed empty for weeks, much to Su, Lily and Ana’s relief, but there was still the matter of Walter’s little package to deal with.
The two of them were sitting in the van overlooking Leaper’s View, the beauty spot and lovers’ rendezvous above the town. The snowplough had been through and cleared the lane. It was good to be out in the fresh air, Lily thought. It was the first time they’d been alone for ages.
‘Have you thought about our honeymoon yet?’ she asked. ‘It would be nice to go somewhere romantic.’
‘Blackpool or Llandudno?’
‘Let’s try further afield…the Continent-Paris or Rome. I’ve been looking in some magazines for ideas.’
She’d scoured the newspapers for weeks. There was a whole world of travel opening up now the war was well and truly finished, ships turning back into cruise liners and planes to whisk tourists abroad. There were permits to travel to certain resorts. Why should they have to watch it on the silver screen and not try to go there themselves?
‘Let’s be daring and sell some of Granddad’s shares, forego the fancy wedding spree and go to Paris! It would be so exciting, don’t you think?’
‘I thought you’d prefer hiking in the Lake Distrct,’ Walter said, yawning. ‘You mustn’t go spending your inheritance.’
‘We could try Switzerland, in the Alps,’ she said, suddenly feeling excitement at the thought of snowcapped mountains and yodelling cowmen.
‘I’ve seen enough snow this winter to last a lifetime,’ Walt yawned again.
‘Am I that boring?’ she snapped. ‘We’ve waited years to wed so let’s push the boat out and do it in style, give the Mercury something to write about…’
‘I thought you didn’t want a big do,’ he said, staring down at the flickering lights of the town.
‘I don’t, but I want a proper honeymoon, away from smoke and the grime, just the two of us together, all alone, sightseeing and trying new things.’
‘It’s a long way to go for just a week, Lil.’
‘We could fly. I’ve been doing some research. They’re beginning to expand commercial flights out of Ringway. There’s a whole new world for us to explore. We’d be the first in Grimbleton to have a foreign honeymoon, like royalty!’
‘I’d rather not think about flying through the air in a tin can, love,’ he offered, stifling another yawn.
‘Where’s your sense of adventure? There are all sorts of new jobs on the go now, jobs for girls on aeroplanes as stewardesses. I read it in the paper. I’d love to have a shot at doing that.’
‘No wife of mine’ll go out to work. You’ll have enough to do looking after us,’ Walt yawned loudly this time and she could see the plate of his false teeth.
‘A girl can dream, can’t she? If only I’d been born a few years later…Still, our children will get those chances. I do want to go abroad.’
‘We’d need a passport,’ he said as his eyelids closed into a doze.
‘Walter Platt, what’s got into you tonight?’ she shouted, shaking him awake.
‘It’s them tea leaves Susan give me for my back. I made some up and drank it. It tasted terrible and now I can’t keep my eyes open. Don’t bring me any more, I’d rather have a sore back.’
Oh, no! thought Lily. How was she going to explain this away? ‘You’d better let me throw those leaves on the fire if it’s not doing you any good. Shall I get us some passport forms then?’ she continued, changing the subject and knowing this was an opportunity not to be missed.
‘Do what you like, love, but let me get some kip.’
Lily gazed over the snowy landscape with relief. This was no romantic rendezvous, but in Par
is it would be different…
A week later the men in shabby overcoats and trilbies came back to the stall, in dribs and drabs at first, hanging around smoking in the café opposite, waiting for Levi’s return from the pub. The box was full again and each sachet was twisted and sealed.
Su wasn’t here to help her. It was her sewing and mending afternoon. Enid was taking her mother to the doctor. Lily hung back while Levi totted up the takings. The chance would come when he took the money to the night safe at the bank and she was left alone to lock up.
The dried parsley and mixed herbs were all ready to package up. She would use the same twists and tape, adding just sufficient weed to make them look genuine and make sure the first few were all weed, just in case. Her hands were shaking and her heart thudding. She must not leave a crumb of evidence.
A few days later, Lily closed up as usual, taking the short cut behind the Market Hall to catch the bus home. She always scurried along the dark alley as the lamps were dim and she had some takings to bank.
There seemed to be some kerfuffle ahead, people crowding around a drunk on the cobbles, but it was a bit early for anyone to be drunk yet. The man lay in silhouette, prostrate, in a bad way.
‘Lad’s bin set upon,’ an old man in the flat cap and muffler said. ‘They ran off when we turned the corner. I don’t know what the world’s coming to when a working man can’t go about his business. Did we fight a war for this?’ He looked down at his wife, who was kneeling, dabbing blood off the man’s face. ‘Better get the bobbies, Ethel. This lad’s going nowhere.’
It was only when Lily bent over to see if she could help that she recognised the battered face of her brother. ‘Someone get an ambulance quick! He’s unconscious…Oh, do hurry!’ she cried, holding his hand.
‘Oh, Levi, what’ve we done?’ she whispered in his ear, trying to rouse him. It seemed like hours before Levi was stretchered off to hospital and Lily gave the policeman all his particulars, trembling with the shock of what had happened. Her cheeks were burning up with shame. This was all her doing.
