Family Drama 4 E-Book Bundle (44 page)

‘Sit down, love,’ she said to John, thinking that though Pearl held the upper hand now, things were set to change. Kevin had been turned down last year, but he’d written to say that he was sure to get parole this time. Yes, Dolly told herself, of course he would, and as soon as the prison gates opened for her son she’d be ready to act. If Bernie dared to stand in her way she’d show him who was boss again, and if Pearl and Derek Lewis, her second husband, tried to stop Kevin from seeing his son, they’d have her to deal with.

Bernie looked at Dolly as she went through to the small back kitchen. She was fifty-five years old now, her brown hair greying, yet even when she had been young there was no way that Dolly could’ve been described as pretty, or even attractive. Far from it. She was tall and big-boned, with a broad, plain face over wide shoulders.

Of course, Bernie thought, he was no oil painting either. He was shorter than Dolly, with a paunch, and at fifty-six years old, almost bald now. Their marriage couldn’t be described as a love match: it had been forced on them by their respective parents when Dolly had been three months pregnant. From the moment she’d given birth, Kevin had been the centre of Dolly’s world, and Bernie had hardly been allowed a say in the boy’s upbringing.

Bernie’s lips tightened. He’d been unhappy with the situation, with the way Dolly ruled him, but too weak to do anything about it. He’d stuck it out, because though divorce was commonplace now, in his day it was unheard of. Not only that, Dolly had held the purse strings and kept him short with a paltry few quid a week. Of course, Bernie reflected, that had been in the distant past and things were a lot different now – he was the one in control of their finances.

‘I saw a jay last week, Granddad.’

‘Did you now?’ Bernie said as he sat down opposite John. ‘They’re lovely birds.’

Dolly appeared in the kitchen doorway, saying, ‘Do you both fancy macaroni cheese for lunch?’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Bernie said and John agreed with him.

Bernie was unwinding after the long drive, yet found himself thinking back to when Dolly had her breakdown. For the first time in their marriage she had turned to him. He had seen another side of her, her vulnerability, for a short time, but then she had lost it completely and had been sent to a psychiatric hospital. The electroconvulsive treatment Dolly had received seemed to shrink her, and she’d developed a stoop along with a shuffle when she walked. He had seen his once formidable wife diminished, and after each session Dolly appeared disorientated. It had affected her memory too, sometimes temporarily, yet there were other things she’d forgotten permanently.

‘Here you are,’ Dolly said as she placed a cup of tea in front of him, along with a glass of orange juice for John. She then went back to the kitchen and returned with a plate of chocolate biscuits. ‘Don’t eat too many or you’ll spoil your lunch.’

Bernie winked at his grandson. ‘I’ve got a sweet tooth so dig in or I’ll scoff the lot.’

They munched companionably while Bernie’s thoughts drifted again. Dolly had forgotten that when Kevin had been sent to prison, the thought of losing her grandson too when Pearl left, had turned her mind. John had been just a baby when Dolly had run off with him, and it was only thanks to Pearl’s largesse that she hadn’t been charged. Instead Dolly had been admitted to the psychiatric hospital and when she finally came home, it was again thanks to Pearl’s kindness that they saw their grandson regularly.

Bernie’s ears pricked up when Dolly spoke to John.

‘Did you know that we once had a café in Battersea?’ she asked.

‘Yes, Gran, you told me, and my dad used to live in Battersea too. He ran a boxing club.’

‘You’re talking about Derek Lewis and he’s not your real father,’ Dolly snapped. ‘You seem to forget that your name isn’t Lewis – it’s Dolby.’

Bernie tensed. There was something different about Dolly lately. For one thing she was standing straighter and at times, like now, she seemed almost argumentative. Of course it could be that she was stimulated by John’s visit. That could explain it, and there was the added excitement of Kevin’s letter to say that his parole was likely to be granted.

Or was it that her medication needed adjusting? Worried now that Dolly was becoming psychotic again, and remembering the woman she had once been, who had thought nothing of laying into him with her fists to get her own way, Bernie decided to keep a closer watch on her. If she didn’t quieten down, he’d ask the doctor to increase her medication.

John was used to his gran being a bit unfocused, but today she appeared more alert than usual, her dark brown eyes brighter than he’d ever seen them before.

She’d been annoyed that he had called Derek his dad, but he was the only father he’d known. Derek was great, but despite that John was curious about his real father and said, ‘Gran, can I look at your photograph album again?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she said, her tone milder as she took it from the sideboard drawer.

John turned the pages, struck as always by the similarities as he looked at the grainy black and white snaps of his real father. ‘I look just like him, Gran.’

‘You certainly do. You’re a chip off the old block.’

John peered intently at his father’s face and said, ‘I wish I knew more about him.’

‘Kevin was a good lad, and when he left school he became an apprentice engineer. When he got his papers he worked in an engineering factory for a while, but then he got in with the wrong crowd. They led him astray and that’s how he ended up in prison.’

‘I’d like to see him, but I’m not allowed,’ John muttered.

‘I know and it’s disgraceful! You should tell your mother that you have every right to visit your father if you want to.’

‘That’s enough, Dolly!’ Bernie chipped in, sounding annoyed. ‘You know Kevin gave instructions that he didn’t want John to see him while he’s in prison.’

‘Did he? But I don’t remember that!’ she cried, pulling at her hair. ‘Why can’t I remember? What’s wrong with me?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with you, Dolly. You get a bit confused now and then, that’s all.’

John was nervous of his gran’s behaviour, but as his granddad took a bottle of pills and shook one on to his palm, he said calmly, ‘It’s all right, John, don’t look so worried. Your gran’s a bit under the weather, but she’ll be better soon.’

Dolly took the pill without argument, and shortly after John saw a familiar distance in his gran’s manner.

‘Why don’t you come and give me a hand in the back garden?’ his granddad suggested. ‘Leave your gran to rest for a while.’

This was something John loved to do, and when his gran nodded, her smile sweet, he flung on his coat again. It was chilly outside, but soon the two of them were so absorbed that they hardly noticed, John learning more and more about the plants and fauna.

‘See that?’ his granddad said, pointing to the bird table. ‘It’s a chaffinch.’

‘And there’s a blue tit.’ John shared his granddad’s love of birds.

‘I could hear a woodpecker in the woods yesterday, but though I got my binoculars, I couldn’t spot it.’

‘I remember the first time I saw one. It was bigger than I expected,’ John said as he eyed the dense woods that started where the back garden ended. They stood quietly for a while, watching the various small birds that came to feast on the seeds and nuts his granddad put out, then they went back to work on the garden.

When they were called in to lunch, John saw that his gran had rallied a little. Later when it was time to leave, his gran hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, leaving him to wonder what was really wrong with her.

Chapter Two

Pearl was sitting beside Derek in the car as he drove her to see Bessie Penfold. She didn’t like going to Battersea, and rarely went. It was a place that held so many bad memories, but Bessie was special to her, a woman who had taken her in when she had fled from her first husband, Kevin Dolby, and his terrifying mother.

She saw that nothing much had changed. The stalls still lined the High Street with the costermongers shouting out their wares, and as Derek looked for somewhere to park he said, ‘While you’re visiting Bessie, I’ll go to see my gran.’

‘All right,’ she agreed. Derek had lost his mother when he was still a child and it had been his gran, Connie Lewis, who raised him. Connie didn’t like her, but Pearl felt she deserved the old woman’s anger. She had been going out with Derek, had agreed to marry him, but then been mad enough to fall for Kevin Dolby. She’d been such an innocent at the time, unworldly, and had been helpless to stop what happened. When she had found that she was pregnant she had married Kevin and they had moved in with his parents, but Pearl had been so ashamed of herself for breaking Derek’s heart.

When Kevin went to prison, it took several years before her divorce was granted, and during that time Derek came back into her life. Then, when he’d asked her to marry him, she had gladly agreed.

‘I’ll stop off to buy Gran some of her favourite sweets,’ Derek said.

‘I still can’t believe she agreed to go into an old people’s home.’

‘Even my gran had the sense to see that with her hands and knees riddled with arthritis, she was no longer capable of looking after herself.’

‘We’ve been married for nearly ten years, but she’s never softened towards me. I don’t suppose it helped that you gave up the tenancy on her house.’

‘I knew you wouldn’t agree to live in Battersea again and, anyway, it’s just as small as your mother’s cottage.’

‘I don’t want John to hear the truth about Kevin, but he’d soon find out if we moved back here,’ Pearl pointed out, thankful that Derek had been happy to move to Winchester.

‘Here we are,’ Derek said as he found a space and pulled into the kerb.

Pearl smiled at him fondly. Derek was nine years older than her, with fair hair, pale blue eyes and a face battered by years of boxing. The antithesis of Kevin, he couldn’t be described as handsome, but with his innate kindness and the love he showered on both her and John, Pearl thanked God for the day she had become his wife.

With the engine still running, Derek said, ‘Right, love, I’ll see you later.’

‘To give us time to prepare my mother’s birthday treat, we’ve got to get back to Winchester by three at the latest,’ Pearl pointed out.

‘I know, but that gives us about an hour and a half.’

‘Don’t leave it any longer than that before you pick me up again,’ Pearl urged, leaning across to kiss Derek on the cheek.

‘I won’t,’ he replied.

As Derek drove off, Pearl walked the short distance to Bessie’s shop, which was set in a tall, terraced building, the two floors above providing ample living accommodation.

When Pearl entered the shop she saw that it had hardly altered from when she had lived with Bessie and worked there, making improvements that had increased trade. There were racks of second-hand clothes, and a few long trestle tables almost buckling under the weight of old china and other stuff. There were a few pieces of battered furniture for sale too, and every spare surface was piled with old books. Pearl wrinkled her nose at the musty smell, but at least everything looked as tidy as possible.

Lucy Sanderson was standing behind the counter, a lovely young woman who had been through hell. She had lost both parents in a fire, but had somehow managed to get on with her life. Then more tragedy followed when her husband died in a traffic accident before Clive, their only child, was born. It had almost broken Lucy, but for her baby’s sake she had somehow battled on. Clive was seven years old now, and as far as Pearl knew there had never been another man in Lucy’s life. She took in sewing alterations to make ends meet, along with her earnings when working part time for Bessie.

‘Hello, Lucy,’ Pearl said. ‘How is Bessie?’

‘Her chest seems really bad and she insisted that I ring you.’

‘She’s probably got bronchitis again,’ Pearl said, thinking that despite it looking a bit washed out and home made, Lucy looked nice in a floor-length, high-necked, Laura-Ashley-style floral dress. Her hair was a halo of frizzy blonde Afro curls, the result of a home perm, yet they framed her pretty, delicate features and the style suited her.

‘I sent Nora along to the chemist to pick up Bessie’s medicine,’ Lucy said. ‘I think she can manage that.’

‘Yes, of course she can,’ Pearl assured. Bessie had taken Nora in many years ago, and though mentally slow, there were things she could cope with. ‘I’d best go up, Lucy, but I’ll have a chat with you again before I leave.’

As a customer came in Pearl went through to the back of the shop and climbed the stairs. She passed the first floor where there was a living room, kitchen, bathroom and Nora’s bedroom, going on up to the top floor where she walked into Bessie’s room.

It was dim with the heavy, dark blue curtains partially drawn, but Pearl could just about make out that Bessie was propped up in bed on a pile of pillows. Her grey hair, though short, was untidy and her face lined with wrinkles. ‘Are you awake?’ Pearl asked softly.

‘Yes, and it’s about time you got here,’ Bessie croaked. ‘I’ve got to be dying before you come to see me.’

Pearl felt a twinge of guilt. Though she hadn’t lived with her for long, they had grown close and Bessie would always hold a special place in Pearl’s heart. When she had moved away from London, Pearl kept in touch with frequent phone calls, and Derek would sometimes pick Bessie and Nora up after visiting his gran and he’d bring them back to Winchester for the afternoon. ‘Bessie, you know why I don’t like coming to Battersea,’ she said. ‘Now tell me, how are you feeling?’

‘Rough, but open the curtains so I can get a better look at you,’ Bessie said then coughed painfully.

Pearl let in some light before drawing a rickety chair close to the bed. ‘You shouldn’t be up here on your own at night. I don’t know why you won’t let Nora sleep in the room next door.’

‘Leave it out. She snores like a trooper. Even with the door shut, I’d hear her.’

‘Oh, and you don’t?’ Pearl said wryly while rearranging the blankets. ‘Have you seen the doctor?’