Stay as Sweet as You Are (55 page)

‘Yeah, he said he’d come to see how I got on. He’ll be dead pleased for me.’

‘No sign of him finding a place for both of yer?’ Rhoda pulled a face. ‘I don’t know why I keep asking yer that, because I hope he never does. Especially now when we can travel to work together.’

‘He hasn’t found a place he can afford. With needing two bedrooms, the people he’s been to see are asking a lot of money.’ Lucy looked down at the ground and kicked the step with the toe of her shoe. ‘I don’t tell me dad because he gets upset about it, but I don’t want to leave here. I thought me mam would have moved out by now, but there’s no sign of it. She seems quite happy because she’s got the house, no one to answer to, and can come and go as she pleases.’

Rhoda always said what was in her mind, and she grinned now at what she was thinking. ‘With a bit of luck she’ll fall and break a leg and end up in hospital. And with a lot of luck she’ll manage to break both legs. Then she’d be in hospital for ages and ages.’

Lucy tutted. ‘Ye’re terrible, you are, Rhoda Fleming.’

‘No, kid, I’m just honest. And yer know what they say about honesty being the best policy.’

‘That’s not always the case,’ Lucy said. ‘Anyway, I’m going to tell Mrs Aggie the news before I go to the Pollards’ for me tea. Me dad won’t be here until about eight o’clock, so I’m going home after tea to sort me clothes out. I’ll be wearing me skirt and blouse to start work in, so I want to make sure they’re cleaned and pressed over the weekend.’

‘Don’t forget yer’ll need long stockings.’ Rhoda was nodding her head. ‘If yer turn up in short socks I’ll pretend I’m not with yer.’

‘Okay, okay! I’ll ask me dad for the money tonight. And I’m going now ’cos I can’t wait to see Mrs Aggie’s face when I tell her I’ve got a job. She’ll be over the moon for me.’

Rhoda watched her friend running across the cobbled street and shouted after her, ‘Er, yer wouldn’t forget to tell her I’ve got a job too, would yer? I don’t see why you should be allowed to hog all the limelight.’

Lucy turned after knocking on Aggie’s door. ‘Keep yer hair on, I won’t forget.’

Rhoda wanted to make sure all her neighbours knew her good news, so at the top of her voice, she shouted, ‘Talking about hair, Lucy, don’t forget I want yer to do mine for when we start work on Monday.’

Lucy was grinning when Aggie opened the door. ‘What am I going to do with that mate of mine, Mrs Aggie? She’ll get me hanged one of these days.’

‘I heard what she said, sweetheart. The interview went well, then, did it?’

‘The interview was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever gone
through in me life, Mrs Aggie. We had to go to the main office for it. You know, the one in Aintree, near the Old Roan? There were about ten girls there beside me and Rhoda, and they all looked as frightened as I felt. Our names were called out one at a time, and by the time my turn came, me legs were shaking so much I thought I’d never be able to stand on them. I had to follow this woman to an office, and there was a small, oldish woman seated behind a desk. I was told her name was Miss Jones. She didn’t half look strict, and I never thought I’d get taken on ’cos I was stammering and stuttering. She asked me all about meself after she’d read the reference I’d got off the headmistress, and she wrote everything down in this big book. Not a smile crossed her face the whole time, and I nearly fell off the chair when she said I could start on Monday in the Linacre Lane branch.’

‘I’m made up for yer, sweetheart. And Rhoda got taken on too, I gather?’

Lucy nodded. ‘Yeah, we’ll be able to travel to work together every day. I’m glad she’ll be with me, I won’t feel so shy.’

‘Wait until yer dad knows, sweetheart, he’ll be so proud of yer.’

‘Yeah, it’s a bit of good news for him for a change. And I’m not bigheaded, Mrs Aggie, but I’ve got to say I’m dead proud of meself. I’ll be a working girl earning a wage. I won’t get any money the first week, like, ’cos it’s a week in hand, but I will the week after. And that’ll make things a bit easier for me dad.’

‘Are yer going to tell yer mam?’

‘Not likely! She’ll want to take me wages off me. She’s bound to find out – I mean, I can’t go out every morning, come home at night, and her not know what’s going on. But she won’t hear it from me, nor will she get a penny of me money. I’ll hand it all over to me dad and he can give me whatever pocket money he can afford.’ Lucy hunched her shoulders and pulled a face. ‘I’ve got to cadge off him tonight
when he comes. Rhoda said if I turn up on Monday in short socks, she’ll disown me.’

Aggie chuckled. ‘She would say that. Sounds as hard as nails sometimes, but her heart’s in the right place. I bet if you knock on her door on Monday morning in short socks, by the time yer get to Vernons yer’ll both be wearing one stocking and one short sock each.’

Lucy could see it in her mind’s eye and she giggled. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past my mate, she’s got the nerve for anything.’ The giggle got louder until it filled the room. ‘D’yer know what the daft nit told me? That Miss Jones was as nice as pie with her and gave her a cup of tea and a biscuit. Having seen Miss Jones, I can see the funny side, ’cos the woman never cracked her face.’

‘At least she gave yer the job, sweetheart. Better that than someone who smiled sweetly at yer and said she was sorry but yer weren’t suitable.’

‘Ye’re right, Mrs Aggie.’ Lucy couldn’t sit still, she was so highly strung. ‘I’ve got a lot to look forward to, haven’t I? Starting me first job and earning money, then in a couple of months I’m to be a bridesmaid. I’m a very lucky girl.’

‘No more than yer deserve, sweetheart. Yer can start making up for lost time now.’

‘If only me dad could come back home, then I wouldn’t ask for anything else in the whole world. I still miss him terrible, Mrs Aggie. I know I see him often, but it’s not the same as him living in the house. We’re not like a family any more.’

‘Let’s hope yer dad has a run of good luck, like you have. Yer know what they say about things happening in threes.’ Aggie began to rock slowly, thinking that with the number of prayers she’d said, something good should have come along for Bob by now. Either God hadn’t heard her prayers or He had a lot on His plate. Even so, He should give everyone a fair hearing. ‘Have yer told Irene yet?’

‘No, I’m going there when I leave here. Mr Pollard and
Jack will be in from work then, so I can tell them all at once and get it over with. Otherwise I’ll be telling it in dribs and drabs and it’ll take all night. And I want to go home before me dad comes so I can look through me clothes and get them ready for Monday.’

Bob always met his daughter in either Aggie’s or Irene’s. He’d only been back home the once since he left, and that was to pick up a couple of things he’d forgotten to take with him.

‘Are yer all right for clothes, sweetheart?’ Aggie asked. She would have loved to have bought the girl something as a leaving-school present, but was afraid of upsetting Bob.

‘I’ve got a skirt and blouse, and one dress that’ll be suitable. They’ll see me through until I can save up for another blouse to change into.’ Lucy looked at the clock and scrambled to her feet. ‘I’d better go – Mr Pollard and Jack will be home any minute.’

Aggie walked her to the door. ‘I’ll see yer later, with yer dad. Ta-ra, sweetheart.’

Mealtimes were always noisy at the Pollards’, but tonight everyone was talking at once and it was chaotic. It had been the last day at school for Greg, too, and they couldn’t get a word in edgeways with him. What he was going to do, and what he wasn’t going to do was nobody’s business. He had an interview at the woodworks on Monday, and to hear him talk he had no intention of starting on the bottom rung of the ladder, it was a supervisor’s job he was after.

Irene put a hand over her ears. ‘Will yer all shut up for a minute, me head’s splitting with the din ye’re making.’

‘There’s only one person making a din, Mam,’ Jack said, jerking his head towards his brother. ‘It’s talk a bit, here. He’s never closed his mouth once since me and me dad came in. He’s making more noise than a steam train chugging into Lime Street Station.’

Greg was so happy at never having to go to school again,
nothing would have upset him. No more getting the cane for staring out of the window when he should have been doing his sums, or for answering the teacher back. He wouldn’t know he was born without the threat of that blinking cane hanging over him. ‘I can remember the day you left school, our Jack, and the day yer wore yer first pair of long kecks. Yer really thought yer were somebody, you did.’

‘You’ll be in long kecks on Monday, son,’ George said. ‘So yer can expect to have as much fun poked at yer as Jack did. And I hope ye’re man enough to take it in the same spirit he did.’

Greg took that as a compliment. ‘I will, Dad. Yer can laugh at me as much as yer like, and I’ll laugh with yer.’

‘Well, now that’s settled to everyone’s satisfaction,’ Irene said, ‘can we hear a bit more about how Lucy’s day went?’

So Lucy had the floor to herself without any interruptions. She was very good at imitating people and had them in stitches over Miss Jones. The serious, straight face, the cool voice and the dismissive wave of her hand as she told Lucy, “You may go now.” Then came Rhoda’s joke about the cosy chat she’d had with the woman who’d interviewed them, and the tea and biscuits she’d been served.

‘That’s not fair, that,’ Greg said, his face unsmiling as he pretended to believe what Lucy had said. ‘She shouldn’t have given Rhoda tea and not you. Mind you, that Rhoda would talk her way into anything. She was probably given the tea to shut her up.’

‘I wish yer wouldn’t keep pulling my friend to pieces,’ Lucy said. ‘She’s never done you no harm, so I don’t know why yer dislike her.’

‘I don’t dislike her.’ Greg speared the last piece of sausage on his plate and popped it into his mouth. He banged the end of his fork on the table until he’d chewed the sausage sufficiently to be able to speak. ‘She’s just like the other girls, I suppose. Yer all talk too much and yer love bossing people around. That comes with playing with dolls when yer were
kids. Dolls can’t answer back, yer see, so girls grow up thinking no one should answer them back.’

‘Well, fancy that now!’ Irene pinched on her bottom lip. ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that meself, but I’ll put it to the test.’ She leaned towards her son and held his eyes. ‘Clear the table, Greg, and take the dishes out to the kitchen.’

‘Ah, ay, Mam! What’s wrong with Lucy or our Jack?’

‘This may come as a surprise to yer, sunshine, but I was a little girl once. And I used to play with dolls. So according to your theory, I don’t expect to be answered back.’

Lucy giggled. ‘Nice one, Mrs Pollard.’

‘Yeah, yer’ve got him stumped there, Mam,’ Jack said. ‘Look at his face, yer’ve taken the wind out of his sails.’

‘Yer dropped yerself right in it, son,’ George said. ‘Now take a bit of advice from one who learned the hard way. Never, ever, try and get the better of a woman ’cos yer don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. If she says a thing is black, then agree with her. It could be sky-blue pink with a finny-haddy border, but if she says black, then black it is. That’s if yer want an easy life, like. Otherwise she’ll come at yer with both guns blazing and yer won’t know what hit yer.’

‘Ah, yer poor thing, me heart bleeds for yer.’ Irene wiped away an imaginary tear. ‘Sure there’s not a sorrier sight than a henpecked husband.’

Greg had recovered his voice by this time, and his sense of fun. ‘Lucy, when you and me get married, yer won’t henpeck me, will yer?’

‘I won’t be henpecking yer, Greg Pollard, ’cos I won’t be marrying yer. Any girl what marries you would want her head testing.’

‘Too true they would.’ Jack nodded. ‘He only left school today and he wants to put the banns up to get wed!’

‘I don’t intend to hang around like you,’ Greg said. ‘Ye’re turned sixteen and haven’t even got a girlfriend yet.’

‘That’s what you think.’ Jack tapped the side of his nose. ‘I don’t tell you everything.’

‘I don’t blame yer for not telling him anything,’ Irene said, ‘but I’d expect yer to tell yer mother. Come on, who is she?’

‘I’m not telling yer, Mam. All I will say is that she’s very pretty and yer’ll like her.’

‘He’s pulling yer leg, Mrs Pollard,’ Lucy said, collecting the plates. She didn’t want to hear any more. If Jack had a girlfriend then soon everything would change, and she didn’t want it to. ‘I’ll take these out and wash them. Then I want to nip home to get me blouse and skirt. I need to make sure they’re all right for Monday.’

‘Leave those, I’ll do them,’ Irene told her. ‘You go and get yer skirt and blouse and bring them back here.’

Lucy didn’t need telling twice. ‘I’ll take the key and let meself in. I won’t be a matter of minutes ’cos I don’t want me mam asking me questions. That’s if she’s in, of course.’

Lucy stepped into the hall, and as she was taking the key from the lock she thought she heard voices coming from the living room. This was unusual because her mother never had visitors. So instead of going straight upstairs as she’d intended, the girl opened the door of the living room, and became rooted to the spot. There was a strange man sitting in the chair by the fire, and he seemed quite at home with a cigarette in his hand and his long legs crossed.

‘Who are you? That’s my dad’s chair ye’re sitting in.’

Ruby had jumped to her feet in surprise. Lucy never came back from the Pollards’ until it was time for bed. ‘Well, yer dad’s not here now, is he? And don’t you be so bleedin’ impudent, yer little madam.’

‘Watch your language, Ruby,’ Wally Brown said, before turning his eyes back to Lucy. ‘My name’s Wally Brown, my dear, and I gather you are Lucy.’

‘I don’t care what yer name is, yer have no right to be sitting in me dad’s chair.’ Lucy had taken an instant dislike to him. He was too smarmy for her liking. As Mrs Aggie would say, he was too sweet to be wholesome. And seeing him
sitting in her dad’s chair was making her feel sick and angry. ‘What are yer doing here, anyway?’

‘Mind yer own business,’ Ruby said, trying to remember not to swear because Wally didn’t like it. ‘And mind yer manners.’