The Girl From Number 22 (44 page)

‘You didn’t close the front door properly.’ Gordon was fibbing, for he had been given a key by Annie. He now moved aside to allow Joe Benson to step forward. ‘This is Mr Benson. He lives
next door in number twenty, and I live the other side in twenty-four. The lovely lady with dark curly hair is Mrs Benson, and the pretty, fair-haired lady is my wife. Lucky for you Mr Fenwick is not here, for like myself and Mr Benson, he would be very angry to hear his wife spoken to in such a manner. And like ourselves, he would expect you to apologise for your rudeness.’

This was too much for Tom. In his mind, women were slaves, put on this earth solely for the purpose of keeping men happy. ‘I didn’t invite them into my house, so why should I bleeding well apologise? It’s them what should apologise for putting ideas into my wife’s head. So, now, I’d like yer all to leave. And I don’t want to see any of yer here again, filling me wife’s head with a load of nonsense.’

Gordon had to bend down to look Tom Phillips in the face. ‘We are going nowhere until you say you’re sorry to the ladies. My wife, and the other ladies, are not used to being spoken to in that way. Except for your wife, of course, who deserves a medal for putting up with your behaviour.’

Joe Benson took over then. Like Gordon, he’d been told how this coward treated his family, and was disgusted. ‘Can I have my say now? I’ve heard the way yer talk to yer wife and children, ’cos these walls are very thin. Many’s the night I’ve wanted to come in and give yer a piece of me mind. Ye’re not a man, ye’re a disgrace. A foul-mouthed bully who would run a mile from a real man. And I’ll warn yer now that if I ever again hear yer even raise yer voice to Annie, or the kids, I’ll come and boot yer door in. Then I’ll give yer the chance to fight someone yer own size. It would be my pleasure to knock the stuffing out of yer.’

‘If Joe doesn’t, then I will,’ Gordon said in a deceptively quiet voice. He couldn’t abide a man who beat his wife and was cruel to his kids. ‘In front of you, I am going to tell Annie that if you
so much as threaten her, or raise your hand to her or the children, then all she has to do is shout out, or knock on the wall either side.’

‘Yer can’t come booting yer way in here,’ Tom blustered. ‘What goes on between man and wife, in their own home, has nothing to do with no one. And if yer try and interfere, I’ll have the police on to yer.’

‘Oh, I don’t think you will, Mr Phillips. At least you won’t have the police on to us,’ Gordon said. ‘More likely they’d be on to you. Yer see, the sergeant at the police station is a friend of mine, and I was talking to him only yesterday. I mentioned you to him, as it happens. How you get drunk, cause a disturbance in the street which upsets the neighbours. I mentioned that you get so drunk, you’ve had to be carried home on a couple of occasions. I also told him you beat your wife and children, and he was very concerned about that. In fact, the sergeant was so interested, he said the next time you caused a disturbance, we should send for the police. He reckoned a night in the cells would teach you a lesson.’

Tom Phillips ran his tongue over lips that were dry with fright. He looked towards his wife, hoping she would stick up for him. But Annie’s eyes showed no sympathy whatsoever. Nor did they show any fear. There was a deadly silence for about twenty seconds, broken when Ada thought they’d achieved what they’d set out to do. ‘Come on, let’s all go home. There’s no point in waiting for an apology which has to be forced.’ She reached over and touched Annie’s arm. ‘Yer can come home with me if yer like, sunshine?’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, thank you, sweetheart, I’ll be all right. The children will be in any minute now, and I want to be here for them.’

Chairs were pushed back as the ladies got to their feet. They donned their coats and headed for the door without saying a word. There was nothing left to say. But Gordon and Joe hung back. ‘Will you be all right, Annie?’ Gordon asked. ‘We can wait with you until the children come in.’

‘I’ll be fine, Gordon,’ Annie told him. ‘I’ll put the kettle on so there’s a hot drink ready for them when they come.’ She walked to the door with the two men. ‘I can’t thank you enough. I’m a stranger to yer, yet yer came to help me. That is something I’ll never forget.’

‘All you have to do, day or night, is shout or knock,’ Gordon said. ‘I really mean that, and I know the same goes for Joe. Any time at all. And now we’ll wish you good night.’

Annie closed the door and made her way back to the living room, where she faced a man seething with anger. Tom Phillips was sat in the fireside chair, and it was only fear that stopped him from leaping from his seat. ‘You bitch.’ He ground the words out. ‘Yer sat on yer fat backside and let them make a fool of me in me own house.’

‘No, Tom, I didn’t let them make a fool of yer.’ Annie was surprised she felt so calm. ‘Yer did that yerself. And yer made a good job of it. Yer see, when it comes to hitting a woman and children, that makes yer think ye’re a real big he-man. But when it comes to facing another man, well, that’s a different kettle of fish. It cuts yer down to size. Shows yer up for what yer really are. And that’s a coward. An ignorant one at that. Yer really showed yerself in yer true colours tonight to our neighbours, and I’m glad they know yer for what yer are now. I won’t need to feel ashamed any more, or make excuses, and that’s a relief.’

But Tom wasn’t going to let her get away with that. ‘This is my house, and don’t yer forget it. I pay the rent, and I can chuck
you and the kids out in the street whenever I want. And I will do if yer ever let those bleeding la-di-da bleeding neighbours in again. They don’t come over the doorstep, d’yer hear me?’

‘Oh, I can hear yer, I’m not deaf. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to do as you say. If I want to invite me friends in, then I will. Throw me and the kids out if yer think yer can get away with it. We’ll find somewhere to go, don’t worry. You’re the one what would suffer, with no one to have yer dinner ready every night, or keep the house clean. I’ve put up with yer shenanigans, but yer’ll not find another sucker like me. And while I’m getting things off me chest, yer may as well get the lot. The pittance I get off you for housekeeping wouldn’t be enough to put a good dinner on the table every night. It’s the coppers I get from Jenny and Ben that help out.’ Annie threw her hands in the air. ‘I don’t know why I’m wasting me breath talking to yer. For as long as yer can go to the pub twice a day, and drink yerself paralytic, you don’t give a toss for anyone else. As long as yer belly’s full of food or drink, that’s all yer live for.’

‘It’s those bloody neighbours filling yer head,’ Tom said. ‘Well, keep away from them if yer know what’s good for yer. And if they’re here again when I come home, then I’ll be showing them the door.’ He snorted. ‘Don’t you be getting big ideas, or I’ll knock them out of yer. And I hope yer haven’t forgot I need a shilling to go to work tomorrow. Pass it over now, before I forget.’

There came a pounding on the front door, and Annie threw her husband a look of contempt before she went to let Jenny and Ben in. And such was their relief to see she was all right, she found herself being pressed against the wall as they both flung their arms round her. ‘How are yer, Mam?’ Jenny asked. ‘What’s been going on?’

‘Yeah,’ Ben told her, ‘Danny was watching for me coming up the street, and he called me in there. But neither him nor Mr Fenwick would tell us why we couldn’t come home.’

‘As yer can see, sweethearts, I’m fine.’ Annie removed their arms from her neck. ‘I had some of the neighbours in for a game of cards.’ She winked, nodded to the living room and whispered, ‘Yer dad’s in there, but not very happy.’

Jenny pulled a face. ‘That’s nothing new, he’s never happy.’

Annie put a finger to her lips. ‘Less said the better, sweetheart. I’ll tell you and Ben all about it in the morning.’

‘Don’t be bleeding whispering out there.’ Tom’s voice came through to them, but it wasn’t as loud as usual. ‘Get in here and make me a cup of tea.’ When the trio entered the room, he curled his lip in a sneer. ‘You two can get up the bleeding stairs, it’s time yer were in bed. I want to have words with yer lazy good-for-nothing mother.’

‘Oh, no.’ Annie shook her head, and waved her hand to the chairs round the table. ‘Hang yer coats up, then sit yerselves down. I’ll make us all a cup of tea.’ Her eyes dared her husband to argue. ‘And I’ll be going up to bed when they go. I’m sleeping in Jenny’s bed.’

Tom had to salvage some pride, and there was only one way he could think of. ‘Then before yer bugger off, give me the shilling I need for tomorrow. Don’t tell me yer’ll give it to me in the morning, I want it now.’

‘I haven’t got a shilling to spare,’ Annie told him, ‘and yer know that ’cos I’ve already told yer. If I give yer a shilling, I won’t be able to buy any food for the dinner.’

Tom sat forward and pointed a finger at Jenny. ‘I’ll have it off you then, buggerlugs.’

‘I haven’t got a shilling!’ Jenny’s voice was shrill. ‘Where d’yer
think I’d get that from? By the time I’ve given me mam her housekeeping, I don’t have much over. Don’t forget I’ve got tram fare to pay.’

‘I don’t give a bugger whether yer have to walk to work or not.’ Tom was in his element now, having someone to boss around who was still afraid of him. ‘Pass yer handbag over and I can see for meself.’

‘Some hope you’ve got!’ Jenny was determined. ‘Yer’ll not get yer filthy hands in my bag. Why can’t yer go without one of yer pints of beer if ye’re short of money?’

Tom made a growling sound as he put a hand on each of the chair arms and pushed himself up. ‘That does it! I’ll not have a bleeding chit of a girl talk to me like that.’ He grabbed a handful of Jenny’s hair and pulled it tight. ‘Get the money out of yer bag before I pull this patch of hair out.’

Annie looked on in horror. What was it going to take to teach her husband a lesson? She remembered Gordon’s words about knocking for him or Joe any time she was in trouble. But she couldn’t do it five minutes after they’d left. ‘Take yer hand off her or yer’ll get the teapot on yer head.’

‘I can give yer sixpence,’ Ben said, hoping to stop what looked like trouble brewing. ‘Will that do yer?’

‘You keep yer nose out of it, yer little sod.’ Tom began to pull on Jenny’s hair. ‘If I say I need a shilling, then that’s what I want.’

‘Let go of her hair, and we’ll see what we can scrounge together,’ Annie said, as her daughter screwed up her eyes in pain. ‘Do it right now, or I’ll make sure you suffer for it.’ She lifted a heavy glass vase from the sideboard and raised it above her head. ‘Let go now, or so help me I’ll smash this on yer head.’

Tom relaxed his grip on Jenny’s hair, but didn’t let go. He knew he’d get what he wanted in the end. Annie would do
anything to stop her children being hurt. ‘Get the money on the table, where I can see it.’

‘Here’s my sixpence.’ Ben placed the silver coin on the table. ‘I can’t give any more, Mam, ’cos I need to pay me fare to work.’

Annie opened a drawer in the sideboard and brought out her purse. ‘I’ll put the other sixpence down, but ye’re cutting off yer nose to spite yer face. Don’t come moaning to me when tomorrow’s dinner isn’t to yer liking. I can’t produce money out of the air.’

‘I’ll let yer have threepence, Mam,’ Jenny said. ‘It’s not much, but it might help.’

With the coins in his hand, Tom Phillips felt he’d won a victory. Those two fellers from next door, they thought themselves better than him. The silly buggers. Wait until tomorrow, when he was enjoying himself, he’d be the one having the last laugh.

Across the street, in the Fenwick house, Ada, Jimmy and Danny were sitting round the table, a cup of tea in front of them. The two children were in bed, so there was no need for Ada to think before she spoke. ‘I honestly think the man’s got a screw loose. He’s definitely not right in the head.’ She chuckled, then pulled a face. ‘I know it’s nothing to laugh about, but I can’t help meself. Yer should have seen the looks on Jean’s and Edith’s faces when Tom Phillips told them to “bugger off”. He followed this up by calling me a “cheeky cow”, then threatened to take his belt to us.’ Again she chuckled. ‘Mind you, their faces were nothing compared to Tom Phillips’s face when Gordon Bowers asked, “Are you threatening my wife?” Yer see, he hadn’t seen Gordon and Joe come up behind him.’

‘I’d love to have been there,’ Danny said. ‘I just hope that Gordon and Joe put the fear of God into him. Perhaps he’ll calm down now, and the family see an improvement in their lives. Jenny is a lovely girl. She shouldn’t have to put up with a father like that.’

‘If yer want me honest opinion, I’d say I don’t think anything that happened tonight will make a scrap of difference to Tom Phillips. The man is completely bonkers. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if, right this minute, he’s back to making life hell for Annie and the kids. The only way to cure a man like him is with a dose of arsenic.’

Jimmy raised his brow. ‘That’s a bit drastic, isn’t it? I agree he needs a good hiding, but I draw the line at murder.’

‘That was a slight exaggeration on my part, sunshine,’ Ada said. ‘And notice I said a slight exaggeration, ’cos if I had married Tom Phillips, I’d have either killed him or left him two days after the wedding. He’s a dreadful man, an insult to all males. I feel heartily sorry for Annie, and the kids. Although I do think Annie is partly to blame for not cutting him down to size many years ago.’

‘It’s not too late, Mam,’ Danny said. ‘Something has to be done, ’cos they can’t spend the rest of their lives with a madman. Jenny and Ben can’t, anyway. When they’re earning enough money they’ll want to spread their wings and enjoy life.’ He shook his head. ‘Having said that, I don’t think they’ll ever leave their mother. They’re devoted to her.’

Ada tilted her head. ‘How did yer get on with Jenny at the dance? Was her dancing good enough for yer?’

‘She’s very stubborn, Mam. Insisted on paying her own tram fare, and I had to argue with her before she’d let me pay for her dance ticket. She’s definitely got a mind of her own.’

‘If she seems a bit difficult to get on with, yer’ve got to make allowances for her. Having a father like Tom Phillips is bound to have had an effect on her. Not only on her, but the whole family. They’ve been hounded out of every home they’ve had, because of his rotten behaviour. And Jenny is bound to feel ashamed, knowing we know what’s going on. She probably feels embarrassed, and that’s why she was on the offensive with yer. I doubt she’s ever had a boyfriend in her life.’