Tiger Bay Blues (5 page)

Chapter Three

‘Are you absolutely sure Charlie Moore didn’t hurt you, Judy?’ Jed King sat beside his niece on the sofa in the Evanses’ sitting room and looked earnestly into her eyes.

Judy’s voice was huskier than ever. ‘He put his hands around my neck and tore my frock, but he was too drunk to do anything else. To be honest, Uncle Jed, I think he even tore my frock by accident. The lace caught in his signet ring. You won’t tell the police, will you?’ She looked at him in alarm. ‘Remember what happened to Diane Robertson?’ She turned from her uncle to Lloyd, who was standing in front of the hearth. ‘Please, Mr Evans,’ she begged, ‘don’t call the police.’

‘We can’t simply ignore what Charlie Moore did to you,’ Lloyd said firmly. ‘He attacked you. He could attack another girl.’

‘That’s a risk we’ll have to take, Mr Evans. For Judy’s sake,’ Jed interrupted.

‘But the man could have killed her.’

‘We all know what he had on his mind and it wasn’t murder.’ Jed glanced apologetically at Sali, who was sitting in one of the easy chairs. ‘Diane Robertson was a friend of Judy’s. She was  …’ He cleared his throat uneasily. ‘She was attacked by the son of one of the high-ups in a bank in Bute Street.’ He didn’t have to say any more. Lloyd and Sali knew he meant raped. ‘Diane’s father was a West Indian seaman, her mother Welsh, from Newport. Having faith in British justice, they insisted the police prosecute the boy. But his family are rich; they employed a barrister who painted Diane as a loose woman. She was only fourteen, and worked as a daily maid to two spinsters. One of her brothers walked her to and from work, and she wasn’t allowed out in the evenings except with her family. Apart from the one time she ran down to Bute Street in the evening when she wanted to buy some cotton thread and her brothers were out. The character references the family priest and her teachers gave in court didn’t make any difference to the judge, or to Diana’s employers. They sacked her, she lost her reputation and the boy walked away scot-free.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Lloyd sympathised.

‘That would be bad enough if it was the end of it, but it wasn’t. Not wanting to bring any more disgrace on her family, Diane ran away from home. Her mother hoped she’d gone to London or one of the other big cities to look for work. Two months later they found her body in the dock. She’d drowned herself.’

‘I can see why you don’t want me to call the police,’ Lloyd murmured.

Judy stared down at her hands in her lap. She’d spent the last twenty minutes upstairs with Sali and Edyth. Fortunately, Edyth was the same size as her and she’d given her a blue organza frock to replace her torn evening gown. Sali had also made her a present of a lace scarf, which she’d wrapped around her neck to hide the bruises.

‘I don’t want to think what might have happened if Miss Evans hadn’t knocked on the door of the cloakroom when she did,’ Judy whispered hoarsely, ‘but I’m not badly hurt. The bruises will fade. I couldn’t bear to go to the police. They’d ask all sorts of questions. Want to make me out to be a bad girl …’

‘It’s not easy for coloured people to get justice in this country, Mr Evans.’ Jed looked Lloyd in the eye.

‘Or anyone from the working classes,’ Lloyd commented.

Judy rose to her feet. ‘I’ll go out to the band.’

Jed pulled her back down on to the sofa. ‘There’ll be no more band or singing for you tonight, Judy. If Mrs Evans doesn’t mind, I’d prefer you to stay here and rest for a while.’

‘Don’t worry, Mr King, I’ll look after her.’ Sali smiled at the girl. ‘Let’s go into the kitchen and get you a hot drink. That might soothe your throat.’

‘I’d also appreciate it if you keep what happened quiet,’ Jed said. ‘Obviously your daughter, Toby and Harry saw it …’

‘Toby told the boys that Charlie had passed out in the cloakroom and Miss Hamilton was trying to help him,’ Lloyd answered. ‘So I think I can safely say it won’t go any further.’

‘It’s not because of gossip. If my brother Tony ever finds out what Charlie Moore did to Judy, he’d kill him.’

Sali shuddered. There was an expression in Jed King’s eyes that told her he was deadly serious. She left her chair at a knock on the door.

Harry walked in. ‘I’m not disturbing you, am I?’

‘No,’ Lloyd answered. ‘Mr King and Miss Hamilton don’t want to call the police.’

‘Toby was afraid they might not. But, given the influence of the Moore family, he can understand their reluctance. That’s why I’m here. We have to do something with Charlie.’

‘As Toby invited him to the wedding, perhaps he can suggest something?’ Lloyd said drily.

‘As we see it, we have two options: you can call the police and have him arrested, but,’ Harry flashed a quick glance at Judy, ‘only for being drunk and disorderly.’

‘At a private party?’ Lloyd questioned sceptically. ‘That reflects badly on our ability to look after our guests. But then, given what happened to Miss Hamilton, we certainly failed miserably when it came to that duty.’

‘However,’ Harry continued, ‘Toby found twenty pounds in Charlie’s wallet when we were cleaning him up after he’d been sick. We could call a taxi, put him in it and send him to his father’s house in Cardiff. Toby has the address. And Toby’s offered to write to Charlie to tell him that after the way he behaved today, he is no longer welcome in this house, or his.’

‘What do you think of that idea, Miss Hamilton?’ Lloyd asked.

‘I don’t care what happens to that man as long as I don’t have to see him again.’

‘I wish you would allow me to call the police. But I understand why you don’t want me to.’ Lloyd walked to the sideboard and picked up the brandy decanter. ‘Can I pour you a drink, Mr King, Miss Hamilton?’

‘Please,’ Jed answered for both of them. ‘There is one other thing that perhaps you don’t know, Mr Evans. Charlie Moore is well-known down Tiger Bay. His grandfather founded Moore’s shipping agency, his father Edward runs it, and most of the seamen in our family as well as our friends and neighbours are dependent on the firm for their jobs.’

‘That doesn’t give Charlie Moore the right to behave the way he did. Rich and poor should be equal under the law, but as I’ve discovered, that is often far from the case.’ Lloyd handed over the brandies he’d poured.

‘If you found that out while working for a white man’s union, Mr Evans, imagine what it’s like for a black man. The Moores have money and influence. We have none. I love Judy dearly, but I agree with her. A woman’s reputation is easily lost, and, once gone, is never recovered.’

Lloyd poured himself and Sali brandies, then held up the bottle to Harry.

‘No, thanks. Toby and I have taken Charlie next door. I’ll ask David and some of the other boys to put him in the taxi and make sure the driver has his father’s address. In the meantime, I’d better drive Toby and Bella to the station.’

‘What happened to Judy was horrible …’

‘I’m sorry I told you about it,’ Edyth interrupted Bella.

‘I’m glad you did. I never liked Charlie Moore,’ Bella said vehemently. ‘His father and grandfather are nice, but there’s something horrid and spooky about Charlie.’

‘I agree, but Toby had to be nice to him because of all the work the Moores put his way,’ Edyth reminded her.

‘Well, Charlie Moore won’t be allowed to put a foot over my doorstep, I can tell you.’

‘Forget him, Belle. You’re going on honeymoon, remember?’ Edyth laid the lace veil carefully on the bed and folded it between sheets of tissue paper.

Belle went to the window and gazed out over the lawn. The band was playing ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ in slow tempo, and several couples were dancing, arms locked around one another, on the wooden platform. ‘I bet the party is going to go on for hours.’ She picked up her wide-brimmed, cream straw hat from her dressing table, set it on her head and angled it first one way then another.

‘Of course it will.’ Edyth handed her sister her pearl-headed hatpin.

‘Thank you, for your sisterly consolation.’

‘You don’t need consoling.’ Edyth looked around the room to see if Bella had forgotten anything. ‘You’re dressed like a film star, you’ve a suitcase full of brand new clothes that wouldn’t disgrace a duchess and in an hour you’ll be on a sleeper leaving Cardiff for Southampton. Tomorrow night you’ll be cruising across the Atlantic to New York on the
Olympic.
And that’s without bringing Toby into the equation. I’ve never even
seen
a ship with a swimming pool, let alone America.’

‘But you can stay at the party and flirt with as many boys as you want.’ Bella finally adjusted her hat to her satisfaction and secured it.

‘You’d rather change places with me and give up your honeymoon with Toby so you can flirt with boys?’

‘No.’ Bella’s mouth twitched and her eyes glittered, suspiciously damp.

‘Sorry you married Toby?’ Edyth questioned in concern.

‘Of course not.’

‘You’re worried because tonight’s the night?’ Edyth ventured.

Bella lowered her voice. ‘That night was two years ago, and it was fantastic, but don’t tell anyone. Although I think Mam suspects, and I don’t doubt she’s told Dad. They can’t keep anything from one another.’

‘You and Toby …’

‘Wait until you fall in love, Edyth.’ Bella exercised all the authority birth had bestowed on her as the eldest sister. ‘I promise you, once you find the right one, you won’t be able to think of anyone else or keep your hands off him. Or he you. And in this day and age you don’t have to. Because making love doesn’t have to result in a baby unless you want it to. But that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to my honeymoon. The best part will be not having to sneak around when we want to make love and waking up next to Toby in the same bed every morning after lying naked next to him all night. There,’ she faced Edyth, ‘What do you think?’

‘I think you look gorgeous and the hat is beautiful. But –’

‘We’ll have long talks when I come back. Don’t forget we’ll be living next door until our house is finished and even then we’ll only be five minutes away.’

‘And I’ll be in Swansea teacher training college – if I pass my exams,’ Edyth added.

‘Of course you’ll pass them, and you’ll only be there in term-time.’ Bella hugged Edyth again. ‘Thank you for helping me to choose my trousseau, the wedding dresses and the flowers. And making the buttonholes. And a special thank you for putting up with my grumpy moods for the last couple of months. And looking after the little ones in church and stopping them from tripping up Toby and me with that basket.’ Her voice wavered. ‘I’ve been horrible to you over the years, Edie. Bossing you around just because I was a year older. We’ve had so many fights …’

‘Haven’t we?’ Edyth said cheerfully. But her voice cracked when she confessed, ‘But I’ve always loved you, Belle -’

‘I hope that isn’t crying I’m hearing, because if it is, I’ll be joining you.’ Sali walked in. She opened her arms and Bella went to her.

‘Be happy, darling. You’ve a good husband who loves you very much.’ Sali embraced Bella carefully so as not to crease her coffee and cream wild-silk outfit.

‘Mam …’ Bella reached for her handkerchief, ‘you and Dad … I – we – Toby and me – we can never thank you enough … I love – we both love you … ’

‘Your father and I know, darling.’ Sali released her. ‘But there’s no time for speeches. You two have been gossiping up here for far too long as it is. Everyone’s waiting to wave you off, and be warned, Auntie Megan and Auntie Rhian have been handing out bags of confetti so you and Toby can expect to get covered.’

‘Did I hear someone take my name in vain?’ Toby left Harry’s room and looked in through the open door. He’d changed from his morning suit into a lounge suit and was carrying his coat, hat and a travelling rug.

Harry ran up the stairs. ‘I’ve put your and Belle’s cases in my car, Toby. I thought you two were honeymooning for six weeks.’

‘We are.’ Toby offered Bella his arm. ‘Mrs Ross?’

‘From the amount of luggage Belle’s taking, I assumed you were emigrating.’

‘I’m expecting several climate changes,’ Bella replied defensively.

‘Toby never said anything to me about taking you to the Arctic Circle. Come on,’ Harry chivvied, as Toby gazed lovingly into Bella’s eyes, ‘if you don’t get a move on you’ll miss your train.’

‘It’s good of you and Mary to drive us to Cardiff, Harry, so we won’t have to change trains,’ Toby said gratefully. ‘We appreciate it.’

‘You won’t be so appreciative if you end up spending your wedding night in the waiting room on Cardiff station.’

Toby and Bella walked along the landing, and Harry shouted loudly down the stairs, ‘They’re coming!’

Confetti showered down when Toby and Bella stepped on the top stair. They looked up to see Glyn and their younger cousins shaking bags over them from between the banisters on the attic staircase. Laughing, they ran down to the hall, with multi-coloured flecks of paper falling on them from all directions.

‘You look like rainbow snowmen.’ Joey kissed Bella’s cheek and offered Toby his hand. ‘That’s my niece you’ve got there, look after her. If you don’t, you’ll have me to answer to.’

‘Not to mention all the other men in the family. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her. Can I call you Uncle Joey now?’ Toby joked when he shook Joey’s hand firmly.

‘Plain Joey will do.’

‘Your name may be Ross, but you’re one of us, and an Evans now.’ Victor looked to the door. ‘Lloyd’s waiting at the car.’

Bella hugged and kissed Mari and Judy, who was at the old woman’s side, and everyone else she could reach.

‘Your bouquet, Belle.’ Maggie picked it up from the hall stand where Bella had left it when she went upstairs to change. She thrust it at her. ‘You have to throw it, so we’ll know who is going to be next.’

Bella looked at her sisters and cousins lining the stairs. ‘Catch!’ She turned her back and flung her bouquet over her shoulder.

Maggie and Beth reached forward at the same time but Maggie knocked it wide and it fell neatly into Edyth’s hand. When she looked up, Peter Slater was clapping and cheering along with everyone else. He leaned close to her ear so she could hear him above the noise.