Try a Little Tenderness (22 page)

‘And I’m putting all me pocket-money away every week until I’ve got enough saved up.’ Laura piled it on, thinking how easy it was to fool her parents. It would be no hardship to her to save her money, she never went anywhere without a boy paying for her. All she ever bought for herself was make-up, and she wouldn’t be doing that for long. Staying out late meant she could go to dances and meet someone with enough money to buy her presents. ‘Me and Cynthia are going to stay in every night, playing cards, or perhaps going for walks, so it’ll only be a couple of weeks before I have enough saved for a coat.’

Stan raised his brows at Mary as he pushed his chair back, and she knew he was asking if this was the turning point, that their daughter was at last growing up. She answered with a smile, and a shrug which said not to bank on it, because only time would tell.

‘I’m on me way, love.’ Stan bent to kiss her cheek. ‘Don’t bother coming to the door with me, finish yer tea. I’ll see yer tonight.’

‘Don’t forget, all three of yer, I want the dinner over as
soon as possible tonight. I’m starting to scrape the wallpaper off, and Amy and Mrs Moynihan are coming to give me a hand. All the furniture has to be pulled away from the walls before they come.’

‘Me and Janet will give yer a hand, Mam,’ Jenny said. ‘We’re not going anywhere.’

‘I’d offer to help,’ Laura was thinking of her birthday money, ‘but I’ve promised to see Cynthia and she’ll expect me. If yer want me to, though, I could slip down and tell her I can’t make it.’

‘No, I want yer both out of the way. The place will be crowded as it is.’ Habits died hard with Mary, and she couldn’t let her husband go without seeing him to the door and waving him off. And as she followed him into the hall, she added, ‘I’ll have yer dad here, he’ll be getting stuck in, same as the rest of us.’

Stan laughed as he stepped into the street. ‘Yer don’t really want me here, not with three jabbering women, do yer? Why don’t I go for a pint with Seamus and I’ll be out from under yer feet?’

‘How soft you are, Stan Nightingale! Me and me mates slaving away, while you and Seamus Moynihan prop the bar up!’

‘Okay, love, but it was worth a try.’

‘I was only pulling yer leg, sunshine. Of course yer can go for a pint, as long as yer don’t come staggering home, singing at the top of yer voice.’

Stan was chuckling as he walked away. ‘That’ll be the day.’

‘Sure, I’ll come and give yer a hand, so I will.’ Seamus pushed his plate away and rubbed his tummy. ‘That was altogether a fine meal, me darlin’, fit for a king and no mistake. Not another bite could I eat, I’m full to the brim.’

‘I’ll bet if anyone offered yer a pint, yer’d not be too full for that.’ Molly gazed with satisfaction at her husband’s
empty plate. Clean as a whistle, it was. Sure, wasn’t he a great man to feed, eating everything you put down before him? ‘I’d like to see the day when Seamus Moynihan refused a pint.’

‘I’d have to be offered one to refuse it, me darlin’, and I don’t hear yerself offering.’

‘I’m not, no, ’cos I’ve got better things to do with me money. But Stan Nightingale has offered. According to Mary, he’s terrified of being alone with a gang of women.’

‘I’ll not be blaming the man, for it’s a frightening prospect, so it is. And I’ll not be letting a mate down in his hour of need.’

Mick, who had been listening with interest, wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. ‘That was really tasty, Mam, I didn’t half enjoy it.’

‘It does me heart good to know that, son.’ Molly stood up and began to gather in the plates. ‘I’ll get these washed and then take meself over the road.’

‘I’m not doing anything tonight, Mam, I could give a hand stripping the walls.’

‘What! A young lad with a gang of old women? Yer’d be bored stiff in ten minutes, me darlin’, so yer would.’

‘Jenny’s not an old woman, Mam.’

‘Jenny! What’s Jenny got to do with it?’

When Mick smiled, his eyes twinkled, his teeth shone and his dimples deepened. ‘Well, it’s like this, Mam. I’m waiting for her to grow up so I can ask her to be me girlfriend. And I just thought that rather than waste me time while I’m waiting, I could put it to good use by getting to know her better.’

Seamus let his head drop back and roared with laughter. ‘It’s good taste yer have, son, and it’s right that yer don’t let the grass grow under yer feet.’

Molly plonked herself down again. ‘If Mary Nightingale could hear you two, she’d box yer ears for yer. The girl’s only fourteen, for heaven’s sake!’

‘Fourteen and seven months, to be exact, Mam.’ Mick’s grin didn’t falter. Nothing was going to put him off. ‘I’m waiting until she’s fifteen, then I’ll ask her mam and dad if I can take her to the pictures.’

‘D’yer not think it would be better to ask the girl herself, first?’ Seamus asked, highly amused. ‘Unless it’s her mother yer want to take to the pictures.’

‘Seamus Moynihan, don’t yer be putting ideas into the boy’s head. Jenny’s a lovely girl and I’m very fond of her, but she’s only fourteen.’ Molly leaned over and patted her son’s hand. ‘Bide yer time, sweetheart, let her grow up a bit first.’

‘It’s a short memory yer have, me darlin’,’ Seamus said, a loving smile on his face. ‘Sure, how old were you when I started calling on yer?’

‘I was older than Jenny is,’ Molly said, blushing. ‘Quite a bit older.’

‘It’s forgetful ye’re getting in yer old age, me darlin’, because yer were fourteen when we started walking out together. I remember it as clear as anything. My mother told me to wait, like ye’re telling Mick, here. But I wasn’t having any of that, indeed I wasn’t. Yer were the prettiest girl in the village and I wasn’t going to take a chance on another boy coming along and claiming yer for himself.’

Molly had a faraway look in her eyes as memories came flooding back. If the young, handsome Seamus Moynihan hadn’t made the first move, sure wouldn’t she have thrown all caution to the wind and made it herself? There’d been plenty of lads giving her the eye, right enough, but there was only one she ever wanted. The first time he’d looked into her eyes he’d stolen her heart, and it was still in his possession.

‘Haven’t yer always said, Mam, that I take after me dad?’ Mick took advantage of the situation. ‘Well, this proves how right yer were.’

Molly tutted as she pushed herself to her feet. ‘So the
two men in me life are taking sides against me, eh? Well, I’ll have no part of it, me lips stay sealed.’

‘Could yer not open them a little bit and put in a good word for me?’ Mick grinned. ‘Tell Mrs Nightingale I come highly recommended by yerself? Yer could drop little hints, like what a good bloke I am, and how handy I am around the house. I mean, yer could even go as far as to say I’d make someone a good husband.’

Molly was chuckling silently as she made her way to the kitchen door. There she turned, and said, ‘Yer’ve cheek enough for anything, so yer have, Michael Moynihan. I’d not be surprised if yer didn’t ask me to propose to Jenny for yer.’

‘Oh, I’ve a long way to go before then, Mam. But I’ll certainly bear yer offer in mind ’cos I might just need a bit of help. Especially as John Hanley has his eye on her as well, and he has the advantage of living next door to her.’

Molly put the dishes on the drainboard then stood for a while, deep in thought. They’d been pulling her leg and she’d fallen for it like a ton of bricks. She should have had more sense, knowing Mick was as bad as his father for acting daft. So she walked back into the living room with her hands on her hips. ‘I’ve a good mind to turn the tables on yer, Mick Moynihan, and tell Mary all yer’ve said.’

‘Oh yes, please, Mam! I knew yer wouldn’t let me down. Yer see, if I don’t pull me socks up, John will get in before me and I won’t stand a chance.’ Mick’s grin was wide. ‘For all I know, they might be tapping messages to each other through the bedroom wall.’

Molly shook her head. ‘The joke’s over now, me darlin’, so let it rest. But yer had me going for a while, I have to admit.’

‘Mam, it wasn’t a joke, I’ve never been more serious in me life. I want Jenny Nightingale to be me girlfriend, and when we’re older, I want her to be me wife.’

Molly looked across at Seamus. ‘Is he having me on?’

‘I’d say he was very serious, me darlin’, and I have to say I’m altogether surprised that yer haven’t noticed how often he stands at the window waiting for Jenny to put in an appearance. He’s fair smitten with the girl, so he is.’

‘He’ll get fair smitten if Mary or Stan hear about it. And what’s this about John? He’s yer best mate!’

‘I know he’s me best mate, Mam, but not where Jenny’s concerned. We’ve both agreed that it’s every man for himself, and may the best man win. And I’m sure yer wouldn’t like yer son to be anything but the best, would yer? I mean, there’s such a thing as family pride, blood being thicker than water, and all that.’

‘I’m fair flummoxed, and that’s putting it mildly,’ Molly said. ‘Are yer telling me that John has his eye on Jenny, and he knows you do, too?’

‘Yeah, I told him ages ago. In this very house, in fact.’

‘And what did he say to that?’

‘Told me to get in the queue.’ Mick’s laugh ricocheted off the walls. ‘But I told him there was no queue, we stood side by side at the starting line.’

‘I give up.’ Molly glanced at the clock and tutted. ‘I’m leaving you two to wash the dishes, I should be over the road by now, they’ll think I’m not coming.’ She got to the door and hesitated. ‘Any boy who needs his mother’s help to get a girl, Mick Moynihan, doesn’t deserve her, and that’s the truth of it.’ With those parting words, she banged the front door behind her and hurried across the cobbles chuckling to herself. Sure, wouldn’t she be the happiest woman in the world to have Jenny Nightingale for a daughter-in-law?

‘Amy, for heaven’s sake will yer be careful on that ladder?’ Mary’s heart was in her mouth as she watched the ladder swaying. ‘Come on down and I’ll scrape the top half while you do the bottom. I’m not getting anything done for keeping me eyes on you. Yer’ve got me a nervous wreck.’

‘I’m all right, girl, honest!’ Pressing a hand against the wall for support, Amy turned. With a broad grin on her chubby face, she winked. ‘If I did fall, girl, I’d only bounce back up again.’

Mary screwed her eyes up tight and scratched her nose. ‘Molly, will yer just look at the state of this one. Her face is filthy, there’s bits of wallpaper stuck in her hair, the top button on her dress has come off and she’s showing all she’s got. It’s a good job the men have gone out otherwise I wouldn’t know where to put me face.’

Glad of the break, Molly came to stand next to Mary. ‘Sure, if the men knew what they were missing, they’d be home like a shot, so they would. There’s not many women got as much to show as Amy has, she’s certainly well endowed, right enough.’

When Amy squared her shoulders the ladder swayed precariously and both women ran forward to steady it. ‘What d’yer mean, Molly Moynihan, about me being well endowed?’

‘She means yer’ve got a big bust, soft girl, and yer not half showing it.’ Mary tugged on Amy’s skirt. ‘Come down and set me mind at rest.’

‘The only thing that’ll bring me down this ladder is a cup of tea.’ Amy pursed her lips and nodded. ‘Ye’re a lousy boss, Mary Nightingale, yer don’t look after yer workers proper.’ Gripping the sides of the ladder like grim death, and testing each rung before putting her full weight on it, she came down slowly. ‘Get that bleedin’ kettle on, girl, before I clock yer one.’

‘A fifteen-minute break, that’s all we’re having.’ Mary wagged a finger in front of her friend’s nose. ‘Yer don’t leave here tonight until all these walls are stripped.’

‘Ye’re a hard woman, Mary Nightingale,’ Amy shouted after her. ‘Ye’re worse than the priest in Saint Anthony’s – at least he only gives yer six Hail Marys. Ten minutes and yer’ve paid for yer sins and all is forgiven.’

‘That’s because yer only tell him the little sins. If yer told him what yer really get up to, yer’d still be saying yer prayers when they closed the church and yer’d be locked in.’

‘Ay, now, girl, we’ll have less of that! I may be big in the bust, but me lies are only ever little white ones.’

‘I’ll believe yer where thousands wouldn’t.’ Mary grinned as she made her way to the kitchen. And after striking a match under the kettle, she leaned against the sink and listened to her two neighbours.

‘Ay, Molly,’ Amy asked, ‘does well endowed apply to all women with big breasts?’

‘Well, now, me darlin’, it doesn’t only apply to them. People can be endowed in many ways. With a good figure, nice hair, caring nature and good sense of humour.’

‘But it means big, doesn’t it? Like my breasts?’

‘I suppose yer could say that, me darlin’, loosely speaking, of course.’

‘Then my Ben is well endowed, too! He’s—’

Amy’s words were cut off when Mary’s hand covered her mouth. She’d had a feeling her friend was going to come out with something outrageous and she’d shot out of the kitchen like a streak of greased lightning. ‘Don’t you dare, Amy Hanley, don’t you dare.’

Amy’s eyes were wide and innocent. Brushing her friend’s hand away, she asked, in injured tones, ‘In the name of God, girl, what’s this in aid of? I haven’t said nothing wrong.’

‘No, but yer were going to. I know you, Amy Hanley, and I wouldn’t trust yer as far as I could throw yer. D’yer want to shock Molly to the core?’

‘I don’t know what ye’re on about, girl! All I said was that my Ben is well endowed. I can’t see nothing in that to shock Molly – especially to the bleedin’ core.’

‘Well, just leave it at that, sunshine, ’cos we don’t want to know how, when or where, your Ben is well endowed. Keep yer bedroom secrets to yerself.’

Amy’s tummy was rumbling with laughter but she
managed to keep a straight face. ‘Oh, my Ben’s not only well endowed in the bedroom, girl, he’s the same everywhere he goes. I mean, I can’t help it if I’ve got big breasts, no more than he can help what the Good Lord granted him. And fair’s fair, girl, credit where it’s due. There’s not a man in this street who’s got a bigger nose than my Ben.’

Amy’s eyes went from Mary to Molly, waiting for their reaction. And when the laughter came it nearly lifted the roof. Mary held her tummy as she doubled up, tears running down her cheeks, while Molly, head back and loud guffaws coming from her open mouth, beat her fists on the arms of the chair. ‘Glory be to God,’ she gasped, ‘have yer ever in yer whole life met a woman like her?’