Maddie

by Claire Rayner

  ‘You must have worked very hard,’ Maddie said, not sure what response was expected from her, and he stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide and startled and then threw back his head and laughed as though he had never heard so witty a remark, till tears ran down his face and she was seriously alarmed that he would choke.

  ‘Worked hard!’ he managed to splutter at length. ‘Worked hard! I should say I did – but there’s not many as sees it that way, my dear, and that’s the truth of it! I’ve been called a lucky old sod, and a wicked old villain and the devil’s own, and a sight of other much worse names, but you’re right! I was a hardworking businessman, and I still am.’

  He cocked an eye at her then and grinned wickedly. ‘Not working as hard as I did now, not as hard as I did. Don’t need to, you see. Place runs itself, don’t it? Great big office we got there, close on fifty people signin’ on the payroll every week – and doing little enough to earn their money, I can tell you – what need for me to go there? Anyway –’ and he sighed gustily, ‘anyway, it’s not the gas it was. It used to be good fun, you know, the best there was, getting in a consignment, seein’ it on its way, gettin’ past the coastguard and the state cops and the rest of ‘em – oh, it was a man’s business in those days. Now I own all these shops and fruit warehouses and dairies and the rest of it, and building all over the place, and it’s no joy at all. It makes money, but the only use for that is to keep people working and even that gets boring –’

  ‘Maybe you and the boys ought to stretch yourselves even more? Do more exciting things – make even more money –’ she said and grinned at him and decided to take a chance. ‘I’d like to see my Jay making a lot of money. It’d be nice. I’d really like that.’

  He laughed again, but not quite so uproariously this time. ‘I’ll be damned sure you would! What woman wouldn’t! There’s my wife wanting to spend all she can get her hands on on her damned church and orphanages – no, we’ll have none of that. Keep the money in your own hands when you’ve made it, and you stay on top. I’m not lettin’ those lads of mine loose on the business – they do a fair enough job, but they can settle for their wages. The rest goes where it’s meant to go, into a trust for them – they can wait till I die for it.’

  And again he laughed and looked at her sideways, wanting a reaction, wanting to needle her. ‘They can wait till I die for it, you hear me? And that’ll not be for longer than any of you think. My old father only died last year, well over ninety he was, and all his brothers and sisters at home in Ireland still, and his cousins and the rest of ‘em – they all live a long life too. Here’s me only sixty yet – you and your Jay’ll have to wait a good deal yet to get your hands on my money.’

  She smiled lazily. ‘Oh, I don’t want your money, Pa. I want my own –’ and this time his laughter was once more filled with real amusement.

  ‘And how do you plan to get it, then? You a girl and all? Sitting on a fortune every time you sit down, that’s for sure, but that don’t put money in your pocket when you want it. Or does it?’

  And he leaned forwards to pinch her cheeks and leer at her and she became suddenly aware of the fact that the old man was flirting with her. More than that; he was making a definite attempt to grope her. His hand which had been apparently hanging nonchalantly over the arm of his chair was actually reaching under her skirt.

  For a moment she wanted to jump up and shriek; that this old man should behave so was as disgusting as if her own father had and the sense of sudden desolation that filled her as she thought that made her feel even more the need to jump up and away and cry her protest and her fury.

  But she didn’t. She sat tight and stared at him, her eyes wide, willing him to back away, and after a long moment his hand faltered and then withdrew and he leaned back in his chair, and rested his head on the back so that he could stare up at the ceiling. His thick white hair made an aureole round his head, and his cheeks beneath were plump and rosy. It didn’t seem possible that he had behaved as he had. Yet she knew she hadn’t imagined it.

  She sat very still for what seemed a long time, trying to think what to do or say next. Her pulse was beating thickly in her ears, for she had been genuinely frightened. There had been something very brutal about the way he had slid so suddenly into that lascivious mode; she felt soiled as though he had in some way actually abused her, even though in fact his fingers had done no more than touch her thigh and slide beneath the top of her stocking. But mixed with her fear there was a great anger; she shouldn’t have to do things like this, crawl round a dirty old man to get what she needed for herself and her husband – and her baby, she thought almost tearfully – shouldn’t have to tolerate such things as his hateful gnarled and veined hand beneath her skirt. She was entitled to better –

  The thoughts came and went so fast that when she spoke it was as though there had been no lapse of time at all and she said as smoothly as she could, ‘How do I plan to get money for us? Why, by persuading you to do more for my Jay.’ Her voice was soft. ‘It shouldn’t be hard for you, now, should it? There he is, your own flesh and blood, someone you can trust. Why not let him do more in the business, let him make more money? He’ll be the best help you ever had, if you give him the chance. And me of course.’

  She smiled with great sweetness. ‘I’m family now, aren’t I, Pa? Just one of the family? Things ought to be nice in families, everyone happy and comfortable, no one telling tales to anyone if they get upset, no one bothering Mother – I want the family to be like that, because it’s my family now. Isn’t it?’

  ‘Ah, Jay’s well enough,’ the old man said gruffly, still lying back in his chair, not looking at her. ‘He’s got his wages, and he knows when the time comes he’ll get his share of the trust money –’

  ‘You don’t want your own family wishing you dead for want of a little cash, now, do you, Pa?’ she said even more softly and leaned forwards and rested her hand on his, where it lay on his knee. She felt it tighten beneath her grip and wanted to smile, feeling her triumph. But she didn’t, keeping her expression of earnest good sense.

  ‘Not that I’d ever let him be so wicked, but you can’t help human nature, can you? There’s Timothy and Declan too, all as anxious to be successful as you are, and what chance have they, all together there in State Street? It ought to be done differently, Pa, didn’t it? The way it was when you were a lad and making your own way – with chances for everyone to make their mark in their own special way.’

  He lifted his head now and looked down at her hand, still resting on his, and she smiled back at him and lifted one brow slightly and then let go of his hand and sat back further on her stool. And looked over her shoulder towards the dining room where Blossom sat and then back at him, still smiling, and though she hadn’t said a word he seemed to understand.

  ‘I’ll talk to Jay, then,’ he said, still gruffly. ‘Give the lad another chance. He made a fair old mess before he went away but he seems to have done well enough in London with your father – and came back with you, and you’re no fool, are you? No, you aren’t – well, I’ll see what I can do. But don’t go getting any big ideas, now. I’m not as daft as I look, nor as easy to push around –’

  ‘Of course you’re not. You’re just my dear Pa, aren’t you?’ And she got to her feet and leaned over and very deliberately kissed his mouth, and was away from his reach before he realised what she had done. ‘It’s great to have you to look to, now I’ve left my own Daddy so far away. I’ll tell Jay what you said tonight –’

  He was staring up at her and the pupils of his eyes were so dilated that they looked black, and his mouth was partly open and his lower lip lax. ‘And while you’re talking to Jay, Pa, you ought to give a bit of thought to Timmy. He’s not happy, you know. You ask Rosalie – he has so many ambitions! I’d let him do what he wants to do, you know. Jay’ll do well enough for you if Timmy isn’t there. You’ll see. He’ll have me to watch over him, do you see –’

  She straightened her back
and turned to go, still smiling down at him and then, as she turned her head, she saw Blossom standing at the top of the shallow steps that led down into the sitting room and staring at her with her face so blank of expression that it could have been carved in wood. There was nothing else Maddie could do but smile at her and say, ‘Hello, Mother. Have you had a pleasant rest? Shall I see if lunch is ready yet? Pa and I have been having such a nice talk together!’

  It took rather less time than she had feared it would. Rosalie, clearly much struck with the value of having her beloved Timmy in need of a respectable family life, lost no time in talking to her brother Joe. She actually went to Washington to see him, sending Blossom a message that she wouldn’t be able to visit for a few days since she had to be away. Maddie, who knew where she had gone, was greatly amused to see how put out Blossom was. She had made it clear to everyone that she merely tolerated Rosalie’s visits because she was sorry for her and had made no effort to show her any real liking, but now she wasn’t there to dance attendance and to fetch and carry, Blossom was annoyed.

  More than that, she was angry with Maddie’s presence, and though Maddie had played with the idea of slipping into Rosalie’s shoes and being charming to her mother-in-law, she soon realised what a wasteful effort that would be. Much better to have her mother-in-law loathe her; then perhaps she too would put pressure on Jay to get a home of his own so that he could take his wife out of Blossom’s way …

  So Blossom moved about her house more blank-faced than ever and had more disagreements with Mary Margaret than ever – who became even louder in consequence, if that were possible – and Maddie went on sitting beside Pa each morning, and sometimes into the afternoon too, when he chose not to bother to go to State Street today – ‘as it’s so cold, you know, damned cold,’ he’d say to Liam when he brought the car – as Blossom became more and more angry.

  But all her efforts came to fruition on one Friday evening over dinner. It had been a dreadful day, with the snow falling relentlessly from a steel grey sky, and the brothers had been late getting back from the office, even though Liam had put the snow chains on the car and driven with greater speed than was considered safe in such treacherous conditions. Their lateness made Mary Margaret more fractious than ever, for she had baked a steak pie ‘and it don’t stand easy’ she shouted at Blossom, furious when she told her dinner would be delayed by half an hour and that neither of the girls would be in for it, for they were staying downtown to go to a theatre with the latest of the young men they were considering. That in turn made Blossom icier than was even her wont, so by the time they sat down at table the only people who didn’t look uneasy were Maddie and Pa, both of whom were well pleased with themselves.

  They had been plotting all week, and now their plans were coming right. The old man had so enjoyed the way, as he said, he was putting one over on that old Blossom Bryan that he seemed to have lost sight of the fact that the plans were all Maddie’s, and that he himself was having one put over on him. But that didn’t matter, for he was livelier and happier than he had been for some time, and it showed. Watching him, as he put his knife into the pie that Mary Margaret set in front of him, and then grinned at his sons and said, ‘Wait till you taste this – it’s the best she’s made for years, the old besom – you’ll see,’ she wondered why she had been so angered by the way he had tried to make a pass at her. What did it matter, after all? He’d done her no harm, and she’d more than got her own back, as they were all to find out, any minute now.

  In fact, half an hour later, as the last plates were being swept up by a muttering Mary Margaret and the coffee was brought in, Timmy coughed and said, ‘Pa, have you told her?’

  Blossom lifted her head. ‘Told who? Told what?’

  ‘You, Mother,’ Timothy said after a moment and pushed his chair back from the table and tilted it on its back legs so that he could stretch himself a little. His heavy square face, already showing signs of jowls though he wasn’t yet thirty, was glowing with anxious sweat in the bright light from the big central chandelier and there was a glitter of reflection of the silver and crystal on the ridge of his nose that made Maddie want to giggle. But she didn’t. She just fixed her gaze on Blossom instead.

  ‘Well?’ Blossom said, staring at her son. Her eyes looked wide and somehow hungry, Maddie thought, as she watched her. As though she wants to eat him.

  ‘Mother, I’m going away,’ he said and looked round the table uneasily. ‘It’s all fixed so I want no fuss from anyone. I’ve talked to Pa, is all, and he says – well, it’s all arranged.’

  ‘Going away?’ Blossom’s voice sounded flat and dull, but there was a world of expression in it, of fear and anger and an indefinable something else. ‘Where?’

  He seemed to swell a little as he lifted his chin and stared back challengingly at his mother. ‘Washington. I’m going to work with Joe Flannery.’

  ‘Joe –’ She swallowed and started again. ‘Rosalie’s brother? Doing what?’

  ‘Oh, Mother, you know perfectly well. If it’s with Joe Flannery, it’s the Democrats, isn’t it? No, don’t look like that. I’ve a better chance with them and it’s what I want. Joe says, another year, maybe two, they can put me forward as a candidate somewhere. That’s better than the Republicans ever offered me. I talked to Pa and he says he can do it. The money’s there to be used, so why not?’

  ‘It’s there for me to use,’ Pa said and slammed his coffee cup back in its saucer. ‘Never you forget it, Timmy! You’ll stay there in the politics game only as long as I choose to pay for you to do it. But –’ He grinned then and stopped trying to look so fierce. ‘Why not, after all? It’ll be good fun, a real gas, to see the old excitement comin’ back. Kincaid all over the papers – it’ll be better this time than it was last. You’ll show the bastards where they were wrong, eh, Timmy? That you will –’

  ‘Indeed I will,’ Timmy said gratefully and then grinned at his brother Declan. Anything rather than look at his mother, Maddie thought shrewdly. ‘So, there you are, Declan, you young devil – you can have that corner office after all. No need to bellyache any more over it –’

  ‘I’m taking that office,’ Jay said smoothly and Maddie threw a brilliant smile at him and he smiled back.

  Of course he was having the best office, Maddie thought. I gave him plenty of warning of what was happening, so he had time to get it all organised. Oh, Jay, it’s going to be so wonderful, now!

  ‘Pa agreed this afternoon that I’m taking over the whole eastern section – yes, I am –’ he shouted as Declan suddenly roared and jumped to his feet. ‘It’s no use you screaming at me, Dec – it’s all agreed. Pa says I do, so I do. It’s a big section and it takes a big man to run it. Not a kid like you. You’ve had your own way for far too long as it is –’ and again he grinned at Maddie.

  ‘And there’s something else, Mother. You ought to be pleased about it,’ Timmy said above the din and Declan subsided as his father leaned across the table and thumped his fist down in front of him. ‘I’m – Rosalie and me. We’re going to try again –’

  ‘Much good that’ll do you!’ Declan roared. His face was red with fury and so sulky that he looked even younger than his twenty-four years. ‘After the way you whined about her and complained how useless she is in bed, and you’re going back to her? You’re a bastard, you know that? You don’t give a shit about her –’

  ‘Be quiet, Declan!’ Blossom said loudly as at the same time Timothy leaned forwards, dropping his chair to its front legs with a crash.

  ‘We all know you had your eye on her,’ he shouted. ‘Well, take them off, right now. She’s my wife, okay? My wife and we’re going to Washington together and there’s an end of it.’

  ‘When?’ Blossom’s voice was thin and tight and glancing at her Maddie could see the anguish in her face. To let any of her sons go was clearly agony for her, and Maddie bent her head and thought, wait till she hears that we’re going too. She thinks she’s got Jay back, but she hasn’
t. We’re getting away from here – we must. It’s hell here with them –

  ‘First of February,’ Timothy said. ‘It’s a while yet, Mother. We have to get a house there and shift our stuff from Tremont Street –’ He leaned back in his chair again, taking it back to its precarious position. ‘Oh, I can’t remember when I’ve felt better about anything! Ain’t it great?’

  ‘To be going away from me?’ Blossom said and bent her head to stare down at the table before her. ‘I must have been a wicked woman to suffer so at the hands of my children. A wicked woman –’ And she reached into her lap for her rosary and her missal, which she carried with her even to the table, and got to her feet. ‘All I ask of life is to have my family about me, to live a decent good life and have my children beside me, and now –’ She shook her head and turned to go, leaving Timothy Two staring at her with his face twisted with uncertainty.

  It was, Maddie decided, a dangerous moment. Much as he wanted to go to Washington, she knew that for Timothy his mother’s demands came high on his list of essentials. It would take very little effort on Blossom’s part to persuade him to reverse his decision and then where would they all be? Something had to be done.

  So she did it. She told them she was pregnant. Even Blossom couldn’t compete with that.

  21

  July 1951

  It was, Maddie decided, a small miracle of timing to give birth to her son as she did on 4 July. She lay in her hot bed in the small hospital room as the contractions jacked themselves up to a great creaking fierceness, hearing the squibs and the Catherine wheels and the firecrackers and squealing rockets outside as she sweated through each wave of pain, and told herself it was worth it. It was worth it, it had to be, and to have her baby on Independence Day was a sign, a promise of good things to happen to her and to her Jay and to the baby too, when it arrived.