by Rosie Harris
‘Downstairs! Get downstairs right this minute you lazy little bint!’
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pushing her hair back from her face Vera reached out for her dressing gown that she’d spread across the bed for extra warmth. Roughly he pushed her hand away. Seizing her by the arm he began to drag her out onto the landing. The noise as she fell against Eddy’s bedroom door brought him out of bed to see what was going on.
In a flash, his hand shot out and grabbed hold of his sister, pulling her into the safety of his room before he faced his father.
‘You trying to push our Vera down the stairs and kill her the same as you did our mam?’ he asked, his voice hoarse with fury.
‘Piss off, you silly young sod, and get back to sleep,’ Mike Quinn told him contemptuously. ‘I want my supper and that lazy little bitch hasn’t left it on the table ready for me.’
‘If you want some supper then go and get it yourself,’ Eddy told him in a sibilant snarl. ‘And make sure you clear up after you as well! Don’t think you can leave your dirty dishes for one of us to deal with in the morning before we go out to work.’
With a muttered oath, Michael Quinn’s fist shot out and slammed Eddy’s head against the door jamb. Vera screamed in terror. She tried to stop Eddy retaliating, but her brother was too quick for her. His punch landed fair and square on his father’s chin, snapping the older man’s head back.
Michael Quinn responded with a belly blow that left Eddy doubled up, but even that didn’t stop him. Fuelled by fury, Eddy hammered at his father with piston-like blows. Some went wide of their mark, but enough were on target to wind the older man and make him retreat. Cursing loudly, he lurched his way downstairs.
Eddy turned to Vera who was shaking with fright. ‘Go on, back to your bed. He won’t bother us any more tonight. He’s probably too drunk to come upstairs again so he’ll sleep in his armchair.’
‘What will happen tomorrow, though?’ she asked anxiously. ‘He won’t let either of us get away with this.’
‘He probably won’t even mention it. He wouldn’t want the whole world to know that his eighteen-year-old son had managed to give him a good hiding.’
Vera shook her head, not at all sure about this. She was grateful for the way that Eddy had stood up for her, but she was scared that it was going to cause trouble and dreaded what form the repercussions would take.
Suddenly she was seeing Eddy in a new light. He was a force to be reckoned with. He might not be very tall but he was now a sturdy young man. It was obvious from his encounter with their father that the time he’d spent as an apprentice in the Merseyside shipyards had developed his muscles.
Vera saw now that it hadn’t been mere boasting when he said that he was as strong as their dad and no longer feared him. He also had the advantage of being more agile and alert than Michael because he was so much younger.
Nevertheless, she was worried. She could only hope that the fracas wouldn’t result in too much bad feeling between them. She knew without being told that the moment Eddy was fully qualified he wouldn’t think twice about walking out of their home if he had any further disagreements with their dad. The fact that he was planning to get engaged to Rita meant that he was already thinking about an independent future.
She shuddered at the thought of being left at home on her own to look after Benny and her father. With Eddy gone it would mean that her dad could bully her as much as he liked and make her life, and little Benny’s, sheer hell because there would be no one there to stand up for them.
At that moment she missed her mother deeply and longed to be able to turn back the tide of events. If they hadn’t defied her dad by going over to New Brighton, if she hadn’t persuaded her mother to take a detour through Wallasey instead of coming straight home, then he might never have known they’d been out for the day.
If there had been a hot meal ready for him, if she’d been the one to go upstairs with Benny …
The series of events raced round and round in her head like buzzing bluebottles until she thought she would go mad. There was nothing she could do about any of it, she told herself. Her mam couldn’t help her now, the future was in her own hands. She had to be strong, she had to do everything she could to make sure that Benny was safe and well looked after and that she didn’t end up being browbeaten like her mother had been.
Chapter Thirteen
Early in 1926, after a miserable Christmas, Vera felt she couldn’t stand it any longer. Looking after their home, coping with her job, and making sure that little Benny was all right, kept her so busy that she had no time for herself. Even though Joan Frith asked her time and time again to go to the pictures or out dancing, she always had to refuse.
In desperation she asked Eddy if he would give up just one evening a week to be there with Benny so that she could go out.
‘It’s difficult enough as it is, Vee,’ he grumbled. ‘As well as giving you a hand here I have to divide up my free time between night school, going out with my mates and seeing Rita.’
‘You’re still seeing her?’ Vera grinned.
‘You know I am! I’ve already told you that once I’ve finished my apprenticeship we’ll get engaged.’
‘In that case, shouldn’t you both be saving up? Rita needs to start a bottom drawer in readiness, you know.’
‘What are you getting at?’ Eddy frowned.
‘Instead of the two of you spending money on going to the pictures and so on, why don’t you stay in occasionally. Bring Rita round here, then you can keep an eye on Benny, and I will be able to have a night out,’ she suggested.
Eddy pursed his lips in a silent whistle. ‘Got it all worked out, haven’t you? Have you spoken to Dad about it. I don’t imagine he’ll go a bundle on the idea. You know what he’s like. He’s never allowed us to bring any friends home.’
‘Yes, I know,’ Vera said, ‘but we can’t leave Benny here on his own with him.’
Eddy nodded glumly. ‘Yes, if Dad decided he wanted to go out for a drink he’d go without a second thought about Benny.’
‘Quite, and if Benny gets upset or does something he doesn’t approve of he’ll …’
‘Thump his bloody skull,’ Eddy said bitterly.
‘That’s right!’
They looked at each other and smiled. ‘We can’t risk it,’ Eddy agreed. ‘Tell you what, you talk to Dad about it, see if he raises any objections, and I’ll ask Rita if she’ll agree to do it.’
It was easier to persuade Rita than their father. Rita had always been curious about Vee’s home, and wondered why it was that in all the time they’d known each other Vee had never invited her for tea.
Added to that she was quite taken by the idea of her and Eddy being able to spend an evening on their own. Her mam and dad made quite sure that whenever she took him back to her place they were never left alone for a second.
‘I can’t guarantee that my dad will go out, mind luv,’ Eddy warned, when she mentioned this fact to him.
‘Have to keep our fingers crossed then, won’t we,’ she giggled.
At first, Michael Quinn was stubbornly against Edmund bringing his girlfriend home.
‘What the hell do you think this place is, a bloody brothel?’ he asked Vera scornfully when she suggested it.
‘Of course not, Dad. Don’t say things like that. They just want the chance to be together, somewhere where they can sit and talk.’
‘Well, let them do it some other place, not here. When I’ve finished work I want to sit down and read the Echo, not listen to the sort of twaddle those two will be nattering on about. Why can’t they go and do it at her house, not here in this bloody tip.’
‘It will give me a chance to have a night out if Rita and Eddy come here,’ Vera persisted.
‘Why the hell do they have to be here because you want to go gallivanting off somewhere?’
‘To keep an eye on young Benny, of course.’
‘What the bloody hell for when I’m here?’
‘So what’s soddin’ wrong with that?’
‘It would mean Benny would be left in the house on his own.’
‘Once the little beggar is in bed and asleep what does it matter whether I’m here or down the boozer?’
‘He might wake up, and if he found himself all on his own, he’d probably be frightened to death.’
‘At his age? What a load of bloody rubbish you come out with sometimes!’ Michael Quinn sneered.
‘No, it’s a fact, Dad. He’s only seven, remember, and he’s still terribly upset over Mam and …’
‘OK!’ he interrupted, ‘S’all right they can come here if you want them to, then. But tell that soddin’ brother of yours that there’s to be no hanky-panky or they’ll be out on their bloody ears before you can blink.’
Vera was overjoyed. ‘I’ll make sure that Benny is in bed before I go out, and I’ll leave some milk and biscuits ready in case he wakes up before I come home,’ she promised Eddy, when she told him the good news.
Eddy tried to warn Rita what their dad was like. ‘He’s selfish, pompous, bad-tempered, bigoted, self-opinionated …’
‘Give up, Eddy,’ Rita laughed. ‘I know he’s no angel, but you’re making him sound like an ogre.’
‘He’s a damn sight worse than that,’ he told her gloomily.
Her grey eyes widened. ‘You’re trying to put me off coming round to your place, aren’t you?’ she said huffily.
‘No, I’m not,’ he assured her. ‘I’m simply warning you so that you won’t be shocked when you find out that most of the time he’s like a bear with a sore head. You ask our Vee!’
Rita looked at him with raised eyebrows. ‘I’m sure you’re exaggerating. Anyway, if I come round tonight then I’ll be able to judge for myself.’
Eddy was on tenterhooks waiting for Rita to arrive. He’d warned her not to put on too much lipstick and asked her to wear the dark green dress that she usually wore to church on Sundays.
‘Are you trying to make me look plain and dowdy?’
‘No! Of course not,’ he said quickly. ‘That frock looks good with the colour of your hair.’
‘A compliment from you at last, Eddy Quinn,’ she smiled, blushing.
‘There’s just one thing,’ she teased, ‘that green dress has quite a low neckline so do you want me to wear a modesty vest?’
He reddened. ‘Come here!’ Holding her plump cheeks between his hands he kissed her deeply.
To Eddy’s astonishment, his dad was so nice to Rita that she was impressed.
‘He’s not a bit like what you said he was, Eddy,’ Rita scolded after Michael Quinn had gone out to the pub.
Eddy shrugged, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘He must have taken a fancy to you, kiddo. Believe me, he’s not like that when he’s talking to our Vee.’
‘Well, he was quite charming to me and my mam says you should take people as you find them,’ she told him firmly.
Although he was mystified by his father’s behaviour Eddy was extremely relieved to find that he hadn’t been rude, or offhand, with Rita and scared her away. Even her barbed comments that their home wasn’t a bit like she’d imagined, and that she would hate to have to live at the back of the shop like they did, didn’t upset him.
Vera thoroughly enjoyed her one night a week out, especially after Joan introduced her to her brother Steve.
Steve Frith was nineteen, which made him three years older than Vera. He was tall, with light brown hair, hazel eyes and a winning smile. Vera was bowled over the moment she met him.
Steve was equally enamoured by his sister’s attractive dark-haired friend and wanted to see more of her. Whenever Joan mentioned that the two of them were going to the pictures, or off to a dance, he suggested that they should make up a foursome. He knew Joan was keen on his best friend, Liam Kelly, a green-eyed, redheaded Irishman who could charm the birds off the trees.
Vee found a whole new world was opening up for her as they happily paired off whenever they went out. She stopped feeling like a drudge and began to take more care over her appearance, vying with Joan to try out new shades of lipstick or other cosmetics.
At first it was pictures or dancing, but when they found how much they enjoyed each other’s company they ventured into doing other things. In fact, it worked so well for all of them that it became a regular arrangement for Eddy and Rita to stay in one night a week and Vera found herself seeing more and more of Steve Frith.
‘Are you and my big brother going steady?’ Joan teased.
‘You’re the one who always brings him along when we go out,’ Vera parried, her blue eyes glowing.
‘He always wants to come and I think it’s because he’s sweet on you!’
‘Or do you want him there so that you can be with Liam Kelly,’ Vera laughed.
The two girls had become very good friends, both at work and in their leisure time.
Without consulting Miss Linacre they helped each other out, making sure that neither of them ever got behind with their work. Vera was now a reasonably proficient typist and it no longer worried her when she was interrupted to attend to the switchboard.
‘Now that the weather is better and it is lighter at nights, why don’t we go to the park with Steve and Liam,’ Joan suggested.
‘Do you think they would want to do that?’
‘We won’t know unless we ask them,’ Joan smiled.
When she did ask, they were not too keen. ‘Well, perhaps one Sunday we could all go to New Brighton for the day,’ Joan suggested.
Vera sighed. ‘That would be smashing, but I couldn’t leave Benny, and I’m not sure if Rita and Eddy would look after him for a whole day,’ she explained regretfully.
‘Then we’ll take him with us! They can come as well if they want to.’
The extended friendships were a new experience for Vera. She found that both Joan and Rita were full of bright ideas on how she could make life easier for herself.
‘Instead of spending Sunday doing the washing, why don’t you take it down to the public washhouse in Upper Frederick Street,’ Rita suggested.
‘It will be full of Slummies! Anyway, I couldn’t afford to do that!’ Vera told her.
‘Yes you could. It wouldn’t cost any more than the coal you use to boil up all the water at home. Anyway, you would only need to go every other week,’ Joan told her. ‘What’s more, while the washing is in the machine you can sit and enjoy the magazines I bring in to work for you. You’re always saying that you never have time to sit and read them.’
Vera laughed. ‘It all sounds wonderful but I change the sheets each week so I’d have a mountain of things to wash if I left it longer than that.’
‘Start changing them every two weeks instead,’ Rita suggested.
‘Mam always …’
‘Your mother didn’t have to do a full-time job as well as look after the home,’ Joan told her quickly. ‘Try changing them every two weeks and see if anyone notices.’
Vera nodded, but she still looked worried. ‘There’s Dad’s shirts, too. He’d run out of clean shirts if I only washed them every two weeks.’
‘Tell him to buy some more,’ Rita prompted. ‘Once he runs out he’ll do it quick enough, you’ll see.’
‘It will only be something else for him to grumble about,’ Vera said gloomily. ‘Still,’ she added with a weak smile, ‘it might take his mind off constantly criticising my cooking.’
‘What’s the matter with your cooking. I’ve always enjoyed the meals I’ve had at your place,’ Rita told her.
‘You haven’t had my lumpy custard or soggy pastry when I make an apple pie, yet, Rita.’
‘Buy ready-made custard,’ Joan said calmly. ‘I think it is better than home-made anyway.’
‘My dad would go mad if I served shop-bought stuff,’ Vera sighed.
‘Don’t tell him! Anyway, it is home-made, the factory where they make it is in Liverp
ool!’ Joan giggled.
‘Yes, and buy an apple pie from Prestwood’s in Great Homer Street. My mam does and she says they’re better than anything she could make.’
Vera shook her head doubtfully, but their suggestions kept buzzing around in her mind. When she finally capitulated she found they were right on all points. The apple pie was delicious, and so was the custard. For the first time since she’d taken over the housekeeping there was a clean plate and no complaints from her father.
Full of confidence she began to sound out Rita and Joan for other labour-saving tips; in fact, anything to make her life easier.
‘My mum hates housework so she’s bound to know plenty of good shortcuts,’ Joan told her. ‘Perhaps you should come to tea one night and ask her yourself about them.’
‘That would be wonderful, but …’
‘You can bring Benny with you, he’d probably enjoy it, he doesn’t have much fun for a little boy does he. Our Steve will love the chance to play with him!’ she promised. ‘Steve’s still got a bedroom full of toys and games that he had when he was a nipper.’
Chapter Fourteen
Vera never failed to be amazed at the ways in which Rita seemed to become more and more a part of their lives. She regularly collected Benny from school, but, instead of taking him to the park, or back to her place when it was raining, she had started delivering the boots and shoes with him.
Both Eddy and Vera really appreciated this. Fitting it in had not been easy. Sometimes when she had been taking a load of washing to the public washhouse Vera had also taken along the boots and shoes that needed to be delivered. While the clothes were in the washing machine she’d dashed around doing her deliveries, praying she’d get back before the boiling cycle was completed. She knew that if she didn’t, someone would empty her washing out so that they could use the machine and, in all probability, she’d return to find everything dumped on the floor.
‘Use the time to sit there and read the stories in the magazines Joan gives you,’ Rita told her. ‘I quite enjoy delivering the boots with Benny. The customers all love him. I send him to the door on his own and they usually give him a biscuit or a sweet. He likes it best of all when they give him a penny, mind. He tells me he’s saving up to buy a bicycle.’