East End Trouble

by Dani Oakley

  “I’m sorry about that,” Linda said as they walked along the street together. “Mum can be very prim and proper about things, and there has been ever so much gossip.”

  Kathleen nodded miserably. When it was just her and Jimmy, it was easier to ignore the gossip. Obviously, she’d noticed the pointed looks in the street, and the fact that people even crossed to the other side of the road to avoid her, but she’d never had a great number of friends, and because Kathleen’s ego was so great, she put it down to the fact that people were jealous. In her mind, most of the silly women responsible for spreading the gossip would give their eye teeth to have a relationship with Martin Morton.

  But for the first time, Kathleen realised perhaps it wasn’t jealousy. Perhaps they really were disappointed in her.

  She didn’t like that idea at all.

  “Your mum is just very old-fashioned. I understand. It’s not your fault.”

  Linda looked at her doubtfully. “Most people around here are quite set in their ways.”

  Kathleen sighed and looked down at Jimmy, who was now sleeping peacefully. Linda peered over the pram and pulled the blanket out of the way so she could see the baby’s face. “He is ever so sweet, and look at that dimple in his chin. I think that gives him character. My grandma always said a dimple in the chin was lucky. It meant you were going to be lucky in money and love… or something like that.” Linda shrugged and smiled. “It’s a good thing anyway.”

  Kathleen beamed down at Jimmy proudly. No matter what anyone said about him, he was definitely a handsome little baby.

  She would bring him up to make sure he wasn’t ashamed of his roots. She wanted him to be proud of his father. One day, she would get Martin to come around to her way of thinking, and he would treat Jimmy as well as his other children. Kathleen had visions of Jimmy, Derek and Ruby all playing happily together in the future. Kathleen was so carried away with her daydream, she hadn’t realised Linda was still talking to her.

  “Hello? Are you even listening to me?”

  “Sorry, Linda. I was just thinking about Jimmy and his future if he stays around here.”

  “Why? You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

  “I get the feeling Martin would prefer it if we weren’t quite so close to Babs.” She shrugged. “He’s agreed to pay me some money every week and find us somewhere to live.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I know everyone around here can be quite judgemental, but at least you know people. If you needed help, you’ve got your mum nearby and you’ve got me.”

  Kathleen smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Linda. That means a lot. But I’m going to do what’s best for Jimmy, and I think that means having a relationship with his father. If Martin wants us to move out of the area, then that’s what we’ll do.”

  As Kathleen continued to walk companionably along the street with Linda, her head was full of plans for the future. She had no idea what Martin really had planned for her and Jimmy.

  * * *

  As good as his word, the following day, Martin called for Kathleen. This time, there was no sign of Kathleen’s mother, as she was helping out on the stall at Chrisp Street Market.

  Martin gave Kathleen his most dazzling smile, and Kathleen felt her stomach fill with butterflies in response.

  “Come in,” she said, smiling. “I’ve just put Jimmy down for his nap.”

  Martin followed her inside, and she led him into the cramped front room, which was stuffed with lots of mismatched furniture polished to a gleaming shine.

  “Can I get you a drink?” Kathleen offered.

  “No, thanks. You all right?”

  Kathleen blinked in surprise. “Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

  “You’re looking tired, girl. You’ve got bags the size of suitcases under your eyes.”

  Kathleen turned away and pouted as she put her hands against her face. She was very tired because Jimmy had been up quite a few times in the night, but she hadn’t thought she looked that bad. She’d even put on lipstick this morning because she’d expected Martin might pop in today.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Martin said. “I’m just concerned. Are you sure you’re getting enough rest?”

  Kathleen shrugged. “Well, it’s not easy with a new baby, Martin.”

  Martin nodded soberly. “That’s what I thought. You know what you need to do, don’t you? Get out and treat yourself. I tell you what…” Martin pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and peeled off twenty-five quid. He held it out to Kathleen. “Why don’t you take yourself up West and buy a new dress or something, eh?”

  Kathleen’s face lit up, but then she bit her lip and shook her head. “I can’t. Getting the pram on the bus is a bleeding nightmare. Plus, I need to take all Jimmy things with me.”

  “Surely he won’t need that much. It will only be for an hour or two, and it will do you good to get out of the house. You can’t stay at home all day just because you’ve had a baby. Other women do it. I see prams on the buses all the time.”

  Kathleen looked at him doubtfully.

  “If I’m not too busy later, I’ll take you out to dinner.”

  “All right,” Kathleen said, smiling at him. “It’s really good of you. I could do with a break from washing dirty nappies.

  Martin gave a dazzling smile. “That’s my girl,” he said.

  Chapter 44

  Kathleen should have been feeling happy. She had money in her pocket, and she was making her way to the West End, her favourite haunt.

  She’d decided against the hassle of trying to get the pram on the bus and left little Jimmy with his grandmother. But for some reason, she just couldn’t get up the enthusiasm for shopping.

  Linda was at work today, which meant she had no one to go with and no one to boast to about the fact that Martin was taking her to dinner. She hadn’t even been able to mention it to her mother because Martin had expressly forbidden her from telling anyone.

  She tried to think positively. It was a step in the right direction. This time next year, anything could have happened. Martin could have turfed Babs out on her ear, and it could be Kathleen and Jimmy moving into the fancy house down in the country.

  She’d enjoy showing her mother around the big house. Showing her that, despite all her fears, Kathleen had done all right in the end.

  Kathleen got on the double-decker bus and paid the conductor.

  She stared out of the rain-splattered window and wondered what the future might hold.

  She wished she’d worn something a bit more comfortable. She’d convinced herself that her body had sprung back to its original form shortly after giving birth, but the dark red dress that had previously been one of her favourites was feeling very tight around her waist.

  She shuffled around in the seat and tugged at the dress, trying to get comfortable, which earned her an annoyed look from the old lady on the seat next to her.

  Kathleen was relieved to be finally free of the steamy confines of the bus when she stepped out onto Oxford Street. It had stopped raining, and the sun was coming out. Kathleen took that as an omen things were going to get better.

  She did a bit of window shopping first, enjoying the confidence of knowing that she had money in her pocket. If she wanted to buy something she could.

  She saw one small boutique called Lydia’s that had a gorgeous bright yellow dress in the centre. The waist was narrow, but the skirt flared out and looked terribly elegant.

  Kathleen glowed with excitement. If she could wear that dress tonight for dinner with Martin, he’d be so impressed.

  She stepped inside the boutique and the bell above the door rang. The shop was far more spacious inside than she’d expected, and there were a number of customers perusing the rails.

  Kathleen looked around the shop searching out the yellow dress, but she couldn’t find it, so in the end, she walked up to the sales assistant standing beside the counter.

  “I’d like to try on that dress
,” Kathleen said in her poshest voice, pointing at the dress in the window.

  The sales assistant looked her up and down, rather cheekily in Kathleen’s opinion, but then gave her a tight smile.

  “We’ve only got two left. I’ll get them for you. Wait there,” the sales assistant ordered, pointing to a spot by the ladies fitting rooms.

  Kathleen did as she was told, and when the sales assistant returned, she had the beautiful bright yellow dress in her arms.

  “I was mistaken,” she said. “We only have one left.” Her gaze raked over Kathleen’s figure. “I’m not sure it’s in your size.”

  “Thank you,” Kathleen said politely, although she thought the sales assistant was a cheeky mare.

  She took the dress inside the changing room, even though the sales assistant seemed very reluctant to hand it over.

  She quickly stripped off her own dark red dress and examined the label inside the yellow dress, looking for the size. She frowned. What was that silly sales assistant on about? The dress was the perfect size for Kathleen. She’d never needed a bigger size than that in her life.

  She stripped off. Standing there in her petticoat, she shivered as she ran her fingers over the luxurious fabric of the yellow dress. She grinned and slipped the beautiful flared dress over her head.

  It was a struggle. She tugged and tugged and finally pulled it down, but there was no way she was going to be able to do up the buttons on the back.

  She stared at her image in the wall-mounted mirror in shock. She looked horrendous. The dress pinched the skin around her arms making them bulge outwards, and the yellow fabric rippled around her body leaving no lump or bump unseen.

  Distressed, Kathleen tried to pull the dress over her head, but it got stuck halfway. She gave a cry of dismay and yanked on the dress again.

  It wouldn’t budge.

  Close to tears, Kathleen called out for some assistance.

  Very sheepishly, she asked, “Could you help me? The dress has gotten stuck.”

  The sales assistant stepped inside the dressing room and gave a snort of disapproval.

  What happened next was the most humiliating five minutes of Kathleen’s life. The sales assistant made Kathleen bend over at the waist and used her foot on Kathleen’s leg to give extra purchase as she pulled.

  When the dress was finally yanked off, Kathleen tumbled backwards, landing on her arse on the floor.

  The sales assistant began to frantically check the yellow dress for damage, while Kathleen grabbed her red dress and pulled it on quickly.

  She reached for her coat, and the sales assistant said, “Not so fast. If there’s any damage to this dress, you’re going to be paying for it.”

  She spoke in such a large booming voice Kathleen knew everyone in the shop must have heard her.

  Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment, and she wanted to curl up into a little ball, but instead, she thrust out her chin and screamed, abandoning any pretence of her posh accent, “Like hell I will. It’s a bloody horrible dress anyway!”

  And with that, Kathleen stormed out of the shop with the sales assistant protesting behind her.

  Outside the shop, Kathleen quickly buttoned up her coat and kept her head down, feeling stupid.

  That was it. There was no way she was going to have lunch today. She was going to get her figure back if it killed her.

  The next shop Kathleen went in was one she knew. She wanted something familiar after that disaster. So she turned off the main street and headed to a cheaper, less exclusive store, one she had been to many times before.

  There was a pretty black dress printed with pink flowers on display in the window. The skirt was flared, although nowhere near as flared as the yellow dress had been. But Kathleen thought the material might be more flattering, so she headed inside.

  “Kathleen Diamond! Is that really you?”

  Kathleen looked up to see Carrie Horrocks, a girl she’d been at school with. Standing next to her was Brenda Wightly. The two girls had been inseparable at school. Kathleen had never really liked them, and they’d never been friends as such, but Carrie looked friendly enough as she walked over with a beaming smile on her face.

  “Oh, hello, girls,” Kathleen said. “I haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been?”

  Carrie wiggled her fingers in Kathleen’s face, showing off a plain wedding band and an engagement ring with a minuscule stone in it. Kathleen doubted it was a diamond.

  “I’m married now,” Carrie said. “I’m Mrs. O’Brien.”

  Kathleen smirked. She was pretty sure Carrie had married Patrick O’Brien, the same lad she’d been with during their time at school. Patrick worked down at the docks and was a coarse man. Not exactly what Kathleen would consider a catch.

  She gave Carrie a fake smile. “Oh, how lovely for you,” she said.

  She knew the next part of the conversation would include Carrie asking about her life, and Kathleen considered making something up. Not that she was ashamed of Jimmy, of course, but Carrie wouldn’t understand. She didn’t want to tell either of the girls about Jimmy or Martin. She wasn’t going to give them a chance to lord it over her.

  So rather than continue the conversation, Kathleen quickly ducked behind a rail. “Lovely to see you, but I must pick out my dress. I’m in a terrible rush today.”

  Carrie exchanged a look with her friend Brenda, and they both smirked.

  Kathleen felt her cheeks grow hot. She kept her head down, determined to ignore them and find the dress that she’d seen in the window.

  She found it hanging on the second rail. As her fingers closed around it, she felt the material of the dress. It was much thinner than the yellow dress, but it felt soft, and Kathleen smiled. This one would look nice on her.

  She carried the dress over to the counter, and the sales assistant, who had a South London accent and was definitely not as snobby as the assistant in Lydia’s, escorted her to the fitting room.

  “Just let me know if I can get you another size,” the sales assistant said as she swished the curtain across on the changing cubicle.

  Kathleen pulled on the dress and gave a sigh of relief. This time, the dress fit perfectly. Okay, so it was one size bigger than she normally wore, but that didn’t matter. It looked nice, and it didn’t cling to her stomach like her old dresses did.

  Smiling to herself, Kathleen took the dress off and carefully hung it back on the hanger. After getting dressed, she carried it back to the sales counter and handed over the money.

  The sales assistant rang the transaction up on the till, gave Kathleen her change and then pushed the dress, wrapped up in tissue paper, back to Kathleen.

  Kathleen tucked her bag over her arm and prepared to head back to Oxford Street, but as she did so, she had to walk past Carrie and Brenda.

  “Oh, goodness,” Carrie said. “Would you look at this awful dress, Brenda?” Carrie held aloft the same dress that Kathleen had just purchased.

  Kathleen paused. What was wrong with the dress? She thought it looked very pretty.

  Brenda shook her head disapprovingly. “It is ever so low-cut. You wouldn’t catch a nice girl wearing a dress like that.”

  “No,” Carrie said in agreement, pretending to be studying the dress very seriously, but Kathleen could see the beginnings of a smirk on the girl’s mouth. “But it would be perfect for a girl who has lost her knicker elastic, wouldn’t it?”

  Brenda cackled. “Oh, yes,” she said. “It would be perfect for a girl with loose morals.”

  Both girls collapsed into giggles as they turned around and saw Kathleen was still watching their little show.

  Kathleen took a deep breath. She would rather have her life with little Jimmy, ten times over, than put up with a boring life married to somebody like Patrick O’Brien.

  But Kathleen had never been particularly articulate when she was angry, so instead of saying that, she just screamed, “Get stuffed, the bleeding lot of you!”

  Every other custo
mer in the shop and the sales assistant turned to look at Kathleen.

  An older lady in the far corner put a hand to her chest and muttered, “Well, I never.”

  Kathleen turned on her heels and ran from the shop.

  Chapter 45

  Kathleen got off the bus on Burdett Road feeling even more depressed than she had been when she set off. She knew this was how her life would be from now on, full of people laughing and gossiping behind her back.

  She looked down at the bag that held the new dress and her lip wobbled. She felt so sorry for herself. She’d really liked the dress and had been looking forward to wearing it, but thanks to those nasty cows, Carrie and Brenda, she wouldn’t be able to wear it without thinking of their spiteful words.

  She pulled uncomfortably at her, too tight, red dress. It would be a relief to get home and change into something more comfortable. Although goodness knows what she was going to wear tonight for dinner with Martin. None of her nice clothes fitted anymore. Maybe she would have to wear this new dress, after all. She shouldn’t really let Carrie and Brenda spoil it for her. They were two boring girls, with boring lives, who would never amount to anything.

  Compared to Kathleen, their lives were pathetic. They were just jealous because she was going places and they weren’t.

  As she turned the corner, she saw a large, dark car parked up at the end of her road.

  Kathleen looked at it curiously. No one in the street owned a car. So it had to be a visitor. As she drew closer, she saw there was somebody behind the wheel. The driver wound down the window, and Kathleen was expecting to be asked for directions. Probably some old toff had gotten himself lost.

  To her surprise, when she peered in the window, she saw that it was Big Tim, one of Martin Morton’s men.

  “All right, Kathleen.”

  Kathleen blinked at him in surprise. “What are you doing around here?”

  “Martin told me to give you a lift.”

  “A lift? But I’m supposed to be meeting him for dinner, and it’s only five thirty.”