by Joan Jonker
The boy had been deeply moved by what his dad had said about his own mother. Billy felt that perhaps he didn’t show enough appreciation for what his own mam did. He wouldn’t want her to think he didn’t love her. ‘Yeah, I’m going to be like me dad. When I hand me first wage packet over, I’ll stick me chest right out with pride. And yer never know, one day, when I’m a man, I might hand yer me wage packet with one hand, and the world with the other.’
Kate leaned forward to ruffle his hair. ‘Me and yer dad are going to be all right in our old age, aren’t we? You’ll be there to look after us.’
‘And I will,’ Nancy said. ‘We’ll pay yer back for all the years yer’ve looked after us. In the meanwhile, our Billy can get some practice in by being nice to his sister. It’s not my fault I’ve been born a girl, and brothers and sisters are supposed to love one another.’
Billy rolled his eyes. ‘She’s getting soppy now.’
‘No, I’m not! We are supposed to love one another.’
‘Okay, then, if it makes yer happy, I do love yer. But if yer’d been a boy, I’d have loved yer even more.’
John winked at his wife. ‘Perhaps we shouldn’t have had any children at all. We could have had a cat or a dog, they don’t take much looking after. Don’t answer yer back, either.’
Billy wrinkled his nose. ‘Pete’s mam has a cat, and it’s a mangy-looking thing. It doesn’t half make the house smell as well. So I think yer did the right thing in having me and our Nancy instead of a cat.’
‘We had a cat when I was a little girl,’ Kate said. ‘It was all pure white. I used to wash it and wrap it in an old piece of sheet, stick it in the pram and take it for a walk. And d’yer know, that cat was just like a baby, it loved being taken for a walk. Mind you, people got a shock when they pulled the cover back expecting to see a bonny baby.’
The idea tickled Billy. ‘I bet they said, “Isn’t he like his father?” That’s what all women say when they see a new baby. They coo over it, and say, “Ooh, isn’t he the spitting image of his dad?” Or, “She’s got her mother’s nose and chin.” When, as far as I can see, all new babies look alike. Can’t tell one from the other.’
‘A mother can always tell her own baby, son. Even if yer put a hundred in a row, she’d be able to pick her own out.’
‘Especially if they were all crying.’ John chuckled. ‘Women seem to have a sixth sense over their babies, they know them by smell, looks and sound. Yer’d never fool a woman over which was hers. She’s just like a homing pigeon who can fly thousands of miles and still find the right roof to come down on. It’s never ceased to amaze me, that.’
‘Blimey, we’ve covered some ground in the last half hour,’ Kate said. ‘We’ve got Nancy and Billy working, been to Ormskirk, spoken about brotherly love, crying babies and homing pigeons. That’s a wide variety of subjects, no one could say we were dull. But all good things come to an end and now it’s time to come down to earth, clear the table, then wash the dishes. Hands up all the volunteers.’
Chapter Eighteen
It was half-past two on Saturday afternoon when Kate answered a knock on the door and found Winnie looking up at her. ‘I wasn’t expecting you, sunshine, I thought yer were going straight to Monica’s.’
‘I’m a bit early, queen, and I thought she would be busy and not want me sitting there gawping. I’ve been keeping Audrey company for a couple of hours while Maggie did her shopping, and didn’t feel like going home.’
‘Well, don’t stand there, come on in.’ Kate held the door wide. ‘We’ve got half an hour before we go next door. There’s no way I’d go early either ’cos I’d get the height of abuse, and she’d have me guts for garters.’
Winnie stepped into the hall and whispered, ‘That dress looks really bonny on yer, queen, the colour doesn’t half suit yer.’
Kate grinned. ‘Ye’re looking very fetching yerself, if I might say so. This is the first time I’ve ever seen yer without a coat on, and yer look great! Yer should do it more often. And yer were right about showing me and Mon up in yer dress, yer’ll put us both in the shade.’
‘Who is it, Mam?’ Nancy called. ‘Is it for me?’
‘No, it’s Mrs Cartwright, and we’re coming in now.’
Winnie clasped her hands together when she saw the young girl looking very pretty with her face aglow. She quickly remembered she wasn’t supposed to have seen the dress before. ‘Oh, yer look lovely, pet! That dress really suits yer, is it a new one?’
Nancy did a little twirl. ‘It’s me birthday present off me mam and dad, and I’m really made up. It was a lovely surprise.’
‘Ye’re getting more like yer mother every day, pet. Yer’ll be a real beauty like her.’ Winnie nodded a greeting to John. ‘Ye’re well blessed with the women in yer life, John, yer must be very proud.’
‘That’s putting it mildly, Winnie.’ He was feeling quite emotional at the sight of his wife and daughter looking so pretty. He wished he could afford to buy them the clothes they deserved, but they never asked for anything or complained. ‘Yer see, they’re not only beautiful on the outside, they’re beautiful inside as well.’
‘Ah, that’s a lovely thing to say, Dad!’ Nancy ran to put her arms around him. ‘There’s not another dad in the world as good as you. Or as handsome.’
‘Ay, we’re going to a birthday party, and we should be happy and laughing,’ Kate said. ‘If yer keep that up yer’ll have me bawling me eyes out.’
‘It’s a good job our Billy’s not here.’ Nancy took a fit of the giggles. ‘He’d have dashed out to the yard and pretended to be sick down the grid.’
‘Well, now, pet, if Billy was here and I told him he’d be a fine figure of a man when he was older, and as handsome as his father, he’d be walking ten feet tall.’
John ran his fingers through his thick mop of dark hair before hooking a thumb in each side of his braces and stretching the elastic. ‘At last the compliments are coming my way. Keep it up, Winnie, and I’ll not be able to get through the door without bending me head.’
‘Come off it, John Spencer, ye’re bigheaded enough as it is.’ Kate glanced at the clock. ‘Another ten minutes before me mate will let us in. So tell me, Winnie, since when have yer been calling Miss Parkinson by her first name?’
‘Don’t forget I’ve known her for many years, queen, and we always called each other by our first name. Then one day a shopkeeper called her Mrs Parkinson, and she got quite snooty with him. “I am Miss Parkinson, if you don’t mind.” Now there were a few neighbours in the shop at the time, including meself, and afterwards we all started to give her her full title. But when we’re on our own, she’s never got anything but Audrey off me.’
Kate tilted her head, her lips pursed. ‘I wouldn’t have had her down as an Audrey. More of a Hannah or Amelia. I bet she was a looker when she was younger, ’cos the signs are still there. And she holds herself well, very elegant. I’m surprised she’s a spinster. The men in her day must have all been blind.’
‘Oh, she had plenty of chances, queen, I know that for sure. Even in her fifties there were a few men after her from where she worked, and they were men in good positions who could have given her a comfortable life. But for some unknown reason she wasn’t interested and sent them all packing.’ Winnie shrugged her shoulders. ‘I often wonder whether she ever regrets not getting married, ’cos it’s been a lonely life for her since her parents died.’
‘Did you know she had a relative, a niece or cousin?’
‘Celia, yeah! I met her once, about twenty years ago. Nice woman, she is, about the same age as meself. Like Miss Parkinson, she’s very well-spoken.’
‘It’s funny, isn’t it, ’cos I’m not a snob, but every time I’m over there I watch me Ps and Qs. I don’t do it anywhere else.’ Kate’s laughter bubbled to the surface. ‘Not that it makes much difference, ’cos while I’m trying to be something I’m not, me mate stays her own sweet self and comes out with whatever comes into her head. If sh
e swears, and someone doesn’t like it, then it’s just too bad for them.’
‘Monica entertains more than she upsets, queen, so enjoy her and to hell with everyone else. And she’s kind-hearted, too, as I’ve had cause to find out over the last week. What more could yer ask in a friend?’
‘Not a thing, sunshine, I know when I’m well off.’ Another quick look at the clock told Kate it was just on three o’clock. ‘We’d better get moving. Yer see, my entertaining, kind-hearted mate said not a minute before, nor a minute after. Otherwise she’d get a cob on, and no one should have a cob on at a party. But it wouldn’t be her fault if she got a cob on, it would be ours, so she doesn’t advise us to be early or late.’
‘Blimey! All that without taking a breath,’ John said. ‘I think you and Monica make a good team. Both of yer can talk the hind legs off a donkey.’
Nancy was quick to defend. ‘Me mam doesn’t talk a lot!’
‘Take no notice of him, sunshine, ’cos he knows damn’ well that if I didn’t talk this house would be like a graveyard. Him and Tom never have much to say for themselves.’
‘That’s because we don’t have a chance to get a word in edgeways. Yer must admit, love, that there’s not a man born who could out-talk a woman.’
‘We’ll discuss that in more detail after the party. We should be back in about two minutes ’cos Monica threatened to lock us out if we were late.’
Nancy was out of the door before you could say Jack Robinson. She couldn’t wait to see Dolly’s dress, to see if it was nicer than hers. Not that it could be, ’cos hers was really lovely and she was delighted with it. She’d have been next door hours ago to show it off, but her mam said it would be much better to arrive for the party in it. More grown-up, like.
‘The birthday girl is excited,’ Winnie said, linking Kate and leaving the house a little more sedately than the young girl. ‘Ah, what it is to be young, eh, with yer whole life ahead of yer?’
‘Yeah, I remember when I was her age, I had such hopes and such dreams. Like wanting to be a film star or a singer on the stage. I didn’t have the sense to realize I can’t even sing in tune, never mind going on the stage.’ Kate was laughing when she stood on the step next door. ‘I can just about manage “Any Old Iron” or “Down By The Old Bull And Bush”.’
‘I’m sorry, but we don’t want no drunks in here.’ Monica stood before them with her arms folded and a look on her face which said she wasn’t going to let them pass. ‘Now sling yer hook, the pair of yer, before yer feel me boot up yer backside. I don’t know what the world’s coming to, women of your age drunk.’
‘Behave yerself,’ Kate said. ‘We’ve only had two bottles of stout and two glasses of sherry. It would take more than that to make me drunk.’ She hiccuped several times, then crossed her eyes and pretended to sway from side to side. Her words slurred, she said, ‘I can hold me drink, I can.’
Monica chuckled. ‘Ay, girl, if I didn’t know better, I’d believe yer! Ye’re good at taking a drunk off. Yer can make that yer party piece in future, like when we come to your house at Christmas for a knees-up.’ She winked at Winnie before saying, ‘Yer want to get in there early, girl, and put yer name down for an invite. She gives smashing parties, does my mate, I’ll say that for her.’
Kate quickly sobered up. ‘Who said I was having a party at Christmas? Yer know what yer can do, don’t yer, Monica Parry? I’m not having no party, so yer can forget it. I had it last year and it’s your turn next time.’
Tom’s loud voice bellowed, ‘The way ye’re going on, Christmas will be come and gone and yer’ll still be standing there yapping about whose turn it is! Get inside before the jellies melt and the milk turns sour.’
To which Monica replied, ‘The only sour thing in this house is your bleeding face! And I don’t know what yer want us to come in for ’cos it’s not as if yer were worried about missing anything. And I’m damn’ sure it’s not ’cos yer’ve got a funny story to tell us that will make us roll about laughing.’
‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ Tom shouted back. ‘It was to remind yer that yer didn’t give me back the three bob yer borrowed off me yesterday.’
Monica’s face was comical. Her eyes and mouth opened as wide as they’d go. Then she tapped the side of her nose and whispered softly, ‘Listen to this, girls, and see if yer don’t think I’m a genius.’ Her eyes filled with mischief, she called, ‘Ah, now, light of my life, yer wouldn’t spoil yer daughter’s birthday party by talking about who owes what, would yer? Why, that nice dress she’s got on, what I bought with the money yer gave me, was supposed to be a present from you. And if that dress hears yer asking for yer money back, it’ll fall to pieces.’
They could hear the girls giggling, then Dolly, with her mother’s quick wit, said, ‘Ah, ay, Dad, yer can’t give me a present and then ask for yer money back! That’s mean, that is. And if me dress falls to pieces like me mam said it would, then I’ll be left standing here in me vest and knickers.’
‘That’s my daughter, a chip off the old block.’ Monica jerked her head. ‘Come in, girls, and I bet yer any money he’s squirming in his chair, the miserable sod.’
But far from squirming, Tom greeted the women with a huge grin. ‘I must want me head testing ’cos I fall for it every time. By my reckoning, I’ve bought that dress twice over.’
‘No, yer haven’t, sweetheart.’ Monica pretended to gush. ‘I wouldn’t pull a trick on yer like that. I was just telling me mates that ye’re the love of me life, and I wouldn’t swap yer for anyone, not even Robin Hood. But just so yer know where yer stand, I’ll tell yer. With the two lots of money yer gave me, or what I borrowed, well, I bought the dress with one lot, and with the other I bought all the food for the birthday party. So we’re all very grateful to yer for the cakes, jellies, lemonade and sandwiches. It’s a pity there’s no milk stout or sherry for the ladies, but we can’t be greedy, so yer won’t hear us complaining.’
‘I know I won’t hear yer, ’cos I won’t be here! I’m on me way to the pub for a pint with some of the lads. I’m getting from under yer feet so yer’ll be free to jabber as much as yer like.’
‘Oh, that’s come in very handy, sweetheart, light of my life! I’ll come down with yer and yer can pass me three bottles of milk stout out.’ She raised her eyebrows at Kate and Winnie. ‘Don’t yer think I’m lucky having a husband who’s one in a million?’
‘Far be it from me to come between man and wife,’ Kate said, ‘but I think yer’ve got a husband that’s too soft with yer.’
‘Oh, thanks a bundle, girl, and here’s me thinking yer were me mate! Ye’re standing in my living room, here by invitation to a birthday tea, and ye’re insulting me all ends up! I think ye’re just jealous ’cos I’ve got a very accommodating husband.’
Tom put a hand on each arm of his fireside chair and pushed himself to his feet. ‘I wouldn’t argue with her, Kate, ’cos yer won’t win. I only do it as a point of principle, not because I think I stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.’ He ran a finger down Monica’s cheek. ‘Yer’ll have to do without the milk stout, love, because I’m not made of money. Yer’ve bled me dry, and I can’t give what I haven’t got.’
‘Oh, aye, give us the old sob story. Yer’ve got no money, but ye’re on yer way down to the pub for a few pints with yer mates. Pull the other leg, it’s got bleeding bells on.’
‘Sit down, then, and I’ll oblige.’
‘What d’yer want me to sit down for, yer daft nit! We’re supposed to be having a party, in case yer’ve forgot.’
‘That’s all right, I’ll get out of yer way.’ Tom knew he was flogging a dead horse because he’d never got the better of his wife yet. But thinking of the saying that God loves a trier, he decided to have a go. ‘I was only trying to do as yer asked.’
‘What d’yer mean, do as I ask? I haven’t asked yer to do nothing!’
‘Yes, yer did! Kate and Winnie will vouch for that, they must have heard yer.’
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Monica put a finger to her temple. ‘He’s going crazy, I never asked him to do nothing.’
Tom bent closer, so their noses were nearly touching. ‘Yer told me to pull the other leg ’cos it’s got bells on. Well, I could hardly do that when yer were standing up, could I?’
‘Oh, very funny, I don’t think! Now toddle off to the pub before I change me mind and come down with yer.’
He didn’t need telling twice. And he walked quickly, knowing his wife was quite capable of following him. Not that he objected to buying three bottles of stout, but the extra money he’d given to Monica had left him skint. Well, almost skint. He’d made sure he’d kept enough back for his nightly pint. It wasn’t as though he was starving his family or they were going round in rags. A pint would be the last thing on his mind if that was the case. But he had to draw the line somewhere with Monica or her spending would get out of hand. He was too soft with her as it was. However, when she looked him straight in the eye, he couldn’t refuse her.
When the door had closed on her husband, Monica waved to the chairs set around the table. ‘Sit down, folks, and make yerself at home.’
‘Let me wish Nancy and Dolly a happy birthday first, and tell them how pretty they look.’ Winnie reached for her handbag which was hanging in the crook of her arm. ‘And give them their birthday cards.’ She handed an envelope to each of the bright-eyed girls. ‘Have a lovely day, darlings, and thank you for inviting me to yer tea party.’
‘Ooh, another card, Dolly,’ Nancy said. ‘That’s five each we’ve got.’
‘Yeah, isn’t it the gear!’ While Nancy was opening her envelope with care, Dolly was too impatient and tore at hers. As she pulled the card from the tattered remains of the envelope, a silver sixpence fell on to the table. ‘Yer’ve dropped a sixpence, Mrs Cartwright.’ She picked up the coin and held out her hand. ‘It must have fallen out of yer handbag.’
‘No, queen, it’s a little present for yer. Nancy’s got one too. It’s not much, but yer can buy yerselves some sweets with it.’