by Joan Jonker
Abbie pushed herself off the passenger seat and turned to talk through the open door. ‘What time will you be picking me up, Nigel?’
‘Are you and Milly going out, or are you staying in for a gossip?’
‘We’re going to the pictures. The Broadway I think, to see Devil and the Deep. Gary Cooper and Tallulah Bankhead are in it, so it should be good. But I’ll be glad when we’ve had a few dancing lessons because I know Milly would much rather be going dancing. I can’t expect her to give it up just because I’ve come on the scene.’
‘No, I feel the same about Bobby. But we have our first lesson tomorrow, so at least we’ve made a start. And you never know, we might turn out to be good at it.’
‘I hope so.’ As Abbie stood up she saw a familiar figure hurrying towards them. ‘Oh, aye, here comes trouble.’ She said it loud enough for Bobby to hear. ‘I don’t fancy being you, Nigel, because this one will probably end up wrapping the car around a tree.’
Bobby was rubbing his hands and grinning broadly. He hadn’t closed his eyes in bed last night, his tummy was doing cartwheels. And in work today the men had been telling him to put a sock in it because they were fed up hearing about the ruddy driving lesson. But he wasn’t about to tell Abbie that. ‘No, yer’ve got it wrong there, girl. During the first lesson I run into a brick wall. Wrapping a car around a tree takes experience, so that’ll be during lesson two or three. That’s if Nige isn’t a nervous wreck after tonight.’ He sounded more cocky than he felt. ‘I think I’m going to take to it like a duck to water, though. I have every confidence in meself.’
Abbie moved away so Bobby could slip into the passenger seat. ‘I hope you’re right. Anyway, you’ll both have a good laugh if nothing else.’ She closed the car door and grinned at them through the window. ‘Enjoy yourselves and take care.’
‘Where are we going, Nige?’
‘Somewhere quiet and not too far away. I want to get you started while it’s still light so that only gives us just over an hour.’ Nigel backed into a side street, then turned the car towards Knowsley Road. ‘There’s a few fields and lanes near the Old Roan, so we’ll head for there.’
Bobby was watching every hand and foot movement. There seemed to be an awful lot to do. What with keeping one hand on the steering wheel and changing gear with the other, and working a foot at the same time, it wasn’t going to be a doddle. But if other men could master it, there was no reason why he couldn’t. And it would improve his job prospects no end. He was only a labourer now, and he thought that’s what he would always be, until his old friend came on the scene. Now his heart was fired with hope and ambition. ‘It looks very complicated, Nige. Was there ever a time when yer thought yer’d never get the hang of it?’
‘There were many times,’ Nigel laughed. ‘I’d have given it up as a bad job except for my dad. He was so patient with me, I only kept on because I didn’t want to disappoint him. And then one night everything slotted into place. I could change gear smoothly when I wanted to slow down, and when I took my foot off the accelerator the car didn’t shudder and jump forward like a kangaroo. I didn’t know who was the happiest, me or my dad. We sat in the car in this lane in Halsall somewhere, and we laughed our heads off. Then when we got home I went through to the kitchen, full of myself, lifted Agnes off her feet and spun her around. Honest, anyone would think I was the first person in the world to learn to drive a car.’
‘Who’s Agnes?’
‘She’s our housekeeper.’
Bobby’s eyes were wide. ‘Yer’ve got a housekeeper?’
Nigel didn’t give himself time to think. If Bobby was going to be his friend it was only fair to be honest with him. ‘Yes, and we’ve also got a gardener called Pete, and two cleaners, Kitty and Jessie.’
‘Excuse me language, but bloody hell, Nige! What are yer doing with the likes of me?’
‘Well, there’s two reasons, really. Firstly, you’re a friend I’ve missed in the last ten years and am delighted to have back as a friend. Secondly, what I’m doing with you now, hopefully, is teach you to drive.’ Nigel stopped the car in a lane with fields either side. Then he turned to face Bobby. ‘We might as well get this sorted out, and then forget it. Everything our family has in the way of money and possessions, is down to the hard work of my father. Apart from him, not one of us has ever earned a penny. Until a few weeks ago, I had never done a hand’s turn in my life. That is not something I’m proud of, but it’s the truth. But I am not a snob, and neither is my father or Abbie. Do you remember Jeff, who works for my dad?’
‘Yeah, I remember him. He used to give us a penny for sweets.’
‘Well, I count him among my friends, along with the housekeeper, the cleaners and the gardener. In fact, Agnes is far more than a housekeeper, she’s more like a mother to me and Abbie. Any problems, it’s her we run to.’
‘I notice yer never mentioned yer mam, or Victoria. Why is that?’
‘I told you the other night that I would one day sit down and tell you what my life has been like for the last ten years. We can’t do it tonight if you are ever going to get behind this steering wheel. But I promise I will tell you, the good and the bad. One thing I will say, though, is that I was very much at home in your house last week, and I am very much at home with you. Now, if it puts you off that my father has worked hard and made a lot of money, then it’s not me who’s the snob, it’s you, Bobby Neary.’
‘I’m not a flipping snob. Neither am I put off.’ As Bobby gazed at his friend, he realised there had been sadness in his life. Perhaps there still was, because after all money can’t buy you everything. Him and his mam had had a rough time, but the worst of their troubles were over. Unless he was very much mistaken, Nigel’s were not. ‘Listen, mate, are yer going to give me this driving lesson or not? It’ll be time to put the light out and go to sleep if yer don’t get a move on.’
Nigel grinned. ‘OK, let’s swap over and I’ll show yer where everything is and what it does.’ When they’d exchanged places, he said, ‘Just look at the dashboard and familiarise yourself with it, then the pedals, gearstick and handbrake. Ask any questions you want, don’t be afraid of being thought thick. Don’t forget I’ve been through it myself and know how you feel. The books my dad bought me are in the glove compartment, you can take them home with you and read them from cover to cover. There’s illustrations, as well, so spend as much time as you can trying to understand what does what, how and why. Then next time we come out I might even let you switch the engine on.’
‘So there’s going to be a next time?’
‘Of course there is, on Thursday, if that suits you. Unless you chicken out, that is.’
‘Blimey! First I’m a snob, now I’m a chicken!’ Bobby’s cheeky grin came into play. ‘Ay, I know a chicken what was a snob. Me mam bought it last Christmas, and it was such a snob it crossed its legs and wouldn’t open them to let me mam stuff it. She tried everything, even wrestled with it on the kitchen floor, but couldn’t get it to budge. That chicken was determined she wasn’t going to get her hand up its backside. She had quite a battle with the ruddy thing, calling it every name under the sun, but she had to give up in the end and stuff it from the neck down.’
Nigel’s head fell back and he roared with laughter as he conjured up the imaginary scene as described by Bobby. Mrs Neary had a large vocabulary of swear-words, and the air would have been blue. That’s if it had really happened, of course.
‘You’re incorrigible, d’you know that?’
‘Ay, listen, mate, it’s going to be hard enough learning how this car works without worrying about you using words the length of our road. So come on, what’s this?’
‘That is the gearstick.’ Nigel was laughing inside. It seemed he was going to be getting a lesson at the same time as Bobby. A lesson on facing adversity by laughing when there was nothing to laugh at. Showing the world a happy face when you were worried sick about the mother you loved. He could be crying inside, but Bobby Neary’s pri
de was too strong to allow this to show. Nigel knew his friend was a stronger, more forceful and outspoken character than he was, but he intended to catch up with him. He couldn’t wish for a better role model.
‘I’m only picking Abbie up, I won’t be staying. Just a quick hello and goodbye.’
‘Still, I’ll come in with yer,’ Bobby said. ‘Like yer said, just to say hello and goodbye. Except they’d think I was losing me marbles if I said goodbye instead of ta-ra.’
Nigel’s eyes slid sideways, but his friend’s face gave nothing away. Yet he must have a reason for wanting to call in at the Jamiesons’ this time of night, especially just for a few minutes. ‘Are you sure you’ve not got a soft spot for Milly?’
‘I’ve told yer, Nige, I’m not getting serious with any girl for a few years. Milly’s a good mate, a good dancer, but that’s it.’
‘But what if the Jamiesons don’t want visitors this time of night? It is quite late, Bobby, and we might not be welcome.’
‘Nah!’ Bobby’s hand lifted the knocker and rapped twice. ‘The Jamiesons are not like that. They make everyone welcome.’
The door was opened by Milly, who had heard Bobby’s words. ‘We make most people welcome, Robert Neary, but there are times when we draw the line. For instance we wouldn’t welcome drunks, or tramps.’
‘That’s all right, then.’ Bobby pushed past her. ‘If I wasn’t welcome, yer wouldn’t have called me by me Sunday name.’
‘Come in, boys,’ Beryl called. ‘And let us know how yer got on.’
‘There yer are, yer see.’ Bobby put his face close to Milly’s and stuck out his tongue. ‘Yer mam’s glad to see us, anyway.’ He whistled as he walked towards the back room, leaving Nigel to shrug his shoulders.
‘I did tell him it was too late to call on people, but he wouldn’t have it.’
‘Oh, aye, he thinks everyone loves him, does Bobby.’ Milly lowered her voice. ‘Not to worry, Nigel, ’cos he’s always welcome in this house. In fact, he’d be made welcome in every house in the road. He’s a really good bloke.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Nigel followed her into the kitchen to where Bobby was standing in the middle of the room with his hands going quicker than his mouth.
‘And I was just turning the corner when this feller stepped off the kerb, right in the path of the car, and if I hadn’t had me wits about me, and slammed the brake on, I’d have run over him for sure. Nigel’s face was as white as a sheet, I thought he was going to pass out.’
‘Bobby Neary, you’re the biggest liar on God’s earth,’ Abbie said, trying to keep a straight face. ‘How d’you think them all up?’
‘It’s easy to make lies up. I started, oh, about thirteen years ago. I had a good teacher, though, and that helped. It was a kid who lived in this road then, and she couldn’t half come up with some whoppers. She used to go crying to her mam saying I’d pulled her hair, when I hadn’t even touched her. Not that I’m saying I wouldn’t have done if she hadn’t been a better runner than me.’
Abbie remembered the times she’d been out of breath running from this boy. He used to pinch the ribbon from her hair, and tease her to come and get it. ‘I never snitched on you to my mother, and you’re the only person I know who could stand there and tell such bare-faced lies.’
Nigel went one better. ‘He’s the only person I know who can nearly run over a bloke with a stationary car!’
Bobby waited for the laughter to die down, then he spread out his hands. ‘See, two snitches in one family. Yer can’t help feeling sorry for them.’
Chapter Fifteen
Abbie was sitting on the padded stool in front of her dressing table, when Nigel came in. ‘You’re not ready yet, are you?’ she asked, dismayed. ‘I’ll be another quarter of an hour.’
‘No, I’m not ready. I’ve just been down to ask Agnes to keep our dinner back until half-past eight.’ Nigel looked uneasy. ‘I really think we should tell Mother, don’t you? We can’t cut her out of our lives completely, it wouldn’t be fair.’
‘I have been thinking about that.’ Abbie met his eyes in the dressing-table mirror. ‘I can’t say I fancy it because she’s bound to have something to say which will take the pleasure out of our evening, she always has. But you’re right – she is our mother and we can’t cut her out of our lives. Shall we go along to her room now, and get it over with?’
Her brother looked relieved. ‘You’ll come with me, then?’
‘Of course I will.’ Abbie put down the silver-backed brush she’d been using on her hair. ‘We haven’t got a lot of time, you know, so don’t let her keep us talking.’
Edwina looked surprised when she saw the children, but there was no smile of pleasure or friendly greeting. ‘This is most unusual, is it something urgent?’
‘No, nothing like that, Mother.’ Nigel found she still had the power to make him feel small and worthless. ‘Abbie and I won’t be having our dinner at half-past seven, we’ve asked Agnes to keep it until we get home. We thought we should tell you.’
Edwina’s distaste could be seen in her raised brows and thin lips pressed in a straight line. ‘Really, this is no good; we can’t be changing mealtimes and disrupting the running of the house just on someone’s whim. We sit down for our dinner at seven-thirty and I will not tolerate any interruption in the routine. So you must alter your arrangements, and I’ll expect to see you at the dining table at the usual time.’
‘I’m sorry, Mother, but it’s not possible to change the time of our appointment,’ Abbie said. ‘We would have chosen a later time if we’d been given the choice.’
‘In that case, ring up to cancel the appointment and ask for one at a more convenient time. It is bad enough that you and your father have taken it upon yourselves to have an early breakfast, upsetting the whole routine here, but under no circumstances will I allow you to do the same for our evening meal. A house this size has to be run in an orderly manner, otherwise chaos will prevail and the high service I expect, and you take for granted, will cease to exist.’ She waved her hand as a sign of dismissal. ‘Go now, and do what you have to do.’
‘Mother, I am not cancelling the appointment.’ Abbie stood her ground. ‘I’m not in the habit of letting people down at the last minute.’
‘I feel the same, Mother,’ Nigel said. ‘I’m sorry if it upsets you, but neither of us are inclined to change our mind.’
With two of her children standing before her openly defying her, Edwina’s nostrils flared with anger. This was the work of her husband; they would never have dared do this a few months ago. ‘And where, pray, is this appointment that is more important to you than obeying your own mother?’
Nigel felt like curling up in a corner. His mother had always been able, with a look or a sneer, to make him feel worthless. And she was doing it now. But this time he had to stand up to her or he’d never be able to call himself a man. ‘Abbie and I are going to a dancing academy for private lessons. Tonight is the first lesson and a quarter to seven was the only time we could be fitted in.’
Edwina folded her arms and snorted. ‘I might have known that once your father took you to Seaforth, he would encourage you to become like the people he is so fond of. I had hoped you were intelligent enough to realise we have come a long way up the social ladder since the days he so loves to talk about, and it isn’t practical that in our position we should associate with the working classes. But as you seem intent on learning to dance, presumably to visit these common dance halls, then I can only believe you have no ambition to get on in life – unlike your sister, Victoria, who is about to become engaged to one of the most influential men in the city. What a pity you don’t take a leaf out of her book, and not your father’s.’
Abbie could feel herself boiling inside with anger. How dare her mother stand there and belittle her husband when he was the one who had given them everything they had. But when she glanced at Nigel, he gave a slight shake of the head, indicating he would prefer her not to say what was in he
r heart and her head.
‘Mother, I have no intention of standing here listening to you castigating Father.’ Nigel straightened his shoulders and stood tall, bringing to mind the picture of that lonely, single bed. That the man they all owed so much to should not even have the comfort of a decent bed, never mind the love of his wife, made him more angry than he’d ever been. Looking at his mother’s stern face now, he knew she was incapable of loving anyone, be they husband or children. All she cared about was money and the position she thought it gave her in society. And it was at that moment he understood fully what his father had had to endure for many, many years. Locked in a loveless marriage, yet never complaining. ‘I was stupid enough to think you might be interested in what your children were doing, even be pleased that we were beginning to enjoy life. But as that is not the case, I think it best if Abbie and I leave now before too much is said. We will, of course, be keeping our appointment at the dancing academy. Come along Abbie, we don’t want to be late.’
He cupped his sister’s elbow and walked with her to her room. Once there he closed the door and leaned back against it. ‘I found no pleasure in speaking to my mother like that. But I’m not going to let her ruin my life, as she’s ruined Father’s.’
‘Nigel, I am so proud of you! You were absolutely brilliant! I wanted to scream at her, the way she was talking about our Dad. Why does she always have to pull him down? She treats him no better than she would the milkman or the coalman. But screaming wouldn’t have achieved anything, only one almighty row. You were so cool, you carried the situation off beautifully. She’ll lead us a dog’s life from now on, but I don’t care, because that’s the way she’s always treated me, anyway.’
‘We’ll talk about it later, Abbie, there isn’t time now. I’ll finish getting myself ready then give you a knock.’ His hand on the door handle, he asked, ‘Did you get a chance to buy dance shoes?’
She shook her head. ‘We only get an hour’s dinner break, and I’d never have made it into town and back in that time. What about you?’