by Joan Jonker
‘Was it very expensive?’
‘Not for some people perhaps, but for me two and eleven is out of the question. A sixpenny one from a second-hand stall at the market is more up my street.’ Sadie knew what would come now and she was hating herself even before Harry spoke.
‘I’ll buy it for yer. I never take yer out, and there’s no good beating about the bush because we both know why I don’t take yer out. I feel a coward for not standing up to me mam, but yer must admit that where your family’s concerned, most mothers would feel the same. So let me make it up to yer by buying yer that underskirt. You’d be doing me a favour because I want to do something to make you happy.’
‘I don’t deserve a friend like you, Harry, yer know that, don’t yer? I’ve done nothing but take off yer and give yer nothing in return. I can’t even say I’ll buy you anything to make up for it ’cos I’d only be tellin’ lies.’ She laid her head on his chest so she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. ‘I do tell lies, Harry, I’m sorry to say. They’re not big whopping lies that will do anyone any harm or get them into trouble, but I’m not proud of meself. It’s just that I’ve made up me mind to get out of that hell-hole as soon as I can, and I don’t care what I have to do to make it happen.’
When Sadie raised her head and looked into his deep brown eyes, it was on her lips to blurt out that she’d be gone in a few weeks. But she remembered Mary Ann’s warning about cutting all her ties with home. She’d shed a few tears in bed last night over that. The idea of walking away from her two brothers and Ellen and the baby, without saying goodbye, didn’t sit well on her conscience. Only the thought that she could do more for them if she was away from home than she ever could if she stayed, comforted her. On the paltry shilling a week she couldn’t keep herself, let alone do anything to put food in their tummies and clothes on their back. With a bit of luck she might get a decent job and be able to buy clothes for them off Mary Ann. She’d have a problem getting the clothes to them but she’d manage it somehow.
Lying in the darkness of her bedroom, the silence broken only by the breathing of her brothers and sisters, Sadie’s mind had turned to Harry. She would miss him more than she’d miss anyone because he was always so kind and treated her with respect. She hoped he wouldn’t think too badly of her when he found she had gone without so much as a goodbye. Perhaps when she was settled she could contact him and tell him the reason. Then a voice in her head had told her he’d be better off without her. If she wasn’t around he wouldn’t be able to see her and that meant he wouldn’t have to live with the fear of his mam finding out they were friends.
‘Hey, Sadie.’ Harry put a finger under her chin and raised her face. ‘Come back into the land of the living. You were miles away.’
‘It’s so quiet and peaceful here, I was daydreaming. Yer can’t think straight in our house – it’s always like Bedlam.’
‘I feel like that meself at the moment, so let me daydream with yer. I bet yer mind was on that thingummybob yer saw in the shop window.’
Sadie smiled. ‘Something like that. Anyway, can I have me first smackeroo, please?’
‘With pleasure. I thought yer were never goin’ to ask.’
‘A girl shouldn’t have to ask for a kiss – it’s not ladylike.’
‘Shut up, Sadie Wilson, and take a deep breath before yer pucker yer lips ready for one of me famous smackeroos. And I’m warning yer to hang on tight because you an’ me are goin’ to fly to the moon and back.’
Just before Harry covered her lips with his, Sadie asked, ‘Do we have to come back? Couldn’t we stay on the moon?’
Harry backed off a fraction. ‘You interrupted me there, Sadie Wilson – just when I was gettin’ in me stride, as well. So yer not counting that as a kiss ’cos that would be cheating.’ He dropped his head back so he could look into her face. ‘Now, to answer yer question, when we get up there we’ll ask the man in the moon if he’s got any rooms to let. Would yer live with me on the moon if we got the chance, Sadie?’
Sadie nodded. ‘Yes, I would, Harry.’
Her answer had Harry growing ten feet tall. Unknown to him, his thoughts were identical to Sadie’s. Up there they wouldn’t have to hide in bushes, they’d be free to do as they wished. ‘I’d have to come down now and again, like, to see me family and pay me pools money. Hey, there’s a thing! What if I came up on Vernons and won a thousand pounds? You and me could elope to Gretna Green.’
Sadie’s brow furrowed. ‘Where’s Gretna Green?’
‘Oh, don’t tell me yer’ve never heard of it? It’s a place in Scotland where couples run off to, to get married when their families won’t give their consent.’
‘Are yer goin’ to give me a lesson on general knowledge, Harry, or a kiss?’
‘I think a lesson on general knowledge, Sadie, ’cos it would stand yer in good stead for the rest of yer life.’ Harry’s dimples deepened when he roared with laughter. ‘I only know about Gretna Green because one of me mates at work went up there to get married. He lived to regret it though, ’cos when he got back and brought his new wife to his house, his mam chased him up the street, belting him with the sweeping brush. Knocked hell out of him, she did.’
Sadie began to shake with laughter as she pictured the scene. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing … his mam saw to that. She sent the girl back to her own house and made them wait until they could be married by a priest, “proper like”, in church. Me mate never lived it down; he still gets his leg pulled soft over it.’
‘Ah, that’s cruel to make fun of him. I’ve a good mind to count that nearly kiss as a full one for bein’ so mean to him.’
‘I’ll tell yer what I’ll do to get back in yer good books.’ Harry nodded his head while his face wore a serious expression. ‘I’ll go an’ buy his mam a new sweepin’ brush, ’cos she broke her one over his head. She’s got to bend double now to brush the floor.’
Sadie spluttered with laughter. ‘Harry Young, yer in a very funny frame of mind tonight, aren’t yer? I bet yer only doin’ it so I won’t have time to give yer earache with all me moanin’ and groanin’.’
‘Oh, I’ve got a much nicer way of shutting you up, Sadie Wilson. Hang on to yer hat ’cos we’re off to the moon.’
Brenda was very quiet all Monday morning, barely opening her mouth. When Sadie asked if she felt all right, she said her tummy was a bit off and that’s all her friend could get out of her until the bell sounded for their dinner-break.
‘I want to have a word with Alec, Sadie, so would you walk on ahead and get in the queue at the chippy?’
‘Oh, so that’s why yer’ve got a face on yer like a wet week. Yer’ve had a row with his lordship.’
‘That’s where yer wrong, see.’ Brenda put her tongue out. ‘We haven’t had no row.’
‘Well, there’s something up, Brenda, it’s stickin’ out a flamin’ mile! If he’s the one who’s making yer so miserable, for heaven’s sake pack him in.’
‘I’m not miserable, Sadie Wilson,’ Brenda snapped. ‘Anyway, it’s none of your business.’
‘Okay, don’t bite me flippin’ head off. If you want to be miserable then get on with it, but don’t expect any sympathy from me.’
Alec was in his usual place, arrogance written all over him. Brenda’s welcome to him, Sadie thought as she hurried past. I’m surprised it’s lasted so long because she’s not the type of girl he usually goes for.
‘Sadie, hang on a minute.’
Sadie turned to see Bobby Bennett running after her. ‘Hello, Bobby. Goin’ to the chippy, are yer?’
Bobby, shy at the best of times, blushed the colour of beetroot. ‘No, me mam does carry-out for me.’
‘Oh, what can I do for yer then?’
‘I was wonderin’ if yer’d come out with me one night.’ Bobby scraped the ground with the heel of his shoe. ‘We could go to the pictures.’
Sadie said the first thing that came into her head. ‘Alec’s put you up to this, hasn’t
he?’
‘No, honest. I’ve been wantin’ to ask yer since yer fell out with him, but I didn’t have the nerve.’
‘Does he know yer askin’ me now? Is that why he’s got that ruddy smirk on his face?’
‘Yeah, I told him I was askin’ yer.’ Bobby’s eyes went to the ground. ‘He said yer’d laugh at me an’ tell me to get lost.’
‘Oh, he did, did he? Well, you tell him from me that I think yer more of a man than he’ll ever be. I don’t know why yer bother bein’ friends with him, Bobby, he’s always belittling yer in front of people.’
‘He’s not the only one – I’m always gettin’ the mickey taken out of me. I mean, let’s face it, Sadie, I’m not much cop, am I?’
Sadie looked at him and her heart filled with sympathy. He wasn’t much taller than her, he was as thin as a rake and his ginger hair was sticking out like spikes. His complexion had improved though – he didn’t have nearly as many spots as before. ‘It’s not what yer look like on the outside, Bobby, it’s what’s inside that counts. And I think yer a hundred times nicer than the queer feller over there.’
‘But yer don’t want to go out with me?’ Bobby said. ‘Don’t worry, Sadie, I’m used to gettin’ knocked back and I should have known a girl with your looks wouldn’t want to be bothered with me. What I’ll never understand is why Alec packed yer in. He must want his brains testing.’
‘Is that what he told yer, Bobby, that he packed me in?’
Bobby shrugged his thin shoulders. ‘He told everyone, Sadie, not only me.’
‘And everyone believed him, I suppose?’ Sadie tutted. Well, there was one way of killing two birds with one stone. She could make Bobby happy by going to the pictures with him, and at the same time give him the opportunity of getting one over on Alec. The arrogant so-and-so would be laughing on the other side of his face when the tables were turned on him. The great Alec Gleeson made a fool of by little Bobby Bennett. And she’d give Bobby enough ammunition to make the big-head the laughing stock of the whole factory. She’d put the record straight once and for all, and have her revenge for the tales he’d spread about her.
‘I’ll go to the pictures with yer, Bobby. It’ll have to be tomorrow night or Thursday because I’ve got dates on the other nights.’
Bobby’s face showed surprise, relief and happiness. ‘Oh, thanks, Sadie!’ He’d been dreading the sound of Alec’s laughter when he went back and said he’d been turned down. ‘Tomorrow night will be fine with me. Where would yer like to go?’
‘You choose, Bobby, and yer can tell me tomorrow dinner-time. And if yer short of money don’t worry, I don’t mind goin’ in the cheap specks.’
‘I’m all right for money, Sadie, I never go anywhere to spend it.’ Bobby thought his heart would burst with pride. The prettiest girl in the factory going out with him – well, that was a turn-up for the books. ‘We’ll go wherever you want to go, money no object.’
Sadie smiled at him, thinking how different he looked when he was happy. If he would only get away from Alec his confidence would grow. His so-called friend only used him because he was so small and thin he made Alec look like a big he-man. ‘I’ll see yer here tomorrow dinner-time and we’ll make arrangements.’
Bobby looked as though he’d lost a tanner and found half-a-crown. ‘Thanks, Sadie.’
‘Don’t mention it, sunshine, it’ll be my pleasure.’ Sadie was smiling as she made haste to the chippy. Oh, how she’d like to see the look on smart Alec’s face when he heard Bobby’s news. They say every dog has its day – well, today was hers and Bobby’s. And Wednesday would be better still when the whole factory found out how she’d left him doubled up in pain after he’d gone too far with his roving hands.
Sadie was next to be served when Brenda came up beside her. ‘Don’t get any for me, Sadie, me tummy’s really upset.’
‘Go and see the nurse when we get back. She can give yer something to settle it down – some of that white stuff that tastes like spearmint.’
Brenda didn’t like that idea. ‘No, I’ll be all right by tomorrow. Me mam said I’ve got a cold on me tummy.’
Outside the chip shop, Sadie made a hole in the newspaper and offered it to her workmate. ‘Are yer sure yer don’t want any?’
Brenda wrinkled her nose as the smell invaded her nostrils. ‘No, ta, I’ll keep me tummy empty for today, see if that helps.’
‘They’re not half hot.’ Sadie pulled a chip out between two fingers and wafted it in the air. ‘I’ll burn me tongue off if I’m not careful.’
There was a strange look on Brenda’s face as her eyes slid sideways. ‘What did that drip Bobby Bennett want yer for?’
‘Ay, Brenda, get yer eyes tested, sunshine, ’cos you were the one talkin’ to the biggest drip walking on God’s earth. Bobby is a gentleman compared with Alec. And that’s why I’ve promised to go to the pictures with him tomorrow night.’
Brenda stopped dead in her tracks. ‘Yer pullin’ me leg, Sadie Wilson. You’d never go out with him.’
‘I’m not goin’ to argue with yer, Bren, ’cos yer like a bear with a sore head these days. So just wait until tomorrow and find out whether I’m pullin’ yer leg or not.’
‘Ugh, I wouldn’t let him do things to me, he’s all pimples and blackheads.’
A chip was halfway to Sadie’s mouth when she asked, ‘What’s all this talk about fellers doin’ things to yer? It’s all yer seem to have on yer mind these days. What sort of things wouldn’t yer let Bobby do to yer?’
‘You know what I’m talkin’ about, Sadie. Yer used to let Alec do it to yer.’
‘Oh, aye? And precisely what did I let Alec do to me? Refresh me memory, Brenda.’
‘Yer know quite well what it was, Sadie, yer only bein’ funny. But I know yer used to let him put his … er … his … thingy between yer legs.’
Sadie gasped as every emotion it was possible to feel sent her head reeling. If this was what was going around the factory, what must everyone think of her? ‘A cheap tart’ were the words that sprang to her mind. ‘He told yer that, Brenda?’
Brenda nodded, a doleful expression on her face. ‘Yeah, every time yer went out.’
Oh, my God! If Alec had told Brenda that, he’d probably have told Bobby and all his cronies the same story, bragging about his conquest. ‘I’ll break his bloody neck for him!’ Sadie seldom swore. She’d watched her mother one day, her face twisted into ugliness as she shouted abuse and obscenities at nine-year-old Les. On that day Sadie had vowed never to lower herself to her mother’s standards. But she was so angry right at that moment she felt like shouting out every bad word she could think of. Grinding the words out through clenched teeth, she said, ‘Brenda, your dear boyfriend never even got his hand between me legs, never mind anythin’ else. He’s a dirty rotten liar and I’ll find some way of making him pay for spreadin’ tales about me.’ Sadie was so filled with rage she didn’t at first notice the pallor of her workmate’s face. When she did, the truth hit her like a blow between the eyes. ‘Oh Bren, yer haven’t, have yer?’
‘Well, he told me you did!’ Brenda was near to tears as she tried to excuse her behaviour. ‘He told me all the girls did and I’d never get a boyfriend if I didn’t.’ Her eyes were pleading. ‘I knew it was wrong but he made it sound like I was a big cry-baby.’
Sadie’s mind was racing. How long had Brenda been going out with Alec? It must be six or seven weeks. Oh, dear God, no! ‘Brenda, yer do know what can happen when yer do the things you’ve been doing, don’t yer? Yer can get in the family way.’ Sadie felt like shaking her friend for not having listened to her, but that wouldn’t help. ‘Do yer really think yer’ve got a cold on your tummy, or could yer be pregnant?’
‘I don’t know!’ Brenda wailed. ‘I’m too frightened to ask anyone. Me monthly should have started last week and it hasn’t. Me mam’ll kill me when she finds out what I’ve been doing. She’ll be so ashamed of me.’
As Sadie twisted the chip paper into a
corkscrew she was wishing it was Alec’s neck. He’d certainly picked his mark with Brenda, inexperienced in the wiles of men like him. He’d fed her a load of lies and must have been laughing himself sick when she fell for them. ‘Don’t say anythin’ to her, just wait and see what happens. I know it’s easy for me to talk, I’m not the one in trouble, but don’t start worrying yer mam until yer’ve got to. One thing yer’ve got to do is keep away from Alec. I told yer he was no good for yer. If yer’d listened to me in the first place yer wouldn’t be in this mess now.’
‘I thought yer were tellin’ me that because yer were jealous of me goin’ out with him. That’s what he told me and I was daft enough to believe him.’
‘Yer’ve been daft about a lot of things, Brenda, but it’s a bit late in the day for regrets ’cos yer can’t turn the clock back.’ Sadie linked her arm through her friend’s and gave it a squeeze. ‘Give it another week or two before doing anything; it might be a false alarm.’ They were passing through the factory gates when she asked, ‘Does Alec know yer worried?’
‘Oh no, I couldn’t tell him! I wouldn’t know what to say!’
‘No, well, keep it to yerself for a while. And I think I may be wrong in telling yer not to go out with him again. Perhaps yer should keep on seeing him until yer know for sure that yer not in the family way. But for God’s sake, stop him from messing around with yer.’
‘Don’t tell Bobby Bennett, will yer, Sadie?’ Brenda begged. ‘I don’t want everyone talking about me behind me back.’
‘Scout’s honour, Bren, I won’t mention yer name to Bobby. I will be mentioning Alec’s though, I’ve got a score to settle with him.’ Sadie withdrew her arm as they neared the packing-room door. ‘Now, put a smile on yer face and keep it there for the rest of the day. I know how worried yer are but goin’ around looking like a wet week isn’t going to help you or anyone else.’ She patted her friend’s backside when they reached their bench. ‘I’m the one who’s got to look at yer clock all day and yer look much prettier when yer smile.’
Sadie went upstairs to change and she’d just reached the landing when she remembered she’d left her handbag at the side of her chair. She tripped lightly down the stairs and opened the living-room door just in time to see Dot pick the bag up and press the clasp back. ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ Sadie dashed forward and grabbed the bag. ‘Don’t you ever dare to touch anything belonging to me.’