by Joan Jonker
They walked a little way from the dance hall so they couldn’t be seen or heard, and stood against a wall. Laura shivered. ‘I should have got me coat out of the cloakroom, I’m freezing.’
Gary slipped off his navy-blue jacket and draped it across her shoulders. ‘That’ll keep yer nice and warm.’
Laura snuggled into the jacket and grinned up at him. ‘I’ve never been as close to yer as I am now.’ She sniffed up. ‘I can even smell yer on it. I think I’ll take it home with me so I’ll always feel ye’re near me.’
‘Yer’ll be sick of the sight of me pretty soon, if all goes to plan. I’ll be knocking on yer door every night.’
‘Yer seem very sure of yerself tonight, Gary, and very secretive. What is it that yer’ve found out about Celia? I hope it’s something really bad, so we can tell her to go and jump in the Mersey.’
‘She’s expecting a baby.’
Laura screwed up her eyes as a dozen thoughts came into her head. And with the thoughts came a picture of her grandad’s face. ‘Are yer sure?’
‘I got it right from the horse’s mouth, babe. Celia and Charlie told me themselves. I think I was happier than they were.’
‘I don’t get it! What’s it got to do with Charlie?’
‘Well, it’s his baby, isn’t it? But she was laughing her head off when she said her husband has agreed to let everyone think it’s his. She called him all the fools going. But she still never mentioned anything about her husband being yer grandad. Even Charlie hasn’t got a clue about that. They’re both in for a rude awakening. I can’t wait to see their faces when we tell them we’ll blow them up if Celia doesn’t leave us alone.’
‘Maybe I’m thick, Gary, but I don’t get it.’ Laura’s temper was rising. ‘D’yer mean yer expect me to let her get away with pulling a stunt like that on me grandad? If yer do, then you’re in for a rude awakening, too! I love me grandad, and I’ll not go along with her lies just to get me and you off the hook. If I did that I’d be worse than she is – nothing more than a scheming, brazen, lying bitch.’
‘What else can we do, babe? If we tell yer grandad, then Celia will get her own back by telling all sorts of lies about us. What we did would be magnified a thousand times to my mam and your family.’
Laura dropped her head. She’d got herself into this mess for the sake of one lousy underskirt. But she knew Gary was right. When Celia told her tale, it wouldn’t be just about an underskirt; she’d add a lot more on to it. Like her smoking, even though she’d only ever had that one cigarette. And that she’d lied about going to the dance with Cynthia.
‘I’ll have to have time to think it over, Gary. After all, it’s not your grandad she’s lied to and cheated, it’s mine. He’s a lovely, gentle man, and he doesn’t deserve what she’s doing to him. If yer could meet him, yer’d know what I mean. I couldn’t stand back and let him be made a fool of, just so we get what we want. And me mam would hate me if I let someone hurt him without me lifting a finger to help.’
‘What shall we do, then, babe? I’ll go along with whatever you decide because, as yer said, it’s not my family.’
‘I’m not thinking straight, Gary, so I don’t want to do anything hasty. I mean, where does Charlie fit into this? He’s laughing sacks, isn’t he? What sort of a man would get a married woman pregnant and then pass the baby off as someone else’s? He’s a good match for Celia, they’re both rotten.’ Laura shook her head as though bewildered by it all. ‘Will yer give me until next Thursday to think it over? By that time I’ll know exactly what I should do for the best.’
‘That suits me, babe, as long as we can sort ourselves out. We need to make the most of what we know because we may never get another chance. You’re my girl and I want the whole world to know. If yer think we should throw ourselves on the mercy of our families, then I’ll go along with that. But please don’t let anything keep us apart for much longer, babe, I couldn’t stand it.’
Laura stood on tiptoe to kiss him. ‘I won’t let anyone keep us apart, Gary, I promise. Especially Celia. Somehow I’ll pay her back for laughing at my grandad behind his back.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Laura was looking in the bedroom mirror as she ran a brush through her hair, but her mind was so occupied she didn’t even see her reflection. Nor did she feel the stiff bristles of the brush scraping her scalp as she put her strength behind the strokes. She was trying to cover one pain with another but it wasn’t working. Last night had been a nightmare and she was no further forward. For hours she’d lain on her back staring up at the ceiling, seeking a solution that would not only help her grandad, but also her and Gary. She knew she was being selfish, and for the first time in her life wasn’t proud of herself. She had the solution in her hands but was too cowardly to use it. All she had to do was go downstairs now and tell her mam and dad everything. But she didn’t have the courage to do it because suddenly it mattered to her what her mam and dad thought of her. She couldn’t bear the prospect of them turning their heads from her in disgust.
She heard footsteps running up the stairs and quickly slipped the brush into a drawer. She hoped Jenny would get what she wanted and go; the last thing Laura needed was to have to listen to her going on about how good life was. She must have been born under a lucky star, her sister, because everything had always gone her way.
Jenny bounced in, her face wearing a big smile and her whole body exuding happiness. ‘Are yer going out tonight, Laura?’
‘Only down to Cynthia’s for an hour.’ Laura cringed inside when she heard the bedsprings creak as her sister sat on the side of the bed. Oh Lord, she wants to be matey and this is the wrong time. ‘I’m going to have an early night for a change.’
‘Me mam’s just said I can go to the pictures with John and Mick on Saturday night, and I’m over the moon. Janet’s coming as well, of course – I wouldn’t go anywhere without me mate.’ Jenny bounced gently on the bed. ‘I wonder which picture-house we’ll go to?’
Laura snapped. The stupid girl was going to ask her to choose between James Cagney and Cary Grant, when she had so much trouble on her mind. She spun round to face her sister. ‘I don’t know why yer bother with those two stupid nits. It’s about time they grew up. They can’t even kiss proper.’
The smile slipped from Jenny’s face. ‘How would you know that?’
‘How d’yer think I’d know? Down the entry, of course.’ Laura grabbed her handbag and made for the door. ‘Fumbling and sloppy, both of them.’ She didn’t stay long enough to see her sister’s stricken face. With those few words, spoken without thought or truth, she’d stripped Jenny of her happiness and her belief in the two people she’d have trusted with her life.
‘Can we go up to yer bedroom to talk?’ Laura whispered anxiously when Cynthia opened the door. ‘I’ve got something terrible to tell yer.’
‘Yeah, you go on up, I’ll tell me mam.’ Cynthia poked her head around the living-room door. ‘I’m going to me bedroom with Laura, Mam.’ She winked when her father’s eyes appeared over the top of the Echo. ‘Girls’ talk, Dad, yer wouldn’t be interested.’
When her head disappeared from view, her father looked across the room. ‘She seems to have got over whatever was ailing her.’
Fanny lowered her eyes to the sock she was darning. ‘Yes, she’s a lot better.’
Cynthia bounded up the stairs and closed the bedroom door behind her. ‘Well, what’s this terrible thing I’m about to hear?’
‘Sit down and I’ll tell yer.’ Laura moved along and patted the eiderdown. ‘Don’t say anything until I’ve finished, Cynthia – just listen.’
Laura hesitated, wondering where to start. The incident with the underskirt was the beginning, so her tale began on the night she’d walked out of the factory gates to find Celia waiting for her. She didn’t leave anything out, as the words came tumbling from her mouth. The lies she’d told, the way she’d deceived her parents, how she’d met and fallen for Gary, and how Celia had manipu
lated them both. It was when she came to last night, and what she’d heard about the way her grandad was being made a fool of, that her voice faltered and tears sprang to her eyes. ‘I’m at the end of me tether, Cynthia. I just don’t know what to do for the best.’
‘Of course yer know what yer’ve got to do, otherwise yer’d take the easy way out and you and Gary would be laughing sacks. But yer know damn well that’s not what yer should do, or yer wouldn’t be here telling me. Ye’re feeling guilty, and ye’re hoping I’ll tell yer what yer want to hear. But I’m not going to.’ Cynthia put a finger under Laura’s chin and raised her face. ‘I’ve listened to you, now it’s your turn to listen to me. Yer might not like what I’m going to say, but it’s the truth. When me and you were at school, we were horrible. We bullied the younger kids, and we cheated and told lies. And we kept on like that even after we’d left school. We did exactly what we wanted to do, and it was to hell with everyone else. We didn’t care about hurting our parents, as long as we got our own way. We’ve been bitches, Laura, and there’s no other word for it. I gave my mam a dog’s life, treated her like a skivvy. But I’ve tried to make it up to her in the last few months, and we’re getting on fine. It’s a bit late in the day for me to find out, but I know now that a mother can be yer best friend.’
‘I’ve noticed that ye’re nicer with yer mother, and she looks a lot happier.’ Laura wrung her hands. ‘What am I going to do, Cyn?’
‘Stop telling lies for a kick-off. Yer mam has the right to know about this Charlie, and she’ll know best how to handle it.’
‘But Celia will tell her everything, and more. And she’ll get Gary into trouble.’
‘Don’t give her the chance – beat her to it. Own up to everything, tell yer mam and dad the lot. And ask Gary to do the same. That way yer’ll take the wind out of her sails and she’ll be left high and dry.’
‘But you don’t know what she’s like.’ Once again Laura was finding that her friend was a much stronger person than she was. ‘And what about me grandad? She’d take it out on him and she can be really wicked.’
‘Laura Nightingale, I’m surprised at you! Fancy even thinking of letting this person, this Celia, get away with it! If I was in your shoes I’d be up there right now, giving her the bloody good hiding she deserves.’ Cynthia felt like shaking some sense into her friend. ‘This feller, Charlie, is he married?’
Laura shook her head slowly. ‘I don’t know. I was that confused last night, I never thought to ask. Why?’
‘His baby, his problem. Blow the whole thing sky-high, Laura, and get yer grandad off the hook. Yer can’t let him be lumbered with another man’s baby, not at his age. And from what I’ve heard, he’s sorry he ever married her in the first place, so yer’d be doing him a favour. If yer don’t, and yer go on letting him carry the can while you and Gary waltz off into the sunset, then I’ll never speak to yer again, Laura – and I mean it. We’ve done some lousy things in our lives, but never anything as bad as this. If yer don’t do the right thing by yer family, then I wouldn’t want yer as a friend.’
No one could have got through to Laura as her childhood friend did. Every word struck a chord. ‘I know ye’re right, Cyn, I’ve known all along that’s what I should do. I just didn’t have the courage. But I have now – you’ve given it to me. I’ll see Gary next Thursday and I’m sure he’ll go along with what I say.’ Laura sighed. ‘I don’t know why I have to lie all the time. I even lied to our Jenny, just before I came out. She was telling me she was going to the pictures on Saturday night with Mick and John, and she looked so happy I had to spoil it. So I told her I’d been down the entry with them and they’re sloppy kissers.’
‘Oh Laura, that was wrong. She’s a nice kid, your Jenny, and she’s been mates with the two boys all her life. If you’ve spoiled that friendship, then ye’re not worth having for a sister. Yer’ve got to tell her the truth.’
‘I will, Cynthia, I promise. And I’ll tell me mam and dad everything next Thursday. I won’t go in the dance, I’ll get there early and wait outside for Gary. He might come home with me so we can tell me mam and dad together, but if he doesn’t, I’ll do it on me own.’
Jenny pushed her plate away. ‘I couldn’t eat that, Mam. I’m sorry after all the trouble yer’ve gone to, cooking it, but I don’t feel well.’
‘Yer’ve probably got a cold coming on,’ Laura said, mopping gravy up with a piece of bread. ‘Take a Beecham’s Powder.’
Mary rounded the table in a flash. Kneeling by her daughter’s chair, she felt her head to see if she was running a temperature. ‘Have yer got a headache, sunshine, or any pains?’
‘I just don’t feel well, Mam, me tummy’s upset.’
‘Yer must be sickening for something,’ Stan said. ‘I’d go and lie down for an hour if I were you.’
‘I think I will.’ Jenny pushed her chair back. ‘And I think I’ll stay in bed, ’cos I feel faint and dead tired.’
‘See how yer feel after a couple of hours,’ Mary suggested, ‘’cos ye’re supposed to be going to the pictures with Janet and the boys.’
‘It won’t matter if I don’t go, the boys will take Janet.’ Jenny looked through her sister as though she wasn’t there. ‘I’ll go up to bed.’
‘You do that, sunshine, and I’ll bring yer a hot drink up.’
Laura put her dirty plate on the draining board. ‘I’m just nipping upstairs,’ she told her mother. ‘I’ll help yer with the dishes when I come down.’
Jenny was slipping between the sheets when her sister entered the room. She didn’t even turn her head. In fact, Laura was the last person on earth she wanted to see or be near.
‘Look, our kid, what I said last night isn’t true. So if that’s got anything to do with yer not feeling well, I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I said it.’
Jenny laid her head on the pillow and pulled the blankets up to her chin. ‘Yer wouldn’t have thought of saying it, if it wasn’t true. And I’ll tell yer why yer said it, it was because yer wanted to spoil things for me. Like yer’ve always spoilt things for me.’
‘It was a lie, Jenny.’ Laura heard the stairs creak and knew her mother was on her way up. ‘Honestly, kid, it was a lie.’
‘Yer said it, and yer can’t un-say it. So go away and leave me alone.’
Laura was leaving as her mother came through the door with a cup of hot, weak tea. ‘I’ll make a start on the dishes, Mam, so take yer time.’
Mary put the saucer on top of the chest of drawers before sitting her daughter forward while she plumped the pillows. ‘Get the tea down while it’s hot, sunshine, and I’ll nip to the corner shop for a Beecham’s for yer.’
Jenny heard the knock and the sound of Janet’s voice. ‘Is Jenny ready, Mrs Nightingale?’
‘I’m sorry, kids, but Jenny’s not well, she’s in bed.’
‘Ah, isn’t she coming with us?’
‘What’s wrong with her?’ John asked. ‘It’s nothing serious, is it?’
‘No, she’ll probably be as right as rain tomorrow. But it’s not like our Jenny to take to her bed, especially as she’d been looking forward to going out with yer. So she must really be feeling under the weather.’
Mick was looking down in the mouth. ‘I don’t suppose we could see her for a minute, could we? Just to say hello, like?’
‘I don’t think so, Mick, she was asleep the last time I looked in on her. Perhaps tomorrow, eh? Anyway, she said to enjoy yerselves and make sure Janet’s well looked after.’
‘Don’t worry, Mrs Nightingale, Janet will make sure she’s well looked after.’ John chuckled. ‘It’s me and Mick that Jenny should be worrying about. Anyway, I’ll give a knock in the morning, see how she is.’
‘Yeah, me too,’ Mick said. ‘Give her my love and tell her I’ll miss her.’
Jenny pulled the bedclothes over her head so she couldn’t hear any more. She felt sick all right, but it wasn’t a sickness that could be cured by a Beecham’s Powder. It was i
n her heart and mind she felt sick. She’d never feel the same towards John and Mick now. Not when she knew they’d been kissing her sister down an entry. She felt betrayed by them, but knew that was stupid. They were both old enough to have been out with girls and kissed them. She could forgive them that, but not when one of the girls was a fly turn like her sister.
Mary opened the bedroom door and popped her head in. ‘They’ve gone, sunshine, and Janet looks as proud as Punch with her arms through theirs. It’s a pity yer couldn’t go, yer’d have enjoyed it. The boys were disappointed, especially Mick. He looked as though he’d lost his wage-packet down a grid.’
‘He’ll get over it.’
‘Of course he will. Anyway, if ye’re feeling better, yer’ll all meet up tomorrow night at yer Auntie Lizzie’s.’
When her mother had gone, Jenny lay on her back. She knew she’d have to see the boys again, it couldn’t be avoided. But she didn’t want to go out with them ever again, and didn’t want them to touch her. They’d been part of her life for as long as she could remember – good mates who had looked out for her since she was able to toddle. But the thought of them kissing her sister was more than she could stomach. She wouldn’t tell Janet, that wouldn’t be fair, but she wouldn’t be so friendly with them in future. And losing them from her life was all down to Laura. At that moment Jenny wished she’d never had a sister.
Sighing, Jenny curled up and tried to sleep. But although she could close her eyes and shut out anything she didn’t want to see, she couldn’t close her mind or her heart. And pictures of a boy with raven-black hair, the deepest of blue eyes and dimples in his cheeks, kept popping up in her head. She could hear him speaking as clearly as if he was standing next to her. ‘As I haven’t got a girlfriend, I thought yer might like to team up with me.’
And with the words and the pictures came the tears.
Mary opened the door on Monday morning to Lizzie Marshall. ‘Well, this is a surprise. It’s not often we get honoured with your company. Come on in, Lizzie, me mate’s here for her usual cuppa and natter.’