by Joan Jonker
John grinned and looked past her to where Billy was sitting. His hands were clasped in front of him and his face was like thunder as Katy chatted to Doreen across him so her friend wouldn’t feel left out. ‘All right, Billy?’
Billy bent towards him. ‘If I can make a suggestion, Mr Kershaw, perhaps next time yer could buy gob-stoppers instead of chocolates. That’s if there is a next time, which I very much doubt.’
Dot grinned. ‘Hard going, is it, son?’
‘Hard going! Did yer ever see that film with James Cagney in? The one where he’s in prison and all the prisoners are chained together and they have to work like slaves breaking hard rocks with pick-axes?’
Chuckling inside, Dot said, ‘I know the one yer mean. Where his hands are all cut and bleeding, and all they get to eat is bread and water?’
Billy nodded. ‘That’s the one, Mrs Baker. Well, James Cagney thought he had it tough, but he’d have found it harder to get a smile or a laugh out of a certain person than he did breaking those blinking rocks.’
It was unusual for Mary to laugh out loud, but she did now. ‘Perhaps that person can’t laugh, Billy, have yer thought of that? Perhaps she’s like Boris Karloff, put together with nuts and bolts. He never laughed, either.’
Billy’s good humour was slowly being restored. ‘Yeah, I never thought of that. Yer mean like Frankenstein’s monster?’
Katy pulled on his coat. ‘Billy, will yer sit down so we can hear what ye’re talking about? All we can see is yer back.’
‘According to me mam, Katy, me back’s as good as me front.’ Billy pulled his seat down and held it until he was safely re-installed. ‘In fact, she said she can’t tell the difference, except when I’m eating, of course.’
‘Oh, that’s daft,’ Doreen said, to everyone’s amazement and amusement. ‘I can easy tell the difference.’
‘God love her,’ Dot whispered to John. ‘The girl’s more to be pitied than laughed at.’
‘I’m back, Mr Kershaw.’
John turned to see Colin standing beside him with a tub of ice-cream in one hand and a little wooden spoon in the other. Crossing his fingers and pretending to make a move, he asked, ‘Oh, you want your seat back?’
‘No, you stay where you are, I’ll sit here.’ For months now the boy had been harbouring hopes that Mr Kershaw and his mam would become friends. Well, not just friends, they were that already, but more boyfriend, girlfriend. He’d grown very fond of the big man, who never talked down to him and was always kind and gentle. He knew Mr Kershaw liked his mam, he could tell, but his mam didn’t seem interested one way or the other.
‘Is it all right with you, Dot, if he sits there?’ John asked, holding his breath. ‘I’ll change back if you’d prefer.’
Dot hesitated, then said, ‘No, he’ll be all right for now. But if there’s any frightening bits in the picture then he’s to come back to sit beside me.’
‘If there’s any frightening bits in the picture you can sit between us and hold both our hands. I go very sick at the sight of blood.’
Dot smiled at him. ‘Yer can close yer eyes if yer get frightened, and I’ll tell yer when it’s safe to open them. When the goodie kills the baddie and the girl rushes into his arms.’
‘I wonder if the day will ever come when a girl rushes into my arms.’
‘Oh, it’ll happen, John, never fear. The right one will come along one day, you’ll see. Ah, the big picture’s starting.’
It was a romantic mystery, nothing exciting but pleasant enough to watch. Or it would have been but for the continuous drone of Doreen’s voice. She shared her thoughts and her complaints with everyone. Joan Bennett’s eyes were too small and too close together. Her hair was a mess and the style didn’t suit her. She couldn’t act for toffee. Ronald Colman would never fall for her in real life because she wasn’t pretty enough. How did she ever get to be a film star?
Katy was embarrassed and tried to shut her up, but her efforts fell on deaf ears. In the end a woman sitting in the row behind had had enough. She thumped Doreen on the shoulder and hissed, ‘I paid good money to see a picture, not listen to your ruddy voice all night. Now shut up or I’ll get the usherette to throw yer out.’
A smile lit up on Billy’s face as he folded his arms and turned his head. ‘Thanks, missus, yer’ve done us all a favour.’
Dot leaned towards John, and without thinking, she put her hand on his arm. ‘The woman’s right, Doreen is one ruddy nuisance,’ she murmured into his ear. ‘I’ll never come out with her again.’ Then, realising she was touching him, her face flamed and she withdrew her hand sharpish.
‘Ah, what did you do that for?’
‘What did I do what for?’
‘Take your hand away.’
‘It’s my hand.’
‘I’ll grant you that, but what about my poor arm?’
‘What’s wrong with your arm?’
‘It was enjoying the feel of your hand on it.’
‘Shut up, John Kershaw, or yer’ll be getting us all thrown out.’
John lost all interest in the picture then. Was tonight one step forward? He thought and he hoped so, but Dorothy Baker was so unpredictable it was best not to count his chickens before they were hatched.
When the lights went up the aisles quickly filled with people pushing and shoving. ‘Let’s hang on a minute,’ Dot said, ‘until the crush dies down.’ She beckoned to Katy to lean towards her. ‘Will you go in Billy’s for a couple of hours, sunshine?’ she whispered. ‘I haven’t had time to ask Mary how things went yesterday and how her mother is. We can’t talk properly, not about personal things, when there’s a stranger there.’
‘Yeah, OK, Mam, but what about you-know-who?’
‘She ain’t coming to ours, that’s for sure,’ Billy huffed. ‘Let her go home and make her own family miserable.’
‘I wouldn’t worry too much about her, sunshine. John will walk her to her door to make sure she gets home all right.’
‘She’ll have a right cob on, Mam, getting dumped like that.’
‘She never looks any different, Katy, so how will anyone know she’s got a cob on?’ Billy said. ‘If she won a million pounds she’d still moan because it wasn’t two million. There’s just no pleasing that girl at all.’
Dot noticed the aisles were clearing and she pulled herself up by the back of the seat in front. ‘We’ll take her with us, whether she likes it or not, and that’s that. Now come on before they start letting the second house in.’
Colin had gone to bed and Mary sat at the table with Dot and John. Her finger running around the rim of her cup, she said, ‘Me mam was in a terrible state yesterday. Me brothers had to hold her back when they were lowering the coffin into the grave. She won’t know what to do without me dad, they’d been married for nearly forty years.’
Dot nodded sympathetically. ‘A long time, sunshine, almost a lifetime. I’d only been married for four years when Ted died, and I felt as though half of me had died with him. It took me years to get used to him not being here, and it’ll be a damn sight worse for yer mam, after all that time.’
John listened in silence. It wasn’t the first time Dot had mentioned her husband, she brought his name up quite often. But never before had she said how much she’d missed him.
Mary let out a long, deep sigh. ‘I was going to tell me mam about the baby and suggest that when it was born, we could go and live with her. I thought it would be company for her instead of her being on her own, and I could have got a job to help out with money.’
‘Oh, that’s a good idea, sunshine, yer’d be company for each other. And the baby would bring her a lot of happiness, help to fill the void and give her a reason for living.’
‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. I had it all planned out in me head, but now I know why people say yer shouldn’t plan ahead, it’s bad luck. With the rotten luck I’ve had over the last few years, I should have known better than to expect a miracle.’
‘Yer me
an yer mam doesn’t want yer to go and live with her?’
‘I never got the chance to ask her, Dot. I didn’t know, but the day after me dad died our Gordon told her she wasn’t staying in the house on her own, she could go and live with him and his family. It was all arranged before I knew anything about it.’
‘But surely there’s still time for her to change her mind, if yer explained?’
‘I couldn’t bring meself to do it. Our Gordon idolises me mam, he’ll take good care of her and see she doesn’t want for anything. I love her, too, but I can’t match what he can give her. All I could offer her is a load of trouble and heartache. And she deserves better than that, does my mam.’
‘Yer’ve been dealt a lousy hand of cards, sunshine, no doubt about that. But I’m not going to cluck and sympathise with yer ’cos that won’t get yer anywhere. What yer’ve got to do is look to the future, hold yer head up high and keep telling yerself that ye’re as good as anybody and ye’re going to make something of yer life. Don’t let your feller walk all over yer, stand up to him. There’s a baby on its way, and yer need to make sure it comes into the world welcomed and loved.’ When Mary opened her mouth to speak, Dot held her hand up. ‘No, let me finish, sunshine. OK, so its father doesn’t want it and won’t love it. Well, sod him, sunshine, ’cos that’s his loss. Forget about him and concentrate on the baby. Start knitting and getting things together for when it’s born. We’ll all help yer out, yer know that. Maggie’s already started knitting a matinée coat and she’s quick, is Maggie – she’ll have half a dozen ready in a week or two. Betty is making yer baby blankets and pillow-cases, and I’ll buy a couple of nightdresses for it. And our Katy said she’s not going to be left out; she’s paying so much a week off nappies for yer.’
Tears rolled down Mary’s cheeks and for a while she was too overcome to speak. Then she said, ‘I don’t know what to say, how to tell yer how much I appreciate all that’s being done for me. I’ve been lying awake at night wondering where I was going to get the money for all the things I’ll need. I know I shouldn’t have to rely on neighbours, but Tom Campbell doesn’t turn enough up to pay what needs to be paid every week as it is. If I asked him for more he’d either laugh in me face or belt me one.’
John spoke for the first time. ‘I know this is woman’s talk, but can I put my two-pennyworth in? You see, I’m hoping to be an uncle to this baby, so would you allow me to buy a present for it? Everyone else is doing their bit, and I don’t want to be left out.’
Dot was quick to answer. ‘Of course yer can buy it a present. Mary would be only too happy, wouldn’t yer sunshine?’
‘Yes, John, I would. Perhaps some bootees or mittens?’
‘Oh, I’ll leave those sort of things to the ladies, they’re more knowledgeable than me. Would you allow me to choose what I buy?’
Dot grinned at him. ‘A teddy bear, I’ll bet.’
‘No, if it’s all right with Mary, I’d like to buy the pram.’
Mary was too stunned to speak, so Dot did it for her. ‘She’d be over the moon, John, thank you. You really are a very generous and thoughtful man. And on this occasion I’ll go as far as to add that ye’re lovable as well.’
Seeing the laughter in her eyes, John dared to ask, ‘Do I get a kiss off Mary for being very generous and thoughtful, and one off you for being lovable?’
‘Don’t push yer luck, John Kershaw, yer’ve had the word, yer don’t need the action.’
‘I don’t know,’ John sighed. ‘I never get a kiss off anyone.’
‘Ah, yer poor thing, me heart bleeds for yer.’ They were the words that came out of Dot’s mouth, but the words in her head were saying he wouldn’t ever get a kiss or a hug because he was all alone in the world. And God knows, he’d do anything for anybody, fall over himself to help. Look at the way he’d said he’d buy Mary a pram, that would cost him a few pounds. There’s not many people would do that, even if they had the money. So she jerked her head at Mary. ‘Come on, one either side and give him a kiss before he starts bawling his ruddy eyes out.’
Mary’s kiss was on the middle of his cheek, Dot’s was about to land somewhere in the region of his ear. But he got daring and twisted his face around, hoping her lips would end up on his mouth. But Dot was too quick for him and grabbed his chin. ‘I told yer, John Kershaw, don’t push yer luck.’ But she was smiling as she kissed his nose. ‘That’s for being generous and thoughtful.’
‘Where’s the one for being lovable?’
‘Hey, it’s Mary ye’re buying the pram for, not me.’
‘I’ll buy you one, if you like.’
‘No, thank you very much. Them days are over for me.’
‘There’s no pleasing you, D.D., is there?’
‘Yes, there is. Yer can stick the kettle on and make us another cuppa before it’s time for Mary to leave.’
‘I’m in no hurry, Dot, my feller won’t be in before half-ten. He spent the whole afternoon getting himself spruced up so I imagine he’s gallivanting further afield than the corner pub.’
‘Has he said anything about the clothes, or hasn’t he even noticed?’
‘He passed some sarcastic remark, I can’t remember what it was, and I said I’d got them off me mam. He’s never mentioned them since.’
‘I’ve still got the case upstairs, yer know, if yer want anything else out of it.’
‘D’yer mind if I leave it here for a while, Dot, until I feel a bit better? At the moment I feel completely drained after the events of this week. But I will pull meself together and do as you say. I’ll look to the future and me new baby.’
‘That’s the idea, sunshine.’ Dot looked up as John came in carrying the teapot. ‘My God, you’ve been ruddy quick!’
‘I only had to boil the kettle, we can use the same cups.’
‘Frightened of missing something, that’s your trouble.’
‘As a matter of fact, I was thinking of ways to please you ladies.’ John put the teapot in the middle of the table and sat down. ‘You can be mother, and pour.’
‘We’ll let it brew for a while.’ Dot eyed him with suspicion. ‘Go on, tell us how yer can please us.’
‘Well, it’s more like you pleasing me, really. I was wondering if you’d let me take both of you to the pictures next Saturday, without the children. We could go to the second house, then.’
‘What about our Colin? I’m not going out and leaving him on his own.’
‘I’m sure Katy and Billy would be pleased to stay in with him and play cards. Anyway, Liverpool are playing at home next week so he’ll have plenty of excitement for one day.’
Not wanting to be a spoilsport, Dot pinned her hopes on her neighbour refusing. ‘How about it, Mary?’
‘I’d love to get out of the house for a while, but it’s up to you.’
So the ball was back in Dot’s court and she had no option but to agree. ‘Yeah, OK, then.’
They chatted until ten o’clock, then Mary said she’d make a move. ‘I want to be settled before Tom gets in. If the light’s off, he’ll go straight up to bed.’
‘John will see yer in safely.’ Dot saw the disappointed look on his face but pretended she hadn’t. ‘Come on, big boy, you’re on yer way as well.’
‘Can you hear the way she talks to me, Mary? She makes me feel like a schoolboy who never gets picked for milk monitor.’
Dot grinned as she handed him his coat. ‘I’ll give yer a note to take to yer teacher, asking her to give yer a go.’ She saw them out and was about to close the door when she heard John say, ‘Hang on a minute, Mary, I’ve forgotten something.’
He mounted the step and before Dot had any idea of what he was going to do, he cupped her face and kissed her on the lips. ‘That’s what you give to someone you think is lovable.’
With that he was gone, leaving Dot touching her lips. It was over so quickly, she found it hard to believe it had happened. His kiss had been gentle, like a feather brushing her lips. She willed herself
to feel angry with him, but she couldn’t stop her heartbeats from racing. It had been so long since any man had kissed her.
Dot closed the door and leaned back against it. He’d thrown her for a while, but she soon reverted to her normal self. ‘Cheeky devil! Next time he pulls a stunt like that I’ll clock him one.’
But as she cleared the cups away, she was smiling. She touched her lips, and chuckled again, ‘Cheeky devil!’
Chapter Sixteen
Tom Campbell stared at his reflection in the mirror and, pleased with what he saw, he bared his teeth in a smile. Not bad, he thought, I look more like twenty-five than thirty-five. It was a Friday night and he’d made up his mind to go down to the pub in Seaforth, instead of waiting until Saturday. All day in work his body and mind had been crying out for the delights he enjoyed two nights of the week, and by the time he got home he knew he couldn’t wait another twenty-four hours to savour those delights. The trouble was, he was threepence short of the two bob he needed, and those prostitutes were hard-hearted when it came to money. Especially the one he went with regularly now, who’d do anything you asked without turning a hair. She told him her name was Esmée but he took that with a pinch of salt. She had bright red hair and her face, like her voice, was coarse, but her looks didn’t interest him. He’d been with several of the women before her, but none since. She was the only one where nothing was off-limits, and half an hour in bed with her was spectacular. She certainly knew her business, and was very businesslike with it. Until she had the money in her hand she wouldn’t set foot outside the pub. And the half-hour you paid for was exactly what you got, not a minute over. One night she’d said to him, ‘I don’t turn a trick until I’ve got the money in me hand. I’m not in the business for the good of me bleedin’ health.’
Tom slipped the comb into his breast-pocket and sauntered through to the kitchen where Mary was washing some clothes in the sink. She was eight and a half months pregnant now and very heavy with the child she was carrying. She turned towards him when she felt his presence behind her. ‘Make sure yer’ve got the key with yer.’