by Joan Jonker
Molly shook her head, a look of determination on her face. ‘No, I’m not sitting down, Nellie. I want to get cracking. Ruthie’s having friends in tonight, and I want everything to be ready for her.’ There was a message Molly wanted to go on after she’d got the dinner on the way, but she wasn’t going to tell her mate because she’d insist on coming with her. ‘So up yer get, sunshine, there’s a good girl.’
It was not with good grace that Nellie pushed back her chair. ‘I don’t know. Five bleeding minutes won’t make any difference to yer.’
‘I’ve been with yer since half ten this morning, sunshine, and now I want to see to me house and family. Anyway, I’ve said yer can come over to Doreen’s with me tonight, so what more d’yer want, for heaven’s sake?’
Nellie had forgotten about the visit tonight, and that cheered her up somewhat. It was only over the road, but it was better than sitting at home talking to herself. ‘Oh, okay, girl, you win. What time shall I call for yer?’
‘I’ll call for you, sunshine, after I’ve made sure everything is ready for Ruthie and her friends. So don’t knock for me, or I’ll brain yer. Just be patient, and wait for me.’
‘Okay, girl, keep yer ruddy hair on! I’ll wait for yer, but don’t make it so late I’ll have me nightdress on.’
Molly watched as Nellie lowered herself down to the pavement. ‘Oh, so yer wear a nightdress in bed, do yer, sunshine? The way yer talk, I was under the impression yer slept in the nuddy.’
Now this was the sort of conversation Nellie most enjoyed. And her friend had walked right into it. ‘Of course I go to bed in a nightdress, girl, what did yer expect? Mind you, I may as well not bother, ’cos as soon as I’m under the sheets, George has me nightie off.’
‘I asked for that, didn’t I, sunshine? But I’m not sure I believe yer, so I’ll ask George tonight. I know I’ll get the truth off him.’
‘You do that, girl, you do that.’ Nellie grinned up at Molly, then waddled away with her whole body shaking with laughter. There was more chance of her mate flying to the moon than there was of her asking George about anything so personal. It would be a toss-up who would have the redder face, her husband or her mate.
Molly closed the door, and as she walked through to the kitchen she was humming a song which she thought was very appropriate right now. It was called ‘The Very Thought of You’. And as she peeled the potatoes, she began to sing. But she’d only sung a couple of lines before she took a bout of laughing. For in her mind’s eye, she could see Nellie in her tent-like nightie and George ripping it from her. And the very thought was enough to bring on tears of laughter. Even when she told herself she shouldn’t be laughing at her best friend, she couldn’t stop. To salve her conscience, though, she vowed to be truthful and tell her mate tonight how she’d laughed at her expense.
When the potatoes were washed and put in lightly salted water, Molly placed the pan on a very low light. She’d run over to Mary’s now, and by the time she got back the potatoes would have reached the boil, and she’d have time to fry the sausages slowly.
‘Hello, Molly.’ Mary held the door open. ‘Are yer coming in?’
‘Just for a few minutes, sunshine, ’cos I’ve left me spuds on the stove.’ Molly shook her head when waved to a chair. ‘No, I can’t stop. I’ve only come to see if yer’d like Bella to come over a bit early tonight, so she can help Ruthie with the sandwiches? With it being the first time they’ve invited friends, I thought it would be better to leave them to get on with it. Give them a bit of confidence for next time.’ Molly looked round the living room, where nothing was allowed to be out of place. ‘I was going to do the sandwiches, then I thought Ruthie would feel more grown-up if I let her do them herself. A bit of responsibility, like.’
‘That’s a good idea, Molly, and I’m sure Bella will be thrilled to bits. I bought four large sausage rolls when I was out, for her to take over with her. They can be cut in half, and they’ll fill a plate up. Not much, but every little helps.’
Molly was inwardly pleased that Mary was taking part. It showed that at least she was going to give Bella some freedom. ‘They’ll go down a treat, Mary, and it was a nice thought. I bought some ham, a jar of salmon paste, and a large homemade loaf. With two bottles of lemonade, that should be plenty for them.’ Molly was edging towards the door. ‘I’ll have to love yer and leave yer, sunshine, or me pan of spuds will be boiling over.’
Mary followed her. ‘What time shall I tell Bella to be at your house for?’
‘Seven o’clock will be fine. It will give them half an hour at least to get things organised. I can always give them a hand if they get stuck.’ Molly began to cross the cobbles, then slowed down to look over her shoulder. ‘I’ve told yer, Mary, that ye’re welcome to nip over to see they’re all right. Me and Jack won’t be there, but there’s nothing to stop you going if it’ll make yer feel better.’
‘We’ll see,’ Mary called. ‘Ta-ra for now.’
Molly waved a hand in the air and hurried into the house, to find the water had just come to the boil and no harm had been done.
Ruthie was so excited she couldn’t keep still on her chair. With butterflies in her tummy, she didn’t feel hungry. ‘Dad, will yer have one of me sausages? I couldn’t eat two, and yer know me mam doesn’t like wasting good food.’
Jack looked at his wife. ‘What d’yer think, love? I suppose it’s no good making her eat it if she doesn’t feel like it. And I’m sure I can fit it in me tummy.’
‘Oh, go on, then.’ Molly could practically feel her daughter’s excitement. ‘There’ll be sandwiches later if she feels hungry.’ She rested her knife and fork. ‘Are yer getting changed, sunshine? If yer are, put that pretty floral dress on. It really suits yer.’
‘Yes, I had a good think about what to wear, and that came out tops. Bella is wearing her green cotton dress, so we could look posh.’
Jack’s eyes went from his wife to his daughter. ‘D’yer know, love, when yer said yer’d marry me, I told meself I was getting the most beautiful girl in Liverpool. Little did I know yer would give me three beautiful daughters. I’m sitting here now looking at Ruthie, and I could be looking at Jill or Doreen at her age. The likeness is uncanny.’
Ruthie’s cup of happiness was flowing over. She knew her sisters were beautiful, the prettiest in the street. And to be told she looked like them was a real compliment.
‘Aren’t yer forgetting something, love?’ Molly asked, her blue eyes holding the deep brown ones of her husband. ‘I didn’t only give yer three beautiful girls, I also gave yer a son who is every bit as handsome as the man I married.’
With the last of the mashed potato on the end of her fork, Ruthie made a vow. She would marry someone who would love her like her dad loved her mam, and would tell her so every time he looked at her. She might only be fourteen years and seven and a half months, but she knew a look of love when she saw it. And she saw it every day of her life, each time her parents looked at each other.
‘You get washed in the sink, sunshine, before I start on the dishes. There’s a drop of hot water left in the kettle, so yer can use that. Then yer can get changed while I’m doing the washing up.’
‘Am I coming to Doreen’s with yer?’ Jack asked, passing his empty plate over.
Molly chuckled. ‘Unless yer want to stay in and play cards with the young ones.’
‘Then yer won’t mind if I bring the Echo over with me, will yer? I’ll sit quiet and read me paper while you women do what yer do best. Talk about everything under the sun.’
‘Yer know Nellie’s coming with us, I told yer last night! So I doubt very much if yer’ll be able to concentrate on the paper.’
Ruthie was running the water in the sink, so she didn’t hear her dad say, ‘There’s not much to choose from, really. Unless I knock to see if Corker wants to come for a pint. And we could give George a knock.’
Molly nodded. ‘Yer might be better off doing that, love, ’cos yer know what Nellie’s l
ike once she starts. It’s all right for us women, but one man on his own I would feel heartily sorry for. So Corker and George are yer best bet.’
‘Doreen won’t be upset over me not going, will she?’
‘Of course she won’t, sunshine, she’ll understand. And I’ll lay odds that Phil will be following yer.’ Molly was standing with the dirty plates in her hand. ‘I’ll get these done when Ruthie’s finished at the sink. Then yer can give yerself a shave. Yer can’t go to the pub with a stubble on yer chin.’ She grinned across at him. ‘And yer skin will be nice and smooth when yer get amorous in bed tonight.’
He grinned back. ‘Ye’re beginning to sound like Nellie.’
Molly’s eyes went to the ceiling. ‘Heaven forbid! Yer should have heard what she said to Tony in the butcher’s, this morning. Ellen didn’t hear, thank goodness, ’cos she was in the back room. But Tony’s face was the colour of the blood on his apron. Twenty years we’ve been going in that shop, and yer’d think that nothing Nellie said could affect him any more. But he found out today that she can still bring a blush to his face.’
‘Make who blush, Mam?’ Ruthie came through drying her face on a piece of towelling. ‘I bet it was Auntie Nellie?’
Molly walked past her into the kitchen. ‘Yer Auntie Nellie doesn’t blush, sunshine. She leaves that to other people.’
When Molly stepped down on to the pavement, she almost collided with a young couple who came out of the house next door. ‘Oh, Phoebe, did I stand on yer foot, sunshine?’
‘No, Auntie Molly, yer missed me by an inch.’ Phoebe Corkhill was linking Nellie’s son Paul, and they made a handsome couple. ‘Are you and Uncle Jack off somewhere?’
Jack banged the door behind him and joined his wife on the pavement. ‘No, love, me wife is deserting me tonight, so I’m going to knock for yer dad to see if he feels like a pint.’
‘Uncle Corker is going for a drink, so ye’re in luck,’ Paul said, his dimples showing. ‘His mate came down, and I heard them saying they were going to the pub.’ He winked at Molly. ‘I believe you and me mam are going over to Doreen’s, to let Ruthie have a few of her friends in for a game of cards? Me mam’s been thinking of ways to entertain yer.’
‘Then I’m definitely going to join Corker in the pub,’ Jack said, pulling a face. ‘Can yer imagine me sitting there when all the girlie talk and laughter is going on? And I’m going to do Phil a favour and rescue him.’
‘We’ll have to leave yer,’ Paul said, his arm moving to Phoebe’s waist. ‘We’re off jazzing, to the Grafton, and I’d hate to miss the first slow foxtrot.’
Molly smiled at the young couple. ‘Oh, what it is to be young, eh? You get what yer can out of life, and when ye’re old, like me and Jack, yer’ll have good memories to look back on.’
‘Ay, don’t be putting years on me, love. I’ve still got plenty of life in me,’ Jack told her. ‘I’ve got twenty working years to go yet, so don’t be making me old before me time.’
‘Ye’re as old as yer feel, love, and that’s what counts. Anyway, you two lovebirds be on yer way. I’d hate yer to miss the slow foxtrot.’
Paul pulled on Phoebe’s arm. ‘Yer heard what Auntie Molly said. Come on.’
The young couple had just walked away when Corker came out of the house, followed by his friend Derek. ‘Molly, me darlin’!’ Molly was lifted in the air and spun round. ‘Still the prettiest woman in the street.’
‘Put me down, yer silly nit,’ Molly said, laughing as she struggled to free herself. ‘Half the street can see everything I’ve got.’
‘Never mind half the street,’ Jack said, ‘what about me? That’s my wife up there, and I demand yer put her down right now.’
Derek was leaning back against the wall, his guffaws as loud as Corker’s. ‘He has a very delicate approach to women, Corker has. He always gives his seat up on a tram, for he thinks it’s ungentlemanly to leave a woman standing. So don’t take it to heart ’cos he’s holding yer wife up in the air, Jack, for as I said, he doesn’t like to see a woman standing.’
Ellen had been watching the goings-on from behind the curtains, and now decided she might as well have a laugh herself. So she stepped from the house, and with her hands on her hips said, ‘Take yer hands off that woman this instant, James Corkhill, or I’ll get the rolling pin out to yer. And then the whole street will have something else to watch.’
Her feet firmly on the ground, Molly ran a hand down the back of her skirt to make sure it was straight. ‘Ay, Ellen, over the years, if we’d charged the neighbours every time there’s been a peep show, we’d be on Easy Street today.’
Ellen nodded. ‘Either that, Molly, or in one of the cells at the local police station.’
‘At least it would be a change of scenery, Ellen, like a short holiday.’
The loud banging of a front door had all heads turning. And they saw Nellie walking towards them with a look of determination on her face that told them she was ready to do battle. ‘Is this a mothers’ meeting for fathers only, or can anyone join in?’
‘Oh, I was just coming to call for yer, sunshine, but I got held up.’
‘Yeah, I saw yer being held up by a strange man.’ Nellie glared, head forward in a fighting stance. ‘I’ve been standing waiting for yer, with me coat on, for half an hour. What the hell have yer been doing with yerself, apart from messing with a man what isn’t yer husband?’
‘Nellie, me darlin’,’ Corker roared, ‘it’s always good to see yer. Me favourite woman, after Ellen and Molly.’
‘I notice I don’t get the same treatment as me mate, though, do I? I mean, yer don’t lift me up in the air and twist me round, showing all me knickers, do yer?’
Her mind on Derek, who wasn’t used to Nellie and her lack of social manners, Molly tried to change the subject. ‘We’ll go over to Doreen’s now, sunshine, and Jack can ask Corker if he wouldn’t mind him joining them for a pint. And he mentioned knocking for George to see if he fancied a drink.’
‘Don’t be changing the subject, Molly Bennett. We’ll go over to Doreen’s after Corker has greeted me the same as he did you. What’s good enough for you is good enough for me.’
While Nellie was facing Molly, Corker winked at Derek and jerked his head. The two men approached the little woman from behind. Without a word, they each put a hand under one of Nellie’s arms, and cupped her elbow with the other. Then they lifted her off the pavement and swung her round. Nellie’s face was a joy to behold. It was creased in a smile and her laughter filled the air. ‘Oh, this is the bloody gear, girl. Yer want to ask them to give you a turn.’
‘I don’t think so, sunshine, ’cos I can see Doreen and Victoria watching through the window. Besides, I don’t want everyone to see me knickers. It’s all right for you, ’cos yer don’t mind who sees yer pink bloomers, do yer?’
‘Yer’ve no need to tell everyone what colour me bloomers are, girl. I’m sure Corker and his friend aren’t interested. Nor is your feller, who seems to think everything is a huge joke. But I don’t care, I’m enjoying this. It’s like being in one of them eariothings.’
‘I didn’t tell them what colour yer bloomers are, sunshine.’ Molly thought she had never seen anything so funny in her life. And how the men were holding Nellie’s weight for so long, and spinning her round, well, it was a mystery. ‘They can see them for themselves, ’cos the pin in them must have come undone.’
Nellie’s mouth opened in horror and she began to kick her legs. ‘Put me down, yer silly buggers. Have yer nothing better to do? And as for you, Jack Bennett, yer better shut those eyes or I’ll shut them for yer.’
When her feet were firmly on the ground, Nellie grinned like a Cheshire cat. ‘Thanks, lads, I enjoyed that. It made a nice change to be able to look down on people instead of always looking up and getting a crick in me neck. And I also enjoyed seeing yer all laughing when me mate told yer about me knickers falling down. Well, she’s had her eye wiped, good and proper. Yer see, I put an extra pi
n in me knickers before I came out. Just in case I got run over crossing the road, like.’ Nellie shrugged her shoulders once, then squared them. ‘Yer won’t believe what I’m going to tell yer, but I swear to God it’s the truth. This morning, my mate told me that if I ever got run over while I was out with her, she’d pretend she wasn’t with me. Now what sort of a friend would yer say that was?’
Even the customers sitting in the corner pub must have heard Corker’s guffaws. ‘I’d say she was a wise friend, who believed in taking precautions.’
Jack kept his face straight. ‘I’d say that Molly is such a good friend, she would lie down in the road beside yer.’ He put a curled fist in front of his mouth and coughed. ‘That’s after she’d checked to make sure yer were respectable. Yer see, I remember her once saying that although they’re called safety pins, yer still shouldn’t put all yer trust in them. Not where knickers are concerned, anyway.’
Ellen tapped Molly’s arm. ‘Doreen’s waving to yer, Molly.’
Molly looked to the house opposite to see her daughter standing on the step. ‘We’re coming now, sunshine.’
‘I should hope so,’ Doreen called back. ‘The kettle’s been on the boil for nearly half an hour.’
‘Before yer go, me darlin’,’ Corker shouted, ‘will yer ask Phil if he’d like to come for a pint with us? We’re giving George a call, as well.’
Phil’s head appeared over his wife’s shoulder. ‘I’ll follow yer up, Uncle Corker. Ye’re like a knight of old, come to rescue a prisoner from torture.’ He laughed. ‘Not that sitting all night with four women is torture exactly, but it’s near enough.’
‘You cheeky beggar!’ Molly was grinning when she shook her fist. ‘For your information, it’s five women now, ’cos I’m inviting Ellen. And if you’re not gone by the time we get over there, we’ll tie yer to a chair and force yer to listen to five of us nattering all night.’
That really took Nellie’s fancy. ‘Yeah, we’ll tie yer to a chair in the middle of the room and do a war dance round yer. You know, like what the Red Indians do. We’ve haven’t got no tomahawks, but Doreen will lend us some knives.’ She began to dance in a circle, bending and then straightening up, with a hand patting her open mouth to make a war cry.