Stay as Sweet as You Are

by Joan Jonker

  ‘Ooh, he doesn’t know, yet. The mood he was in I wasn’t about to confess to another sin. Not ruddy likely, I wasn’t.’

  ‘That’s daft, that is,’ Peg said. ‘Yer should have told him and got it over with. Come Saturday, when we’re going to the pub, he’ll be wanting to wear that blue shirt.’

  ‘I’ll have had time to think of something before then. In fact, queen, I was going to ask yer to lend me half-a-crown so I can buy him a new one. I’ll pay yer back next week.’

  ‘Blimey! If that’s not cheek, I don’t know what is. Yer ruin yer husband’s best shirt, yer don’t know the difference between salt and sugar, and yet it’s Muggins here what’s going to be out of pocket.’

  ‘Don’t shout at me, queen. What with all the carry-on, I’ve got a splitting headache. And I didn’t get much sleep last night because my feller had to get up to go to the lavvy every half hour after drinking so much water.’

  ‘I’ll lend yer the half-crown, Elsie,’ Billy said. ‘The laugh we’ve had was worth that.’

  ‘Yer will not!’ Peg was highly indignant. ‘You’ve got a cheek, Billy Gleeson. She’s my mate, and if anyone’s going to lend her half-a-crown, it’ll be me. So there!’

  Aggie glanced at the clock when a knock came on the door. ‘This’ll be Olive on her way home from work.’

  ‘I’ll go.’ Titch was halfway out of his chair when his mother waved him back.

  ‘Stay where yer are, sweetheart, I’ll go.’ She gave a cheeky grin. ‘Me legs are younger than yours.’ Aggie swayed along the hall with a smile on her face. Unless she was very much mistaken, her son’s interest in Olive was more than friendship. He might not know it himself yet, but she could see the signs were there. He’d been clockwatching for the last hour without even realising he was doing it. ‘Come in, queen, the kettle’s on the boil.’

  Titch sprang to his feet and grasped the hand Olive had extended. ‘Hello, Olive, it’s good to see yer.’ He bent to kiss her cheek. ‘And it’s good to be home.’

  ‘It’s good to see you, Titch.’ Olive cursed the colour she could feel rising from her neck to cover her face. Fancy a grown woman like her blushing because an old friend kissed her. In front of his mother, too. ‘Aggie’s been running around like a two-year-old since she knew yer were coming home. And Steve can’t wait to see yer.’

  Titch pulled a chair out for her. ‘I’d have come down last night but yer know I always go for a pint with me mates. Or I should say mate, because there was only me and George.’

  ‘I’ll see to the tea while you two catch up,’ Aggie said, humming as she went through to the kitchen. After pouring the boiling water into the tea pot, she leaned back against the sink. She knew she shouldn’t let her imagination run away with her, but if a romance blossomed between her son and Olive, she’d be the happiest woman alive.

  ‘Ma, have yer gone to China for that tea?’

  Aggie shook herself out of her dreaming. She’d been miles away and had forgotten what she was doing in the kitchen. ‘Keep yer hair on, son, I’m not a ruddy whippet.’

  Olive pushed her chair back. ‘I’ll give yer a hand, Aggie.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ Titch told her. ‘You stay where yer are, yer’ve been working hard.’

  Well, well, thought Aggie as her heart began to sing. Things are definitely looking up.

  ‘How’s the job going, Olive?’ Titch had already quizzed Alec last night, but he wasn’t going to say so. ‘D’yer like it?’

  ‘It’s great. Alec and Betty are very friendly and we have a good laugh. I found it hard going at first, but I’m used to it now.’

  ‘I can see the likeness between you and Steve, now yer face has filled out. Same fair hair and bright blue eyes. He’s got your mannerisms, too.’

  ‘But he’s got a dimple in his chin like Jim had, and he’s got the same square jaw.’ Olive turned to Aggie and winked. ‘If your son tells me I’ve put a lot of weight on, I’ll clock him one.’

  Aggie grinned. ‘I’ll hold him while yer do it.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to say that at all,’ Titch said. ‘You women have a happy knack of jumping the gun. What I was going to say is that ye’re just right now, Olive. Nice and slim but with a bit of flesh in the right places.’

  ‘He’s getting personal now, Aggie, and making me blush. I’m going before he tells me me hair needs setting and me eyebrows plucking.’ Olive stood up and pushed the chair back into place. ‘Next time I see yer, Titch McBride, it’ll be me asking all the questions. Like what did yer get up to while yer were away? And have yer added any more conquests to yer long list of girlfriends?’

  ‘Yer can ask me on the way down to your house, ’cos I’m coming with yer. Don’t forget I haven’t seen yer living room since it was finished.’

  ‘Oh no, you are not! I don’t have time to do me housework before I go out in the mornings and the place is a tip. I wouldn’t dream of letting yer see it, I’d die of humiliation.’

  ‘Olive, I’ll only be looking at the walls! I’m not going to run me fingers over the dust on yer sideboard, or look under yer bed.’

  ‘I know ye’re not, ’cos ye’re not getting the chance.’

  Aggie put a hand over her mouth to hide a smile. That’s right, queen, she thought, make him toe the line. Give him a run for his money and he’ll come to his senses quicker.

  Titch wasn’t the least bit put out. ‘What time is visiting time then, Mrs Fletcher?’

  ‘Half past six, when Steve’s had his meal.’ Olive’s face broke into a smile. ‘He’ll be made up to see yer, Titch. And so am I.’

  Steve eyed his mother as he stood beside her at the sink. ‘Yer hair looks nice, Mam, and the lipstick suits yer.’ He dried the plate she passed over and reached up to put it on the shelf. ‘In fact, yer look very pretty.’

  ‘I had a spare half-hour so I put a few dinky curlers in.’ Olive moved away from the sink and waved a hand down the figure-hugging, soft wool blue dress she was wearing. ‘Does this look as though I bought it secondhand from Paddy’s Market?’

  ‘No! It looks smashing on yer, Mam, it really suits yer.’

  ‘Yer won’t tell anyone where it came from, will yer?’

  ‘Of course I won’t, I’m not that thick.’ Steve put the last plate on the shelf and hung the tea towel behind the door. ‘Did Mr Titch say yer looked well?’

  Olive grinned as she dried her hands. ‘Yeah, he said I’ve come on a treat. I must have looked ruddy awful before, ’cos everyone I meet tells me how well I look.’

  Steve cocked an ear. ‘There’s the knocker, Mam. Shall I go?’

  ‘Yes, please, son.’ Olive scolded herself for being nervous. After all, Titch was an old friend and there was no reason for her tummy to be doing somersaults.

  Titch came in with an exaggerated sailor’s roll. ‘I gave me ticket in to the man at the door. He didn’t give me half back, so I mustn’t be getting a cup of tea in the interval.’

  ‘Go on, yer daft nit. I’ll have yer know that not only are yer getting a cup of tea, but there’s fresh milk to put in it.’

  Steve was hopping from one foot to the other. ‘What d’yer think of the room, Mr Titch?’

  ‘It looks grand.’ Titch tore his eyes away from Olive. ‘Yer wouldn’t think it was the same room, it’s made such a difference.’

  ‘Yeah.’ The cleft in Steve’s chin deepened with his smile. ‘For the first week I kept thinking I’d come into the wrong house.’

  ‘It’s not only the room that’s changed,’ Titch said. ‘Look at yer mam! She looks like a film star.’

  ‘You start that, Titch McBride, and I’ll send yer packing.’ Olive didn’t possess a full-length mirror, so while she knew the dress was a good fit, she had no idea it showed off every curve of her body. Or that the colour accentuated the blue of her eyes. ‘Sit down and behave yerself.’

  ‘I’ll swap yer a list of my conquests for a cup of tea.’

  ‘That should be interesting,’ Olive said. �
��I’ll put the kettle on.’

  ‘What conquests are they, Mr Titch?’

  ‘Yer mam thinks I’ve got a girl in every port, and she wants to know how many new ones I got this trip.’

  ‘Oh.’ Steve looked puzzled. ‘Yer haven’t, have yer?’

  Titch shook his head. ‘No, but I don’t want to disillusion her.’

  ‘If we go to the pictures while ye’re home, Mr Titch, I can pay for meself this time.’

  Olive hurried through from the kitchen. ‘Steve, don’t be so forward.’

  ‘He’s all right love, don’t be getting at him. As a matter of fact, I was going to suggest we all go on Saturday night. That’s yerself, me ma, Irene and all the kids. It would have to be first house because of Lucy and Greg, but I thought the grown-ups could go for a drink afterwards. Just to the corner pub, like. We could meet up with George and Bob.’

  Steve’s face was a joy to behold. ‘That would be the gear, Mr Titch.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ Olive said. ‘But have yer forgotten I work in the pub?’

  ‘What difference does that make? Yer don’t work there at night. And if you came, I’m sure we could persuade Irene and me ma to come. The children would be all right in the Pollards’ for an hour or so. Jack and Steve are old enough to see the others don’t come to any harm.’

  ‘Go on, Mam,’ Steve urged. ‘Yer never go out for a drink.’

  Her son’s face looked so eager, Olive didn’t have the heart to refuse outright. Anyway, she was probably reading more into this than there really was. Irene always got a peck on the cheek off Titch when he came home, and he called her love. It was just his way of being friendly, that’s all. ‘See what Aggie and Irene say first. If they go, I’ll come too.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rhoda had her arm across Lucy’s shoulder as they turned the corner of the street. ‘Are yer playing out after?’

  ‘I don’t know yet. I’m not playing skipping or hopscotch, though, ’cos we’re too big for that now.’

  ‘Well, come over to ours and have a game of Ludo, if yer like. But it’ll have to be after we’ve had our tea and me mam’s cleared away.’

  ‘We’ll see, eh?’ Although Lucy didn’t feel in the mood for games, the prospect of staying in the house all evening with her mother was even less appealing. ‘I’ll call for yer after tea and see what we want to do.’ They stopped opposite Rhoda’s house and Lucy watched her friend skipping over the cobblestones. ‘See yer later.’

  Irene Pollard stepped from her doorway and into Lucy’s path. ‘I’ve been watching for yer, sunshine, I want to have a word with yer. But yer better go home first to see if yer mam wants yer for anything. I’ll leave the door ajar, so just walk in.’

  ‘Yeah, okay, Mrs Pollard.’ A smile came to Lucy’s face. ‘Did Mr Titch get home?’

  Irene nodded. ‘He came yesterday, but he didn’t call to yours with yer dad being at work. He asked about yer, though, and he’s looking forward to seeing yer.’

  ‘I can’t wait to see him. I love Mr Titch, he always makes me laugh.’

  ‘He has that effect on everyone, sunshine. Like his mother, he can turn any situation into a joke. He wouldn’t let yer be miserable, even if yer wanted to.’ Irene thought the word ‘miserable’ summed up Lucy’s life. They never heard laughter coming through the wall of the Mellors’, only Ruby’s bawling and screeching. And this pretty girl standing in front of her deserved better than that. She deserved to be loved and cherished. ‘I’ll tell yer what, sunshine, I’ll come up to Aggie’s with yer when we’ve had our talk. Then yer can see yer heart-throb. How does that sound to yer?’

  ‘Oh, yes, please! But I’d better go and see if me mam wants me first.’

  ‘I’ll leave the door open for yer.’

  Irene was seated in the chair, her hands in her lap when she heard the front door crashing back against the hall wall. ‘I’m home, Mam!’

  ‘I gathered that, sunshine. I hope the front door’s still on its hinges?’

  Greg grinned. ‘The door’s fine, Mam. There’s a big hole in the wall, like, but as I say, the door’s fine.’

  ‘Listen, son, I want yer to go on a message for me. And I want yer to take at least half an hour over it.’

  ‘Where’s the shop yer want me to go to, Mam? In Scotland?’

  ‘I haven’t got time to explain, son, except to say I need a quiet word with Lucy. And I want you out of the way. So I’ll give yer a penny for some sweets and yer can go and play with yer mates and annoy the neighbours.’

  Greg held out his hand. ‘Sounds like a fair exchange to me, Mam.’

  There was a timid knock at the door. ‘It’s me, Mrs Pollard.’

  ‘Come in, sunshine. Greg’s just going on a message for me.’

  ‘Hi, Greg!’

  ‘Lucy, the button millionaire.’ Greg patted her cheek. ‘I’m going to marry you when I grow up, just so I can get me buttons back.’

  ‘Chance is a fine thing, Greg Pollard. When I get married it’ll be to someone handsome and rich.’

  ‘Yer need look no further, ’cos he’s standing in front of yer. At the moment I’m only handsome, but one day I’ll be rich as well.’

  Irene tutted. ‘Will yer get going, son, I’ve got a lot to do before yer dad gets in.’

  When her son’s footsteps had died away, Irene moved to the couch and patted the seat next to her. ‘Come and sit down, love, I want to have one of our little discussions.’

  ‘What about, Mrs Pollard?’

  ‘It’s about you, Lucy. Yer look so miserable and sad lately that I’m worried about yer. And anything that is said in this room will go no further, yer know that.’

  Lucy looked down at her hands and laced her fingers. ‘I’m all right, Mrs Pollard. I feel a bit fed up sometimes, but it’s nothing, really.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lucy, but I don’t believe yer.’ Irene put a finger under the girl’s chin and lifted her face. ‘I thought you and me were friends, and yer trusted me.’

  ‘Oh, we are, Mrs Pollard, ye’re me very best friend. And I trust yer more than anyone, except me dad.’

  ‘Then tell me what’s worrying yer. And don’t say ye’re not worried because I know full well that yer are – and have been for months now. I give yer me solemn promise I will not say or do anything about it, but I need to know to set me mind at rest. And don’t forget, sunshine, a trouble shared is a trouble halved. Yer’ll feel a lot better if yer get it off yer chest.’

  ‘It’s me mam,’ Lucy said in a quiet voice. ‘She’s been going out at night when me dad’s at work. And I’ve been real worried because I feel I’m doing wrong by not telling me dad. I know I should have told him in the beginning, but she said I’d only cause trouble and I was frightened.’

  Irene’s temper was rising but she kept her voice calm. ‘And is she still doing it?’

  ‘I pulled her up about it on Tuesday night when I saw her dolling herself up. I said if she didn’t stop I would tell on her. She promised she wouldn’t do it again, but I don’t believe her. I know I shouldn’t say things like that about me mother, but I’d be lying if I said otherwise. She’s a married woman and she shouldn’t be going out drinking when me dad thinks she’s at home minding me. That’s cheating, and she’s making me into a cheat as well.’ Lucy’s voice became stronger with emotion. ‘Me dad’s a good husband to her but she hasn’t got a kind word for him. And that makes me sad because he’s a lovely man and I idolise him.’

  ‘Yer dad is a lovely man, one of the best. And I know yer dote on each other. As for yer mother – well, we’ll just wait and see if she keeps her promise, eh?’ Irene had no intention of setting the girl against her mother, that wouldn’t be fair. So her thoughts on Ruby stayed in her head. ‘Perhaps one day yer mam will come to her senses and realise what a good husband and daughter she’s got. So forget about it, sunshine, and see how things go.’

  ‘D’yer really think she will change, Mrs Pollard?’

  If Irene were to b
e honest, she’d have said there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of Ruby Mellor ever changing. But she hadn’t the heart to extinguish the light of hope she could see in the girl’s eyes. ‘Only time will tell, Lucy. But if yer’ll take my advice yer’ll put it out of yer mind for now. There’s no point in making yerself ill over it, that wouldn’t solve anything. And yer’ve got yer dad to think about. If he sees you’re unhappy, it’s going to make him unhappy as well. I’m sure yer don’t want that, do yer?’

  ‘I would never do anything to make me dad unhappy, never.’

  ‘Then let’s see a smile back on yer pretty face and the laughter back in yer voice. Then everyone that loves yer will be happy.’ Irene held out her arms and Lucy moved into the shelter of them as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

  ‘Yer really are me very best friend.’ She looked up into Irene’s face. ‘And I do feel better now I’ve told yer what’s been worrying me.’

  ‘I said yer would, didn’t I? So in future, don’t keep things bottled up inside yer.’ Irene held the girl away from her. ‘Now, let’s go and see your Mr Titch. I won’t be able to stay long because I’ll have to put the dinner on soon.’

  Titch saw them passing the window and had the door open before the knock had even sounded. His face creased in a smile as he held his arms wide. ‘My little sweetheart.’

  Lucy seemed to fly through the air. ‘I don’t half love it when ye’re home, Mr Titch.’ Her arms around his waist, she grinned up at him. ‘And I’m not so little any more. See, I’m up to yer shoulder now.’

  ‘That’s ’cos I’m bending down, soft girl.’ He stretched to his full height. ‘Another couple of inches, then yer’ll be up to me shoulder.’

  Aggie’s voice called out, ‘Will yer come in so I can hear what ye’re saying? I’m sitting here like a bleedin’ stuffed dummy, straining me ears.’

  Titch pushed Lucy towards the living room and waited for Irene to follow before closing the door. ‘Yer haven’t missed anything, Ma.’

  ‘That’s for me to decide.’ Aggie moved to the side of her rocking chair to make room for Lucy to sit beside her. ‘If I don’t hear what’s said, I won’t know whether I’ve missed anything, will I?’