Stay as Sweet as You Are

by Joan Jonker

  He loves me, Ruby thought. He really loves me. I can’t let him down now. If I start raising objections he’ll think I’m childish and get fed up with me. ‘Okay, I’ll come on Monday night. If I can get here before ten I will, depending upon Lucy and if I don’t have to wait for a tram.’

  ‘Yer won’t be sorry, I promise yer.’ Wally opened the door for her. ‘I’ll follow in five minutes.’ He went back into the living room and lit a cigarette. God, but she was gullible. She believed every word he said. Still, he had a feeling she’d be very good at what he wanted her for. If she wasn’t, it would just be a one-night stand and goodbye Ruby.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‘Mrs Pollard, would yer mind if Rhoda came over for a game of cards?’ Lucy asked. ‘It would save me being the only girl and I know she’d love it.’

  ‘I wouldn’t mind in the least, sunshine, as long as her mother will let her stay out until ten o’clock. D’yer think it would be better if I asked Mrs Fleming?’

  ‘Ooh, yes please, if yer would.’

  ‘Right, I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. I told the others I’d follow them on, so I’ll have to be sharpish.’

  When his mother had gone, Greg said, ‘I don’t know why yer want that Rhoda here, she’s as soft as a brush.’

  ‘She is not!’ Lucy was quick to defend her friend. ‘She’s always near the top of the class so she can’t be that soft.’

  ‘Which is more than can be said for you, our kid.’ Jack was at the sideboard drawer getting the packs of cards out, and he turned to wink at Lucy before adding, ‘I think yer were third from the bottom, weren’t yer?’

  Greg was speechless for all of two seconds. ‘I was third from the top, and you know it. If you’d ever got so far up yer’d have been dizzy ’cos yer don’t like heights.’

  ‘Who doesn’t like heights?’ Irene came through the door with a very happy-looking Rhoda in tow. ‘I hope you two are not fighting.’

  ‘Me fight with our Jack? I wouldn’t do that, Mam! He’s me ever-loving brother and no one fights with their ever-loving brother.’

  ‘Well, see it stays like that. I’m relying on the two working men to see there’s no shenanigans.’ Irene gave a quick glance in the mirror before bustling out. ‘Enjoy yerselves but don’t go mad.’

  ‘Yer don’t need to worry, Mrs Pollard,’ Steve called after her. ‘Me and Jack will make sure nothing gets broke.’

  ‘Does that include noses?’ Greg contorted his face to look vicious. ‘Because if anyone cheats tonight, that’s what they’ll get.’

  ‘Take no notice of him, Rhoda,’ Lucy said. ‘Come and sit down.’

  ‘Yeah, make yerself at home, Rhoda.’ Jack believed that when his dad wasn’t at home, he was the man of the house. So what he said went. ‘Ignore the face on our kid, he couldn’t burst a hole in a paper bag, let alone someone’s nose.’

  ‘I’ll sit next to you, Lucy.’ Rhoda plonked herself down on the chair coveted by the three boys. With a shy look on her face, she said, ‘Hello, Steve.’

  He gave her a bright smile. ‘Welcome to the gang, Rhoda.’

  ‘We’ll have to play with two packs tonight, seeing as there’s five of us.’ Jack placed two packs of cards on the table. ‘I’ll shuffle, then Steve can cut.’

  ‘I’ve never played with two packs before,’ Lucy said. ‘Is it just the same?’

  ‘Exactly the same, but yer stand more chance of getting the cards yer want ’cos there’ll be two of everything.’ Jack shuffled the cards and pushed the pack over to Steve. ‘You cut and Lucy can deal.’

  Greg was eyeing Rhoda. ‘Have yer ever played cards before?’

  ‘Of course I have.’ When Rhoda nodded, her long mousy hair bounced on her shoulders. ‘Me and me mam often have a game of Snap.’

  Greg’s grin was one of pure delight. Oh boy, they were going to have some fun tonight. His anticipation of seeing her beaten in every game made him magnanimous. ‘I’ll tell yer how to play.’ So while Lucy dealt, Greg outlined the rules. ‘It’s easy-peasy when yer know how.’

  ‘We’re not playing for buttons tonight,’ Jack told them in his capacity of man of the house. ‘I’ll buy the winner of the first game a tuppenny slab of Cadbury’s.’

  Rhoda was still sorting her hand out when it was her turn to go. ‘Ooh, er, can yer help me, Lucy? I’ve got three twos, but they’re not the same suit.’

  ‘Of course they’re not the same suit, soft girl.’ Greg nearly swallowed his Adam’s apple. Then he consoled himself by thinking it was beginner’s luck. ‘There’s only one of everything in a pack of cards, so how could yer get three out of two packs?’

  ‘Leave her alone, you!’ Lucy said. ‘Go on, Rhoda, yer can put them down.’

  The first hand went to Rhoda, the second hand went to Rhoda and she ended up winning the game comfortably. ‘Aren’t I lucky? And Cadbury’s is me favourite chocolate.’

  ‘She’s cheated.’ Greg looked disgusted. ‘I don’t know how, but she’s cheated.’

  ‘I have not!’ Rhoda looked indignant. ‘I’m going to tell me mam on you.’

  ‘There’s nothing worse than a bad loser, Greg,’ Steve said. ‘Yer should act like a gentleman in defeat.’

  ‘Yeah, she won it fair and square,’ Jack said. ‘So behave yerself.’

  ‘How could she win fair and square?’ Greg wasn’t going to give in without a fight. ‘She said she only ever plays Snap with her mam.’

  Lucy was laughing inside as she listened and waited for the truth to emerge. Greg was about to get his eye wiped.

  Rhoda’s face was set and her hazel eyes sending out sparks as she leaned across the table and glared at Greg. ‘Yeah, I do play Snap with me mam every night. That’s until me dad has finished reading the Echo. Then we all play Rummy, or Whist.’

  Jack, Steve and Lucy were convulsed with laughter. The expression on Greg’s face was a picture no artist could paint. His voice came out as a high squeak. ‘Whist! Yer mean yer can play Whist?’

  Rhoda tossed her head. ‘Yeah, of course I can. And I can play Patience, as well.’

  ‘Then she should be disqualified.’ Greg glanced towards his brother. His look was fierce, but anyone who knew him well would have seen the laughter lurking beneath the surface. ‘She was playing under false pretences. A professional among amateurs.’

  ‘Ye’re only jealous, Greg Pollard,’ Lucy said. ‘Why don’t yer be a good sport?’

  Jack nodded. ‘Yeah, take it like a man.’

  Steve came up with, ‘Give in gracefully and admit yer were wrong.’

  ‘Go on, give in.’ Rhoda gave Greg a beaming smile. ‘If yer give in I’ll share me slab of Cadbury’s with yer.’

  Greg pretended to perk up. ‘Well, that puts a different light on things. Did yer say yer’d share yer slab of chocolate with me?’

  Rhoda nodded. ‘Yeah, and I always keep me promises. When I’ve eaten the chocolate I’ll give yer the silver paper.’

  ‘Now that’s what I call having a heart of gold.’ Greg wasn’t half enjoying himself. Rhoda wasn’t so daft after all. ‘And for being so generous, if yer win the next game I’ll give yer the silver paper back.’

  ‘Ye’re not soft, are yer? Yer haven’t got the paper yet.’

  ‘You haven’t got the chocolate yet. And if I know my brother, yer never will have. Yer see, he’s one that never keeps a promise.’

  ‘You watch where ye’re flicking yer ash, Titch McBride,’ Olive said, wagging a finger. ‘I’m the one who has to clean this floor.’

  ‘I’ll ask Alec for a brush before we go if yer like.’ Titch was sitting opposite, between George and Bob. It was a position he’d chosen deliberately, having decided that he stood much more chance with Olive if he let things take their course. She seemed to be happy in his company and was always glad to see him. That was good enough to be going on with and he’d work on what he had. ‘Why pick on me, anyway? Why don’t yer have a go at these two. They’re dropping ash all over the
place.’

  ‘Then they can hold the shovel while you brush up.’ Olive had been apprehensive about coming to the pub, but Alec and Betty had greeted her like an old friend and she was soon at ease and soaking up the atmosphere. ‘That’s if the three of yer aren’t legless by the time the night’s over.’

  ‘I’ve never seen George legless,’ Irene said. ‘I don’t know whether I’d see the funny side or hit him on the head with the poker.’

  ‘Oh, I think yer’d see the funny side, queen.’ Aggie took a swig of her milk stout. ‘As long as it wasn’t yer rent money he got drunk on, then I doubt yer’d be laughing.’

  George stubbed his cigarette out before leaning his elbows on his knees and smiling across at his wife. ‘You’ve never seen me legless, but I’ve seen you.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Irene looked flabbergasted. ‘I have never been drunk in me life, and you know it.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve seen yer blind drunk, love. And I should know because it cost me enough to get yer that way.’ George let out his hearty chuckle. ‘It was the night I asked yer to marry me and I was making sure I got the right answer.’

  Irene’s bonny face lit up as she and her husband exchanged that special look that said they were as much in love now as the night he proposed. ‘D’yer know, I’ve often wondered what I was thinking about, marrying you. But ye’re telling me now I wasn’t capable of thought.’ She leaned towards him. ‘I wasn’t drunk that night, love, but the girl sitting next to me was. She must have thought it was her birthday, ’cos every time you went to the bar I passed me drink over to her. So yer see, sunshine, I was as sober as a judge and knew perfectly well what I was saying. And never for one minute have I regretted it.’

  ‘You two are lucky,’ Bob said. ‘I think I must have been drunk the night I proposed and I have lived to regret it.’

  There was a trace of sadness in Aggie’s smile. ‘I’ve told yer, Bob, there’s happiness in store for you and Lucy. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. Yer’ll not spend the rest of yer life as yer are now.’

  ‘I think me ma’s right,’ Titch said. ‘Something will blow up one of these days and yer’ll say enough is enough. And yer’ll be free to start a new life. There’s plenty of good women around who’d make yer a good wife, and be a good mother to Lucy.’

  ‘I know that, I’ve already met one.’

  Silence descended as the news was digested. Then Irene found her voice and asked, ‘Yer mean yer’ve already met a woman yer’d like to spend the rest of yer life with?’

  ‘It’s a bit premature of me to say it, but yes, I could quite easily spend the rest of me life with her. That’s if she’d have me, of course. We sit on the same table in the works canteen, with about eight other people. That’s the only time I see her. Her name’s Kate, she’s a widow with a girl the same age as Lucy. And yer’d go a long way to meet a nicer person.’ Bob wasn’t usually a talker, but tonight he just wanted to bring his feelings out into the open. ‘I think she likes me, but never by word or deed have either of us shown our feelings.’

  ‘Yer just talk to her in the canteen?’ Titch asked. ‘Is that as far as it goes?’

  Bob nodded. ‘That about sums it up. But she’s kind and caring, everything that Ruby’s not. There is a spark between us, I can tell, but that’s the way it’ll stay as far as she’s concerned. And I wouldn’t expect, or want her to be any different. I’m just telling yer because ye’re me friends and I wanted yer to know. I don’t have to pretend to you that I have a happy marriage, and everything in the garden’s rosy, ’cos yer know different. If I was on me own I’d walk away tomorrow and breathe a sigh of relief. But Lucy’s too young to have her life turned upside down, so I’ll have to stick it out until she’s old enough to understand.’

  ‘Lucy’s not soft,’ Titch said. ‘She probably understands a lot more than yer give her credit for.’

  ‘Oh, she understands all right. In fact, I believe my daughter knows more about the underhanded antics of my wife than I do. But nevertheless I think the shock of the family splitting up would be too much for her. So I’ll leave things as they are for a while, at least until she leaves school.’

  ‘This woman at work,’ Aggie said, ‘what’s her name?’

  ‘Her name’s Kate Brown, and yer’d get on with her like a house on fire, Aggie. She’s very shy until she gets to know yer, then surprises yer with her quick sense of humour.’

  ‘Never mind all that.’ Titch was eager to learn more. ‘What’s she like to look at? Is she pretty and has she got a figure like a film star? If she has, then she sounds as though she’d be right up my street and yer can introduce me to her.’

  ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,’ Aggie tutted. ‘There’s that son of mine at it again. It’s coming to something when he can’t get a girl of his own and has to resort to asking his mate to fix him up with a blind date.’

  Bob laughed. ‘I wouldn’t need to introduce him – Kate knows more about him than he knows himself. In fact, if she walked in here now, she’d greet yer all by name because she’s heard so much about yer.’

  ‘That’s scuppered my chances then, before I’ve even met her,’ Titch said. ‘I suppose yer’ve told her I’ve got a girl in every port?’

  ‘No, I told her yer were a bachelor at the moment. But I said that one of these days yer’d meet a woman and yer’d fall for her like a ton of bricks.’

  Olive sat back on the bench and laced her fingers over her tummy. ‘It’ll take a good woman to catch Titch McBride.’

  Titch met her eyes for the first time that night. ‘It’s a good woman I’m after, Olive. D’yer know of one?’

  She blushed and lowered her eyes. ‘I’ll keep a look-out for yer and let yer know.’

  George had been sitting very quietly supping his beer and taking it all in. They say life is full of surprises, he thought, and Bob had certainly dropped one on them tonight. Not that they should be surprised, because God knows, the man had put up with more than anyone should have to put up with. He was a nice bloke and deserved some happiness in his life. So good luck to him.

  There’d been another surprise for George in the last hour. One that had sneaked up on him unexpectedly. He might be wrong of course, but if the relationship between Olive and Titch wasn’t developing into something more than friendship then he was a monkey’s uncle. They hadn’t said a word to confirm his belief, but that in itself was what made it more obvious. It was as if they were deliberately being cool with each other. Oh well, George thought, perhaps they don’t know it themselves yet. But if I had anyone to bet with, I’d have a little flutter on them getting together in the near future.

  ‘Tell us more about this Kate Brown,’ Aggie said. ‘Don’t forget, she’s got to pass our inspection to see if we think she’s good enough for yer.’

  Bob knew it was all wishful thinking on his part, but he wanted to talk about Kate and surely there was no harm in that. ‘Let’s see. She’s got a round, pretty face, mousy-coloured hair, hazel eyes and strong white teeth. She doesn’t wear make-up, at least not in work and that’s the only place I see her. Since her husband died she hasn’t had an easy life. She works to support herself and her daughter, and her mam helps her out by minding the girl and doing odd jobs for her. If I was asked who she reminded me of, I’d say Irene. I’ve always thought of Irene as the perfect wife and mother. She’s pretty, always got a smile on her face, keeps her home like a palace, is sensible with money, always willing to help anyone out, and is wonderful with the boys. And I bet George is the most contented husband on this earth.’

  Irene put her hands to her cheeks. ‘Ay, Bob, yer’ve got me blushing. Anyone would think I was a saint, and I’m far from it.’

  ‘You are to me, love,’ George said. ‘Ye’re everything that Bob said yer are, and more. If he’s found a treasure like you, he’d be a fool to let her slip through his fingers.’

  Aggie was wishing they had rocking chairs in pubs. Words seemed to come easier to her when she was ro
cking back and forth. ‘Bob, in all the years I’ve known yer, I’ve never heard yer talk so much. This woman must be having quite an effect on yer.’

  ‘Aggie, I’ve never had anyone to talk about before. And I haven’t really got the right to be discussing Kate like this when I’ve only ever seen her in the canteen, with a yard of table separating us. For all I know she might think I’m a dead loss.’

  ‘Yer don’t really think that, do yer, Bob?’ Irene asked.

  ‘No, I don’t. I honestly believe that if I wasn’t married, me and Kate would have got together ages ago.’

  ‘Ay, I’m beginning to feel left out with all this talk of love and marriage,’ Titch complained. ‘Yer’d better find me a good woman soon, Olive. If yer haven’t found one by the time I come back off me next trip, yer’ll have to marry me yerself.’

  ‘Yer cheeky thing! Did yer hear that, Aggie?’ Olive turned to see Aggie grinning all over her face. ‘He just wants to get married so he won’t feel left out, so anyone will do. He must think I want me bumps feeling.’

  ‘Why, is that what happens?’ Titch looked the picture of innocence as he faced George. ‘When yer get married, mate, do yer get yer bumps felt?’

  ‘Don’t yer dare answer that, George Pollard,’ Irene said. ‘Unless yer want a bump on yer head the size of a football after I’ve clouted yer with the poker.’

  George chuckled. ‘Surely yer wouldn’t begrudge Titch feeling a bump on me head? I mean, it wouldn’t be neighbourly to refuse.’

  ‘Ho, ho, very funny.’ Irene pointed to the table. ‘Have yer not noticed me glass has been empty for the last half-hour?’