Stay as Sweet as You Are

by Joan Jonker

  ‘I’m sure you’ll do it much better than I would, love.’

  ‘Ye’re getting married.’ Lucy could barely contain herself as she clapped her hands. ‘Oh, I bet that’s what it is.’

  ‘Yes, we are getting married, but not for another six months.’ Olive wanted to give this young girl something to look forward to. ‘What I wanted to tell yer, or rather to ask yer, is would yer like to be me bridesmaid?’

  Titch felt like hugging Olive for being so caring and thoughtful, but Lucy beat him to it. She threw herself at Steve’s mother, tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks. ‘Oh yes, yes, yes! And thank you, thank you, thank you! Wait until I tell me dad, he’ll be over the moon. I’ve never been to a wedding, never mind being a bridesmaid.’

  ‘I’ll tell yer what, sweetheart,’ Titch said. ‘I’ll ask me intended if she’ll come with me now to tell me ma. Then yer won’t have to keep it to yerself. Yer can tell the whole world if yer like.’

  ‘I wouldn’t tell the whole world, Mr Titch. Just everyone in the street and all the girls in me class at school. I’ll be that proud there’ll be no keeping up with me.’

  Titch was feeling excited himself now that arrangements were finally being made. He reached for Olive’s hand. ‘Let’s go and make me ma as happy as Lucy is. I can’t wait to see her face.’

  Lucy walked between them, her arms linking theirs. ‘How long are yer home for, Mr Titch?’

  ‘Only a week, sweetheart.’

  Olive brought them to a halt. ‘A week! Ye’re only on leave for a week?’

  ‘That’s the bad news, love. The good news is that I’ll only be away a month on the next trip, then it’s two weeks’ leave.’

  Lucy’s mind went back to the wedding. ‘Six months isn’t long, it’ll soon pass. And I’ll be a working girl by then.’

  ‘It’s half-past nine, sunshine, time for you and Rhoda to be going to bed.’

  ‘I won’t be able to sleep, I’m that excited.’ Lucy began to gather the cards together. ‘Your mam is lovely, Steve, for asking me to be her bridesmaid.’

  ‘I’ve never been a bridesmaid,’ Rhoda said. ‘D’yer think if I asked her nicely she’d consider having two?’

  ‘No chance.’ Steve grinned. ‘It’s only going to be a quiet wedding.’

  ‘I’d fit in, ’cos I’m only a quiet girl.’

  ‘Just listen to her!’ Greg said. ‘She gabs more than anyone I know. I bet a pound to a pinch of snuff that she talks in her sleep.’

  ‘She wouldn’t be the only one, would she?’ Jack winked at Rhoda who was giving his brother daggers. ‘You talk in yer sleep every night.’

  Irene banged her fist on the table. ‘That’s it for tonight. Come on, girls, take yerselves off home to bed.’

  Jack scraped his chair back. ‘I’ll see Rhoda to her door while you see to Lucy, Steve.’

  George looked up from his paper. ‘Remember, no goodnight kisses until the girls have left school.’

  ‘You’re awful, Mr Pollard,’ Lucy said, giggling. ‘But ye’re awful in a nice way.’ She pecked his cheek before flinging her arms around Irene. ‘I’ll see yer tomorrow.’

  ‘Goodnight, sunshine. And yer’ll make a lovely bridesmaid.’

  When Lucy opened her front door, she said to Steve, ‘If me mam’s not in I won’t go straight upstairs, ’cos I want to wash me hands and face.’

  ‘I’ll wait here until yer make sure.’

  Lucy was back within seconds. ‘She’s gone out. I’ll be all right now, Steve, thanks very much. I’ll see yer tomorrow.’

  ‘Okay, but don’t forget to knock next door if she comes in and tries anything.’

  ‘I won’t. Goodnight, Steve.’ Lucy closed the door and made her way through the living room to the kitchen. She had a headache with excitement and a swill in cold water might help shift it. She didn’t waste any time because she didn’t know when her mother would be in and she didn’t fancy coming face to face with Ruby. After what she’d done to her dad, the less she saw of her the better.

  Lucy was halfway across the living room when she happened to glance at the fireplace. She stood with her chin in her hand, wondering why she thought it didn’t look right. Then it struck her. The carved wooden candlesticks were missing from the mantelpiece. She frowned as she tried to think where they could be. They’d been there this morning before she went to school. Then she spied the bag at the side of her mother’s chair. It was a big bag, one her mother took to work with her overall in.

  Without thinking, Lucy did something she’d never done before; she lifted the bag on to the chair and moved the newspaper that was spread over the top. And there lay the candlesticks that she knew meant a lot to her dad because they’d belonged to his mother. What on earth were they doing in the bag? Where was her mother taking them? She had no right to move them, they weren’t hers. There was only one way to find out, Lucy told herself, feeling very angry, and that was to ask.

  Ruby came home at half-ten to find her daughter sat at the table with the candlesticks in front of her. ‘What the hell are you doing up at this time, yer little flamer?’

  ‘Waiting to ask yer where yer were taking these.’

  ‘I’m taking them to the pawnshop, yer hard-faced faggot. Now get up them stairs to bed and mind yer own business.’

  ‘It is my business. They are not yours to pawn, they belong to me dad.’ Lucy got to her feet and picked up the candlesticks. ‘I’m taking them upstairs with me so yer can’t get yer greedy hands on them.’

  ‘If yer bleedin’ father gave me enough to live on, I wouldn’t have to pawn anything.’

  Lucy wrinkled her nose. ‘Yer smell of drink. It’s funny how yer can always find the money for that. But if yer take anything out of this house that you haven’t paid for, I’ll tell me dad on yer.’

  There was rage on Ruby’s face, but she was crafty enough to know how far she could go. ‘One of these days I’ll give yer the hiding of yer bleedin’ life, yer snotty-nosed little faggot. It’s something I should have done years ago.’

  ‘There’s lots of things yer should have done years ago, but yer didn’t and it’s too late now. I used to pray that yer’d love me like a mother should, but I don’t bother any more. That’s because I’ve realised yer don’t know what the word love means. I suppose I should pity yer, really, but I can’t even bring meself to do that.’ Lucy turned on her heels and left the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Lucy jumped down from the step of Rhoda’s house then spun around to gaze up at her friend with a face that was full of excitement and joy. It had been a very hectic but happy day for both of them. It was their last day at school and they’d been allowed time off to go for an interview at Vernons Football Pools. To their delight they’d both been taken on and were to start work on Monday morning at the football pools office in Linacre Lane.

  ‘I can’t get over it, can you?’ Lucy asked, hugging herself. ‘I bet my dad will be as glad as your mam was that we’re going to be working together.’

  ‘Is yer dad coming down tonight?’

  ‘Yeah, he said he’d come to see how I got on. He’ll be dead pleased for me.’

  ‘No sign of him finding a place for both of yer?’ Rhoda pulled a face. ‘I don’t know why I keep asking yer that, because I hope he never does. Especially now when we can travel to work together.’

  ‘He hasn’t found a place he can afford. With needing two bedrooms, the people he’s been to see are asking a lot of money.’ Lucy looked down at the ground and kicked the step with the toe of her shoe. ‘I don’t tell me dad because he gets upset about it, but I don’t want to leave here. I thought me mam would have moved out by now, but there’s no sign of it. She seems quite happy because she’s got the house, no one to answer to, and can come and go as she pleases.’

  Rhoda always said what was in her mind, and she grinned now at what she was thinking. ‘With a bit of luck she’ll fall and break a leg and end up in hospital. And with a lot of luck sh
e’ll manage to break both legs. Then she’d be in hospital for ages and ages.’

  Lucy tutted. ‘Ye’re terrible, you are, Rhoda Fleming.’

  ‘No, kid, I’m just honest. And yer know what they say about honesty being the best policy.’

  ‘That’s not always the case,’ Lucy said. ‘Anyway, I’m going to tell Mrs Aggie the news before I go to the Pollards’ for me tea. Me dad won’t be here until about eight o’clock, so I’m going home after tea to sort me clothes out. I’ll be wearing me skirt and blouse to start work in, so I want to make sure they’re cleaned and pressed over the weekend.’

  ‘Don’t forget yer’ll need long stockings.’ Rhoda was nodding her head. ‘If yer turn up in short socks I’ll pretend I’m not with yer.’

  ‘Okay, okay! I’ll ask me dad for the money tonight. And I’m going now ’cos I can’t wait to see Mrs Aggie’s face when I tell her I’ve got a job. She’ll be over the moon for me.’

  Rhoda watched her friend running across the cobbled street and shouted after her, ‘Er, yer wouldn’t forget to tell her I’ve got a job too, would yer? I don’t see why you should be allowed to hog all the limelight.’

  Lucy turned after knocking on Aggie’s door. ‘Keep yer hair on, I won’t forget.’

  Rhoda wanted to make sure all her neighbours knew her good news, so at the top of her voice, she shouted, ‘Talking about hair, Lucy, don’t forget I want yer to do mine for when we start work on Monday.’

  Lucy was grinning when Aggie opened the door. ‘What am I going to do with that mate of mine, Mrs Aggie? She’ll get me hanged one of these days.’

  ‘I heard what she said, sweetheart. The interview went well, then, did it?’

  ‘The interview was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever gone through in me life, Mrs Aggie. We had to go to the main office for it. You know, the one in Aintree, near the Old Roan? There were about ten girls there beside me and Rhoda, and they all looked as frightened as I felt. Our names were called out one at a time, and by the time my turn came, me legs were shaking so much I thought I’d never be able to stand on them. I had to follow this woman to an office, and there was a small, oldish woman seated behind a desk. I was told her name was Miss Jones. She didn’t half look strict, and I never thought I’d get taken on ’cos I was stammering and stuttering. She asked me all about meself after she’d read the reference I’d got off the headmistress, and she wrote everything down in this big book. Not a smile crossed her face the whole time, and I nearly fell off the chair when she said I could start on Monday in the Linacre Lane branch.’

  ‘I’m made up for yer, sweetheart. And Rhoda got taken on too, I gather?’

  Lucy nodded. ‘Yeah, we’ll be able to travel to work together every day. I’m glad she’ll be with me, I won’t feel so shy.’

  ‘Wait until yer dad knows, sweetheart, he’ll be so proud of yer.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s a bit of good news for him for a change. And I’m not bigheaded, Mrs Aggie, but I’ve got to say I’m dead proud of meself. I’ll be a working girl earning a wage. I won’t get any money the first week, like, ’cos it’s a week in hand, but I will the week after. And that’ll make things a bit easier for me dad.’

  ‘Are yer going to tell yer mam?’

  ‘Not likely! She’ll want to take me wages off me. She’s bound to find out – I mean, I can’t go out every morning, come home at night, and her not know what’s going on. But she won’t hear it from me, nor will she get a penny of me money. I’ll hand it all over to me dad and he can give me whatever pocket money he can afford.’ Lucy hunched her shoulders and pulled a face. ‘I’ve got to cadge off him tonight when he comes. Rhoda said if I turn up on Monday in short socks, she’ll disown me.’

  Aggie chuckled. ‘She would say that. Sounds as hard as nails sometimes, but her heart’s in the right place. I bet if you knock on her door on Monday morning in short socks, by the time yer get to Vernons yer’ll both be wearing one stocking and one short sock each.’

  Lucy could see it in her mind’s eye and she giggled. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past my mate, she’s got the nerve for anything.’ The giggle got louder until it filled the room. ‘D’yer know what the daft nit told me? That Miss Jones was as nice as pie with her and gave her a cup of tea and a biscuit. Having seen Miss Jones, I can see the funny side, ’cos the woman never cracked her face.’

  ‘At least she gave yer the job, sweetheart. Better that than someone who smiled sweetly at yer and said she was sorry but yer weren’t suitable.’

  ‘Ye’re right, Mrs Aggie.’ Lucy couldn’t sit still, she was so highly strung. ‘I’ve got a lot to look forward to, haven’t I? Starting me first job and earning money, then in a couple of months I’m to be a bridesmaid. I’m a very lucky girl.’

  ‘No more than yer deserve, sweetheart. Yer can start making up for lost time now.’

  ‘If only me dad could come back home, then I wouldn’t ask for anything else in the whole world. I still miss him terrible, Mrs Aggie. I know I see him often, but it’s not the same as him living in the house. We’re not like a family any more.’

  ‘Let’s hope yer dad has a run of good luck, like you have. Yer know what they say about things happening in threes.’ Aggie began to rock slowly, thinking that with the number of prayers she’d said, something good should have come along for Bob by now. Either God hadn’t heard her prayers or He had a lot on His plate. Even so, He should give everyone a fair hearing. ‘Have yer told Irene yet?’

  ‘No, I’m going there when I leave here. Mr Pollard and Jack will be in from work then, so I can tell them all at once and get it over with. Otherwise I’ll be telling it in dribs and drabs and it’ll take all night. And I want to go home before me dad comes so I can look through me clothes and get them ready for Monday.’

  Bob always met his daughter in either Aggie’s or Irene’s. He’d only been back home the once since he left, and that was to pick up a couple of things he’d forgotten to take with him.

  ‘Are yer all right for clothes, sweetheart?’ Aggie asked. She would have loved to have bought the girl something as a leaving-school present, but was afraid of upsetting Bob.

  ‘I’ve got a skirt and blouse, and one dress that’ll be suitable. They’ll see me through until I can save up for another blouse to change into.’ Lucy looked at the clock and scrambled to her feet. ‘I’d better go – Mr Pollard and Jack will be home any minute.’

  Aggie walked her to the door. ‘I’ll see yer later, with yer dad. Ta-ra, sweetheart.’

  Mealtimes were always noisy at the Pollards’, but tonight everyone was talking at once and it was chaotic. It had been the last day at school for Greg, too, and they couldn’t get a word in edgeways with him. What he was going to do, and what he wasn’t going to do was nobody’s business. He had an interview at the woodworks on Monday, and to hear him talk he had no intention of starting on the bottom rung of the ladder, it was a supervisor’s job he was after.

  Irene put a hand over her ears. ‘Will yer all shut up for a minute, me head’s splitting with the din ye’re making.’

  ‘There’s only one person making a din, Mam,’ Jack said, jerking his head towards his brother. ‘It’s talk a bit, here. He’s never closed his mouth once since me and me dad came in. He’s making more noise than a steam train chugging into Lime Street Station.’

  Greg was so happy at never having to go to school again, nothing would have upset him. No more getting the cane for staring out of the window when he should have been doing his sums, or for answering the teacher back. He wouldn’t know he was born without the threat of that blinking cane hanging over him. ‘I can remember the day you left school, our Jack, and the day yer wore yer first pair of long kecks. Yer really thought yer were somebody, you did.’

  ‘You’ll be in long kecks on Monday, son,’ George said. ‘So yer can expect to have as much fun poked at yer as Jack did. And I hope ye’re man enough to take it in the same spirit he did.’

  Greg took that as a compliment. �
��I will, Dad. Yer can laugh at me as much as yer like, and I’ll laugh with yer.’

  ‘Well, now that’s settled to everyone’s satisfaction,’ Irene said, ‘can we hear a bit more about how Lucy’s day went?’

  So Lucy had the floor to herself without any interruptions. She was very good at imitating people and had them in stitches over Miss Jones. The serious, straight face, the cool voice and the dismissive wave of her hand as she told Lucy, “You may go now.” Then came Rhoda’s joke about the cosy chat she’d had with the woman who’d interviewed them, and the tea and biscuits she’d been served.

  ‘That’s not fair, that,’ Greg said, his face unsmiling as he pretended to believe what Lucy had said. ‘She shouldn’t have given Rhoda tea and not you. Mind you, that Rhoda would talk her way into anything. She was probably given the tea to shut her up.’

  ‘I wish yer wouldn’t keep pulling my friend to pieces,’ Lucy said. ‘She’s never done you no harm, so I don’t know why yer dislike her.’

  ‘I don’t dislike her.’ Greg speared the last piece of sausage on his plate and popped it into his mouth. He banged the end of his fork on the table until he’d chewed the sausage sufficiently to be able to speak. ‘She’s just like the other girls, I suppose. Yer all talk too much and yer love bossing people around. That comes with playing with dolls when yer were kids. Dolls can’t answer back, yer see, so girls grow up thinking no one should answer them back.’

  ‘Well, fancy that now!’ Irene pinched on her bottom lip. ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that meself, but I’ll put it to the test.’ She leaned towards her son and held his eyes. ‘Clear the table, Greg, and take the dishes out to the kitchen.’

  ‘Ah, ay, Mam! What’s wrong with Lucy or our Jack?’

  ‘This may come as a surprise to yer, sunshine, but I was a little girl once. And I used to play with dolls. So according to your theory, I don’t expect to be answered back.’

  Lucy giggled. ‘Nice one, Mrs Pollard.’

  ‘Yeah, yer’ve got him stumped there, Mam,’ Jack said. ‘Look at his face, yer’ve taken the wind out of his sails.’