by Joan Jonker
Beth was really taken aback when she saw Lizzie too. ‘What’s got into everyone this morning? I’ve hardly done a tap of work yet, and I’ve got a houseful!’
‘Sure, curiosity is a terrible thing, me darlin’, so it is! But if yer tell me that all is well, and there’s nothing amiss, then I’ll be crossing the road again to carry on with me own housework.’
Flo’s voice drifted out to them. ‘Yer might as well come in now ye’re here, queen. It wouldn’t do yer heart no good sitting over there wondering what’s going on over here.’
‘Yes, yer’d better come in, sunshine.’ Beth stepped to one side. ‘The more the merrier, I suppose. And I can always do me housework tonight when the family are in bed.’
‘There’s no need for that, queen, just ’cos yer neighbours are interested in yer welfare. Besides, yer asked me to come in, I didn’t invite meself,’ Flo protested.
‘Yes, I did, sunshine, just to ask yer a quick question. But that was a good half-an-hour ago, and ye’re still here.’
‘Why didn’t yer knock for me instead?’ Dot asked. ‘I could probably have told yer what yer want to know.’
Flo was squinting now as the mob-cap threatened to cover her eyes, and she was pushing it back up her forehead when she said to Dot, ‘Why should she knock for you when I’m only next door?’ As soon as she took her hand away, the mob-cap fell down again, making her more irate. I mean, how could she put forward a good argument when she couldn’t even see the person she had a cob on with? ‘Anyway, yer’d have been no good to her, ’cos yer don’t even know Ma Maloney.’
Hannah grimaced. It was bad enough Beth and Flo knowing she wanted to borrow from a moneylender, but now it seemed the whole street would hear about it before the day was out. She should have thought of another way of raising money, like pawning her wedding ring. She wouldn’t want to do that, though, ’cos it was the only thing she had left that her husband had bought her.
Dot was standing with her arms folded across her chest. ‘What d’yer mean, girl, that I don’t know Ma Maloney? There’s no one within a mile of this street that doesn’t know the old witch. Scrooge isn’t in it. Bleed yer dry, she would.’
‘Yer do surprise me,’ Beth said, forgetting her housework while she digested the latest piece of news. ‘I never knew yer borrowed from her?’
‘Oh, it’s years ago now, long before we all got so pally. I would never have done it if I hadn’t been really down on me uppers. Bill had been laid off work for a few weeks and I was at me wit’s end. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed either! As they say, it’s any port in a storm.’
‘Who’s Ma Maloney?’ Lizzie asked. ‘I’ve never heard of her.’
‘She’s a moneylender, sunshine, and I was asking Flo what she knew about her. Yer see, I know someone who could do with a loan to help her out.’
‘Blimey, couldn’t we all?’ Dot said. ‘I did me list of shopping for next week, and what I’ve paid into the Christmas clubs, plus me Tontine money, won’t come anywhere near covering it.’
‘Same here.’ Beth decided to bite the bullet. There was no sense in pussyfooting around, they were all good mates in the room. ‘That’s why me and Hannah have decided to ask the Maloney woman for the loan of a pound.’
‘Ay, don’t yer be leaving me out, seeing as I’m the one what’s going to take yer to her.’ Flo was thinking what a cheek they had. They asked for her help and then left her out! ‘The three of us are asking for a loan.’
‘I deliberately left yer out, sunshine, in case yer didn’t want anyone to know. It’s not up to me to tell everyone yer business. But I don’t mind them knowing about me. Our Joey is badly in need of a warm coat for the winter, and I’ll get one from the market for him for about ten bob. Then there’s our Ginny leaving school. She’ll have to have long stockings to go to work in, I couldn’t expect her to go in school socks and navy blue fleecy knickers. So whether she’s a nice person or not, a pound off Ma Maloney would come in very useful.’
‘Ooh, aye, that’s a thought,’ Dot said. ‘I’d forgotten about our Joan coming out of school clothes. I think I’ll join the club and come with yer to see the Maloney woman.’
‘She’ll think it’s her birthday, four new suckers coming for a loan.’ Flo didn’t realise how comical she looked with the mob-cap all askew and the blob of soot on the end of her nose. ‘I bet she’ll rub her hands with glee when she sees us.’
‘Make that five suckers, me darlin’,’ Lizzie said. ‘Sure, it’s meself that’s not going to be left out. An extra pound will come in very handy, so it will.’
When Flo started to shake, the floorboards began to creak in protest. She pressed her hands on the table for support while she doubled up with laughter. ‘Ooh, me imagination is running riot. If old Ma Maloney sees five of us marching towards her, she’ll think it’s a bleedin’ lynch mob! Perhaps it would be better if we went in twos.’
‘Not on your life, sunshine, it’s all or none. And anyway, we need you to show us where she lives and to introduce us.’ Beth told herself if she wasn’t firm with her friends, the day would be over and still the housework wouldn’t be done. ‘So will yer all go back to yer own houses now and leave me and Hannah to get on with making the place presentable? And say we all meet here again at half-past one to go and find this Maloney woman? We can see for ourselves what she’s like, and what we’re letting ourselves in for.’ She opened the front door. ‘Come on, ladies, let’s be having yer.’ When Flo was passing, Beth grinned at her. ‘And wash that soot off yer nose before we go visiting, will you, sunshine, ’cos yer look like the squaw of Big Chief Sitting Bull.’
Chapter Nine
‘What shall we do after we’ve hung our coats up?’ Ginny asked as she walked across the empty playground with Marie’s arm tucked in hers. ‘Go straight to the classroom or go and see Miss Bond first?’
‘I don’t know, kid.’ Marie’s nerves were taut as she tried to keep her excitement under control. Never in a million years would she have thought she stood a chance of getting that job in Woolworth’s. Ginny, yes, she was a clever girl, but not Marie. Now she was so proud of herself she could hardly contain her enthusiasm. ‘I’ll do whatever you want to do.’
‘We’d better go straight to our class and see what Miss Jackson says. Miss Bond might have someone with her in the office and she wouldn’t like to be interrupted.’ Ginny was just as proud and excited, but she’d made up her mind not to let it show until she got home. After all, she and Marie were the first girls in the class to have landed a definite job and she didn’t want her classmates thinking she was sticking her nose in the air at them. Even though she did feel like shouting it from the roof-tops. ‘I’m sure of one thing, though, Marie, I’m not half hungry.’
‘Oh, yeah, me too! Me tummy’s beginning to rumble.’
The corridors were empty and the only sound to break the silence was their footsteps as they headed for the cloakroom. After hanging up their coats, they had to pass one classroom to get to theirs, and they could hear the voice of the teacher shouting out a question, and then the murmur of pupils who were lucky or brainy enough to know the answer. ‘Well, here goes,’ Ginny said as they stopped outside Miss Jackson’s classroom. And taking a deep breath she opened the door.
There was a look of optimistic expectancy on the teacher’s face when the two girls walked in, and all the pupils raised their heads, eager to know how their mates had fared. All except for two . . . Alice and Doreen. They’d been hoping to see Ginny and Marie before the teacher did because they’d told lies and intended to bully the other girls and frighten them into corroborating their story.
Miss Jackson beckoned the new arrivals towards her desk. ‘Well, how did you get on?’
‘We both got taken on, Miss Jackson,’ Ginny told her. ‘I’m to be a counter assistant and Marie is going in the stock room.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful news! I am so pleased for you!’
‘I won’t be staying in t
he stock room for long, Miss, only till I’m better with sums. And I’m going to work very hard on them so I can serve in the shop with Ginny.’
The classroom was buzzing as the girls sitting at the front desks relayed the news to those behind. But when the teacher rapped sharply on the desk with a ruler, heads dropped and silence reigned. ‘Patricia Cornwall, I’m going to leave you in charge while I take Virginia and Marie to see Miss Bond. You will report any girl who misbehaves.’
‘Yes, Miss.’ Patricia was top of the class in every subject, and also a monitor. She was a big girl, a head above anyone else, and very well made. She was more than capable of keeping order, and she wouldn’t hesitate to report any girl who took advantage of the teacher’s absence because she knew they wouldn’t try getting their own back on her.
Miss Jackson tapped on the headmistress’s door before popping her head in. ‘I’ve brought Virginia and Marie to see you.’
‘Oh, good, bring them in.’ Miss Bond swept aside the papers in front of her. A break from writing school reports was just what she needed. ‘And how did the interviews go?’
The girls had been pleased with their teacher’s reaction when they’d told her their news, but nothing could have prepared them for Miss Bond’s. She had been known to smile on occasion, but never before had they heard the sound of laughter coming from her lips. She was really overjoyed. The girls were a credit to the school, she told them, while thinking how well it would look when the school inspectors next came. She listened attentively to all they had to say, smiling and nodding her head at the right times. Virginia she was pleased for, but it wasn’t a complete surprise that she’d been taken on because of her exemplary record. On the other hand, Marie’s appointment was like a bolt out of the blue. ‘I hope you mean what you say about improving your arithmetic, Marie, because it would stand you in good stead in the future.’
‘Oh, I intend to, Miss Bond.’ And because she had never seen the headmistress so relaxed and pleasant, Marie dared to add, ‘I can’t have Ginny getting eighteen pence a week more than me.’
‘Miss Jackson and I were quite concerned when we were told neither of you had turned up at the arranged time outside the Labour Exchange. And when you didn’t appear in class we assumed you were playing truant, even though we agreed it would have been quite out of character as both of you have always been reliable and punctual.’
‘But we did turn up!’ Ginny told her. ‘I was there fifteen minutes early, and Marie came five minutes after me! Why would you think we were playing truant? Me mam would have me life if I did that!’
‘Alice and Doreen said they were there on time but you didn’t show up. They didn’t like to go ahead without you so they waited and waited. In the end they were too late to present themselves at Woolworth’s.’
Marie’s mouth opened wide. ‘Oh, the fibbers! They won’t go to heaven when they die, they won’t! Me and Ginny waited for them, then when it was getting late we went into the Exchange and filled in our cards. We were running along County Road to the tram stop when we saw them. They had no intention of meeting us, they were strolling along looking in shop windows.’
The teacher and headmistress exchanged glances before Miss Bond said, ‘Never mind, I’ll sort out the misunderstanding later. Suffice to say I am absolutely delighted for you both, you are a credit to the school. And now, have you had any lunch?’
‘No,’ Ginny said, shaking her head. ‘And we’re both hungry.’
‘Then I suggest you take the rest of the day off, you deserve it. Go home, have something to eat and tell your families the good news. We’ll see you on Monday morning for the start of your last week at school.’
The two girls looked at each other and grinned broadly. Oh, what a wonderful day this was turning out to be! And the best was yet to come. Just wait until they told their families. They’d be so proud when they knew their daughters had landed a job in Woolworth’s.
‘This is the street.’ Flo had walked ahead of her friends, marching with a straight back and leading them like a sergeant would lead his men. And when Flo straightened her back, her bosom was thrust forward and was a force to be reckoned with. ‘She lives halfway down on the right. Come on, follow me.’
She walked a few steps then turned to see the other four women standing motionless. Hannah had moved a step forward, because although she was as nervous as anyone this trip was one of necessity for her. But to Beth, Dot and Lizzie, while an extra pound in their pocket for Christmas had sounded wonderful this morning, the means of getting it weren’t so appealing now.
‘You go on,’ Beth said, speaking for herself and her two mates. ‘It looks a bit much for five of us to knock on her door.’
When Flo tutted and shook her head, her chins swayed from side to side. ‘Don’t be so bleedin’ daft! If yer want the money yer’ve got to ask for it. Ma Maloney isn’t Lady Bountiful, she doesn’t go handing cash out to everyone she sees. Anyway, if her front door’s not open we go around the back ’cos she does most of her business in the entry. And she does that for two reasons. A lot of women don’t want it known they borrow off her so they use the back entry, and she doesn’t want to be seen handing money over because of the police. Like the street-corner bookies, what she’s doing is against the law and she could find herself in trouble. Not that anyone would snitch on her ’cos they need her, and they’d be cutting their nose off to spite their face. Now, are yer coming or not?’
Hannah moved forward. ‘I’ll come with yer.’
Beth quickly followed. Come hell or high water she was going to keep an eye on the elderly woman who wouldn’t be up to the ways of any Smart Alec. ‘We’ll all come, but we’ll walk a bit behind, in pairs, so we don’t stick out a mile.’
When Flo came abreast of Ma Maloney’s house and found the door closed, her footsteps didn’t falter and she kept on walking to the nearest side entry. They turned into it and sure enough, halfway down, they could see three women talking and nodding their heads to someone who was hidden from view. Arms were stretching out and it was obvious that money was changing hands. ‘We’ll hang on until they’re finished,’ Flo said. ‘They won’t be long because Ma isn’t one for gossiping. Time is money to her.’
‘If Bill could see me now, he’d do his nut,’ Dot said. ‘He doesn’t believe in borrowing or lending money.’
‘Neither does Andy,’ Beth said. ‘And it’s only the thought of seeing our Joey going to school this morning without a decent coat on his back that is keeping me from turning tail.’
‘What the men don’t know won’t hurt them, and I’ll not be telling Paddy,’ Lizzie comforted herself with saying. ‘Sure, we can have it paid back in a couple of weeks.’
‘You might, I won’t!’ Flo only had her husband’s wages coming in because her two children were still at school. Amy was thirteen and Wendy twelve. ‘I’ll be lucky if I can pay her one and six a week, and as a shilling of that will be interest, it means I’m only paying sixpence off me loan.’ But Flo could never be serious for long, and she began to chuckle. ‘Of course I could go down Lime Street one night, and earn enough to pay her off in one go.’
‘Ye’re being optimistic, aren’t yer, sunshine?’ Beth, in her mind’s eye, could just see her little fat friend walking along the street which was the haunt of prostitutes. ‘Yer’d end up having to pay the men, not the other way round.’
‘There’s no need to be so bleedin’ funny, queen, ’cos every woman looks the same down an entry on a dark night with a sack over her head.’
Faces were beginning to look a bit brighter now. After all, yer couldn’t be worrying and laughing at the same time. ‘It would have to be some sack in your case, sunshine, ’cos an ordinary coal sack wouldn’t fit yer.’
‘Ho, ho, very bleedin’ funny.’ Flo noticed some movement down the entry and said, ‘Ay, out, the women are finished. Shall I go first, or would one of you like the honour?’
There were no takers for that offer so Flo marched gallantly for
ward. Her bosom stood to attention, her hips swayed and a look of determination was fixed on her chubby face. She reached the door of Ma Maloney’s just as it was being pushed to, and her hand shot out to prevent its closure. ‘Hang on, Ma, there’s some more customers for yer.’
The look on the moneylender’s face when she saw who it was confirmed the story Flo had told. The woman obviously didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but it would be fair to say she was not best pleased to see who her visitor was. ‘I’m in a bleedin’ hurry and haven’t time to mess around, so yer can sod off.’
‘Now is that any way to greet an old friend?’ Flo’s attitude was cocky. ‘Here’s me, thinking yer’d be glad to see me.’
‘Well, I’m not, so buzz off.’ Ma Maloney was eyeing Flo’s tummy and remembering the time she was bounced by it. Better not be too unpleasant or she could end up being bounced down the cobbled entry. Her eyes like slits, she asked, ‘What are yer doing here anyway?’
‘If yer’d care to step forward, yer’d see I’ve got four friends with me, and we’ve all come on a peaceful mission – to ask your good self if we could borrow a pound off yer. A pound each, that is.’
Ma poked her head out a bit further. ‘I haven’t got no five pounds on me! What d’yer think I am anyway, yer silly bitch? I’m not lending money to no strangers ’cos I might never see them or me money again.’
‘I’m not a stranger, yer know where I live,’ Flo said, feigning a hurt expression and being prepared to give way a little so as not to lose face before her friends. ‘I know we had a little set-to last time I borrowed off yer, but yer must admit yer asked for it by making a show of me in front of all me neighbours. But that’s over and done with now, and these are all respectable women who will not let yer down.’