Many a Tear has to Fall

by Joan Jonker

  Tess came through the living room door, sniffed up and rolled her eyes. ‘Ooh, yummy, yummy! Spare ribs and cabbage!’

  George grinned. His younger daughter was eating better these days and even had some colour in her cheeks. ‘It’s next door you can smell, sweetheart, we’re having corned beef and mashed potato.’

  She put her arms around his neck and kissed him noisily. ‘You’re telling fibs, Dad, aren’t you? I can feel the smell coming from our stove, and it’s going up my nose and making me feel very hungry.’

  Maddy elbowed her aside. ‘Move over and let me have my kiss.’ Her deep brown eyes smiling, she said to her father, ‘If you’re not telling fibs, I’m going next door to ask Mrs Wilkins if I can have my dinner with them. I’m sure she could manage an extra one at the table.’

  ‘Dinner will be half an hour yet, and it is your favourite,’ Ann said, hanging a towel on the hook behind the kitchen door. ‘But the tea in the pot is still fresh if you feel like a cup?’

  ‘I’ll have one, what about you, Tess?’

  ‘Yes please! It felt a bit cold coming home, Mam, so can I put my singlet on tomorrow?’

  ‘The weather has gone chilly, so I think you should wear it all the time now. We’re into October so we can expect it to get colder.’

  Ann was getting up from her chair when Maddy put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ll pour our tea out, Mam, you stay where you are.’ She was back a minute later, carrying two cups, one of which she handed to her sister before sitting down. ‘How are Mr and Mrs Critchley these days, Mam? I haven’t seen anything of them for weeks.’

  ‘They seem fine now, and they’re eating better. Maisie and I take turns in going over each day to check on them. They walk to the shops every morning to get some exercise and fresh air, but that’s the only time they go out. And, of course, with you being at school then you wouldn’t see them.’

  ‘You don’t know when their birthdays are, do you? You see, our teacher is showing us how to make cards for Christmas, and I could easily make one for birthdays. I’d like to make one for them, they’re so nice and don’t have any family to send them cards.’

  ‘I couldn’t tell you, Madelaine, but I suppose I could find out by asking in a roundabout way. I’ll do a bit of digging tomorrow and see if I can wheedle it out of them.’

  ‘You can show me how to make cards, Maddy,’ Tess said. ‘I’d like to send one to Mrs Gwen and Uncle Mered, and to the Thomases. They’d like that, wouldn’t they, Dad? Especially if I’ve made them myself.’

  ‘I’m sure they’d be over the moon, pet! I know I would be if someone went to the trouble of making a card for me. It shows there’s a lot of thought gone into it.’

  ‘You need stiff paper for it,’ Maddy said. ‘Ordinary paper is no good. But my teacher said you can buy a sheet of it for a penny and it will make about six cards. Then you need green and red colouring pencils for trees and Father Christmas. We’ve already got black and brown crayons, they’ll do for the reindeers and chimney pots.’

  Tess was clapping her hands in delight. ‘Oh, it sounds lovely, Maddy, you’ll have to teach me. Will you show me tonight, after dinner?’

  ‘Patience, Theresa, you haven’t got the necessary paper and crayons,’ Ann said. ‘When you get your penny pocket money on Saturday you can buy the paper, and unless Madelaine has something else to spend her penny on, perhaps she’ll buy the crayons.’

  Maddy nodded. ‘I’ll go to Woolworth’s in the Vale on Saturday afternoon and get what we need from there. I’m quite looking forward to it now.’

  ‘Will you take me with you to Woolworth’s?’ Tess asked. ‘Please, pretty please?’

  George could tell by his wife’s face that the request didn’t find favour with her, so he got in before she had a chance to speak. His younger daughter needed some room to grow up, to have confidence in herself. The day would come when she’d have to go out into the world on her own, and she had to be prepared for it. ‘Of course Maddy will take you. If you promise not to leave her side for a second. The Vale is a very busy place on a Saturday.’

  Looking as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, Tess shook her head. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, Dad, I’ll stick to her like glue.’

  Maddy groaned and squeezed her eyes tight. ‘You’ve just reminded me, we need glue! We can’t finish the cards off without it! Not the Christmas cards, anyway! We need to stick bits of cotton wool on to make it look like snow, and Father Christmas has to have a white fluffy beard! The cards won’t look nice without all the trimmings.’

  Ann saw the disappointment on the faces of both her daughters and thought quickly. ‘You won’t need to buy glue, I’ll make you some with flour and water.’

  ‘Will that be any good, Mam?’ Maddy asked.

  Her mother waved her hand around the room. ‘This wallpaper was stuck on with flour and water, and it’s lasted five years.’

  George chuckled. ‘There you are, girls, saved by the bell.’

  Ann put a finger to her lips. ‘Shush! Listen! Isn’t that Maisie shouting? It sounds as though there’s something wrong, I’d better go and see.’ She ran down the hall with the girls close behind and George following more slowly.

  The shouting got louder as Ann neared the front door and she feared there’d been an accident of some kind. She pulled the door wide, to see Maisie standing on her path shouting and pointing a finger at her two daughters, who were crying.

  ‘You stupid pair of nits,’ Maisie yelled. ‘Have yer not got the sense yer were born with? At your age yer should be able to stick up for yerselves without coming crying to me.’

  ‘What is it, Maisie?’ Ann asked, stepping down to the low wall which separated the two paths. ‘What on earth has happened?’

  ‘It’s these two stupid beggars, honestly, I could strangle them. Yer know we bought them a rubber ball each and a bat, when we were on holiday? Well they went out half an hour ago to have a game of rounders, and two lads came and pinched the balls off them. And these two stood like lemons and let them!’

  ‘We didn’t just let them, Mam, we tried to stop them!’ At thirteen, Nita was a year older than her sister, Letty. ‘We ran after them and tried to get the balls back, but they punched us, and one of them pushed our Letty over.’ Tears were flowing freely at the injustice. It was bad enough having their balls stolen and being punched, but to be told off for it was unfair. ‘Look, all her leg is scraped and it’s bleeding.’

  Letty lifted her leg as proof. ‘It’s not half sore, Mam.’

  Maisie looked down at the grazed knee and her temper against her daughters evaporated. ‘Yer mean they did that to yer?’

  The girl sniffed up. ‘Yeah, and they ran away laughing.’

  ‘You can’t blame the girls,’ Ann said. ‘It wasn’t their fault. The boys must be real bullies as well as thieves.’

  ‘Young ruffians would be a better description,’ George said. ‘Do you know the boys?’

  Nita wiped a hand across her eyes. ‘They both go to our school and they live in Chatsworth Avenue. They’re horrible, and always in trouble with the teachers for hitting boys from the juniors.’

  ‘They’ll be in trouble when I get hold of them,’ Maisie said, through gritted teeth. ‘I’ll strangle the pair of them.’

  ‘One of them wouldn’t be Greg Saunders, would it?’ Maddy asked. ‘Tall, with black curly hair and walks with a swagger as though he owns the world?’

  ‘Yeah, and Billy White was with him,’ Nita said. ‘But it was Greg what did it, Billy only stood and watched.’

  ‘D’yer know what number Chatsworth this Greg lives at?’ Maisie asked. ‘I think I’ll pay his mother a visit.’

  When Nita shook her head, Maddy said, ‘I don’t know the number, but I can point the house out to you.’

  ‘Right, I’ll just get me coat.’

  ‘Maisie, don’t you think it would be better to wait until Will gets home?’ George was thinking that if the parents were anything like their
son, Maisie might find herself in trouble. ‘I’d come myself, but I don’t think I’m up to fisticuffs yet.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of letting yer come, George. I’ll be all right, I’m quite able to look after meself. If Maddy will just point the house out to me, then I’ll send her back.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Ann said, surprising herself, because she thought it was really common for women to have a slanging match in the street. But Maisie was a friend, and if the positions were reversed she knew her neighbour would be the first to stand beside her. ‘Will you keep an eye on the pans, George, till I get back? We shouldn’t be long.’

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ Tess said, linking her arm through her mother’s. ‘I know that Greg Saunders and he’s always swearing and hitting people. I’ll make sure he doesn’t hit you.’

  ‘No, love, you stay and help your father with the dinner, there’s a good girl.’

  ‘But Maddy’s going with you, that’s not fair!’

  ‘Madelaine is not coming with us. She’s going to point the house out and then she’ll be sent straight home. Now get my coat off the hall stand, please, and then help set the table.’

  ‘You don’t need to come, yer know, Ann,’ Maisie said. ‘I don’t mind going on my own.’

  ‘I wish you’d both wait until Will gets home.’ George wasn’t very happy about this. Maisie might be able to stand up for herself, but his wife certainly wasn’t. ‘He’ll be home in about half an hour.’

  Maisie shook her head. ‘No, George, the way I look at it is, if I take a man with me it looks as though I’m expecting trouble. And I’m not, unless the mother is as bad as her son, and I can’t see that. I’m confident of coming home with two rubber balls, not two black eyes.’

  Maddy pointed to a corner house. ‘That’s where Greg Saunders lives, but I don’t know which house Billy White lives in.’

  ‘That’s all right, love, now you run off home. Make sure the pan with the ribs in doesn’t boil dry, there’s a good girl.’ Ann watched her daughter walk away, then turned to her neighbour. ‘D’you know what you’re going to say, Maisie?’

  ‘I haven’t got a clue, girl, but I’ll think of something. The woman can’t be that unreasonable she doesn’t know it’s wrong for her son to steal and push young girls over. But even if she is that unreasonable, even if she’s a dragon what breathes fire, it’s not going to stop me from getting the two balls back for my daughters. And I’ll tell yer this much, Ann, I ain’t going home without them.’ With those words of determination, Maisie walked up the short path and rapped on the door with the brass knocker.

  ‘Yeah, what d’yer want?’

  The woman was as big as a house, and the lack of friendliness or politeness in her voice sent shivers down Ann’s spine. She wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of this one.

  ‘Are you Mrs Saunders?’ Maisie asked.

  ‘What if I am? What’s it got to do with you?’ The woman went to close the door, saying, ‘I’ve got no bleedin’ time to waste on you, go and get lost.’

  But Maisie was quick and her foot shot out to stop the door from closing. As soon as she’d set eyes on the woman, who must weigh at least twenty stone, she had her taped as a bully who got away with murder because people were frightened of her. Well, she’d play her at her own game. ‘You’ve got no bleedin’ time! Well, I like that! I’ve got no bleedin’ time to waste either! If your son wasn’t such a bleedin’ thief, I’d be at the stove now getting my feller’s dinner ready.’

  The door was opened wide and the woman came to stand at the edge of the step and folded her enormous arms. ‘What did yer say? Did I hear yer call my son a thief?’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with yer bleedin’ hearing, is there? Yeah, I called yer son a thief, and he’s a bully as well. Him and his mate, Billy White, stole two balls off my daughters and pushed one of them over, cutting her knee open.’

  ‘Sod off, the pair of yer, before I belt yer one.’ The woman straightened her arms and flexed her muscles. ‘You call my son a thief again and ye’re asking for trouble. Now get out of me sight before I lose my temper. Yer cheeky pair of bleeders.’

  Maisie was shaking inside, but her determination never wavered. Pushing her face so close to the woman she could feel her breath, she said, ‘Go on, belt me one, I dare yer.’

  Greg Saunders’ mother was taken aback, but not for long. ‘I’m warning yer, yer stupid cow, get away from here or yer won’t know what’s hit yer.’

  ‘Oh, I will know what’s hit me. And when I fetch the police, both you and yer thieving son will be in trouble.’

  ‘Police! What police? I haven’t done nothing wrong, so yer needn’t bring the bleedin’ police to this house.’

  ‘I’ll have to bring them to this house for yer son. That’s after they’ve seen the injuries he’s caused to me daughter’s leg when he stole the two balls. So, you belt me one and I can kill two birds with one stone.’

  Ann decided it was time she said something. ‘Come along, Maisie, don’t lower yourself by arguing with her. She won’t listen to reason, and there’s no way she’s going to get the balls back for you. So let’s go to the police station and get it over with.’ She glanced at the woman and said, softly, ‘They should be here within the hour to see your son. Robbery with violence is a serious offence.’

  The two women had stepped from the path on to the pavement when a very subdued voice brought them to a halt. ‘Yer didn’t ask me to get the balls for yer.’

  ‘Oh, yer knew what I wanted, why else would I be here?’ Maisie could sense victory but wasn’t going to let the woman get away with it so easily. ‘Not to worry, though, the police will get them back for me.’

  ‘If our Greg’s got them, I’ll get them off him. And break his bleedin’ neck into the bargain. Just hang on a minute.’

  ‘No!’ Maisie stopped her in her tracks. ‘I want your son to bring the balls out himself. Let’s see if he’s so brave when he’s facing grown-ups. And I want him to know that if he as much as looks sideways at either of my girls again I will personally give him a good hiding before taking him along, by the scruff of the neck, to the police station.’

  The woman used the frame of the door to pull herself up the steps, and her massive bulk filled the doorway. ‘Our Greg, get yer bleedin’ arse down here, right now.’

  The voice that called back sounded as though it came from upstairs. ‘I’m doin’ something, yer’ll have to wait.’

  ‘I don’t care what ye’re doing, get yerself down here quick.’ The woman had waddled along the hallway to stand at the bottom of the stairs. And when she bawled, the whole of the street must have heard her. ‘If I have to come up there yer’ll be sorry, ’cos I’ll break every bleedin’ bone in yer body.’

  Ann winced and shook her head in disgust. Fancy talking to your child like that. No wonder the lad was out of hand, you couldn’t expect anything else. This woman, with her commonas-muck voice and bullying ways, wasn’t going to set anyone a good example.

  Footsteps running down the stairs could be heard, and then, ‘What d’yer want? I was in the middle of doin’ something and yer’ve gone and spoilt it now.’

  ‘Any more lip out of yer and I’ll spoil yer bleedin’ face for yer. Now, where’s the two balls yer nicked off some girls, their mothers are here asking for them back.’

  ‘I didn’t nick no balls, it must have been someone else. Tell them to get lost.’

  Maisie and Ann saw the lad turn on his heels, ready to go back up the stairs, but he never made it. A hand as big as a shovel shot out and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, shaking him like a rag doll. ‘Don’t give me that, smart-arse, I want you in front of me with the balls in yer hand inside two minutes.’ The woman flung him into the living room. ‘You heard what I said, two flaming minutes.’

  ‘Blimey,’ Maisie said softly, ‘fancy having to live with that. I almost feel sorry for the lad, but he needs to be taught a lesson. He’s not going to learn the diff
erence between right and wrong from his mother, that’s a dead cert.’

  The lad, who was pushed to the door by hands from which there was no escape, wore a scowl on his face, plus a look of defiance and cockiness. ‘There’s the ruddy balls, missus, and I didn’t nick ’em, the girls gave them to me.’

  Maisie was taken aback by the hardness of a lad so young. The look of insolence on his face was frightening. God help him when he grew older, he’d be like a gangster. And the woman standing behind him, looking as hard as nails, would be responsible. ‘So, ye’re a liar as well as a thief and bully who knocks young girls over, eh?’

  The boy’s top lip curled in a sneer, as though he found the whole thing funny. ‘I didn’t knock her over, she tripped up.’

  Maisie took the balls and passed them to Ann, and waited, both hands ready, for the boy to turn to go back inside the house. Then she moved as quick as lightning. With one hand on his back she pushed him hard, and with the other she grabbed his arm to save him before he hit the ground. But her action had the desired effect, because his face drained of colour. He’d got a fright when he’d seen the ground coming towards him, and it showed. He turned to his mother, expecting her to come to his aid as she always did, but she stood there with her arms folded under the mountain of flesh that was her bosom. The word ‘police’ had caused her to become very docile, because if a copper came to the house, her feller would blow his top, and he was the only person in the world she feared.

  Seeing no help was coming from that quarter, Greg Saunders decided to bluff it out. He was the leader of a gang of local youths who all did as they were told because they were frightened of him. It wouldn’t do his reputation any good if it got out that he’d been pushed over by a woman. ‘What the hell did yer do that for, yer silly cow?’

  ‘Gave yer a fright, did it? Well that’s how my daughter felt when you pushed her. Only you got off lucky. I stopped yer from hitting the ground, so yer haven’t got yer knee split open like she has.’

  ‘I told yer,’ the boy snarled, ‘she tripped up.’