Many a Tear has to Fall

by Joan Jonker

  When the laughter had died down, Ann wiped the tears away before saying, ‘The woman is unbelievable! There’s definitely something radically wrong with her for expecting to get away with half the things she does.’

  ‘She’s round the bend, doolally, and that’s why she gets away with it. Folk are afraid to tangle with her ’cos she’d clock yer one sooner than look at yer.’ Lizzie’s head was nodding. ‘A few people have had a go at her for the things she does, but they came off worst and have never tried since.’

  ‘What happened to her, Mrs Lizzie?’ Tess asked. ‘Did she manage to get down off the wall?’

  ‘I stood by your kitchen wall, out of sight, and I heard her feet scraping on the bricks. Then she must have fallen off because she let out a yell. The air was blue, and she screamed, “It was her fault, the bleedin’ mare! Just wait till I get me hands on her, she’ll be sorry she was ever born. I’ll scratch her bleedin’ eyes out, see if I don’t.”’

  Maddy looked concerned. ‘She wouldn’t hurt you, would she?’

  ‘No, queen, I’m the one woman in the street she wouldn’t lay a finger on. She tried it once, she wouldn’t do it again. Yer see, a few years ago I caught her battering one of the neighbours’ kids, a boy of seven, and the poor lad was terrified. So I pulled her away and told the lad to run home to his mam. The next thing I knew, she made a flying leap and jumped on me, her two hands around me neck. Well, I wasn’t going to stand for that, not when I’m twice the size of her, so I put me hands around her waist and lifted her off the ground, as high as I could. She wasn’t so sure of herself then, and she loosened her hands. I stood her down, told her to grow up and act her age, and started to walk away. The silly bugger didn’t know when to leave well alone and jumped on me back. By this time half the street was out, some shouting at her to leave me alone, and others telling me to give back what she was giving. I couldn’t shake her off, she was hanging on like grim death, nearly choking me. So I backed up against a wall and pressed as hard as I could, squashing her against the brickwork. It did the trick because she couldn’t breathe properly and had to let go.’ Lizzie’s eyes went around the table. ‘Now wouldn’t yer think she’d have given up after all that? Oh no, not Nellie Bingham, she had to have another go. She came at me with her hands curved like claws, intending to scratch me face. But I got in before her and belted her one. I knocked her to the ground and she sprawled there calling me fit to burn. The neighbours were clapping and cheering, which didn’t improve her temper, but she made no effort to retaliate. And for a week after she was walking around with a beautiful black eye.’

  ‘Lizzie, would you teach me how to box, please?’ Ann asked. ‘I think I’m going to be in need of a few lessons.’

  ‘Don’t try it, queen, ’cos yer won’t win. If yer take my advice, have a good laugh when she tries to wind yer up and let her think yer don’t care. Once she sees she’s not getting to yer, she’ll give up and pick on someone else. I told Peggy Caldwell dozens of times to do that, but she wouldn’t.’

  ‘What I don’t understand is, where was her husband this afternoon while all this was going on?’ George asked. ‘And her two children?’

  ‘I saw the two boys legging it as soon as their mother started. They’re not bad lads and I think they’re ashamed of her. As for her feller, yer never see him on a Saturday afternoon until tea time, and then he’s half kalied. Where he goes God only knows, ’cos all the pubs around here close at two and don’t open again until six. He must know a very obliging pub landlord who lets some of his regulars have a stay-behind. I believe that does happen. It’s a mystery where he gets the money from, though, ’cos he’s out again at eight and rolls home rotten drunk about half ten.’

  ‘He must have a good job to be able to afford to live like that,’ Norman said. ‘I know I couldn’t do it, and me and the wife both work.’

  ‘Even if I had a job that paid well, I’d have better things to spend my money on than beer. I enjoy the odd pint now and again, but I can’t see the point in getting drunk.’ George couldn’t stand seeing anyone so inebriated they made an exhibition of themselves. Particularly if they had children at home who were going without decent clothes and food. ‘The breweries wouldn’t get very rich on my money, I’m afraid.’

  ‘You deserve a pint tonight, though, love, you’ve worked very hard,’ Ann said. ‘Why not go with Norman for an hour?’

  Her husband shook his head. ‘No, I wouldn’t leave you and the girls on your own tonight in case our neighbour decides to kick off. Perhaps another time, eh, Norman, when things are settled down and we’ve got the measure of the land?’

  ‘Ye’re welcome to join me any time. And yer wouldn’t be amongst strangers ’cos your brother would be there. He’s a good laugh is Ken, gets on with everyone.’

  Ann glanced at the clock on top of the mantelpiece. ‘Lizzie, would you think it rude of us if we love you and leave you? It seems terrible to eat and run, but I’ve got to make the beds up and see to the curtains for the girls’ bedroom. You don’t mind, do you?’

  ‘Not at all, queen, I know yer’ve got loads to do. I’d offer to help but I think I’d only be in the way, not knowing what goes where.’

  ‘You’ve done enough for us, Lizzie, and we’re very grateful. But you must be worn out, going to work for half a day, then straight up to ours for more work. If I were you I’d get my feet up on the couch and listen to the wireless.’

  ‘I might just do that, queen, ’cos me legs are tired. And the corn on me little toe is practically talking to me, saying it’s about time I took me shoe off and gave it a break.’

  Tess had kept her question bottled up, but now they were getting ready to go home she was prompted to ask, ‘Does the rose still talk to you, Mrs Lizzie?’

  ‘Of course she does, sweetheart, but only when I’m on me own.’ Lizzie turned and pointed to a pink rose on the wallpaper. It was a foot above the sideboard and was bigger than the roses clustered around it. ‘We’ll have a good natter tonight when I’m on me lonesome. I’ve got a lot to tell her about the goings-on today, and I bet she’ll have plenty to say about Nellie Bingham. She’s never seen the woman, but I keep her up to date with the news and she knows everything that goes on. She has some very good suggestions on how to deal with Nellie, but if I carried them out I’d either land meself in clink or at the end of a rope.’

  ‘I’ll wait until we’re settled in properly and then decide how to cope with our neighbour,’ Ann said. ‘If she continues to make a nuisance of herself she’ll find that two can play at that game. One thing I am sure of, she’ll not drive us from that house.’ Her expression softened when she looked at her elder daughter. ‘Would you get our coats, please, Madelaine, and we’ll leave Mr and Mrs Ferguson in peace.’

  ‘Yer’ve no need to rush on account of us,’ Norman told her. ‘Have another cup of tea and give yer dinner time to settle.’

  ‘No, but thank you all the same. I want to get the beds made up because I think it’ll be an early night for all of us.’

  Maddy handed the coats out, then walked to where Norman was sitting and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you for having us.’

  Not to be left out, Tess did the same. ‘Mrs Lizzie is my very best friend, and now you’re my best friend too!’

  Lizzie could see the joy on her husband’s face as she gathered the two girls to her. ‘We couldn’t ask for better friends.’ She kissed the tops of their heads. ‘I’ll nip up and see yer in the morning, make sure ye’re all right. It’ll be early, about half ten, ’cos I have to be back for our Vera coming. But if yer need me before then, just give me a knock.’

  The family were just a few doors from their home when they saw a woman leave a house on the opposite side of the street and hurry towards them.

  ‘Sure, I’ve been keeping watch for yer, so I have. I wanted to catch yer before yer got to your house.’ The woman, her voice with a lovely Irish lilt, spoke softly, her eyes darting as though on the look-out. ‘Me name
’s Bridget Hanrahan and I live in number forty-two. I happened to look out of me window about an hour ago to see if there was any sign of my two boys. They were an hour late for their tea so they were, and wasn’t it meself that was worried to death? Anyway, I saw Nellie Bingham sneak out of her house with a shovel in her hand, and knowing what a divil the woman is, didn’t I stand there and watch what she was up to? Whatever it was she had on her shovel was thrown on yer step and she scurried away like a thief in the night. It’s one of the woman’s favourite dirty tricks, throwing dog dirt or horse manure on the step of some poor soul she’s taken a dislike to. But to do it to you, on yer first day in yer new house, well, it’s to be hoped that God pays her back for being so wicked.’

  George found his voice. ‘D’you mean she’s thrown dirt on our doorstep?’

  ‘That’s what she’s done, right enough. And I didn’t want yer stepping in it and spreading it through yer house. I’ll not be wanting yer to think I’m a nosy biddy who spends her life spying on people, because mostly I keep to meself. But I’ll not have yer thinking that all yer neighbours are like the mad woman who lives next door to yer.’

  Ann gulped before she spoke. ‘Thank you, Mrs Hanrahan, it’s kind of you to be concerned. I’ll have words with Mrs Bingham about it.’

  ‘Oh no you won’t!’ George sounded very determined. ‘As you said before, two can play at that game. We’ll deal with this my way. But perhaps you’d rather not be seen to be involved, Mrs Hanrahan, and would prefer to leave now?’

  ‘Sure, I’m not frightened of the woman, Mr, er, Mr . . .?’

  ‘George Richardson. And this is my wife Ann, and daughters Maddy and Tess.’

  Bridget smiled a greeting before telling them, ‘My husband Paddy is six foot four, and a foine figure of a man, so he is. A gentle giant most of the time, but let anyone upset me or the boys and he’s like a raging bull. No, I don’t fear the Binghams, but as Nellie has eyes and ears like a hawk, I think it would be best if I leave you to quietly do what yer have in mind. But I’ll not lie and say I won’t be peeping from behind me curtains.’ She stepped down on to the cobbled street. ‘The best of luck to yer, me darlings, and goodnight and God bless.’

  The family waited until she’d entered her house and closed the door. Then George put a finger to his lips. ‘Not a word, be as silent as mice.’

  The light from the street lamp showed there was a mound of dog dirt on the step, and Ann would have vented her feelings if George hadn’t gripped her arm. He slipped the key silently in the lock and threw open the front door. ‘Step up on to the top step,’ he whispered, ‘and not a sound when you get inside.’

  He didn’t close the door after himself, not wanting to make the slightest of noises. ‘Maddy, the shovel is standing in the kitchen, bring it to me, please. And Tess, the paper we used to wrap the crockery in, it’s in a cardboard box under the sink. Will you pick out two pieces of newspaper that haven’t been torn, please?’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Ann asked, fearful of him getting involved with a mad woman.

  ‘I’m going to give her back that which is hers.’

  ‘Oh, George, what if she sees you?’

  ‘I’ll take a chance. Even if she does, she’ll still get that dirt on her step, of that I am determined. And while I can shovel it easily off our step, she won’t be so lucky. I intend to put the newspaper down over it and hit it with the shovel so it sinks in and spreads. Then perhaps she’ll think twice about doing the same thing again.’

  Maddy handed him the shovel. ‘I’ll come with you, Dad, just in case.’

  ‘No, love, you and Tess stay here with your mam. I’ll be quieter and quicker on my own. One minute, that’s all I’ll be.’

  The girls went to stand next to their mother and she put an arm around each of them. ‘Keep very quiet so we can hear if trouble starts.’

  George was true to his word. After one minute he came back grinning all over his face. ‘D’you know, I got a kick out of that. And I’ll get a bigger kick when I hear her scrubbing the step in the morning. She’ll need plenty of elbow grease to get it white again.’

  ‘She’ll pay us back,’ Ann said. ‘We won’t get away with it. I bet you any money she’ll think of something twice as bad.’

  ‘Whatever she does, we do back. That’s the only way to deal with a bully. Once they see you’re afraid of them, they’ll pick on you even more. If we’re to get any peace in this house, we’ve got to start as we mean to go on.’ George lowered himself on to his fireside chair. It had been a long day and his back was aching. ‘If she throws ashes over the wall when you’ve got your washing out, do the same to her. Anything she does to annoy you, do it back to her. Just make sure the argument is conducted over the wall and not in the street where she can get at you, because you wouldn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘Some life it’s going to be.’ Ann sighed deeply. ‘Having to worry every day what she’s going to do next. I’ll be frightened of my own shadow.’

  George beckoned his daughters to come and sit near him in front of the fire. It was no use worrying the life out of them, it wouldn’t be fair. ‘Let’s all make up our minds that the woman who happens to live next door to us isn’t going to make us unhappy. Ignore her if we can, laugh at her if we can’t. But never be rude to her, girls, because that would bring you down to her level, and we don’t want that.’

  ‘I’m not going to stand by and let her have a go at our mam,’ Maddy said with feeling. ‘I won’t be rude, but I’ll tell her what I think in a ladylike way.’

  ‘Me too!’ Tess narrowed her eyes and clamped her lips tightly together, to show she meant business. ‘Miss Harrison said we must never let anyone bully us, we must report them to her or Miss Bond.’

  A picture of the headmistress flashed through Ann’s head and she saw the funny side. ‘It would take someone like Miss Bond to sort Nellie Bingham out. One of her stern, looking-down-her-nose, withering looks would have anyone quaking in their shoes.’

  ‘Shall we make up our minds now, and agree that we’re not going to let anyone mar the pleasure of our new home?’ George asked. ‘You said a Mrs Flannery called to see if you needed help, Ann, so she sounds friendly. And Mrs Hanrahan really put herself out by watching for us coming home to warn us. That’s two people who you could make friends with. And last but not least we’ve got Lizzie living near.’

  ‘And me and Tess have made friends with James and Billy,’ Maddy said. ‘So that’s another two.’

  George nodded. ‘There you are, you see! More good than bad, I would say. So let’s not think about Nellie Bingham unless we have to, let’s be happy in our new home.’

  The girls’ nods were enthusiastic, but Ann’s was less so as she asked herself what her parents would have made of all this. They’d have been horrified. She took a deep breath and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

  ‘Wait for me, Dolly.’ Ann quickened her step to catch up with her neighbour. ‘We may as well walk to the shops together.’

  ‘I’m walking to Stanley Road for what I want.’ Dolly Flannery had turned out to be a good friend. Never a day passed that she didn’t knock to see if Ann needed anything. She was bonny in figure and face, was Dolly, with thick sandy hair, eyes that changed from green to hazel and a fresh, healthy complexion. She crooked her arm now for Ann to link. ‘D’yer feel like going that far, or are yer shopping local?’

  ‘No, I’ll walk with you. It’ll do me good to stretch my legs and get some fresh air into my lungs. There’s a better selection there, anyway.’

  Dolly raised her brows. ‘Heard nothing from the queer one?’

  ‘No, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. We’ve been here nine days now, and there’s been no trouble since the day we moved in. Except for the unearthly racket she makes when cleaning the grate out. She rattles the poker between the bars so hard I’m surprised the whole street doesn’t hear her. And she’ll bang on the wall for no other reason than to annoy u
s. And this is at half six every morning without fail. George said we don’t need to set the alarm clock, she’s just as reliable.’

  ‘There’s always a lull before the storm, girl, so don’t drop yer guard. That affair with the dog dirt, she won’t have forgotten that, mark my words.’ Dolly’s bonny face creased. ‘It was dead funny, though, wasn’t it? The whole street got to hear about it and they all had a good laugh. My Frank laughed so much I thought he was going to choke.’

  ‘You’ve got a boy and a girl, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yeah, but they’re both working and out all day. David is fifteen and Wendy fourteen. She only left school in the summer and got herself a job in Vernon’s round the corner. The pay’s not much, but it’s the same everywhere. David doesn’t earn much more because he’s an apprentice joiner, but to hear the pair of them talk yer’d think it was their money keeping the wolf from the door. They’re good kids, though, never given me a minute’s worry and I love the bones of them.’