by Joan Jonker
Jill and Doreen appeared in the doorway. Any tale involving Nellie was bound to be worth listening to.
Tommy wiped a hand across his mouth. ‘I bet Sinbad had an answer to that!’
‘Well, it started ’im off on his school days. Said no one had seen his bare backside since his teacher, a Mr Braithwaite, used to give him the cane. Apparently this teacher was a real puny little feller, looked as though a puff of wind would blow ’im over. But Corker said after three strokes of the cane off him, yer couldn’t sit down for hours. Not that the fear of it put Corker off, ’cos from the sound of things he was a real scallywag. Always givin’ old buck to the teacher, smoking at the back of the school … you name it and Corker did it, even though he knew it meant gettin’ the cane.’
‘You do surprise me,’ Jack said, a potato halfway to his mouth. ‘I never would ’ave thought that of Corker.’
‘Oh, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet, kid! Wait till I tell yez about me mate Nellie! Not to be outdone by Corker, she told us about some of the tricks she used to get up to at school. Now I know I shouldn’t laugh at this ’cos what she did was a sin, but yer know what Nellie’s like, she turns everythin’ into a joke an’ yer can’t help but laugh. Anyway, she used to get the cane for not knowing her Catechism off by heart. She said she knew most of it, but sure as eggs the priest would ask her a question she didn’t know an’ then she’d ’ave to go to the headmistress for two strokes of the cane. Now Nellie didn’t like gettin’ the cane, did she, so what did the crafty beggar do? She bribed the girl who sat next to her, that’s what! When Father Mooney asked her a question she couldn’t answer, Nellie would give the girl a nudge and she’d whisper the answer! Then, at playtime, her friend would be rewarded with a sweet.’
‘Well, I’ll be blowed!’ Jack broke the silence, then laughter erupted around the table.
‘I told her she was still a heathen to this day.’ Molly chuckled. ‘I’ve added her to the list of people I pray for in bed every night. If the list gets much longer I’ll ’ave to start goin’ to bed at eight o’clock to fit them all in.’
The chairs had been stacked on the table, the couch and sideboard moved away from the walls and Jack’s chair carried out to the hallway. Molly heaved a sigh, wiping the sweat from her face with the corner of her pinny. ‘I’ll be glad when it’s over. All this just to be posh!’
‘It’ll be worth it in the end, love.’ Jack gave her a hug. ‘Just a few days an’ yer won’t know the place.’
‘If I last out that long.’ Molly pulled a face. ‘I’ll get a bucket of water an’ the brush … start wetting the walls. If I stand in the one spot too long I’ll fall asleep.’
‘I’ll go and tell Steve to put a move on.’ Jill gave a quick glance in the mirror before making for the door. ‘We’ll be right back.’
Jack watched Molly take the brush from the bucket of water and opened his mouth to warn her … but it was too late. Instead of letting the excess water drip from it, she raised the brush over her head to reach the top of the wall and ended up being drenched by the torrent that descended on her head and shoulders. ‘Oh my God,’ she screamed, ‘I’m drowned!’
‘Here, let me do it.’ Jack was grinning as he took the brush. ‘It’s the way yer hold yer mouth, love.’
‘Well, seein’ as you’re so clever, I’ll let yer get on with it.’
‘What d’yer want me to do, Dad?’ Tommy asked. ‘Shall I start scrapin’ the part yer’ve wet?’
Jack shook his head, ‘No, let it soak for a while. Yer can start rubbing the skirting board down with the sandpaper. Make a start on the far wall, under the window.’
‘I’ll go an’ meet Mike off the tram.’ Doreen slipped her arms into the sleeves of her coat. ‘I won’t be long, Mam.’
‘I’ll ’ave yer life if yer are, madam! We’ve got two days to get this room ready, so just bear that in mind.’
Tommy was laying newspapers on the floor to kneel on when Jack rested his hands on the brush handle. ‘Do us a favour, son. Nip to the corner shop for a packet of fags.’
‘Oh dear, oh dear.’ Molly reached for her purse off the mantelpiece. ‘I’ll give him the money, you carry on with the job.’
When Tommy had gone, she tapped Jack on the back. ‘Have yer noticed, we’re on our lonesome?’
‘They haven’t deserted us, they’ll be back in a minute.’ He cocked his head, and hearing footsteps, nodded. ‘See … what did I tell yer?’
Jill and Steve skipped through the door hand in hand, happiness written on their faces. ‘Hiya, Mr and Mrs B.’
‘Hello, son.’ They made a handsome couple, and as nice inside as out. Then Molly took a closer look. They were always happy in each other’s company, but tonight they seemed radiant, brimming over with excitement. ‘You two are lookin’ pleased with yerselves.’
Steve glanced towards the kitchen. ‘On yer own, are yez?’
‘Only for a minute … Tommy’s nipped to the shop an’ Doreen’s gone to meet Mike. Why?’
Molly glimpsed Steve squeezing Jill’s hand, and when she looked up his face was crimson with embarrassment. ‘Can I ask yez something while there’s no one here?’
With his back to them, Jack was oblivious to Steve’s discomfort. ‘Of course yer can, son. What is it?’
Steve swallowed hard before blurting out, ‘Will yez let me an’ Jill get engaged on her birthday?’
Before Jack had time to digest the news, Molly had rushed forward to fling her arms around the couple. In between planting noisy kisses on each of their faces, she said, ‘Oh, I’m so happy for yez I could cry! I’ve waited for this day for as long as I can remember.’
‘Excuse me, missus!’ Jack disentangled her arms. ‘Can I get a look in, please?’ He held Jill close, tears threatening. His firstborn, now old enough to get engaged. ‘Congratulations, sweetheart, and all the luck in the world. You’ll not go far wrong with Steve … I couldn’t wish for a better son-in-law.’ He gripped Steve’s hand. ‘Congratulations, son, an’ welcome to the family.’
Molly sniffed and wiped away a tear. ‘I’m abso-bloody-lutely delighted. I really am. An’ I bet yer mam is too, Steve.’
‘I haven’t told her yet,’ he said sheepishly, his eyes on the lino. ‘I thought I’d better ask you first.’
‘D’yez want to run back an’ tell her? She’ll go mad if she thinks I know somethin’ she doesn’t.’
‘No, we’ll get cracking here first, otherwise it’ll never get done.’ Jill gazed into Steve’s handsome face. ‘That’s all right with you, isn’t it, Steve?’
Steve was so happy he felt like shouting his news from the rooftops. But he managed to keep his excitement in check. After all, knowing his mam and Molly, it would be all over the street tomorrow anyway. ‘Yeah, let’s get stuck in.’
Work came to a halt when Tommy came in, followed closely by Doreen and Mike. The room was filled with laughter and excitement as kisses and congratulations were exchanged. For a while Jack was content to lean on the brush, enjoying the happy scene. Then worry took over. He had three nights to get this room papered and painted … a daunting prospect. ‘I hate to be a wet blanket, but if this room’s to be ready for Thursday night we need to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in.’
The room became a hive of activity after that. As Jack finished damping a wall, Doreen and Mike would move in to scrape the paper off while Steve and Tommy got busy rubbing the paintwork down. Molly and Jill moved into the hall out of the way, taking with them the rolls of paper to be trimmed and the border.
‘D’you think it’ll be finished in time, Mam?’ Jill rested the scissors on her lap. She was sitting in Jack’s chair with Molly perched on the second stair. ‘There’s only two nights after tonight.’
‘Hang on a minute, sunshine.’ The scissors moved quickly and surely along the border line to the end of the roll. ‘There … that’s one more off me mind.’ Molly heaved a sigh of relief as she stood the roll against the wall. ‘Yer dad’s a quick
worker so we’re in with a chance.’
She leaned forward to peep into the living room. ‘They’re all hard at it, so it won’t be for want of tryin’ if it’s not finished.’ She spied Mike pulling playfully at Doreen’s hair and smiled when her daughter thumped him in the chest. He was a nice lad, was Mike. A bit on the shy side, but better that than being rowdy.
Molly rested her elbows on her knees as she studied Mike’s face. He was teasing Doreen, draping bits of wallpaper over her head, and the look in his eyes gave Molly pause for thought. She’d seen that look before, many times. ‘Is our Doreen keen on Mike, d’yer think, sunshine?’
Jill laughed. ‘Oh, go ’way, Mam! You know what our Doreen’s like … she only sees Mike when it suits her! They’re friends, that’s all!’
Molly passed over the last roll of paper to be trimmed. ‘You finish that one, sunshine, while I start on the border.’ Taking one last look at Mike, she muttered under her breath, ‘If his intentions towards our Doreen are strictly platonic I’ll eat me flamin’ hat … at least I would if I ’ad one, like!’
By half past ten the walls had all been stripped, the paintwork rubbed down and the rubbish shovelled into a cardboard box and placed in the yard ready for the binman to take away.
With a smile of satisfaction on his face, Jack carried his chair through from the hall and flopped into it. ‘Yer know that expression yer ma uses, love, about being deliciously tired? I’ve always thought it was a daft expression, but I’ve changed me mind. That’s just the way I feel now. Every bone in me body is aching but I’m as happy as Larry.’
‘We’ve done well, haven’t we?’ Tommy sat on the arm of his father’s chair. ‘Better than yer thought, eh, Dad?’
‘Never in me wildest dreams did I think we’d get so much done in one night.’ Jack struck a match and drew hard on the first cigarette he’d been allowed since they’d started work. He winked at Molly. ‘We’d never ’ave managed it on our own, would we, love?’
‘They’ve all been bricks,’ agreed Molly, ‘an’ they deserve a nice cup of tea.’ On her way to the kitchen she glanced at Mike. ‘Have you got time for a drink, Mike?’
He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘It’ll have to be a quick one, Mrs Bennett, I don’t want to miss the last tram.’
‘Mam, would you mind if me and Steve went to see his mam and dad?’ Jill was holding on tight to Steve’s hand. ‘It’s only fair we tell them together.’
‘Of course it is!’ Molly waved her hand towards the door. ‘Go on, off yez pop.’ They were halfway down the hall when she called after them, ‘Tell Nellie I’ll ’ave her for the biggest hat.’
The footsteps stopped. ‘What’s this about big hats?’ Jill appeared in the doorway. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘She’ll know what I’m on about.’ Picturing Nellie in her mind’s eye, Molly tittered, ‘Just tell ’er what I said.’
Mike drank his tea with one eye on the clock. This was one night he couldn’t face that long walk home, so he emptied his cup, said a hasty farewell and fled. After seeing him out, Doreen stretched her arms over her head and yawned. ‘I can’t keep me eyes open any longer, I’m off to bed.’ She kissed Molly’s cheek. ‘I’ll see yez in the morning if I can drag meself out of bed. Good night and God bless, Mam, an’ you, Dad.’
‘I’m off, too!’ Tommy planted a quick kiss on Molly’s forehead. ‘Good night and God bless.’ After a salute to his dad, he followed Doreen up the dark, narrow stairs. They were tired, but it was a nice, satisfying tiredness. The last time the room had been decorated they’d been very young and could only remember being sent to bed early out of the way. But tonight they’d been involved in grown-up work … treated like adults, and they were proud of themselves.
‘Our Jill’s a long time, she’ll never get up for work in the morning.’ Molly held a piece of newspaper in front of the fire, hoping to coax a flame out of the few coals that were still smouldering. ‘It’s not worth puttin’ any more coal on, is it?’
‘Not for me, I’ll be off meself soon.’ Jack squinted through a haze of cigarette smoke. ‘What’s the mystery about big hats?’
Molly took the newspaper away and grunted in disgust. ‘Not even a flicker.’ She grinned at Jack as she folded the paper and threw it on the hearth. ‘Me an’ Nellie ’ave always hoped our Jill and Steve would get married … even when they were only kids we used to talk about it. Anyway, when they fell out a few months ago, we were havin’ a natter, an’ I said they’d soon be back together, ’cos if ever a couple were made for each other, it’s them.’
She moved to sit on Jack’s knee. ‘Yer know what me an’ Nellie are like when we start gassing, we get carried away. I said the day our Jill married her son, I’d be wearin’ the biggest hat I could find … one as big as a cartwheel.’
Jack pulled her close. ‘An’ what did Nellie have to say?’
‘She was stumped. Said she couldn’t think of anythin’ bigger than a cartwheel so she’d stand under mine.’
Jack’s head fell back and he let out a hearty chuckle. ‘Honest to God, the things you two find to talk about! I often wonder what yer’d do if yer didn’t have Nellie.’
‘Be bloody miserable, that’s what!’ Molly jumped up. ‘There’s our Jill now, I’ll open the door.’
To Molly’s surprise, Jill wasn’t alone. Nellie and Corker stood behind her, their faces wreathed in smiles. ‘I’ve come to ask a question,’ said Nellie, her hand on Jill’s shoulder. ‘If she’s goin’ to be me daughter-in-law, what does that make you?’
‘Tuppence short of a shilling, that’s what it makes me.’ Molly kept her face straight. ‘If I was in me right mind I’d forbid my daughter to marry into your family.’ She appealed to Corker. ‘Don’t yer think I want me bumps feelin’, Corker?’
‘Don’t bring me into it!’ His booming laugh echoed in the dark, deserted street. ‘I’ve seen Nellie in action, there’s no way I’m gettin’ on the wrong side of her.’
Nellie squared her shoulders, pushing her enormous bust forward. ‘At least I’ve got manners, Mrs Bennett! I invite people into me house … I don’t leave them standing on the step.’
‘If yer had any manners, Mrs McDonough, yer wouldn’t be visitin’ at this time of night.’ Feigning indignation, Molly opened the door wide and stepped aside. ‘Still, seeing as yer practically family now, I suppose I’ll ’ave to let yer in.’
Jill touched Nellie’s arm. ‘After you, Mrs Mac.’
Nellie was squeezing past Molly when she turned her head. ‘Seein’ as yer’ll soon be me daughter-in-law, yer can call me Mummy.’
‘Mummy!’ Molly spluttered. ‘Honest, Helen Theresa McDonough, there’s times when yer get too big for yer flamin’ boots.’
She watched Nellie waddle down the hall and a surge of affection swept over her. God had certainly been looking after her when he brought Nellie into her life. The best friend in the world she was, and Molly loved every last ounce of her.
‘Hiya, Jack!’ Nellie’s chubby face beamed. ‘Never know the minute, do yer, kid?’
‘Never know what to expect with you around, Nellie.’ Jack returned her smile before turning his gaze to the giant standing behind her. ‘I’m surprised to see you, Corker!’
‘I was on me way home when I bumped into these two. I wouldn’t have dared to come this time of night, but Nellie said yer wouldn’t mind.’
‘That’s right, put the blame on me! I don’t care … me shoulders are wide enough.’ Nellie eyed the wooden chairs suspiciously. Better not try, she thought … I might just break one and then Molly will have me life. So she plumped for the couch, telling herself she’d worry about getting out of it when the time came. ‘Well, what d’yez think of the good news?’
‘Delighted, Nellie, delighted.’ Jack’s eyes were tender as he gazed at Jill. She was beautiful, kind, generous and caring, and he was so proud of her. ‘I’ll be the happiest man in Liverpool when I walk down the aisle with her on me arm.’
/> ‘Oh, Dad, it’ll be years yet!’ Jill could feel all eyes on her and she blushed. ‘Steve won’t be out of his time for three years.’
‘Something to look forward to, though, isn’t it, sweetheart?’ In a show of affection, Corker laid an arm across her shoulders. ‘I’ll make sure I’m home when it happens … I wouldn’t miss your wedding for all the tea in China.’
‘We’ll help yer start yer bottom drawer, won’t we, Molly?’ Nellie was so excited she knew she’d never get a wink of sleep that night. ‘A little bit each week an’ by the time yer get married yer’ll ’ave everythin’ yer need.’
‘What she needs right now is her beauty sleep,’ Molly said firmly. ‘It’s work tomorrow.’
‘Yes, I am tired.’ Jill’s smile covered everyone. ‘Good night and God bless.’
They waited until she was out of earshot, then Corker said, ‘She’s one little princess, is Jill. Your Steve’s a lucky feller, Nellie.’
Molly was quick to defend the boy she looked on as a second son. ‘Jill’s the lucky one … Steve’s a smashing lad.’
Satisfied that her son wasn’t being left out of the compliments, Nellie patted the space beside her on the couch. ‘Sit ’ere, Molly, an’ I don’t have to twist me neck to see yer.’
When Molly was seated, Nellie said, ‘We’ll ’ave to ’ave a do for their engagement, kid! Jars out, knees up … the lot!’
Jack jerked his head at Corker. ‘They’re in their element now. It’ll be all over the neighbourhood by dinnertime tomorrow.’
‘It’ll keep them out of mischief.’ Corker was gazing around the room. ‘I see yer’ve been busy.’
‘Many hands make light work.’ Jack took two cigarettes from his packet and passed one over. ‘But if it hadn’t been for you, I’d still be doin’ the ceiling. I can’t thank yer enough, Corker.’