Winners and Losers

by Catrin Collier

  ‘Dai Hopkins?’

  ‘Aye, the Dai you saw lose.’

  ‘Getting beaten half to death more like.’ Victor recalled Dai’s bloody face and the way he’d fallen to his knees. But then he was taller, stronger and more experienced. And when he thought of the court case coming up, the fines he and Joey would undoubtedly get and all the things he and Megan would need for their new home, he felt he didn’t have any other choice. Not while the strike lasted.

  Jane Edwards stood behind the lace curtains in her freezing, dark front parlour and watched the street intently. She was so cold her nose was stiff when she tried to twitch it. It had been an hour and a half since Joey had left to walk Rhian Bull and Antonia Rodney home. The two older women might have gone with them, but she knew Joey Evans. Oh, how she knew him! He was after one of the young girls. The question was, which one? Not that it would make any difference to her. He’d used her and tossed her aside with no more thought than he gave to a worn-out pair of socks. She seethed in anger every time she recalled what he had said to her.

  ‘I had an encounter with a vicious dog, no, come to think of it now, it was a bitch.’

  She had told Joey she loved him, had asked him to move in with her, further humiliated herself by offering to throw her husband out of their home and he had rejected her. All she had left to look forward to was the return of her husband from gaol. An old man who disgusted her ...

  She saw movement in the street. Joey was walking up the road with Victor, both of them talking animatedly. About her? The Evanses were polite enough to her face but she was astute enough to realize that Joey’s brothers and father didn’t like her. She wouldn’t make a suitable wife for an Evans. They wanted Joey to settle down with a nice, unmarried girl with an unsullied reputation like that milk-faced maid from Llan House, Rhian, or a rich cousin like Antonia who’d inherit Rodney’s stores one day. And there was nothing she could do about it – or was there?

  Her hands closed over her stomach and she remembered what Joey had said about the insurance man and the milkman. Had he lied to her or had he really talked to them? She ducked back into the shadows as they drew closer lest they see her at the window.

  ‘You can look out, Joey Evans, you’re for it.’ Searching for a way to hurt him as he had hurt her, she ran upstairs to her cold bedroom and threw herself headlong on to the bed.

  ‘The pews in the chapels must be empty tonight.’ Lloyd pressed his back against the wall to make room for Betty, who was trying to offer food to everyone who’d turned up to congratulate him and Sali.

  ‘The minister will be taking us all to task from the pulpit next week and it will be your and Sali’s fault. Piece of cake? I made it special.’ Betty pushed a plate of sponge slices sandwiched with her homemade blackberry jam under Lloyd’s nose.

  ‘They look delicious, Betty, thank you.’ Lloyd felt that he couldn’t eat another morsel, but wary of upsetting her, he took the smallest piece.

  ‘Look what Rhian has made for us, Lloyd.’ Sali held up a set of embroidered cutwork dressing-table mats.

  ‘They’re beautiful,’ he complimented. ‘And you made them yourself, Rhian?’

  ‘Mrs Williams, the housekeeper up at Llan House, has been giving all us maids embroidery lessons. I hope she doesn’t find out that I’m not at chapel tonight.’

  ‘Are you a quick learner at everything?’ Joey enquired suggestively, admiring the mats.

  ‘I always listen to Mrs Williams and follow her advice,’ Rhian replied.

  ‘Except when you sneak off to come here instead of going to chapel.’

  ‘Lloyd and Sali’s wedding is a once in a lifetime occasion.’

  ‘What can I do to convince you that I’m a changed boy and serious about wanting to take you out?’ Joey whispered in her ear.

  ‘Attract no scandal or gossip for the next ten years.’

  ‘Ten years!’

  ‘Then, if you’ve been very good, you can come calling on me at Llan House and I may re-consider your offer,’ she said seriously. ‘But I warn you that is only a “may”.’

  ‘I can’t help it if people talk about me.’

  ‘They only talk about you because you give them plenty to say,’ she informed him tartly.

  ‘So beautiful and so hard-hearted. How about I take you and Tonia to the free concert Father Kelly’s organizing in the Catholic Hall next Saturday night?’

  ‘I’m working next Saturday.’

  ‘When are you free?’ he pressed refusing to give up.

  ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ She turned her back on him.

  Billy Evans opened the door and shouted down the passage at a knock at the front door, ‘Come in.’

  ‘I hope whoever’s at the door is thin.’ Victor looked around. If anything there were even more people in their kitchen than there had been the evening before, as word had spread about the party.

  ‘Mr Evans?’

  Recognizing Jane Edwards’ voice, Billy reached for a candle. He went into the passage and closed the door behind him. Given the situation between Joey and Jane, he sensed trouble, for all that they had managed to be polite to one another the night before, but he greeted her as her would have any other neighbour. ‘Come in, Jane. You know friends are always welcome in this house.’

  ‘I wasn’t sure I would be, Mr Evans,’ she said in a small voice.

  ‘And why is that, Jane?’ Billy enquired warily.

  ‘Because of me and Joey ...’ her voice broke and she began to sob.

  ‘That sounds like crocodile tears, Lloyd said quietly to Sali. Keep everyone in here.’ He opened the door and he and Victor joined their father in the passage.

  ‘I know you Evanses don’t like me,’ Jane gulped out between sobs.

  ‘Victor?’ Billy turned to his middle son.

  ‘I’ll get Joey.’ Victor returned to the kitchen.

  ‘I’m not sure what’s going on, Jane,’ Billy said curtly, ‘but whatever it is, I think it would be better if we moved out of the passage into the parlour.’ He opened the door. Still howling, Jane walked in ahead of him and Lloyd.

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Megan asked Victor anxiously, as he glanced around the kitchen.

  ‘Joey’s,’ Victor answered briefly. He looked to the corner where Joey was still trying to flirt with Rhian. Joey saw him, and Victor jerked his head towards the door. ‘Jane Edwards is here, and she’s crying,’ Victor warned when Joey pushed his way through the crowd and reached him.

  ‘Oh God!’ Joey exclaimed.

  ‘If that’s meant to be a prayer, I’d add to it if I were you. I think you’re going need all the help that He and the Virgin Mother can give you.’

  ‘Joey!’ Jane left her chair and flung herself at him as soon as he opened the parlour door. He stepped back smartly and crossed his arms across his chest. She stood and stared at him, then fell back weakly.

  Although he suspected that Jane was acting, Lloyd caught her and helped her into one of the easy chairs. ‘Get Sali, and tell her to bring a glass of water.’

  Victor was glad of an excuse to leave.

  Jane opened her eyes and looked around, apparently in confusion, before focusing on Joey. ‘I am carrying his child and he can’t even bear me near him,’ she wailed.

  Sali brought a glass of water. Briefed by Victor, she closed the door behind her and handed the water to Jane who was suddenly composed enough to sip it. The sound of voices and laughter echoing from the kitchen only served to emphasise the strained silence.

  ‘If you don’t need me ...’

  ‘I’d rather you stayed, Sali. It might be as well to have another woman present after what’s Jane’s just told us.’

  Billy looked Jane sternly in the eye. ‘Is this the same kind of pregnancy you used to get Emlyn to marry you?’

  ‘No one ever believes a word I say!’ Jane set the water on the floor, covered her nose and mouth with her handkerchief and started sobbing again, but Billy wasn’t easily deterred.


  ‘Is it?’ he demanded.

  Jane’s shoulders shook as her cries grew louder.

  ‘Could Jane be having your child, Joey?’ Billy asked his youngest son.

  ‘She’s been with most of the men in Tonypandy,’ he retorted defensively.

  ‘That’s not what I asked. And if what you say is true, then all I can say is more fool you for joining them. Could she be carrying your child?’ Billy reiterated.

  ‘I’ve slept with her, if that’s what you mean,’ Joey conceded.

  ‘When is this baby due, Jane?’ Billy enquired sceptically.

  ‘In ... the ... summer,’ Jane blurted. ‘And it is Joey’s child. No one else has touched me since Emlyn got put away.’

  Billy saw Joey blanch, and he realized that for all of Joey’s cavalier attitude towards women and lovemaking, this was one eventuality he hadn’t prepared himself for.

  ‘Regardless of who the father is, if you really are having a child, you will need help to bring it up. I suggest that you and the new Mrs Evans,’ Billy glanced at Sali, ‘visit the midwife as soon as possible, so you can make provisions for the birth. And, as no doubt Emlyn will throw you out when he is released from prison and returns to find you pregnant, you’ll need somewhere to live.’

  ‘I want to live with Joey -’

  ‘I don’t want to live with you,’ Joey broke in hastily.

  ‘Just sleep with her occasionally.’ His father bit back angrily. ‘I’ve said all I’m prepared to say on the subject for tonight. There’s a party going on next door and we have to attend to our guests. I take it you don’t want to join us, Jane?’

  ‘Joey wouldn’t want me there, Mr Evans.’ For someone who’d been sobbing only a few minutes before, Jane was remarkably coherent.

  ‘I’ll not interfere between the two of you,’ Billy glared from Joey to Jane.

  ‘I’ll leave.’ Jane covered her face with her handkerchief again as she left the chair.

  ‘I’ll see you out.’ Sali opened the door. Jane gave Joey one last look. When he ignored her, she left.

  ‘Jane Edwards,’ Lloyd breathed. ‘We all warned you, Joey ...’

  ‘Even if she is having a kid, it’s not mine,’ Joey said vehemently.

  ‘And how exactly are you going to prove it isn’t?’ Lloyd enquired.

  Joey stepped forward. ‘Stay here, Sali, I’ll see Jane out.’

  ‘Are you pregnant?’ Joey demanded roughly when he caught up with Jane at her front door.

  ‘You think I’d lie about something like that?’ she challenged.

  ‘Yes,’ Joey replied shortly.

  ‘I’m having your baby.’ She opened her door, turned and gave him a triumphant look. ‘He’ll be calling you Daddy, and after what you tried to do to me, I’ll see that you’ll be footing my bills until it’s old enough to start keeping me.’ She walked into the house and slammed the door in his face, leaving him standing in the empty street.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The first breakfast Lloyd and Sali ate as husband and wife in his father’s house was a subdued meal. Although no one mentioned Jane Edwards, Sali only had to look at the men’s faces to know that they were all thinking about her. Lloyd, Victor and their father were withdrawn, but Joey looked positively distraught. Clearing her dishes to the sink, she decided that the best way she could help her brother-in-law was to act upon the suggestion his father had made and take Jane to a midwife.

  ‘Will you take Harry to school this morning, Lloyd?’ She picked up her handbag and checked she had her purse and hairbrush.

  ‘Of course. Where are you going?’

  ‘I thought I’d call in on Jane before I go to the soup kitchen. If she’s free today I’ll make that appointment we talked about last night.’

  ‘Good idea.’ Billy finished his toast and stacked his cup and saucer on his empty plate.

  Sali went into the hall, pinned on her hat and lifted down her coat. Knowing that Harry would tolerate a kiss in the privacy of their home, she returned to the kitchen, kissed his and Lloyd’s cheeks and said goodbye to the others before crossing the road to Jane’s house. She knocked on the front door and opened it without waiting for Jane to reply.

  The kitchen was empty and Sali was taken aback by its filthy and neglected condition. The fireplace was covered in so much rust she suspected it hadn’t seen any black lead since Emlyn had been imprisoned. Dust lay half an inch deep on every surface. The pump and sink in the corner were stained with green slime, and the floor was littered with mouse droppings and cockroach carcases.

  Trying not to think about the bedrooms, she wondered how an intelligent boy like Joey could have even considered having an affair with a slovenly, married woman like Jane. But then she recalled the way Joey had behaved ever since she had moved in with the Evanses, and realized Jane wasn’t the only one without personal pride and morals. Feeling judgemental, she decided that they were as bad as each other and the only person she should feel sorry for was Emlyn. But Joey was family ...

  She called out, ‘Jane, it’s Sali.’

  She heard a thud overheard. A few minutes later Jane meandered down the stairs and into the kitchen wearing a man’s knee-length, thick-check flannel dressing gown over a faded winceyette nightdress. She looked sick and pale. Sali’s heart sank. She knew Joey was hoping that Jane was lying about the baby, but if appearances were anything to go by, her pregnancy was a forgone conclusion.

  ‘I’ve been suffering terrible morning sickness.’ Jane threw herself down into an easy chair.

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I bet you are,’ Jane retorted nastily. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I came to ask when you’d like to visit the midwife.’

  ‘Not until after Christmas.’ Jane didn’t offer Sali a seat and she remained standing next to the door.

  ‘But that’s over a week away.’ All Sali could think of was Joey’s feelings of guilt and shame. An examination by a midwife would at least prove the existence of a baby one way or the other. ‘The sooner we find out when your baby is going to be born, the sooner we can start planning for the birth and the child’s future.’

  ‘I don’t see that you Evanses have any plans to make. All I want from Joey is his money.’

  ‘The only money Joey has is his ten shillings a week strike pay and that doesn’t go far,’ Sali reminded her.

  ‘He has a watch and other things he can pawn. I’ve seen them.’

  ‘You and the baby are going to need more than the few pounds Joey could raise in a pawn shop, Jane.’ Sali looked around. Given the conditions Jane was living in, she doubted she was even capable of caring for a child.

  ‘I’m going to Trealaw today to spend Christmas with my father and the rest of the family. He needs my help and Emlyn’s ten bob a week,’ Jane added drily. ‘I should have moved in with him when my Emlyn got put away. I don’t know why I didn’t. Ten bob a week doesn’t go far but put it with my father’s and two brothers’ strike pay and it would have gone further.’

  Sali would have loved to remind Jane that her father might have objected to her carrying on with Joey under their roof, but she managed to hold her tongue. ‘Couldn’t you spare an hour sometime today?’

  ‘No, I couldn’t,’ Jane snarled. ‘I promised I’d get there early.’

  ‘You need care -’

  ‘What I don’t need is a witch of a nurse poking around my private parts and you Evanses poking your noses into my affairs.’

  ‘If you are carrying Joey’s child it’s as much our business as it is yours. Especially as you expect Joey to pay for the baby’s keep,’ Sali contradicted firmly. ‘Please, Jane, Trealaw’s only just down the road. I could make an appointment with the midwife for you and write to let you know when it is.’

  ‘All right,’ Jane capitulated. ‘But make it for the end of this week. Thursday or Friday might suit me.’

  ‘I’ll do that. And the address?’ Sali pulled a pencil and notebook from her pocket.

 
‘Cairo Street, but I’ll expect you to pay my tram fare when we go to see the midwife,’ Jane warned.

  Sickened even more by Jane’s mercenary attitude than the squalid surroundings, Sali nodded. ‘Don’t come to the door, I’ll see myself out.’

  ‘I know there’s no chance of me ever becoming your sister-in-law, but whatever’s in here,’ Jane patted her stomach, ‘will be your nephew or niece. And you Evanses won’t be able to ignore the fact that there’ll be as much of me in this baby as your precious Joey.’

  ‘Sali’s gone to the soup kitchen, Victor and Lloyd will go from the school to the picket lines, none of them will be back for hours, so now’s as good a time as any to have a go at me,’ Joey said to his father.

  ‘What’s the point in me saying anything to you now?’ Billy left the table and sat in his easy chair.

  Joey knelt in front of the fire, raked the coals out on to the tiled hearth, picked them up one by one with the tongs from the fire irons and placed them in a metal bucket. When they were all inside, he set the lid on the bucket to smother them. ‘I can take anything except this frosty silence. Hardly anyone’s said a word this morning. Not even Harry.’

  ‘If Harry was quiet it was only because he’s sensitive enough to realize when something is wrong.’ Billy looked at his son. ‘What do you expect us to say, Joey? Given what you said to Jane last night, it’s obvious you have no intention of marrying her.’

  ‘You think I should marry her?’ Joey stared at his father horror-struck.

  ‘That would be difficult given that she’s already married.’

  ‘Even if Emlyn could afford to divorce her for adultery, she’d be the last woman I’d marry.’

  ‘Which brings us back to the question of what you thought you were doing with her in the first place,’ Billy said evenly. ‘I’d be a liar if I said that this was the way I wanted my first grandchild to come into the world.’

  ‘If she’s having a child at all,’ Joey muttered sullenly.

  ‘If she is, and it is yours, you’ll have to pay for its upkeep, you do realize that, don’t you?’

  Joey lifted the lid on the bucket, checked that the coals were no longer burning, replaced the lid and rose to his feet. He went to the sink and washed his hands.