by Joan Jonker
Soon afterwards Rosie and Tommy came over. ‘We’re hitting the road, Mam, ’cos Nan and Granda are really tired.’
‘We’ve told Uncle Corker we’re leaving and he understands. And we’ve thanked him for everything, so we have.’ Even the dim light of the street lamp couldn’t hide Rosie’s beauty. It’s no wonder Tommy is crazy about her, Molly thought.
‘I’ll come and say goodnight to me ma and da. They’ve stood up to the pace very well for their age. And as ye’re both working tomorrow, I’ll call in then and make sure they’re okay.’
By one o’clock most of the crowd had dispersed, the men thinking they’d only get a few hours’ sleep before it was time to get up for work. Many families had young children already asleep in bed. The Porters had been reluctant to leave, but they opened the shop at six o’clock and needed a few hours’ shut-eye before they could face the long day ahead of them. So it was only a small group who finally stood outside Corker’s house. ‘Come in and have one last drink,’ he coaxed. ‘One for the road.’
Steve shook his head. ‘Yer mother will probably be lying awake waiting for us, Uncle Corker, so me and Jill will get off home. But it’s been a cracking night, we’ve really enjoyed ourselves.’
Jill threw her arms around the big man’s waist. There’d always been a bond between them and she loved every inch of him. ‘Goodnight and God bless, and thank you.’
He stroked her long blonde hair. ‘Goodnight, princess, and God bless.’
They watched the young couple walk away, their arms around each other. Then Molly sighed. ‘One drink, Corker, and that’s me lot. I want to get home and make sure our Ruthie put herself to bed.’ She looked at Nellie who still had her black mask on. ‘How did yer ever manage to get up off that floor, sunshine?’
‘Ah, that would be telling tales out of school. But I don’t mind telling tales, so over our cuppa in the morning all will be revealed.’
‘Would it be worth me taking the morning off, Mrs Mac?’ Archie asked. ‘I would do for a piece of juicy gossip.’
‘I should be so bloody lucky to have a juicy bit of gossip, lad.’
Lily tutted. ‘Yer said yer New Year resolution was to stop swearing, Mam. The year’s only an hour old and ye’re at it again.’
‘Well, I’ll be buggered! Is that what I said, girl? Ah, well, I’ll try again next year, eh?’
Nellie was shivering and had her arms crossed in front of her when she pushed past Molly next morning. ‘My God, but it’s ruddy freezing out there, girl, and the sky looks full of snow to me.’ She made for the fire and stood rubbing her arms. ‘We didn’t have a white Christmas but I think we’re in for a white January.’
‘I’ve got the kettle on, sunshine, we’ll soon have yer warmed up. Take yer coat off or yer won’t feel the benefit when we go out.’
‘I wish we didn’t have to go out, it’s not fit for man nor beast.’
‘We’ve got to go out, sunshine, or there’ll be nothing to eat for the family when they come in from work.’ Molly carried the carver chair nearer to the fire. ‘Sit yerself down and I’ll pour the tea out. And yer can have a custard cream as a treat.’
‘Aren’t you having one, girl?’
‘Of course I am, I wouldn’t leave meself out.’
In a matter of minutes they were facing each other across the table. ‘Well, it’s back to normal, eh, girl? All over for another year.’
Molly nodded. ‘Yeah, Corker joined his ship yesterday, the workers are back to the grindstone and it’ll be months before they get another holiday. Mind you, I’m not really sorry, I’d hate to spend me life going to one party after another.’
‘The rich people do, girl, they’re always having parties and eating out in all the best restaurants. I bet what they spend on food in a week would keep us for a year.’
‘They can do what they like, sunshine, I don’t envy them. I’m quite happy with me life, even if I am skint now and again. My ma once said that rich people don’t appreciate what they’ve got ’cos they’ve never known any different. They don’t have to save up for anything they want so they don’t appreciate it when they get it. She was right, too. Can yer imagine one of these posh families what live in big houses and have servants dancing in the street and throwing their legs in the air?’
‘No, girl, I can’t. They don’t know how to enjoy themselves like what we poor people do. Stuck-up, toffee-nosed buggers, that’s what they are. They wouldn’t half look down their noses at you and me and think we were as common as muck.’
‘I wouldn’t care what they thought, sunshine, I’m quite happy with my lot.’
Nellie eyed the plate on the table. ‘Why have yer only brought three biscuits in? Surely ye’re not tight enough to eat two and leave me with one?’
‘Ye’re a cheeky article, you are, Nellie McDonough. That’s the last three biscuits left in the house, so yer should consider yerself flaming lucky. Here’s me thinking I was giving yer a treat, and all yer do is moan! Yer might have known the larder would be empty after Christmas, so why didn’t yer bring some biscuits down with yer?’
‘I’d have a job, seeing as we haven’t got none.’
Molly huffed, ‘Yer’ve got a nerve, you have. Yer haven’t got no biscuits in your house, but yer expect me to have an unlimited supply! Cheeky blighter!’
But Nellie wasn’t listening, she had her eyes fixed on the plate and the three custard creams. ‘What shall we do, then, girl? Cut one in half?’
Molly rolled her eyes to the ceiling. ‘God give me strength. She’s trying me patience something rotten, but don’t let me lose me temper or clock her one.’
Her legs swinging and her face dead-pan, Nellie said, ‘While ye’re having a conversation with Him, why don’t yer ask Him what we should do with the odd biscuit?’
‘I don’t need to ask anyone, ’cos I know yer’ve got yer evil eye on me. If I so much as put that biscuit in me mouth, a crumb would lodge in me throat and I’d choke to death.’
‘Oh, well, seeing as ye’re me mate, I wouldn’t like yer to choke to death. So I’ll eat the extra custard cream. It’s not that I want it, mind, but I can’t have yer dropping dead on me ’cos I wouldn’t have anywhere to go for me cuppa every morning.’
‘Knowing you, Nellie McDonough, yer’d soon find another sucker.’
Nellie chuckled. ‘I’d never find as big a sucker as you, girl, they’re few and far between.’ Her hand streaked out to pick up the solitary biscuit. It disappeared from sight on the second bite, leaving only crumbs on the tablecloth. She licked her finger and picked up the bits one by one. ‘Waste not, want not, girl.’
‘In that case, there’s half a pot of tea left so don’t let’s waste that. Then we’ll have to make an effort and get down to the shops. I want to call in to Hanley’s and pay something off our Tommy’s reception. With all the extra expense at Christmas, I haven’t paid anything to Edna for weeks. But I’ve got five pound in me purse and it’s going in this morning before I get a chance to spend it.’
‘Yer haven’t forgotten what yer said about us doing a bit of detective work, to see if we can find any relatives of Phil’s, have yer, girl? I’m looking forward to that, it should be exciting.’
‘It’s hardly the weather for that, sunshine, is it? I mean, we’ve very little to go on, we could be walking the streets for weeks on end. I don’t mind traipsing around if the weather’s fine, but I don’t fancy it when it’s bitter cold like it is today. Neither of us have got heavy shoes, our feet would be freezing.’ Molly noticed her friend’s downturned mouth. ‘We will go, though, Nellie, I’m as eager as you are. There’s nothing I’d like better than to unite Phil with some of his father’s family. It would be the best present we could give him. But let’s leave it a couple of weeks and see if the weather improves, eh?’
‘Yeah, okay, girl, ye’re right as usual. I froze just walking the few steps from our house to here, never mind wandering around for hours. Me chilblains are giving me gyp as i
t is.’
‘Well, keep them away from the fire or yer’ll make them worse.’ Molly collected the cups and saucers. ‘I’ll leave these and wash them when I get back. I don’t fancy going out into the cold but needs must when the devil drives. We’ll go to Hanley’s first, get our bread and I can pay the money over. Then we’ll see what we can get for the dinners.’
Molly was in for a shock when she handed the five-pound over to Edna Hanley. ‘That makes ten pound now, Edna, but I’ll be putting something away each week now the expense of Christmas is behind us. I’ll catch up over the next few months.’ She watched as Edna brought a book from under the counter and turned the pages to where the entry for Tommy’s reception was. ‘I’ve got six months, so a couple of pound a week should do it.’
‘This five pound makes it up to fifteen, Molly, not ten.’
Molly shook her head. ‘No, I think yer’ll find it’s only ten, Edna.’
‘Are yer forgetting the five that Mr Corkhill paid in? He said it was money he owed yer for buying things for his mother when she was ill.’ When she saw the surprise on Molly’s face, Edna asked, ‘Didn’t he tell yer?’
‘No, he never said a dickie bird! I wouldn’t have let him if I’d known. I never spent nowhere near five pound on Lizzie, and in any case I wouldn’t have taken any money off him, he’s been too good to us over the years. We’d have forgotten what sugar tasted like through the war years if it hadn’t been for Corker, and what about how he helped out at the girls’ wedding! I wouldn’t dream of letting him pay that five pound.’
‘Well, I’ve taken it now, Molly, so there’s nothing I can do about it. Yer’ll have to see him yerself next time his ship docks.’
Molly pursed her lips. ‘I’ll be seeing his wife after I leave here to ask her what he thought he was playing at.’
Nellie was further down the counter being served by young Emily when she heard her mate’s voice. Not wanting to miss anything, she waddled along. ‘What’s up, girl, has she given yer a foreign coin in yer change?’
While Molly was in two minds whether to tell her friend, knowing what she was like for repeating things, Edna made up her mind for her. ‘Molly’s upset ’cos Mr Corkhill paid five pound to me towards Tommy’s reception. He said it was for things she’d bought for his mother when she was ill. I never thought anything of it and took the money.’
‘Ooh, ay, girl, that’s a big help, isn’t it? The first nice surprise of the year.’
‘He shouldn’t have done it, I didn’t need paying for helping Lizzie,’ was all Molly would say because there were people standing nearby and she didn’t want to fill their mouths. But she’d have a word with Ellen about it. Five pounds was a lot of money. ‘Come on, sunshine, let’s get our shopping in and hurry home out of the cold. Thanks, Edna, ta-ra for now.’
Outside the shop, Nellie’s face gleamed with curiosity. ‘Ay, girl, if someone had given me a fiver, I’d be dancing for joy. But you’ve got a face on yer like a wet week! What’s up with yer?’
‘I don’t feel right taking money off Corker, and you’re the last one in the world to argue over that. Just think of what he’s given to us over the years, both of us. We’d have had lousy parties without all the food he contributed, not to mention the fortune it must have cost him in drinks!’ When Molly blew out, her breath lingered in the heavy, bitterly cold air. ‘Before our kids started work, money was very tight and the men only ever had enough coppers in their pockets for one pint on a Saturday night. Corker always understood, never once made them feel as though they were taking charity when he mugged them to a few pints every time he came home.’
Nellie was wearing a scarf over her head, restricting her chins when she nodded. ‘Aye, we’d have been lost without him, girl, no doubt about that. He’s been a very good friend to both our families.’
‘Yer can say that again! It’s me what owes him, not the other way around.’
‘Have a good think before yer say anything to Ellen, though, girl, ’cos yer might just cause a bit of bad feeling if yer go telling her yer don’t want the money. Remember, Corker has cause to be grateful to you in many ways. I did me little bit, like, but it was you what got Ellen the job when she was desperate. It was you who went with her to visit Nobby when he was in hospital, you who gave her a few coppers for the fare. And it was you who made her see sense over marrying Corker.’ Never before had Nellie been so serious for so long, and Molly listened intently. ‘He’s never forgotten those things, girl, and never will. Without you, he might never have married Ellen and been father to the kids. And yer know how he idolises all of them. Perhaps he likes to do little things in appreciation of what you’ve done for him. So don’t be so quick to fly off the handle to Ellen, girl, ’cos yer might just upset a good friend.’
‘My God, Nellie, that’s the longest speech yer’ve ever made. And not one swear word all the way through it. Your Lily would have been proud of yer.’
‘Never mind our Lily, did any of it sink into that stubborn, thick skull of yours?’
‘Yes, it did, sunshine, every word. I don’t need paying for anything I’ve done for Ellen or Corker, I only did what many other people would have done. But I’ll heed what yer said and accept the money gracefully. I don’t know what Jack will say when he finds out but I’ll hold me tongue until Corker comes home and then I’ll thank him.’
‘Why d’yer have to tell Jack? What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I only tell George what I want him to know, and no more. I don’t go looking for trouble, girl, I may be cabbage-looking but I’m not green.’
‘I usually tell Jack everything ’cos it gives us something to talk about. But I think in this case I’ll keep it to meself.’ Molly tucked her arm in. ‘See, ye’re leading me into bad ways, Nellie McDonough. I’ll be swearing next.’
‘Now that’s one thing I am good at, girl. If yer want any help, I can teach yer every swear word known to man. And that’s another thing yer don’t need to tell yer husband. I don’t want to get the blame if yer ever tell him to bugger off.’
They were nearing the butcher’s shop and Molly reminded her friend, ‘Don’t forget I’ve decided not to let on to Ellen so watch what yer say.’
‘Me lips are sealed, girl, have no fear.’
Tony and Ellen both smiled when the friends entered the shop. ‘Come to brighten up our day, have yer, ladies?’ Tony asked. ‘We could do with it ’cos we’re not doing much business. I think we’ve had about four customers in all morning.’
‘Everyone’s skint, Tony,’ Molly said. ‘We go mad the week before Christmas buying things we can’t afford, and then suffer for it afterwards. Anyway, we’re here now so yer day won’t be wasted.’
‘What have yer got in mind, ladies?’
Nellie moved away from her mate to stand straight, her shoulders back and her bosom to attention. With her hands laced in front of her, she adopted her favourite stance. ‘My friend suggested we buy a leg of pork each, but one gets so sick of pork, doesn’t one? So we decided on a leg of lamb each instead. Lean ones, with plenty of meat on, if you will, my good man. Lamb is so delicious with mint sauce, don’t you think?’
Ellen roared with laughter, but Tony managed to keep a straight face as he answered. ‘The only lean legs with plenty of meat on in this shop, Mrs Mac, are yours.’
‘Ho, ho, very funny, I must say. But sarcasm does not become you, Mr Reynolds, you do not have the face for it.’ Nellie sniffed haughtily as she raised her eyebrows. ‘Seeing as you do not have any lamb for sale, can you kindly suggest a suitable substitute for my friend and I?’
Molly bent to look into her friend’s face. ‘Are yer feeling all right, sunshine? That dictionary yer swallowed must be playing havoc with yer tummy.’
‘No, it didn’t do me no harm, girl, I made sure of that. Yer see, I tore the hard back off it before I swallowed it. The only bit of trouble I had was when I came to the word “inconsistent”. It was a bugger trying to get that page down me throat.’
> It was Ellen’s turn to keep a straight face. ‘What does the word mean, Nellie?’
‘Oh, I couldn’t tell yer that, girl. Yer see, I was eating it, not reading it.’
‘I’ll buy yer another dictionary for yer birthday, sunshine, seeing as yer seem to find them tasty,’ Molly said. ‘It would be a damn’ sight cheaper than a box of chocolates.’ She patted Nellie’s cheek. ‘And now d’yer think we can get on with what we came in for? Tell Tony what yer want.’
‘You tell him, girl, he’ll take more notice of you. Ask him, if we can’t have two legs of pork, what can we have?’
Tony got in before Molly could ask, ‘How about a pound of pork sausages each?’
Molly was well pleased. ‘That’s the best offer I’ve had for months, Tony. We’ll be very happy with sausages.’
Nellie craned her neck to look into her friend’s face. ‘Why d’yer tell lies, girl, when yer know God can hear everything yer say?’
‘I’m not telling lies!’
‘Yes, yer are! Yer’ve just told Tony it’s the best offer yer’ve had for months. Well, it’s only about ten days since I peeped through yer windows and saw what yer were up to. And from what I saw, yer’d just had a better offer off Jack than a pound of ruddy pork sausages.’
Molly could feel the colour flooding her face and neck. ‘Nellie McDonough, I’ll strangle yer with me bare hands one of these days. It’s a good job nobody believes a word yer say otherwise I’d never leave the house ’cos I’d be too ashamed.’ Then she had an idea. ‘Anyway even if what ye’re about to tell Tony and Ellen was true, you’d be the one to come off worse. No one likes a Peeping Tom.’
‘Ay, girl, if ye’re going down that road, I’m going to demand me rights. For the record, it’s Peeping Nellie, not Peeping Tom.’