by Joan Jonker
‘I’ll have the tea, Mam, but I’m not hungry.’
‘Hungry or not, yer’ve got to eat. Otherwise yer’ll be as weak as a kitten and not fit to go to work tomorrow. Now hurry up while the bed’s still warm.’
After seeing the other three children off, Ellen dashed to the corner shop. Maisie served her straight away, knowing she’d be due at work soon, and with the Beecham’s came a little advice. ‘Tell her to drink loads of liquids, it’ll keep her chest clear of phlegm.’
‘Will do, Maisie, thanks.’ Ellen covered the ground quickly. It was at times like this she wished she didn’t have a job. Not that she didn’t enjoy working in the butcher’s, she did. Tony was a marvellous boss and easy to get on with. But as a mother, she felt her place was with her children when they were sick.
As soon as she got home, Ellen mixed one of the powders and took it up to Phoebe. ‘Drink that right away, then I’ll bring the tea and toast.’
‘I can see to meself, Mam, I don’t want yer to be late for work.’
‘Five minutes is neither here nor there, love, and Tony won’t mind. Heaven knows I’m not one for taking time off or being late.’
‘It’s only for today, I’ll be fine tomorrow to go to work.’ Phoebe pulled a face as she drank the potion. ‘They’re horrible things to take, I feel like vomiting.’ She handed the empty cup to her mother. ‘But I’ll keep taking them ’cos me dad’s due home at the weekend and I don’t want to look like death warmed up then.’
The words lifted Ellen’s spirits. She couldn’t wait to see Corker’s face and feel his arms around her. She always felt her world was complete when he was here. He’d be upset if he found one of the children not well, even though it was only a heavy cold. ‘I’ll get something special in for Sunday’s dinner, and if yer’d like to invite Paul for tea, I’ll put a little spread on.’
‘Thanks, Mam! Now, will yer go, please?’
‘I’ll go after I’ve brought yer tea up. And that eiderdown should be round yer shoulders keeping yer warm, not halfway down the bed.’
Phoebe snuggled down, saying, ‘Ye’re a fusspot, Mam, but I do love yer.’
Nellie grinned across the table at her son. ‘I’m afraid yer love life’s doomed again, lad, ’cos Phoebe’s still not well. Ellen said to leave it for tonight, but she should be all right tomorrow. She’s hoping to go to work anyway.’
‘Ah, not again!’ Paul groaned. ‘What was she thinking about, getting a ruddy cold? Has the girl got no consideration, leaving me in the lurch again? Well, I’m not going dancing on me own again, that’s a dead cert. And I’m not staying in playing cards either. I think I’ll inflict meself on Jill and Steve for a couple of hours.’
‘Yer’ll only end up playing cards there, ’cos Lizzie Corkhill loves a game. So yer might as well stay in and have a game with me and yer dad. Keep us company, like.’
‘Yer can take me money off me, that’s what yer mean, isn’t it? I don’t stand a chance of winning a game with you ’cos ye’re always cheating.’
Nellie looked suitably hurt. ‘Fancy saying a thing like that about yer own mother! D’yer know, I’m cut to the quick.’ She glanced at her husband who was quietly eating his dinner. ‘I don’t cheat, do I, George?’
‘I couldn’t honestly say, love.’ He laid down his knife as though giving the subject some thought. ‘I was told once that women were the weaker sex and we should give way to them. That’s why I always hand me money over without a quibble. Not that I’ve found yer any weaker than me, Nellie, far from it. But I’d hate anyone to think I wasn’t a gentleman when it comes to dealing with women.’
Paul chuckled. ‘Yer mean yer give in, Dad! Anything for a quiet life, that’s you. Yer should have sorted me mam out when yer first got married, it’s too late to change her now.’
‘Ay, you, hardface, ye’re not too big to be given a go-along, yer know.’ Nellie began to shake her head, then realised she should be nodding. This caused confusion with her chins and in the end they gave up and went their separate ways. ‘Yer dad will hold yer hands behind yer back while I clock yer one.’
‘There yer go again, Nellie, volunteering me services without asking first. Can’t yer pick a day when I’m not so tired? I think ye’re forgetting yer son has youth on his side.’
Lily got in from work half an hour before her father and brother. She’d already had her dinner and was upstairs getting changed. She heard part of the conversation on her way down. ‘What’s our Paul done that yer want to clock him one?’
‘Called me a cheat, that’s what. Mind you, I’m making allowances for him ’cos his love life’s down the spout at the moment. Phoebe’s still in bed with a cold.’
‘Oh, aye, left on yer tod again, are yer?’ Lily opened a drawer in the sideboard and took out a hairbrush. ‘Well, I’d keep away from dance halls, if I were you. Yer’d be better off staying in for a change.’
‘For yer information, and to satisfy yer curiosity, I’ve decided to give Jill and Steve the pleasure of me company. I hope that satisfies yer.’
‘It doesn’t matter whether it satisfies me or not, brother dear, as long as it satisfies Jill and Steve. They’re the ones what’ll have to put up with yer.’
‘There’s no need for sarcasm,’ Nellie said. ‘Let’s have a bit of sister and brotherly love for a change. Be like me and yer dad, yer never hear us being sarky. Always nice and polite to each other, we are.’
Lily gave her brother a broad wink before saying, ‘Oh, I know! All our lives yer’ve been perfect role models for us.’
‘Yeah, yer’ve set us a good example all right,’ Paul said, deadpan. ‘A mother what can swear like a trooper and never fails to cheat at cards, and a father who spends every night in the pub and rolls home blotto. You and me have got a lot to live up to, Lily, d’yer think we’ll make it?’
‘Of course we will! I’ll learn all the swear words and you can learn how to get rotten drunk every night.’
‘Ho, ho, very funny,’ Nellie said, enjoying it immensely. ‘At least we’ve passed something on to our children. Some parents don’t teach their kids nothing.’
‘Don’t think we’re not grateful, Mam, ’cos we are,’ Paul told her. ‘It’s just that if yer were going to pass anything on to us, we’d rather it was a few hundred quid.’
‘If I didn’t spend all me money in the pub, son,’ George said, ‘then we’d be able to leave yer some money. As it is, the most yer’ll get when we peg out is about ten quid on the insurance. Just about enough to bury us.’
‘Ay, hang about!’ Nellie put her hands flat on the table and willed herself not to laugh until she’d said what she had to. ‘Who was it what said, years ago, that they weren’t going to fork out good money for when they die ’cos they wouldn’t be here to worry about it?’
George grinned. ‘That sounds like something I would say. And it make sense because I wouldn’t be here, would I? But I think you should insure yerself, Nellie, to be on the safe side. Yer never know, yer might be short of cash.’
‘It’s funny how great minds think alike, isn’t it?’ Nellie was telling herself it was only a minute to go, then she could laugh her socks off. ‘Yer see, I took note of what yer said. I mean, as yer explained, if I died I wouldn’t have the worry of finding the money to bury meself either, would I? So I didn’t insure meself, I insured you instead. If I go first, yer’ve got yerself a problem, George. But if you go before me, I’ll be laughing sacks.’
Laughter filled the room until Lily said, ‘We shouldn’t be laughing, it’s not a laughing matter. It’s tempting fate.’
‘Ye’re right, it isn’t a laughing matter.’ George kept his face straight. ‘I want you two to promise me something. I want yer to help me look after yer mother so she lives until a ripe old age. Left to herself, she’s inconsiderate enough to die on me. And in that case I’d have to go round with the hat.’
When Nellie’s body shook, her bosom bounced up and down. ‘It better hadn’t be me three-g
uinea wedding hat or I’ll come back and haunt yer.’
Lily was wiping her eyes when she went to answer the knock on the door. ‘What are yer crying for?’ Archie asked. ‘Has something happened?’
‘It’s a long story, Archie, so don’t ask me mam about it or we’ll never get out. I’ll tell yer on the way to the pictures.’
Phoebe sighed with relief when she turned the corner into her street. It had been hard going at work today and she felt drained. Another day off would have done her good, as her mam had said, but she was glad she’d made the effort and got it over with. She’d have an early night and would feel better in the morning.
She sensed rather than saw a figure walking behind her, just a step away. When she turned her head it was to see Joanne Mowbray with a huge smile on her face. ‘Hello, Phoebe,’ the girl gushed, ‘are yer better now? Me mam said yer had a cold.’
‘I’m fine now, thank you.’ Phoebe wasn’t in the mood for talking, especially to this girl, but it would be impolite to ignore her. ‘I’m back at work now.’
‘I wondered why Paul was on his own at the dance the other night. He never said yer were sick.’
‘Oh, yer spoke to him, did yer?’
‘Yeah, and danced with him. Ay, he’s a cracking dancer, I really enjoyed meself. I was supposed to meet a friend there but she didn’t turn up. So I was made up to have someone to come home with.’ Joanne was fully aware her words wouldn’t be well received. That was her intention. ‘I don’t like being out on me own when it’s dark.’
They’d reached the Mowbrays’ house by this time and Phoebe didn’t want to hear any more so she kept on walking, saying over her shoulder, ‘Ta-ra.’ Had she turned her head she would have seen the crafty gleam in the other girl’s eyes. The seed had been planted and now she’d wait to see if it took root.
Ellen made a fuss when she opened the door. ‘Yer shouldn’t have gone in, yer look as white as a sheet. It’s an early night in bed for you, my girl, and I don’t want any argument.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be glad to get to bed.’ Phoebe hung up her coat ‘But I’ll wait until Paul comes. I won’t bring him in, I’ll talk to him at the door.’
‘There’s no need for that, I’ll tell him. He’ll understand yer can’t help being sick.’
‘No, I’d rather see him meself.’
Phoebe was quiet as the family sat around the table having their dinner. No one noticed because Dorothy, always a chatterbox, never stopped talking. She was a vivacious girl, more outgoing than her sister and not in the least shy. If she thought anything, she said it, regardless of the consequences. And she was clothes conscious. Every penny of her pocket money went on clothes, except for the one night she went to the pictures with a friend from work. She was allowed to go to the first house every Saturday, and she went dressed to the nines, looking older than her sixteen years. She turned a few heads, too, but up till now she hadn’t really been interested in boys.
‘Can’t yer put a sock in it?’ Gordon asked. ‘Yer never even stop for breath and ye’re giving me a headache.’
‘Yeah, yer sound like a gramophone record what’s got stuck.’ Peter shook his head in disgust. ‘Flipping girls are all the same.’
‘Yer won’t think that in a few years when yer meet someone yer like,’ Ellen told him. ‘If she’s the one for you, every word out of her mouth will sound like music.’
Peter huffed. He couldn’t imagine ever feeling like that about a girl, to him they were all blinking nuisances. ‘I’ve finished me dinner, Mam, can I go up to Dave’s now?’
‘Give yer hands and face a rinse first or his mother will wonder what sort of a home yer come from. And I don’t mean a quick lick, either, ye’re not going out of here with a tidemark.’
Peter’s departure from the table was a sign for Dorothy and Gordon to follow suit. They could be heard laughing in the kitchen as each one tried to elbow their way to be first at the sink.
‘Just listen to them, they still act like kids.’ Ellen began to collect the plates. ‘Still, better that than having old heads on their shoulders.’
‘Leave the dishes, Mam, I’ll see to them,’ Phoebe said, knowing her mother was on her feet all day. ‘Sit down while yer’ve got the chance.’
‘I may as well.’ Ellen dropped on to the couch. ‘I can’t get to the sink to wash up while they’re out there.’ She stifled a yawn. ‘I’ve been sniffing meself today, I hope I haven’t caught your cold. Not with yer dad due home in a couple of days.’
Peter was the first out of the kitchen and he presented his neck for inspection. ‘See, no sign of a tidemark. In fact I don’t know why yer keep bringing it up, ’cos I haven’t had a tidemark for years. I hope ye’re not still asking when I’m into me twenties, that would be real embarrassing.’
‘I’ll make yer a promise,’ Ellen laughed, pulling him down so she could kiss him. ‘On the day yer get married I won’t even mention the word neck.’
‘Yer can mention tide, though, Mam, ’cos the ship I’m going on will be sailing with the tide. I’m going to be a sailor, like me dad.’
As Ellen gazed up at her youngest son, she knew a moment of sadness. His black hair and brown eyes reminded her of his real father, Nobby Clarke. The two girls had inherited her mousy colouring, but the two boys took after Nobby. His name was never mentioned now by the children because it brought back unhappy memories. He had never shown them love, not like Corker did, but she’d taught them not to hate their real father because on the day he died he had tried to make amends. ‘Yer’ve got a long way to go yet, son, yer might change yer mind if yer meet a nice girl.’
There was a very definite shake of the head. ‘I want to be like me dad and see the world. As soon as I’m sixteen, I’m going to ask him how to go about it.’
Gordon came in from the kitchen. ‘Good, I can have the bed to meself then.’
Ellen sighed. ‘So yer’d like yer brother to go away to sea for months at a time, just so yer can have the bed to yerself? That’s a bit selfish, isn’t it?’
‘You don’t have to sleep with him, Mam!’ Gordon was making signs behind his brother’s back to let his mother know he was only kidding. ‘He snores like a pig for a start, and his arms and legs are never still. It’s a wonder I’m not black and blue all over.’
‘I’m glad I’m a girl,’ Dorothy said, her shoulder-length mousy hair brushed until it shone. ‘Boys are all clumsy with long arms and legs. Me and Phoebe don’t keep each other awake, we cuddle up and don’t move until the next morning. Proper ladylike, aren’t we, Phoebe?’
‘If you say so.’ Usually Phoebe took her sister’s side against the boys and there’d be a lot of laughing and teasing. But she couldn’t rise to the occasion tonight, her head was splitting. All that was keeping her from her bed was seeing Paul and saying what she had to say. Then she’d climb the stairs, lay down her head in the darkness and hope that sleep wouldn’t be long in coming. ‘But yer can’t put all girls in one class, or all boys. Everyone is different.’
Ellen followed her three children to the door with instructions. ‘Peter, no later than half-nine, d’yer hear? And you two, no later than ten. Don’t forget I have to wait up for yer.’
‘Yer don’t have to, Mam,’ Dorothy said. ‘Yer could give us a key.’
‘It’ll be another year or so before yer get yer own keys. Now poppy off or it won’t be worth yer while going out.’
Phoebe was in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil to wash the dishes when Ellen walked through. ‘Go and sit down, I’ll see to them.’ She put a hand to her daughter’s forehead. ‘The best place for you is bed, yer look as though yer’ve no energy.’
‘And that’s just the way I feel.’ The knocker sounded and Phoebe moved away from the sink. ‘This will be Paul.’
‘Don’t yer stand at that door for long or ye’re asking for trouble.’
‘I won’t.’ Phoebe was all mixed up. Joanne’s words had upset her, making her feel worse than ever.
A little voice in her head was telling her this wasn’t the time to pick an argument, that she should wait until she felt better. But she felt so sick and weak, so sorry for herself, she ignored the voice of wisdom.
Paul’s grin stretched from ear to ear. ‘I see ye’re back in the land of the living, then?’
She didn’t return his smile. ‘No, I still feel lousy and I’m going to bed. I only stayed up ’cos I wanted to see yer.’
His face dropped. ‘Yer mean, ye’re not coming out?’
‘No, I’m not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go out and enjoy yerself. I’m sure Joanne would love to go dancing with yer. According to her ye’re a cracking dancer and she didn’t half enjoy herself the other night. And she was over the moon ’cos yer walked her home.’
Paul’s expression was one of disbelief. ‘And yer believed her?’
‘Shouldn’t I? Didn’t yer dance with her and walk her home?’
‘I had half a dance with her because she asked me. I was with our Lily and Archie.’ Paul began to get angry. Why should he have to explain himself? He’d done nothing wrong. ‘So yer prefer to believe her and I’m a liar, is that it?’
‘Well, she wasn’t telling lies about dancing or coming home with yer, was she?’
It was on the tip of Paul’s tongue to tell her the truth. That he’d been with Lily and Archie all night, and that it was Archie who’d agreed Joanne could walk home with them, not Paul. But he bit the words back. It was all so petty and childish. She was blaming him for something he hadn’t done, and it wasn’t right he should beg for her understanding. If she didn’t trust him then there didn’t seem any point in carrying on with the conversation. ‘All right, Phoebe, it’s obvious yer think I’m a liar so I’m not going to argue. I’ll bid yer goodnight.’ With that he turned on his heels and walked away.
‘That didn’t take long, love,’ Ellen said. ‘Was Paul disappointed yer weren’t fit to go out?’
‘I couldn’t tell yer, Mam, I didn’t ask. All I want to do is climb into bed and have a good rest so I’m fit for work tomorrow.’ She walked towards the stairs. ‘I won’t kiss yer, Mam, in case yer catch me cold. Goodnight and God bless.’