by Martha Long
He stood starin, watchin me startin te suck an wrigglin meself fer ease, then fixin the comic on me lap, now feelin I was in the height of comfort.
‘That’s you satisfied,’ he said noddin down at me, then turned his head lookin at the fire, sayin, ‘Next, let’s get this fire roaring back into life.’ He smiled givin a look over te Ceily.
She lifted her head givin a quick smile, pretendin te laugh. But then she wiped her eyes fast wit the sleeve of her jumper an you could see she was ready te cry again, because her face lifted up like it wanted te break.
He lifted the coal bucket sittin by the fire an grabbed the shovel, but just then the shop bell went as the door pushed in. He hesitated then dropped the shovel an rushed out, sayin, ‘Ceily, would you ever bank up that fire while I see to this.’
She didn’t answer, an I looked over seein she had dropped her head in her arms restin them on the table. I stared seein her not stir, she’s fast asleep.
I looked at the coal bucket then hopped up. I’ll do this, Mammy never lets me near the fire, but I can do it here. I dropped down on me hunkers an grabbed up the shovel, then tried te lift the coal. It’s too heavy. I dropped it an grabbed up lumps a coal wit me hand an started te decorate the fire. One bit here, another bit there. I kept goin till the bucket was empty.
The fire was now out black but it went nearly up te the chimney. Tha’s tha, we’ll have a lovely big fire when tha gets goin. Then I looked back in the bucket again, seein there was tons a black dust. I just had an idea, Mammy always uses tha te bank up the fire. She says it makes the coal burn slower, tha way we spare the coal. I know these things because I do watch her.
I lifted the bucket but it was too heavy, an I couldn’t get it on the shovel. I know wha I’ll do, I’ll shake it on by throwin it at the fire. I stood back an aimed it, then gave the bucket an almighty swing seein black dust swarm an fly lookin like black smoke.
‘Aw, fuck,’ I muttered, goin dead still watchin it flyin inta the air smotherin everythin black. I looked down seein me white vest was now the colour a black, even me arms was covered an so was me legs. I stared down seein me feet now goin from white te black wit dust droppin. I’m twins wit Sooty! Wish he was here, he’d know wha te do.
‘Ceily!’ I muttered, lettin it come out in a little quiet squeak. She didn’t hear me, I turned me head slowly seein she hadn’t made a shift. I couldn’t move, not knowin wha te do next. They’re goin te kill me! Just then the door whipped open an I heard a roar.
‘What in all that’s good an holy have you gone and done? What have you been up to?’ Mister Mullins said, lowerin his voice now goin inta real shock.
I blinked because the dust was swimmin in me eyes. ‘Eh … The dust … it blew outa the bucket!’ I said slowly, lookin down starin at the bucket still swingin in me arms.
He couldn’t move neither, he just stared watchin it still makin its way up te the ceilin an slowly across the room settlin anywhere an on anythin it could land.
‘Put that bucket down an don’t touch anything,’ he said, grabbin it outa me black hands then haulin me up, sayin, ‘Have you seen the state of yerself? Get a look there.’ He held me under the arm wit one hand makin me dangle sideways, then wiped his hand across the mirror shiftin dust, then pushed me in fer a good look.
I stared at two white rings around me eyes sittin in a pot-black face, an sucked in me breath wit the shock.
‘Ye’re a bold girl!’ he said, after seein I gor a good look, then rushed me inta the scullery an dumped me down on the drainin board, next te the wash trough.
‘CEILY, look after Lily, she’s been up to no good!’ I heard him shout, while I sat danglin me feet over the big trough. I didn’t want te get them wet, because the water was all cold.
Ceily came staggerin in wit the hair thrown over her face not knowin where she was. I took loads of air up me nose holdin it, waitin fer her te wake up.
‘WHA DID YE DO? WHA DID YOU JUST GO AN DO NOW? An after everythin I just told you!’ she screamed, whippin the mass a bangles outa her face an makin a run at me.
‘IT WASN’T MY FAULT, HONEST, CEILY! IT WAS THE BUCKET! IT FLEW OUTA ME HAND.’
‘Don’t kill her! We’ll just starve her, no more sweets for the next year!’ Mister Mullins said, rushin over te put his head in the scullery.
‘You have no boots now, no vest, an yer knickers will never dry in this weather!’ she said, lookin down at me navy-blue knickers now sittin past me knees. They’re very heavy, an Mammy only changes them once a week, because they need tha te dry properly.
‘You’ll have te go round in yer skin!’ she roared, whippin the vest over me head sendin dust flyin te land on her. ‘You can’t keep yer hands to yerself,’ she muttered, lettin the cold tap run an grabbin the dishcloth.
Me nerves was gone watchin her scrubbin the big bar a Sunlight soap inta the cloth, then it came fer me! Smack inta me face smotherin me, then it went fer me neck an ears, smackin its way down me chest an inta me belly.
I screamed wit the bubbles blowin outa me nose an freezin me skin.
‘Stay still!’ she roared, batterin me wit the cloth when I upped an reared, tryin te get loose.
‘Easy, easy!’ Mister Mullins shouted, rushin in te see wha’s happenin.
‘I’m tryin te wash this scruffy maggot,’ she said, lettin her grip go a me.
I leapt inta the sink then cocked me leg over, tryin te slide down an escape.
‘I’ll leave you to it, but don’t go too far an kill her, all we need now is to be up for murder!’ he snorted, turnin away leavin me at the mercy a Ceily.
‘You cursed little demon!’ she screamed, grabbin hold a me be the leg an yankin me under the arm, landin me back on the drainin board an bangin the arse offa me. She scrubbed, rubbin the skin offa me an I screamed, beggin fer mercy. The water was blindin me eyes an the soap was blockin me nose, I’m goin te die! She’s suffomacatin me! Then it was over an I sat drippin while she muttered lookin around fer a towel.
‘I won’t never te be doin this again, Ceily,’ I gasped, makin me neck an chest jump up an down wit the hiccups.
‘Bet yer sweet little life on tha,’ Ceily muttered, smellin Mister Mullins’ towel then decidin it would do me.
* * *
I was sittin back now in the fireside chair wearin me frock an a big pair a pink thermal knickers belongin te Delia, they didn’t fit me, because they went all the way down te me ankles an back up again. But Ceily says I’m te wear them because I’ll catch cold an these’ll keep me warm. There was nothin te put on me feet because the boot’s lost an there’s a big hole come in me white sock, so now, as well as tha, I’m havin te wear Mister Mullins’ big woolly socks te keep me feet warm. They’re miles too big, an they’re stickin out like two long poles, so I can’t walk now, because I keep havin te pull up the knickers an lift me feet inta the air.
Mister Mullins is delighted, he said tha’ll put a stop te me gallop fer a while, then he ran laughin holdin his hand over his mouth. I’m a holy show, an Ceily doesn’t care.
She’s out in the scullery washin me knickers an vest mutterin te herself. She’s ragin wit me, specially since seein the mucky dirt dried inta the back a me coat. I thought she was goin te kill me!
‘I’m goin te brain you!’ she screamed, but I ran fer me life holdin up the knickers wit the socks flappin, tryin te make it down the stairs.
Mister Mullins had te save me. But then he complained he hasn’t had the like a this carry-on since Delia tried te blow up the house he snorted, givin me an annoyed look. Then he said, ‘She was only a young one at the time and that’s not today nor yesterday! Now don’t be wearing me out. I’m not getting any younger,’ he warned, wavin the finger at me. I followed the finger not worried because he doesn’t mean it, then looked up at him.
‘Wha she do?’ I asked, feelin shocked Delia was even more bold than they say I am meself.
‘Don’t ask,’ he muttered, shakin his head wit the memory. ‘She came do
wn here early one morning and tried to make the porridge,’ he said. ‘By the time the match did catch the gas left runnin, well, we knew no more until we heard the blast an the roars coming up through the ceiling. She lost the hair on the head for a while, but lucky she didn’t lose the face. Jaysus spare me,’ he moaned, still shakin the head as he dumped me down on the chair. Then he went out laughin behind his hand.
Now I’ve nothin te do an I can’t even go out te play. I sighed in me breath lookin down at the fire. It was still out cold just puffin out black smoke. The room is freezin, pity tha, because we could a had great comfort. Me comic! I have tha, I suddenly remembered, pity about the gobstopper, tha would a gone lovely wit the comic then I’d be in the height a ease, but Ceily grabbed hold a tha an flung it out the winda.
‘You’re gettin nothin!’ she roared, tearin it outa me mouth.
If Mammy was here, she’d kill her!
I pulled the comic from under me an sat back fer comfort, then felt the huge knot in the back a me knickers. I leapt up pullin the frock te get at them, but the knot Ceily put in the waist te keep them up was too tight te open. I pulled them down an sat them on me lap tryin te open the knot wit me teeth.
‘Wha are you up to in there, Lily Carney? I don’t like the sound a you, ye’re gone very quiet!’
Me head whipped up an I flung the knickers away hidin them. ‘Nothin!’ I said, whippin me head back te see them sittin on the coal fire. Owww! She’ll kill me!
I leapt up grabbin hold a them, seein they were now manky black. ‘Oh Mammy! When she sees these I’m meat te mince! Get them back on fast!’
I was too fast an bent down goin head over heels hittin the floor, gettin me foot caught in the leg a the knickers. Me heart pounded an the thump on me head made it spin. I couldn’t see them I was tha blind.
‘Mammy!’ I squealed, tryin te untangle meself. I got back up on me feet feelin me face hot an me head swim, it’s all the shock I’m gettin.
‘I’m ready,’ I puffed, fixin the knickers on meself then sat back an closed me eyes lettin meself rest without botherin about the knot pokin the back a me.
I’m gettin worn down, I thought, holdin me hand over me head like Mammy does when she gets a shock. I’m gettin old before me time! Too many shocks can’t be tha good fer ye. Ceily’s right, I am cursed. But then so is she!
9
‘I BETTER HEAD off,’ Mister Mullins said, standin himself up an lookin over at the mantel clock. ‘They’ll be openin the doors soon to let in the visitors. Let’s hope there’s good news,’ he said, lookin down worried.
‘Yeah,’ Ceily said, standin up an collectin the dinner plates. ‘Tell her I was askin fer her, won’t you, Mister Mullins? Pity I can’t come up an see her meself.’
‘No, best you stay put, Ceily. The less you show your face the better, we need to let things die down. Right, now on the way back I’ll call into that Father Flitters and get the ball rolling, the sooner we get this sorted the quicker you’ll get back to normal,’ he said, movin te take his hat an coat hangin on the back a the door.
‘I better shut up shop for a couple of hours, more’s the pity,’ he said, lookin like he was thinkin. ‘But you don’t know who’s going to walk through that door, they have the authorities behind them, Ceily, an God nor man won’t stop them this time. They’ll be out to really get you now. Ye see you beat them yesterday and they don’t like that, it got their backs up. Further, it gave bad bastards like the animal gangs an excuse to hit back at them. That lot will brag they were only trying to protect their own against heavy-handed authorities, stop them coming in where they’re not wanted. Protect? Me arse! Wasteless moochers some of them, wouldn’t work in a good fit, looking to rise trouble more like, then they ended bringing the roof down on our heads.
‘Now as it is them powers-that-be will want to come down on you, hard and fast, show you can’t step out of line an buck the system. They’ll be out in full strength to hammer you down, put people back in their place an keep them there. I know how it works, Ceily, no, it’s not about you two any more,’ he said, shakin his head lookin very worried gettin down in himself. ‘You are only a pawn in a power game now, and by Jesus, everyone in this has their own axe to grind.
‘So watch out, they’ll be prepared this time,’ he said, givin the head a shake an clampin his mouth shut. ‘God knows, we can’t have a repeat of more madness, it wouldn’t take much to start people off again. Them animal gangs get their enjoyment fighting each other, there must a been a quare few of them swarmed up here last night when they got the first sniff of trouble. Liberty gangs, come to take on the ones here. Jesus, the word spread so fast they were like flies landing on hot shit! Then the others. God almighty, the sight of that greed yesterday, all wanting to plunder a dead mother’s grave and she not yet even cold in it. Oh! And to hell with her helpless childre. Swines, if they can’t take what you have, then they’ll make sure you can’t have it either. For some, that’s what yesterday was all about,’ he said, droppin his voice an shakin his head thinkin about it.
‘Oh this is a whore of a city, rotten with savage slums,’ he slowly growled, lookin like he was talkin te himself. ‘The stinking hovel tenements, they’re a cankerous sore left to fester in a cesspool of weeping pus. The city back streets, a no-man’s-land to dump and bury alive the unfortunate poverty-stricken people, oh yes, so thick are they tightly packed, the sun won’t get in and a fresh breeze couldn’t squeeze between them. Worse, it’s all hidden under the skirts of a beauty, a grand and Georgian Dublin, that’s where only the respectable walk,’ he smiled, snappin his hand in salute but not lookin happy.
‘Jaysus they’ll even eat their young!’ he muttered, wrappin his arms an turnin himself te drop against the wall wit the head bent an the ankles crossed. ‘And that is what I fought for? Bring back the fucking English!’ Then he turned an spat inta the fire again, only this time it sat shiny an wet, there was no hot coal te make it bubble an burn. Then he turned te look look hard at Ceily, wantin her te know somethin.
‘Yes,’ he said, givin his head a quick shake. ‘Let me tell you what they were after. With up to twenty people living in a room no bigger than a toilet for some, your place was a palace, a walk through the gates of heaven for them that can get their hands on it. What more could ye want? An artisan little house, corporation owned and comes with its own life tenancy. A cheap rent tied in and no more rack-renting private landlords. Them that suck the very marrow from the bones of the poor, and all for the privilege of letting you perish to death in a vermin-infested, disease-ridden hellhole. You’re up against it, childre, turn your back against no one, Ceily. When you’re down and out, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.
‘But listen!’ he suddenly warned, grindin his teeth. ‘It will happen that some brave soul will harm a hair on the head of you two young innocent childre, but that will only be when the last breath leaves my body! Do you know why?’
I looked te Ceily, wonderin wha’s goin te happen te us now. Wha has got him in a state so sudden? An seein her starin up wit the mouth hangin an the eyes bulgin, an she slowly shakin her head. I turned me head back an looked up doin the same, shakin me head slowly, hopin he wouldn’t turn his sudden torment on me or Ceily!
‘In a word, simple! I owe a deep debt of gratitude to your great-grandmother. But first let me tell you about her daughter, your grandmother, Ellen Foley! She was my first girlfriend, we were walking out for years, years we were! Right from the first day our mammies walked us down together and we started school,’ he laughed. ‘Four year old we were!’ Then he shook his head lookin away from us, goin very quiet. We said nothin an just stared up at him waitin, watchin, while he stared inta the distance thinkin. He was now lookin very sad.
‘Our mammies thought we would get married,’ he smiled, shiftin his eyes te look down at us. They look like he wanted te cry, cos they were gone all huge an watery.
‘But fate had other ideas. I married at seventeen young Marie Beauchamp. Jesus, she wa
s a beauty! Sky-blue eyes that lit up a room and warmed the cockles a yer heart when she gave you a smile! No more than my other little beauty, Ellen Foley! Her with the velvet blue eyes and the brown burnished coppery bangles that caught the light from a candle and lit up her head like she was wearing a halo! That making her into a saint or better still, a pagan goddess! I was a spoilt young fella for choice! The long and the short of it was she married Georgie Powers so I never got to marry the pagan goddess! But poor Ellen was unfortunate. Georgie Powers, with no work to be had in Dublin he signed up for the merchant navy and took off to sail the world. That was the last anyone ever heard tell a him again.
‘A few months later, Ellen was left with a new babby. She now had no man, no money and no way to survive. She handed the babby over to her mother, that was your great-grandmother, and that babby was your very own mother Mary, who grew up and married your father Jembo Carney. Then Ellen took off for unknown parts. It was believed she ended her days in America. But nobody knows, that was just hearsay. It was said old Ma Kelly received a letter from her, but who knows? From that day to this, no one ever heard tell or set eye on her again. As I said, who knows if she’s even dead or alive?
‘Meanwhile, I had married and me and Marie were blessed with a new little babby born the same time as your mother Mary. That was my little Delia! So they grew up together, your mother and my Delia! My Marie practically reared your mother, she spent more time around in this house than she did in her own home. It was so much so, one day your great-grandmother complained a strange young one calling herself Mary Carney turned up at her door demanding to be let in saying they were related! Then it all turned on its head. Ye know, childre, you never know the hour or the day when shocking bad luck and misfortune is going to turn around and strike you down,’ he said, lowerin his voice an leanin down whisperin te us. ‘It happened te me an I wasn’t even here!