The Reluctant Sinner

by June Tate

  Daisy fought for all she was worth as the man tried to kiss her, but he was a big man and powerful. His wet mouth covered hers and she gagged. She could smell the stale alcohol on his breath. When he stopped, she balled her fist and with as much strength as she could she punched him in the face.

  He cursed her and grabbed for her breast.

  Daisy brought her knee up sharply and caught him in his genitals with as much force as she could muster.

  The man cried out and doubled up with pain – and she fled. She ran until she had to stop for breath, clutching her side as the cramp hit her. She listened carefully but could hear nothing. Leaning back against the wall she slowly recovered. With trembling fingers, she lit a cigarette, drawing deeply on the nicotine in an effort to calm herself. Then looking around carefully, she began to walk home, constantly looking over her shoulder, ready to run should Woods appear again.

  Her hands were still shaking as she tried to put the key in the lock of her front door and she prayed that her mother wouldn’t be sitting by the fire when she entered, knowing that her blouse had been torn in the struggle.

  Fortunately for her, Vera was in the kitchen. She called to her as she went upstairs to change. ‘Hello, Mum, put the kettle on. I’ve decided to call it a night.’

  Upstairs, she took off her damaged garment and put on a different one, pushing the torn blouse to the back of a drawer. She washed her face and tidied her hair. Still shaken by the incident, she took a deep breath and walked downstairs.

  ‘What are you doing home so early?’ asked Vera.

  ‘Business was so slack I thought I’d come home,’ explained Daisy.

  ‘Nice of Harry to let you off,’ her mother said.

  ‘Harry?’ For a moment Daisy forgot that her mother thought she was still working behind the bar. ‘Oh, yes, Harry. He didn’t mind. There was barely enough trade to keep him going.’

  ‘You all right love? You look a bit pale.’

  ‘I’m just a bit tired that’s all,’ Daisy hastily replied. But Woods had scared her and she knew that somehow she had to get out of working as one of Flo’s girls … and soon.

  Vera sat quietly by the fire and glanced over at her daughter. Something was wrong but obviously Daisy wasn’t going to confide in her. Vera was concerned. Daisy had changed so much over the past weeks. She’d lost her joyful disposition. Even when Fred had been at home and things were difficult, Daisy had always managed to be cheerful, but lately she’d lost that happy frame of mind. It wasn’t just tiredness, there was more to it than that, Vera was sure. Her attitude to life had hardened. She’d become cynical. She had gained in confidence but with that came a certain harshness, which was quite unlike the young girl she was used to. Perhaps the loss of her father had done that, but of this, Vera was not at all sure. She didn’t like the change, that was certain, but was at a loss as to how she could approach Daisy.

  ‘I’m off to bed, Mum,’ said Daisy, and the moment for further conversation was lost.

  At the Solent Club the following evening, Daisy confided in Harry and told him of her encounter with Ken Woods.

  As he listened, Harry was angry. He’d taken to this young girl and it broke his heart to see her used by the men she took to her room. But when he heard about her lucky escape, he was livid.

  ‘That bastard!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ll have something to say to him!’

  ‘Oh, Harry, don’t do that or you’ll make things worse. He’s not a man to be crossed.’

  ‘I don’t care! He can’t get away with this. He was going to rape you, girl, and who knows how badly he’d have hurt you. He has to be stopped!’ He was called away to serve a customer.

  Daisy was now very worried. If Harry interfered how would Woods react? The menace in his voice when he attacked her was terrifying; Harry might get hurt if he tackled the man. She would go to Flo and tell her. She was the one to deal with the situation.

  Flo was dismissive. ‘If you had taken him on as a client, you wouldn’t have put yourself in any danger, but oh, no, not you, madam. You made your own rules and now see where it got you!’

  Daisy was horrified by the coldness of the other woman. ‘You don’t give a damn do you?’ she cried. ‘All that is important to you is how much money you make.’

  ‘I run a business; it was your choice to join my girls and you’ll have to face any consequences. It has nothing to do with me. As long as Ken Woods behaves himself in my club, what he does outside is none of my business.’

  ‘But what about Harry? He says he’s going to have words with him?’

  ‘I shall tell Harry on no account is he to interfere or he’ll be out of a job!’

  Daisy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘You are a heartless bitch, Flo!’

  The woman ignored her.

  She would tell Harry herself not to do anything, Daisy decided. He’d worked in the bar for years. She couldn’t let him jeopardize his position.

  But Harry was not at all fazed by the news. ‘Flo won’t sack me,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘I know too much, so don’t you worry about me, love. I won’t come to any harm either from Ken Woods or Flo Cummings.’

  But Daisy couldn’t help but worry.

  Harry had lived and worked around the dock area of Southampton all his life and knew his way around. He collected information. People who came into the bar chatted and confided in him, knowing that he kept everything to himself. He knew most of the business people who worked and owned businesses and also was on talking terms with a few villains as well. This way he knew all the dodgy dealing that went down. He was well aware that Ken Woods used to skim off the top from the many items that came to be stored in his warehouse. Information that the police would be only too happy to know.

  So it was with confidence that he visited Woods’ warehouse the next morning. He knocked on the man’s office door and walked in.

  Ken looked up from his desk, surprised to see who was calling on him.

  ‘Hello, Harry. A bit out of your usual habitat aren’t you? What can I do for you?’

  He didn’t beat about the bush. ‘You can leave Gloria alone! I heard about you attacking her the other night; bit desperate weren’t you? After all you can have any woman in the club. It’s not as if you are short of a sexual gratification.’

  The man’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘What I do is none of your business! Had that little bitch given me the time of day, I wouldn’t have touched her.’

  Harry leaned over the desk. ‘You ever lay a finger on her again, Ken Woods, and the police will be informed about your habit of creaming off the top of your goods and the stuff you hide in your warehouse, that’s illegal.’

  The man’s face flushed with rage. ‘You dare to come in here and threaten me? Want to be found floating in the dock one night, do you?’

  Harry just stared at him. ‘In a safety deposit box at my bank I have a large envelope to be opened after my death. It’s all written down there, my friend, every single detail about your business, so any ideas you may have about my demise would be foolish. Frankly I don’t give a shit about your dodgy dealings, you’ll get caught one day, but you touch that girl again and I’ll see you go down for a long time!’

  Woods stared at Harry’s retreating figure as he walked out of his office and cursed under his breath. There was no way he could call the man’s bluff; he had too much to lose. He’d wait a while, but he was going to have that girl one day – however long it took. No woman was going to treat him with such disdain and get away with it.

  Fifteen

  After her debacle with Ken Woods, all Daisy could think about was getting out of the Solent Club. She’d worked out her finances and if she could find a room somewhere at a cheap rent, she figured she could just about do it. With this in mind, she put an advertisement in the local paper and a few newsagents who placed such adverts in their windows. She then called on Agnes and put her proposition to her.

  ‘When I find a room, will you come and work with me?�
�

  ‘Like a shot. The workroom hasn’t been the same since you left and if I have to put up with that Jessie much longer, I’ll smack her in the face!’

  Daisy laughed at the idea. ‘Oh, Agnes, I’d pay money to see you do it.’

  ‘Don’t tempt me! Any idea when this will happen?’

  ‘It will depend on any answer I get from the adverts I’ve placed around, but as soon as I do, I’ll let you know, but not a word to any of the others,’ warned Daisy. She hugged herself. ‘I can’t wait to get back to sewing.’

  ‘Working behind the bar getting you down?’ asked Agnes.

  ‘You could say so, and I love my sewing and just long to get back to normal.’

  ‘Now your dad has sadly gone, then you don’t have the expense of the nursing home, which must make life financially a bit easier, but you did a fine thing there, Daisy. You’re a good daughter. Your dad would be proud of you.’

  If only she knew, thought Daisy. And that night when she had a punter who treated her roughly, despite looking like a young gentleman, she asked herself how much longer could she do this? And then later, when Bert Croucher walked into the club, she froze, waiting for his mate to walk in as well, but Croucher remained alone.

  As he poured the man a beer, Harry asked, ‘Where’s your mate then?’

  ‘Haven’t seen him for a couple of days. I did catch sight of him yesterday morning coming out of the bank. He was limping a bit I thought, perhaps he’s had a fall, but he was gone before I could catch up with him.’

  As Croucher walked back to his seat, Harry grinned to himself. He was probably limping after being kneed in the balls, he concluded, and that gave the barman immense pleasure.

  Daisy was well aware that the butcher was watching her throughout the evening as she took her punters upstairs. His constant gaze unnerved her somewhat and she was pleased to see him go, towards closing time.

  ‘Want me to walk you home, love?’ asked Harry as Daisy was ready to leave.

  She was about to refuse, but she suddenly changed her mind. ‘If you take me to the end of my street, that would be great,’ she said.

  Despite the fact that she held Harry’s arm as he kept up a constant conversation, Daisy felt unnerved and kept glancing behind her. Although she couldn’t see anyone apart from the occasional seaman heading for the docks, she felt as if somewhere in the dark, they were being followed.

  At the end of her street, she bade goodnight to Harry.

  ‘I’ll just stand here and watch you to your door, love,’ he said and Daisy was grateful. When she put her key in the door, she turned and waved to Harry, and let herself into the house. But a few minutes later when she peeped out of the corner of the curtain, she thought she saw a shadowy figure standing down the street a way, but couldn’t see who it was in the dim lighting. Locking the front door and checking that the back one was secure, she went to bed.

  The week went from bad to worse for Daisy. She’d had to drop her prices and be less choosy with her punters to make any money at all, which delighted the other girls.

  ‘Not such a good catch now are you, ducky,’ said one. ‘You’re spoiled goods now, just like the rest of us. Pretty soon you’ll be pleased to take anyone!’

  Daisy ignored her even though she spoke the truth. It was becoming very apparent that men coming into the club were now used to seeing her and to them she became another of the girls … no one special. Flo had started booking her appointments without asking her and, to make the money she needed, Daisy couldn’t argue, but for every man who laid his hands on her, she made herself think only of the money.

  But the final straw was when she returned home one night and found Vera sitting by the dying embers of the fire, in tears.

  Daisy rushed to her side. ‘Mum, whatever is the matter, are you ill?’

  Vera looked at her and sobbed, ‘Daisy how could you?’

  The look of anguish on her mother’s face made her go cold. ‘Whatever do you mean?’ she asked fearfully.

  ‘How could you become one of Flo Cummings’ girls?’

  Daisy was speechless.

  ‘I met Mrs Cummings in the grocery store this morning. She said how sorry she was to hear about your father and then she told me how hard you had worked to pay for the nursing home. She told me she knew it hadn’t been easy for you to decide to work the other side of the bar and she admired you for doing so. She also went to great lengths to tell me it was nothing to be ashamed of!’ Then she burst into tears.

  Daisy closed her eyes in despair. Then she tried to explain to her mother that Fred had said he wanted to stay in the nursing home until the end. ‘We couldn’t have given him the care he needed, Mum. At least his last days were with people who could help him with the pain. At home he would have really suffered. I couldn’t let that happen.’

  ‘But at what cost, Daisy, at what cost? And why didn’t you leave once your father had gone? Why stay on?’

  ‘I need the money to open my own business, how else could I get it?’ she asked defiantly. ‘My reputation was already in ruins, so I had nothing more to lose.’

  ‘What about your self-respect?’

  ‘I lost that with my first punter!’

  ‘Oh, Daisy, don’t talk like that. I can hardly bear to think of what you’ve done.’

  Now Daisy was angry. ‘You think I enjoy it? I hate every minute. Every time a man touches me, I feel dirty! Every time I take his money, I feel dirty! Believe me, Mother, I’ve lost far more than my self-respect but I’d do it all over again for Dad, if I had to.’

  Vera wiped her tears. ‘I know you did it with the best intentions, and I know your father benefited by it, but to be honest had he known how you earned the money, he wouldn’t have budged out of this house!’

  ‘Yes, well he didn’t know did he?’

  ‘And I thank God for that, but I know. When is it all going to end?’

  ‘I’ve advertised for a room to rent so I can set up a small workshop. Agnes is going to work with me and as soon as I can get a place, I’m leaving the Solent Club for good.’

  ‘But will you get any clients?’ asked her mother.

  ‘With my reputation do you mean?’ said Daisy wryly. ‘Well, Mum, not everybody knows what I’ve become, but I’m a bloody-good seamstress and I know the right people to contact. I’ll get work all right. These clients are only interested in good clothing, nothing more. And I’ll have you know one of my wealthy clients wanted to come into partnership with me.’

  ‘But she didn’t know where you’ve been working!’

  ‘That’s where you’re wrong. I told her. She was still willing but I turned her down.’

  ‘Why ever did you do that when it would have given you the opportunity you wanted?’

  With a sigh Daisy explained. ‘She comes from a wealthy family and should it ever get out that I worked for Flo Cummings, I didn’t want her to be involved in a scandal, not from her background. It wouldn’t have been fair.’

  ‘Oh Daisy, another sacrifice you had to make. Life really isn’t fair is it?’

  Daisy knelt beside her mother. ‘It won’t be for much longer. We’ll soon be able to put all this behind us and start again. Now come on, it’s late. Off to bed with you.’

  Vera cried herself to sleep. She was well aware of the sacrifice her daughter had made but she couldn’t shake off a feeling of shame. Her Daisy was a whore. It was a mother’s nightmare.

  Downstairs, Daisy sat staring into what was left of the fire, silent tears trickling down her cheeks. She was devastated that her mother had found out that she’d been working as one of Flo’s girls. She loved Vera dearly but knowing her mother so well, Daisy knew that Vera would be shamed by the knowledge. Whereas Daisy had steeled herself to cope with the situation, she doubted that her mother would ever get over it. No matter what happened if she managed to start afresh, her mother would always know how she earned the money to do so.

  With a deep sigh, she brushed away her tears and went t
o bed.

  Spurred on by her mother’s revelation, Daisy decided to make the rounds of the estate agents in the hope that one of them would know of a decent room to rent. The first three hadn’t anything on their books, but took her address in case in the future they had something to offer. She decided to try one more and then call it a day.

  As she opened the door and walked in, the man behind the desk looked up. To Daisy’s acute embarrassment she recognized him as one of her regular punters.

  ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m looking to rent a room,’ she told him.

  ‘Setting up on your own?’ he asked archly.

  ‘Certainly not!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’m a seamstress by trade and I want a large room to open as a workroom.’

  ‘My, but you’re full of surprises!’

  ‘It has to be big enough to house two sewing machines, a table for cutting out and enough space to receive clients.’

  ‘And if I find you one, can I be one of your clients?’ he asked with a sly smile.

  ‘I don’t make clothes for gentlemen,’ she replied, ignoring his implication.

  ‘If you find such premises, does that mean you’ll be leaving the Solent Club?’

  ‘Yes it does.’

  ‘That would be such a pity,’ he said: ‘I would miss being with you. Perhaps if I find you such a place, we could come to an understanding and I could come to you privately.’

  She felt demeaned and angry at his suggestion and turned towards the exit. ‘Never mind, I’ll go elsewhere,’ she snapped and walked out, slamming the door behind her. As she walked away, Daisy was shaken by the meeting. It hadn’t occurred to her that she could perhaps encounter her clients outside the club. By being selective in the beginning, she had chosen several men who were in business in the town and who came from decent backgrounds and no doubt in the future she would meet others. How embarrassing that would be! But it was one of the perils of choosing to work in the club and the possibility would have to be faced. She just hoped she wouldn’t be with her mother when it happened.