Nellie’s timid protests would be drowned by Sam’s shouts, but although he often raised his fist as he towered over her, red with temper, he never actually struck her. Tommy’s distress at these scenes could always bring them quickly to an end.
The rest of his time at home was always very happy and their ardent lovemaking revived Nellie’s hopes for another child but they were always dashed when her period arrived as usual after he left.
For Sam, Tommy seemed sufficient to fulfil all his aspirations and his pride and joy in the child was unlimited. He took the boy out every day while he was ashore, walking proudly past people in the street with Tommy holding his hand.
Nellie wondered sometimes whether it was an act of defiance towards those who had taunted him but at others she was sure it was simple delight in the child and pride in the affection between them. On Saturday nights the three of them went to the market where Nellie bought meat that was auctioned off cheaply and Sam bought sweets and fruit and more gifts.
They were happy outings but sometimes marred by a jealous outburst from Sam, when he accused Nellie of flirting with the stallholders or of deliberately becoming separated from him by the crowds. As soon as Tommy showed any sign of distress Sam calmed down immediately.
While Sam was away Nellie’s life was quite full. She had become even more friendly with Gertie and sometimes Maggie looked after Tommy while Nellie and Gertie went to the cinema. He was quite happy playing with Maggie’s children and, when his mother returned, hearing the story of the film in detail. Sometimes he made up little stories himself with different endings to the films.
Nellie still wore her mother’s shawl, a black knitted one with a deep fringe, but Gertie wore a coat for work as some of the younger girls did. For their outings to the local cinema Gertie always wore her mother’s shawl. Nellie appreciated her tact in doing so.
One night as they queued outside the cinema a girl came to speak to Nellie. ‘Do you remember me, Nell? Lily. I worked with you at that house in Newsham Park. Leadbetters’ house.’
‘Lily!’ Nellie exclaimed but could say no more as memories overwhelmed her.
‘My poor mam died that time when I went home because she was sick, y’know,’ Lily said. ‘I never went back there because I had to stay home to look after me dad and the little ones.’
‘I’m sorry, Lily, about your mam, I mean,’ Nellie managed to say. ‘Er – this is Gertie. I worked with Lily,’ she said to Gertie.
‘And didn’t we work in that place!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘But listen, Nell. When I went back for me things and to tell them about Mam the cook said you’d just walked out but you know what it was like trying to talk to her. She was as deaf as a post. Did you have a row?’
‘I was just fed up,’ Nellie muttered, ‘and I was sick.’
‘She give me the coat you left there. I would’ve brought it to your house, honest, only I didn’t know where you lived,’ said Lily. ‘I let our Maisie wear it when she started work.’
‘It’s all right,’ Nellie said. ‘I’d grown out of it anyhow.’ To change the subject she added quickly, ‘I’m married now, Lily. Got a little lad.’
‘Are you?’ Lily said. ‘I’m courting but we can’t get married until I’ve got the kids off me hands. I don’t want me dad bringing a stepmother into them.’
‘How old is the youngest?’ asked Gertie.
‘A lad six then there’s two girls, eight and eleven, and two working.’
‘You’ll have a long time to wait then, won’t you?’ Gertie said sympathetically,
‘We don’t mind. Give us time to save up. We want to start proper, me and Joe,’ Lily said.
Nellie was grateful to be able to stand silently while they talked and try to recover from the shock of the meeting. Fortunately the queue began to move and Lily dashed back to rejoin her sister further back. There was no time to make arrangements to meet again but Nellie was not sorry.
She visited Rose Adams frequently and was visited by her and Maggie remained a staunch friend. Nellie spent a lot of time with Katy and sometimes the two girls went to town together to look at the shops, although they rarely bought anything there.
When Nellie shopped alone she always stayed in her own neighbourhood. She was secure and confident among people she knew well but still shy and timid with strangers.
Janey still hinted about secrets she could tell about Sam’s family and about discreditable episodes in Nellie’s mother’s past, and gave veiled hints about Leadbetter, but Nellie ignored her. She felt strong and capable of handling the old woman while she had Bobby to back her up.
Bobby was very highly regarded by his employers and liked by all who knew him. The gift for carving which he had shown led to him being sent to work in Yorkshire at the end of 1924 when he was seventeen years old.
Mr Meldrum’s partner and brother, Mr Orlando Meldrum, was based there in charge of a contract to restore an old house and a church. Bobby was still serving his time but had shown such skill that he was allowed to carve panels and pew ends.
The firm arranged for him to lodge with an old couple in a cottage in the village and he was very happy there.
‘They couldn’t treat me better if I was their son,’ he wrote to Nellie. ‘And you should see the meals. I’m getting fed like a fighting cock.’
Nellie was pleased and proud at her brother’s promotion but sadly missed his cheerful and supportive company in the house. She was relieved though that he was making a new life for himself away from the area.
Unemployment was growing and life was becoming increasingly desperate for the people of the neighbourhood. Even the boys of Bobby’s age who had managed to find a job had now been cast off in favour of boys leaving school who would work for less.
‘I told him I’d work for the same five shillings if he’d only keep me on,’ one of Bobby’s friends told Nellie. ‘But he said what if I started courting? I’d be wanting more money or leaving, so he was taking a school leaver on he could keep for a few years. “And then be sacked like me,” I said, and he just laughed and said it was the way of the world.’
‘And you can’t get nothing else?’ Nellie said sympathetically,
‘No, I get turned away everywhere,’ the boy said. ‘Me dad’s in the same boat. After all they got promised when they was in the trenches. Sometimes I feel like drowning meself.’
Nellie thought of this conversation whenever she felt miserable because she was missing Bobby and counted her blessings.
Several times during these years Sam’s allotment was held up but Nellie was more prepared for the situation now. She asked for credit at the corner shop and from the butcher and the milkman and they gave it without hesitation, knowing that she would repay as soon as possible.
Although she was granted credit so readily Nellie still felt humiliated at having to ask for it. If only I had a little job like Maggie’s, she often thought, but such jobs were hard to find.
Married women were not employed in the local factories, just as in jobs like teaching or clerical work. No matter how poor, men saw themselves as breadwinners and would have felt disgraced if their wives worked in a regular job. ‘Her feller mustn’t be able to keep her,’ was disparagingly said of a skilled glovemaker who was allowed to stay in work by her employer after marriage.
It was permissible for the women to find a ‘little job’ cleaning or hawking without loss of face but Nellie could find no way of earning a little extra.
It was through Rose Adams that she eventually found a job. Rose cooked dinners for teachers at a nearby school and one of them told her of a daily cleaning job in a large house in Balliol Road. It was not far in distance from Nellie’s home, although a world away socially.
It was only after Nellie had secured the job that she began to worry how Sam would feel about it. Would his pride be hurt? Would he think she wanted to be independent?
Rose reassured her. ‘George will make him see the sense of having a bit extra for when the money’s held
up,’ she said. ‘Tell Sam you want to buy bits for the house so he’ll know he’s still keeping you.’
Maggie was now working for three mornings a week and her youngest child was at school, so Nellie could leave Tommy with Katy without offending her neighbour.
Nellie enjoyed the job. There were two elderly maids and a cook living in and two daily women were employed. The older daily woman, Mrs Taggart, did the scrubbing and rough cleaning and Nellie was expected to help wherever she was needed, sometimes helping the cook or waiting on table for a luncheon party or acting as ladies’ maid for the young ladies of the family.
She was deft and capable and always willing, although the cook and Mrs Taggart told her that she was being exploited. ‘They’re saving the cost of a scullery maid and another parlourmaid on top of what you do for them girls,’ the cook said.
Mrs Taggart told her she was too soft. ‘It’s the willing horse that gets all the work,’ she said. ‘They’re putting on good nature.’
‘I don’t mind,’ Nellie said. ‘Only I think it’s me should be doing the rough scrubbing, like. You was here first.’
‘Jeez, girl, I’d run a mile if I got told to do them things you do,’ Mrs Taggart said. ‘I’m all right with me scrubbing.’
Nellie enjoyed using the lavish amounts of food when she helped the cook and handling the damask tablecloths and napkins and the beautiful glass and china and silver cutlery. Her employers showed their appreciation of her willing help by giving her small gifts of food or clothes in addition to her wages. She had no worry about Tommy if she was asked to stay late as he was very happy with Katy and her children.
One day Nellie served a luncheon party unaided, as both maids were ill, and afterwards her employer, Mrs Duncan, called her into her eldest daughter’s bedroom.
‘You did very well today, Ellen,’ she said graciously. ‘Miss Lydia has no further use for this coat. Would you like it?’
‘Yes please, ma’am,’ Nellie said eagerly. The coat was of dark blue velour and she carried it home joyfully and tried it on first to show Katy, who admired it, and then to show Maggie and Janey.
‘It’s lovely, Nell. Real good quality. You look a treat,’ Maggie said. However, Janey said sourly, ‘What’s the quare feller going to say? He’ll think you’re trying to get off with a fella. Only the young girls wear coats.’
‘He won’t,’ Maggie said indignantly. ‘Sam’s got more sense. Why, if I got a coat like that I’d wear it and I’m no young girl.’
But Nellie’s pleasure in the coat was ruined.
Although she told Janey that she was sure Sam would like the coat, a small seed of doubt had been planted in her mind about it. She put the coat away carefully, deciding that she would keep it until Sam came home and wear her shawl meanwhile.
Maggie told her that Janey was not out all day as she used to be and while she was at home she was in Nellie’s kitchen with a big fire burning.
‘You can see it as you pass the winda,’ Maggie said. ‘Half way up the chimney.’
‘I know,’ Nellie said with a sigh. ‘It’s two steps forward and one back trying to save while I’m keeping her.’
‘You’re too soft, girl. You should ask her for rent and keep,’ Maggie said forcefully, but Nellie shrugged.
‘I can’t, Mag, not after all this time. But if she’d just show some consideration. I went to give Tom a jam butty while I got the tea ready and there was a little heel of loaf. She’s ate it all.’
In spite of old Janey’s wastefulness Nellie managed to buy new clothes and boots for Tommy and to make the house more comfortable for Sam.
Just before the child’s fifth birthday Sam came home again, loaded with gifts as usual and full of good intentions to have a trouble-free time ashore. Tommy had grown a sturdy little boy in spite of his unpromising start, with large blue eyes and curly hair that was now more brown than fair, and the same shy manner as his mother. He had been looking forward to Sam’s return, as he had promised before he left to take Tommy on a trip on the Overhead Railway when he returned.
It was too late on the day of Sam’s homecoming for the promised trip but when Sam said goodnight to the child he told him that they would set off early the next day for the Overhead.
‘He looks that much older every time I see him,’ Sam said later to Nellie.
‘I suppose you notice it more after not seeing him for a bit,’ Nellie said. ‘He misses you more than ever now Bobby’s not here. I wish you was working ashore, Sam.’
‘So do I, girl, but what’s the use? No work to be had,’ said Sam. ‘How’s Bob going on?’
‘The gear,’ Nellie said eagerly. ‘He says he never saw such food.’
‘He’s fell on his feet, then?’ Sam said. ‘What about the job?’
‘He loves it. They let him do carving and all that even though he’s not out of his time,’ Nellie said. ‘And it isn’t only the good food where he lives. He’s with an old couple and they couldn’t do no more for him if he was their own son, Bob says. The only drawback is he misses his mates and me and Tommy.’
‘I’ll bet you miss him an’ all, girl?’ Sam said and Nellie nodded, looking tearful.
‘Still, it’s the best thing could’ve happened for Bobby,’ Sam encouraged her. ‘You’ve got to think of that, Ellie.’
Nellie nodded, trying to smile.
Sam went to the Volunteer later but only for a couple of hours and the next morning he was up early as he had promised. Nellie dressed Tommy and stood at the door watching proudly as they walked down the street together, Sam tall and well built walking with his sailor’s roll and the little boy trotting beside him wearing his new gansey and boots.
Tommy felt proud too as he walked along, holding his father’s hand and looking down from time to time at his new boots. They turned into the general shop on the corner of the street to buy sweets and Mrs Deakin who owned the shop remarked on his new attire.
‘You’re a lucky lad, Tommy,’ she told him. ‘You’ve got a good dad who looks after you and your mam. Youse don’t want for nothing.’
Sam shuffled his feet. ‘I’ve been lucky,’ he said. ‘I’ve always got a ship handy, like. Nellie’d like me to work ashore but the sea’s all I know.’
‘You’re better off as you are, lad,’ Mrs Deakin said, ‘things is terrible round here and getting worse. Who’d have thought it? We got told we’d have a good life after the war but here it is, 1925, and things are worser then ever.’
‘Aye, homes fit for heroes,’ Sam said bitterly, ‘that’s what we got told. It’s bad on the docks, I know, and the miners’ wages is being cut, some feller told me.’
‘Yes, God help them,’ Mrs Deakin said dolefully as she weighed out the sweets. ‘Working a full week underground and the wages that bad their families are very near starving. People are getting desperate. There’ll be trouble, I’m sure.’
‘Aye, they’ll be pushing fellas too far,’ Sam agreed.
‘There’s more on the Parish than ever round here and the poor kids only skin and bone,’ said Mrs Deakin. ‘No, you stick to the sea while you can get a ship, lad.’
Tommy pondered on the woman’s words as they climbed the steps and rode on the Overhead Railway but his father spoke only of the ships they saw. It was an enjoyable day for both of them. Tommy was excited by the sight of the ships in dock and those in the River Mersey, especially when Sam pointed out ships on which he had sailed, and Sam enjoyed the boy’s delight and his comments on all he saw.
When they had returned home and were eating the rabbit stew prepared by Nellie, Tommy said suddenly, ‘Why are the kids skin and bone, Dad? What does it mean?’ Nellie looked up in surprise and Sam said quietly, ‘We went for sweets to the corner and she was going on about the way things was round here.’
To Tommy he said, ‘She meant the kids was thin because they don’t get good dinners like your mam does for you.’
‘Mrs Deakin said I was a lucky boy, Mam,’ Tommy said. ‘She said I’d got
a good dad.’
‘And so you have, lad,’ Nellie said, smiling at Sam.
‘You’ve gorra good mam an’ all,’ Sam said gruffly. ‘I tell you what, Tom. I reckon your mam shoulda come with us today to see the ships.’
Tommy held his spoon above his plate while he considered the idea then he said, ‘But who’d do the rabbit stew?’
His parents laughed but Sam said, ‘Right. That settles it. Tomorrow we’ll go again and your mam will come with us. And before you start – we’ll fetch fish and chips in for our tea tomorrow.’
Nellie blushed with pleasure and impulsively leaned over and kissed Sam and although he bent his head over his plate and muttered, ‘Hold on there, girl,’ it was clear that he was pleased.
Nellie began to make plans and when she took Tommy up to bed she brought down the coat to show Sam. ‘Mrs Duncan give it to me weeks ago when I done some extra work,’ she said. ‘I haven’t wore it – didn’t think I ever could, like, but I could wear it tomorrow, couldn’t I?’
Sam looked doubtful. ‘She should’ve give you an extra couple of bob for the extra work, never mind her cast-offs,’ he said.
‘But this is worth more than a couple of bob,’ Nellie said. ‘It’s hardly wore and feel the weight of it, Sam.’
Sam fingered the material. ‘Real good stuff in it, all right,’ he agreed.
Nellie changed the subject and quietly put the coat away but the next morning when she had dressed Tommy in his new clothes and combed his hair, she brought down the coat and put it on.
‘Gosh, you look posh, Mam,’ the child exclaimed and when Sam laughed he turned to him and said quickly, ‘You look posh an’ all, Dad.’
‘Do I?’ Sam laughed. ‘I couldn’t tell you how long I’ve had this here suit. Got it in Hong Kong years ago. An American suit it was called because of the pleats but it’s kept good with me only wearing it ashore.’
Impulsively Nellie went to Tommy and hugged him, ‘You look the poshest of all in your new boots and gansey,’ she said. Her heart was full of love for the child. How sensitive he was, she thought fondly. How quick to praise Sam too in case he felt left out. Nothing must ever hurt him, she thought passionately.
A Wise Child Page 13