“Smashing cup of tea, mum,” she said, slurping it down.
“It should be, them tea leaves cost enough.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Cheryl yelled out.
“It’s me, Jeannie, can I come in?”
Cheryl jumped up from her seat and ran to the door. “Jeannie,” she said, relieved to see her still alive.
“Yeah, can I come in?”
Cheryl grabbed Jeannie’s arm and swiftly pulled her inside. Cheryl’s mum tutted at Jeannie and shook her head in disapproval.
“Oh for heaven’s sake, Cheryl, you told her, didn’t you?”
“I had to. The whole bleedin’ neighbourhood could hear ya arguing last night accordin’ to me mum and dad.”
“Yeah, mum blew a gasket when I told her. She’s gonna tell me dad tonight after he finishes work.”
“Cuppa, Jeannie?” Cheryl’s mum asked in a condemning tone of voice.
“No thanks Mrs. Carter, I’ve gotta go down to the shop for some eggs and bread for me mum. I called in to see if Cheryl wanted to walk down with me.”
“Yeah, I need some fresh air,” Cheryl said, putting her coat on.
“Ya can get me a loaf a bread too, Cheryl. You ate the last slice for ya breakfast,” her mother said. She opened her handbag and pulled out her purse. Handing over a ten bob note, she said, “Get me a loaf of bread and a packet of fags, and don’t be spending my change. I know exactly how much it costs.”
Cheryl and Jeannie headed off to the shop. Closing the front door, they strolled along the concrete walkway and then down the 3 flights of steps and out through the back courtyard where the washing lines were filled with pristinely cleaned clothes.
“I had morning sickness today,” Jeannie told her.
“Bet that was ‘orrible for ya.”
“Yeah.”
They walked into the shop. Jeannie asked for 3 eggs and a loaf of bread, then Cheryl asked for a loaf of bread and a packet of fags. She also bought herself and Jeannie some bubble-gum as compensation for going.
Walking back, they chewed the gum and blew large bubbles with it, Jeannie blowing hers to the point of it bursting over her face. Cheryl opened her mum’s pack of cigarettes, taking one for herself and giving one to Jeannie. They lit them up and stood leaning against the wall on the corner of the street. In between smoking and blowing bubbles, they chatted about Cheryl’s date with Jimmy and about her meeting her new friend Carry Ann. Coming down the street was a moped and the rider was beeping the horn like a mad man. When it got closer, they realised that it was Jimmy. He stopped to show off his new machine.
“Well what do ya think, girls? My new Vespa, isn’t she a blast?” he said proud of his new purchase.
The girls moved from the wall and took interest in his bright red moped.
“Wow, Jimmy, ya done all right for ya self ‘ere,” Cheryl said, looking the machine over.
“Why thank you, me lady,” he said.
“Fancy a ride up and down the street?” he asked them.
“Well I can’t but I’m sure Cheryl can, can’t ya, Cheryl?” Jeannie said, nudging Cheryl’s arm.
“Yeah, why not?” Cheryl giggled. She hopped on the back and Jimmy passed her his white pudding basin helmet. Then they sped off down the street with Cheryl screaming with joy.
Moments later they drove back, Cheryl was still screaming. Jimmy stopped the moped at Jeannie’s feet and Cheryl jumped off. Her eyes were watering from the breeze that caught them, causing her mascara to run.
“Oh, Jeannie, that was so much fun,” she laughed, taking off the helmet. “Here, Jimmy, ‘ave it back.”
“You know, there’s plenty of birds who’d want to date a bloke like me, just for having a means of transportation. I’m going up in the world, Cheryl Carter, it’d be nice if you were there to share it with me.”
Jeannie, with a beaming smile, nudged Cheryl’s arm.
“Jimmy, I ain’t ready to settle with no fella. You should go and find ya self a nice girl, someone what loves ya proper, not like me, I ain’t no good, d’ya hear me?”
Jeannie’s smile dropped and she nudged Cheryl’s arm again.
“Will ya stop that, Jeannie?” Cheryl asked her.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Well ladies, I must be on my way. If it’s a fella with money to his name that yer after, then I’ll have to get myself a good paying job and fight for ya. Ta-ra for now.” He popped on his helmet and then rode off down the street, disappearing once he reached the corner.
“This Carry Ann, what’s she like, then?” Jeannie asked Cheryl as they began to walk back home.
“She’s delightful. Quite a posh gal, not the usual riff raff ya get round ‘ere,” Cheryl informed her.
“Oh, nice,” Jeannie responded, then put her hands in her jacket pockets.
Both girls walked home blowing pink bubbles.
Cheryl and Jeannie arrange to meet up later, then Cheryl saunters off home. She gives her mother the opened packet of fags and loaf of bread.
“You smoked my fags and ya short changed me. What ya spend it on this time?” she asked her.
“I bought some bubble-gum, if that’s all right.”
“No it ain’t, you better scarper outta my sight.”
“Oh leave it out, mum!”
A knock on the door distracted Cheryl’s mum from continuing her reprimanding. It was the milkman calling to collect this week’s payment. He held his payment book open, licked his pencil, and then proceeded to add up the tally.
“That’ll be eighteen shillings and four pence, then, Mrs. Carter,” he said politely.
“Right you are, I’ll just get me purse,” she said, fumbling around in her handbag. “Ah, there ya go.” She handed him two ten bob notes.
“And there you go, Mrs. Carter, one shilling and two ha’pennies change.”
She thanked him and then closed the door. Looking around the room, she said, “This place needs a right good cleaning.”
Cheryl scarpered to her room right sharp. She knew that if she hung around any longer, her mother would have her doing half the chores. She disappeared into her bedroom, then came out holding a bath towel. “Mum, I’m gonna have myself a lovely soak in the bath.”
“Don’t stay in there too long, you’ll get all wrinkled up,” her mother laughed.
Cheryl lay in the tub lathering the bar of soap over arms and legs. She began to sing ‘Downtown’ splashing the soapy water around as she became dramatically involved with the song.
•••
Cheryl was ready to go out and putting on her coat and boots, she called to her mum that she was on her way out.
She knocked on Jeannie’s door. Her mother answered it. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, resting her hands on her hips and tapping her one foot.
Cheryl had a feeling that she was partly to blame for Jeannie getting pregnant.
“Hello, Mrs. Grimshaw, I’ve come to see if Jeannie’s ready to go out.”
“Jeannie, it’s that friend of yours,” she yelled into the room.
“Coming, Cheryl,” Jeannie called from her room. She came running out, wearing her red PVC boots and yellow pinafore dress, she kissed her mum on her cheek and then shoved Cheryl out of the doorway, quickly shutting the door behind them.
“Bloody hell, does she think I was there with you and Tommy when he got ya up the duff? Talk about daggers.”
They walked for a few minutes, then Cheryl told Jeannie that she wanted to go to the café that she’d been in with Carry Ann. She remembered seeing a job for a waitress advertised in the window when they left and this could just be her golden opportunity to get away from the dreary council estate that she lived on.
Inside the café, Jeannie sat at a table whilst Cheryl went and talked to the owner. She was only with him a few minutes when she returned back to Jeannie with a beaming smile. “I’ve only gone and got myself a bleedin’ job, ain’t I.”
“
That’s brill, Cheryl, ‘ere the others won’t half be jealous of ya now.”
“I think I should phone Carry Ann and ask her if she wants to come out with us tonight, d’ya think I should?”
“Yeah, why not? It would be nice for us all to meet her,” Jeannie said.
They came across a phone box on the way to the pub, put the money in and dialled Carry Ann’s number.
“It’s ringing,” Cheryl said.
“I hope she answers soon, it smells like old man’s piss in ‘ere,” Jeannie said, holding her nose.
Carry Ann answered the phone, ‘Hello?’
“Carry Ann?”
‘Yes, that’s me.’
“Hello, it’s Cheryl, we met last night, ya gave me ya card with ya number on it.”
‘Hello, Cheryl. I was just thinking about you.’
“Really? Well we, me and Jeannie that is, was wondering if you wanted to come down the pub with us. Get to meet me mates an’ all?”
‘That would be nice. I was at a loose end tonight as it happens.’
Cheryl gave Jeannie the thumbs up. “We’ll meet ya down there, then.”
‘Yes, I’ll be there around 7.30pm.’
•••
Entering the pub at 7.20pm Iris and Shirley were already seated at the back of the room. Cheryl waved to them and sent Jeannie over whilst she got the drinks. Harry was sat in his usual stool at the bar. Cheryl ordered a half cider and a Vimto for Jeannie. Harry laughed and said that he would pay for their drinks.
Joining the girls at the table, Jeannie had already filled them in about Carry Ann and leaving Jimmy at the picture house.
“So ya didn’t like the film, then?” Shirley asked.
Cheryl removed her coat and folded it over the back of her chair. “It was a bleedin’ spy film. I think Jimmy fancies himself as an undercover agent or summat like it,” Cheryl snickered.
“Ooh, is this Miss la de da walking in now?” Iris asked as she peered over Cheryl’s shoulder.
“Carry Ann, over ‘ere,” Cheryl called out to her.
Carry Ann acknowledged Cheryl’s presence and then went to the bar and ordered a half cider. Sitting down at the table, introductions were made and fags passed around to anyone who smoked. Carry Ann was the only one at the table who didn’t.
“Who’s got a match, then?” Iris asked, looking into her handbag and realising that she’d left her box of matches at home.
Shirley opened her bag and produced a box. She struck the match along the side of the box and lit her cigarette, then turned to Cheryl, cupping the burning stick in her hands to keep the flame alight. Cheryl made a loud sucking noise on her cigarette until it was lit. To save on their matches, Cheryl passed her cigarette around so the others could light theirs from the burning ash on the end.
“So what does everyone think of me new do, then?” Iris asked, patting lightly on her beehive updo.
Cheryl took a large gulp of her cider and said, “It’s lovely, Iris, where d’ya get that done at, then?”
“A friend of me mam’s did it. She’s going into hairdressing and practiced on me, I think it looks lovely too, Cheryl.”
The room was filled with thick smoke and with the four girls sitting around the table constantly exhaling the smoke from their cigarettes, Carry Ann was constantly wafting it away from her face.
“You okay there, luv?” Shirley asked her.
“Yes thank you. I’m just not a smoker,” Carry Ann answered pleasantly.
“Is that a new dress, looks very expensive?” Iris asked Carry Ann.
Carry Ann looked down at her ensemble. She was wearing an off white crotched mini dress and a white pair of kitten heel sling back shoes. “Yes it is new. I bought it today,” she said, smiling.
Jeannie nudged Cheryl’s arm. “Look who’s just walked in,” she said, watching Jimmy approach their table.
‘Anyone Who Had a Heart’ song came on the jukebox. Jimmy pulled up a chair, turning it around, he straddled his legs over the seat and rested his hands on the backrest. “Evening ladies’, don’t you just love this song? And who might this pretty thing be?” he asked, looking directly at Carry Ann.
“She’s my new friend, Jimmy, and no, you’re not getting ‘er draws off neither,” Cheryl promptly told him.
“Well it’s not her knickers I want to get into, now is it, Cheryl, darlin’?” He winked at Cheryl, then smiled.
“You ain’t getting’ anywhere near my kickers, Jimmy Potter, ain’t no bloke going down there,” she expressed firmly.
“No bloke, Cheryl?” Jeannie asked. “That’ll be hard when ya get married, won’t it?”
“I ain’t bleedin’ getting married. What d’ya take me for?”
Carry Ann remained quiet on the subject whilst the others ridiculed their friend over wanting to remain a virgin.
“I’m not sayin’ that I wanna die a virgin, I just don’t wanna do it with a big fat hairy chested bloke, is that too hard for you all to understand?”
“Well there’s nothing big or fat or even hairy about me,” Jimmy joked.
The girls giggled.
“So what are you about, Carry Ann?” Shirley asked.
“I’m a school teacher,” she replied, still wafting the smoke away from her face.
“Ooh, so you talk all proper and posh, then?” Jimmy asked.
Carry Ann smiled quickly at him, unsure of his intensions, she sipped her cider and kept the glass against her lips, her eyes watching for Cheryl’s interaction.
“Jimmy, leave the gal alone. You ain’t got no right making fun of her like that,” Cheryl scorned him.
Two hours later, the girls, slightly rowdy through drinking too much, were ready to call it a night. Carry Ann was in no fit state to travel home by herself, so Cheryl decided that she could stay with her for the night. Jeannie was the only sober one and with her help, Cheryl and Carry Ann managed to stagger home.
Cheryl’s mum and dad had already gone to bed, leaving the lamp on for Cheryl to be able to see her way. Carry Ann leaned up against Cheryl as she struggled to put the key in the front door lock. She giggled as they fell in through the doorway, landing on the dark green carpet. Carry Ann could hardly contain her laughter.
“Shush, you’ll wake me mum and dad,” Cheryl snickered.
“I can’t move, my legs are dead,” Carry Ann giggled.
Cheryl laughed at her, watching her trying to crawl along the carpet. To hurry things up, she grabbed hold of Carry Ann’s hands and dragged her backwards along the floor until they reached her room.
“You’ll ‘ave to sleep in my bed with me. It’s only a single bed but it’ll have to do,” Cheryl advised her but Carry Ann was too drunk to care.
Cheryl helped remove Carry Ann’s dress and then slipped her shoes off. She dressed her in a yellow frilly chiffon and lace baby doll nighty and then sitting her on the edge of the bed, she swung her legs up onto the mattress and pulled the covers over her. Stripping her own clothes off and snapping her clip on white plastic hoops from her ears, she dressed in a hot pink nylon baby doll nighty and then got into the other side of the bed, being very careful not to disturb her friend who was now in a deep sleep and snoring heavily.
She reached out and turned the lamp off. Carry Ann turned over on her side and spooned Cheryl. She placed her arm over Cheryl’s waist and her hand flat on her stomach. Cheryl held in her breath, daring not to let it out too rapidly. She felt that tingling sensation in her tummy again and very gently, she placed her hand over the top of Carry Ann’s and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Three
Cheryl woke to the sound of Carry Ann groaning beside her. She turned over to see what was wrong. Carry Ann’s hands were cupping her face.
“Are you okay?” Cheryl asked her.
“No, my head is spinning, I have a headache and the sunlight’s shining in through the curtains causing my eyes to hurt,” Carry Ann moaned.
Cheryl held her hand over Carry Ann’s face to block the lig
ht from her eyes. “How’s that?”
Carry Ann removed her hands and opened her eyes. “You’re so sweet, Cheryl.”
Cheryl propped herself up on her elbow and relaxed her head in her hand. Looking down at Carry Ann, she noted the beautiful bone structures in her face.
“What’s up?” Carry Ann asked her.
“You’re gorgeous,” Cheryl said, not meaning to say her thoughts out loudly.
Carry Ann remained impassive. “Do you really think so?”
Cheryl closed her eyes for fear of embarrassing herself. “Yes.”
“Look at me, Cheryl.”
Cheryl opened her eyes slowly.
“Why don’t you like boys, I want to know the real truth?”
“I dunno,” Cheryl shrugged and rolled her eyes.
“I think you do,” Carry Ann whispered. She placed her hand around Cheryl’s neck and pulled her face closer to hers. Parting her lips and staring into Cheryl’s eyes, she paused, waiting for any sign of reluctance from Cheryl. As Cheryl went along with her move, she continued to pull her face to hers until their lips touched. Again Carry Ann stopped, her eyes still focused on Cheryl’s.
Cheryl, unsure of what was happening but liking it, decided to take the plunge and kiss the lips belonging to this beautiful creature. The kiss was slow and their mouths touched lightly, with both girls still focusing on each other’s eyes.
This was Cheryl’s first ever real kiss and it was so much better than she had imagined that it would be. Just the softness alone made her tingle inside. Her hair, some of it now in a fly away state, hung down over Carry Ann’s face, Carry Ann brushed it away and tucked it behind Cheryl’s ear. With her hand now free, she moved it over Cheryl’s waist, caressing and squeezing her body over the pink nylon nighty. Moving it up slowly over her ribcage, she reached Cheryl’s small pert breast. Cheryl stopped mid kiss and pulled her lips away from Carry Ann’s.
“I ain’t never…”
“I know…”
Cheryl’s mum knocked on the bedroom door, Cheryl immediately jumped out of bed. “What mother?” she called.
The door swung open. Cheryl grabbed her quilted dressing gown from the floor where she always dropped it. Carry Ann sat up in bed. Both girls acted innocent as if they had just woken up.
Stop! In the Name of Love Page 3