A Broken Family (23 page)

Tommy knew she was right and hated his weakness, but too drained to discuss it now, he closed his eyes. If he got another contract, along with the work that was coming in now, the only answer would be to take on more men, but that would entail buying more vans too. He’d have to look at the accounts to see if that was a viable option. For now he was too tired to think and with his breathing easier, his mind closed as he drifted off.

‘What …’ Tommy said, blinking as his mother’s voice intruded.

‘I said it’s after seven and you haven’t had anything to eat yet.’

Tommy rubbed his eyes, hardly aware that he’d gone to sleep as his mother continued, ‘Now you’re awake I’ll reheat your dinner.’

‘All right, thanks,’ he said, sitting up. He hadn’t seen Amy since Tuesday and was missing her, and though they were going out tonight he would have to get up early in the morning to get to the yard. Tommy knew he couldn’t let up on the work. He didn’t want a long engagement; he wanted to marry Amy as soon as possible, and to make that happen he’d graft for seven days a week if necessary.

‘There’s been a right old carry on today,’ Phyllis told her daughter when she came home from work.

‘What do you mean?’ Amy asked.

‘Frank Cole has been evicted.’

‘No, but that’s awful. Why?’

‘Because he hadn’t paid his rent for ages and on top of that his place is in such a filthy state that it’s infested with rats. Mabel found one in her kitchen and went absolutely barmy.’

‘It’s still awful that he’s been chucked out. Couldn’t Rose have done something? She must’ve known him from when she worked in the Park Tavern.’

‘She tried, but Samuel is a businessman and when his tenants don’t pay the rent for that length of time, they’re out. At least Frank has got somewhere to go. He’ll probably turn up on his sons’ doorstep, so Carol’s going to be stuck with him again.’

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Amy said.

Phyllis frowned. ‘Frank fell apart when Daphne left. He’s turned into a dirty, smelly drunk, scrounging off everyone, but like you, I still feel sorry for him. Did I tell you that Mabel now thinks that it was Daphne Cole who ran off with Tommy’s dad?’

‘Yes, but I hope she’s not spreading it around. There’s been enough trouble caused by gossip.’

‘Mabel has learned her lesson. She only told me, but has Carol heard from her mother?’

‘She’s never mentioned it, so I don’t think so,’ Amy replied.

‘Does Carol still like living with her brothers?’

‘Yes, and she’s got a new job as a receptionist in a hairdressing salon. Paul and Davy take her out with them and she’s like her old self again, into the latest fashions and music.’

‘That’s good, but here’s your dad so I’d better get our dinner sorted out,’ Phyllis said as she hurried through to the scullery. She had something else to tell Amy and Stan, and though she had made a tentative decision, she was still a bit unsure.

Stan seemed unsurprised when they told him about Frank, and though sympathetic, he said that the man had turned into such a scrounger that he’d been barred from the Park Tavern. When they were seated at the table, Stan lightened the atmosphere by joking around, pretending his chop was too tough to cut. ‘What’s this,’ he asked, ‘the sole off an old shoe?’

‘Mine’s all right,’ Amy said.

‘Your dad’s is too,’ Phyllis said. ‘Stan, stop being a silly bugger and listen. I haven’t said anything until now, because I’ve been thinking about it since Rose came to see me.’

‘Thinking about what?’ Stan asked.

‘Rose isn’t happy in Bethnal Green so she’s persuaded Samuel to buy a place here in Battersea. They’ve already found a house close to the park, and Rose wants me to work for them.’

‘Doing what?’ Stan asked.

‘I’d be a sort of housekeeper-cum-cleaner.’

‘Can’t Rose do her own cleaning?’ Stan asked.

‘Of course she can, but Rose has gone up in the world now. She’s got used to having a cleaner, but the one they’ve got now won’t want to travel this far.’

‘How big is the house they’ve found?’ Amy asked.

‘It’s got six bedrooms, two receptions, a dining room and study, two bathrooms and a kitchen.’

‘Flaming hell, why do they want a house of that size?’ Stan exclaimed. ‘There’s only the two of them.’

‘It’s about the same as the one in Bethnal Green,’ Phyllis said. ‘Anyway, Rose has offered me a third more pay than I’m earning now.’

‘That sounds good,’ Stan said.

‘Yes, it does,’ Amy agreed, ‘but how many hours would you have to do?’

‘From nine till two, five days a week.’

‘That’s not much different to your combined jobs, so why are you thinking about it?’ Stan asked. ‘It’s more money, without an early start, or going out to clean that factory in the evening.’

‘I know, but it’s … well … it’s the thought of being Rose’s cleaner. What if she lords it up over me? I’m not sure I could take that.’

‘I can’t see Rose acting all high and mighty,’ Stan said. ‘She’s always struck me as being pretty down to earth.’

‘Is Rose any different when she comes to see you?’ Amy asked.

‘No, of course not, but that’s different,’ Phyllis replied. ‘She visits me as my cousin, but if I take the job I’d be her employee.’

‘Why don’t you give it a try?’ Stan suggested. ‘If it doesn’t work out and Rose becomes a proper madam, you can soon tell her where to stick her job.’

Phyllis smiled at Stan’s turn of phrase, but he was right and she made up her mind to take the job. No more getting up at the crack of dawn, no more factory floors to clean
–
and for Phyllis, that sounded like heaven.

Mabel had kept out of the way during the eviction. In truth, she was glad that Frank Cole had been chucked out. He hadn’t confronted her yet, but every night when he’d rolled home drunk her nerves had jangled, expecting him to come banging on her door to lay into her for dobbing him in to the police. She’d watched Frank going downhill over the past few months, but it wasn’t her fault, Mabel decided. It was down to Daphne Cole for walking out on him and it was no wonder that Carol had left home too.

When she’d found a rat, it gave Mabel the ammunition she needed to get rid of Frank Cole. Of course nobody knew it, but she’d complained to the agent, hinting that the infestation was coming from Frank’s house. When the agent gained entry he’d come out looking green and had thrown up in the gutter. With that and the rent arrears, it had ensured Frank’s eviction and good riddance to bad rubbish, Mabel thought. She could relax now, and as the sun set she turned on the living room light just as Jack arrived home.

‘Hello love, things have been happening today,’ she said, going on to tell him about Frank Cole.

‘He used to be a decent bloke,’ Jack said, ‘but only last night he collared me on the way home to tap me for money.’

‘Did you give him any?’ Mabel asked.

‘Certainly not. I told him to get a job and earn his money like the rest of us. For that I got a load of foul language and insults aimed at you.’

‘That doesn’t surprise me, and between you and me, Jack, I’m glad he’s gone. It’s just us and the Millers sandwiched between two empty houses now, and with Frank’s house needing more than just fumigating, it could be for some time.’

‘Has the agent arranged to do anything about the rats?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes, he’s getting poison put down,’ Phyllis told him, shuddering at the memory of finding a big, dirty grey rat in her kitchen. ‘I just hope we don’t get any more coming in here.’

‘I’ll put some stuff down too just in case,’ Jack said. ‘Now, I’m going to get washed and changed.’

‘Yes, all right,’ Mabel said, knowing that once he’d done that Jack would want his dinner. She walked into the scullery, her eyes darting everywhere as she turned on the light. If she’d seen another rat it would have sent her out screaming again, but thankfully there were none to be seen.

Mabel knew there was another quiet evening ahead, with Jack’s nose stuck in a book, but at least now that Frank Cole had left the Rise, things were looking up and her life could get back to normal. Or so she hoped.

Amy was looking out for Carol as she walked along Lavender Hill after work on Saturday. They came from opposite directions, and often bumped into each other, Amy now waving an arm as she saw Carol walking towards her. ‘Hello,’ she said as they met up. ‘Your hair looks nice.’

‘I’m going out with the boys tonight, and though the salon was busy one of the stylists quickly put it up for me.’

‘How’s your dad? It must have been awful for him to get chucked out of his house like that.’

‘It was his own fault,’ Carol said without any sign of sympathy. ‘He should have got a job and paid the rent.’

‘I suppose he’s living with you and your brothers now?’

‘No, he isn’t with us. He turned up looking for money last night, and once he got his hands on a few bob he buggered off, which is just as well because there’s no way I’d live under the same roof as him again.’

Amy supposed it was because Carol’s father was a drunk, but it still seemed so hard and she asked, ‘So where is he now?’

‘I’ve no idea, though I’d guess that he’s sleeping rough somewhere with the rest of the down and outs.’

‘But that’s awful,’ Amy exclaimed. ‘Aren’t you going to try to find him?’

‘No, I’m not, and if you knew what my father did to me, you’d understand why. Now I’ve got to go, so bye for now,’ Carol said, abruptly walking off towards her brothers’ flat.

Amy was left bewildered. She knew that Carol’s dad had turned into a drunk, but now it sounded as though something else had happened to turn her against him. With no idea what he had done, Amy was left to wonder as she continued on her way home.

Carol stomped upstairs to the flat. Her brothers were at home, only working overtime on the occasional Saturday, and Paul cocked his head as he looked at her, asking, ‘What’s got up your nose? I can see by your boat race that you’re in a strop.’

‘I bumped into Amy, and because you insisted that I kept my mouth shut about what Dad did to me, she looked shocked that I don’t give a damn about him being evicted.’

‘Give it a rest, Carol,’ said Dave. ‘It happened months ago, but you keep going on about it. We’ve told you over and over again that Dad was drunk, that he didn’t
know what he was doing and like us, you should give him the benefit of the doubt. We’re worried about him since he shot off yesterday, and though we’ve been having a scout round we can’t find him. We’ll give it another go tomorrow.’

Carol was still sick with worry, fearing that her dad would one day blurt it out – that he’d tell her brothers about the abortion. Not only that, the thought of having him anywhere near her was more than she could bear. ‘If you find him, don’t bring him here. You weren’t there that night! I was and I’m still having nightmares. I screamed at Dad, yelled at him, told him it was me, Carol, but it didn’t stop him. He may have been drunk, but he wasn’t deaf!’

‘You never told us that,’ Paul said sharply.

‘Yes I did. I must have done,’ Carol protested.

‘No, you didn’t,’ said Dave. ‘You just said he came into your room and that you had to fight him off.’

‘Dave, do you know what this means?’ Paul asked.

‘Yeah, that Dad lied to us. He must have known it was Carol, but the filthy pig told us he thought she was
Mum
,’ Dave said, his features now tight with anger.

‘Well that’s it. He can rot in hell,’ Paul growled, ‘and he’d better not turn up here again.’

Carol hadn’t realised that she’d left out some of what had happened that night and felt a huge sense of relief that her brothers believed her now. If they had found their dad and taken him in, she would have been forced to leave, but that wasn’t going to happen now. She loved living with Paul and Davy – loved it when they took her out with them. Her bad mood lightening, she said, ‘Come on, let’s forget about Dad. We’re going to the 2i’s coffee bar tonight and I wonder who’ll be performing.’

‘Another lot of hopefuls I should think,’ Paul said. ‘Since that Tommy Hicks was spotted and signed up with Decca, the place is buzzing.’

‘He’s just had a record released called
Rock with the Caveman
, but he’s changed his name to Tommy Steele now,’ Dave said.

Carol hadn’t thought much of the small coffee bar when her brothers had first taken her there, the live music played in the basement, but now it had become the in place to be.

It was great to be a part of a new, emerging music scene and now Carol felt that she was really living again.

Rose was excited. They’d already exchanged contracts on the new house in Battersea and as it was an empty property, they’d soon be moving in. ‘If it’s all right with you, I’ll pop down to see Phyllis in the morning. I want to find out if she’s made up her mind about coming to work for us.’

‘My dear,’ Samuel said, ‘you don’t have to ask my permission every time you want to go out.’

‘I know, but I don’t like leaving you on your own for too long. You could come with me.’

‘No, Rose. As you know, I’ve just evicted one of my tenants on Lark Rise and feelings might be running high among his neighbours.’

‘I suppose it’s possible,’ Rose said, wondering if as Samuel’s wife, she’d take some stick too. ‘I did try to dissuade you, but you wouldn’t listen to me.’

‘Rose, I run a business, not a charity, and I can’t allow my tenants to accrue rent arrears that they’ll never be able to repay.’

‘I know, I’m not criticising you.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. Now you go along to see Phyllis in the morning and don’t worry about me. I’m not so doddery that I need constant care. You’re my wife, Rose, not my nurse.’

Rose grinned, ‘I’d say that what we got up to last night proves you don’t need nursing.’

‘My father never did,’ Samuel said. ‘He lived into his late eighties and was comparatively healthy until the day he died.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ Rose managed to enthuse, though inwardly thinking that if Samuel lived that long, it would be many, many years before she became a rich widow. Still, as things were at the moment she wasn’t complaining. Samuel was generous, her extensive new wardrobe proved that, along with her weekly allowance. He’d also recently suggested driving lessons so that she could have her own car.