A Wanton Tale (25 page)

‘Florrie we must leave this evil house. I am going to take you home to your mother and I will tell her what has happened. He had vaguely heard of the Hales in the neighbourhood, although his father had never spoken about them. Jim knew it was their house and they had to get out quick. He had an idea that they were bad.

‘Florrie, hurry, we must run out the back way. Stand up! Do your legs feel strong enough to take your weight? Florrie nodded then stood up slowly. ‘Can you run?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

They both ran out of the back door and made their way to the tram in London Road. As they waited in the damp miserable evening air, Florrie asked, again, ‘Who was that girl?’

‘I don’t really know, she was a passerby who wanted to help, there are some good Samaritans you know.’

‘You mean like the lady who brought you up, old Sally and your Aunty Margaret who took your Jessie in?’

‘Yes, I believe she’s a good person, just like them. Some people are genuinely kind.’

He knew that he couldn’t possibly tell her about Larry. It would be too much for her to take in and would perhaps, be unbelievable. In fact, he didn’t really understand it himself, he just knew that he was good.

After what seemed like an eternity they were glad to see the tram coming towards them. They were soon heading in the direction of West Derby Road towards Everton, they would be home in fifteen minutes. It was another short walk through Village Street before they arrived in Greenside.

Florrie’s mother was becoming impatient after waiting for more than an hour in the tea rooms, but Minnie wasn’t unduly concerned for her daughter. She assumed that Florrie had been distracted by her friend and had simply lost track of time. She had noticed, of late, that Florrie had been spending a lot more time with Jim, however, Minnie had her own life to live.

As she looked at the clock on the wall, she caught the eye of a man whom she recognised. He was a customer in the chemist shop, their chance meeting had led to a clandestine meeting in the secrecy of his closed office.

Minnie watched him pay his bill, he deliberately walked past her table as he made for the door. As their eyes met he gave a slight inclination of his head. He was, discreetly, inviting Minnie to follow him. He wanted her to follow him to his place of work. It was just after five o’clock and by now all the staff had long gone home, his office was closed.

Minnie was excited as she headed off towards the office on the corner of North John Street. Her face was flushed in anticipation of her illicit meeting. She enjoyed the idea that no one knew about her secret life, the spoils of which were a godsend when she needed a few bob. The man she was following was a surveyor and valuer. His speciality was probate valuations, he was doing rather well for himself. Minnie knew he would be generous. When she arrived at the offices, he had left the door unlocked.

He was already seated, patiently waiting for her, he had a bottle of whisky and two glasses. He poured a measure for each of them and raised his glass to her as she took off her coat. Minnie added water to her drink and sipped from the glass.

He opened his wallet and handed her a note. She leant forward initiating a hungry kiss then began to undo the buttons of her blouse. The only source of light streamed in from the street gas lights bathing her bare breasts in a soft ambient glow. He began to run his fingers through her hair as she knelt on the carpet in front of him. It excited him to be enjoying the sins of the flesh in the silent, dimly lit office.

It gave him a thrill in the morning seeing the workers go about their business, oblivious to the sordid action that had occurred the night before.

Jim and Florrie found the house in darkness. ‘Me Ma’s not in, there’s no gases on, the house is in darkness. I wonder where she is, I had arranged to meet her in the tea rooms in Bold Street.’ Said Florrie with slight panic in her voice.

She was eager to tell her mother about her ordeal. For a moment, she couldn’t think straight, she was tired and traumatised, her head was aching.

‘Have you got a key?’ Asked Jim.

Florrie’s hand grabbed at her chest, she was relieved to feel the key. It was on a piece of string around her neck. She quickly pulled out the key from under her blouse.

‘Let’s go in and put some gases on, make us a nice cuppa tea, I’ll stay with you ‘til she comes back Florrie.’

Florrie’s Ma had stayed out late many times before so she wasn’t unduly concerned about her but she was intrigued as to where she might be. Her Ma kept herself to herself and didn’t seem to have any friends. In fact, she had never known her to have one single woman friend, she had never received a neighbour as a visitor.

The evening’s events started to give Florrie cause to worry about her mother. ‘Ma should have been here for me.’ She thought.

Jim lit the fire and soon the kitchen was warm. They had some tea and warmed pies in the oven. Now settled on the armchairs in front of the range, they sat and talked about inconsequential things. Jim mentioned New Brighton to try and cheer her up. In the summer, they had planned to go The Flower Show. There was a fine pavilion at the promenade pier. He promised to take her to concerts and bazaars. The elegant refreshment rooms offered views for miles across the river and out to sea. ‘We can go straight there on the steamer Florrie, we have all that to look forward to.’ He could tell by her face that her mood was beginning to lighten up a little.

They sat in silence, each locked in their own thoughts about the evening. Eventually, Minnie arrived home. She seemed in a good frame of mind and greeted them both with a smile.

She threw her arms around Florrie and kissed her. ‘We missed each other. I waited and you didn’t come. Where have you been?’ She then realised that her daughter was upset. ‘You’ve been crying. What is the matter with you?’

Florrie opened her mouth to speak when she caught Jim’s eye. He was shaking his head, his eyes were on Minnie’s skirt. Florrie had known Jim long enough to understand his body language. She could see by his expression that he was telling her to be quiet.

‘I was just worried about you Ma.’ She said standing and hugging her mother again. She now smelt the whisky on her breath. She looked down and noticed that a button was missing from her mother’s skirt. There was a damp stain on the front of her blouse as though she had spilt something and her lipstick was smudged.

‘I’ll be on my way Mrs. Ryan. Good night Florrie, will see you tomorrow.’ He tapped her cheek with the back of his hand. He feigned a smile at Florrie’s mother then left.

Florrie cried herself to sleep that night. She now knew full well what her Ma’s game was. Clearly, her mother had been with a man shortly before coming home. She was sure that she was up to no good with men. Florrie now felt that she could never trust her again.

The Hales sat in the Vines drinking until the landlord called time. The amount they had consumed had obliterated their concerns about the night’s events. There was nowhere else for them to go but home. As usual, the evil pair cheeked it out, they would deny everything if the police came. They knew that the illusive Maurice would be long gone. They had spent the evening concocting a story.

‘To hell with young Florrie!’ Said Betsy wickedly. ‘I will say she came to our house under false pretences, I’ll tell the Mr. Plods that she was looking for gainful employment and it was a ploy to sneak her thieving ‘fella’ in. She came to our abode with her robbing little accomplice Jim Boyle. His father is a known thief with a criminal record. I’ll tell them the little bastard is one of the ring leaders of the criminal club. That’s why all the town traders and shops have been getting robbed blind, it’s because of low lifes like him.’

‘Good story. They will have all fucked off by the time we get back. Stick to your tale, I will let you do all the talking, I’m always better at being the quiet man.’ Added Freddie.

‘Come, we must go.’ Betsy gave him a nudge.

There was no need for any elaborate tales. They went home to an empty house and the police never came. Betsy and Freddie were off the hook once again.

As days went by, Florrie became more curious about her mother. She was now sure that Minnie was living a double life. Amidst the facade of her respectable job in the druggist’s and her neat terraced house with starched lace curtains, there was a dark side to her.

Florrie was alone in the house one evening and plucked up the courage to have a nose around her Ma’s bedroom. Minnie denied herself nothing. She wore good quality clothes and shoes made of kid leather. Her mother’s wardrobe contained some dresses that were exceptional. When she wore them, she made sure that the finery was hidden under a greatcoat.

Florrie rarely went into her Ma’s room. Of late, Minnie had often kept the door locked and had told Florrie, ‘Don’t you be going in there, there’s nothing in there for you, I don’t like anyone rooting in my private effects.’ This just made Florrie think that she had something to hide, her curiosity was aroused.

In the fading light, she looked at the row of fancy scent bottles on the dressing table. She had a quick dab of the perfume. She was taken aback by the headiness of it, it was heavy and over-powering.

She opened the top drawer in which there was an array of underwear, silk stockings, garters and fine silk drawers trimmed with lace. They were luxurious to the touch. For a moment Florrie gazed out of the window at the grey street before her. Tears began to roll down her cheeks at the thought of her mother laying with men for money. Florrie couldn’t bear the thought of it, particularly in the light of her recent experience.

As she rummaged around in the drawer she came across a small trinket box. Her heart skipped a beat as she dared herself to open it. Inside was a beautiful marquise style diamond ring. It sparkled in the fading evening light from the bedroom window. Florrie just had to try it on. It was a perfect fit for the middle finger of her right hand. Her mind was racing, she had never seen her mother wear this ring before and it couldn’t possibly fit her. Her Ma was a big boned woman and had fairly large if not ‘mannish’ hands.

‘Then where did she get it?’ Wondered Florrie, ‘One of her fancy men must have bought it for her, but then it would fit. ‘She must have pinched it then.’

She couldn’t believe that her own mother was going with different men and was possibly a thief as well. She didn’t like the way her mother had been conducting herself of late and she was starting to act strangely. Her drinking had made her become increasingly irritable and moody. Her mother had become unbearably rude, ill tempered and very difficult to live with.

Florrie decided that she no longer wanted to live under the same roof as her mother. Minnie was increasingly vague about her life outside the home and her work. She had been seen around town with a number of suitors. There were different men every week, Jim had reported some sightings of her and Florrie had seen her on two occasions walking arm in arm with a man. Florrie didn’t have the courage to confront her, of late her mother was temperamental and moody, she had no intentions of falling out with her.

Jim was beside himself with anger at the Hales. He knew exactly who they were now. He had been asking his father about them and had made some enquiries in the neighbourhood. He found out that they were brothel keepers and bad people. He swore he would kill the pair of them. Florrie restrained him, she did everything she could to calm his anger. The only consolation they had was that she’d had a narrow escape. However, Jim was seething with fury at what might have been.

His Pa had told him about his time in jail alongside Freddie Hale. Jim could see that the mere mention of Freddie was like a red rag to a bull so he decided to let sleeping dogs lie. After all, his Pa had done so well to redeem himself in the face of adversity. He came out of prison to hardly any family left and no home. Jim was now proud of his father’s achievements and efforts to improve his lot. Charlie often said, ‘Don’t look for trouble lad, trouble will find you.’ With these words firmly in his mind, Jim was determined to stay out of lumber.

Then one day he asked his Pa for a favour. He was tentative about asking, expecting the answer to be ‘No.’

‘Pa, you know my girl, Florrie.’

‘You know quite well I know who Florrie is, don’t fucking tell me, you’ve got her in the family way?’

‘No, no, nothing like that Pa, the truth is, she’s not getting on very well with her Ma, they are always arguing, Mrs. Ryan has a nasty temper.’ Jim exaggerated.

‘What’s that got to do with me?’

‘Can she rent a room off us? It’s a big house, plenty of space and she can have the second floor. She’ll be out the way and can pay us rent.’

‘Don’t know about that, it’s not decent, neighbours will have something to say
and
what about her Ma? How would she feel about her daughter coming to live here?’

‘Well she’s already asked her and she doesn’t mind. We are just waiting on you.’ Said Jim eagerly.

‘I expect she doesn’t, she’d have a free leg so she can go fucking around with men, I know what her game is.’

‘Well, Florrie is a good girl and doesn’t like what’s going on.’

‘Very well, but I’ll speak to her mother first, I just hope it’s not like mother, like daughter. Don’t even think of trying anything here, or else I’ll throw the pair of you out. I want her mother to make it plain to her before she comes here. There will be house rules do you understand?’

‘Of course I do Pa.’

The following week Florrie moved in with Jim and his father.

Before she left, Florrie took the ring from the trinket box that was hidden in the drawer of her mother’s dressing table. She stole it to spite her, owing to her behaviour with men. ‘She hadn’t been here for me on that night I was nearly raped, what sort of mother is she anyway?’ Thought Florrie as she tried to justify her actions.

To hide her theft, Florrie hatched a crafty plan but she needed Jim’s help. Besotted with his girlfriend, he would do almost anything in the world for her. Jim was most surprised to learn that she had stolen the ring, she pleaded with him to stage a break in at the house. He couldn’t easily forget the values instilled in him by old Sally and felt reluctant to go along with Florrie’s wishes. He knew it was wrong but Florrie was a powerful influence on him. That very night Jim forced Minnie’s back kitchen door open with a jemmy to make it look like a burglary. Florrie had opened several drawers in her mother’s bedroom and left some of her underwear strewn on the floor. She also left the empty trinket box that contained the ring at the top of the stairs to make it look like a real theft.