East End Trouble (9 page)

W
hen Kathleen heard
the knock at the front door, she flew down the stairs. She knew it would be Linda, and she wanted to open the door before her mum got there. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to start talking to Linda in case her friend accidentally let something slip.

“I’ll get it, Mum,” Kathleen shouted as she opened the door.

Linda stood on the front step, beaming. Her skin was glowing, and she looked incredibly happy.

Why was she looking so pleased with herself? This was a serious situation, and Linda was smiling away like a dopey cow.

“Let’s go up to my room,” Kathleen said, waiting for Linda to enter and then shutting the front door behind her.

Mary appeared from the kitchen. “Oh, hello Linda, love. I hope your family are all right.”

“They are, thank you, Mrs. Diamond.”

Kathleen started to practically drag Linda up the stairs.

“Would you girls like a cup of tea?” Mary called after them. “I’m just about to make one.”

Linda opened her mouth, but Kathleen, fearing Linda was about to accept, spoke up first. “No thanks, Mum. We’re just going up to my room. We’re going to listen to some records.”

Linda was a terrible liar, and Kathleen knew there was a good chance she would give the game away if they had to suffer through another conversation with Kathleen’s mother.

Kathleen yanked Linda by the arm, leaving Mary staring after them with a bewildered expression.

“I can’t wait to tell you about my day,” Linda said as they reached Kathleen’s room and the door was safely shut behind them. Kathleen frowned. What on earth was Linda on about? They’d spent all day together at Bevels.

“I was with you all day, Linda. What on earth would you have to tell me?”

Linda gave a smug smile. Kathleen narrowed her eyes and tapped her foot impatiently. “Well?”

Linda’s eyes shone as she smiled. “I’ve met a man,” she burst out.

Kathleen raised an eyebrow. Linda was a sweet girl, but she wasn’t exactly a man magnet. Kathleen wouldn’t have put it past her to make this up for a bit of attention.

“A man? And where exactly did you meet this man?” Kathleen asked sceptically.

“It was ever so romantic, Kath,” Linda said, her cheeks glowing. “You remember I had to stay behind at work and finish off some extra hemming.”

Kathleen nodded. Surely Linda wasn’t talking about Mr. Bevel? There had been certain rumours flying about a little while ago when one young girl left the machines under a bit of a cloud.

“Well, I was leaving, and I was in a hurry, so I wasn’t really looking where I was going. And just outside Bevels, I walked straight into him. You know how clumsy I am, Kath. I dropped my handbag and the contents went everywhere.” Linda flushed a bright pink. “It was ever so embarrassing. I had my makeup and things in there, but he was ever such a gentleman. He helped me pick everything up and put it back in my bag.” Linda’s face took on a dreamy expression.

Kathleen nodded. This sounded more like it. She’d just bumped into some poor unsuspecting chap outside, and Linda had attached all sorts of romantic connotations to it.

Kathleen opened her mouth to tell Linda all about her problems, so they could discuss what Kathleen should do next, but Linda hadn’t finished talking.

“After he helped me put everything back in my bag, he was ever so charming and said he thought it was fate that we’d met that way. Then he asked me to go out with him on Friday night. We’re going to meet at the cinema.” Linda said, looking ever so excited.

Kathleen was silent. She couldn’t believe that Linda was thinking about going on a date when Kathleen had all these problems hanging over her head.

Linda suddenly noticed Kathleen was being very quiet, which was most unlike her. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you excited for me?”

“I never thought you were selfish, Linda, and I certainly hadn’t pegged you as a mean girl,” Kathleen said.

Linda’s eyes widened. “Mean? I wasn’t being mean. I was just telling you about the man I’d met. I thought you’d be pleased for me. You’re always on at me to find a bloke, and now I’ve met someone.”

“Right now, you meeting a man is the last thing on my mind, Linda. I do have bigger problems to deal with,” Kathleen said irritably.

Linda looked repentant and patted Kathleen’s hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I thought my news might take your mind off everything.”

“It can’t take my mind off it. Nothing can. I’m in a lot of trouble here, Linda, and I could do with your support.”

Linda bowed her head in shame. “Of course, let’s talk about your problem and decide what you’re going to do.”

Kathleen nodded, feeling slightly mollified. She got up off of the bed and put one of her records on the record player just in case her mum was eavesdropping.

With the sound of Bing Crosby playing in the background, Kathleen sat back on the bed beside Linda. “I still don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “It’s just so unfair. Why did it have to happen to me? We only did it a couple of times.”

Linda pursed her lips together and then said, “Well, it only takes one time.”

Kathleen narrowed her eyes. “Yes, thank you, Nurse Linda. You’re clearly an expert on the matter.”

Linda grimaced. She realised she was just irritating Kathleen even though she was trying to help.

Kathleen stared down at her hands on her lap. “A girl who used to work at Bevels called Claudine told me her cousin went to a place in Stepney. They can get rid of it.”

Kathleen turned her eyes on her friend.

Linda looked pale. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Kath. You hear all sorts of stories about places like that. It could be dangerous.” She tilted her head, so she was looking at Kathleen full in the face. “Why don’t you tell your mum?”

Kathleen looked horrified. Had Linda lost her mind? “There’s no chance of that,” Kathleen said, dismissing the idea immediately. “She would go mad. Then she’d never let me go out ever again.”

The two girls sat silently for a moment.

“Look,” Kathleen said, leaning back on the wall and biting down on her lower lip. “I need you to do me a favour.”

Linda nodded her head, her shiny brown fringe falling forward over her eyes. “Of course. I’ll do anything I can to help. You know that.”

Kathleen nodded. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. “I need you to phone Claudine’s cousin and find out exactly where this place is.”

Linda’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Why me? Why do I have to do it?”

“Well, I can’t have anyone knowing it’s me, can I?”

“But… But they’ll think it’s for me.”

Kathleen laughed cruelly. “Of course, they won’t. You can say you’re calling about a friend. They will believe you. I mean,” Kathleen looked her friend up and down. “It’s not as if you’re the type of girl that would drive a man wild, is it?”

The sparkle in Linda’s eyes faded as Kathleen’s words sunk in. Her shoulders slumped. “What do you need me to do?”

Kathleen reached over to the nightstand and took out the slip of paper that she’d kept hidden away from her mother. “I’ve got the number here. We need to go to the phone box now, and you can call Claudine’s cousin and ask her where the clinic is. You can say you’re asking for a friend.”

“But won’t they just assume it’s for you if it’s a friend of mine?” Linda asked. “After all, everybody knows you’re my best friend.”

Kathleen frowned. She hadn’t thought of that. But it didn’t matter. The important thing was that they got this address and got the matter sorted so that Kathleen could get back to her normal life.

Kathleen shrugged. “They might suspect that. But they can’t prove it. Besides,” she added grumpily. “It’s not as if I have much choice, is it?”

O
n Friday lunchtime
, Linda and Kathleen left Bevels together. Linda had said she needed to go to the dentist, and Kathleen said she had a doctor’s appointment.

Kathleen pushed back her hair from her pale face and felt sick with fear as she and Linda walked towards the address they’d been given in Stepney.

Linda linked arms with her friend and smiled up at her encouragingly.

“It will soon be over, Kath,” she said.

But Kathleen knew that wasn’t true. She’d already had to pay for the pregnancy test because the GP she’d visited wasn’t her usual one. And now she knew this would cost money, too, and she hadn’t got a clue how she was going to afford it. Kathleen wasn’t one for saving her earnings. She paid a bit of money to her mother for her keep, and the rest of it went on records, clothes and makeup.

“Is this it?” Linda asked looking up at the red brick building. “It just looks like a normal house.”

Kathleen looked at her friend with irritation. How was she supposed to know if it was the right address? She hadn’t been here before either.

They knocked at the front door and waited until it was opened by a young girl, who couldn’t have been much older than Kathleen and Linda. She looked them up and down but didn’t say a word.

Kathleen flushed with embarrassment. What was she supposed to say? What if they’d got the wrong address?

“I’ve come for the clinic,” Kathleen said in a shaky voice.

The young girl gave a nod and then jerked her thumb to indicate they should go inside. She still hadn’t spoken a word. It was very odd.

As they walked inside, Kathleen whispered to her friend. “I’m not sure about this.”

She felt Linda squeeze her hand reassuringly.

The young girl led them into the front room, but it didn’t have any of the usual front room furniture. There was a set of hard plastic chairs lined up around the edges of the room, and Kathleen and Linda took a seat.

The young girl left them alone. “I hope we don’t have to wait long,” Linda said. “Otherwise, we’re going to be back late at Bevels.”

Getting back to work on time was the least of Kathleen’s worries.

“Do you think they’re going to do it today?” Linda asked, looking down at Kathleen’s stomach. “How long does it take?”

Kathleen glared at her friend. Why was she asking such stupid questions? “I don’t know. It’s not as if I’ve done this before.”

“Mrs. V will see you now,” a voice said behind them. It was the young girl from earlier, who appeared out of nowhere, making Kathleen jump and clutch onto Linda’s arm.

“Do you want me to come in with you, Kath?” Linda asked.

Kathleen hesitated, and then she shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay. You’ll wait for me, though, won’t you?”

Linda nodded and patted her hand. “Of course, I will.”

Kathleen took a deep breath and stood up. Then she followed the young girl out of the room. She was escorted down the hallway to another room, which Kathleen supposed under normal circumstances might be the dining room. Inside, there was a small woman with grey hair and rosy cheeks sitting behind a desk. If Kathleen had seen her under other circumstances, she’d have supposed she was somebody’s grandmother. She really didn’t look like the type of person who would perform an abortion.

After the young girl had shut the door behind her, leaving Kathleen and the elderly woman alone in the room, the grey-haired lady pointed at the chair in front of the desk. “Please sit down,” she said.

Kathleen did as she was told, nervously licking her dry lips and feeling even sicker than before.

The woman pushed aside the papers in front of her on the desk. “I’m Mrs. V,” she said. “I don’t use my real name for obvious reasons, but please be assured I’ve performed the procedure many times in the past. Now, how far along are you?”

Kathleen looked at her blankly. “Um, I’m not really sure.”

Kathleen’s heart was pounding as Mrs. V frowned at her.

“Well, we can determine that upon examination. We won’t be performing the abortion today. We will need payment up front. The total cost will be twenty-five pounds. Once you give us the money, we’ll arrange a time for you to come back and have the abortion.”

Kathleen felt the breath leave her lungs all in a rush. Twenty-five pounds! She could never afford that.

“Well, would you like me to schedule the appointment?” Miss V looked at Kathleen with piercing blue eyes.

Kathleen thought she didn’t seem like such a friendly grandmother-type, after all. She didn’t really care about Kathleen. She wasn’t trying to help her. She probably dealt with girls like Kathleen all day long.

Kathleen shook her head and tried to fight back the tears that were gathering in her eyes. “I’ll have to think about it and get back to you.”

“Very well,” Miss V said. “You know where we are.”

Kathleen stood up, and her legs felt shaky as she walked to the door.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she made her way down the corridor and back into the room where Linda sat waiting for her.

Linda stood up quickly.

“Let’s go,” Kathleen said.

Linda followed her out of the clinic and as they walked back to Bevels, Kathleen finally let the tears roll down her cheeks.

“What am I going to do, Linda? I can’t afford to pay twenty-five pounds.”

Linda thought for a moment and looked as though she were racking her brains. “I’ve got a bit of money saved,” she said. “But it’s nowhere near enough, I’m afraid. I think you’re going to have to tell your mum.”

“My mum will kill me,” Kathleen sobbed.

Linda linked arms with her friend. More than anything she wanted to reassure Kathleen that things would work out all right in the end, but she knew Kathleen was right. Mary Diamond was going to go absolutely mental when she found out.

T
he following week
, Mary Diamond was woken up early by the sound of the bathroom door closing.

Mary didn’t sleep well these days, and she’d had a sleepless night.

When she heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom, Mary quickly climbed out of bed and reached for her dressing gown. Her first thought was that Kathleen had some kind of bug, and she wanted to check on her, but when she opened her bedroom door, planning to go and comfort her daughter, she paused.

Kathleen had been acting very strangely lately, and now she was throwing up in the bathroom… A feeling of dread came over Mary. Surely not. Not her little girl.

But the more Mary thought it through, the more she realised her suspicions were right. It had been a couple of months since her daughter had been spending time with Martin Morton. Mary smothered a groan. It would be different if it had been a nice local lad, and Kathleen could settle down and get married. But Martin Morton!

Just then Kathleen opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out onto the landing. Her face was pale and had a greenish tint as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Her eyes widened in shock when she saw her mother standing there.

Mary folded her arms across her chest. “Have you got something to tell me, young lady?”

Kathleen’s lower lip wobbled, just like it used to do when she was a toddler, and then she promptly burst into tears.

Mary sighed heavily. “Dry your eyes, my girl. Those tears aren’t going to help anyone.” Mary walked up to her daughter pointed to her stomach. “Is it Martin Morton’s?”

Kathleen nodded and tried to swallow her sobs. “I’m sorry, Mum. But I loved him. I thought he was going to marry me.”

Mary shook her head. Kathleen had been stupid, no doubt about that, but so had many other young girls before her.

Mary unfolded her arms and put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. She was still struggling to control her temper, but she knew that getting angry with Kathleen wasn’t going to solve anything.

“Come on, love. Get your dressing gown on, and we’ll go downstairs and make a nice brew. You’ll feel better with a cup of tea inside you.”

Kathleen looked relieved that Mary was taking the news so well. “I don’t know what to do, Mum.”

“We’ll sort it out,” Mary said, although she didn’t really see much of a way forward. She wasn’t about to let Kathleen give her grandchild up for adoption, and that didn’t leave them with many choices.

The only thing Mary knew for certain was that Martin Morton must never know that the child was his.