Stay as Sweet as You Are (38 page)

‘I know that, Kate, but yer see, my wife isn’t a normal mother. She has no time for Lucy and I doubt if she’s even noticed the change in her. All Ruby thinks about is her make-up, dyeing her hair, her ciggies and her nights out in the pub with her mates. She doesn’t give a toss for me, I’m just the man who hands his money over every week. There are times when I feel like packing me bags and finding lodgings somewhere. But I’d have a job finding a place that would take me and Lucy. And I’d never leave her there, she’s my whole life. I love her more than anyone else on this earth.’

‘I wish I could help yer, Bob, but there’s not much I can do. Lucy doesn’t know me, and she wouldn’t take kindly to a stranger asking her questions.’

‘No, I realise that. I’ll have a word with Irene, next door. Lucy thinks the world of her, so she’d be the best one to have a chat with her.’ There came a loud burst of laughter from their workmates, and Kate and Bob leaned forward to see what was going on.

Peg Butterworth had her chin cupped in her two hands as
she glared at Elsie Burgess. ‘Say that again, girl, but start at the very beginning.’

‘All right, queen, I’ll start from the night before last, when I put me washing in the dolly tub to steep overnight. Well, it was all me sheets and pillowcases, so I put some bleach in the water to bring them up nice and white. But when I took the clothes out of the tub yesterday morning, I found I’d accidentally put my feller’s blue shirt in the wash. At least, it
was
my feller’s blue shirt, but now it’s his patchy grey one. I was beside meself, queen, ’cos he loved that bleedin’ shirt more than he loves me. While I was getting the dinner ready for our Edna to put on, I was trying to think of what I could do to make amends. I’d peeled the potatoes and carrots and turnip, and I was just salting them when I had this brainwave.’

‘You with a brainwave?’ Peg said, tongue in cheek. ‘That’s a novelty.’

‘Who’s telling the tale, queen, you or me?’

‘I’m sorry, girl.’ Peg lifted her hands in surrender. ‘My lips are sealed from now on.’

Happy she now had the undivided attention of all her mates, Elsie went on: ‘I thought of a way to sweeten him up, so he wouldn’t pulverise me when I showed him his shirt. I set a tray with a nice lace cloth on, filled me best glass sugar bowl, got out me china milk jug what hasn’t seen daylight since Adam was a lad, and put them on the tray with his favourite cup. It looked a treat, dead posh and fit for the King. And I left a note for our Edna to make her dad a nice cup of tea before she put the dinner out.’

‘Did it do the trick?’ Billy Gleeson asked. ‘Did it sweeten him up?’

‘Well, it would have done if I hadn’t gone and got meself all mixed up. What with all the worry and one thing and another, I’d filled the sugar bowl with salt and put sugar in the potatoes and carrots and turnip. And my feller takes three sugars in his tea, so yer can imagine he wasn’t best pleased
when he gulped half the cup down in one go before making a dash for the sink and spewing it up. Our Edna said he was drinking cup after cup of water until she put his dinner down to him. She said that was when all hell broke loose. Yer see, my feller doesn’t only like a lot of sugar in his tea, he likes plenty of salt in his spuds and vegetables. And I’d gone and got them all mixed up, hadn’t I?’

The howls of laughter were so loud, Elsie knew there was no point in going on because she wouldn’t be heard. So she folded her arms across her tummy and waited for the noise to subside. Then she said, ‘Well, anyone can make a mistake, can’t they?’

Peg was pressing her hands to her cheeks which were stiff with laughing. But she couldn’t resist a leg-pull. ‘Anyone can make a mistake, girl, but very few could make as many in one go as you. It’s beyond my comprehension how anyone can be so feckless.’

Elsie’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is she insulting me, Billy Glee-son?’

‘Yeah.’ Billy’s eyes were red-rimmed with wiping away the tears of laughter. ‘She said she can’t understand why ye’re so daft.’

‘Yer mean that’s all those big words meant?’ Elsie looked down her nose at Peg. ‘Ye’re wasting yer time here, queen, yer should be standing behind the counter at Cooper’s. That’s the posh shop where all the rich people go, and they talk so far back yer can’t hardly hear them. I think yer’d go down well there, queen, as long as yer remembered yer can’t tell them to bugger off, like yer do me.’

Billy was getting impatient. ‘Elsie, will yer get back and finish the tale off? What did your feller have to say?’

‘Oh yeah, yer’ll like this bit, Billy. I didn’t, but you will. Yer see when I got home last night, I didn’t know what I’d done, did I? So when Tiger put this dinner in front of me I thought he was being all lovey-dovey. “I’ve saved this for yer, petal,” he said. “I hope yer enjoy it as much as me and
the kids did.”’ Elsie rolled her eyes and hitched her bosom. ‘I thought my ship had come in, didn’t I? So when I picked up me knife and fork, I was planning in me mind what to do, seeing as he seemed in a good mood. I’d finish me dinner, then sit on his knee, give him a big kiss and stroke his hair. Then I’d break the news about his shirt.’

Little Ada Smithson’s eyes and mouth were twitching. ‘I know what’s coming next. Yer couldn’t eat the bleedin’ dinner ’cos yer’d ruined it.’

Elsie rested her soulful eyes on each of them for a second. Then in a dramatic voice that would have done credit to Bette Davis, she said, ‘If I never move from this chair, I sat there and stuffed mouthful after mouthful in me gob. I could feel my feller’s eyes on me and I tried to look as though I was enjoying it. But halfway through I had to give up. I looked at him and asked if this was his idea of a joke. Then of course, I got the lot thrown at me. I can’t tell yer what he said because the air was blue. So suffice to say my dear husband was not in the least amused.’ She looked at Peg with a haughty expression. ‘Yer see, queen, ye’re not the only one what knows big words. So if yer ever do get a job in Cooper’s, yer can always put in a good word for yer best mate. And don’t forget to tell them I’m house-trained.’

‘I wish yer’d finish what yer started, Elsie.’ Billy hated missing out on anything. ‘What did your feller say about his shirt?’

‘Ooh, he doesn’t know, yet. The mood he was in I wasn’t about to confess to another sin. Not ruddy likely, I wasn’t.’

‘That’s daft, that is,’ Peg said. ‘Yer should have told him and got it over with. Come Saturday, when we’re going to the pub, he’ll be wanting to wear that blue shirt.’

‘I’ll have had time to think of something before then. In fact, queen, I was going to ask yer to lend me half-a-crown so I can buy him a new one. I’ll pay yer back next week.’

‘Blimey! If that’s not cheek, I don’t know what is. Yer ruin yer husband’s best shirt, yer don’t know the difference
between salt and sugar, and yet it’s Muggins here what’s going to be out of pocket.’

‘Don’t shout at me, queen. What with all the carry-on, I’ve got a splitting headache. And I didn’t get much sleep last night because my feller had to get up to go to the lavvy every half hour after drinking so much water.’

‘I’ll lend yer the half-crown, Elsie,’ Billy said. ‘The laugh we’ve had was worth that.’

‘Yer will not!’ Peg was highly indignant. ‘You’ve got a cheek, Billy Gleeson. She’s my mate, and if anyone’s going to lend her half-a-crown, it’ll be me. So there!’

Aggie glanced at the clock when a knock came on the door. ‘This’ll be Olive on her way home from work.’

‘I’ll go.’ Titch was halfway out of his chair when his mother waved him back.

‘Stay where yer are, sweetheart, I’ll go.’ She gave a cheeky grin. ‘Me legs are younger than yours.’ Aggie swayed along the hall with a smile on her face. Unless she was very much mistaken, her son’s interest in Olive was more than friendship. He might not know it himself yet, but she could see the signs were there. He’d been clockwatching for the last hour without even realising he was doing it. ‘Come in, queen, the kettle’s on the boil.’

Titch sprang to his feet and grasped the hand Olive had extended. ‘Hello, Olive, it’s good to see yer.’ He bent to kiss her cheek. ‘And it’s good to be home.’

‘It’s good to see you, Titch.’ Olive cursed the colour she could feel rising from her neck to cover her face. Fancy a grown woman like her blushing because an old friend kissed her. In front of his mother, too. ‘Aggie’s been running around like a two-year-old since she knew yer were coming home. And Steve can’t wait to see yer.’

Titch pulled a chair out for her. ‘I’d have come down last night but yer know I always go for a pint with me mates. Or I should say mate, because there was only me and George.’

‘I’ll see to the tea while you two catch up,’ Aggie said, humming as she went through to the kitchen. After pouring the boiling water into the tea pot, she leaned back against the sink. She knew she shouldn’t let her imagination run away with her, but if a romance blossomed between her son and Olive, she’d be the happiest woman alive.

‘Ma, have yer gone to China for that tea?’

Aggie shook herself out of her dreaming. She’d been miles away and had forgotten what she was doing in the kitchen. ‘Keep yer hair on, son, I’m not a ruddy whippet.’

Olive pushed her chair back. ‘I’ll give yer a hand, Aggie.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Titch told her. ‘You stay where yer are, yer’ve been working hard.’

Well, well, thought Aggie as her heart began to sing. Things are definitely looking up.

‘How’s the job going, Olive?’ Titch had already quizzed Alec last night, but he wasn’t going to say so. ‘D’yer like it?’

‘It’s great. Alec and Betty are very friendly and we have a good laugh. I found it hard going at first, but I’m used to it now.’

‘I can see the likeness between you and Steve, now yer face has filled out. Same fair hair and bright blue eyes. He’s got your mannerisms, too.’

‘But he’s got a dimple in his chin like Jim had, and he’s got the same square jaw.’ Olive turned to Aggie and winked. ‘If your son tells me I’ve put a lot of weight on, I’ll clock him one.’

Aggie grinned. ‘I’ll hold him while yer do it.’

‘I wasn’t going to say that at all,’ Titch said. ‘You women have a happy knack of jumping the gun. What I was going to say is that ye’re just right now, Olive. Nice and slim but with a bit of flesh in the right places.’

‘He’s getting personal now, Aggie, and making me blush. I’m going before he tells me me hair needs setting and me eyebrows plucking.’ Olive stood up and pushed the chair back into place. ‘Next time I see yer, Titch McBride, it’ll be
me asking all the questions. Like what did yer get up to while yer were away? And have yer added any more conquests to yer long list of girlfriends?’

‘Yer can ask me on the way down to your house, ’cos I’m coming with yer. Don’t forget I haven’t seen yer living room since it was finished.’

‘Oh no, you are not! I don’t have time to do me housework before I go out in the mornings and the place is a tip. I wouldn’t dream of letting yer see it, I’d die of humiliation.’

‘Olive, I’ll only be looking at the walls! I’m not going to run me fingers over the dust on yer sideboard, or look under yer bed.’

‘I know ye’re not, ’cos ye’re not getting the chance.’

Aggie put a hand over her mouth to hide a smile. That’s right, queen, she thought, make him toe the line. Give him a run for his money and he’ll come to his senses quicker.

Titch wasn’t the least bit put out. ‘What time is visiting time then, Mrs Fletcher?’

‘Half past six, when Steve’s had his meal.’ Olive’s face broke into a smile. ‘He’ll be made up to see yer, Titch. And so am I.’

Steve eyed his mother as he stood beside her at the sink. ‘Yer hair looks nice, Mam, and the lipstick suits yer.’ He dried the plate she passed over and reached up to put it on the shelf. ‘In fact, yer look very pretty.’

‘I had a spare half-hour so I put a few dinky curlers in.’ Olive moved away from the sink and waved a hand down the figure-hugging, soft wool blue dress she was wearing. ‘Does this look as though I bought it secondhand from Paddy’s Market?’

‘No! It looks smashing on yer, Mam, it really suits yer.’

‘Yer won’t tell anyone where it came from, will yer?’

‘Of course I won’t, I’m not that thick.’ Steve put the last plate on the shelf and hung the tea towel behind the door. ‘Did Mr Titch say yer looked well?’

Olive grinned as she dried her hands. ‘Yeah, he said I’ve come on a treat. I must have looked ruddy awful before, ’cos everyone I meet tells me how well I look.’

Steve cocked an ear. ‘There’s the knocker, Mam. Shall I go?’

‘Yes, please, son.’ Olive scolded herself for being nervous. After all, Titch was an old friend and there was no reason for her tummy to be doing somersaults.

Titch came in with an exaggerated sailor’s roll. ‘I gave me ticket in to the man at the door. He didn’t give me half back, so I mustn’t be getting a cup of tea in the interval.’

‘Go on, yer daft nit. I’ll have yer know that not only are yer getting a cup of tea, but there’s fresh milk to put in it.’

Steve was hopping from one foot to the other. ‘What d’yer think of the room, Mr Titch?’

‘It looks grand.’ Titch tore his eyes away from Olive. ‘Yer wouldn’t think it was the same room, it’s made such a difference.’

‘Yeah.’ The cleft in Steve’s chin deepened with his smile. ‘For the first week I kept thinking I’d come into the wrong house.’

‘It’s not only the room that’s changed,’ Titch said. ‘Look at yer mam! She looks like a film star.’

‘You start that, Titch McBride, and I’ll send yer packing.’ Olive didn’t possess a full-length mirror, so while she knew the dress was a good fit, she had no idea it showed off every curve of her body. Or that the colour accentuated the blue of her eyes. ‘Sit down and behave yerself.’

‘I’ll swap yer a list of my conquests for a cup of tea.’

‘That should be interesting,’ Olive said. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’

‘What conquests are they, Mr Titch?’

‘Yer mam thinks I’ve got a girl in every port, and she wants to know how many new ones I got this trip.’

‘Oh.’ Steve looked puzzled. ‘Yer haven’t, have yer?’

Titch shook his head. ‘No, but I don’t want to disillusion her.’