The Girl From Number 22 (28 page)

Annie wasn’t watching her husband but Ada was. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw him raise his arm. She quickly pulled Annie out of the way, and Tom’s heavy blow missed its target. Then he became a raving lunatic. ‘This is my bleeding house,’ he screamed, ‘and my bleeding wife. I am master of both, and can do as I bloody well like with both. So sling yer hook if yer know what’s good for yer. If yer don’t get out, and take yer mate with yer, then yer’ll both be kicked out on yer arse.’

Ada ignored him. ‘Get yer coat on, Annie, and come over to mine until yer dear husband has sobered up.’

‘Oh, I can’t do that, Ada,’ Annie told her tearfully. ‘I’ll have to have a meal ready for when Jenny and Ben come in from work.’

‘Yer can come back then,’ Ada said quietly. ‘I’m sure they won’t mind dinner from the chippy for once. If they’re anything like mine, they’ll enjoy chips and scallops for a change.’

‘Don’t you bleeding well be telling my wife what to do.’ Tom’s voice and stance were threatening as he stood in front of Ada, and the veins standing out on his temples and neck told of the rage he had bottled up inside him. ‘I’m the boss in this house, and what I say goes. Now sling yer bloody hook, yer nosy biddy, I’ve got some unfinished business to sort out with me wife.’

That was the deciding point for Annie. She’d taken punches, even the belt, for a quiet life. But she knew her husband’s unfinished business would be carried out in the bedroom, and she couldn’t face being humiliated and degraded. ‘I’ll get me coat on the way out, Ada. Let’s go.’

Tom Phillips’s jaw dropped and he looked stunned. His wife had never defied him before, she didn’t dare, for she knew what her punishment would be if she stepped out of line. It was all the fault of that bitch from over the road. She was egging his wife on. He grabbed Annie’s arm. ‘Don’t you walk out on me, yer
stupid cow, or yer’ll be sorry. Your place is here, looking after my needs, not listening to bloody women what have got nothing better to do. What d’yer think I pay yer for?’

But Annie closed her ears to his ranting. For the first time in her married life she didn’t care any more. She slipped her arms into her coat, picked up her purse and keys, and followed Ada and Hetty out of the front door. She crossed the cobbles with the two women, and never once looked back. If she had, she would have had cause for concern. Tom Phillips had his face pressed to the window, and it was distorted with anger, while his eyes blazed with rage. How dare she walk out on him. She’d suffer for it, by God she would. She’d rue the day she disobeyed him, he’d make sure of that. And as for the two bitches over the road, they’d be sorry they ever encouraged her to walk out on him.

Tom watched until the three women entered the house opposite and the door was closed behind them. Then he let the curtain fall back into place and walked to the fireside chair. He was in a dark mood, and the blame was all laid on his wife’s shoulders. Oh, the two biddies from opposite had encouraged her to defy him, but he was her husband and Annie had sworn to love and obey him. As far as he was concerned, that meant she was there to do his bidding. To satisfy his needs. And he’d come home early today to have those needs satisfied. He’d been looking forward to an hour or two of fun in the bedroom. Of seeing his wife squirm as she carried out the tasks he ordered her to do. All the way home his body had been getting excited at the thought of what was ahead. It wasn’t love he felt, it was lust. And now his body was crying out for release as he squirmed in the chair. He tried to comfort himself by thinking she’d be home soon, and then he’d have some fun with her. He
didn’t doubt she’d come back in time to make dinner for Jenny and Ben. They were the aces up his sleeve, and he knew it. She loved them, and would do anything to keep the peace in the house so they wouldn’t be upset. Yeah, she’d be back home soon to start their meal, and he could satisfy his urgent needs then. He’d leave the fun until later, when they went to bed. He could take as long as he liked to get his own back on her. All night if he wanted, and she wouldn’t make a sound.

With the warmth from the fire, and the four pints of beer still having an effect, he soon became drowsy. And with thoughts running through his mind of the satisfaction he was going to get by teaching his wife a lesson, he went to sleep with a smirk on his face.

Jenny walked through the factory gates with two of her mates. They were going to the Rialto dance hall that night, and were coaxing her to go with them. ‘Come on,’ Barbara said, ‘don’t be so ruddy miserable. Yer’d enjoy it once yer made the effort. Me and Pat have a whale of a time, don’t we, Pat? We’re never short of partners.’

‘It’s all right for you two, yer can go and come home together,’ Jenny told them. ‘I’d be by meself, and I don’t fancy going home in the dark on me own.’

‘Yer wouldn’t be on yer own for long,’ Pat said, ‘not with your face and figure. There’d be no shortage of fellers to take yer home. Yer could pick and choose.’

‘I’ll see what I feel like when I’ve had me dinner,’ Jenny said. ‘I’ll leave yer here, so I can catch an earlier tram. It would give me more time to get ready if I feel like joining yer.’ She began to run. ‘I might see yer later. Ta-ra.’

There was a tram at the stop when Jenny turned the corner
into the main road, and she sprinted for it. ‘Yer just made it, lass,’ the driver said. ‘Got a heavy date, have yer?’

Jenny grinned. ‘Yeah, with a hot dinner. Thanks for holding the tram for me.’

The driver turned the handle and the tram moved on. ‘Ye’re welcome, lass. Mind you, if yer’d been twenty years older, I might not have been so obliging.’

The conductor was coming down from the top deck, and he heard. ‘I’m going to tell yer missus, Bert. Does she know yer’ve got an eye for a pretty girl?’

‘She should do, smart lad, ’cos I married her and they don’t come prettier than that.’

‘Oh, ay, bragging, are yer?’ The conductor laughed. ‘Well, if we’re boasting, I may as well tell yer that my wife’s got a figure like Lana Turner. And figures don’t come any better than that.’

Jenny was smiling as she took a seat near the front of the tram so she could be off quickly. If she felt like it after dinner, she might surprise her mates and turn up at the Rialto. It all hinged on whether Ben was going out, though. If he was, she’d stay in and keep her mother company.

It was dark when she ran up the entry, and she was glad when she was inside the back yard. She noticed there was no light on in the kitchen, but thought her mother must have the dinner ready and be keeping herself warm by the fire until she and Ben came in. But when she opened the kitchen door it felt strange. There was no smell of cooking, and none of the gas rings were lit. She walked into the living room expecting to see her mother, but sitting in the chair in front of the fire was her father. What was he doing home at this time? There was something wrong. Her mother not here when she should be, and her father sitting there as large as life when he shouldn’t
be. She didn’t want to talk to her father, for he filled her with disgust, but it was unavoidable. ‘Where’s me mam? Is she upstairs?’

‘No, she’s gone to the chippy,’ Tom growled. ‘She’ll be back in a minute.’

Alarm bells were ringing in Jenny’s head as she slipped off her coat and put it over her arm. ‘That’s not like me mam. Are yer sure she’s gone to the chip shop?’

Tom eyed her blossoming figure. She was a looker all right. Slim waist and firm breasts. ‘That’s what she told me. Hang yer coat up, she’ll be here any minute.’

Jenny didn’t believe him. The whole set-up was wrong. Her mother always had a dinner ready for them, she never went to the chip shop. But Jenny knew it was pointless to ask her father; she wouldn’t get the truth out of him. So she walked to the hall to hang up her coat. She was stretching up to reach the hook, when she was pushed forward with force and pinned against the wall. Then a hand was pushed under each of her armpits, and cupped her breasts. It all happened so quickly she was unprepared, and although she tried to push her father back, she was no match for his weight. She could hear him groan as he pressed his body into hers, and she could smell the stale beer as he breathed over her shoulder.

‘Get off me, yer dirty, filthy thing. I’ll scream if yer don’t take yer filthy hands off me.’ Jenny put all her strength into trying to push him back, but she couldn’t move him. ‘I’m warning yer, I’ll scream the house down if yer don’t get away from me.’

‘No yer won’t, my girl, ’cos yer wouldn’t want to upset yer mother, would yer? Besides, I’m enjoying meself too much to back off. I bet you’re enjoying yerself too, on the quiet. No one else has ever had their hands on these, have they?’ He caressed
each breast. ‘Yer can tell yer mam if yer like, she can’t do nowt about it. In fact yer can tell the whole street if yer like, it’s no skin off my nose. My house, and my daughter. Who’s to say yer didn’t encourage me, eh?’ His cackle sent shivers down Jenny’s spine. ‘Yeah, I’ll tell them I was asleep in the chair and yer came and sat on me knee and put yer hand down me trousers.’

When Jenny felt the saliva from his mouth trickle on to her neck, she thought she was going to vomit. She’d always disliked the man who had fathered her, but right now she hated him with every fibre of her being. And her hatred spurred her into action. She managed to wriggle one of her arms free, and she bent her elbow so she could reach back and claw his face. She heard his cry of pain at the same time as the kitchen door opened, and she heard Ben’s voice, followed by her mother’s. ‘Jenny, are yer upstairs, sweetheart?’

Tom Phillips moved back, a hand held to his cheek where Jenny had clawed it. ‘Tell yer mother, and yer’ll live to regret it,’ he hissed. Then he fled silently up the stairs.

Jenny was trembling with shock, but she tried to pull herself together before walking into the living room. She wouldn’t tell her mother because she knew how upset and hurt she’d be. And God knows, she had enough on her plate as it was. So pulling her jumper down, and forcing a smile to her face, Jenny walked into the living room. ‘I was just hanging me coat up.’ She kissed her mother’s cheek. ‘What’s going on, Mam? I was worried to death when I came home and there was no sign of any dinner on the go, and no sign of you. Me dad was sitting in the chair, and when I asked him where yer were, he said yer’d gone to the chippy. Then he took himself off upstairs.’

‘Is that all yer’ve seen of him?’ Annie asked. ‘Didn’t he say anything to yer?’

Jenny shook her head. ‘Only that yer’d gone to the chippy. What is going on, Mam? Has he been at yer again?’

Annie crossed the room to close the living room door. ‘I’m sorry there’s no dinner ready for yer. I’ve been standing at the bottom of the entry waiting to explain everything to yer, but yer must have been early getting home. Ben said he’d hang on and wait a bit longer, but it was cold for him to stand around, so I made him come with me. Which was lucky, for he could still be standing there.’

‘Mam, what happened?’ Jenny asked. ‘It must have been something bad for yer to come and meet me and Ben. What’s me dad been up to, and why is he home so early?’

‘Sweetheart, today has been a nightmare. The worst day of me life.’ Tears threatened and Annie’s voice was husky. ‘I’ll tell yer the worst part quickly, then I’ll explain the rest when we’re walking down to the chippy. It’s going to have to be fish and chips tonight, there’s nothing else ready. And yer’ve got to have something to eat, yer must be starving.’

‘What about me dad?’ Ben asked. ‘Are we bringing some back for him?’

‘No, sweetheart, we’re not. If yer dad is hungry, he can go out and get his own. I’ll not be at yer father’s beck and call any more. Just sit down and listen, while I tell yer what he did to me today.’

‘I couldn’t tell yer while Annie was here,’ Ada told her husband as the family sat down to their dinner. ‘It would have embarrassed her.’

‘Why was she crying when we came in from school, Mam?’ Paul asked. ‘Had she hurt herself or something?’

‘No, sunshine, she hadn’t hurt herself.’ Ada tried to tread carefully, reminding herself that little pigs have big ears, and Monica and Paul couldn’t be trusted not to repeat to their friends what they’d heard. ‘Her pride was hurt, that’s all. She’d had a row with her husband and was a bit upset.’

Paul jerked his head back and his eyes went to the ceiling. ‘That’s daft that. A grown woman crying ’cos she fell out with her husband.’

Monica gave him a dig in the ribs. ‘You don’t have no sympathy for anyone, you don’t. I felt sorry for Mrs Phillips, and I think she’s a nice woman.’

‘Had she been crying, love?’ Jimmy asked, looking puzzled. ‘I must admit I was little surprised to see her here, ’cos I didn’t know yer were so friendly with her. Certainly not pally enough for her to come to you for a shoulder to cry on.’

‘Me and Hetty are the only ones in the street she knows,’ Ada
told him. ‘And I didn’t mind her coming, she’s a good, respectable woman.’

‘Yes, she seems nice, Mam,’ Danny said. ‘But I thought she had a grown-up son and daughter? It’s a wonder she wasn’t home getting their dinner ready. After all, the row with her husband was probably no more than a slight difference of opinion. I bet as soon as she got in they kissed and made up.’

‘I think it was more of a row than a spat, sunshine. The same as me and yer dad have rows now and again, but ours don’t last long and are soon forgotten.’ She raised her brows to her husband, and then her eldest son. And the look told them there was more to it, but she was not prepared to tell them in front of the children. ‘Every family have the odd tiff, they wouldn’t be normal if they didn’t. And I don’t want anything heard in this house to be broadcast in the street. Monica and Paul, did yer hear what I said?’

There was a look of disgust on Paul’s face. ‘Me and me mates have got more to talk about than some woman crying over nothing. But yer’d better tell our Monica to keep her trap shut. She’s like all women, loves to gossip.’

Monica didn’t answer with words, she answered with action. Paul yelped when she delivered a sharp jab in his ribs. ‘You are the one with the big mouth, our Paul. It’s so big, yer could get a football in it.’