Sadie Was A Lady Read online

  Sadie Was

  A Lady

  Joan Jonker

  Copyright © 1997 Joan Jonker

  The right of Joan Jonker to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2011

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  eISBN : 9780755390267

  HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  An Hachette UK Company

  338 Euston Road

  London NW1 3BH

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Also by Joan Jonker

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Joan Jonker was born and bred in Liverpool. Her childhood was a time of love and laughter with her two sisters, a brother, a caring but gambling father and an indomitable mother who was always getting them out of scrapes. Then came the Second World War when she met and fell in love with her husband, Tony. For twenty-three years, Joan campaigned tirelessly on behalf of victims of violence, and it was during this time that she turned to writing fiction. Sadly, after a brave battle against illness, Joan died in February 2006. Her best-selling Liverpool sagas will continue to enthral readers throughout the world.

  Joan Jonker’s previous novels, several of which feature the unforgettable duo Molly and Nellie, have won millions of adoring fans:

  ‘Wonderful … the characters are so real I feel I am there in Liverpool with them’ Athena Tooze, Brooklyn, New York

  ‘I enjoy your books for they bring back memories of my younger days’ Frances Hassett, Brixham, Devon

  ‘Thanks for all the good reads’ Phyllis Portock, Walsall

  ‘I love your books, Joan, they bring back such happy memories’ J. Mullett, Lancashire

  ‘I’m an ardent fan, Joan, an avid reader of your books. As an old Liverpudlian, I appreciate the humour. Thank you for so many happy hours’ Mrs L. Broomhead, Liverpool

  Also by Joan Jonker

  When One Door Closes

  Man Of The House

  Home Is Where The Heart Is

  The Pride Of Polly Perkins

  Sadie Was A Lady

  Walking My Baby Back Home

  Try A Little Tenderness

  Stay As Sweet As You Are

  Dream A Little Dream

  Many A Tear Has To Fall

  Taking A Chance On Love

  Strolling With The One I Love

  When Wishes Come True

  The Girl From Number 22

  One Rainy Day

  Featuring Molly Bennett and Nellie McDonough

  Stay In Your Own Back Yard

  Last Tram To Lime Street

  Sweet Rosie O'Grady

  Down Our Street

  After The Dance Is Over

  The Sunshine Of Your Smile

  Three Little Words

  I'll Be Your Sweetheart

  Non-fiction

  Victims Of Violence

  To Lady Sheila Butlin who for twenty years has been a loyal supporter of the charity Victims of Violence, and who has been my confidante, my shoulder to cry on when I’ve been down, and is now one of my dearest friends. To her and all her family I send my love.

  A children’s ditty learned at my mother’s knee:

  I’ll tell my ma when I go home

  The boys won’t let the girls alone

  They pulled my hair and pinched my comb

  I’ll tell my ma when I go home.

  Chapter One

  Brenda Fielding linked her arm through her workmate’s as they turned out of the factory gates. ‘Ooh, it’s good to get out in the fresh air after swelterin’ in that place all day. Me flamin’ clothes are stickin’ to me.’

  ‘Mine too! If I had tuppence I’d go to the public baths an’ wash this smelly sweat off.’ As Sadie Wilson turned to her friend, her long curly hair swung about her shoulders. She was an attractive girl, was Sadie, with her mass of blonde hair, vivid blue eyes and a peaches and cream complexion. And at fifteen and a half years of age, her figure was beginning to blossom. ‘The sun’s been shining all week, but I bet when we’re off tomorrow afternoon and Sunday, it’ll be teeming down.’

  ‘Let’s make the most of it while we can, then.’ Brenda was a pretty girl with black hair and melting brown eyes, but her looks were put in the shade by her friend. ‘Come down to ours tonight and we’ll go for a walk in the park. Yer never know, we might just get a click.’

  ‘I haven’t got the money for the tram, Brenda – I’m broke. I think yer forget it costs tuppence there an’ back.’

  ‘Well, I’d come to yours, but you won’t let me!’

  ‘I won’t invite anyone to my home, Brenda, ’cos it’s like a flippin’ pigsty.’

  Brenda tossed her head. ‘I wouldn’t know, would I, seein’ as yer won’t even tell me where yer live … except it’s near the factory.’

  ‘Take my word for it, yer not missing anything. Anyway, I don’t want a click. I’m not interested in boys – me dad’s put me off them for life.’

  ‘Go on, yer daft thing, yer can’t tell me yer never going to have a boyfriend.’ Brenda squinted sideways. ‘With your looks, yer could have any feller yer wanted.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll have boyfriends when I’m good and ready, but it’ll only be for what I can get out of them. I’m going to be a gold-digger, Bren, out for all I can get.’

  ‘Oh dear, I hope yer don’t start bein’ a gold-digger before tomorrow night,’ Brenda giggled. ‘Yer still comin’ to the pictures with us, aren’t yer?’

  They’d reached the tram stop where Brenda would catch a tram to Walton, where she lived. ‘You are comin’ to the Broadway with me, I hope?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s pay-day tomorrow and I’ll get me shillin’ pocket money.’ Sadie saw a tram trundling towards them. She waited until her friend hopped on board, then waved. ‘Ta-ra, Bren, see yer in work in the morning.’

  Sadie was thoughtful as she walked the short distance to her home. Brenda was the only friend she had; they’d started work on the same day and had been drawn to each other. She’d visited Brenda’s house several times and was always struck by the cleanliness, warmth and good humour of the family. It was in stark contrast to Sadie’s own home, and she was too ashamed to allow her
friend to see the conditions in which she lived.

  The front door was open and Sadie grimaced when she heard the racket coming from the living room of the small two-up two-down terraced house in Pickwick Street, Toxteth. Her sisters, Dot and Ellen, aged fourteen and thirteen, were trading blows with their brothers, Jimmy and Les, aged twelve and nine. And above the noise they were making came the loud wailing of the baby of the family – eighteen-month-old Sally.

  ‘Hey, knock it off!’ Sadie stood between the squabbling youngsters. ‘Yer’ll have the neighbours complaining.’

  Red in the face, and glaring at his sisters, Jimmy said, ‘Mrs Young’s been bangin’ on the wall for us to shut up, the miserable old cow.’

  Sadie sighed as she looked around with disgust. The table in the middle of the room, its covering a piece of torn, stained oilcloth, was full to overflowing. Swarms of flies were swooping down on the dirty plates still there from breakfast, feasting from an open tin of conny-onny, a jam jar and a topless bottle of tomato sauce, while the blue-bottles concentrated their attention on the baby’s bottle and dummy, and scraps of stale bread. The sight was enough to make Sadie feel sick.

  ‘Where’s me mam?’

  There was a sly smirk on Dot’s face. She was fourteen in years but thirty in the head. ‘She’s in bed with me dad.’

  Sadie closed her eyes. ‘Has me dad had his tea?’

  The smirk was back on her sister’s face. ‘No, he came straight in and pulled me mam upstairs.’

  Anger was building up in Sadie. Fancy coming home to this after working all day! But it wasn’t only that, it was the fact that her parents had no shame, no thought for their children who had been deprived of their innocence. They all knew what was going on above their heads because there had been times when her father wouldn’t bother going upstairs to satisfy his craving, he’d just close the kitchen door. Sadie had never forgotten the day she’d come home from work and used the back door. There was her father with his trousers around his ankles and her mother with her skirt riding high. And neither of them had been embarrassed. Her dad had just nodded for her to go through to the living room without even a pause in his grunting and groaning.

  The memory of that incident fuelled Sadie’s anger. She walked to the bottom of the stairs and yelled at the top of her voice: ‘There are six children down here waitin’ for somethin’ to eat. Will you come down and feed them!’

  ‘You’ll get it off me mam, our Sadie,’ Dot said. ‘She’ll give yer a belt around the ears.’

  ‘An’ I’ll give you one if yer don’t see to the baby,’ Sadie told her. ‘You’re the eldest at home, yer should help to keep this place tidy. It looks like a muck midden.’ She eyed the table, the clutter of clothes and shoes covering the sideboard and floor, then shook her head. ‘I’m not doing it, I’ve been workin’ all day.’

  Lily Wilson pushed the door open with her foot while patting her hair into place. ‘Who the bleedin’ hell d’yer think you are, shoutin’ like that? The neighbours are nosy enough without you goin’ filling their mouths.’

  Sadie tried to keep her emotions in check. ‘Mam, I’ve been workin’ all day in a hot, stuffy factory. And this,’ she waved her hand around the room, ‘is what I come home to. Not only that, but there’s no sign of any dinner.’

  ‘I haven’t been feeling well today, so stop yer moaning.’

  Dot stood beside her mother, a falsely innocent look on her face. ‘Are yer havin’ another baby, Mam?’

  The slap across her face was hard and loud. ‘Any more lip out of you, yer little faggot, and yer’ll get another one. Now get upstairs an’ ask yer dad for a tanner. Then run to the chippy an’ get a tanner’s worth of chips and scallops.’

  Dot didn’t wait to be told twice, she hot-footed it out of the room holding the side of her face.

  Sadie gazed at her mother. Lily Wilson had been a fine-looking girl, but she’d let herself go, too lazy to keep up appearances. She looked far older than her thirty-three years, with her blonde hair uncombed for days on end, teeth that were rotting through lack of cleaning and a sickly complexion due to too little exercise and fresh air. After six children her waist had disappeared and her breasts sagged.

  ‘Yer said yer weren’t feeling well today,’ Sadie said. ‘What was wrong with yer this time?’

  ‘I don’t have to explain to you,’ Lily flared. ‘Now get off yer backside and clear this table.’

  Sadie shook her head. ‘No, Mam, I’ve been workin’ all day, I’m not coming home to start work again. Not when you’ve had all day to do it in.’

  George Wilson heard what was said as he came through the door. ‘Yer’ll do as yer mam says or yer’ll feel me belt on yer backside.’

  Sadie weighed up her father with sadness in her heart. She could remember when she was little how she’d adored him. He’d been such a handsome man then, with a mane of black hair and flashing brown eyes. Now, at thirty-seven, he had a beer belly hanging over his trousers and a bloated face. His heavy drinking was taking its toll. But it wasn’t his changed appearance that had killed Sadie’s love. At thirty-seven he was still a young man, but for years she’d thought of him as a dirty old man. She would never forget the Friday nights she’d trembled with fear when he would offer to bath her in the zinc bath in front of the fire. He’d always make an excuse to get her mother out of the house – send her to the corner shop for ciggies or the Echo. And while she was gone he would pretend to be playful, splashing water over his daughter and laughing into her face. But all the time he was touching her in what she called her private parts. At the age of six she was frightened of him; at the age of ten she hated him.

  ‘No, Dad, I won’t do as me mam tells me! When I was younger than our Dot and Ellen, I was made to help in the house, so why can’t they? In fact, why can’t me mam do the work herself? She’s got all day to do it in, the kids are all at school except for the baby. I’ve been workin’ all day, like yerself, and I don’t see why I should come home to all this. If you feel sorry for me mam, then you start tidying up because I’m not.’

  Sadie was staring him out and George was flummoxed. The belt was no threat to her now, he could see that. He could also see something else in her eyes, something he thought she’d long since forgotten. Better tread carefully with her or she’d cause trouble. But he had to exercise his authority so he turned on the other children who’d been watching and listening intently. ‘Ellen, Jimmy, get that table cleared and start washing the dishes. Les, you amuse the baby an’ stop her from makin’ that bleedin’ racket.’

  ‘The baby doesn’t want amusing,’ Sadie said calmly, crossing her shapely legs. ‘She wants something to eat – she’s starving.’

  George turned to his wife. ‘Make the baby’s feed for God’s sake, and shut her up.’

  ‘Are yer goin’ to let this cheeky madam get away with it? Sittin’ there like Lady Muck, tellin’ us what she will do an’ what she won’t do? What she needs is a smacked backside.’

  ‘Oh, yer can forget that, Mam!’ Sadie said with bitterness. ‘The days of me dad touchin’ my backside are long gone.’

  George was beginning to get agitated. If this carried on there’d be a lot of things coming out that were best left forgotten. ‘Look, Lily, just see to the baby, for Christ’s sake. I’ll be glad to get down to the pub for a bit of peace and quiet.’

  Sadie gazed down at her scruffy shoes, bought second-hand from the market. They were the only pair she possessed and the soles were coming apart on both of them. Her stockings were full of ladders, and the dress she was wearing had to do her for work and for going out. Yet her father could go to the pub every night, and most nights her mother went with him. They didn’t seem to notice the mess the house was in, or that their children didn’t have a decent stitch on their backs. And as for getting a good meal – well, they wouldn’t know what that was. It was so long since they’d had a proper dinner, her mother had probably forgotten how to cook one.

  Sadie sighed. As s
oon as she was old enough, and earning enough money, she’d be away from here like a shot. There had to be a better life than this.

  On Saturday afternoon Sadie handed over her wage-packet and waited expectantly for her mother to open it and take out her pocket money. But Lily pushed her aside, saying curtly, ‘Yer’ll have to wait until yer dad comes in. I don’t know where he’s got to – he’s usually well in before this. I haven’t got a thing in the house for the weekend, so I’ll have to use your money until he comes home.’

  ‘Mam, I want me pocket money. I’m meeting me friend at a quarter to six at the Broadway. I can’t let her down.’

  ‘Don’t start moaning, yer’ll get yer money as soon as yer dad gets in. I need all this,’ she waved the buff-coloured packet, ‘to pay me ways. I’ve had tick from the corner shop an’ if I don’t get down there with it I’ll have her feller comin’ to the house banging the door down. Beside that, I’ve got to get the rest of me shoppin’ in.’

  A lump was forming in Sadie’s throat. It just wasn’t fair! She’d worked all week, she was entitled to the measly shilling. ‘What happens if me dad’s not in by the time I’ve got to leave?’

  But Lily wasn’t listening. She’d ripped the packet open and emptied the seven and sixpence into her hand. ‘Dot, take this five bob up to the corner shop, then come back an’ I’ll have a list ready of what I want from the Maypole and the greengrocers.’

  Sadie tried again. ‘Mam, are yer sure me dad will be home in time for me to go and meet me friend? I can’t leave her standin’ outside the Broadway on her own.’

  ‘He’ll be in any minute, so stop yer frettin’.’

  But it was four o’clock before George put in an appearance, half-drunk and looking very sheepish.

  Lily rounded on him. ‘Where the bloody hell d’yer think you’ve been? Hand yer money over quick, before the ruddy shops close.’

  When George fell backwards into a chair, the springs creaked in protest. With the stupid grin of a drunken man on his face, and his words slurred, he said, ‘I had a flutter on the gee-gees an’ I lost.’