MB05 - After the Dance is Over Read online

  Molly put an arm across her friend’s shoulder. ‘Yer know I’m going to put in a good word for yer, I’ve told yer that. When we get to the pearly gates I’ll tell St Peter of all the good things yer’ve done in life which might have slipped his notice.’

  ‘I don’t know about slipping his notice, they’ve slipped mine as well! I can’t for the life of me think of any good things I’ve done.’ Then a gleam came into her eyes. ‘I know, I’ll get George to give me a reference! He’s always telling me how good I am in the bedroom.’

  Molly’s hand shot out to cover her friend’s mouth. ‘Tony, will yer serve us quick and let us get out of the shop while I can still look yer in the face?’ She glared at Nellie. ‘I don’t want to hear another word out of you, just hand over yer money so I can pay for yer meat.’ When there was no response, she took her hand away. ‘Did yer hear what I said, sunshine? I want some money off yer to pay Tony.’

  ‘I heard yer, girl, but yer had yer hand over me mouth and yer didn’t give me a chance to tell yer I haven’t got no money on me! I didn’t know we were coming shopping, did I? I only followed yer to see what yer were up to. So you pay the man and I’ll settle up with yer later.’

  Molly shook her head. ‘I don’t believe this, I only came out to buy a loaf of bread. Now I’m lumbered with paying for me mate’s dinner! When we get to the greengrocer’s I’ll have to fork out for the spuds and veg as well! I just can’t win!’

  ‘Holy sufferin’ ducks, girl, don’t be making a song and dance about it! I’ve said I’ll pay yer later, and I will!’

  ‘How much later, sunshine? This year, next year, sometime, never? I wouldn’t mind if I got it back the same day, but getting money off you is like getting blood out of a ruddy stone. I think I’ll have to start learning this trick meself. All it needs is to act daft and pretend I’ve come out without me purse.’

  ‘It wouldn’t do yer no good, girl, ’cos as they say, every dog knows its own tricks. Yer wouldn’t get away with it, not with me.’

  ‘Then I’ll have to get into the habit of making sure yer’ve got yer purse on yer before we set foot out of the house.’ Molly didn’t mean what she was saying, and Nellie and the two behind the counter knew it, because this sort of banter went on every day. They enjoyed it, their friendship thrived on it and it brought laughter to a lot of people. ‘Ye’re a scrounger, Nellie McDonough, that’s what yer are.’

  Nellie raised her brows, curled a hand to examine her fingernails and feigned a yawn. ‘Go on, girl, tell them about the one thousand two hundred and fifty-three cups of tea I’ve had off yer while ye’re at it. Oh, and don’t forget the custard creams and ginger snaps, I bet yer know exactly how many of them I’ve had, too. It’s a wonder they didn’t choke me they were that begrudged.’

  ‘Well, there was no fear of me choking on the cups of tea and biscuits I’ve had in your house, sunshine, ’cos I’ve had none.’ Molly slapped an open palm to her forehead. ‘Ah, I tell a lie. The day me mangle broke down and yer said I could use yours, well, yer made me a cup of tea that day. It was the first time in twenty-four years, and the last.’ She rooted in her purse, brought out half a crown and passed it over the counter. ‘Here yer are, Tony, there’s two customers coming in so we’ll get out of yer way. I bet yer’ll be glad to see the back of us.’

  She took the meat off the butcher and linked her mate’s arm. ‘Come on, sunshine, or it’ll be dark before I get me washing out. Ta-ra, Ellen, I’ll see yer later.’

  Tony and his assistant watched them walk through the door and burst out laughing when they heard Nellie say, ‘I did buy yer a cream slice one day, girl, have yer forgotten? And I always mind yer table when ye’re having a party . . .’

  ‘They’re priceless,’ Tony said. ‘I wish all me customers were like them.’

  Ellen didn’t answer as she went to attend to the customers. If she’d had time, she’d have told her boss that women like her neighbours didn’t come along very often. She wouldn’t be where she was today but for them. Once married to a violent, bullying drunkard, she hadn’t been sorry when, blind drunk, he’d staggered into the path of a tram and been killed. It was a relief for her and her children who were beaten black and blue by him almost daily. But she was left penniless with no money for food or rent, and the prospect of being turfed out of her home was looming large when Molly and Nellie took her and the kids under their wings. Thanks to them her children were now happy and well nourished, and she was married to Corker, the most loving and caring person in the world. She would never forget her debt to the two women who’d made it possible.

  ‘Am I coming in for a round of toast, girl? Go on, don’t be mean.’

  ‘Go home and get yer purse then, sunshine, I need me money back today. Yer owe me for the meat, spuds, onions, carrots and turnip. So poppy off while I make a start getting me washing on the line.’

  ‘Anyone would think I was going to do a bunk to hear you talk. I’ll give yer the money tonight, scout’s honour.’

  ‘No, Nellie, I want it now! I’m counting me coppers these days and trying to put a few to one side each week for something special. So scarper before I reckon up what it’ll cost me to give yer a round of toast with margarine on, and two cups of tea.’

  ‘What are yer saving up for, girl?’

  ‘I’ll tell yer while we’re having our lunch, as long as yer promise to keep it a secret.’

  Considering her weight, Nellie was very light on her feet and she covered the distance from Molly’s to her own house, three doors up, like a ballerina. She grabbed her purse from the glass bowl on the sideboard and was back before Molly had time to get her pegs out. ‘My God, ye’re not half slow, girl, I thought yer’d have yer washing out by now!’

  ‘It won’t take me five minutes, sunshine, and for yer cheek yer can fill the kettle and cut a few slices off the loaf. And I don’t want them like doorsteps, either, so don’t be too heavy-handed.’ Molly slipped her pinny on, filled the pocket with pegs and draped a sheet over her arm. ‘Oh, when the kettle’s boiled, pour some hot water in the teapot to warm it up. Swill it around and empty it out before yer put the tea in.’

  Nellie saluted. She couldn’t see her feet, but she hoped that, like her bosom, they were standing to attention. ‘Aye, aye, sir! All present and correct, sir!’

  Molly was grinning as she pegged the sheet on the line. She’d been glad of Nellie the last two months to take her mind of losing her two daughters. They’d married in a double wedding ceremony and Molly and her husband Jack had been so proud that their beautiful daughters had wed decent men who loved them dearly and would be good to them. Jill, the eldest, had married Nellie’s son, Steve. They’d been sweethearts practically since they were toddlers. Doreen had married Phil, with whom she’d fallen head over heels in love the night they first met at Barlow’s Lane dance hall. But although Molly had cried at the wedding, knowing her girls were leaving home, she’d had no idea then she’d miss them so much. Mind, she had a lot to be thankful for because they still lived in the street and she saw them every day. Doreen and Phil lived in the house facing with Miss Victoria Clegg, who had taken Phil in as a lodger when he had nowhere to live. He’d become like a son to her, the family she’d never had, and he adored her. So Doreen was lucky, walking into a fully furnished house and living there with two people she loved. And Jill, the gentle one of the family, only lived at the top end of the street with Corker’s mam, Lizzie, who had offered to share her home with the newly weds until they could afford to buy the furniture for a place of their own. Molly saw her girls every day and knew they were happy. But even though she still had her son Tommy, and daughter Ruthie at home, she missed the two fledglings who had flown from her nest.

  ‘What the hell are yer doing, girl?’ Nellie stood on the kitchen step looking very impatient. ‘Are yer blowing that sheet dry?’

  Brought out of her reverie, Molly grinned. ‘Pass the other sheet out and a few pegs. I don’t mind as long as I get them dry, I ca
n put the smaller things on the ceiling rack.’

  Ten minutes later they sat facing each other across the table, and there was margarine trickling down Nellie’s chin as she asked, ‘What’s the secret, girl, what are yer saving up for?’

  ‘Nellie, if yer tell a living soul I’ll never speak to yer again. I want it to be a surprise.’

  ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, girl, I won’t breathe a word.’

  ‘Well, yer know our Tommy said he wouldn’t marry Rosie O’Grady unless her mam and dad could be at the wedding? He’s not on full pay yet and his wages are lousy so him and Rosie are going without things to save up for the wedding and pay for her parents to come over from Ireland. I want to help them as much as I can. It cost me and Jack a packet when the girls got married, and I really don’t begrudge a penny of it because we wanted to give them a good send off, but now I think it’s only fair to do what we can for Tommy and Rosie, with her parents not being here. He’s me only son, and he’s a good lad. Never given us any trouble and always bright and cheerful. He must be worrying about where the money’s going to come from for the wedding, but he never says a word.

  ‘I’ve told Jack we can’t give him less than we gave our daughters, it wouldn’t be fair and would look as though we didn’t love him as much. And I do, Nellie, I love the bones of him. So me and Jack are going to put a bit by each week. It won’t be much because I’m missing the girls’ wages, but we’ll do our best.’

  ‘They’re not getting married for a while, are they, girl?’

  ‘Not until next summer, but the weeks fly over, sunshine, so we can’t afford to hang about. He won’t be out of his time then, not for another few months, but they’ll be living with me ma and da after the wedding, so they won’t have a lot to lay out each week. And Rosie is a very good manager.’

  Nellie reached into her pocket and brought out her well-worn purse. ‘I’ll give yer what I owe yer now, before yer have me crying in me tea.’ She put a handful of change on the table. ‘Help yerself, girl, but leave me enough to pay the rent man.’ She watched her friend carefully picking out the right amount of coins to cover what was owing to her. ‘Talking about the rent man, girl, remember I told yer I asked him to consider Archie’s mam for the first house what came empty in the street, and he said he’d got someone lined up who’d been waiting a long time? Well, I’ve heard this morning that old Mrs Harwick from next door but two is leaving to go and live with her daughter in Maghull. She’s getting too old to look after herself now, and her daughter’s frightened of anything happening to her and them not able to get to her in time. So I believe she’s moving the week after next.’

  ‘Ah, she’s a nice little thing,’ Molly said. ‘A good neighbour, keeps her house spotless and doesn’t have a bad word to say about anyone. I think after Miss Clegg she’s the oldest resident of the street. We’ll miss seeing her around.’

  ‘Yeah, she’s a little love. But if she was my mam I wouldn’t want her living so far away from me, not at her age. Yer never know, she could easy fall over and not be able to move and then lie there for days without anyone knowing.’

  ‘That’s right, sunshine, cheer me up! Anyway, what’s all this got to do with the rent man and Archie’s mam?’

  ‘Well, it means that Ida can have the next house what comes empty. And I’m going to remind Mr Henry he’s not to promise it to anyone else.’

  Molly curled her hands around the cup and held it near her mouth. Peering over the rim, she studied her friend. When Nellie’s son Steve got married she was left with two other children, just like Molly herself. Except that Nellie’s were both grown up, Lily had just turned twenty-one, and Paul was nearing twenty. ‘Is your Lily going serious with Archie, or are they just good friends?’

  ‘He’s dead serious, girl, but yer can’t get to the bottom of our Lily. I think she’s frightened of showing her feelings because of what that bastard Len did to her. She’s got over him all right, but it’s going to take a while before she trusts another feller completely.’

  ‘Pity, really, ’cos Archie’s a smashing bloke. If I was twenty years younger – no, twenty-five years more like – and I didn’t have Jack, I’d be running after him meself,’ Molly said. ‘He’s our Tommy’s hero, he really looks up to him. He says if it wasn’t for Archie, him and a lot of other soldiers would have been blown up. Led them through a minefield, he did, without any thought for his own safety. That takes guts, that does. And I’m very fond of him, which is why I’m wondering if yer think it’s wise to be asking Mr Henry to let Ida have the next house what comes empty? It’s not that I wouldn’t like her and Archie as neighbours, ’cos I would, but what if they get a house in the street and then your Lily decides he’s not the one for her? It would make things very awkward all round.’

  ‘I have thought of that, girl, I’m not daft. But yer know how often a house comes empty in this street. Every blue moon. Plenty of time for our Lily to make up her mind. I’d lay odds she already has, really, but is frightened of showing her feelings in case she gets hurt again.’ Nellie nodded to the two framed photographs standing proudly one at either end of the sideboard. They were wedding photographs of Molly’s two girls with their brand new husbands and it brought a lump to Nellie’s throat to see her Steve smiling broadly with his arm around the girl he’d loved all his life. ‘Looking at them photographs, girl, yer wouldn’t know which of the girls was which ’cos they’re so alike. Anyone would take them for twins.’ She put on her hard-done-by look. ‘Ye’re lucky having two photographs, I’ve only got the one.’

  ‘Don’t start that again, sunshine, ye’re beginning to sound like a broken record. It’s only natural I’ve got two, ’cos two of my daughters were married. When your Lily gets wed, you’ll have another one to stand on yer sideboard.’

  ‘Ah, but when your Tommy gets married, yer’ll still be one up on me.’

  Molly tutted. ‘Yer’ll catch up with me when your Paul decides to settle down. And before yer bring our Ruthie into it, may I remind yer she’s not thirteen until next week? And anyway, it’s not my fault I’ve got four children and you’ve only got three.’

  ‘Of course it’s your fault! Ye’re a dark horse, Molly Bennett, telling me off every time I mention what goes on in me bedroom, when you and Jack must go at it hammer and tongs! And don’t look at me like that, ’cos the fact that you’ve got one more child than me speaks for itself.’

  ‘Let’s change the subject, sunshine, shall we? What about your Paul, is he settling down at all? I know he’s going out with Phoebe ’cos I see them passing the window, but d’yer think it’s the real thing?’

  ‘Your guess is as good as mine, girl, I wouldn’t have a bet on it. She’s tamed him a lot, but whether he’ll stay tamed is another matter. I think Ellen and Corker have told the girl to let Paul do all the running, and I wouldn’t blame them if they had because all he thinks about is having a good time. She’s got him on a string now, but whether the day will come when he wants to cut the string I wouldn’t know.’

  ‘She’s a lovely girl is Phoebe, he’d go a long way to find one better. But he’s only twenty so he’s got time to grow up.’

  ‘I thought the army would have changed him, but it hasn’t,’ Nellie said, putting her hand out to see if there was any more tea in the pot. ‘But like yer say, time’s on his side.’

  ‘Don’t be looking for another cup of tea, sunshine, ’cos I’m going to throw yer out now. I’ve got a stack of work to do and I want the dinner ready for when the family come in. I’m going round to me ma’s tonight for a game of cards and I want to be out by half-seven at the latest.’

  ‘Can I come with yer, girl, I wouldn’t mind a game of cards?’

  ‘No, sunshine, ’cos I’m going across the road before I go to me ma’s, to see how Victoria is. I haven’t been for a few days and I feel mean because our Doreen won’t leave her on her own even to slip to the shops, which means the poor girl doesn’t get out much. She never complains ’cos she lo
ves the old lady, but her and Phil should get out on their own now and again, they’re too young to be tied to the house all the time. And the old lady is ninety now, she does need someone to keep an eye on her. So I’m going to suggest I sit with Victoria tomorrow night while they go to the pictures.’

  ‘I’ll come with yer to keep yer company, eh? Victoria would enjoy that ’cos we make her laugh. So how about it, girl?’

  ‘On one condition, sunshine. That yer don’t use the word bedroom, not even once.’

  Chapter 2

  ‘Mam, can I go over to Bella’s when I’ve had me dinner?’ Ruthie threw her coat on the couch and made her way to the kitchen. ‘Her mam’s bought her a new box of dominoes and we want to have a game.’ She waited until her mother nodded, then smiled and rubbed her tummy. ‘Ooh, that smells nice.’

  ‘I’ve done the best I could with what I had, sunshine, that’s all yer can do these days.’ Molly smiled at her daughter, and as she never failed to, could see her two eldest girls in her youngest one. They had the same blonde hair and vivid blue eyes, except that Ruthie was more forward than Jill and Doreen had been at her age. You could blame the war for that, with the bombing and everything else. The kids missed their childhood years, which was a shame. ‘There’s plenty of goodness in it, sunshine, but yer’ll need a magnifying glass to find the meat. I’ll be glad when rationing is over and we can get back to normal.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m looking forward to buying sweets with me pocket money.’ The young girl twisted a lock of the blonde hair that was hanging down over her shoulders. ‘The first thing I’m going to buy when rationing is over is a great big slab of Cadbury’s chocolate.’

  ‘D’yer know what I’m looking forward to?’ Molly asked. ‘Going into the butcher’s and asking Tony for a pound of thick sausages, a pound of lean bacon and a black pudding.’

  Ruthie giggled. ‘What about a dozen eggs?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t get me eggs from Tony, sunshine, I get them from Irwin’s. Nice brown ones that look as though they’ve just been laid.’