Sadie Was A Lady Page 5

  ‘I’m glad yer like the dress, ’cos you bought it!’

  Harry laughed. ‘Come off it, I haven’t had that many kisses.’

  ‘Well, the one yer getting tonight is on the house. I don’t want no money off yer.’

  ‘If you can get a dress like that with the tanner I gave yer, then I’m definitely paying yer. It’s worth it just to feast me eyes on yer.’

  Sadie shook her head. She didn’t need any money; she had enough to buy her chips every day and that was all she wanted. ‘On the house tonight, Harry.’

  ‘I’ll tell yer what, we’ll have a “buy one, get one free” offer. I’ll pay yer the tanner tonight, while I’m still flushed, then have one free on Tuesday or Wednesday night. How does that suit yer?’

  ‘Oh, all right,’ Sadie said, thinking if he wanted to throw his money away she might as well take it. She could do with another dress to change into, and a decent pair of shoes. After that she’d start buying some lipstick and some of the scented soap she’d seen in the chemist shop window. If she didn’t look out for herself, no one else would.

  Harry put his hands on her waist, marvelling at how slim she was. In fact, everything about her was perfect. ‘Sadie, how old are yer?’

  ‘I’ll be sixteen in a few weeks. Me wages will go up by sixpence a week then, but I’ll probably have to hand it over to me mam. She gets me wage-packet so she’ll know I’ve got it.’

  ‘Will yer come to the pictures with me on yer birthday?’

  There was a flicker of fear in Sadie’s eyes. There’d be ructions if Mrs Young knew her son was going out with one of the Wilson family. She’d play merry hell, and that was the last thing Sadie wanted. ‘I don’t think so, Harry. I always go out with me friend.’

  ‘You can go out with her another night. Come on, Sadie, let me take yer out as a birthday present.’

  ‘We’ll see, it’s a few weeks off yet.’

  Harry cupped her face with his two hands and gazed into her eyes. ‘Don’t forget I asked first. And another thing, remember what I told yer about goin’ out with fellers. Always be on yer guard and keep them at arms’ length.’

  ‘You’re a feller,’ Sadie said. ‘Do I have to be on me guard with you?’

  ‘I respect yer, Sadie, you have no need to fear me.’ Harry groaned inwardly, telling himself no red-blooded man could hold this girl in his arms without wanting more than a kiss. But he’d told her she needn’t fear him, so even if it gave him sleepless nights, he wasn’t about to go back on that promise. Not until she was a bit older, anyway, and knew what she was doing.

  The kiss was somewhere between brotherly and passionate. It sent Harry’s blood-pressure up but left Sadie wondering what he got out of it. The kiss didn’t do a thing for her, she certainly wouldn’t pay for one. Still, he seemed to think it was worth it and he’d been so good to her she wanted to please him.

  Sadie was nearing the factory gates when she heard her name called. Brenda was standing on the platform of a tram which was shuddering to a halt and she signalled for her friend to wait for her.

  ‘You’re all dolled up today.’ There was a flicker of envy in Brenda’s eyes as she caught up with Sadie. ‘Did yer get that dress on Saturday?’

  Sadie nodded. ‘Paddy’s market, but keep that to yerself.’

  ‘And look at the bust on yer – it’s twice the size of mine! Yer’ll have all the fellers droolin’ over yer.’

  ‘They won’t see anything when I’ve got me overall on. Anyway, why should I worry about them? I needed to wear a brassière an’ I feel better in one, so to hell with what anyone thinks.’

  A young apprentice hurrying past them, called over his shoulder, ‘Put a move on, girls, or yer’ll be late clocking on an’ yer pay will be docked.’ Then he stopped in his tracks, turned around and pursed his lips to let out a low whistle. ‘Yer lookin’ very glamorous today, Sadie.’

  ‘Thank you, Alec, nice of yer to notice.’

  Then Alec, seventeen and an apprentice mechanic, remembered he only had about three minutes to clock on, and he hastened away. ‘Nice of him to notice?’ Brenda eyed her friend with more than a little jealousy as they quickened their pace. ‘He’d have to be blind not to notice those two things stickin’ out! My mam wouldn’t let me out like that, she’d have made me wear a cardi to cover meself up.’

  ‘My mam’s still in bed, Brenda, and even if she wasn’t she wouldn’t care if I walked out as naked as a newborn baby.’ Sadie grabbed her card and punched it in the time clock. ‘We just made it.’

  Sadie and Brenda worked in the packing department of a factory that made sheets, pillowcases, tablecloths and other commodities from the finest linen. It was a tiring job, standing on their feet all day packing goods into large wooden crates. So when the bell sounded to herald the dinner break, Sadie heaved a sigh of relief. ‘This concrete floor’s murder to stand on.’ She kicked off her shoe and rubbed the sole of her foot as Brenda looked on. ‘All this, just to get a lousy shilling a week.’

  ‘It might only be a lousy shilling, but you seemed to have done all right out of it. How on earth yer managed to get a dress and a brassière for a bob, I’ll never know.’

  Sadie was saddened by Brenda’s attitude. Her friend was the one person she thought would admire the dress and be pleased for her. Instead, she looked more angry than pleased, and this Sadie couldn’t understand. But Brenda was the only friend she had so she didn’t want to fall out with her. ‘Come on, let’s get to the chippy, I’m starving.’

  Alec Gleeson was leaning against the factory wall with another apprentice, Bobby Bennett, beside him. They were eating their carry-out while enjoying the sunshine. As soon as the girls appeared, Alec straightened up. ‘Sadie, can I see yer for a minute?’

  ‘I haven’t got time now, we’re on our way to the chippy.’

  ‘Come on, it’ll only take one minute.’

  Sadie let go of Brenda’s arm. ‘You walk on an’ I’ll catch yer up.’

  ‘What does he want?’ Brenda wasn’t very happy. ‘He’s never wanted to talk to yer before.’

  ‘I’ll let yer know as soon as I find out meself.’

  Alec was a tall, well-built lad with a mop of mousy-coloured hair and hazel eyes. His best feature was a set of strong white teeth which he showed as Sadie approached. ‘I was wonderin’ if yer’d like to come to the flicks with me on Saturday?’

  Sadie shook her head. ‘I always go out with Bren on Saturday. I wouldn’t let her down.’

  ‘Ask her if she’d like to make a foursome up with Bobby here. We’d show yez a good time, wouldn’t we, Bobby?’

  Bobby was a foot shorter than Alec, and slightly built. He had ginger hair, greeny-grey eyes and a face marked with pimples and blackheads. He never had much success with girls, so he jumped at the chance of making up a foursome. ‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding his head vigorously, ‘we’d have a great time.’

  ‘I’ll ask her, but I know she won’t come. Yer see, her mam doesn’t like her bein’ out late, so we go to the first house.’

  Alec wasn’t interested in Brenda, or her mam, but he was interested in Sadie and she hadn’t said she had to be in early. Once Brenda left them he’d soon get rid of Bobby. ‘We’ll go to the first house – it’s all the same to us.’

  ‘I’ll ask her and let yer know.’ Sadie had no intention of asking her friend because she didn’t fancy going herself. But as her feet covered the ground a little voice in her head told her that if they went to the pictures with them, then the boys would pay. And the money she’d save would buy her a bottle of that Californian Poppy perfume all the girls in work were raving about.

  Brenda was being served when Sadie got to the chip shop and she handed one of the parcels over. They stood on the pavement outside the shop while they made a hole in the newspaper wrapping so they could get to the chips, then started the walk back to the factory.

  ‘What did Alec want?’ Brenda asked, blowing on a chip before popping it into her mouth. ‘Anyth
in’ exciting?’

  ‘He asked if we’d like to go to the pictures with him on Saturday night.’

  ‘Him take the two of us, yer mean?’

  Sadie shook her head. ‘In a foursome with Bobby Bennett.’

  ‘Bobby Bennett?’ Brenda nearly choked as a piece of chip lodged in her throat. ‘Yer’ve got to be kidding!’ Then she narrowed her eyes. ‘Ay, yer not soft, are yer? You with the big handsome one an’ me with that pimply-faced little twerp! Anyway, me mam wouldn’t let me go ’cos she said I’m too young to be goin’ out with fellers.’

  ‘D’yer have to tell her? We’ll meet them outside the picture house and leave them there when we come out. What harm is there in that? We’d only be sitting in the seats next to each other like we always do, but they’d be paying. And yer’d be home at the same time, so yer mam wouldn’t know the difference.’

  ‘I’ll go if I can sit next to Alec,’ Brenda said, a petulant droop to her mouth. ‘But not unless.’

  ‘You can sit by who yer like, I don’t care! As long as someone wants to pay for me to go to the flicks, I’m not worried who I sit by.’

  ‘You’ve changed,’ Brenda said. ‘Yer never used to be so hard.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve changed all right, I’ve had to!’ Sadie said heatedly. ‘And I’ll tell yer why, shall I? We’ve been friends since the day we started work and although I envied you yer family and yer nice house, I’ve never been jealous of all the new clothes you get. I’ve always paid yer compliments and told yer how nice yer look, even though I only had the one scruffy dress to me name. But when I manage to scheme to get a second-hand dress from the market, which I think looks nice on me, what do you do? You put me down, just like me family, as though I’m a nobody and haven’t the right to a decent life.’ Sadie screwed the newspaper into a ball. ‘I’ve always given you yer own way, like going to the first house pictures because that was what you wanted. But no more, Brenda. I’m goin’ to look after number one from now on because nobody else will.’

  Brenda was taken aback. Sadie had never spoken to her like that before and the home-truths hit the target. ‘The dress does look nice on yer, Sadie – in fact, it looks lovely.’

  ‘A bit late in the day for that, Brenda. A compliment is no good if yer have to beg for it. So keep looking, kid, ’cos I intend to become as hard as nails so no one can hurt me any more. In future, if there’s anything I want, I’ll get it by hook or by crook.’

  Lost for the right words, Brenda said hesitantly, ‘If yer still want me to, I’ll go to the pictures with yer on Saturday as long as yer don’t leave me on me own with Bobby Bennett.’

  ‘You can go straight home when the first house lets out, Brenda, same as me. I want to be home for half-eight.’

  Sadie thought of Harry, the one person who always treated her well. She wasn’t going to let him down on Saturday. Then a picture of Mary Ann came into her head and she remembered how kind the market woman had been to her. The thought that she would be seeing her again on Saturday was enough to cheer Sadie up. She slipped her hand through Brenda’s arm and squeezed. ‘Stop sulking, Brenda, it doesn’t suit yer.’

  Chapter Four

  The people around Mary Ann’s stall were six deep and she was rushed off her feet. So when she saw Sadie’s blonde head at the back of the crush, she gestured wildly. ‘Come an’ give us a hand, girl, I don’t know whether I’m on me bleedin’ head or me backside.’ She glared at a woman who was thrusting several items of clothing in her face. ‘Hey, missus, just wait yer turn, will yer? I’ve only got one pair of hands, or hadn’t yer noticed? I’m not a ruddy octopus!’

  ‘Yer right there, Mary Ann,’ called a voice from the rear of the crowd. ‘Yer don’t never see no octopus with red hair like yours.’

  Sadie slipped her purse into the deep pocket of Mary Ann’s overall. ‘Mind that for us.’ She moved to the other end of the long table. ‘Can I help yer?’

  Over the next hour, Sadie made dozens of trips from one end of the counter to the other, asking Mary Ann for sizes and prices. And she enjoyed every minute of it – the hustle and bustle, the humour of the stall-holders as they enticed people to their stalls and Mary Ann’s everlasting flow of jokes. It was really exciting and Sadie felt at home with these people who were rough and ready, down at heel, but still managed a smile and a joke.

  ‘I’ve never been so glad to see anybody in me life, girl, as I was to see you.’ There was no immediate customer needing to be served, so the stall-holder stood by Sadie to get her breath back. When she’d left the house this morning her bright red hair had been piled on top of her head and held in place with a tortoiseshell comb, but half of it had escaped and was now hanging down the sides of her face. ‘I bet I look a bleedin’ mess,’ she groaned, trying to repair the damage. ‘I’ve been on the go since ten this morning.’

  ‘Hey there, Mary Ann!’ A woman was holding up a black knitted cardi. ‘If I can ’ave this for thruppence, I’ll take it.’

  ‘Yer can have it with pleasure,’ Mary Ann said, holding out her hand for the money. ‘It was tuppence, but I’ll let you have it for thruppence.’

  ‘Thanks, Mary Ann, yer a real pal. I don’t know …’ The woman stopped, her brow furrowed in concentration. Then she wagged a finger, ‘Here, give us me thruppenny bit back, yer thievin’ swine.’

  ‘Uh, oh, Lizzie, we don’t give money back on this stall.’ As Mary Ann shook her head, all the curls she’d just combed up came tumbling down. ‘Yer asked if yer could have it for thruppence an’ I agreed. Now I can’t do fairer than that, can I?’

  ‘If yer don’t give me me penny change, I’ll come over this counter an’ take it out of yer face.’

  ‘Lizzie, don’t be gettin’ so excited,’ Mary Ann said. ‘Yer know what the doctor said about yer heart.’

  ‘Doctor! What ruddy doctor? I haven’t got no doctor!’

  ‘No, and yer’ve got no ruddy sense of humour, either.’ Mary Ann kept her face straight although the crowd were in stitches. It was better than going to the pictures. ‘Here’s yer bleedin’ penny – now take it an’ sod off.’

  Shaking with laughter, Lizzie pushed her way through the mass of people. ‘See yer next week, Mary Ann!’

  ‘Okay, Lizzie! But don’t forget what I said about the doctor now! Don’t want yer fallin’ down dead, do we? Not in front of my stall, anyway. It wouldn’t be good for business.’

  Sadie had been watching, holding her sides with laughter. And when the stall-holder returned to stand by her, she said, ‘Oh, you are funny, Mary Ann.’ Then she covered her mouth with her hand. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called yer by yer first name.’

  ‘It’s the name I was christened with, girl, so it wouldn’t do yer no good to call me any other ’cos I wouldn’t know yer were talkin’ to me. They’d be cartin’ yer away to the loony bin for talkin’ to yerself.’

  ‘Yer don’t mind me calling yer Mary Ann, then?’

  ‘Not at all, love. Yer can call me anythin’ yer like as long as it’s not too early in the morning.’ The stall-holder patted her arm. ‘While there’s a bit of a lull, I’ll show yer the things I’ve put away for yer.’ She bent down to the box where she kept small items that were easy to pilfer and brought out a paper bag. ‘There’s a blouse and skirt in there, and a dress that took me fancy. Pick out which yer like the best while I tend to me business.’ She strolled over to the counter, muttering under her breath, ‘Yer need eyes in yer backside with some of these.’

  Sadie pulled a white blouse out first. It was very plain with short sleeves and a round collar, but the material was beautiful; it felt like silk in her fingers. She’d never handled anything so fine before and she tried to imagine what it would feel like against her skin. She sighed as she dipped her hand in again and brought out a skirt in a deep pink cotton. From the waistband it was fitted to the hips then gradually flared out until it fell into folds. Sadie could see herself spinning around and the skirt swirling out. Oh, it was lovely, and it would
go so well with the blouse. She could feel the weight of the dress in the paper bag and wondered whether she should look at it or not. She only had one and six, and she really wanted to keep sixpence in case Alec and Bobby didn’t turn up. Or if she didn’t see Harry and had no dinner money for next week.

  But curiosity got the better of her. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look at it; she didn’t have to buy. Seconds later she was sorry she’d given in to her curiosity because she fell in love with the deep burgundy dress. It had a low-cut round neck, three-quarter sleeves, a fitted bodice and a flared skirt. It was far too fancy for her; she couldn’t wear it for work and if she walked out of the filthy house she lived in, dressed in this, she’d be a laughing stock. But one of these days, when she had a place of her own, she’d have a dress like this.

  ‘Made up yer mind?’ Mary Ann saw sadness in the eyes that were as blue as the sky on a summer’s day. ‘What’s wrong, girl?’

  ‘I was just thinking that one day, when I’m older, I’ll have a dress as nice as this. And I’ll be living in me own house, miles away from me family, so there’ll be nobody to make fun of me. Nobody to drag me down in the gutter. I’ll be able to live and dress like a real lady.’

  ‘Yer a real little lady now, girl, an’ don’t you let anyone tell yer any different. Stick yer nose in the air, hold yer head up high and say to hell with everyone. And when yer’ve got a little wardrobe together, enough clothes and things to keep yer happy, then start salting a few coppers away every week towards that place of yer own. It’ll take yer a few years ’cos no one will rent a house to a youngster like you, but in those years yer can be saving up to furnish the house. A few coppers every week will soon grow into shillings and then the shillings will turn to pounds. Yer’ve got a good little head on yer shoulders, girl, and if yer set yer mind to it, yer’ll get what yer want.’

  ‘Mary Ann, if you were my mother I wouldn’t be thinking of a place of me own because I’d have everything I wanted at home. I don’t ask much out of life, just a bit of love, understanding and warmth. It’s not asking much, is it?’