MB06 - The Sunshine of your Smile, page 4
As Molly held her tight, her mind went back to the day Jill was born. How happy she’d been, and Jack had strutted around like a peacock he was so proud. It didn’t seem like twenty-one years ago. ‘I love yer, sunshine.’
Ten minutes later, Molly was setting the plates out on the draining board when she heard the key in the door. Wiping her hands down the front of her pinny, she rushed through to the living room for the next joyful part of her day. That was seeing her son Tommy for a few minutes before he set off home to his new wife. He was a handsome lad, taller than his dad, who had followed him inside, and with a face that was never far from a smile. ‘Hello, Mam.’ He put his arm across her shoulders and planted a noisy kiss on her cheek. The face she turned up to him reflected the love she felt for her only son. She’d thought of him as a young, easygoing lad when he went into the army, without a care in the world. But he came home a mature man who had seen things that had made him grow up quickly. Things that were so bad they still gave him nightmares. The only person he ever talked about the war to, though, was Archie Higgins, who was now going steady with Lily, Nellie’s daughter.
Archie had been a corporal in the same regiment as Tommy. When the war in Europe was over, about thirty men from the same regiment were on a mopping-up operation in Germany. They’d seen the horrors of a prisoner-of-war camp which they would remember until the day they died and were moving forward, alert for any German soldiers still in the area, when two men at the front stepped on a hidden landmine and were blown up. It was Archie who ordered the others back and remained calm, showing no emotion, even though he must have felt as bad as any of the frightened soldiers. His composure helped to restore the men’s confidence and enable them to cope with the horror they had just witnessed. The two men who were killed had been close comrades, and more than a few tears were shed for them.
After a while Archie led them back through that minefield, walking ahead so that if he came upon a mine he might be killed but the rest of the men would be safe. He became a hero to all of them men that day, and was a hero to Tommy still. He had been awarded a medal for his bravery but no one had ever seen it apart from his mother, he was too modest. When he met and started courting Lily, he had made Tommy promise never to tell his family, or the McDonoughs, about what had happened. Tommy wanted to tell the world he owed his life to this man, but kept his promise. Now, when Rosie or his family mentioned his time in the army, all he would say was that Archie had made a man of him.
‘Something smells good, Mam.’ Tommy reckoned he had the best family in the world, and he adored them. ‘A smell like that makes me wonder if I did the right thing in getting married. Perhaps I should have stayed at home.’
‘Away with yer!’ Molly said ‘Rosie is a smashing cook and you know it. Besides, yer wouldn’t last a day without her.’
His handsome face lit up at the mention of his wife’s name. ‘I know, I fret for her when I’m in work.’
‘That’s the way it should be, son,’ Jack said. ‘I’ve felt like that about yer mam since the day we got wed. In fact, I’m counting the days until I retire. To my reckoning, I’ve got seven thousand three hundred days to go.’
Ruthie hung on her father’s arm. ‘I’m counting the days too, Dad. In one hundred and twenty-three days, I’ll be leaving school.’
Jack ruffled her hair. ‘I know that, love, ’cos I’m counting those days, too! Then yer’ll be getting a job and bringing a wage packet home. Me and yer mam will be a lot better off.’
‘I hope ye’re not expecting me to hand me whole wage packet over.’ Her chin jutted defiantly. ‘Because that wouldn’t be fair.’
Tommy put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. ‘That sounds like mutiny, little sister. But before yer go on strike, I want yer to look back and wonder where the food came from to feed yer all these thirteen years, and the clothes to keep yer warm? The pennies for sweets and the presents at Christmas and birthdays? And who read yer stories in bed until yer were ready to go to sleep, and then kissed yer and tucked yer in? And remember when yer were little and yer got the measles, who was it sat up with yer every night until yer got better? And never complained because they were all acts of love.’
Ruthie dropped her head, shame bringing a blush to her face. Then she looked up into her brother’s eyes. ‘I didn’t mean I wanted to keep all me wages! Just enough for me to buy long stockings for when I get a job, and some scented soap.’
His hands circling her waist, Tommy lifted her high, until her head was inches away from the ceiling. ‘I know yer didn’t mean it, little sister, ’cos ye’re a Bennett and we share and share alike.’ He spun around and was pleased when she began to chuckle. He hadn’t meant to upset her, just to make her think a little about the sacrifices their parents had made to give them as good a life as they could. ‘I can see yer now, in yer long stockings and smelling of scented soap. Yer’ll look so pretty, and smell like a rose garden, yer won’t have no trouble getting a job. The bosses will be forming a queue with offers of work.’
Ruthie laughed down at him. ‘Then I’ll choose the one who pays the best wages. And I’ll demand me own office and secretary.’
Tommy had touched a chord in Molly’s heart and she was feeling very emotional. But she didn’t want to spoil her son’s visit by blubbering like a baby. ‘D’yer know, that little madam kept our Jill late tonight, and she’s doing the same with you. I think she’s hoping yer’ll both get thrown out and will come back here again to live.’
Tommy lowered his sister to the ground. ‘Yeah, I’ll get a move on.’
‘Yer better had, or Rosie will have the police out looking for yer.’
‘I’ll run all the way, Mam. If I’m lucky, I’ll be greeted with a kiss. If I’m unlucky, she’ll be standing on the second stair with the frying pan in her hand, and I’ll get a wallop on me head.’
‘Well, I’ll find out later what happens,’ Molly told him, ‘because I’m coming round to see me ma and da.’
‘That’s good, Mam! If I’m not confined to bed with a lump on me head as big as a football, we can have a game of cards.’
‘I might walk round with yer, Molly,’ Jack said, ‘if Ruthie is going over to Bella’s.’
‘That would be nice, sunshine, and make a change. It’s not very often you and me go out arm in arm. And Bella could come over here if yer like, Ruthie. It would give Mary a break because ye’re over there every night. You run over and ask if she can come, and tell her mam I said we won’t be late back, and yer dad will make sure she gets home all right.’
Like a streak of lightning, Ruthie was gone. Her father shook his head and chuckled. ‘I think your suggestion met with her approval, love. So will yer tell yer grandma that Mr and Mrs Bennett will be paying them a visit later?’
‘I’ll tell them if I’m not in bed waiting for the doctor to come.’ Tommy moved towards the front door, grinning. ‘I’ll see yer both later, ta-ra.’
Nellie happened to be looking towards the window when Molly and Jack walked past. She moved the curtain for a better view, and tutted. ‘Well, the flaming underhanded so-and-so! There goes Molly, arm in arm with Jack, just like a ruddy courting couple. And she never said a dickie bird to me about going out. How’s that for a best mate?’
George peered over the top of the evening paper. ‘Nellie, she doesn’t have to tell yer everything. When she saw yer, she probably didn’t know she was going out. Not that it’s got anything to do with you anyway!’
But Nellie wasn’t to be pacified. ‘She must have known five minutes ago, and she could have given us a knock on the wall. I’ve a good mind to put me coat on and follow them.’
Her son Paul burst out laughing. ‘Mam, even you wouldn’t have the nerve to do that. Auntie Molly would clock yer one!’
‘She’d have to get past my tummy first, and no one’s ever been able to do that.’ When Nellie nodded for emphasis, her chins did a quickstep. ‘I can’t get over the cheek of her! And where does she think she’s off to, this time of night, that I couldn’t have gone with her?’
Paul shouted to his sister who was getting washed in the kitchen. ‘Can yer hear that, Lily? Me mam’s got a right cob on ’cos Auntie Molly and Uncle Jack have just gone past. She wants to put her coat on and follow them.’
Lily came through, drying her face. ‘Yer can’t do that, Mam! I mean, what’s it got to do with you where Auntie Molly goes? Yer don’t knock and tell her when yer go to the corner shop some nights, do yer?’
‘Ah, well, yer see, girl, that’s different. When I go to Maisie’s, I have a natter with all the women and get all the gossip – which I pass on to me best mate the next day. She wouldn’t know what was going on in the neighbourhood if it wasn’t for me keeping her up to date. But Molly never stands listening to gossip, and when she does hear anything she forgets it right away. Never thinks of telling me. That’s why I’ve got to be with her all the time, so I know what’s going on.’
Paul, a black-haired, brown-eyed handsome lad of twenty, thought his mother was hilarious, the things she said and got up to. And, thank goodness, she’d passed her sense of humour on to her three children. ‘Go on, then, Mam! Put yer coat on and hurry after them, they can’t have gone far. And if Auntie Molly pulls yer up about being so nosy, yer could always say yer’d run out of sugar and were going to the corner shop.’
‘Ye’re right, lad, I could.’ Nellie was on her way to get her coat off one of the hooks behind the door when George growled, ‘Don’t even think of it, Nellie, because the only way yer’ll get over that doorstep is over my dead body. So sit down and listen to the wireless, and let me read me paper. I don’t know why I bother buying one because it’s just a waste of money. Yer never give me the chance to read it.’
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Lily passed the towel to her brother. ‘Here, Paul, I’ll get it. It’ll be Archie, and he’s ten minutes late.’
‘Perhaps he bumped into the Bennetts.’ Paul winked at the sister who was a year older than him, had inherited her mother’s colouring and sense of fun, but thankfully not her eighteen-stone build. Then, out of devilment, he added, ‘I bet he did, and he’s been standing nattering to them, getting the low-down on all the news.’
The new arrival came into the room then and smiled to see them all.
‘Good evening, I hope everyone in the McDonough household is well and happy.’ Archie was so tall and broad he seemed to fill the room. He was nice-looking, too, with the black hair always immaculate, not deep brown eyes, a good set of white teeth and a ready smile. The only thing that stopped him from being really handsome was his nose, which was rather on the large size. But his other features and his caring nature more than made up for it. He cocked his head as he eyed Nellie, standing in front of the fireplace. ‘Are yer going out, Mrs Mac? Yer look as though ye’re set for the off.’
‘Oh, don’t get her going, Archie, or we’ll miss the start of the big picture.’ Lily was struggling into her coat. ‘If I were you, I’d leave well alone.’
But Archie knew Nellie inside out now, and thought she might be up to one of her tricks. If she was, he could do with a good laugh. ‘Now yer know I’m always ready to listen to yer mam if she’s in a dilemma, and we’ve got loads of time to get to the Astoria before the big picture starts. So tell me what’s up, Mrs Mac, and I’ll give yer my undivided attention.’ He pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘Fire away, I’m all ears.’
Nellie sat on a chair facing him, rested her bosom on the table and clasped her chubby hands together. ‘My lot don’t take me serious, Archie, and it doesn’t half make me mad. Yer see, I saw me mate Molly going past the window just before you got here, and she was arm in arm with Jack. They looked like a courting couple, and it made me blood boil because she never said a word about going out with him. I’ve been with her all day, she had plenty of time to tell me. So I wanted to go after her and ask her what she was playing at, but my feller wouldn’t let me. And Lily and Paul are just as bad, ’cos they agreed with him.’
Archie was by this time convinced Nellie was having them all on. But he managed to keep his face straight. ‘Why did yer want to go after them, Mrs Mac?’
‘Well, it’s like this, yer see, Archie. Molly’s me best mate and we tell each other everything. But she never breathed a word about going out with Jack tonight, and I think that was very underhand of her.’ As Nellie nodded and wagged her head her face was doing contortions, and each layer of her chins gave up trying to keep in step and went their own way. ‘If I was going out I’d tell her, I wouldn’t keep her in the dark. And I wouldn’t sneak past her window, hoping she wouldn’t see me either!’
With the evening paper lying on his lap, still unread, George growled in disgust. ‘The next thing, yer’ll be saying they crouched down so yer wouldn’t see them! Some mate you are, Nellie McDonough.’
But Archie looked as though he found the conversation really interesting. ‘And yer wanted to go after them to see what they were up to?’
‘In a nutshell, lad, in a nutshell.’
‘Wouldn’t yer get yer eye wiped, though, if Mrs B turned around and said they were only going to her ma’s?’
‘That wouldn’t surprise me, lad, ’cos I know she’s going to Bridie’s.’
Paul’s dimples always appeared when he smiled. They were in evidence now as he crossed his legs and sat back waiting for his father to erupt. And he didn’t have long to wait.
‘What the hell are yer talking about, woman? Are yer saying that yer knew all along where Molly and Jack were going, and yer’ve just been taking us for a ride?’
‘Ah, now that’s not true, George. I knew Molly was going, but she never mentioned Jack was going with her.’
‘There’s something wrong with you, woman, ye’re not right in the head. Yer’ve wasted half an hour talking a load of rubbish, and we’ve been daft enough to listen to yer.’
Lily stood behind her mother’s chair and put an arm around her. ‘What made yer think that up, Mam? For the sake of something to do?’
When Nellie’s body moved, her chins were the first to go into action, followed by her bosom and tummy. ‘Oh, not just for the sake of something to do, girl, no! I mean, if I just wanted something to do I could go out and brush the yard. No, there was a method behind me madness. It might sound drastic to yer, but only something drastic would take yer father’s eyes off the ruddy paper. Every night he sits there with it in front of his face, reading every bloody word. Sometimes I walk past his chair, just to make sure he’s still alive and breathing. If I talk to him, I only get a grunt, never a whole sentence. So I thought I’d liven him up a bit, and it worked, ’cos he got all red in the face and het up. And he’s still only on page ruddy five of the Echo! But yer’ve no idea how bored stiff I get every night, he drives me mad. From the front page to the back, he doesn’t miss a word. And then he starts all over again from the front page again, only this time he’s standing on his head and reading it upside down. I’ve never told you children before, because I didn’t want yer to know yer father was going ga-ga. I’m just waiting for the day when he takes it up to bed with him and lays it down between us.’
George’s laughter started as a low rumble in his tummy, then grew louder until the room was filled with the sound. It drowned the laughter of the other four people who were doubled up and wiping away the tears. It wasn’t all caused by what Nellie had said, but the way her hands and face acted out her story too. ‘Now what would I want to take the Echo up to bed with me for, Nellie, when I’ve got you? I couldn’t handle both of yer at the same time.’
Archie pushed his chair back and stood up. Leaning across the table, he cupped Nellie’s chubby face in his hands. ‘Mrs Mac, ye’re a hero. Yer didn’t fool me for a minute, like, but yer played yer part well, as usual. And now I’d better take yer daughter out, ’cos if we miss the beginning of the big picture I’ll never hear the end of it. It’s Errol Flynn tonight, in one of those swashbuckling things, and he’s so brave he makes Lily go weak in the knees.’
‘I’ll come out with yer,’ Paul said, ‘or Phoebe will have a right cob on.’
‘She only lives next door but one!’ Nellie shook her head. ‘When me and yer dad were courting, he had to travel six stops on the tram. You don’t know ye’re born, having a girlfriend living a few yards away.’
‘I didn’t know I was born when I was going those six stops on the tram every night,’ George said. ‘If I’d known what I was letting meself in for I would have been better keeping me money in me pocket.’
‘Yer can say that now, lad, but yer certainly weren’t thinking it when we were courting. It was you what did all the running.’
‘I’m going,’ Paul said. ‘Phoebe won’t believe I’ve been listening to me mam telling me how me dad stands on his head to read the Echo. That’s one excuse she’ll never swallow.’
Lily and Archie followed him out. ‘Oh, Phoebe will believe it all right. She’s known me mam long enough to expect anything from her,’ Lily said. ‘But how the heck she can come up with all these weird and wonderful tales is beyond me. All our lives we been listening to her, and never once has she repeated herself.’
‘My mam’s a bit like that, she likes a good joke,’ Archie told them as they stood outside the Corkhills’ house. ‘But she’s not a patch on Mrs Mac for dreaming things up.’
Paul’s eyes were bright with laughter and his dimples were deep. ‘D’yer know, I’ve spend me whole life crying, like most other kids, but while they were crying ’cos they’d been smacked, I’ve been crying with laughter.’ He heard the door behind him opening and turned to see his girlfriend Phoebe. ‘Yer won’t believe me excuse tonight so I’ll tell it to yer mam and dad instead.’
Phoebe smiled at Lily and Archie before putting on a stern face for Paul. ‘Two doors away, and yer still can’t be on time.’
‘When he tells yer his excuse, believe him, ’cos it’s true.’ Lily was pulling on Archie’s arm. ‘It’s me mam’s fault, she’s made us late for the pictures. Come on, Archie, if I miss the start of the picture, I can never get into the plot.’
