Becoming Billy Dare (16 page)

‘Sure, and I remember you too. You and that other boy did a bunk.'

Nugget shrugged. ‘Never did figure why you didn't make a run for it like me and Tiddler. What happened to you?'

‘I joined the circus, didn't I?'

‘So that's where you find the midget?'

Paddy looked at Violet, who was busily gathering up the pennies.

‘It's a long story,' said Paddy. ‘We need to find board and lodgings and I need a job. Got any suggestions?'

‘Cor, that's a long list. I can't see many landladies taking the pair of youse. And a job, you reckon? What's the midget gunna do while you're working? The streets ain't no place for females. The welfare will take her off you quick smart.'

Paddy didn't reply. He didn't know the answer to any of the questions. Nugget scratched his head thoughtfully.

‘ 'Course, you could dump the midget with the nuns. They took me sisters.'

‘We have to stick together,' said Violet, stamping her foot and glaring at Nugget.

‘Angry little ant, ain't she?' said Nugget, looking amused.

Paddy ignored them both. ‘do you know any place where we can get some lodgings for tonight?'

Nugget rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘there's an old dame up Fitzroy way, Mum Whiteley. She might take you in for a night or two, if she's got room. But it'll cost you.'

‘I don't want any favours,' said Paddy. ‘I can take care of myself – and the midget.'

21
Mean streets

They walked through the city as the electric street lights flickered, sending an orange glow over the crowds. Violet wasn't excited at the prospect of tagging after Nugget and dragged her heels. On the far side of town they came to a suburb where narrow terraces lined both sides of the street.

‘Do you live up around here?' asked Paddy.

‘Nah, I'm a free man. I doss down wherever I fancy.'

‘What about your mother and father?'

‘What about them?' said Nugget, jutting his chin out.

‘Never mind,' said Paddy. It was exactly the sort of answer he'd give himself.

As they approached the corner of the next laneway, the air was filled with a hum of angry activity. Paddy slowed his pace but Nugget hurried to the corner and gave a shout.

‘Crikey! It's the Fitzroy Push taking on the Carlton mob,' he yelled, laughing with excitement as a crowd of men came charging up the laneway.

There seemed to be hundreds of them, with faces flushed in fury and breath reeking of beer. Nugget charged into the fray as if he knew exactly what to do, but Paddy grabbed Violet's hand and looked for a way out. Someone tore Paddy's swag from him and flung it into the crowd and when he tried to retrieve it, they were drawn into the thick of the riot.

Men were pulling palings off fences and hitting each other across the head, and some in heavy boots set to kicking their opponents as they fell. Bricks and sharp pieces of blue metal flew through the air. Paddy saw Nugget, armed with a paling, lashing out at a tall larrikin in heavy boots and a tight jacket. Suddenly the larrikin swung to the left and punched Paddy full in the face. Paddy's head jerked back and for a moment everything went white.

Violet screamed and threw herself at the larrikin's leg, sinking her teeth into his thigh. The larrikin looked down in amazement and tried to peel her off, but Violet hung on and bit him even harder. Then the man raised his fist. The punch never landed on Violet. Paddy grabbed her around the waist and pulled her free. The larrikin's fist caught Paddy hard on the cheek. He reeled away, trying to force his way out of the brawl.

The police came charging around the corner, some on horseback and others on foot, swinging their batons.

‘Bloody hell!' shouted Nugget. He grabbed Paddy's sleeve as he pelted past. ‘Run for it!'

Paddy's lip and nose were streaming blood and his head throbbed with pain but he hugged Violet to his chest and followed Nugget through the rioting crowd. If they kept their heads down, they could just avoid the swing of the officers' batons. Men and boys were running away from the fracas in all directions. Some of the larrikins were being herded into the back of a wagon. Just when Paddy thought they were free, someone grabbed the collar of his coat and wrenched him backwards. Paddy didn't look to see if it was a larrikin or a police officer. Letting go of Violet for a second, he wriggled free of the coat, grabbed her hand, and ran.

They rounded the corner just in time to see Nugget disappearing into a narrow laneway. By the time they caught up with him, Violet was gasping for breath. She crumpled in a heap on the bluestone.

‘Is the midget all right?' asked Nugget.

Paddy knelt down beside her.

‘Vi?' he asked. She stopped gasping and started spitting.

‘He tasted horrible,' she said. She wiped her tongue on the sleeve of her dress and pulled a face. Paddy laughed with relief.

The three of them sat down with their back against the brick wall. Paddy could feel a bruise swelling on his cheekbone and his mouth kept filling with blood.

‘Jesus, mate,' said Nugget, laughing. ‘What a stoush! Bit of a lark, wasn't it?'

‘No, it wasn't,' said Paddy. ‘If those coppers had caught us, they would have taken Violet away for sure.'

‘You're right there. The street's no place for little sheilas. Even a dumb mick like you should know that. I s'pose we oughta get you down to Mum Whiteley's, then.'

Paddy groaned. ‘there's no point. I've lost all my money. I can't pay. I've lost everything. My swag, Dai's coat, my wages. Everything.'

Nugget looked from Violet to Paddy pityingly. ‘I can show you a good spot to doss down for the night.' He led them to a deep set arched doorway at the end of the lane. Inside the doorway was a pile of old newspapers. Paddy rustled the papers into a hollow and then laid extra sheets over Violet as a makeshift cover. He settled down beside her and looked up at Nugget. ‘Are you staying?'

‘There's a two-up game round the corner. Thought I'd see if I can pick up a shilling. I'd have asked you along but you've got the midget and …' Nugget shrugged.

‘Never mind,' said Paddy.

‘I'll come by and check on youse in the morning,' said Nugget, tipping his cap and disappearing into the night.

Next morning, Nugget was as good as his word. He laughed at Paddy's swollen, battered face and pinched Violet's cheek so she spat at him. Nugget took Paddy by the arm and dragged him a little away. He leant close to Paddy.

‘Listen, mate. There's a convent down Albert Park way, right near Stubb's baths. I'm heading down that way meself, meeting some mates for a dip. Why don't you dump the kid with the nuns and join us? You can't go on sleeping rough with her. It ain't right. As I see it, you don't got no choice.'

Paddy looked back at Violet. Her new shoes were already scratched and scuffed, her new dress torn and soiled. He felt more lost in the big city with her than he had in the bush. Wearily, he nodded. ‘Can you lend me the fare?'

The tram stopped right opposite the baths. Nugget led them past families picnicking on the beach road to a long, high wall. Through the gates of the convent was a treeless yard and an austere brick building.

‘Here you go, you poor little blighter,' said Nugget, grinning at Violet.

Violet started to cry. ‘Now look what you've done. What do you mean, poor blighter?' said Paddy.

‘I didn't mean no harm. Both me sisters used to be with the nuns. They hated the place. My sisters are Malloys, they couldn't keep their traps shut so they was always getting flogged for something, but your little mouse, she'll be right.'

Paddy knelt down in front of Violet. ‘don't worry, Vi. It won't be for long. When I've found a place for us to live and a job, I'll come back for you. You know I'll come back for you.'

Nugget laughed. ‘they won't let you have her, you mug. They wouldn't let my ma have the girls back and she was their bloody mother. Flo, she turned fourteen last year and they finally let her go. She's down at the biscuit factory now, so I guess it turned out all right but I'm glad it was her and not me.'

Paddy grabbed Nugget by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the convent wall. ‘Why are you telling me this now!'

‘Easy does it, mate,' said Nugget. ‘It's only the truth.'

Paddy groaned and let go of the other boy.

‘I can't give her to the nuns, then. I'll think of something else. Something will turn up.'

‘You're cracked,' said Nugget, straightening his shirt and jacket. ‘Lost all your bloody marbles. I'm going in for a dip, mate. If you fancy joining me, you'd better be leaving the midget with the nuns ‘cause you can't bring her in the baths. Lads only.' He sauntered across the beach road and disappeared into the crowd.

Paddy stared after him, enviously.

‘C'mon, Violet,' he said taking her by the wrist and dragging her across the road to the beach. They took off their shoes and paddled in the shallow, cool water. At the deep end of the baths, boys were jumping into the water, shouting with excitement. It seemed like an age since Paddy had played like that.

They spent the whole day on the beach. When the sun got too hot, they sat under the pier. Violet scraped a hole in the sand and then arranged a pattern of shells around it. Paddy sat watching her, brooding. Then Violet began adding other objects to the pattern and Paddy drew closer. Scattered among the shells were pennies. ‘Where'd you find them?' he asked.

‘You dropped them, yesterday. You let me put them in my pocket, 'member?

Paddy felt a sudden flash of hope as he gathered up the pennies and then his heart sank again. It wasn't enough. It wouldn't even buy them a proper meal. As he knelt beside her, counting up the coins, he noticed another part of the pattern she was weaving. Around the very edge of her castle lay a string of coloured glass beads.

‘Violet,' he said, grabbing the small girl's wrist. ‘What have you done?'

Violet stared up at him, confused. ‘I don't know.'

‘Those beads.'

This time Violet blushed scarlet. ‘I found them. They were in your pocket. The pocket of the big coat. I found them. They're mine now.'

Paddy picked them up, shaking off the sand. Uncle Patrick's rosary beads.

‘They're mine,' said Violet, pouting.

‘Do you even know what they are?' said Paddy, furious. ‘do you know what this is?' he asked, holding the tiny crucifix on the end of the rosary in front of her face.

‘He's my friend,' replied Violet.

Paddy groaned. ‘Violet, these are special beads. They're for saying your prayers.'

‘Is prayers a game?' she asked, curious, crawling through the sand towards Paddy and resting her elbow on his knee.

‘You know, praying. Like when you say your prayers before you go to sleep. Like the prayers your mam taught you.'

‘Mam didn't teach me no prayers. I don't know no prayers.'

The afternoon light cut through the pillars of the pier and lay warm on the sand. ‘You make like this,' said Paddy, kneeling beside her. Then he took Violet's hands and pressed them together, wrapping the rosary beads around her fingers and thumb.

He taught her to say ‘Hail Mary', feeling each line as a wound inside him and yet determined to teach her. She stumbled over the words to begin with, but soon caught the rhythm of the prayer. When she could recite it back to him, he crawled away from her, strangely exhausted. There was so much that she needed that Paddy couldn't give her.

The shadows grew longer and still they sat beneath the pier. Violet had put the rosary beads around her neck and gone back to making her castles in the sand. Paddy passed the pennies from one hand to the other, lost in thought. The tide moved up the beach and covered Violet's diggings, and the sun began to sink lower over the bay.

‘I've got a plan now, Violet,' said Paddy, suddenly determined. ‘C'mon.'

‘Where are we going now?' she asked.

‘You'll see.'

At an icecream cart in Bourke Street, just up from the Haymarket Theatre, Paddy bought a goblet of strawberry icecream with the last of the pennies. Violet's chin was quickly plastered with pink.

‘You'll have to be a bit tidier with your food once you're with the Lilliputians,' said Paddy, wiping her face clean with the sleeve of his shirt.

‘So will you,' said Violet, pointing to a smudge of icecream on Paddy's cheek.

Paddy looked away.

‘I'm not going, Vi,' he said. ‘they didn't want me.'

‘Then I won't go either!' she said adamantly. Paddy knelt down beside her.

‘No, Violet, you'll go. I've been thinking about it all day. You have to go. I can't take care of you any more and you wouldn't like it with the sisters at the convent. The theatre's the best place for you. You'll have a grand time of it. They'll take you to all sorts of beautiful places and you'll be the great star. When you come back to Melbourne, I'll be sitting right there in the front row and I'll be so proud. You want me to be proud of you, don't you?'

Her small face crumpled in distress. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

‘Will you stop that malarkey!' he said crossly.

Violet flung her arms around his waist, clinging to him, refusing to be disentangled. ‘You said our mams wanted us to be together!' she gasped through tears.

Paddy wrenched her arms free and held her wrists. He knelt down in front of her, staring hard into her tear-streaked face. ‘We will see each other again, one day. I promise. But I
can't
keep you with me now, Vi. Sweet Jesus, don't you understand? I would if I could. But the police will catch you and me too. They'll take you away and lock me up. They might even give you back to Jack Ace. You don't want that, do you?'

Violet blinked and then hiccuped. She shook her head, her black curls bouncing against her cheeks.

‘It's decided.' He took her hand and led her into the theatre.

22
Beggarman, thief