Lizzie of Langley Street (8 page)

Bert poured it all out. Chalk Wharf, the timber yard, the crates of booze which he’d thought were china and the three men. Finally he told them how things had gone wrong and the warehouse
had caught alight.

‘What makes you think Vinnie got out?’ Lizzie asked as she pushed a mug of steaming tea towards Bert.

‘He was standing by the crates. Someone bashed me over the head and I was out cold for a bit, but when I came to there was smoke everywhere. I crawled on me hands and knees until I found
the crates. I’d stake me life he wasn’t there. Nor was the other geezer with the crowbar.’

‘You got a lump on yer head the size of an egg,’ Danny said.

Bert lifted his hand and rubbed his scalp. ‘I don’t remember much.’

‘What happened to the other blokes? Do you remember that?’ asked Danny.

‘Nah. Only that I lost me temper when I saw the crowbar. I tried to get to Vin. Then it felt like the place was coming down round me ears.’ Bert looked at Lizzie. ‘I
didn’t want to come ’ome without our Vin, gel. I swear, I looked everywhere. I went back in but the ’eat and smoke was too much.’

‘Bert, that was dangerous!’

‘I ’ad to ’ave another look.’

‘You shouldn’t have gone out in the first place,’ Lizzie said sharply. ‘And you lied to me, Bert, you said you was going up the pub.’

‘To give Bert his due,’ Danny intervened, ‘I think you’ll find Vin didn’t give him much of a choice.’ Danny glanced at Bert. ‘Ain’t that so,
Bert?’

Bert said nothing, loyal to the end.

‘What are we going to do?’ Lizzie asked. ‘What if Vinnie doesn’t come home?’

Danny looked at Bert. ‘We’ll give him another hour, then we’ll go up to Limehouse. We’ll take a gander at the wharf, see what’s happening.’

Bert nodded, but Lizzie knew they were all thinking the same. That Vinnie wouldn’t turn up in an hour. That he might never turn up at all.

L
izzie glanced at the clock. It was one o’clock in the morning. For the last two hours they had been drinking tea and talking in
whispers.

Danny stood up and drew his cap from his pocket. ‘Well, Bert. No sense in hanging round any longer. We’d better get up to Limehouse.’

Bert looked crestfallen. Lizzie had tried to wash the stains from his jacket but the rough tweed had turned a muddy colour. There was a ring of black round his neck and his hair was singed.

But Lizzie opened the kitchen door just as four filthy fingers poked through the letterbox. The string was drawn up, a key inserted and the front door opened.

‘Where the ’ell ’ave you been?’ Bert gasped as he stared at Vinnie.

For one moment Vinnie looked shocked to see Bert. Then he strode down the passage and into the kitchen. ‘I might ask you the same.’

‘Danny and Bert were just coming to look for you,’ Lizzie said.

Vinnie took off his hat and threw it on the table. It and his overcoat were streaked with black marks. ‘Well they won’t have to bother now, will they? I s’pose you’ve
heard all about tonight from him.’ He nodded at Bert.

‘I been looking for you everywhere,’ Bert replied slowly. ‘Where ’ave you been all this time?’

‘Where do you think? Someone had to go and tell Mik, didn’t they?’

‘But we’ve been worried,’ Lizzie told him. ‘We didn’t know if you’d got out of the fire—’

‘No thanks to him I did.’ Vinnie glared at Bert.

‘What do you mean?’ Bert said hollowly.

‘You were the silly bugger who started the trouble,’ Vinnie accused angrily. ‘I was handling the deal until you did a bunk.’

‘You said what was in those crates was legit china,’ Bert replied in a hurt voice. ‘But it was all knocked off.’

‘And you wouldn’t have known a bloody thing about it,’ Vinnie returned quickly, ‘if you’d kept yer big nose out of me business. I told you to keep quiet, but you
couldn’t, could you? One thing I know for sure is I won’t be taking you with me again.’

‘Bert did his best to look for you,’ Lizzie intervened. ‘The least you could have done was come straight home and tell him you were safe.’

Vinnie’s dark eyes narrowed. ‘Who asked you for an opinion? This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you, it’s between me an ’im.’

‘I found yer brother up Poplar,’ Danny said, walking round the table. ‘He went back in that warehouse when he couldn’t find you outside. Goin’ back into a furnace
like that takes some doing.’

‘Trust you to stick yer oar in,’ Vinnie snapped. ‘Look, I just told her to mind her own business. Now I’m tellin’ you to do the same.’

‘No problem,’ Danny said evenly. ‘I don’t think any of us want to know what was in them crates, Vin.’ The two men stared at one another, dislike in their eyes.

‘Ain’t it about time you were leavin’?’ Vinnie muttered.

Danny nodded. ‘I’m going all right. I don’t intend to wear out me welcome.’

Lizzie caught his sleeve. ‘Come on, Danny. I’ll see you out.’

‘Just you keep what you heard tonight to yerself, Flowers,’ Vinnie yelled after them.

Lizzie quietly opened the front door. She was worried that her parents would hear. Outside in the street, the fog had cleared. A deep blue sky was full of stars and a white frost touched the
windows and roofs of the houses in Langley Street. Danny put his hands gently on her arms. ‘He’s right, you know. What he gets up to is his own affair and no one else’s. He
ain’t a kid any longer.’

‘But what if he’d been caught tonight with all that drink?’

‘There ain’t nothing you can do, gel. You probably don’t know the half of what’s goin’ on, either. At least there wasn’t no life lost in the fire.’ He
tipped up her chin. ‘You gonna be all right? Vinnie ain’t likely to cause you trouble?’

She shook her head. ‘I just hope no one wakes up.’

‘Well, if you need me, you know where I am.’

It was wonderful to be cared about, Lizzie thought as he took her in his arms. Under the starry sky he kissed her. It was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her – like the
wings of a butterfly softly touching her lips.

He grinned. ‘You can slap me face if you want.’

She didn’t want to slap his face, she wanted to be kissed again. When his lips had touched hers, all her troubles had melted away.

‘See you up the market on Saturday?’

She nodded. ‘Danny, thanks for everything.’

‘Better get a move on, or Benji’ll be frozen stiff, poor bugger.’

She watched him hurry across the road to where the scruffy old grey horse stood. Benji raised his head as he saw Danny approach. In the silence of the night, Danny clicked his tongue as he
jumped up on the cart. Only the sound of Benji’s horseshoes rang out in the early hours of the winter morning.

‘What time did you two roll in last night?’ Kate Allen bawled at her sons the following morning.

Bert and Vinnie sat at the breakfast table with long faces. Neither was speaking to the other. Kate knew there was something going on. But this morning she felt so queasy she realized she
didn’t want to know what. She had slept deeply and only woken once when she thought she’d heard voices. It must have been the boys coming in, she realized. Thank the Lord Tom
hadn’t woken.

‘Lost yer tongues have you?’ She wagged the bread knife at her sons. ‘Well, from now on if you both want to live down the pub and drink yerselves to death then go ahead, but
don’t think yer coming home to this house afterwards. From tonight onwards, that front door’s locked after ten. The string’s coming off and you’ll have to kip on the
doorstep.’ She looked hard at them both. ‘Understood?’

Bert and Vinnie stared at their bread and dripping as if hypnotized.

‘Understood?’ she said again, louder.

Her sons nodded slowly. As they ate their bread in silence, Kate made a vow to herself. Things were going to be different from now on. If the rest of the household could keep decent hours, then
so could these two lazy buggers.

Bert and Vinnie ate their bread and drank their tea. They left the kitchen in silence. Not one word between them. Kate turned to Lizzie as they cleared the dishes. ‘What’s up with
them two?’

‘Dunno, Ma.’

Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘Something’s up.’

‘They’ll be as right as rain tonight. Don’t think early mornings suit them.’

‘Well, they’ll have to get used to it,’ Kate said firmly. ‘If Flo can get herself off to school and Babs up to the House by eight o’clock in the morning, then they
can too. ‘And tonight they can clean out their room. Smells like a bloody match factory up there.’ Kate dried her hands, went to the cupboard under the stairs and took out the
boots.

‘Now, I’ve something I want you to do for me, gel,’ she said, placing the boots in her shopping bag.

Lizzie turned from the sink. ‘It ain’t the boots, is it, Ma?’

‘See if you can get fifteen shillings from old Bloome for them.’

‘But, Ma—’

‘You remind the tight old sod that I bought ’em ’specially for your Pa to wear when he came home from the war.’

‘But they ain’t new anymore, Ma. Mr Bloome told me last time, don’t you remember? I got ten and six and he was hard pushed to give me that.’

‘I know you don’t like going to Mr Bloome’s, ducks,’ Kate sighed. ‘But I gotta put something in everyone’s stomach. I ain’t goin’ down that cocoa
tin, not if it kills me. Your father don’t approve, I know, but it’s either me washing that goes to the pawnbroker or the boots. Anyway, he won’t find out, if no one tells
him.’ She laid a cloth over the top of the boots in the basket. ‘I don’t like asking you to do it for me, you know that, but I’ll have a nice piece of hot bread pudding
waiting for you when you get back. Now go and get yer coat on, there’s a good girl.’

Kate wished she didn’t have to send Lizzie, but there was no other way. Just then Vinnie walked down the stairs. ‘Where do you think you’re off to?’ she demanded as he
came into the kitchen, dressed in his cap and outdoor jacket.

‘To work, Ma.’

‘You call what you do
work?
Kate hated the thought of her son as a bookie’s runner. It was never mentioned in the house, but she knew for a fact it was what he did.
‘One of these days you’re going to run up against the wrath of the law, my son.’

‘No chance, mother. I keep on me toes. See you tonight.’

‘Just you be careful.’ Kate called after him.

When he’d gone out the front door, Kate went to the bottom of the stairs. ‘Ain’t it about time you were off an’ all, Bert? There’s gotta be a job going somewhere on
this bloody island.’

‘Yeah all right, Ma. Just comin.’

Kate was about to tell him to get a move on when the indigestion struck. She swallowed, coming out in a cold sweat. That was all she needed. The bloody pain back again.

Lizzie came down the stairs in her coat and scarf. ‘Bye, Ma. I’ll be back soon.’

Kate opened the front door. ‘Keep yer collar done up, love.’ She watched her daughter walk down Langley Street until she was out of sight . . . the daughter whom she loved beyond
words, her first girl child.

Bert was next down the stairs. ‘Blimey, what’s happened to yer jacket?’ Kate gasped. ‘Looks like you put it through me wringer.’

‘Yeah, well, I tried to give it a bit of a clean up.’ Bert was going red.

Kate raised her eyes and sighed once more. ‘I’ll have to see if I can get you something up the market. The sleeves are too short on that one, anyway.’

Bert leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Cheerio, Ma.’

She inhaled a strange smell. ‘I don’t know how long ago it was you had a wash, me boy, but you ain’t going to win any prizes smelling like that. Tonight we’ll bring the
bath in. You and Vinnie can have a bloody good soak.’

‘Yeah, all right, Ma.’

When Bert had turned the corner Kate closed the door slowly. Her heart was fluttering as though a bird was trapped in her chest. It was happening a lot lately. She’d had a funny five
minutes when she’d got up and then again as she’d seen Flo off to school this morning. Usually it wore off by the time she was getting Tom ready. But it was a real bugger this
morning.

She went back to the kitchen. What would she buy with the boot money? Very likely a nice mutton stew with lentils or split peas. She might even run to a sixpenny bar of milk chocolate. She loved
seeing the kids’ expressions if she left a piece by each of their mugs at supper time.

Kids, she thought to herself as she put the kettle on to boil. Hardly kids any longer. Only Flo really. Oh, if only she could get Tom to come out of that blessed bedroom and join in a bit more
with the family! It might even help Vinnie to settle down if he did. Boys needed a father. A visible one.

Vinnie was going to have to change his tune. Bert was going to have to find a job. Sods, the pair of them, doing a bunk last night.

Kate pulled back her shoulders. She intended to iron out a few creases in this family. First off, today, she’d push Tom out just as soon as Lizzie got back. He wouldn’t like it. He
wanted to sit and sulk in the bedroom all day. Well, if he was well enough to go up the market on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, he could come up the park with her for a breath of fresh air of
a Tuesday.

From now on . . .

Kate took a breath and stood still. Her hand went up to her breast. A pain shot across her chest and down her arm. For a moment she smiled at the irony. A bout of indigestion just as she was
going to put her family to rights. Well, indigestion or no, this was a day they were all going to remember.

The smile was still on Kate’s lips as she reached out for the kettle, but somehow it slipped through her fingers, the heavy weight tumbling to the floor and bouncing on the stone. The
water trickled out and carved a curving passage towards the door, collecting the dirt and fluff on its journey that she had yet to sweep up. Kate’s eyes closed and a band of iron encircled
her chest.

This time, it didn’t go away.

Lizzie stood on the steps of Mr Bloome’s shop. Two women from Langley Street were coming up the road. She went back in and waited for them to go by. When the coast was
clear she walked out again and turned in the opposite direction. Mr Bloome had at first offered her eight shillings for the boots. They had finally agreed on ten.