Olga - A Daughter's Tale (13 page)

Two hours later, and much happier, I said goodbye to Joanne, but we arranged to meet in the park the following week.

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Olga’s Diary

Dear Diary

The wicked witch
: AM (that’s Aunt Martha) being horrible. Very bad tempered. There are two versions of her, the English version (the true one) and the Jamaican version (the false one). She still says I’m eating too much and I have to eat less even though I’ve given her nearly all of my money and I don’t think I have enough to last until Sydney comes.

She says I have to pay my way so I must clean the flat and do her washing and ironing. Now she’s treating me like a servant.

“
You might as well wash and iron Mr Kitchen’s clothes the same time you do mine” she said.

“
I’ll do your chores, because I have the time, but I’m not doing his and if you insist then I’ll write to Mammie and Sydney and tell them what you’re asking me to do” I threatened.

“There’s no need for that, Olga, just do mine”.

Good job done, Olga, a small big victory and very nice it feels too. Mr Kitchen is AM’s latest “gentleman friend” and the pair of them go out drinking nearly every night. They always come home drunk and Mr Kitchen usually stays overnight (in AM’s bedroom!) and I hear him creeping out of the front door early in the morning. Mammie and Sydney would be shocked if they knew.

AM says they’re engaged to be married, but I don’t think Mr Kitchen knows that.

Wonder what the neighbours think?

AM is cruel when she’s been drinking. Told me that I would never get a husband.

“
No man would find someone as plain and boring as you, Olga, attractive. Where were you when God was handing out the looks”. She’s not a very nice person, you know. I know I’m not as pretty as my sisters, but Mammie says I have other qualities which are more important than looks.

Should have said to her “where were you when God was handing out the looks”. But that would have been unkind too and, anyway, after hearing her give Mr Kitchen a good few slaps with the frying pan the other evening, I stay in my room now when she’s been drinking.

AM had chicken pox when she was a child and to stop her picking at the sores on her face her parents bandaged her hands. But AM still managed to pick them and as a result her face is badly pockmarked. She was teased a lot at school by the other children because of it and Aunt Lucy says that contributed to AM’s “effortless transition from bad tempered child to a cantankerous, mean spirited woman”. Had to look up in the dictionary what cantankerous meant and Aunt Lucy’s got it dead right. AM’s bad tempered and unreasonable.

To keep out of her way I spend a lot of time wandering around London and one day I was walking along Baker Street when this car hooted and when I turned round to see who it was, it was Roy McKenzie from Jamaica. I couldn’t believe it, in fact, I didn’t even know he was in London.

I immediately remembered that day when I was hanging from a tree by my knickers and felt embarrassed when we said hello, even though Aunt Lucy and Mammie had got me down from the tree before he saw me.

“
Olga, look at you, you look good, how nice to see you”. He seemed really pleased to see me,

He told me to hop in the car and he took me for a lovely drive around London. He asked me what I was doing in London and how long I was staying. I told him about the dance school and what I’d been doing since I arrived and he told me he ran a gambling and drinking club in London called the Frivolity. He knew I had a good singing voice and asked me to come down and sing at his club now and again. Because I had no money I was tempted. Maybe I’ll pop down one evening I thought to myself, it might be fun.

I asked him if he thought there was going to be a war with Germany and he said he hoped not because it could be bad for his business.

He stopped the car round the corner from Chilworth Street and wrote down the address of the Frivolty on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

He asked me how things were going with Aunt Martha and I just shrugged my shoulders. He took out his wallet, which, by the way, was full of money, and took out one of the notes in it.

“
Here, take this, but don’t tell Aunt Martha you’ve got it or she’ll talk you into giving it to her and, definitely, don’t tell her that you’ve seen me. I’ve seen her operating in the Den of Inequity and I don’t want her in my club.” I looked in my hand and there was a lovely big white £5 note. I hugged him. I told him Sydney would be over soon and would repay him.

“
Remember, Olga, anytime you want to earn some money singing, you know where I am now”. And then he was gone. I had such a lovely afternoon with Roy, but most of all it was comforting to know there was someone who would help me if I needed it.

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Dear Diary

Big surprise:
Met Joanne in the park today and went to the cinema to see a romantic comedy called “Too Hot to Handle” with Myrna Loy and Clark Gable. Very funny.

Afterwards, we went to Joe Lyons for our usual treat, a knickerbocker glory, before Joanne had to return to the hospital. She’s a bit worried because she hasn’t heard from her family for a while and I said I would contact them when I returned to Jamaica. That reassured her a lot and I was pleased to be able to make her feel better because I know she has lots of studying to do for exams but she still finds time to be my friend.

When I got home, guess what, there was Sydney waiting for me in the sitting room. I have never been so pleased to see my brother in my whole life. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. He looked embarrassed and surprised because his presence doesn’t usually make me so happy but things have been very uncomfortable between AM and me.

Sydney said “Aunt Martha has been telling me how much she has enjoyed having you here and feels you should stay on and enroll in Madame Verschaka’s School of Dance in September”.

She also told him that if war did break out he could rely on her to get me on the first available boat going to Jamaica, providing of course Sydney left enough money “to cover that eventuality” as she put it.

He asked me what I thought and I said I wasn’t too keen on the idea and, thank goodness, Sydney agreed. In fact, he said his instructions from Mammie were to bring me home “safe and sound”.

AM looked crushed.

Later, while Sydney and I were out walking I told him what I did during the day to keep busy and all about my new friend Joanne. I told him about seeing Roy McKenzie and the money he’d lent me. Sydney said he had heard Roy was in London and would go and see him. I told Sydney I liked London a lot, even though the people weren’t very friendly, but I wouldn’t want to stay here if I had to live with Aunt Martha.

“
It’s obvious you’re not happy living with her”.

I told him how I do a lot to help her; I told him about her drinking but I left out the bit about Mr Kitchen staying overnight and her blaspheming. Sydney put his arm round me.

“
Olga, I’m sorry you’ve been so unhappy. Look, I’m here for two weeks. I have to do some business but then, once that’s done, we can have a good old holiday together.”

I thought to myself afterwards, it’s a funny old world, who would have thought that the day would come when I’d actually be looking forward to having a holiday with Sydney.

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Dear Diary

Fate steps in:
Three days later two things happened one after the other.

First, Sydney got a big discount, bigger than he anticipated, on some bicycles he ordered for the shops and the second thing that happened was that he took ill and was rushed, by ambulance, to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington with appendicitis. Hours later his appendix was out and he was being looked after by Nurse Megan Lloyd who comes from Wales.

My “good old holiday” with Sydney is now being spent sitting by his bed every day in St Mary’s watching the nurses do their work while he sleeps. I noticed that the patients have a great respect for the nurses, which is nice, and as I like the idea of helping people get well, a plan was beginning to develop that would mean I could stay in London and make Mammie and the family really proud of me.

When I thought the time was right I mentioned to Sydney I would like to become a nurse. His immediate reaction was definitely not, you’re going home with me and no arguing. So I enlisted help. Joanne and Nurse Lloyd. Sydney had taken a shine to Joanne and she pointed out to him the benefits of being a nurse and how it would help our community back home when I returned to Jamaica a fully qualified nurse whose training had been in a big London hospital. It took both of them to persuade Sydney to at least have an interview with Matron at St Mary’s. When AM heard her reaction was disbelief.

“
A great hospital like St Mary’s only takes white, middle class young ladies to train as nurses” she told us.

“
They would never accept a coloured person so don’t waste your time seeing Matron just to be told no.”

She was right, but, for the wrong reason. Within five minutes of sitting in Matron’s office she announced I couldn’t study nursing there because I didn’t have a school leaving certificate but suggested we try the smaller St Giles Cottage Hospital in Camberwell.

“
You’ll have more success there because not too long ago and before it became a hospital, it used to be a workhouse and they’re not so particular about their nurses”, AM told me, when Sydney was out of earshot.

We had an interview with Matron at St Giles, and shortly afterwards I was offered a place on a residential three month basic nursing programme, but first I had to have a medical.

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Dear Diary

Good news
: I’ve been offered a nursing place and the best part of my new job is that I’ll be living in the Nurses’ Home at the hospital so don’t have to live with AM any more. Oh happy days!

I could see Sydney was proud of me and I knew Mammie would be too in spite of being disappointed that I wouldn’t be going home now. I had to promise Sydney that if war broke out I would come home immediately. He gave me enough money for my fare and to keep me going until I got my first month’s wages which was going to be £2 a month. He also bought all the books I needed for studying, plus three pairs of thick black stockings and my black shoes. The rest of my nurses’ uniform would be provided by the hospital.

The night before Sydney left to go home he took Joanne and me to the theatre to see the Ivor Novello musical, The Dancing Years, and afterwards we had supper in a posh late night restaurant.

If I hadn’t met Joanne I’m not sure I would have chosen to become a nurse, but knowing that she would be close by helped me to decide and that was a big comfort, not only to me, but to Sydney too, I think. He could reassure Mammie that I had at least one good friend. Sitting at the dining table watching them dance together, I thought wouldn’t it be just perfect if one day Joanne became my sister-in-law. Something else to pray for Olga.

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Olga’s Diary

Dear Diary

St Giles Hospital
: I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Not too long ago I was spending my mornings sitting on a park bench in Regent’s Park feeling sorry for myself and now I’m standing in a line with other student nurses listening to Sister.

“
These are the rules for student nurses and I expect you to commit them to memory” barked Sister as she handed each new student nurse a rule sheet.

A stout, straight talking woman from Yorkshire with grey hair and voice that only seemed to have one volume, loud.

“
It is my pleasure to guide you through your nursing training until you become fully qualified nurses” Sister Tutor was referring to us by our surnames and when someone asked why, she said that’s how it is in hospital.

“
We don’t use Christian names, only surnames”.

Honestly, I don’t like the idea of someone calling me Browney.