Stay as Sweet as You Are (44 page)

Aggie banged the palm of her hand on the arm of the chair. ‘That’s exactly how I see things. And we can’t both be wrong, can we? So tell me, how would yer feel if they did start courting, serious like?’

‘Mrs Aggie, I’d be over the moon. I’d have a permanent smile on me face for the rest of me life knowing me mam was happy.’ Steve had a question in his head he had to have answered. ‘Does Mr Titch really like me mam?’

‘Oh, I think so, son.’ Aggie wasn’t prepared to say more. ‘But we can’t force them to do anything just because it’s what we’d like. So all we can do is try and help the romance along. And that is why ye’re sitting here right now. To help the romance along.’

Unaware that they were the subject of a conversation just down the street, Titch and Olive sat back in the fireside chairs either side of the fireplace. ‘How long will yer be away this trip, Titch?’

‘I haven’t a clue. It depends upon where the cargo’s bound
for. It could be one month, or it could be four.’ Titch thought on about what his mother had said about him being so slow he’d come back and find she’d married the coalman. And while the coalman, with his wife and six kids was no threat, there were plenty of single blokes around. So he took his courage in his hands. ‘Why, will yer miss me?’

When Olive nodded, Titch put a hand to his ear. ‘I didn’t hear what yer said, Olive, I must be getting deaf. Will yer miss me?’

Olive plucked nervously at her skirt. ‘Yes, of course I’ll miss yer.’

‘Will yer miss me like a headache, or miss me ’cos yer like me?’

‘Titch McBride, why do yer say these things to make me blush?’

‘Well, yer do look pretty when yer blush, but that’s not why I asked if yer’d miss me. Ye’re not the only one that’s shy, yer know. And even though I know me face will turn purple, I’m not going to let it stop me from saying I’ll miss you.’

Olive chuckled. ‘That’ll be the day when you blush, Titch. I hope I’m there to see it.’

‘Yer can see it right now ’cos I’m going to ask a favour of yer.’

‘If it’s about yer mam, yer’ve no need to ask. Yer know me and Steve will keep an eye out for her. In fact, yer’d have a job stopping me son from going to see his beloved Mrs Aggie. Visiting her is the highlight of his day.’

‘I’m glad yer son gets on with my ma, Olive, but will yer stop making things difficult for me? Even me ruddy toes are blushing now. The favour I was going to ask has got nothing to do with me ma, it’s for meself. And if I don’t get it out now, I never will.’ The words came tumbling from Titch’s mouth. ‘I want to know if yer’ll come out with me one night next time I’m home? Just the two of us.’

‘Just the two of us?’

‘Yeah. You and me, together, like.’

The blush on Titch’s face was obvious now, and it chased Olive’s nerves away. She began to giggle. ‘Yer really are shy, aren’t yer?’

‘I’ve never been shy in me life until this minute. And if yer say yer won’t come out with me, I’ll probably burst out crying.’

‘Oh, we can’t have that, can we? So I’ll have to accept your offer. What was it now? Let’s see if I’ve got it right. Just the two of us. You and me, together, like.’

‘Olive Fletcher, I do believe yer’ve been having me on. Here’s me, going through agony, and you’ve been enjoying me discomfort.’

‘Your face was a picture, Titch. But I wasn’t having yer on, honest. I felt like a sixteen-year-old girl being asked out on her first date, and you looked like the shy seventeen-year-old boy asking her.’

‘I feel seventeen now. I had visions of yer turning me down.’

‘Why would I turn yer down? You and me are very good friends, aren’t we, Titch?’

‘Yes, you and me are very, very good friends, Olive. In fact, I’d go as far as to say you and me are very
close
friends.’

When Steve finally opened the front door he heard them laughing and thought that was a very good sign. They were still in the same chairs they’d been in when he left them, but he detected a difference in their attitude to each other. They were more at ease, more light-hearted. He’d have to tell Mrs Aggie about that tomorrow, she’d be very pleased.

Titch didn’t stay long. He’d seen Bob this afternoon with him being on the early shift, but he hadn’t said goodbye to the Pollards yet. And he had to be up with the larks in the morning. ‘So I’ll see you two when I get back – which I hope won’t be long.’

Olive got to her feet. ‘I’ll see you out, Titch.’

Steve’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. His mam had never done that before.

He’d have been more surprised if he’d heard Titch asking, ‘Do I get a farewell kiss?’

‘Of course.’ Olive lifted her cheek, but as Titch’s face came near, she cupped it in her hands and planted a fleeting kiss on his lips. ‘Thank you for giving me me life back, Titch.’

On those softly spoken words, Olive closed the door, leaving Titch looking bewildered. Then a smile lit up his face and he walked away with a spring in his step. He gave a glance up and down the street to make sure there was no one around, then he punched the air with a clenched fist. Nothing had really been said about an understanding between them, but he was certain in his mind that when he came home again there would be a woman waiting to welcome him. Two women, really, because he must never forget his ma.

Titch was going to walk past his house to get to the Pollards’, but changed his mind. He had his mother to thank for the progress he’d made tonight, because if Steve had been home he’d never have got the chance to say what he had. So she deserved to share his happiness.

He gave a loud knock on the door and waited for it to open. ‘I’m not coming in yet, Ma, I’ve got to see the Pollards first. But I thought yer’d like to know I’ve got a date with a certain lady for when I come home.’

‘Oh, I am glad, son. I’ll sleep happy tonight.’ Aggie, minus her false teeth, grinned. ‘I owe meself a tanner now.’

‘What d’yer mean, yer owe yerself a tanner?’

‘I had a feeling tonight was going to be yer lucky night, so I had a little bet with meself.’

‘Oh Ma, what am I going to do with yer?’

‘Yer can put a move on, that’s what. Get yerself settled down, so that when me time comes I can die in peace. I don’t want to be standing at the Pearly Gates arguing the toss with St Peter that he had no right to take me until I’d settled all me affairs.’

‘Ma, if St Peter knows what’s good for him, he won’t take yer until ye’re too old to argue. And that won’t be for another thirty years.’

‘Oh well, if I’ve got that long to wait, I may as well go and make meself a pot of tea and drink to a long life. Then I might take meself off to bed and have an early night. So don’t make a noise when yer come in.’

‘In that case, I’ll come in for a minute now. I want to sort something out with yer and I might not have time in the morning.’ Titch ran straight up the stairs to his bedroom and was back down again within seconds with an envelope in his hands. ‘Ma, there’s thirty pounds in here and I want yer to mind it for me.’

Aggie’s jaw dropped. ‘Thirty pounds! In the name of God, son, where did yer get that much money from?’

‘I’m not the spendthrift yer think I am, Ma, I always keep a bit aside for a rainy day. Not usually this much, but I’m not taking any back to the ship with me. If I haven’t got it, I can’t spend it. And yer never know, I might be looking for money sometime in the future.’

Aggie took the envelope from him, muttering, ‘Think of all the milk stouts I could buy with this. I could be sozzled every day until yer come home again.’ Then she smiled up at him. ‘This will be safe under me mattress, son, until yer want it. Now go and visit yer mates.’

Titch put his arms around her and kissed her soundly. ‘Goodnight and God bless, Ma. I don’t half love yer.’

‘And I love you, too, son.’ Aggie was always emotional the day before her son left to join his ship, but he was so happy tonight she didn’t want to spoil things for him. So she did what she always did, she resorted to humour. ‘Which is a good job, really, ’cos life wouldn’t be worth living if we couldn’t stand the bleedin’ sight of each other.’

Lucy finished her dinner and carried her plate out to the kitchen. After washing it in the bowl of water in the sink she
left it to drip on the draining board. It was April and the nights didn’t start getting dark until late, so on the way home from school, she and Rhoda had decided to go for a walk and do some window shopping. They enjoyed pressing their noses against the shop windows and pointing to what they’d buy if they had the money.

‘I’m going over to Rhoda’s, Mam.’ Lucy walked through to the living room where her mother was sitting reading the
Echo
with a cigarette dangling out of the corner of her mouth. ‘I won’t be late.’

‘Yer better hadn’t be, yer little faggot. I want yer back in this house by half-seven.’ Ruby turned a page of the paper, her eyes screwed up against the smoke swirling upwards from her nostrils. ‘And not a minute later.’

‘I’m not coming in at half-seven, I’m too big for that now.’ Months had passed since the night Ruby had come home drunk, but Lucy had never forgotten or forgiven. Her dad said he’d cut his hand on a nail, but the girl knew better. And she never spoke to her mother unless it was absolutely necessary. ‘Yer seem to forget I’m turned thirteen and will be leaving school in seven months.’

‘Don’t be giving me any of yer bleedin’ lip, my girl, or yer’ll be sorry. I said half-seven and if yer know what’s good for yer, yer’ll be in this house by then.’

Lucy was stung by the injustice. Children of eight and nine were allowed to stay out later than that. ‘I won’t, Mam, ’cos ye’re not being fair.’

Ruby threw the paper on the floor and rounded the table to where her daughter stood. ‘Yer’ll do as I say.’ She poked a stiffened finger in Lucy’s chest. ‘Half-seven in this house, eight o’clock bed. Yer heard what I said, yer haven’t got cloth ears.’

Lucy was shaking with fear, but she stood her ground. ‘I won’t do as yer say, ’cos ye’re mean and wicked.’

Ruby grabbed hold of the front of Lucy’s gymslip and pulled her forward until their noses were nearly touching.
‘Don’t have me start on yer, yer little faggot. ’Cos if I do, yer’ll be sorry yer signed.’

Lucy never knew where she got the courage from, but she couldn’t have stopped the words even if she’d wanted to. ‘I know why yer want me in bed early. It’s because me dad’s on afternoons and yer have to meet yer mates early so ye’re back in time to make supper.’

Ruby was dumbstruck. She stared at Lucy for a few long seconds, then dropped the hand holding the gymslip. ‘What are yer talking about, yer stupid bitch? I’m not going out! I only go round to me mates when yer father’s on early shift.’

‘Mam, why do yer tell so many lies? My bedroom is at the back of the house, remember, and I hear yer closing the kitchen door and the yard door. Yer go out at least twice a week when me dad’s on afternoons and nights. Don’t deny it, ’cos I don’t only hear yer, I’ve seen yer creeping down the yard when yer think I’m fast asleep. It’s been going on for months now, and I have thought of telling me dad but I don’t want to add to his worry. He doesn’t have a happy life, my dad, and it’s all your fault.’

Ruby’s mind was in a spin and her temper was raging. But she was crafty enough to know her daughter had her over a barrel and could make life very difficult for her. She was going to Wally’s house tonight and he’d go mad if she let him down, so she did something she never thought she would, she crawled. ‘Look, I’m sorry if I’ve upset yer, I didn’t mean to. And I do only go to me mates’, I swear. I can’t be expected to stay in this house day and night, it’s not fair. And I’m not doing any harm just sitting in me mates’ for a couple of hours having a chinwag and a bottle of stout.’

Lucy turned her head away. She was filled with disgust and didn’t believe a word her mother said. But she would never tell her dad, for fear of losing him. ‘I’m going out now and I won’t come in until I’m ready. You can please yerself what yer do, I’m quite capable of seeing meself to bed.’ There was a cardigan hanging over the back of a chair and Lucy picked
it up and slipped her arms into the sleeves. She was halfway to the door when she spun round. ‘I’m not going to say anything to me dad, but it’s not because I’m on your side. Yer see, just because ye’re me mam doesn’t mean I’ve got to like yer, ’cos I don’t. And me dad will find yer out for himself one of these days.’

When Lucy left the room, little did she know how soon her words were to come true.

‘Hello, Mrs Aggie.’

‘Hello, queen.’ Aggie was standing on her doorstep taking advantage of the nice weather. ‘Ye’re looking very pleased with yerself. Like the cat what got the cream.’

Lucy giggled. ‘I’m happy ’cos I’m going to the pictures with me dad. I’ve just been over to tell Rhoda I won’t be seeing her tonight.’

‘That’s nice for yer.’ Aggie stepped back into the hallway. ‘Come in for a minute, queen, and keep an old woman company.’

‘Okay, me dinner won’t be ready for another fifteen minutes.’ Lucy was so full of beans she skipped into the living room. ‘I like going out with me dad, just the two of us together.’

‘Like a courting couple, eh, queen?’

Lucy tilted her head and fixed her large green eyes on the woman rocking back and forth in her chair. ‘Would yer think I was cheeky if I asked yer something, Mrs Aggie?’

‘Now how can I answer that if I don’t know what it is ye’re going to ask me? Go ahead and ask, and then I’ll tell yer whether it was cheeky.’

‘Is Mr Titch courting Steve’s mam?’

The rocking stopped and Aggie sat forward. ‘I’ll tell yer what, queen. Why don’t you and I put all the facts together and see what we come up with, eh?’

‘Well, I know he took her to the pictures when he was home on leave last time.’

‘Twice he took her. And as yer know he was only home for a week. So what does that tell us, queen? D’yer think it means they’re courting?’

‘Ooh, I don’t know, Mrs Aggie. But he’s never done it before, has he? So I suppose it must mean something.’

‘Ye’re not jealous, are yer, Lucy?’

‘Of course not, silly!’ Lucy’s giggle filled the room. ‘I love Mr Titch, but I think he’s a bit too old for me. I hope he is courting Mrs Fletcher ’cos I think she’s lovely. I did ask Steve, being nosy, like, but he said it’s too soon to say.’