The Girl From Number 22 (46 page)

He finished his dinner, wiped a hand across his mouth, and moved back to the fireside chair. ‘Get off yer fat arse and bring me a cup of tea.’

Annie stood in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. There was something not right here. Tom was far too quiet for her liking. She’d expected a torrent of abuse off him, and a few thumps, at least. He was bound to pay her back for letting the neighbours know their business, and humiliate him. As she poured the boiling water into the teapot, a little voice in her head warned her to watch out, and not to get too close to him.

With the warning still in her head, Annie didn’t hand her husband the cup and saucer, but put it down on the end of the table where he could reach it easily. Then she sat on one of the wooden chairs on the opposite side. Not a word was
spoken for several minutes, then Tom snarled, ‘What the bleeding hell are yer staring at, yer gormless cow?’

‘I’m staring at you, yer bad-tempered so-and-so.’ Annie had been telling herself all day that she had to start standing up to him. She’d left it late, perhaps too late, but she couldn’t expect her friends to do what she wouldn’t do herself. And that was to put Tom Phillips in his place. ‘I was just wondering if yer were sickening for something, with yer being so quiet.’

‘I’m quiet because I want to be quiet, not because I’m sick.’ Tom glared at his wife. What a dried-up old prune she was. She didn’t know how to make a man happy, not like Bella. Now there was a woman for yer. She was the one he’d be going to to fulfil his needs. A red-blooded man needed a woman with experience. One who could thrill him and make him happy. He sneered, ‘Yeah, I am sick, sick of the bleeding sight of you.’

‘The same goes for me, Tom Phillips,’ Annie was stung into saying. ‘What the hell I ever saw in you I’ll never know. But I’ve lived to regret ever setting eyes on yer.’

From habit, Tom had a strong urge to get up and give her a good hiding. But just at that moment he felt a tremor down his spine, and in his head he brought up the feeling of Bella’s hands running over his body, gently rubbing in the right places. He closed his eyes, to enjoy the sensation, and forgot the woman he’d married some twenty years ago.

Annie looked on, perplexed by the change in her husband’s face. His eyes were closed, and there was a smile playing around his mouth. He’s been drinking, she thought. It’s either that, or he’s in for a cold. My best bet is to stay quiet and keep away from him. He’s not his normal self, unless he’s pretending, to lull me into a sense of false security. Whatever it was, she was going to keep out of his way. The children wouldn’t be out long, they’d
only gone round to a mate of Ben’s, who had a few comics he was going to lend. Jenny had gone with her brother for the walk, so she’d be out of the house when her father came in.

Annie sat quietly at the table, not making a sound, just listening to the time tick away. Now and then Tom would half open an eye, stare at her for a second, then close it again. Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and the strange tension in the air was making Annie feel nervous and uncomfortable. In the end she couldn’t stand it any longer, and asked, ‘Are yer not going to the pub tonight? Ye’re usually out well before this.’

Tom opened his eyes. ‘It’s got nothing to do with you whether I go to the pub or not, yer nosy old cow. I might go, then again I might not.’ He was thinking that the money he spent in the pub would buy him another fifteen-minute session with Bella when he finished work the following night. Then the day after was Saturday. He’d be working overtime to get the ship loaded ready for sailing the next morning, but he’d get away in time to be in her yard at half six. The boss couldn’t expect the crew to work any later than that. If he did, then he was going to be disappointed. A shilling was a lot of money, and Tom intended to get every penny’s worth.

‘No, I won’t bother going to the pub tonight.’ Tom decided to play games with his wife. He loved nothing better than to see her squirm. ‘I think I’ll go to bed now, and I want yer to come with me. The kids are out, so we can make as much noise as we like. Yer can be good to me, make me happy.’ He saw the colour drain from her face, and it made him feel good. ‘Go on, up the stairs, and I’ll follow yer in a minute.’

Annie could feel her heart racing. But she wasn’t going to let him see she was afraid. ‘No, I am not sleeping in the same bed as you. Never again. I sleep with Jenny now.’

His laugh was pure evil. ‘I’ve got a really good idea. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of it before. You go to bed now, into Jenny’s bed, and get a good night’s sleep. And when me daughter comes in, she can come in my bed. She’s growing up, is Jenny, nicely rounded and ready for picking. How about that then? I wonder if I’d be the first for her, or whether she’s had a few before?’ He snorted and shook his head. ‘No, she’s probably as cold as her bleeding mother. Mind you, I could teach her a few tricks the young lads wouldn’t know. Wet behind the ears, most of them.’

Annie was off her chair like the shot out of a gun. She rounded the table and stood in front of him. ‘You wicked bugger. May God forgive me for swearing, but yer’d make a saint swear. You are wicked through and through. There is not one bit of you that is good. Yer’ll make a good mate for the devil, for hell is where yer’ll end up. Only someone wicked to the core would talk about his own daughter like that.’ Annie leaned forward and put a hand on each of the chair arms. ‘I wonder what yer workmates would say if they’d heard what yer’ve just said? Or the neighbours what yer hate so much? I know what would happen, yer filthy-minded, wicked, dirty devil. Yer’d be hounded out of yer job and out of this street. Yer wouldn’t be able to show yer face anywhere. Yer’d be a pariah, made to hide away from decent people. And so help me, I’ve a good mind to go down to the docks tomorrow and tell yer boss. And then I’d come back and tell everyone in this street. They all know ye’re a good-for-nothing, but never in a million years would they think yer were bad enough to talk about taking yer own daughter into bed with yer.’ She paused for breath. ‘I feel like scratching yer eyes out, but me flesh would crawl if I even touched yer.’

Tom had never seen such hatred in his wife’s eyes before. He
was used to seeing fear. But now he was the one in fear. For he knew Annie would do anything to protect her children, and right now she was capable of carrying out her threats. And if she did, he could lose his job and his home. His brain became active, seeking a way out. In the end he resorted to bluff. ‘What’s the matter with yer, yer silly old cow? Can’t yer take a bleeding joke?’

Annie didn’t think it possible to hate someone as she now hated her husband. What a wicked, filthy mind he had. He was pretending it was a joke, but she didn’t believe him. He was bad enough to act out his evil thoughts. Look what he’d done to her over the years. Stripped her of her pride and dignity. Well, she wouldn’t let it happen to the two people in the world she loved most. He’d not get the chance. The only way he’d ever hurt either of the children again would be over her dead body. ‘Don’t try and bluff yer way out of it, Tom Phillips, ’cos it won’t work. I’ve lived with yer for twenty years, and found out the hard way exactly how twisted yer mind is. Twenty years living with a madman would be enough to drive most people insane. It’s the love I have for my two kids that’s kept me going over the years. Because of them I let you treat me like an animal. But those days are dead and gone now. They’re not forgotten, for I’ll never forget what you’ve put me through. But yer’ll not rule the roost in this house any more. I’m not going to jump when yer tell me to. And I’ll make ruddy sure the kids don’t jump to yer bidding, either.’

Tom couldn’t meet her eyes. ‘I don’t know what ye’re getting so het up over, I was only joking. As if I’d touch me own daughter. It’s you what’s twisted in yer mind, not me.’ He waved his arm towards the door. ‘I said I was going to have an early night, so will yer move away and let me get to bed?’

‘I’ll gladly move out of yer way. The further away, the better. But I’ll not forget what yer said tonight, Tom Phillips, so yer’d do well to keep yer nose clean in future. Leave me and the kids alone. I’ll feed yer and do yer washing and ironing, but that’s about it. Yer can come and go as yer please, as long as yer don’t get drunk and make a show of us. If yer get too drunk to walk, then doss down in an entry. Don’t bother coming home, ’cos yer’ll not get in.’

Annie moved to put a distance between them when he got out of the chair. ‘Perhaps yer’d be more comfortable dossing down in the gutter. More at home, like, for that’s where yer came from.’ And as he passed, she said softly, ‘And that’s where yer’ll end up.’

Tom Phillips had been in bed half an hour when Jenny and Ben came in, and Annie was sitting at the table waiting for them. ‘I thought yer’d be back before this. Yer did say yer were only going to pick up some comics.’

Ben’s eyes went to the kitchen before he took his coat off. ‘Where’s me dad?’ he asked in a whisper. ‘Is he in, or gone to the pub?’

‘There’s no need to whisper, sweetheart,’ Annie told him. ‘The days of being afraid to speak are gone, never to return. So hang yer coats up, and tell me why yer’ve been out longer than yer expected.’

But Jenny couldn’t wait. ‘We’ll tell yer our tale after yer’ve told us yours. Has me dad gone to the pub?’

Annie had spent the waiting time in getting a tale together that would be part truth and part lies. One that the children would believe. There was no way she would tell two young, innocent children that their father had mentioned taking his
daughter into his bed. No one would ever hear that from her, for she’d be too ashamed to allow the words to leave her lips. So the story Ben and Jenny were told was a very watered down one. ‘I’ve had a really good talk to yer father, and I think this time the words have sunk in. I really lost me temper and went for him, so it wasn’t just a talk, more of a blazing row. I threatened to tell his workmates, and everyone in this street, what a devil he really is.’ Annie looked from one surprised face to the other. ‘I can’t repeat it word for word, sweethearts, but I do know that the way I carried on, it left yer father speechless. I told him he can come and go as he pleases, but if he comes home drunk he won’t be allowed in. He can sleep in an entry or the gutter. He’s to leave me and you two alone. I’ll feed him, do his washing and ironing, but more than that I won’t do.’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘Yer father didn’t have much to say for himself at all. After I’d finished, he took himself off to bed and I haven’t heard a sound since.’

‘That won’t last, Mam,’ Jenny said. ‘You’ll see, tomorrow he’ll be back to his horrible self. But yer weren’t half brave, and I’m proud of yer.’

‘Yer were taking a chance, Mam,’ Ben said. ‘I wish we hadn’t gone out now. I’d have loved to have seen me dad’s face. But I think our Jenny’s right, he’ll be back to normal tomorrow. What is it they say about a leopard never changing its spots? Well, that’s what I think about me dad. He’ll never change.’

‘Let’s wait and see, sweetheart,’ Annie told him. ‘I’ve put the fear of God into yer father, and I’m prepared to guarantee yer’ll have no more trouble from him. I know him a bit better than you do, and I know he’s a coward. Once I mentioned telling his workmates, and all the neighbours, what he’s like, that was enough for him. However, while I doubt very much I’m wrong, I’ll be willing to eat me words if it turns out I am.’

‘I can’t get over him being in bed this time of night, when the pubs are still open,’ Jenny said. ‘It’s never been known before.’

‘Well, just forget about yer father for now, I’ve had enough of him. Tell me why it took the pair of yer so long to pick a couple of comics up.’

‘Don’t blame me,’ Ben said. ‘I’d have been there and back in half an hour. It was Danny Fenwick who kept us talking.’

‘He was waiting at the tram stop when we were passing,’ Jenny explained. ‘He was on his way to the dance. We stopped to talk to him, that’s all. We couldn’t very well just walk past him, that would have been rude.’

‘Yeah, I know we had to say hello to him,’ Ben said, ‘but we didn’t have to stand talking for an hour.’

‘Ooh, yer don’t half exaggerate, our kid,’ Jenny told him. ‘We didn’t stay that long.’

‘He let two trams go.’ Ben winked at his mother. ‘He did, yer know. Twice he let one go, saying he’d take the next. I think he’s got his eye on our Jenny, ’cos he asked her if she’d like to go to the dance with him.’

Annie sat forward. ‘That was nice of him. Why didn’t yer go, Jenny? Yer’d have enjoyed yerself.’

Jenny huffed. ‘Oh, yeah, I’d have gone to a dance in me working clothes. Besides, he was only asking because he thought he should. I bet his face would have dropped if I’d said I’d go with him.’

‘Oh, that’s not a nice thing to say, sweetheart. Danny’s a lovely lad, and he wouldn’t have asked yer to go to the dance if he hadn’t meant it. Why would he do that?’

Ben added to his sister’s discomfort by telling his mother, ‘He’s asked her to go on Saturday, Mam. He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t got his eye on her, would he?’

‘Oh, shut up, will yer, Ben.’ Jenny was annoyed with herself for blushing. ‘I’m not going to the dance on Saturday, so don’t keep harping on it.’

‘Why not, sweetheart?’ Annie asked. ‘Yer really should get out more, and Danny’s a nice boy. From what Ada’s told me, he’s got three regular partners at the dance, so yer wouldn’t have to stay with him.’

‘Oh, it’s not that, Mam. I know he’s got partners, I’ve seen them. That doesn’t worry me, ’cos I’d get asked up meself. The reason I don’t want to go with Danny is because he wants to pay for me, and I don’t think that’s fair. I mean, why should he pay for me? All he knows about me is that I’ve got a drunken father who makes a holy show of us. He’s helped bring me dad in a couple of times, and I don’t want him to get the impression we’re always expecting other people to help us. I’ve got pride, Mam, and I don’t want to lose it.’

Ben was sorry he’d pulled his sister’s leg now, because she seemed really upset. ‘Wait a couple of years, Jenny, until I’m grown up enough to go dancing. We’ll go out jazzing every night, and I’ll pay for yer.’