The Leaving of Liverpool (35 page)

‘Emily, what’s got into you?’ Albert asked, looking perturbed.

‘I’ve just about had enough of them all against Phoebe-Ann, including Jake, and now she has the nerve to come round here! She’s at the back of all this, you can bet on it! Never happy unless she’s creating mayhem!’ And before any of them could stop her she’d flung open the door and marched into the lobby.

The front door was opened just as Vinny was about to hammer on it and he stepped back as the brush was thrust in his face.

‘You can take yourselves back to that hovel you call home or so help me I’ll lay the lot of you out! Get off my doorstep!’ Emily yelled. All the anxieties and worries of the last twelve hours were banished, dissolved in the tide of righteous anger that made her shake with its force.

They were all dumbfounded. This was something they hadn’t expected.

‘Go on, clear off before I get the lads to shift you, like they shifted the rest of your fine, upstanding, courageous sons! You’ve got a bloody nerve coming here at all!’

Ma Malone recovered from her surprise far quicker than her sons did. ‘I’ll ’ave the law on yez. Y’murderin’ bitch!’

Emily shoved the brush towards her until the bristles were almost touching her face. ‘I’ll be murdering you, you evil old besom and not before time either! Someone should have given you a good clout years ago! So, if you don’t clear off, it will be me!’

Vinny and Franny stepped backwards as Jack, Jimmy, Rhys and Edwin appeared behind Emily, but Ma Malone held her ground.

‘Don’t think yez can frighten me, yer ’ardfaced little bitch! You’ve gone an’ crippled me son, do yez hear me! Yez ’ave crippled him for life!’ She stabbed a bony finger at the men.

Emily thought it was all part of her ploy to intimidate them. ‘Serves him right! He’s nearly crippled my sister. Oh, wasn’t he the big, brave feller, belting the daylights out of a girl! Well, he got what was coming to him so now you can all get back to Mona Street, because you don’t terrify us the way you do your neighbours. If you don’t shove off then these two will be going home in the same state as the other three went home last night! Clear off!’

Edwin’s estimation of Emily rose. He’d never seen her so angry and with her eyes flashing, the determined set of her lips, she reminded him of Lily.

‘’E never came home last night! He’s in the Royal Infirmary! You crippled ’im, you bastards!’ Ma Malone shrieked, almost beside herself with rage.

Jack and Jimmy pushed past Emily. ‘You heard her, clear off! It serves him right. Now get the hell out of it, back to your own midden!’

Vinny Malone pushed the seething figure of his ma out of the way and squared up to Jimmy. ‘Listen, you pair of thickos! She’s tellin’ the truth. You crippled him. You done somethin’ to his back an’ they say he won’t ever walk again! He’s paralysed!’

‘So sue us! I said clear off, are you deaf as well as bloody daft!’ Jimmy roared back.

‘I’ll ’ave the law on yez all!’ Ma screamed.

Jack was unimpressed. ‘Go on then, get the scuffers. Just how are you going to prove it? It’s his word against ours.’

‘And our Seamus and Peader,’ Vinny growled.

‘I said against ours – me, Jimmy, Rhys, Edwin, Emily and Mr Davies. We’ll swear blind we didn’t go over the doorstep last night.’

‘Look at yer faces, them cuts and bruises will show them!’ Franny shot back.

‘So, we had a family argument. Lots of families have bust-ups. Go and get the scuffers then. They won’t bloody well come and you know it! You’ve caused them too much trouble in the past. They’ll send you off with a flea in your ear. They’ll probably be thankful that someone finally sorted you lot out. Bugger off, the lot of you, before I put you all in the “Royal”!’ Jimmy took a step forward, as if to emphasize his point.

Ma Malone was speechless with fury, so livid she was purple in the face.

Vinny glared at them all, then grabbing her arm, pulled her away.

‘Go on, clear off and don’t come here again! You’ve done enough harm to this family. Our Phoebe-Ann’s lying upstairs with her face so battered me poor mam wouldn’t even recognize her. He deserves everything he got!’ Emily called after them.

They all stood watching as, with some difficulty, Franny and Vinny dragged their mother up the street. Their progress was made even more humiliating by the fact that every woman in Lonsdale Street was on her doorstep to watch. It was a momentous occasion to see the dreaded Malones bested and slinking home.

‘Do you think they will go to the police?’ Emily asked, as they all returned to the kitchen.

‘No. They know the police wouldn’t be interested. Like I said, they’ll probably all be as delighted as the residents of Mona Street must be. We saw a copper last night and he saw us. He must also have seen the Malones. They would have to go that way home,’ Jimmy said.

‘I wonder, was she telling the truth?’ Albert asked.

‘She’s probably exaggerating, but even if she wasn’t he deserves it,’ Jack said grimly.

‘Oh, it just gets worse,’ Emily sighed. The anger had gone, leaving her feeling weak and a little light-headed.

‘It’s not finished yet either,’ Edwin said and they all turned questioning eyes towards him. ‘You realize that you won’t be able to go back, Rhys? You can’t work in that stokehold again. They’ll kill you and I mean that. It’s no exaggeration.’

Emily sat down as she let this statement sink in.

‘He’s right, Rhys. It would be suicide. They’d brain you at the first opportunity and no-one would raise a hand to stop them. Even the officers don’t intervene when the black squad fight. You know that,’ Jack said gravely.

Rhys nodded slowly, seeing for the first time that his love for Phoebe-Ann, and his retaliation for her injuries, had put him in this position. He’d have to go back home, for there were no jobs to be had in Liverpool. ‘What about you, Edwin?’

‘I don’t have to work with them. I’ll just watch myself when I’m ashore and I’ve got mates who’ll look out for me. No need to worry about me.’

Emily stared up at him with fear in her eyes.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. But Rhys will have to go back unless he finds a job.’

Albert nodded. ‘Best write to your mam, lad. I’m sorry, but there doesn’t seem to be any way around it. Times are bad. Ships are being laid up.’

Rhys felt defeated. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Phoebe-Ann had been free. He would have willingly taken her back with him but he would have to go alone. She was still married and there was no way around that. Maybe it was best that he leave for if she decided that she must go back to Jake he didn’t think he could stand it.

‘Come back with me, Albert?’

Albert shook his head. ‘I can’t. I can’t leave here, you know that, lad.’

Rhys didn’t press him further but his heart felt like a lump of stone.

 

There was little Dr Whelan could do for Phoebe-Ann he informed Emily. ‘You did the right thing with the cold compresses. There are no deep cuts, the swelling will go down and the bruising will fade. Broken noses can’t be set I’m afraid, but at least neither her jaw nor cheekbones have been fractured. She’ll have to see a dentist about her teeth, but not until all the swelling has gone. The man should be prosecuted and locked up!’ he finished angrily.

‘There won’t be any need for that, Doctor. He won’t touch her again.’

He nodded. He’d seen the cuts and bruises on the faces of her brothers.

‘Will she be disfigured?’

‘It’s hard to tell. I don’t really think so, in the long term, but you’d better prepare her just in case.’

Emily wondered how she was to do that. Phoebe-Ann had always been proud of her looks so it would be doubly hard. It was as if worry after worry was being piled on her and she wondered how she would cope. But she had to. Mam had coped with far worse things than this.

 

Rhys had made a last, desperate attempt to find work, any work. He’d haunted the Labour Exchange, the Employment Pool, the docks, the railway yards, but in a city where unemployment was rife, there was nothing.

He begged to see Phoebe-Ann before he left and, despite her sister’s protests, Emily had shown him into the bedroom and then left them alone.

Phoebe-Ann turned her face to the wall. She didn’t want to see the look of shock and horror on his face. She looked hideous. She’d asked Emily for a mirror and now she wished she hadn’t. She would never look in a mirror again, she’d sworn as she’d sobbed.

‘Phoebe-Ann, I’ve come to say that I’m leaving. I’m going home.’

She still kept her head turned away from him.

He reached out and took her hand. ‘I don’t want to go. I’d willingly stay here but they’d kill me the first opportunity they got. There’s no work to be had – God knows I’ve tried – so I’ve got to go back.’ Gently he touched her cheek.

‘Don’t! Don’t!’ she cried.

‘I don’t care how you look. I still love you and I’m glad he’s crippled.’

Emily hadn’t told her that and, forgetting her injuries, she turned towards him.

‘Aye, I’m glad,’ he repeated grimly, fighting down his shock at the sight of what Jake Malone had done to her face.

‘How?’

‘Something to do with his back. I saw Jimmy knock him down and he was on the floor when we all left.’

‘Oh, Rhys! I feel terrible. Everything is my fault. Mam, Albert, our Jack and Jimmy getting hurt and Edwin and now . . . now you’ve got to go back and he’s . . . crippled.’

‘You mustn’t talk like that, Phoebe-Ann.’

‘But it
is
my fault! It
is
!’ she sobbed.

He took her in his arms. ‘Hush now,
cariad
, everything will turn out fine in the end.’

She clung to him. ‘How can it? How can it? I wish I were dead, I really do! I’ve caused so much trouble!’

‘Don’t say things like that! Don’t! Promise me you won’t do anything foolish?’

She couldn’t answer him.

‘Phoebe-Ann, if you don’t promise, I’ll stay! I don’t care what the Malones do to me, it would be as nothing if I thought you’d harm yourself.’

She couldn’t have anything happen to him, she thought. It would be as if she’d killed him. ‘I won’t. I promise.’

‘That’s better.’ He kissed her tenderly on her forehead. ‘Oh, Phoebe-Ann, I’d give anything, anything to turn back the clock! If only you hadn’t married him.’

‘But I did.’ The words were choked.

‘If ever there’s anything . . . anything at all, I can do for you, Phoebe-Ann, will you come to me?’

‘Oh, Rhys, I don’t know why you are bothering with me, after me being so cruel to you. I’m not worth it.’

‘Yes, you are, Phoebe-Ann and I’ll never forget you!’

After he’d gone, she lay back and her mind wandered over the events of the last year. One short year and so much misery in it. She was too afraid to look forward, for the future just didn’t bear contemplating.

 

As the days and weeks passed, Phoebe-Ann regained her strength, physically, but mentally she was exhausted, battling with all the conflicting emotions. The swelling and the bruising gradually disappeared and her face didn’t look half so bad, although her nose didn’t look quite right. She’d gone to the Dental Hospital and they’d been very kind and understanding and they’d worked wonders. Emily said she now looked just like her old self but she knew that that girl was dead. She would never be the same again.

Alice called frequently and she’d helped Emily to reassure Phoebe-Ann that she wouldn’t be scarred. After almost a month, between them, they’d considerably lightened Phoebe-Ann’s spirits.

On the following Friday, Alice called on her way home from work. ‘How’s the patient today then?’

‘A bit down in the dumps. She keeps examining her nose,’ Emily replied.

‘She’s going to have more than her nose to worry about.’

‘Why?’

‘I heard he’s coming out of hospital tomorrow.’

‘She’s not going back there, Alice.’

Alice looked uneasy. ‘Will you come with me while I tell her?’

Phoebe-Ann was staring morosely out of the window that overlooked the side of Bloom Street.

‘You can’t stay up here for ever; it’s about time you got yourself downstairs and even out of the house,’ Alice scolded, but in a kindly way.

‘I can’t! I can’t go out! Everyone will be looking at me and talking about me. I must be the scandal of Toxteth!’

‘Don’t flatter yourself. Besides, once they’ve all seen that you haven’t grown another head they’ll forget all about you and start on someone else. I think everyone sympathizes with you. Florrie Harper said you must have been a saint to put up with him for so long and that they’d all felt like cheering when your Emily chased Ma Malone. Your Emily’s a bit of a heroine in Mona Street, an’ the lads as well of course.’ She grinned at Emily.

‘Alice has got something to tell you,’ Emily stated quietly.

A shadow crossed Phoebe-Ann’s face. ‘What?’

‘He’s coming out of hospital tomorrow, so I heard.’

Phoebe-Ann looked stricken. ‘I can’t . . . I won’t . . . !’

‘You won’t have to go back there unless you want to,’ Emily reassured her firmly.

‘Where will he go?’ Phoebe-Ann asked.

‘Back to his ma, I suppose. He can’t see to himself. They’ve given him some kind of a chair with wheels, but someone will have to push him around, a bit like a baby in a pram.’

Emily looked disturbed. She couldn’t see Ma Malone pushing him around the streets for everyone to mock and gloat at their predicament and say, ‘Serves them right.’

‘I suppose if he gets awkward about it, he could demand that you go back, Phoebe-Ann. You’re still his wife.’ Alice repeated what her mother had said that morning.

‘I’m not going back to him! I’m never going back to him! I should have listened to you all when you tried to warn me. Oh, I was such a fool!’