Try a Little Tenderness (39 page)

Jenny came skipping into the kitchen. ‘Me grandad’s made up with his presents, Mam. He said they’re just what he wanted.’

‘They’ll come in useful, sunshine, especially in this weather.’ When Mary had bought her father the warm scarf, gloves and thick woollen socks, she’d told herself that when he went out to work on these cold mornings, at least parts of him would be warm. ‘He needs looking after, he’s not getting any younger.’

Jenny held her wrist out and twisted it around. ‘Isn’t that lovely, Mam? I’m going to wear it at the parties.’

‘All the boys will be after yer, sunshine, yer’ll be the belle of the ball.’

Jenny giggled. ‘All the boys – there’s only John and Mick.’

‘Well, they’re boys, aren’t they? If they’re not, they shouldn’t be wearing trousers.’

‘Yeah, but they’re me mates, I wouldn’t swank in front of them. I’d get me leg pulled soft if I did.’

Mary opened her mouth, then decided not to say what was in her mind. If she told her daughter that she didn’t think the two boys thought of her as a mate, she might put Jenny off and she didn’t want to do that. Best to let nature take its course. ‘Set the table for yer grandad, sunshine, and I’ll bring his dinner through.’

Jenny hesitated as she got to the door. And when she spoke, her voice was low. ‘Mam, his wife doesn’t look after him proper, does she?’

Mary was surprised, but she kept her voice light. ‘What makes yer say that?’

Jenny shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know, he doesn’t look as though anyone cares for him. And sometimes he looks so sad I could cry for him.’

‘Yer all know there’s no love lost between me and Celia, sunshine, I’ve never tried to hide it. But it’s not up to me to interfere in yer grandad’s life, much as I’d like to.’

‘Well, I love me grandad, and I hate her for not looking after him proper.’

‘Keep that to yerself, sunshine. Don’t say anything that will upset him.’ Mary picked up a tea-towel to take the plates from the oven. ‘Get that table set, there’s a good girl.’

While Joe was tucking into his dinner as though he hadn’t eaten for a week, Mary said casually, ‘We’re having the gang here tonight, Dad, for a bit of a party. Why don’t yer stay and have a good laugh. That is, of course, if yer haven’t got something else on.’

Joe chewed slowly on the food in his mouth, buying himself time. When he’d left the house this morning, Celia had still been in bed. But she must have heard him unbolt the front door, and she shouted down to him. ‘I’m going to a party at one of me mates’ tonight, so don’t worry if I don’t come home, I might sleep there.’ Then, with sarcasm dripping from her words, she added, ‘It would be no use
you coming, they’ll all be young people.’

‘I haven’t got anything else on, sweetheart, but yer don’t want an old man at yer party.’

‘Who’s the old man, Joe?’ Stan asked. ‘I hope ye’re not referring to me.’

‘Go on, Grandad, say yer’ll stay,’ Jenny pleaded. ‘Yer’ll be the most handsome man at the party.’

Laura looked up from admiring her bracelet. ‘Yeah, go on, Grandad, stay. Yer’ll enjoy yerself.’

Mary’s brow shot up. ‘Don’t tell me you’re staying in? That would be a change, a real turn-up for the books.’

‘I’m going down to Cynthia’s to see what presents she got, but I’ll be back in time.’ Laura lowered her eyes. ‘I don’t suppose yer’d let her come back with me for an hour, would yer?’

Mary exchanged glances with Stan. This was the first time their eldest daughter had ever asked if she could bring a friend home; they couldn’t refuse. ‘Of course yer can, sunshine, but warn her that there’ll be no room to breathe.’

Laura looked both surprised and pleased. ‘She won’t mind that, Mam. It’ll be better than sitting at home twiddling her thumbs.’

Joe wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, pushed his plate away and rubbed his tummy. ‘Well, seeing as there’ll be so many lovely girls here, I’ll stay meself. But not till too late, mind, ’cos there’s no trams running and it’s a long walk.’

Amy sat on Mary’s couch, cushions beneath her and pillows at her back. ‘I must have come a real cropper, ’cos me backside and me back are every colour of the rainbow.’

‘How d’yer know that, Mam?’ John asked. ‘Yer’d need eyes in the back of yer head to see that part of yer body.’

‘Don’t be looking at me,’ Ben said, shaking his head and holding his hands out. ‘I did offer to have a look, but was told if I went near her she’d give me a go-along.’

‘I should think so, too!’ Amy huffed and puffed. ‘A girl’s got to have a bit of privacy. So yer’ll just have to take my word for it, won’t yer?’

‘Have yer a mirror in yer bedroom, Amy?’ Seamus had a grin on his face and a pint glass of beer in his hand. ‘Is that how yer did it, me darlin’?’

‘Don’t yer be so personal, Seamus Moynihan, or I’ll set my feller on yer.’ Amy turned to Joe, who was sitting next to her on the couch, looking more relaxed and at ease than he’d looked for a long time. ‘Wouldn’t yer think they’d show a bit of sympathy for someone who nearly broke their neck? They’ve got no bleedin’ hearts, none of them.’

‘Ye’re telling fibs, Mam,’ John said. ‘I did tell yer that me heart was bleeding for yer.’

‘Yeah, and yer were laughing all over yer bleedin’ face when yer said it.’ When Amy looked at Joe, her chubby cheeks were almost hiding her eyes. ‘I was laughing me own head off, Joe, but because I’m the one with the pains, I’m entitled to that privilege, aren’t I? And seeing as I’m the only one in the room with a backside the colours of the rainbow, I’m one up on all of them.’

Joe grinned. ‘Take a little bit of advice, Amy. If they ask yer to play truth or dare, just flatly refuse.’

Amy looked puzzled for a few seconds, then the light dawned. ‘Oh yeah, I get yer, Joe! That’s just what the buggers would do, an’ all, the cheeky sods.’

Jenny was standing between John and Mick, looking very pretty in the new jumper and skirt she’d got for Christmas. And her hand kept going to her cheek so she could show off the new bracelet she was so proud of. ‘Your mam’s a scream, John. I’ve never yet known her to be down in the dumps.’

‘Oh, she has her moments. But if she ever does get in a bad temper, it never lasts long because all me dad’s got to do is tell her to look in the mirror and see the gob on her.’ He took a deep breath and then said what was in his heart. ‘Yer look really pretty tonight, Jenny.’

Mick had been all ears, listening to every word. ‘Yeah, yer do, Jenny. Yer look good enough to eat. I bet yer’d taste better than me mam’s Christmas pudding. And that’s saying something, ’cos the pudding was delicious.’

Any other time, Jenny would have told them to stop acting daft, they were making her blush. But last night, as they were holding her hands, she suddenly became aware that what they were doing was flirting with her. It was a new experience for her, and one she enjoyed very much. So now she gave a little curtsy and said, ‘I thank you, kind sirs.’

Molly, who had been watching, nudged Seamus. Nodding to where the youngsters were standing, she said softly, ‘I wonder what’s going to happen there? Sure, there’ll be a heart broken somewhere along the line.’

‘There’s many hearts broken every day, me darlin’, but people survive. Isn’t it a fact that yer can’t put love in anyone’s heart; it has to grow and blossom of its own free will.’

‘I know, me darlin’, but I’ll say an extra prayer every night to help it along.’

‘As Amy’s a friend of yours, wouldn’t it be altogether the act of a friend to tell her to say an extra prayer every night, too? After all, the lads have been mates for years and both deserve the same chance. Would yer not be thinking that was right, me darlin’?’

But a knock on the door saved Molly from telling him that he was speaking as a father, not a mother.

Mary was expecting the newcomers to be Laura and Cynthia, and she nearly fell over backwards when she opened the door to find Janet and her brother standing there. Oh my God, she thought, yer can’t move in there as it is. But she managed a smile. ‘I wasn’t expecting you, Janet.’

‘We’re not staying, Mrs Nightingale.’ It was Bill who spoke. ‘We only came around to see if Jenny would like to come to our house tomorrow night. Me mam said we could
have a bit of a do. Just a few friends, like.’

Mary held the door wide. ‘Come in and ask her. That’s if yer can get in, the room is pretty crowded.’

‘We won’t stay.’ Even as he was speaking, Bill was ushering his sister into the hall. A few minutes with Jenny was better than nothing. ‘We’ll have a word with Jenny, then make ourselves scarce.’

Jenny gave a shriek of delight when she saw her friend. ‘Janet!’ She dashed forward and missed the dark looks John and Mick exchanged when they saw Bill. Mick leaned towards his friend and whispered, ‘We’ll have to find a way of getting rid of him, he’s beginning to get on me nerves.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ John whispered back. ‘I believe arsenic is the best thing for getting rid of people.’ His shoulders began to shake and his laugh came out the same time as Mick’s. ‘It doesn’t leave no blood, either, so we wouldn’t ruin our kecks.’

‘You’ll have to have a drink while ye’re here, Bill.’ Mary was determined to be a good hostess, even though she wasn’t sure they had enough glasses. ‘After all, it is the festive season. Will yer have a beer, and I’ll give Janet a glass of lemonade with a drop of port in?’ Her hand went to her head when there was another knock. ‘Oh dear, this will be Laura and her friend. I think we’ve got what yer’d call a full house.’

As Mary walked to the door, Amy shouted after her, ‘Ay, girl, have yer been selling bleedin’ tickets for this do?’

Mary was smiling as she opened the door. ‘Come in, girls, but take a deep breath, the room is at bursting point.’

‘We’ll put our coats on the bed, Mam,’ Laura said, leading the way upstairs. ‘We’ll be down in a minute.’

Bill tried to get Jenny on her own to invite her to their house the next night, but he hadn’t reckoned on his sister. ‘John and Mick can come, too, can’t they, Bill?’ Janet asked in all innocence. ‘They’re our mates, we can’t leave them out.’

Oh, I could leave them out with pleasure, Bill thought. But there was no way he could refuse, so he said grudgingly, ‘Yeah, they can come. That’s if they want to.’

‘Of course they’ll come.’ Jenny’s face was flushed with excitement. And it ran through Mick’s mind that she looked better than the Christmas pudding and the Christmas cake put together. ‘I’ll make them come so they can walk me home.’

John bowed from the waist. ‘I’d be honoured.’

Mick did likewise, saying, ‘I’d be delighted.’

Bill was grinding his teeth when the door opened and Laura came in, followed by Cynthia. He stopped grinding his teeth and his eyes widened. That couldn’t be Cynthia Pennington, surely? The wild girl who, like Laura, was always in trouble when she was young and who had gained a bad reputation since she left school. It must be her, seeing as she was here with Laura, but what a change! She looked very glamorous in a sage-green, soft wool dress which clung to the curves of her body. She was a bobby dazzler, no doubt about that.

‘Jenny, d’yer think your Laura would like to come to our party?’ The words were out before Bill knew he was going to say them. His mother would go mad because of the reputation the two girls had, but he was willing to risk that. Cynthia had taken his eye and his interest. ‘It’s only for young ones, me mam’s not asking any of the neighbours.’

Jenny shrugged her shoulders. ‘I think yer’d better ask her yerself. If I asked, she’d tell me to get lost.’

Mick had seen the change come over Bill when Cynthia walked in, and it entered his head that perhaps they wouldn’t need to resort to arsenic after all. It just needed a push in the right direction. ‘I’m sure she’d come if you asked her, Bill. Go on, she can’t eat yer.’

When Bill looked uncertain, John thought it was time he gave a helping hand. After all, the more girls at the party, the more likely it was that they’d have Jenny to themselves.
‘Would yer like me to come with yer?’

That was testing Bill’s pride and he shook his head. ‘I think I’m capable of doing it on my own, thanks.’ Without further ado, and with a glass in his hand to boost his courage, he made his way to where the girls were standing. ‘Laura, I’m having a party tomorrow night and I wondered if yer’d like to come? And the invitation is extended to yer friend, if she’d be interested.’ Without waiting for Laura to reply, he turned his gaze on Cynthia. ‘I’ve been puzzling me brains since yer walked in, and it may sound rude, but aren’t you Cynthia Pennington?’

‘Yer know damn well I am, Bill Porter, I haven’t changed that much.’ Cynthia smiled for the first time since she’d entered the room. She knew what most of the neighbours thought of her, and though it wouldn’t have worried her at one time, it did now. ‘You have, though. Yer’ve grown into a giant.’

Bill didn’t want to take his eyes off her, but knew he was being watched and turned to Laura. ‘How about it, Laura? Are you and Cynthia game for a party?’

‘What d’yer think, Cyn? D’yer want to go?’

‘Yeah, I’d like to. Thanks for the invite, Bill.’

‘Right, I’ll see you both at ours, about eight o’clock.’ Bill pulled a face. ‘Me and Janet will have to go now, Mrs Nightingale’s got enough on her plate without us gatecrashing her party. But I’ll look forward to seeing yer tomorrow.’ He handed his now empty glass to Laura. ‘Will yer be a pal and take this off me hands?’

By the time Bill and Janet left, enough beer had been drunk to put everyone in a party mood. And Seamus started the revelry with
Phil the Fluters’ Ball
. Mick took hold of Jenny’s arm and pulled her into the middle of the floor. Then John, having no intention of playing wallflower, joined them. Jenny was embarrassed at first, but when she saw Laura and Cynthia take to the floor, she threw her shyness out of the window and joined in the merriment. But Amy
was the one who had the rafters ringing with laughter. She couldn’t get up, but wasn’t going to be left out. One leg after the other was kicked out and the hem of her skirt was lifted to shake to the tune of the jig. She winced with every movement, and the contortions of her face were enough to send everyone into pleats.