Underbelly (30 page)

“
Yeah. I’ve worked as a policeman for 24 years and you and your wife are the most despicable individuals I’ve ever come across. You two are good kids; of course you can stay for that long. Deal?” he said genially.

Grey agreed to his wishes, knowing that it would also please Del. Germaine was happy with the arrangement, finding that George reminded her very much of her father with his tough exterior and soft-shell. She found herself talking of her father a lot with him, Yves Cremont also a First World War veteran, and George was quick to commend the French boys he fought alongside, his words very uplifting. Grey had discussed with her what could be said to George, wanting her to feel that she could be open, and assuring her that she could say anything about him or his powers but advising her to say nothing about witches or demons, ideas that could only disturb. Germaine followed his guidelines and revealed that she had met Grey in a similar way to him, through her dead father’s words spoken by a young American soldier, her introduction to the uncanny. She told George that he handled the shock much better than she did, George assuring her that at 14 he would have handled it much worse than she would have, praising her.

The stability was useful in another respect too, in a very important way. Their constant travelling meant that usually one or both of them had headaches, or they would stay in places with paper-thin walls, dingy places. George’s house had thick walls and privacy and their sex life blossomed, her new attire a hit (when she wore stockings and a garter belt he couldn’t keep his hands off her), and not just with him. Grey would sit up late with George most nights and they would drink and talk while Germaine would try on her provocative lace and silk underwear in front of the large swinging mirror in her bedroom. Her protective parents had chosen her clothes, very mindful of predators, never purchasing her anything outstanding or womanly, dressing her drably. She was a woman though, her nascent sexuality a strange and intriguing thing to her. She would apply a little makeup and change her hairstyle as she posed, trying different looks, occasionally interrupted by Grey coming to check up on her and he always stayed for a while, always making her feel desired and never dirty. Her outer clothes were far more reserved, pretty colours and patterns but not revealing as she didn’t want to attract attention of a sexual nature from anyone but James – only he could view her in this way, know this side of her. She wanted to be beautiful for him, for if anyone deserved a beautiful wife it was him, and that part of her thinking she could understand – it was the part where she wanted to be sexually beautiful for herself that bordered on ugly vanity and which concerned her fractionally. His body would always be more erotic to her than her own but he didn’t preen in front of the mirror like she did; as he seemed to enjoy her posing sessions she didn’t give her misgivings too much thought.

While the thought of staying at home all day with Germaine appealed to Grey he didn’t entertain the possibility. With their visit extended he looked for work immediately. Finding a temporary job proved very difficult and permanent positions were just a pipe dream. After three days of scouring the newspapers and trying at over 50 businesses, he got a temporary job on a six month contract (he would leave them in the lurch after a quarter of his contract but with jobs so hard to find he didn’t tell them this) working at a steelworks. The majority of the workforce, amongst whom there was major unrest, made him very unwelcome. Strikes were rumoured, the lack of overtime one area of contention, and the union told the men that the only reason new men were being hired was to take their jobs in the event of a strike (a rumour Grey believed as true, asked at his brief interview if he’d keep working in the event of a strike, answering with what they wanted to hear) and as a result the only ones who would talk to Grey were other new starters. Grey was sympathetic to the other new starters (and to a lesser degree the disgruntled workers), finding that he didn’t give a damn about being ostracised himself (proof that he had changed over the last few years), and not just because he wasn’t staying – getting on with everyone would have made the working day easier, but he worked for money to provide for himself and his wife, not for popularity. Just beyond the steelworks there was a field with a derelict barn, which a tramp in his late 40s had made his home, and upon hearing about him Grey sought him out and befriended him. Grey went to see him because he felt sorry for him and he was getting a hard time in the canteen and within five minutes he found that he genuinely liked Al, not as an act of charity or pity, but he found him funny, living miserably but not acting so and not the least bit grasping. Grey spent his lunch half-hour with him every day, sharing his sandwiches with him and giving him small amounts of money when he could spare it.

Maddy Croft had stayed away from her father’s house at first, having been told that the Greys were only staying for a week and when they were still encamped in her family home after two weeks her instinctive distrust urged her to say something to them. Her husband dissuaded her, telling her that her father could look after himself, and while she disagreed with her husband, her desire to be the dutiful perfect wife made her hold her tongue. She started going back to see her father daily, taking her two small boys with her. Her sons were both very fair like their father, while Maddy was a light brunette, her hair cut into a short mushroom like bob, a very manageable style. Grey saw very little of Maddy because of his work, and when he did see her she was coolly polite to him, while Germaine began to see a lot of her. She didn’t need to be astute to see that Maddy didn’t think much of her, with Maddy turning silent whenever George left the room and never asking Germaine if she wanted to hold the baby and hollering at the toddler to come to her if he wandered across to Germaine. Maddy called over one afternoon when her father was at work, determined to get things back to normal, resuming her role as housekeeper. She found Germaine sorting through some clothes in the kitchen, making a start on the weekly wash, and something erupted inside of her.

“
I have looked after my father’s house since my mother died. I do his washing and cleaning,” Maddy said fiercely, wresting the wash basket from her.

“
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. Can I help you do it?” Germaine said humbly.

“
I don’t need any assistance. How long are you staying for anyway?”

“
I don’t know. That’s up to James.”

Germaine’s answer riled Maddy who exhaled indignantly and turned from her as she made a start on the washing. “You haven’t even separated the colours, and this certainly doesn’t belong to my father!” she said, holding up a pair of Germaine’s silky knickers. The garish attire was exactly what Maddy expected from such a type and she looked for an excuse to comment on her newly bleached hair, which was further testament to where this strumpet’s priorities lay.

“
I was going to wash mine and James’ clothes too. I was going to separate the colours. I’ll take our clothes out…”

“
Don’t bother, you can play maid if you want to. I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied in my own house while you’re staying here. Heed this advice though. My father and husband might be policemen, but I’m the one not to cross in this family. Mess with my father and you will regret it.”

“
We won’t,” Germaine promised, in no mood for an argument and respecting Maddy for her concern.

“
No, your sort don’t regret anything, do you? If you’re still here next week you’ll have a problem,” Maddy threatened as she slammed the door shut behind her.

“
I didn’t mean…” Germaine trailed off, realising she had been misunderstood. If Maddy was this mad now how cross would she be when they were still there at Christmas?

The news that Grey had been dreading was confirmed three weeks into his employment. The union called for an immediate strike, a strike that he was going to boycott. It would have been easier if they’d all stayed stand-offish with him; instead some had started been pleasant to him, appreciating his situation, a returning young soldier with a wife to provide for who had seen a vacancy and gone for it – a vacancy that they still believed should not have existed, but they felt they might have done the same in his position. He managed to integrate with a few of them by keeping his head down, greeting them when he started work and making small talk before work began, never taking umbrage if he was ignored, instead just putting his head down and working hard and making no further effort to talk to them that day and always greeting them afresh the next day. Crucially, he kept his nose out of the problems that were brewing, unlike several other new starters who kept reporting what was going on and being said to the bosses, trying to secure their own positions by telling tales. He still spent his lunch break with Al, but it felt good to know that he didn’t have to, that there would be a place for him in the canteen and people to talk to if he wanted. The strike would mean that he would not be able to have lunch with Al anymore – it would be bad enough crossing the picket line at morning and night without going in and out of the building for lunch.

The strike was declared on Friday afternoon and Grey’s first shift as a picket breaker would be on the Monday. George advised him to quit his job, as did Germaine, though both respected him for his decision to keep going to work. Germaine was only concerned about his well-being, which was more important than doing what was right, and she believed that defying a strike was right, her father having indoctrinated her to believe that unions were determined to destroy employers. Grey saw both sides and would have had to search his soul for what to do were he a permanent resident – as he was just a temporary employee with only three weeks left to work he just got on with it, ignoring the politics and thinking of the pay-packet. George knew that Grey would have a hard week and he lent him his car for the weekend to give the couple more options of how to spend their time.

Grey had already shown Germaine many of the sights with Del acting as his guide, the sights that were personal to him (including his derelict home) as well as the areas of Detroit of general interest to tourists. His help had been invaluable, Del telling him of all of the local halls, which Grey checked out, looking for a small venue for his first show. He had found a hall, which could be hired very cheaply and was seriously considering fixing a date. The first one would be the hardest. A lot of the places Del had told him about no longer existed or were unsuitable places to take respectable female company, but a dance hall that he recommended remained open and Grey would take Germaine here weekly, where she was in her element, dancing energetically enough for the both of them, making him look good by association even though his moves were far more lumbering. The fact that he took her dancing at all was greatly appreciated by her – he had been shot in the spine and had largely recovered, his upper body stronger than it had ever been but his legs were weak, his feet prone to turning white and blue due to poor circulation. He couldn’t even enjoy the foot massages that she gave him because he could barely feel them and instead she reaped the benefit of his reciprocal massages, wishing that she could give him the same sensations. She did worry a lot about him and would insist that they sat down after every two songs, no matter what he said. While Grey was working full time, as there was no overtime he still had a lot of free time to spend with her (he saw a lot of George too but he often worked late or visited Maddy’s house) and took her to the cinema at least once a week, giving her an introduction to the stars for her eventual Hollywood trip, an idea he wouldn’t let die.

While they had got to know Detroit well, the use of George’s car enabled them to go to another of Del’s old haunts, Lake St Clair. Grey was slightly tempted to drive a little further to Lake Erie, having only taken Germaine to one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan, but Lake St Clair meant something to Del and proved to be very pleasant. He had never been swimming with Germaine before and her athleticism surprised and impressed him and their two-day getaway provided a distraction from the thought of Monday morning. They talked about it calmly, Germaine telling him to walk away if the situation turned ugly and went too far. By discussing it Grey managed to make Germaine see another point of view, that of the men who would be abusing him on Monday, the majority of whom were not troublemakers, just family men trying to provide for their families, and he was open to her ideas too and agreed that sometimes employers were wrongly maligned, and were just trying to run a business which could be jeopardised by militant unions holding them to ransom with strong-arm, bullying tactics. He felt better knowing that she supported him, though he knew she would whether he was scab or even union chief, believing in him.

There was a police presence by the gates and Grey managed to get in and out on Monday and Tuesday without too much trouble. He was pushed and spat at but none of the objects that were thrown at him struck him. On Wednesday morning he was floored by a right hook that he never saw coming and which bothered him all shift, not because of the soreness but because he couldn’t hide his black eye from Germaine.