Try a Little Tenderness (3 page)

‘What if she’s got her mate with her? Lily Farmer’s not half big, she’d make two of you.’

‘Ay, well, I’ve got to admit that Lily’s a different kettle of fish. But I’ve got one thing in my favour, I can run faster than her. I might have a screw loose, girl, but I know me limitations and Lily Farmer is definitely outside of them.’ Amy pushed the chair under the table and her face took on a thoughtful expression. ‘It’s funny yer should mention a loose screw, girl, ’cos I think ye’re right. Every time I turn me neck sharply, I can feel this thing rattling around in me head. Could that be the loose screw yer were talking about?’

‘Amy, I don’t want to rush yer, sunshine, but the rain is teeming down. I’m bringing my washing in now before it’s wringing sopping wet. If the weather clears I can put it out
again when I come back from the shops.’

‘I’ll come to the shops with yer, girl, keep yer company. What time are yer going?’

‘In about twenty minutes.’

‘Just enough time for me to spend a penny, give me face a cat’s lick and a promise, pull me stockings up and comb me hair. I don’t need to cake me face with powder or lipstick, not with my natural beauty.’

‘Ta-ra, sunshine, on yer way! I’ll see yer later.’ Mary left her friend and dashed out into the heavy rain. She sighed as she unpegged the clothes that were a damn sight more wet than when she’d put them out in the first place. Her eyes went to the heavens. ‘Please God, take pity on us poor women, we don’t do no one no harm.’ She could feel the dampness as the rain soaked her dress, but she managed a smile. ‘Only with words, God, and we don’t really mean half we say. Besides, words don’t harm no one.’

Mary turned into the butcher’s shop with Amy in her wake. ‘Good morning, Wilf, lovely weather for ducks, isn’t it?’

‘I’m happy for the ducks, Mary, but it’s bloody awful weather for business.’ The butcher feigned horror when his eyes lit on Amy. ‘Oh dear, yer’ve brought the menace with yer. D’yer not think I’ve got enough problems without blighting me life with Amy Hanley?’

Amy slowly lowered her basket to the floor before placing her hands on her ample hips. ‘Any more lip out of you, Wilf Burnett, and I’ll take me custom elsewhere. I don’t have to stand here and be insulted by the likes of you, yer know. All I’ve got to do is walk to the butcher’s in the next block and let him insult me. He’s better at it than you; some of his insults really get yer here.’ With a dramatic gesture she placed a hand where she thought her heart was. ‘Cut to the quick I’ve been, several times. In fact, and Mary here can bear me out, I was once that upset I had an attack of the vapours and someone had to hold a bottle of
smelling salts to me nose, to bring me round.’

Wilf was shaking with laughter. He was a middle-aged man with thinning sandy hair and twinkling blue eyes. ‘Yer mean sal volatile, Amy?’

Amy dropped her pose. ‘What’s salvotily when it’s out?’

‘Smelling salts.’

‘That’s what I said, yer silly bugger! D’yer know what? Yer’ve talked that much I’ve forgotten what I’ve come in for. It’s no wonder yer’ve got no bleedin’ customers, yer’ve probably talked them to bloody death.’ She turned to Mary and gave her a broad wink. ‘That funeral that’s just passed us, I bet the poor sod used to shop here.’

‘Well, I’m going to make amends for insulting yer, Amy, by giving yer a little bit of advice,’ Wilf said. ‘Next time yer do yer drama queen act, try putting yer hand where yer heart is. Yer were miles out.’

‘I’ll return the favour and give you a bit of advice, Wilf Burnett. You just keep yer eyes off my … off my … off my thingummybobs. My Ben wouldn’t take kindly to yer weighing me up and down the way yer are. It’s not your fault, ’cos men are drawn to me like a moth to a flame, but yer’ve got to be strong and keep yerself under control. I know yer mean well, and to put yer mind at ease, I do know where me heart is. It’s well-covered, like, but it’s in there somewhere.’

Mary banged on the counter, and when Wilf turned her way, she waggled her fingers. ‘Yer do know I’m still here, don’t yer? I hate to split you two up, but I would like serving.’

‘Ah, she’s jealous.’ Amy shook her head and pouted her lips. ‘I get this with her all the time, Wilf. If a man looks at me with longing in his eyes, she goes into a deep sulk. I feel sorry for her, ’cos she’s me bestest mate. But I can’t help being desirable, can I? It’s not as though I’m a vampire, God forbid.’

When Mary and Wilf doubled up with laughter, Amy
looked surprised. ‘Is it a private joke, or can anyone join in?’

Wilf reached for a clean piece of meat cloth and dabbed his eyes before answering. ‘Amy, a vampire sucks blood. The word you should have used was vamp, which means a flirt.’

‘Go ’way! Well, yer live and learn. I came in here for three-quarters of shin beef and get a lesson in geography and English. Not that I needed the geography lesson ’cos I know where me own bleedin’ heart is, but a vampire sucks blood, eh?’ Amy curled her fist and rested her chin on it. ‘We haven’t got none of them living in our street, have we, girl?’

‘How about the woman in number seven, sunshine? It looks like bright red lipstick from a distance, but yer never know.’

‘I’ll weigh the shin beef while you two crucify the poor woman in number seven.’ Wilf was reaching into the shop window for a tray of meat when Mary stayed his hand.

‘Oh no, you don’t! First in, first served, that’s how it should be. I’d like a round neck of lamb, please, the leanest yer’ve got. And will yer chop it into four for us?’

Two more customers came into the shop then, and the friends were soon served and on their way to the greengrocer’s. When Mary shopped on her own, she was around the shops in no time. After giving her order in and passing a few pleasant remarks, she was on her way. But shopping with Amy was a different experience altogether.

‘Don’t be trying to palm me off with a rotten cabbage, Billy Nelson, ’cos I haven’t just come over, yer know.’

‘What are yer on about, Amy?’ Billy scratched his head. He was short and stocky, with a mop of black curly hair and a cheeky grin. ‘I’ll have yer know that that cabbage was in a field yesterday; it’s as fresh as you are.’

‘Pull the other one, Billy, it’s got bells on. And when the bells start ringing everybody will think it’s Sunday and get themselves ready for Mass.’

‘Five o’clock this morning I was at the market getting me fruit and veg, Amy. Even the bleedin’ birds were still asleep. I’m telling yer, that cabbage is as fresh as yer’ll get.’

Mary thought it time to intervene, otherwise they’d be here all day. ‘What’s wrong with the ruddy cabbage? It looks all right to me.’

‘I dunno, girl, I can’t put me finger on it but I just don’t like the look of it. It might be the shape of the bleedin’ thing, or the colour.’

Billy slapped an open palm on his forehead. ‘Ah, yer wanted a pink one, did yer, Amy? Or did yer fancy one in pale blue?’

Amy squared her shoulders and pretended to take the huff. ‘Ay, Billy Nelson, you get sarky with me and I’ll clock yer one. Buying a cabbage is just like buying a hat, yer either like it or yer don’t like it. And I’m telling yer now, I don’t like that bleedin’ cabbage.’

Holding the offending cabbage in the crook of his arm, Billy bent down and took another one out of the wooden box. ‘How about this one, yer moaning so-and-so? Is it the right colour and shape for yer? Or would yer like one with a slim waist and a big bust?’

‘Nah, we can’t have two big busts in the house, we wouldn’t be able to pass each other in our small kitchen. That one will do me fine, I’ve taken a liking to it.’ Amy picked a well-worn purse from her basket, asking, ‘Did yer say it was a penny, Billy?’

Billy looked forward to Amy’s visit, you could always get a laugh out of her. And she didn’t get upset if the laugh was at her own expense. Not like some moaning Minnies who came in the shop. ‘There’s a bloody big sign on the box, Amy, and it says the cabbages are tuppence.’

‘Daylight robbery, that’s what it is,’ Amy said, passing a threepenny bit over. ‘Ye’re like that Ben Turpin feller who used to waylay people on the highway and rob them.’

Billy threw the coin in the big pocket of his apron and
fished out a penny. ‘Here’s yer change, Amy. And it was Dick Turpin, not Ben.’

‘What was Dick Turpin?’

‘The highwayman.’

‘Oh, it was Dick, was it? Was he Ben’s brother?’

‘No, Amy, Ben Turpin is a film star.’

‘Well, I never!’ Amy turned wide eyes on Mary. ‘D’yer know what, girl? I’ve had more education in the last half hour than I had in me nine years at school.’

‘I’m afraid yer’ve had yer last lesson for today, sunshine, ’cos it’s time to get home and put the dinner on.’ Mary took tight hold of her friend’s arm and pulled her through the shop doorway, calling, ‘Ta-ra, Billy, we’ll leave yer in peace now.’

‘Ta-ra, girls, see yer tomorrow.’

Amy was grinning as she moved the basket to her other arm so she could walk on the inside and link her friend. ‘I enjoyed, that, girl. We had a good laugh, didn’t we? And in case yer haven’t noticed, the rain’s gone off.’

‘It went off twenty minutes ago, sunshine, but you were too busy talking to notice. I’m going to get me stew on, then put me clothes out again. With a bit of luck we’ll get them dry this afternoon.’

Amy looked at Mary out of the corner of her eye. ‘I heard yer telling your Laura off on Friday night, girl. Had she been giving yer cheek?’

‘That’s nothing unusual, is it, Amy? She’s gone really hard-faced and is always giving me cheek. She went too far on Friday, though, and I slapped her face.’

‘She is cheeky, I’ll grant yer that. Not only to you, either.’ Amy wanted to say more, but bit on her tongue. She could tell Mary a lot about that eldest daughter of hers, so could many of the neighbours in the street. But everybody kept quiet because, apart from Laura, the Nightingales were well-liked and respected. ‘Never mind, she’ll change when she starts work. It’ll be a case of having to, ’cos if she gets a
job in a factory none of the women will take any lip from her.’

‘I hope ye’re right, Amy, because I do worry about her.’

‘Of course I’m right.’ Amy squeezed her arm. ‘Vampires are always right, aren’t they?’

Mary sat one side of the hearth sewing a seam that had come undone in Jenny’s gymslip, while Stan sat facing her, reading the evening paper. It was the best time of the day for Mary, when the girls were in bed and she and her husband could discuss the events of the day, or sit in companionable silence. At the moment the only sounds in the room were the rustle of newspaper when Stan turned a page, the ticking of the clock and an occasional spurt from one of the coals.

With a sigh of contentment, Mary sewed the last stitch and snapped the cotton between her teeth. ‘That’s one job done, thank goodness. With a bit of luck Jenny will get a few more months’ wear out of it.’ She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. ‘I’ll leave your socks until tomorrow, it’s hopeless trying to sew in this light.’

Stan looked over the top of the paper. ‘I think the gas is going, love, it’s taking me all me time to read. Yer’d best put a penny in the meter before it goes altogether and we’re left in the dark.’

‘I can remember the time when yer’d have been glad to sit in the dark.’ Mary grinned. ‘Stealing kisses when me mam and dad had gone to bed.’

Stan lowered the paper to his lap. ‘That brings back a few memories. I used to dread the sound of yer mam knocking on the floor with her shoe.’ He chuckled. ‘If she didn’t hear me leave right away, she used to bang so hard I expected the ceiling to cave in on us. I got the
distinct impression she didn’t trust me.’

‘All mothers are like that with their daughters. I used to call her for everything, saying she was treating me like a child. Now I’ve got daughters of me own, I understand why she was so protective. I’ll always regret not telling her that she’d been a good mother and I loved her dearly. The trouble is, yer think yer’ve got plenty of time to say all these things; yer don’t expect yer mam to die at fifty-two.’

‘Yer mam didn’t need telling, pet, she knew yer loved her.’

‘She probably thought me dad loved her, as well. Yer would after being married for nearly thirty years, wouldn’t yer? I thought he doted on her, they always seemed so happy.’ Mary gave a deep sigh. ‘But he couldn’t have loved her that much, could he? Not to have married again six months after she died. And to a girl only half his age. A man of fifty-five, trying to act as young as the girl he’d wed. I’ll never forget the first night he brought her here and she was all over him. She seemed to be flaunting him, as though to say “Look what I’ve got”. I didn’t know where to put meself, and me older than her. He didn’t take long to forget me mam, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that.’

‘Yeah, I’ve got to say it was the biggest surprise I’ve ever had in me life. If she’d been older I might have understood him marrying for companionship, but she’s a fly turn, just out for a good time. I’ve seen them a few times down Walton Road, and a stranger seeing them would take them for father and daughter until they saw the antics out of them. Stupid bugger, that’s all I can say.’

‘I often wonder what me mam’s old neighbours make of it. Especially the woman next door, Monica Platt. Her and me mam were real good mates. All the years they lived next door to each other never a cross word passed between them. And me dad used to be friendly with her husband, Phil – they used to go to the pub together a couple of times a week. I bet they’re not so friendly now he’s married a slip
of a girl. They probably think he’s lost the run of his senses, and they wouldn’t be far wrong.’

The gas-light started to flicker and Mary jumped to her feet. ‘I’d better feed the meter while I can still see it, save me fumbling around in the dark.’

‘Here yer are, I’ve got a penny in me pocket.’

‘No, I’ve got me week’s supply on the kitchen shelf.’ Mary reached up to where she kept the pennies, and as her hand covered the one at the top of the pile, a frown crossed her face. She lifted them all down and her frown deepened when she counted them. She’d put six there when she’d got back from the shops, she was certain of that, and now there were only four. When one had gone missing last week she’d put it down to a mistake on her part and thought no more of it. But she hadn’t made a mistake today, that was definite.