Sadie Was A Lady (25 page)

‘Ah, ay, Dad!’ Dot was fully expecting her father to stick up for her and wasn’t a bit happy about the way things had gone. ‘Take yer belt to her, go on!’

‘Shut up and let me get on with me readin’,’ George grunted, keeping his head down. ‘Bleedin’ kids, should all be drowned at birth.’

Sadie wasn’t happy with the outcome either. If she hadn’t come downstairs when she did, her own sister would have stolen from her. And for that she should be punished. So she grabbed a lock of the greasy hair again and gave a hefty yank. ‘That’s for goin’ in me bag.’ She gave another yank. ‘And that’s for being so nice to your father.’ Sadie put emphasis on the words
your father
. Because never again would she admit to him being hers.

When Sadie made the safety of the bedroom she began to shake all over. One minute later getting down those stairs and Dot would have seen the little bag containing the eleven shillings she’d saved. Money that she’d worked for and lied for. It would have all been taken off her – of that she had no doubt. Nor did she doubt that every penny of it would have been spent over the bar at the pub on the
corner.
And all her scheming and lies would have been in vain. She’d be further away from escape than she’d been months ago.

Sadie sat on the side of the bed feeling sick at how near she’d come to her dreams being shattered. She’d have to do something with the money. It wasn’t safe to keep it in her bag after what had just happened, and there was nowhere in the house to hide it. The only person she could trust, who knew what the money was for, was Mary Ann. So she’d take it to the market with her on Saturday and ask her friend to mind it for her. Until then she’d have to guard it with her life.

‘Shall we go for a walk instead of sittin’ in the pictures?’ Sadie asked when she met up with Bobby. ‘It’s such a nice night, it’s a shame to spend it inside.’ She smiled into his face, making him go weak in the knees. ‘The truth is, I was at the pictures last night and yer can have too much of a good thing.’

Bobby was so delirious he didn’t care where they went. Sadie looked lovely and he’d be quite happy to stand in the one spot all night just gazing at her. ‘Whatever yer want, Sadie, yer the boss.’

‘Right,’ Sadie took his arm and he thought his legs were going to buckle under him. ‘We’ll walk into town, sit in St John’s Gardens for a while to rest our weary bones, then we’ll walk to the Pier Head and watch the ferries coming and going.’

No man could have walked taller than little Bobby Bennett as they strolled along, Sadie’s arm linked in his. Nearly every bloke they passed cast admiring glances at her, even the blokes with girls hanging onto their arms. She’d probably never go out with him again, but at least he’d have this one night to remember.

‘The nights are pulling in, aren’t they, Sadie?’ he said timidly. ‘In another week or two it’ll be dark at eight o’clock.’

‘Yeah, the winter will be on us before we know it. I hate the winter ’cos I seem to feel the cold more than most.’ Sadie didn’t say she never had the right clothes to keep her warm, hardly any covering on her bed or that there was seldom a fire in their grate. ‘One of these days
I’ll
get meself a fur coat and I can swank and be warm at the same time.’

‘Yer’d look nice in a fur coat, Sadie, like a film star.’ Bobby was too shy to add that she didn’t need a fur coat to look like a film star. ‘When yer ship comes in, eh?’

‘Even if me ship did come in I wouldn’t look like Constance Bennett did in the film I saw last night. She had this beautiful fur coat on with a big collar to keep her neck and ears warm, and it was right down to her ankles. Ooh, was I jealous, or was I jealous? I’ll say I was!’

‘I bet yer’d knock spots off Constance Bennett if yer had a coat like that. She probably had thick make-up on her face and false eyelashes. You don’t need nothin’ like that ’cos yer pretty enough without it.’

‘If yer keep that up, Bobby, I’ll become so big-headed I won’t be able to get in the door.’ Sadie tilted her head as she gave his arm a squeeze. ‘Ay, it’s just struck me, you’ve got the same name as her! Not related by any chance, are yer?’

‘I wasn’t going to mention it in case yer thought I was bragging, but yeah, she’s me mam’s sister,’ Bobby said, enjoying the joke. ‘But she won’t have anything to do with us now she’s gone up in the world, thinks we’re as common as muck. Me mam said she was always a swank, wouldn’t tell anyone she was born in Scotland Road.’

They reached St John’s Gardens and Sadie spied an empty bench. ‘Come on, let’s have a sit-down. High heels might be glamorous but they’re no good for walking far.’

When they were seated, Bobby laced his hands in his lap and began to roll his thumbs around each other. ‘Sadie, can I ask yer something?’

‘As long as it’s not for a loan, go ahead.’

‘Why did you an’ Alec fall out?’ Bobby kept his eyes on his rotating thumbs. ‘I can’t believe he packed yer in, just like that.’

‘Alec’s story is a load of lies, Bobby, to save his pride. I’ll tell yer what really happened and yer have my permission to tell him I told yer. In fact, I’d like yer to
spread
it around so people don’t think I’m what he makes me out to be.’

Sadie began at the beginning, and as her story progressed Bobby’s hands became still and he was totally absorbed in what he was being told. He didn’t utter a word, but his shaking head told of his disbelief. Sadie finished her tale by repeating her parting shot to Alec as he was doubled up in pain outside the shop doorway. ‘And that is the plain, unvarnished truth, Bobby. Right from the horse’s mouth.’

‘The blackguard! The dirty lying blackguard!’ There were other things he felt like calling Alec but he wasn’t going to say them in front of a lady. And Sadie
was
a lady. ‘Yer should have heard his version of why he packed yer in. He’s said some terrible things about yer, Sadie, and he deserves a good hidin’ for it.’

‘I have heard some of the things he said, Bobby, and that’s why I want you to know the truth. And I want yer to spread the word, take him down a peg or two. Yer’ll only need to tell one or two men and it’ll be round the factory in no time. They say women like to gossip, but men are just as bad when they’ve got a juicy bit of scandal.’ Sadie leaned forward to look into his face. ‘Just out of curiosity, if yer believed what he’d told yer about me, why did yer ask me out?’

‘Because I didn’t really believe him. I’ve found him out in so many lies I take what he tells me with a pinch of salt. But I never thought he’d stoop so low as to say such terrible things about you. He was so serious when he was telling me, and half-a-dozen other blokes, he must have convinced himself that what he said happened really did happen. I can see now he only believed what he wanted to believe.’ Bobby’s face looked troubled when he asked, ‘I hope yer didn’t think that was why I asked yer out? That I was hoping yer were like, you know, like he said yer were.’

‘The thought never entered me head, Bobby, an’ that’s the truth. I’m goin’ to tell yer something that I’ve never told anyone, even Brenda. My father is a rotter through
and
through, and because of him I’m wary of all men. Oh, I know they’re not all like me dad and Alec Gleeson, but I keep me guard up against them just in case. You an’ Alec Gleeson are poles apart, an’ the sooner yer realise that and get away from him, the sooner yer’ll begin to get some confidence in yerself, be your own man. I think yer a smashin’ feller, Bobby, and I bet lots of other girls would if yer came out of yer shell. As long as yer hang around with Alec yer’ll have an inferiority complex because that’s the way he wants it. He can’t stand competition – he’s always got to be the big cheese.’

‘Would yer come out with me again, Sadie?’

Oh dear, Sadie thought, I don’t want him getting ideas because I’ll be gone in a couple of weeks. But she didn’t want to disappoint him either, ’cos he was a nice lad and she’d like to help him become more sure of himself when it came to asking a girl for a date. If going out with her went a little way to achieving that end, she couldn’t refuse. ‘I’ve got a boyfriend, Bobby, and I see him three times a week. But it’s not serious ’cos I’ve no intention of settling down at my age, so I’ll go out with yer again if yer like.’

‘If I like! I’d be over the moon! Didn’t yer say yer were doin’ nothing on Thursday?’

Sadie grinned at him as she stood up. ‘Yer a fast worker, Bobby Bennett! Now get off yer backside and we’ll walk down to the Pier Head. We can talk about it as we walk.’

‘If yer do come out with me, I want to take yer somewhere. I haven’t spent a penny on yer tonight.’

‘You will before the night’s over, Bobby, ’cos I’m goin’ to ask yer for the tram fare home. I haven’t brought any money out with me and I couldn’t face that long walk home, not in these flamin’ shoes.’

‘I’ll take yer, Sadie. I couldn’t let yer make yer own way home late at night.’

‘No, yer won’t, Bobby. I never let any boy take me home.’

Bobby’s mouth drooped. He wouldn’t be gettin’ a kiss, then. Still, she had promised to go out with him again, which was more than he’d dared hope for. ‘Okay, Sadie,
I’ll
give yer the fare and make sure yer get on the right tram.’

Bobby was alone the next day when the girls came out for their usual walk to the chippy and Brenda’s eyes searched the yard for sight of her boyfriend. ‘Where’s Alec?’

‘Yer’ll never believe it, Bren, but the funniest thing happened. Alfie Duncan was stretching his arm out to put his overalls on and, blow me, didn’t Alec walk straight into his fist! I know I shouldn’t laugh but I’ve never seen anythin’ so funny in all me life. If Alfie had been aiming at a target he couldn’t have been more spot on. Poor Alec is sporting the biggest black eye yer’ve ever seen.’

Sadie managed a straight face but couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. ‘Aah, the poor lad. Fancy a thing like that happening.’

Brenda gave her a withering look before asking, ‘Why hasn’t he come out for his dinner, like he always does?’

‘Oh, I don’t think yer’ll be seeing Alec for a few days, not until the swelling and the colouring dies down. He’s sittin’ by a machine with a cold-water cloth to his face to try an’ get the swelling down, but I can’t see it meself. I’m running to the shops for him now, to see if there’s any cream that would help.’ The smile Bobby gave Sadie had more than a hint of mischief in it. ‘Don’t you girls use somethin’ called vanishing cream? I think I’ll get him some of that to try.’

‘Bobby Bennett, yer as thick as two short planks!’ Brenda didn’t think the subject was being treated with the sympathy it deserved. ‘Yer can’t get him vanishing cream – it’s only for girls ’cos it smells nice, like scent.’

‘Oh, that’s no good then. Here was I thinking it would make him vanish.’

Brenda clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes towards heaven. ‘I’m not standin’ here wasting me time talkin’ to someone who’s as soft as a brush. I’ll walk on and get in the queue.’ She started to move away, saying over her shoulder, ‘Ask Alec to come out tomorrow will yer, ’cos I’ve got somethin’ to tell him.’

‘I’ll tell him, but I can’t guarantee he’ll take any notice,’ Bobby called. ‘I wouldn’t hold me breath if I were you.’ He waited until Brenda was out of earshot before confiding to Sadie, ‘I’ve got a feeling Alec will take a few days off sick. Yer know how vain he is – he’ll not be wanting anyone to see him with the shiner he’s got. Honest to God, Sadie, it’s a belter of a black eye, a real corker.’

‘Did he really walk into Alfie’s fist, or did the fist come to meet him?’

‘The fist came to meet him, and what a wallop it was, too! I was havin’ a go at Alec over the lies he told about you, and Alfie must have overheard. I didn’t even know he was there, I just heard him roar like a bull before his fist connected with Alec’s face. And he doesn’t half pack a wallop, does Alfie. He was as mad as blazes, told Alec he had a daughter the same age as you and if anyone blackened her name, like Alec did yours, he’d kill the bastard.’ Bobby sighed. ‘I almost felt sorry for Alec ’cos there was a gang around by this time and everyone witnessed his humiliation. And I can tell yer he didn’t get any sympathy from the men; they just looked at him with disgust and walked away. It’ll be a long time before me laddo lives that down.’

‘I’m glad everyone knows the truth, Bobby, thanks to you. But I didn’t mean to be the cause of him getting hurt. I wasn’t expectin’ that.’

‘He got what he deserved, Sadie, so don’t be feelin’ sorry for him. There’s many a girl had her reputation ruined through his bragging. Anyway, we’d better move or we’ll get nowt to eat.’

As they walked towards the factory gates Sadie was thinking Alec might be in for more than a black eye if Brenda was in the family way. Her mother would have him hung, drawn and quartered. And she’d have him walking down the aisle whether he liked it or not. She wouldn’t have her daughter disgraced.

‘Still on for tomorrow, Sadie?’

‘Yeah, but I’ll see yer in the dinner-break to make arrangements.’ Before they parted outside the factory gates to go in opposite directions, Sadie made a suggestion.
‘Get
some Vaseline to rub on Alec’s bruises, that should soothe the pain. But I don’t think they sell anything for bruised vanity.’

‘My God, girl, have yer robbed a bank?’ Mary Ann stared down at the money in Sadie’s hand. ‘How much is there?’

‘Thirteen shillings,’ Sadie told her proudly, ‘and I didn’t have to rob no bank. I just told a few fibs, that’s all. Two of me boyfriends think they’ve bought me a present. I didn’t tell them what the money was really for.’

‘As long as yer haven’t done nothing wrong to get it, girl, then good luck to yer. I’ll mind it for yer with pleasure.’ Mary Ann looked with fondness at the pretty face. ‘Yer’ll soon have enough to get a bed and pay yer ways.’

‘I reckon with that thirteen shillings, and the seventeen I’ll get from work the day I leave, countin’ me week in hand, that’ll be enough for the bed. All I need to save now is the money to pay Sarah for me keep.’

‘There’s a second-hand furniture stall at the other side of the market, and I know the bloke what runs it. I asked him to keep his eye out for a single bed in good nick, and he came over this morning to tell me there’s one come in that’s almost like new. Nice oak headboard and a spotlessly clean mattress.’