Sadie Was A Lady (54 page)

Sadie listened in silence as Ellen, her eyes on the ground, told her what had happened. ‘And I’ve scratched all his face, Sadie, it was bleeding. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to do it only I got mad when I saw what he did to our Jimmy.’

‘Good for you! He’ll have a job explaining the scratches away. But what you’ve got to remember is that none of this is your fault, so don’t be feeling embarrassed or ashamed. No one will know the real story, not even me grandma and grandad. So hold yer head up, sunshine, and look everyone in the eye.’

Mary Ann was waiting, eyes blazing and nostrils flared. ‘He’s one bleedin’ bastard, is that father of yours. I’d hang him up by the feet until he screamed for mercy.’

Sadie sighed. ‘I know, Auntie Mary, but right now I’ve got a problem about what to do with our Jimmy. I’d give anything for him not to have to go back home, but even if I had somewhere he could go, which I haven’t, there’s his school to think of. If I tried to change his school there’d be all sorts of questions asked and they’d contact me mam and dad.’

‘I’ll go home, I’ll be all right.’ Jimmy put on a show of bravado but inside he was feeling anything but brave. He knew that as soon as he put his foot in the door his father would be waiting for him with his belt in his hand. ‘If he touches me, I’ll run away.’

Sadie made a quick decision. ‘Yer’ll go home, but it won’t be alone.’ She took hold of Ellen’s arm. ‘Go and stand by my stall, sunshine, put a smile on yer face and start selling. Yer’ve watched me the last few Saturdays, so yer know what to do. Everything on the stall is sixpence so that’s all yer’ve got to remember. If yer get stuck, ask Auntie Mary, or even the customers – they’ll help yer.’

Ellen looked uncertain. She’d watched her sister with the customers and envied the ease with which she spoke
and
laughed with them. But she wasn’t like her sister, she was shy with strangers. ‘Where are yer goin’? Can’t I come with yer?’

‘Ellen, I can’t be in two places at once and don’t forget I’m supposed to be working. So you get on that stall and do my job, while I go somewhere with our Jimmy.’

With her hand on her brother’s elbow, Sadie pushed him through the crowd of people to Tommy’s stall. He and his father were both serving but Tommy looked up briefly to give them a nod. Then when he’d exchanged a second-hand saw for threepence, he walked along the stall to where they were standing. ‘Hello there, young …’ His words petered out when he saw the ugly bruising on the boy’s face. ‘What’s happened to you, lad? Walked into someone’s fist, did yer?’

Sadie looked to where his father was chatting to a customer. ‘Mr Seymour, d’yer mind if I have a word with Tommy?’

‘Have three if yer like, queen, we’re not exactly rushed off our feet.’

Tommy came from behind the trestle table. ‘What’s up, Sadie?’

‘Yer can see what’s up, Tommy.’ She pointed to her brother’s face. ‘My brave father did that to him.’

‘Bloody hell! He knows who to pick on, doesn’t he? Were yer giving him cheek, lad?’

Jimmy shook his head. ‘He was givin’ our Ellen a hidin’ and I tried to stop him. I did give him cheek then, I said I hated him and wished he was dead. That’s when he fisted me.’

‘There’s a bit more to it than that, Tommy,’ Sadie told him. ‘When Ellen saw what he did to Jimmy, just for sticking up for her, she had a go at me dad and scratched his face. She said it was bleedin’ so it must be bad.’

‘Serves him right. If I’d been in Ellen’s place I’d have taken the poker to him.’ Tommy gazed with sympathy at the angry bruises which covered the boy’s eye and came halfway down his cheek. ‘Yer did right to try and protect
yer
sister, young Jimmy, and I’m proud of yer. A little hero, that’s what yer are.’

‘I’m not lettin’ Ellen go home again, she’s in danger in that house ’cos me dad can’t keep his hands off her,’ Sadie put in. ‘He was like that with me, but I’m not as gentle as our Ellen. Anyway, I’m asking me grandma if she can live with us, and I’m positive she’ll say yes. And because she’s just turned fourteen, I’m going to find out if she can leave school early. But our Jimmy’s a different kettle of fish; he’s got another year at school so he’ll have to go back and face the music. And I’m afraid for him. After what’s happened, me dad will tear him limb from limb. He’ll get Ellen’s punishment as well as his own.’

‘Not if me and Spike take him home.’

Sadie sighed with relief. ‘Tommy, yer an angel, I was praying yer’d say that. I know we’re all supposed to be goin’ to Blair Hall tonight, but we could still go even if it means being a bit late.’

‘Hang on, I’ll get Spike over.’ Tommy put two fingers in his mouth and blew out a loud whistle. When he caught his friend’s attention, he waved him over. ‘I know Spike will agree with me, but it’s policy to ask.’

Spike took one look at Jimmy’s face, asked how it happened, then shook his head sadly. ‘Yer not letting the lad go home on his own, are yer?’

Tommy grinned. ‘No, you an’ me are goin’ with him. Yer such a kind-hearted bloke I knew yer wouldn’t mind me offering yer services.’

‘Yer should have let us go in last time, Sadie – I did warn yer.’ Spike’s normally smiling face was serious. ‘I knew yer father was a bad ’un from what yer told us. When children are so afraid of their father that they daren’t open their mouths, then there’s something radically wrong. A smack on the backside when they’re naughty is one thing, but takin’ a belt to them is something else. Anyway,’ he cocked his head at Tommy, ‘are we goin’ straight from here or goin’ home first?’

‘If we go straight from here we’ll catch me dad before
he
has time to go to the pub.’ Sadie nodded, ‘Yeah, I’m coming with yer.’

‘There’s no need. Me and Spike can sort it out. You’d only get yerself all upset.’

‘I’m takin’ our Jimmy home, Tommy, and no amount of talkin’ will change me mind. I want to see the look on me dad’s face when he sees you two. I want to see the same sort of fear on his face that he puts on the children’s. I know it makes me sound as hard as nails, and perhaps I am, but if I am then that’s how he made me.’

‘Aw, you’re not hard, Sadie,’ Tommy said. ‘Yer as soft as a brush.’

‘Yer nicer lookin’ than the brush me mam’s got, though.’ Spike grinned into her face. ‘If me mam’s brush was as nice-lookin’ as you, I wouldn’t let her brush the floor with it. Oh no, I’d make her sit it on a chair and we could all spend our time admiring it and saying, “Isn’t she like Sadie Wilson?”.’

Jimmy forgot his painful eye and Sadie smiled. ‘You two are as mad as hatters, but I’m glad I’ve got yer for me mates.’

‘Yeah, me too.’ Jimmy was wishing the next few years of his life away to the time when he was as big and manly as these two. ‘When I leave school, would I easy get a job on the market?’

‘What, a hero like you? Of course yer would, especially if I recommended yer.’ Tommy threw his chest out. ‘I’m very highly thought of, I am.’

‘Ay, come on, I’ll have to get back to me stall ’cos Ellen will be having a nervous breakdown. She can go to me grandma’s now and tell her what’s happened and that I’ll be late. And she’ll have to tell Peter, as well. He can go on to the dance and we’ll meet him there.’

‘Yeah, okay. Me and Spike will pick yez up when we’ve cleared away for the night.’ Tommy ruffled Jimmy’s hair. ‘Don’t you be worryin’, lad, ’cos it’ll be all right, I promise. Your dad has hit you for the last time.’

Ellen was filled with mixed emotions as she made her way to Sarah’s. She ran like the wind, and her mind raced at the same speed. It was hard to take in that she’d never have to go back to the home she had come to hate. And to live with Grandma and Grandad was a dream she never expected to turn into reality. Mind you, they hadn’t yet said she could live with them, but Sadie seemed so sure and her sister was usually right. The only blot on her horizon was the plight of her brother, Jimmy. If only he didn’t have to go home then her happiness would be complete. She couldn’t imagine life without him because since Sadie had left he’d always been there to look out for her. He wouldn’t be in this trouble now only for trying to protect her.

With her head so full of conflicting thoughts, Ellen ran on, her eyes not seeing the people she passed. She pelted round the corner of Penrhyn Street at breakneck speed and straight into the arms of Peter Townley.

‘Hey, steady on, Ellen.’ Peter held her at arm’s length. ‘What’s the big hurry?’

She took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. ‘I’ve got a message for Grandma from our Sadie, and I’ve got one for you, as well.’ She screwed her eyes up to try and halt the flow of tears, but it was no good, they began to roll down her cheeks. ‘Oh Peter, it’s been a terrible day. Me dad punched our Jimmy an’ he’s got a terrible black eye. And I got so mad at what he did to me brother I scratched me dad’s face.’

‘I’m sure things aren’t as bad as yer think, Ellen, so dry
yer
eyes. It’ll all blow over, you mark my words.’

‘It won’t, yer know.’ Ellen sniffed up, wishing she had something to wipe her nose on. ‘I’m not goin’ home no more. I’m hoping Grandma will let me stay with them.’

‘Yer can’t just run away from home without yer parents’ permission. They’ll be worried sick about yer.’

‘They don’t worry about us at all. If they did they’d look after us better and not be clouting us all the time. We’re not allowed to open our mouths, an’ if we even look sideways we get a belt.’

Peter dropped his hands and his eyes were thoughtful. ‘Is that why Sadie left home?’

Without thinking, Ellen said, ‘Yeah, she’d had enough. She looked after us when she was home, our Sadie did, that’s why we all love her so much. But when she left there was only our Jimmy and he’s no match for me dad.’

‘Look, let’s get to Auntie Sarah’s. There’s no point in yer having to go over the whole story twice.’

Sarah’s smile was one of welcome when she opened the door to see Peter standing there with his arm across Ellen’s shoulders. But when the old lady saw the girl’s tearful face her expression turned to one of concern. ‘In the name of God, sweetheart, have yer had an accident?’

Peter got in first. ‘Ellen’s got a message for yer from Sadie, and one for me. But I think a cup of tea would work wonders right now.’

Sarah walked straight through to the kitchen without saying a word, leaving Joe to see to their visitors. ‘Hello, queen, this is a pleasant surprise.’

‘Hello, Grandad.’ Ellen sat on the very edge of the couch, her head lowered as she picked nervously at her nails.

When no further information was forthcoming, Joe raised his brows at Peter who shrugged his shoulders. ‘Ellen’s a bit upset now, but she’ll tell us about it after she’s had a cup of me Auntie Sarah’s miraculous brew.’

‘Here yer are, sweetheart, I’ve put plenty of milk in it so it’s not too hot.’ Sarah kept hold of the cup and held it to Ellen’s mouth. ‘Drink it all up, there’s a good girl, an’ yer’ll soon feel better.’

Ellen gulped the tea down, eager to say what she had to and get it over with. No sooner was the cup away from her mouth than she blurted out, ‘Grandma, can I stay here?’

Sarah looked puzzled. ‘Yer mean for tonight?’

Oh dear, how could she answer that? If she said she wanted to live there for good, they’d think she had a cheek. But she was spared from answering when Peter came to her aid.

‘Ellen was telling me that her and Jimmy had some trouble at home with their dad. Perhaps that’s got something to do with why she’s here.’

It took some gentle coaxing from Sarah for the sorry tale to come tumbling out. It was when Ellen was saying that her dad had hold of her arm that she hung her head and sobs shook her body. In her mind she was reliving those moments of shame and fear. She could feel her father’s hand going up her bare leg and his fingers pushing under the elastic in the leg of her knickers. She could hear herself begging him to stop, and the relief she felt when Jimmy dashed in.

Peter came to her aid once again. ‘Yer father was goin’ to give yer a belt, wasn’t he?’ He waited for her nod. ‘And Jimmy came in and tried to stop him, is that right?’

Ellen raised her tear-stained face. ‘I didn’t do nothing wrong, Grandma, honest I didn’t! And our poor Jimmy didn’t either. He pulled me away from me dad, and I remember him saying he hated him, then the next thing, I heard this crack and me brother’s holding his face. I love our Jimmy, and he didn’t deserve that, so I went for me dad. I was punching him as hard as I could, then I scratched his face. I don’t know how I had the nerve ’cos I’ve never even answered him back before. But I’m not sorry I did it, and I’d do it again if I saw him hitting our Jimmy.’

Sarah let out a deep sigh. ‘What happened then, sweetheart?’

‘We ran out of the house. Me dad had been drinkin’ yer see, and when he’s drunk he gets in a terrible temper. He’d have killed us if we’d stayed.’

Joe took a neatly folded pure white hankie out of his pocket and handed it to her. ‘It is clean, queen, so give yer nose a good blow.’

‘Where was yer mother, sweetheart? Couldn’t she have stopped this?’

‘She’d gone to the shops with the young ones, but she wouldn’t have stopped it anyway. She always sticks up for me dad no matter what he does. He’s always hittin’ one of us and she never stops him. So our Jimmy said we’d go to the market and tell our Sadie.’

‘And is that why yer want to sleep here tonight?’

‘Sadie said I’m never to go back home because I’m not safe where me dad is. So she said I was to ask yer if I could stay here until she sorts something out for me.’

‘Of course yer can, sweetheart. Me and Joe would love to have yer.’

Joe, with the wisdom of his years, sensed there was more to what happened than the girl was telling them. If what he was thinking was true, then the father needed horse-whipping. ‘Yer can stay as long as yer like, queen,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll be waited on hand and foot with three women to fuss over me.’

Relief flooding her body, Ellen went on to give the rest of the message. ‘Sadie said not to have a dinner ready for her, Grandma, ’cos she’s taking our Jimmy home. Tommy and Spike are goin’ with them to give me dad a good telling-off and a warning about what’ll happen to him if he doesn’t keep his hands off the children.’