The Cobbler's Kids (14 page)

‘I’ll come with you,’ Joan offered.

Miss Linacre scotched the idea the moment Joan mentioned it to her. ‘Who do you think will attend to the switchboard if you two are both out to lunch at the same time?’ she demanded.

‘We have considered that,’ Joan said smoothly, ‘and we thought if we left the main line through here to the office, and put the other two through to the shop extensions, that would be all right for just half an hour. Not many people ring up in the lunch hour and it is just this once.’

Miss Linacre didn’t approve, but she finally agreed. ‘Half an hour, remember, not a moment longer.’

They abandoned all thought of eating their lunch and dashed out of the shop and up Great Homer Street to the market.

‘We can eat our sarnies in the office when we get back,’ Joan suggested.

There were so many pretty dresses to choose from that they found it difficult to make up their minds which ones to buy. In the end, common sense ruled for Vera and she chose a low-waisted, blue and white flowered cotton dress with a pleated skirt, something that she would be able to wear again and again during the summer.

Joan had no such qualms and bought a dusky red floral dress in a shiny, silky material. It was very short and the full top was gathered into a dropped waistband.

To Vera’s surprise her dad dressed up for the occasion, too. Right up to the last minute, though, he grumbled about all the expense, and stressed the fact that he didn’t like strangers invading his home.

Vera felt so nervous that she was sure she wouldn’t enjoy herself. As the evening wore on and she saw how friendly and easy-going Rita’s mam and dad were she relaxed and joined in the fun.

As well as a plentiful supply of beer, and some ginger pop for Benny and anyone else who preferred it, Eddy bought a bottle of sweet sherry for the girls. It was the first time Vera had tasted sherry and she was surprised by how much she liked it.

‘You want to go easy on that, it will make your head spin,’ Steve warned when she held out her glass for a refill.

Vera pulled a face. ‘Oh dear, I’d better settle for ginger pop instead, then. I need to keep my wits about me to see everything goes well,’ she giggled.

What she really meant was that she was worried about her dad. He seemed to be drinking twice as much as anyone else, and he was becoming more affable by the minute. She had never seen him in such a good mood. Far too friendly, she thought as she saw him slip an arm round Rita’s waist after he’d opened another bottle of beer.

‘We’re nearly out of booze,’ she told Eddy worriedly. ‘Do you think you could nip out and get some more?’

He looked surprised. ‘We shouldn’t be! I bought enough for four pints each!’

‘Yes, I know, but the way Dad is drinking he’s downing two bottles to everybody else’s one.’

Eddy frowned. ‘That means he’ll be pissed before the night’s out.’

‘Well, he’s been more friendly than I’ve ever seen him in my life.’ Vera grinned. ‘Let’s hope he stays that way. I’d hate it if he passed out or anything.’

Eddy snorted. ‘He’s not likely to do that, he’s had years and years of practise. I bet he could drink everyone here under the table, no trouble at all.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ she agreed. ‘So you’d better get in some more beer or he’ll be complaining when his glass is empty and there’s no more to fill it.’

‘Right. Well you pass the food around and keep everyone occupied with that and I’ll go and fetch some more supplies.’

Vera grabbed Joan by the arm and whispered into her ear that it was time to test out their ‘home cooking’ and see if anyone spotted the difference.

Vera was so caught up with dishing out food, and listening to the compliments everyone was paying her on how well everything had been organised, that she didn’t realise that her dad was missing, or that Rita wasn’t there, until Eddy returned with extra beer and the row erupted.

She heard Eddy’s yell, blanched at the oath he let out, and then heard the sound of a scuffle out in the shop. The thuds and grunts as blows were exchanged alarmed Vera. Dropping the plates of food she was carrying she rushed through into the shop to see what was going on.

Her shocked scream brought everyone else crowding into the shop. Like Vera they were startled to see that Rita was already in there, cringing behind the counter. Her hand was over her mouth and she was shaking uncontrollably as she watched, eyes wide, as Eddy and his father traded blows with unbridled ferocity. Eddy was hurling abuse, Michael Quinn was cursing him and threatening to kill him.

‘Stop it, stop it, stop it,’ Vera’s raised voice cut through the racket. As she sprang forward, hanging onto Eddy’s arm, Rita’s father, Steve and Liam all grabbed at Michael. He struggled maniacally, but they finally overpowered him, all of them ending up in a pile on the floor.

Eddy shook Vera off him as he went over to Rita. Stiffening against his embrace she covered her face with her hands. ‘Get away, get away from me,’ she begged in a hoarse whisper. ‘Don’t touch me! Ever!’

‘Please Rita, tell me what happened …’

‘You know what happened. Your father … he’s an animal!’ She moved across to where her own father was standing looking embarrassed and bemused. ‘Take me home, Dad. Now!’ she pleaded. ‘I’ll never come here again,’ she sobbed as he put a protective arm around her shoulders and held her close.

‘I think Liam and me had better go as well,’ Joan told Vera. ‘You coming Steve?’

Steve hesitated, looking from Joan to Vera in bewilderment. ‘Do you want me to stay, Vee? Is there anything I can do to help?’

‘I don’t know,’ Vera shivered. ‘I don’t know what’s happening, it’s like a bad dream.’

‘I’ll hang on for a bit,’ Steve told his sister. ‘There must be something I can do to help you, Vee,’ he added anxiously.

‘Well, if you could you take Benny up to his room,’ she said hesitantly, ‘this is no place for him and it is time he was in bed.’

‘Yes … of course I will.’ He reached out and took Benny by the hand.

‘OK.’ Joan slipped her hand through Liam’s arm. ‘See you at home later on then, Steve,’ she called over her shoulder.

Vera waited until Joan had gone before she turned back to her father and Eddy.

‘If you two have quite finished perhaps we can sort out what’s wrong,’ she said scathingly.

‘Do you need an explanation of why I thumped him, the dirty old bugger!’ Eddy snarled. ‘He’d got his hand down the front of Rita’s dress and she was fighting him off like a wild cat.’

‘Rubbish,’ their father slurred, ‘she was all for it until you came barging in, and then she pretended she didn’t know what was happening.’

‘You foul-mouthed old bugger!’ Eddy was about to lunge at his father again, but Vera stepped between them.

‘You’ve disgraced yourselves in front of my friends quite enough for one night. You’ve ruined all my hard work.’

‘He has, not me,’ Eddy cried. ‘You didn’t think I was going to stand by and watch him maul my girlfriend, did you?’

‘Eddy, why don’t you go for a walk with Steve,’ she suggested.

‘And leave you here on your own with him?’ He scowled, looking contemptuously at his father. ‘Not after the way he’s behaved tonight. And God knows what Rita’s parents will have to say about this; or Rita, if I ever get to talk to her again,’ he added gloomily.

Vera didn’t know what to say to try and comfort Eddy. She felt so sorry that this had happened to mar what should have been a wonderful night for him. In addition she knew that Rita had been expecting him to announce their engagement. Now it all seemed to be in ruins. She could well understand if Rita never wanted to speak to him again.

She knew how desperately embarrassed she herself felt about what had happened, and yet it must be twenty times worse for Eddy. And she couldn’t even start to think how Rita was feeling. It was horrendous that their father had done such a thing. Rita must be wondering how she will ever face him or Eddy again. Perhaps Eddy should go to her right away and try and comfort her. Vera felt sure that that is what she would want if she was in Rita’s situation.

Could Eddy bring himself to do that, though, she wondered. He was in such a raging temper that it was probably asking too much of him. One part of him must want to kill his father, whilst the other part must be so deeply ashamed about what had happened that he’d have no words that would be adequate to put things right between himself and Rita.

Surely, though, Rita would see that it wasn’t Eddy’s fault. He hadn’t even been in the house at the time! If I hadn’t sent him out for more beer then it might never have happened, Vera thought despairingly. Blaming herself wouldn’t help, though; that wouldn’t put matters right. Only one person would be able to do that, as far as Rita was concerned, and that was Eddy.

‘Rita will understand if you go and see her right away and comfort her,’ Vera told him. ‘She’ll understand that it was all the beer Dad had been drinking that made him behave in such a way. After all, he’s old enough to be her father!’

‘Don’t you think I know all that,’ Eddy said wearily. ‘But he’s probably ruined my chances with Rita … for good! I’d like to hammer him! He does nothing but cause trouble. He makes all our lives hell.’

‘Leave him to me, I’ll talk to him,’ Vera said quietly.

‘No. After what happened I don’t trust him to behave himself even with you,’ Eddy protested.

‘He will. You go and see Rita. She needs you to reassure her that everything is all right between the two of you. That’s all that matters to her, not the drunken fumblings of a stupid old man.’

Despite all her brave talk, Vera was scared. She was afraid that Eddy would leave home after what had happened with Rita, and she was worried about her father’s reaction when he sobered up and remembered what he’d done. He was bound to feel ashamed of his behaviour, but, knowing him and his terrible moods, she was on tenterhooks in case he might take it out on her and Benny.

Vera was also concerned about how Rita was going to react once she was over the initial shock. Common sense told her that Rita would be too scared ever to come to the house again, but what worried her more was that Rita might not want to collect Benny from school any more.

He was big enough to walk to and from school himself, of course. It was simply that remembering how her mother had always needed to protect her and Eddy from their father’s moods she was afraid that Benny would have no one to look out for him once he arrived home. He’d once again be expected to help sort out the soles and he would be at the mercy of their dad’s temper if he made any mistakes.

She could hardly tell Benny all this, or explain her worries to him. Even though he had witnessed the fight between his dad and Eddy, she doubted if he was old enough to understand the reason for it.

She should have put Benny to bed long before the fight had started, but they had all been enjoying themselves so much that she’d thought he would have hated to be made to go off upstairs on his own.

Her fears were justified. Rita refused point blank ever to go near the Quinns’ home again. She even told Eddy that she felt they ought to stop seeing each other, for the present at any rate.

Eddy was heartbroken. He refused to speak to his father, or even to sit at the same table as him. The atmosphere was so fraught that Vera felt like she was stuck in the middle of it all. What worried her most, though, was Benny’s future.

He seemed to accept the fact that Rita was gone from his life and stoically took himself to school and came home on his own when school ended. But Vera wondered what he did when he got home. Although she asked him time and time again, she never managed to get a satisfactory answer. He usually ignored her question or shrugged his shoulders and went on playing with one of his toys.

Whenever she pressed him further and asked, ‘Do you stay in the shop with Dad sorting out the soles?’ he always shook his head.

Another thing that mystified her was that often when she was out delivering the boots and shoes with Benny, men she’d never seen or spoken to in her life would speak to him or ruffle his thick curls as they walked by. Whenever this happened he would respond with a smile as though he knew them. Puzzled, she mentioned it to Eddy, but he wasn’t able to throw any light on the matter.

‘Can you try and find out,’ she begged. ‘I’m sure there’s something going on.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said worriedly. ‘I’ve got my suspicions, though.’

‘Go on, tell me!’

‘Don’t laugh at me, then!’

‘Of course I won’t. I’m as worried as you are. It seems obvious that he’s not being made to sort soles like I was,’ Eddy muttered, ‘so what is he doing?’

‘He’s not delivering boots and shoes either, yet often when I get home, if it’s been raining, his hair is wet, so he’s going out somewhere.’

‘His hair would get wet walking home from school.’

‘Yes, but it would be dry by the time I got home, that’s well over an hour later.’

‘He could be playing out with other kids. He must have friends who play out in the street or in the back jiggers after school’s over.’

‘I’ve asked him, but he says not.’

‘So what do you think is going on?’

Vera looked uncomfortable. ‘I think it has something to do with betting.’

For a moment Eddy didn’t answer, he simply stared at her in disbelief. ‘That’s illegal!’

‘Of course it is … that’s why I’m so worried.’

‘What makes you think that might be what it is, anyway?’

Vera shrugged. ‘I found him crying when I came in the other night and when I asked what was wrong he said he’d lost a ticket. I didn’t know what he was on about and then later on I found this piece of card that had become caught up in the lining of his trouser pocket. When I took it out I saw it was one of the tickets that dad uses when he labels the boots and shoes he’s repaired, but it had some weird letters and numbers on it. It made me suspicious.’

‘Have you still got it?’

‘No!’ She shook her head. ‘Benny was so happy when we found it that I let him have it. It was only afterwards that I wondered if it was some sort of betting slip.’