can work out here, but I’ll still need to talk to Madge. She might not take kindly to the extra tables. Go and get her.’
Madge agreed to do Pearl’s tables, but only if she was given a pound a week more. Tutting her impatience, Dolly showed Pearl how to prepare the vegetables for the lunchtime rush.
Pearl didn’t mind, she was just pleased to be away from the customers. As she picked up yet another potato to peel, she tried to forget the snide remark Dolly had made. Dolly had said she was to be a part of the family, her daughter-in-law, and had stood up for her against Mo. Everything had happened so quickly and it must have been a terrible shock for Dolly. Once she and Kevin were married things would settle down, and surely then it would be all right.
Pearl had more to face when she finished her shift. Kevin was out, Dolly telling her to go back to Bessie’s until he returned to take her to the registry office.
It was freezing as Pearl stepped outside. Hurriedly turning up the collar of her coat, she made to cross the street.
Connie Lewis suddenly loomed in front of her, blocking the path. ‘I want a word a word with you, my girl,’ she spat.
‘Please, Connie, let me pass.’
‘Not until I’ve had my say. You’ve ruined my Derek’s life – made a laughing stock of him – and I hope I live to see you pay.’
‘I … I didn’t mean to hurt him.’
‘Don’t give me that crap. You’d hardly been in the area for five minutes before you threw yourself at Derek. I had my suspicions from the start, but you took me in with your innocent act.’
‘Honestly, Connie, I really didn’t mean to hurt him.’
‘Then why did you sleep with Kevin Dolby?’
‘I … I …’ Pearl floundered.
‘Don’t bother looking for an excuse because there isn’t one. I’ve sussed you out and I know why. You’re nothing but a user! You took up with my Derek, but only to keep him on the side in case you couldn’t snare Kevin Dolby. If your little trap hadn’t worked, you’d have married Derek as the second-best meal ticket, and no doubt made his life a misery. Well, miss, you’ve got Kevin, so it seems your scheme worked but, knowing that young man, I reckon you’ll live to regret it.’
‘No … please, it wasn’t like that,’ Pearl protested, hardly recognising the woman who stood in front of her. Connie had been like a mother to her, a woman she had grown so fond of, but now all she saw in Connie’s eyes was hate.
‘Shut up, you bitch!’ Connie screamed.
‘Gran, come on, that’s enough,’ Derek called as he ran towards them.
‘Enough?’ Connie snapped. ‘I ain’t even started yet.’
‘Yeah, go on, Connie, give her what for,’ a costermonger called from the small crowd that had gathered.
Pearl looked around frantically, wanting only escape, but before she could move she felt the sting of Connie’s hand across her face. She heard a small cheer, saw Derek staying his gran’s hand as she lifted it again, and then, seeing a small gap, she ran through it, sobbing as she flew to Bessie’s with Connie’s words ringing in her ears.
Her steps faltered. It was true, she had used Derek, but not for the reason that Connie had spewed out. She looked back at her time in the orphanage and the way she’d always found someone to protect her. With deep shame Pearl realised she had done the same thing here. She had sought Derek out – sought his protection – and though not to keep him on the side, she had used him for her own ends. She ran into Bessie’s, ignoring the old woman’s shout as she fled to her room, throwing herself onto the bed as self-loathing swamped her.
Only fifteen minutes later, she heard Bessie calling, ‘Come down, girl. Kevin’s here to take you to the registry office.’
Lacklustre, Pearl rose from the bed, finding Kevin waiting impatiently when she walked into the shop.
‘Come on, we ain’t got much time before they close.’
‘Pearl, are you sure about this?’ Bessie asked.
‘What’s it to do with you?’ Kevin snapped.
‘Huh, take a look at her. Does she look like a girl who’s happily going to arrange her wedding?’
‘It’s all right, Bessie, I’m fine, honestly,’ Pearl said, managing a parody of a smile. She briefly touched the old woman’s arm to reassure her, and then followed Kevin outside to his car.
‘Look at that lot gawking,’ Kevin said as they drove off. ‘Anyway, why the long face?’
‘It’s nothing,’ Pearl said.
‘Well then, give us a smile.’
Pearl turned and as their eyes briefly met, she managed to force her lips into the semblance of one.
‘That’s better,’ he said, his eyes back on the road. ‘For a moment there you looked like a lamb going to slaughter.’
He concentrated on his driving then, speaking briefly about the arrangements, whilst Pearl hardly listened. She was an awful person, dreadful, hurting a man who had shown her only kindness. Oh, Derek – Derek, what have I done …?
‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘For Christ’s sake, Pearl, what’s the matter with you?’
‘Nothing, it’s nothing.’
‘Well, if you want to change your mind, now’s the time to do it. We’re almost at the registry office.’
For a moment Pearl was tempted. She wanted to run, to hide. To never have to face Derek, or Connie, again.
‘Well, girl,’ Kevin asked as he pulled into the kerb, ‘what’s it to be?’
She turned to look at him, her thoughts still racing. She couldn’t do it, couldn’t run. She was carrying Kevin’s baby, he was the father and she needed him. Maybe there was a way out. When they were married, perhaps she could persuade Kevin to find a job out of the area. ‘I don’t want to change my mind.’
‘Right, come on then, let’s get this wedding booked.’
He smiled, and Pearl’s stomach fluttered. He was so handsome, and he was being so nice, but things changed when they walked into the registry office.
The wedding proved difficult to arrange, neither of them anticipating that with Pearl being underage, without a birth certificate, or parental permission, there’d be complications. Legal advice was suggested, and when they left the registry office Kevin was in a foul mood.
He flung open the car door. ‘Christ, that was a complete waste of time and I don’t see how a solicitor can help. He won’t be able to conjure up a flaming birth certificate out of thin air.’
Pearl hung her head, thinking it was no more than she deserved. Derek’s face returned to haunt her, the pain she had seen in his eyes. She had hurt him badly and still couldn’t get Connie Lewis’s words out of her mind.
They drove back to Battersea in silence, Kevin’s mood still dark, and as they turned into the yard at the back of the café, he finally spoke.
‘Come on, we’d better get this over with and tell my mother.’
They sat in the living room, Dolly saying after they explained what had happened, ‘They must know what they’re talking about if they suggested legal advice, but a solicitor’s going to cost a pretty penny. Have you got any savings, Pearl?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m afraid not.’
‘Bloody hell, I ain’t made of money, but I suppose I’ll have to pay. You’d better make an appointment tomorrow and let’s hope it doesn’t take long to sort out.’