My mum said all boys try to get fresh, that they’re ruled by what’s in their trousers. She’s always going on at my brother to behave himself Sandra paused and, as though realising something, she said, ‘Here, hold on. Have they done the same to you? Is that why you’re so frightened?’
Mavis felt as though a dam had burst as she blurted it all out, but then saw that Sandra’s mouth was curled in disgust. Sandra must blame her—must think that she’d led them on. With a small cry of anguish she ran off.
‘No! Wait,’ Sandra called.
Mavis ignored the shout, running and running until she was through the school gates. Bending over, she fought to get her breath, and then seeing a group of girls staring at her she slunk off behind the toilet block until the bell rang.
Head down, Mavis walked to her class, worried sick that Sandra would pass on what she’d told her. Her mother would kill her if it reached her ears. And what about her dad? At least he was working away, but what about when he came back?
The lesson began, but as usual Mavis couldn’t make head nor tail of the writing chalked on the board. It was all right when the English teacher read to them, sometimes from a novel, which she enjoyed, but unlike the other girls she couldn’t write an essay on the subject. Sometimes there was so much in her mind, stories she would make up, yet no matter how many times she tried, it was impossible to put the words onto paper. Oh, it must be wonderful to read a book, something the other girls in her class could do so easily. She envied them so much. They were lucky. Unlike her, they weren’t idiots.
Lily had been to the shops and now sat back, replete, having had fresh tea and an egg along with a couple of slices of bacon. She also had a little treat in store for dinner, and simmering on the stove was a vegetable stew, thick with pearl barley. Most women could afford to buy meat and were constantly moaning that it was still on ration. Lily, though, was nervous of spending too much money so had settled on only vegetables. At least the stew would be nourishing, and as her mother had lost so much weight she’d take a bowl round to her later.
In no mood to talk, Lily sighed when someone rapped on her letterbox. It was Kate Truman, the woman saying, ‘Lily, my Sandra left for school, but then came back to tell me something. I think you need to hear it.’
‘You’d better come in. Do you fancy a cup of tea?’
‘Yes, if you can spare one.’
Unwilling to throw away tea leaves that had only been used once, Lily just lit the gas and, when the water boiled, topped up the pot. Kate was obviously itching to tell her something, so once they had a cup each in front of them, she said, ‘Right, Kate. Spit it out.’
‘You won’t like it, Lily, but it’s like this. My Sandra bumped into Mavis on her way to school. Mavis was upset and told Sandra something, but then she ran off.’
‘She’s upset because Ron’s left this morning to work out of London. It was all a bit quick so I haven’t had the chance to tell you about it.’
‘No, it wasn’t that. She’s upset about Tommy Wilson and Larry Barnet.’
‘Why? What’s happened to them?’
‘Nothing, but they tried it on with your Mavis.’
‘Tried it on! You … you don’t mean …’
‘Yes,’ Kate interrupted. ‘They got her on the common.’
‘Oh, my God,’ Lily cried, jumping to her feet. ‘She didn’t tell me. Did they … did they …’
‘No, no, calm down,’ Kate urged as she interrupted again. ‘They didn’t get far, but if someone hadn’t come along, they might have.’
‘My Ron will wring their bloody necks—’ Lily shouted, but then slumped onto her chair again, rubbing both hands over her face. ‘Fat chance. He ain’t here and won’t be for months. Mind you, those two buggers ain’t getting away with this. I’ll sort them out, and have a word with their mothers.’
‘Yes, do that, but Mavis is a very pretty girl and now that she’s growing up there’s bound to be others sniffing around. I’ve already spoken to my Sandra, but what about Mavis? Does she know about the birds and the bees?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Lily, she may not be so lucky next time. You need to talk to her; warn her about blokes and how to handle them if they try it on.’
‘Gawd, Kate. I doubt she’d understand.’
‘I know she can’t read and write, but when my Sandra was at school with her, she insisted that Mavis isn’t daft. In fact, in art class she was brilliant.’
‘Art? What good is art? The only rich painters are dead ones.’
‘I dunno, Lily, but if she can paint and draw, surely that shows intelligence?’
‘It’s just copying, that’s all. Anyone can do that.’
‘Well, I can’t. I’m useless at drawing, always was and always will be.’
‘Yes, but it hasn’t held you back, has it? You can do other things, whereas Mavis can’t.’
Kate pursed her lips. ‘You have a point. But I still don’t think Mavis is as bad as you think—I’ve been telling you that for years.’
‘You were just being kind.’
‘No, Lily. Unlike backward kids, Mavis doesn’t sound daft when she talks. In fact, she sounds very sensible.’
‘Sensible! Leave it out. She can’t even wash up without breaking something.’
‘All right, Lily, have it your own way, but you still need to try talking to her. If you don’t, she could end up in trouble.’
‘Oh, Kate, don’t say that.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I know it’s none of my business, but I just felt you needed to know.’
‘Kate, there’s no need to apologise. We’ve been friends for years and there ain’t much about me and mine that you don’t know.’
‘How do you feel about Ron working away?’
‘To be honest, I’ll miss him. Though God knows why. Oh, sod it, me stew’s boiling over.’
They rose to their feet at the same time, Kate saying, ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Yeah, all right,’ Lily agreed as she hurried over to the stove. Kate called a quick goodbye as she showed herself out, and after turning the gas down under the pot, Lily once again slumped at the table. Recalling the conversation, her face darkened with anger. Why hadn’t Mavis told her about those two little sods? Instead she’d told Sandra, who had passed it on to her mother. She liked Kate, but knew she was a bit of a gossip. Now the whole bloody street would know. Wait till Mavis came home. She’d have a few words to say to the girl. Not only that, she had to talk to her daughter about blokes, and the dangers. Yet what if she couldn’t get it through her thick head?
The thought of her daughter getting pregnant, of the shame it would bring, made Lily feel sick. It was bad enough that everyone in Cullen Street knew Mavis was backward, but if she became an unmarried mother Lily knew the gossip would be unbearable.
Why me? Why couldn’t I have a normal child? It wasn’t fair—it really wasn’t.
At last the English lesson was over, and though Mavis had missed her favourite art class yesterday where they used oils, the next class focused on charcoal drawings and sketching. Though she preferred painting, Mavis enjoyed this class too. Her mother refused to buy not only paints, but pencils and paper too, telling her that it was a waste of time and that she had more important things to buy, food being top of the list. There had been a time when she used to grab any scrap of paper she could find to draw on, but that had annoyed her mother too. It seemed to incense