He Called Me Son (The Blountmere Street Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

every year at Bognor?   And it don’t cost?’
    ‘Bognor!   And it don’t cost?’
    ‘Not a penny.   Kenny says you have to be there a while before they take you.   They have a Christmas party with presents as well.   And you have adventures and get badges for having them.   You wear a uniform and everyfink.’
    ‘You thinkin’ of going?’   Herbie asked.
    ‘I’ll see,’ Dobsie replied, as secretive as he always was.
    ‘What about you, Tony?’
    ‘I might.’ A chance of going to the seaside without paying.   You bet I’d be joining.   I’d never been to the seaside.   I wasn’t sure about the uniform, though.   Mum wouldn’t be able to pay for that.   With her having to take a week off work because of her legs, at the rate things were going I’d be back on the Poor List before you could say Bognor .  
     
    Two weeks later, Mum lost her job.  
    ‘The company were very good to me,’ Mum told Lori when she popped in with some tea and sugar that she said she’d come across at the back of her cupboard.   ‘But I couldn’t stand all day.   Finally they asked me to leave.’   Mum leant back in her chair, and even from my usual place in the corner, crouched next to the side board, I could see her face was that yellowish colour again.
    Lori fiddled with the strap on her handbag.   ‘I know you don’t want to hear this, Dolly, but you can’t sit there pretending things will be all right.   Unless you do something, we both know they won’t.’  
    Mum’s eyes were closed.   I was pretty sure she’d mind-travelled to her secret place.
    ‘How do you propose looking after yourself and the children without a job?’   Lori bent closer to Mum, and lowered her voice.    I suppose she thought I wouldn’t be able to hear her.   ‘Why don’t you let me make some enquiries to see if we can find Ted’s whereabouts?   The least he should be doing is making regular payments towards bringing up the children.’
    That got Mum’s attention, catapulting her from her land of make-believe.   ‘I don’t want his help, and I won’t have his name mentioned here.’
    ‘If that’s how you want it, Dolly.’
    Mum stretched her legs in front of her, the bandages around them thicker than ever.   She looked as if the last thing she wanted was to be dragged back into our kitchen from wherever she was trying to escape.  
    ‘You can sew, can’t you?   Why not take in sewing?   And before you say you don’t have a sewing machine, you can borrow mine.’
    ‘Do you think I’m good enough?   People can be very fussy.’   Mum said, although her voice had perked up.  
    I held my breath, willing her to say yes.    Mum had to take in sewing.   She just had to, or I’d have to go back on the Poor List .
    ‘Of course you’re good enough.   You made a couple of dresses for Olive Kingsley, didn’t you, and they turned out all right.’   Lori wound and rewound her handbag strap.     ‘The way I see it, sewing’s the answer.   Between times you’d be able to put your legs up.’   She sent a quick glance in my direction.   ‘Tony and Angela could ask to put advertisements for your sewing services in the High Street shops.   And, of course, they could ask Mr Barker to put one in his window.’
    I shuddered.   The last thing I wanted to do was to toady to grumpy shopkeepers.   It was begging.   As for asking Old Boy Barker to put an advertisement in his window, I’d been avoiding him since I’d bought the fags and comics.   When the Gang popped into his shop for a bit of liquorice or a penny drink, I made an excuse to stay outside.   I’d make Angela ask all the shopkeepers.   She’d be better at it than me.       
    ‘That’s settled.’   Lori stopped fiddling with her bag strap, and the way she smiled lit up her face.   ‘Now you need something to bring in a little extra until the orders start coming.’
    Mum sighed and closed her eyes again.
    ‘A lodger!