Riches of the Heart Read Free Page B

Lily said quickly, ‘Yes, I do.’
    ‘I need help here. The shop could do with cleaning and there’s a lot of clothes to be sorted. My son is away buying and I have to keep an eye on the shop, else someone will pinch my stuff.’
    A guilty flush rose in Lily’s cheeks. ‘I’ll work hard for you, honest.’
    ‘Then we’d better find you a pair of shoes that fit.’
    ‘Oh thank you, Mrs Cohen. You are so kind.’ Her gratitude bubbled forth.
    ‘I’m not giving you them, girl. You’ll pay me so much a week out of your wages.’
    Suitably rebuked Lily said, ‘Yes, yes, of course.’
    ‘One thing you will learn in life, my dear, is that no one does anything for nothing. You just remember that. There’s always a price to pay.’
    Inside the shop, Lily looked around in astonishment. Clothes hung everywhere. One rack was full of ladies’ evening dresses. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. The fragile materials were covered in sequins and coloured bugle beads. Such elegance, she thought admiringly. Day dresses, costumes and men’s suits hung nearby. Wonderful creations tumbled out of hat boxes. But it was towards the large tubs full of unsorted clothes that she was led.
    ‘I want you to go through this lot with a fine-tooth comb. Sort the good stuff, and any that is worn and torn you throw over there, into the empty box. All right?’
    ‘Yes, I understand, missus. Don’t you worry, I’ll be very thorough.’
    ‘If you aren’t, then you won’t work for me. I don’t pay good hard cash for nothing.’
    Sorting through the clothes in the dark enclave of the shop, Lily was content. She was off the street and felt safe and secure, for the time being anyway. She was meticulous in her search. After all, if she was earning, she could eat. I wonder when she’ll pay me, she pondered.
    At lunch-time, Mrs Cohen made a cup of tea and called to Lily: ‘Come here, girl.’ She handed Lily a mug of the hot steaming liquid and a bagel filled with salt beef. Lily had never enjoyed anything so much.
    They sat together on a couple of old straight-backed chairs. Rachel Cohen arched her back, placing her hand against it. ‘Getting stiff in my old age,’ she muttered. ‘If my son Manny worked a bit harder, it would help.’
    ‘How old’s your son?’ Lily asked.
    Rachel pulled a face. ‘Thirty and not married. I try to find him nice Jewish girls, but either he doesn’t like them or they don’t want him. What’s a poor widow woman to do? I want grandchildren.’ She bit angrily into her bagel. ‘And you, Lily, what do you want out of life?’
    Sitting back against the chair, Lily stretched out her feet to admire her shoes. ‘I don’t want ever to be poor again.’ She looked dreamily into space. ‘I want a nice man to marry me, I want to live in a nice house – I want to be respectable.’
    Looking over her horn-rimmed spectacles, the Jewess smiled. ‘Well, we all have dreams, girl. I hope you get yours one day.’
    ‘I will, Mrs Cohen. I don’t know how, but I will.’
    The determination on the girl’s face moved Rachel. What chance has she got? she wondered. Not much. She was a pretty girl, with her lovely eyes. But living round here didn’t offer a great deal, and she doubted that Lily would ever fulfil her aspirations.
    When the shop closed Lily asked, ‘When do I get paid?’
    ‘At the end of the week.’
    Her heart sank. She was working, but she still didn’t have money, only the twopence left after buying her breakfast. She had some mouldy fruit left over, but that was all.
    The smell from the fish and chip shop was too much. ‘Two penn’orth of chips and some scraps please,’ she asked. The scraps – the pieces of batter that came off the fish as it cooked – were crispy and succulent. It would help to quell her hunger.
    The cool wind had dropped and it was a balmy spring evening as Lily strolled along the Esplanade, eating her chips. Not a bad birthday, she mused. I got myself a job and a