Cuckoo in the Nest. Michelle Magorian
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‘I know but . . .’
‘After supper.’
‘I don’t see why we can’t eat ours before John and Ralph get home,’ said Win with meaning.
‘We spent enough time apart in the war,’ said Ellen. ‘We’re all eating together.’
‘All getting indigestion together,’ muttered Win.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You can cut the atmosphere with a knife, when those two come in. It’s a wonder they don’t kill each other on the way.’
‘Oh, go on, Win, give ’em a chance. It’s not easy for either of them. John’s missing his mates and his unit, and Ralph is missing his school pals.’
‘I’m missing my friends too. He ain’t the only person in the universe what’s got demobbed. I’m finding civvy street hard as well. I was treated with a bit of respect in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Now I have to put up with some chit of a girl who can’t be more than seventeen criticising the way I serve a customer or the way I organise cardigans on a shelf.’
Elsie and Harry gave each other a glance. ‘We’ve all got our crosses to bear,’ they mouthed as their aunt gave voice to it.
‘Just because someone’s seventeen don’t make them stupid, you know,’ protested Joan.
Winifred gave a sigh. ‘I weren’t casting no aspersions to you.’
‘I’ve been working three years,’ Joan pointed out. ‘Longer than Ralph. But you treat him with more respect just because he’s got a posh accent.’
‘Oh, no I don’t,’ said her aunt. ‘I treat no man with respect.’
‘There you are,’ said Joan. ‘You called him a man, and he’s only sixteen. But that seventeen-year-old, that one you called a . . . a . . .’
‘Chit?’ put in Elsie.
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ agreed Joan.
‘Are you sure it was chit?’ added Harry.
‘Yeah,’ said Joan. ‘Don’t interrupt.’
‘I thought she said something else,’ said Harry grinning.
‘Harry!’ said his mother in a warning tone.
Elsie and Harry began giggling uncontrollably.
‘Oh, none of you take me seriously. You never listen to me, ever.’
‘I didn’t mean to call him a man. It was a slip of the tongue,’ said Winifred flicking through the newspaper. ‘Oh listen, there is a murder, right here on page three. Huh! Another bigamist.’
‘Does that mean he’s got a big Mrs?’ asked Elsie. She and her brother collapsed into laughter again.
‘Don’t be cheeky to your aunt,’ said Ellen.
‘It’s hunger,’ choked Harry. ‘It’s making me go off me ’ead.’ Ellen took the iron over to the range and swapped it for a hot one.
‘Kay has an electric iron,’ said Joan. ‘Her kitchen is just like a film star’s kitchen. It’s even got a refrigerator and it’s filled with so much food, she says, some days it’s difficult to close the door.’
Ellen said nothing. She turned over the leg of the trousers she was ironing and proceeded to smooth a nice knife-edged crease on to them.
‘If I’d been allowed to go out with Chuck, I might have been in a kitchen in America with a refrigerator.’
‘With no family around you,’ Ellen remarked.
‘I’d have a new one, wouldn’t I?’
‘You was only fifteen,’ she said firmly.
‘The other girls were fifteen.’
‘I promised your parents that if anythin’ happened to you I’d make sure you and Kitty was all right.’
‘Kitty’s only three years older than me. You didn’t stop her from going out with Frank and marrying him.’
‘Kitty’s a sensible girl.’
‘And I’m not?’
‘I didn’t say that. But a spell in the ATS helped her grow up a bit faster, that’s all. She’s a bit more worldly wise than you are.’
‘I’ve got a job which is more than she has.’
‘Frank doesn’t want her to work.’
‘Couldn’t we have the wireless on?’ said Harry imploringly. ‘Please.’
‘Elsie’s got to do her homework.’
‘I’ve got all weekend,’ said Elsie.
‘If you keep leaving it all till Sunday night you won’t keep up with the work. You don’t want to risk being chucked out in your first term.’
‘But Dad might come in.’
‘That’s why I told you to start earlier.’
‘I wanted to hear Dick Barton.’
‘You always want to hear Dick Barton.’
‘He should be proud of havin’ a daughter at a grammar school,’ said Win. ‘Any man worth his salt would be.’
‘Win, please.’
‘He’s afraid she’ll get all high and mighty like Ralph,’ said Joan.
‘He’s not high and mighty.’
‘He should stand up to his father,’ said Win.
‘His dad was lucky to get him work at the paper-mill,’ said Ellen wearily. ‘It’ll give him security for life.’
‘So why did you go to all that trouble to let him stay at the grammar school?’
‘You know why. Don’t go on, Win.’
‘To give him a better chance.’ She rattled the newspaper with relish as if scoring a point. ‘Of course, if John had been around he’d have stopped you, wouldn’t he? The green-eyed monster, that’s what it is.’
Harry stared at her as if she was mad. ‘There ain’t no greeneyed monsters ’ere. What you on about, Auntie Win?’
‘Jealousy!’ she said dramatically. ‘That’s what I’m on about.’
‘That’s enough, Win.’
Ellen put the iron back on the range and hung the trousers on a piece of string stretched across a wall above a makeshift bed in the corner.
Outside, the yard door gave a loud slam.
‘It can’t be that late, surely,’ exclaimed Ellen. Busily she removed the sheet and blanket from the end of the table. ‘For goodness’ sake, Elsie,’ she said urgently, picking up a small pair of spectacles. ‘Put these in your room, quick. If they get broken the school won’t lend you another pair.’
‘And you don’t want her dad to see them,’ said Win. She raised her newspaper to hide her face.
There was a resounding crash from the back door. ‘They’ve had another row,’ commented Harry.
‘I can’t hear voices,’ said Elsie. ‘I expect they’re still not talking.’
The door of the scullery was flung open and a blast of cold air swept into the kitchen. Standing in the doorway like a bull about to charge, stood a square-built man in his thirties with thick black hair and a red face.
He glanced round the room. ‘Where is he?’ he yelled. ‘Where is the