A Family Scandal. Kitty Neale
it and kept coming back for more. Anyway she’d have to get Grace something or there’d be tears and recriminations all weekend. Then if she got her daughter something it was only fair to find a little present for James too. He was so good, he hardly ever complained when Grace got more attention, so she had to try extra hard to make sure he didn’t miss out.
All around her the crowds were growing, bargain-hunting women and men enjoying their morning off, young children being dragged along by their parents, one getting a clip around the ear for trying to take a piece of fruit off a stall. ‘I was only lookin’,’ the boy wailed. Mavis couldn’t blame him; the display was colourful and would have tempted anyone.
‘You keep your thieving hands to yerself,’ snapped his mother, smacking him again. ‘You’ll go without yer dinner if I catch you doing that again.’
Mavis looked away. After witnessing what Alec had done to James, she couldn’t bear to see a child being hit, even if it wasn’t anything more than a light tap. Lord knows she’d been on the receiving end of it herself, first from her mother, then from her husband, and she never wanted to be in that position again.
Noticing a stall selling toys and stationery, Mavis wandered over when she spotted a flash of purple. Exactly what Grace wanted – a plastic pencil case. She picked it up and added a set of coloured pencils for James. They’d come in handy for school even if he wasn’t as keen on drawing as his sister. Thankfully the stallholder took her money without trying to get to know her. He was engaged in conversation with another customer, something about some old roads being knocked down to make room for new houses. The same thing was happening in many parts of London; houses being demolished to make way for towering blocks of flats.
Turning to walk away, Mavis thought she saw a familiar face, which stopped her in her tracks. An older woman slammed into her back. ‘’Ere, what do you think you’re doing?’ the old harridan roared. ‘Almost made me drop my bags, you did. You wanna watch what you’re about.’
‘Sorry,’ Mavis said, shaken and distracted. It couldn’t have been who she thought it was. He didn’t live round here – he’d left Battersea years ago and as far as she knew he had no reason to come back to any part of South London. Maybe it was a trick of the light – he’d have changed a lot since she last saw him. What would it have been since she’d last seen him? Ten years? She was jumpy after the creepy stallholder, that was all it was.
Clutching her shopping bag tightly, Mavis headed in the opposite direction, trying to enjoy the spectacle of the Saturday morning market in full swing. There were some teenage girls laughing at a clothes stall, holding up dresses in the latest styles, hurriedly copied from the West End shops and run up in cheaper fabrics. One of them waved around a miniskirt that was little more than a pelmet, giggling wildly. Another had a top in sharp geometric patterns that was an exact imitation of something Mavis had seen on Top of the Pops when she’d been round to her friend and former neighbour Jenny Bonner’s. It made her think of Rhona and her outrageous outfits. She wondered how her young friend would get along now she’d moved away from Harwood Street. Don’t be daft, she told herself. It was high time Rhona went out with girls of her own age, and she might even be relieved not to see so much of Mavis. Mavis had always felt herself to be very staid in comparison to her energetic young neighbour, but she knew she’d miss her. It wasn’t just for the gossip and scandalous stories; underneath the good-time girl exterior, the young woman had a heart of gold. She just preferred to keep that a secret, in case some man decided he’d like to break it.
Feeling better, Mavis headed back towards the main road, Peckham Rye. There was still time to pay a visit to the high-end store of Jones & Higgins. But she’d gone off the idea. Maybe when she did go, she could drag Jenny along – her house had a few good-quality things in it and she’d know what a fair price was. The decision made, her mind turned back to that oddly familiar face in the crowd.
If her suspicions were right, Mavis knew she had every right to feel uneasy. What in heaven’s name would have brought Larry Barnet to Peckham?
Jenny Bonner stared at her husband. ‘Do you really have to do this? What about me? What about Greg? He’s only ten. It’ll be a big change.’
Stan Bonner rubbed his head, pushing his hand across his receding hairline. He’d known this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. ‘I realise that, love. It’s not ideal. But if I want to get on in the firm there’s no getting away from it. I’ve got to travel more, and as I said, it’ll often mean staying away for several nights in a row.’
Jenny shook her head, worried and upset. For a moment she had the horrible thought that this was Stan’s excuse to get away from her, that maybe there was another woman in his life. Then she came to her senses. Stan loved her and wasn’t the type to stray. ‘When does it start, Stan? Are you sure there’s nobody else who’ll do it?’
‘That’s not the point, love.’ Stan tried not to show his impatience. He wasn’t happy either but he knew what would happen if he didn’t agree to do as his boss asked. ‘Plenty of the others would do it. The thing is, they picked me out. That means they like me and I could be in for a promotion. That’d be good, wouldn’t it? Get you more things, and for Greg too.’
Jenny could tell she was on a losing streak but tried again. ‘What about Greg? He’ll be doing his eleven-plus soon. He’ll need you here to help him. I didn’t stay on at school for long enough to be of much use. He’ll get all those practice papers and then he’ll fail because his mum wasn’t clever enough to show him how to work them out.’
Stan came across the kitchen and put his arms round her. ‘Don’t say that, love. He’s a bright boy, and he’ll be fine. You’re bright too and it wasn’t your fault you didn’t stay on at school. Your mum needed you to go out to work, to earn money to help her out.’
Jenny leaned against him and seemed to sag, the fight going out of her. ‘I won’t like it when you’re away. I’ll miss you.’
‘I’ll miss you too, but we want a good life for Greg, don’t we? I’ll be earning more money, and if I get promoted we’ll be in clover.’
Jenny nodded, her head pressing against her husband’s shoulder. She loved her house – it was big for three of them, and to begin with they’d hoped there would be more children, but none had come and now they were used to having lots of space. Greg had his own bedroom and there was a spare room. Stan was an insurance salesman and had a little space he called his office, though now that he was going to be away from home for long periods, it would hardly be used. ‘I suppose if you get promoted, it’ll be worth it.’
‘That’s the spirit.’ Stan pulled back so he could look into his wife’s hazel eyes. ‘I’m doing it for you two. This chance has come just at the right time. Greg’s old enough to understand, and he’s not so little that you have to run round after him anymore.’
‘I liked running round after him.’ Jenny gave a sniff. He’d been an adorable little boy, and she never begrudged him a minute of her time. She didn’t like to think of him growing up and getting independent. But Stan was right. That wouldn’t be far away.
‘I know you did. You were, you are, a wonderful mother. I’m proud of you.’ Stan gave her a squeeze, thinking again how he’d miss her gorgeous curves while he was on the road. ‘It’ll break my heart spending nights away from the pair of you. You know that. But you’ll be fine. You could ask Tommy over, if that would make it easier.’
Jenny hugged him back. ‘I might. He must get lonely in that flat down in Wandsworth. He hasn’t really got any mates there, and Mavis will be busy sorting out her new place. He might be glad of a few evenings round here.’ Jenny had been close to her cousin Tommy when they were little and when his marriage had failed his mean mother had refused to take him in, even temporarily, so he had come to stay with them. That had been two years ago, but the