Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [19]
Beth felt unable to complain. Not only was she a little afraid of Jane, but she knew how desperately she and Sam needed the rent money. Yet it was so hard to see the home which had always been so clean and tidy degenerate into squalor, to listen to Thomas’s drunken ramblings late at night, and never to have any real privacy. Playing the piano or her fiddle had always been her tried and tested way of escaping from her problems, but she no longer had the piano, and with Jane stalking around she didn’t feel able to play her fiddle. She could feel herself becoming wound up like a watch spring, and she was afraid of what might happen when that spring finally snapped.
It happened one morning in July. Sam and Thomas had left for work about an hour earlier. Beth went into the kitchen with Molly in her arms, ready to feed her, and found Jane pouring some of the milk in the baby’s bottle into her tea.
‘What are you doing?’ Beth exclaimed. ‘That’s Molly’s!’
‘There’s no other milk left,’ Jane said.
‘Well, go out and get some,’ Beth retorted angrily. ‘What sort of person would take a baby’s food?’
‘Don’t you speak to me like that.’ Jane’s eyes narrowed and she stuck her thin face right up to Beth’s menacingly. ‘You feed her too much anyway, that’s why she’s so fat.’
At seven months old Molly was plump, but Beth took a pride in her being so healthy and strong. She had masses of dark hair, four teeth, and she could sit up unaided now. She was a happy, contented baby who smiled and gurgled all day long.
‘She’s beautiful, not fat, and you should be ashamed of yourself,’ Beth snapped back. ‘It’s bad enough you stealing our food. Have I got to hide Molly’s milk now too?’
‘Are you calling me a thief?’ Jane shrieked, and catching hold of a clump of Beth’s hair pulled her head back sharply, making her cry out. ‘That’s right, snivel. You think you’re so high and mighty, don’t you? But what’ve you got to be high and mighty about? Yer pa topped hisself, and everyone knows why.’
She let go of Beth’s hair and looked at her contemptuously. ‘Don’t yer know everyone talks about yer ma? Me and Tom heard about it afore we even moved in. Yer pa must’ve been soft in the head, topping hisself instead of throwing her out on the streets. No wonder yer brother don’t want nothin’ to do with the bairn.’
Beth backed away with Molly in her arms. She was horrified that the truth about her mother had got out, and she was afraid of Jane too, but she’d had enough, and she wasn’t going to let the woman get the better of her.
‘What you’ve just said is completely untrue,’ she shouted back at her. ‘I won’t have anyone slandering my mother, so you can pack your bags and get out of my home now.’
‘And how do you think you’re going to make me?’ Jane put her hands on her hips challengingly. ‘Big brother going to throw me out, is he?’ She cackled with laughter. ‘He’s as soft as shit.’
All at once Beth knew she had to be strong and fight for her rights. She turned, darted into the bedroom and laid Molly down safely in her cradle. She howled in protest, but Beth ignored her and returned to the kitchen to face Jane.
‘I don’t need my brother,’ she said defiantly. ‘I’m perfectly capable of dealing with the likes of you. Get out now and I’ll pack your stuff and put it down in the yard for Thomas to collect later.’
Jane leapt towards her, one hand raised to slap her, but Beth was quicker, catching her by the wrist and twisting it, making the woman squeal in pain. ‘Out!’ she yelled at her, still twisting her wrist as she pushed her towards the stairs. ‘And if you try to come back I’ll make you sorry.’
Beth had never fought anyone before, apart from play-fighting with Sam when they were younger, but anger made her strong and determined.
Jane tried to fight back, clawing at her with her free hand, but Beth had youth and righteous indignation on her side, and she managed to haul the older woman down the stairs