The Girl From Mile End. Ch 21.

Chapter 21

“Tom, it is, it’s Tom Jenkins.”

         “You know my Tommy?”

         “I do, oh, I do. We met at a dance in London. We arranged a date for the weekend but the bombing started. My dad wanted my younger sister to go and stay in Surrey away from the bombing. Despite my objecting, I had to go with her. The thought of Tom waiting for me, and I couldn’t turn up, really upset me. I had fallen for your son in a big way.”

         “You must be, Elsie then.”

         “How on Earth do you know that?” I said.

         “I’ll tell you how I know. When Tommy got transferred to Liverpool, the first time he called here he couldn’t stop talking about a girl he'd met, called Elsie. He said how sad he was that he didn’t get to see you again.”

         “I knew it. I knew he would be upset because I didn’t turn up. I’m so sorry for upsetting your son but my dad forced me to go to Surrey against my will.”

         “No, Elsie. He was sad because, due to the bombing, he had to work long hours and could not get to meet you. He thought he left you waiting.”

         “Oh, Mrs Jenkins. I dearly wanted to see him again, and you say he also wanted to see me.”

         “And here you are, it’s like fate isn’t it?”

         “Yes, it’s strange. Is Tom married now or even spoken for?”

         “Definitely not married and I think that he has been too busy for a relationship. He should be here on Sunday if he doesn’t get called out. You can come and ask him yourself.”

         “That will be fantastic if you don’t mind.” I could not believe my luck. Tom, although I only met him the once I thought of him as my first love. I know I have been in love with others since then; but I can’t wait to see Tom again. “Are you sure, are you sure you don’t mind?”

         “Of course I don’t mind. If I had a daughter and she was like you I would be very proud of her.”

         “What a lovely thing to say to me. Tom is a lovely man and I can see where he gets it from.”

         “I have some eggs; I’ll rustle us up some egg and chips for our tea, if you want to stay for your tea.”

         “I’d love to. I’ll help and peel the potatoes for you.” In the kitchen Mrs Jenkins took a chip pan from the pantry and it seemed to have a lot of lard in it. It always puzzled me that some people seemed to be able to get anything but others found it hard to get some items even after queueing up. Was it bartering, like my Aunt did in Caterham with the produce from the garden and eggs from the chickens? Or was it the black market? Still, none of my business and for some reason my mind wandered to Bobby. Dear sweet Bobby. I was so upset when I saw him, but now I am glad that I did. He has done me a favour because I would not be here if I had not seen him doing rude things with Annette and I would not be getting the chance to be reunited with Tom.

         “There is a spare room upstairs if you want to stay the night.”

         “Thank you, but I will have to get back to camp later or I might be marked absent.”

         Mrs Jenkins laughed. “It’s like being back at school. I get a really good impression from you and I am sure Tommy will be delighted to see you again.”

         I spent the early evening with Mrs Jenkins. She is a lovely lady and if my real mother was still alive this is how I would imagine her to be. I have only known Tom’s mother for a few hours but she seems more of a mother to me than my adoptive mother ever was.

         Later when I got back to the block Jane saw me and hurried over. “Well, did you manage to see your Bobby?”

         “Yes, I saw him but he was in bed having sex with his housemate.”

         “Oh, Elsie. I’m so sorry.”

         “I’m not. Good riddance to him.”

         “What the matter with your lip. He didn’t hit you did he?”

         “No, of course not. If he did he would be on his way to the hospital. I just tripped over a bit later.”

         “Oh, yes I forget. They don’t call you Bruiser Elsie, the nose buster, for nothing.”

         “What?”

         “Don’t hit me,” she said and hurried back to her bed space pretending to flee.

         Idiot, I thought and gave a laugh. Bruiser, Elsie. I hope she was joking.

         I called into the city after my shift and thought I would call in and see Tom’s mother to make sure Tom was still coming on Sunday. I was hoping she would be in and pleased when she was. She treated me to a glass of sherry and some candied fruit and we sat in front of a coal fire chatting.

         “So, Elsie, will you be going back to your family when you are released?”

         “All my family have been killed. I have no other family now, other than an aunt and uncle in Surrey.”

         “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

         “My natural parents were killed in a train crash when I was a baby. My aunt and her husband took me in as my new mum and dad, and as I grew up we didn’t get on too well, but it was still a shock when they were killed. They had a daughter, Alice, my sister, and I did get on with her. We were very close; sadly she was killed when a buzz-bomb hit a dance hall she was in.”

         “What a tragedy, so many people perished. I give thanks that it is all over now. Anyway, if you have nowhere to go when you leave the WAAF, I have a spare room and you can move in here?”

         That came out of the blue. I felt like throwing myself into Nellie’s arms in gratitude but I managed to restrain myself. “That is very kind of you, Mrs Jenkins. I would love to stay here but are you really sure?”

         “Never been more sure of anything. And that’s the end of Mrs Jenkins from you. Call me Nellie, or Mum if you prefer. That’s what Billy’s fiancée calls me.”

         “I would love to call you Mum; I would feel a bit cheeky calling you Nellie.”

         “That’s settled then. Have you got a release date, although I suppose it’s a bit early yet?”

         “We haven’t heard anything. It could be a little while I suppose. I think we should see if Tom is against me moving in anyway.”

         “I don’t think there will be any trouble there, Elsie. Don’t forget you can stay the night in the spare room anytime you like.”

         I spent a pleasant couple of hours with Nellie before setting off back to camp. I was eagerly looking forward to meeting up with Tom again on Sunday.

         I called at Nellie’s house at midday on Sunday but Tom was not there.

         “Don’t worry,” Nellie said. “He doesn’t usually get here until about one o’clock, unless he’s on a call out.”

         The telephone in the hall began ringing and Nellie went out there. She was soon back. “That was Tommy. He’s on his way but he can't stay the night and has to get back to Liverpool. I didn’t say you were here. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

         I wish she had told him. The surprise might be that he doesn’t want to know after all this time. At five to one we were sitting drinking coffee. I could not remember the last time I drank some fresh coffee. I heard a car pulling up outside and looked out of the window. It was an open-topped, black, MG Midget sporty car. I was nervous and excited when I saw Tom, but I became worried when a Women’s Land Army girl got out from the passenger side.

         “Is that, Tommy,” Nellie said.

         “Yes, but he is with a girl. Perhaps I should go?”

         Nellie walked over and looked outside. “No need to fret. That’s my niece, Tommy’s cousin.”

         I loved the revelation, but although I was excited and eager to meet up with Tom again I was also very nervous and my heart was beating fast as I remembered the last time we met.

         He walked in and looked over at me.

         “Hello, Tom,” I said.

         “Elsie, is that you? How wonderful to see you. But what are you doing here?”

         “I had a fall in the street, your mother helped me up and we became friends. I noticed your photograph on the mantelpiece and when your mother fetched it over I realised it was you.”

         “And look at you, air force girl, in your uniform.”

         “Ahem!” Tom’s cousin made her presence known.

         “Sorry, Joy. This is Elsie, a special girl from my time in London.” He turned to me. “This is my lovely cousin, Joy.”

         “Good to meet you, Joy,” I said. “I have a friend, Molly, in the W.L.A. You might know her, she’s working In Suffolk.”

         “No, I wouldn’t think so. There are thousands of girls signed up now and I am not far from here near Crewe.”

         Tom, looked back at Joy. “We were supposed to meet but the bombing started and due to the amount of unexploded bombs I was busy and could not get there to meet her.”

         “We wouldn’t have met anyway," I said. "Because my dad made me go with my sister to our uncle’s house in Surrey.”

         “He made a good decision. As you know things got really bad for a while.”

         The day was a great success and we all got on very well together. I felt a bit sad when Tom left to drop Joy at the station before setting off back to Liverpool. I wished that I could have spent some time with him on my own. He showed me a lot of attention and I was pleased that the old spark was still there between us. He even said he would take me out for a drink next Sunday. At last our second date and the thought of it made me so happy.

         “How often does Tom come home?”

         “He tries to come home every weekend,” Nellie said. “But it is not always possible depending on how busy they are. They must be pretty busy at the moment because he usually stops the night.”

         “The war is over now so there are no more bombs.”

         “No more raids, that’s true. But there are unexploded bombs being discovered all the time.”

         I thought back to when the men were killed in London when the bomb they were working on exploded and killed them. It was a worry that Tom is still doing the work. Nellie must be even more worried but I kept the thoughts to myself.

         “Does he pick Joy up every time?”

         “No, that’s the first time I have seen her for months.”

         “I'd like to call round a couple of times in the week, if you don’t mind?”

         “Of course I don’t mind. I could really do with the company. My husband died before the war and then the boys joined up. It’s a bit lonely in this big house now. You can call round anytime and stay the night when you are allowed to. Can you play gin rummy, Elsie?”

         “I can, yes.”

         “Right, I’ll get the cards and the sherry.”

         I enjoyed a few hours playing cards with Nellie but the time was getting on and, with regret, I had to get back to camp.

         As I was walking towards the station I was concerned to see Bobby walking towards me. He was quite a bit away from me and I don’t think he had noticed me. I thought of dodging down a side street but then I thought why should I?”

The Girl From Mile End. Ch 22.  (18+) Elsie gets her demobilisation date. #2292128 by Bruce.