Josephine Cox - Three Letters

‘Leave him!’ Tom’s sharp warning sent her muttering and swearing into the scullery with her crockery.

Casey remained silent. He had seen his mother in a bad temper before, but this time she was like a mad thing.

‘You’ve eaten next to nothing,’ Tom told his son. He gestured to the food on Casey’s plate. ‘Try to eat a bit more, if you can, son. And don’t worry, whatever’s going on here, your mam and I will deal with it.’ Standing up, he too pushed his chair back.

‘Where are you going, Daddy?’ Casey was anxious.

‘I’ll only be a minute. When I get back, I want to see less on your plate than there is now. OK?’

‘You’re not going away, are you? You won’t leave me, will you?’ Casey glanced nervously towards the scullery. What if Mam came back to beat him, and Daddy wasn’t there to stop her?

Tom tried to reassure the boy. ‘Do as I ask, will you, son? Try and eat up your food, and I’ll be back soon enough.’

He turned away to leave the room, and went slowly upstairs.

Pushing open the bedroom door, he stood for a moment, his gaze falling on the bed. The eiderdown was ruffled and untidy, as though the bed had been made in a hurry.

When he drew the eiderdown back, Tom was not surprised to see the undersheet was heavily crumpled, with both pillows in complete disarray.

The unmade bed was all the more suspicious because, while Ruth was not a good housewife, she was very particular about keeping a neat, attractive bed.

Then Tom noticed a small object peeping out from beneath the edge of the eiderdown. Curious, he stooped down and, taking hold of a small, black leather strap, he withdrew a set of keys: one a brass door key; the other, smaller and silver.

Turning the keys over in the palm of his hand, he realised he’d seen them before. It took him a moment or two to remember. Yes, of course! It had been just a few days ago.

Tom thought back. He and his fellow workers were on their tea break, and he had seen these very keys lying on top of a packing case. He had actually moved the keys aside so he could sit down.

He recalled then how Len had come back looking for them. There was no mistaking them: these were definitely Len’s keys. It was him all right … it was Len! In his mind’s eye Tom could see Len running from the ginnel, and his heart sank.

So! Ruth had been cheating on him yet again, this time in their own home. In their own bed.

Even worse, their son had been right there, outside the bedroom door, while she and her fancy-man were … Sickened, he shut out the images. He daren’t even bring himself to think that Casey could have found them lying together.

Just as he was thinking of Casey, he heard his son cry out, ‘Please, Mam, don’t! You’re hurting me …’

‘Casey!’ With the keys in his hand, Tom ran down the stairs and along the passageway to the back parlour.

Casey was cowering at the table, while, standing over him, Ruth was battering him with such force it seemed she meant to kill him.

With both arms across his head in an effort to protect himself, Casey was sobbing, ‘I weren’t gonna tell … I weren’t!’

‘LIAR!’ She bent to look him in the face, lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. ‘The minute my back was turned you would ’ave told all right. Admit it, damn you!’ Her hands round Casey’s neck, she began to squeeze. ‘Yer a troublemaker! Yer should never ’ave been born!’

‘For God’s sake, are you mad!’ Surging forward, Tom grabbed the boy and swung him out of her reach. ‘What the hell d’you think you’re doing?’

‘He needs teaching a lesson!’ Ruth made to grab the boy, but Tom was quicker as he lowered Casey behind him, out of her reach. ‘Leave him be!’ He held out a hand to ward her off.

Like a crazy thing, she went for him, her sharp talons drawing blood as she scraped them down his face. ‘Why d’you always believe him over me?’ she screeched. ‘What’s he been saying? What lies has ’e told, that’s what I want to know!’

Shocked by her vicious attack, Tom grabbed her by the arms and held her still. ‘Listen to me. It doesn’t matter any more!’ Forcing her down into a chair, his voice and manner became suddenly calm. ‘Whatever Casey has to tell me, or however many men you choose over me, none of it matters any more.’ Leaning down, he put his face close to hers and, speaking in a soft, almost kindly voice, he told her, ‘It’s over, Ruth. You and me … it’s over and done with. For good.’

His sudden change of mood had her worried and she pulled away from him. ‘What d’yer mean, “none of it matters any more”? What’s your game, eh?’ In the depth of her crazed mind, she could see him throwing her out, turning her onto the streets without money, or a roof over her head. ‘You’d better not be threatening me,’ she whined. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong!’

Ignoring her, Tom turned to Casey. ‘Are you all right, son?’

His face streaked with tears, Casey nodded. ‘I’m all right, Daddy.’

‘Good. Then I’d like you to go in the scullery and wash your hands and face. Comb your hair and make yourself look respectable. And don’t open the door until I call. Me and your mother need to talk. Can you do that for me?’

Casey gave a nervous little nod. ‘Yes.’ Trembling, he never once looked at his mother, but as he closed the scullery door, he heard her screeching and ranting and, incredibly, she was now pleading.

‘Don’t go all cold on me, Tom,’ she was saying. ‘It’s all summat and nowt. I don’t want it coming between the two of us, and if you try and throw me out on the streets, I’ll make you rue the day, you see if I don’t!’

‘Oh, I see. You think I might throw you out and leave you destitute, is that it? Well! You could not be more wrong, but that’s not to say I shouldn’t throw you out. No, it’s me and Casey who are leaving. We can’t go on like this. After what just happened, I’ve got to mek sure the lad is safe.’

‘You’re not thinking straight, Tom. I’m the boy’s mother, and he belongs here, with me. The truth is, you couldn’t give a bugger what he wants, or you wouldn’t be so intent on splitting the family up.’

‘Don’t make the mistake of painting me with your own brush, Ruth,’ he told her. ‘All I want is for our son to grow up, safe and secure. He can’t do that here, not with you. In my father’s house he’ll have love and security. He’ll be allowed to choose what he wants in life, and he’ll be helped to achieve it, without threat or anger.’

Ruth was as determined to keep the boy with her, as Tom was to take him away. She had never wanted the child, but she couldn’t bear the thought of Tom and Casey sharing a life from which she was excluded. Well, she’d make damned sure Tom didn’t have it all his own way. ‘To hell with what you want! He’s staying here, and that’s an end to it!’ She ranted.

Fearing that his mother would escalate the row, Casey remained locked in the scullery, running the tap and splashing water over his face in an effort to drown out the sound of his parents’ angry voices.

He was afraid. He sensed something awful was about to happen, and he blamed himself. He must have done something wrong, something so terrible that he had set his parents at each other’s throats.

Outside, Ruth would not let up. ‘You’re up to some trick or other, I know you are. So, what is it? What spiteful thing are you planning?’ Made increasingly uneasy by Tom’s quiet mood, Ruth suspected he was not telling her the entire truth. But that was not the total sum of her fears. It dawned on her that if he left her and she was forced to make her own way, how would she manage? She had no work-skills. Through all the years they’d been wed, Tom had always provided for her, so she had never once needed to work. And she had no desire to start now. The idea of not having Tom there to bring in the money was a frightening prospect.