Dolly’s first instinct was to run. Ellie’s words shocked her, but she understood them. She understood plenty now. Ellie meant that people were doing the man-and-woman thing right here, under this roof. Money was changing hands for services provided. And how long would it be before she got dragged into it, made to do it with some bastard she didn’t want?
She seriously thought about it, just upping and getting gone. But over the weeks that followed, Celia made no demands. She continued to be kind to her, and seemed perfectly willing to go on providing bed and board. And the place was happy. Despite all the comings and goings, despite what really went on here, the place was orderly, neat, run on a strictly businesslike footing.
No one hurt her. Celia took her up West, bought little bits and pieces for her, fussed over her in a way that Mum had never done. She’d missed that, and had never realized it until now. But Celia had a hard side to her too; she could be firm with the girls and tough with the punters. One day Dolly walked into the kitchen when Celia was sitting at the table having tea and biscuits with that bloke ‘Billy’, who looked like a dimwit in his deerstalker, his briefcase on his lap like a shield against the world.
Now she saw Celia’s tougher side. Celia’s face hardened when she saw Dolly standing there. She stubbed out her cigarette in the Capstan ashtray and hissed out a stream of smoke, while giving Dolly a look.
‘Give us a fucking mo, will you, Doll?’ she snapped. ‘Clear off for a second, OK? And stick the bloody wood in the hole.’
Surprised, Dolly backed out of the kitchen and closed the door. She went through to the empty front room. Her mother had a front room a bit like this, the best furnished room in the house but mostly unused.
Dolly sat on a plush sofa and thought of Mum. That fucking front room at home had never been used, to be honest. For years Mum hadn’t behaved as a true mother should. Mum had just sat in the kitchen and stared at the floor, and let Dolly be picked on by her dad. Her heart twisted with sadness as she thought of little Sand, and Nige and Dick, and quiet, obedient Sarah, and wondered what was happening with them these days.
Suddenly, the door opened and Celia stood there.
‘There you are! He’s gone now, you can come in the kitchen, all right?’
Celia led the way into the kitchen and Dolly followed. Celia started putting used cups in the sink and getting out fresh ones. She put the kettle on to boil. Then she turned and smiled at Dolly.
‘That was Billy,’ she said. ‘Sorry, did I snap at you? Only he’s very important, Billy.’
Dolly was bewildered by this statement. The long-faced git looked like an idiot, how could he be important?
While the kettle boiled, Celia leaned back against the worktop, folded her arms and looked at Dolly. ‘We pay up to the Delaneys, Dolly. Do you understand what that means?’
Dolly shook her head.
‘It means they take a slice off the top of what I bring into the house with my girls and Darren,’ said Celia. ‘And in return, they keep me and my lot safe.’
‘Billy works for them, does he?’ asked Dolly.
‘Billy? Nah.’ Celia spooned tea into the pot and poured the water on. ‘Billy works for the Carter boys, but Billy’s been coming round here ever since he was little and Billy don’t break his habits. Of course, there’s bad blood between the Carters and the Delaneys, and it’s getting worse all the time, but Tory Delaney says it’s OK, so everyone makes an exception for Billy. He’s a bit simple, poor duck. There but for the grace of God go all of us, that’s what I say.’
Celia came and sat down at the table.
‘So what you going to do now you’re all better?’ she asked.
Ah. So now she was going to be put back out on to the streets. Dolly wasn’t that surprised, not really. Celia had been good, keeping her here for so long. She couldn’t expect it to last forever.
Dolly opened her mouth to speak, but Celia said: ‘Of course you can stay here if you want. You’re very welcome, I’m sure. And you needn’t worry. I run a respectable household. I won’t allow anyone under sixteen to get fucked in it.’
Dolly didn’t know what to say. She was floored – not for the first time – by Celia’s weird mix of no-bullshit earthiness and pristine elegance.
‘You can help out around the place, if you’d like to. Clean up, you know. Earn a bit of pin money that way, how about that?’
Dolly swallowed hard. She was touched. No one in her own family had ever been so kind to her as Celia was.
‘I’d like to stay, and help out,’ she said.
Celia tucked a fag into the ivory holder. She lit it, then gave Dolly a squinting grin through the smoke. ‘Bloody good show,’ she said. ‘Let’s drink to it.’