‘Where’ve you been for the last two days?’ Nelly Shuttleworth hoisted the two heavy baskets of shopping onto the kitchen table and rubbed at the marks that the handles had left on her arms. Breathing deeply from her walk from the bus stop, she glanced through the back door where her son was slouched in a chair in the yard.
‘Why?’ George didn’t turn round. A swirl of cigarette smoke rose above his head.
‘Because I’m asking, that’s why.’ Nelly took out a long pin from the crumpled black felt hat, pulled it off with a sigh of relief and scratched her head. ‘You go off without a word for two days and don’t expect me to ask where you’ve been?’
‘Because it’s none of your business.’
‘My house, my business. So, where’ve you been?’ She unloaded brown paper bags of sugar and tea onto the table. Twisting the ends of the tissue paper wrapped around a large loaf, she put it into the white enamel bread bin in the pantry. Resting her hands on the stone slab she tried to catch her breath. The old corset she was wearing was now too small for her; she’d have to chuck it. ‘George?’
‘For Christ’s sake, I said – business!’
‘And I asked what sort.’ Nelly spoke sharply. ‘If you’re going to bring trouble to my door I need to know.’
‘Stop fucking nagging.’ George felt around on the flags by his feet, picked up a small stone and aimed it at a ginger tom that appeared on top of the yard wall. He missed but, frightened by the clatter against the bricks, the cat sprang onto the roof of next door’s lavatory. George grunted in satisfaction.
‘Watch your mouth.’ Nelly tipped potatoes, carrots and peas from the other basket into a big ceramic bowl. ‘And there’s no need to be cruel either.’
George stood and came to lean against the doorframe. ‘If anybody asks, I was here all the time.’
‘Who’ll ask?’
He lifted his shoulders. ‘Dunno. Anybody.’
‘And the truth?’
‘If you must know I was in Manchester with Harry Bradshaw.’
‘Up to no good, then.’ Nelly set her mouth in a grim line.
‘Just some old business I had to deal with.’
‘What old business?’ Why did she suddenly feel uneasy? She studied him. There was something in his eyes; a glittering excitement, a look of malicious triumph. Nelly wondered which poor sod had got on the wrong side of her son this time.
‘Nothing for you to bother your head about.’ George walked over to her, put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Nothing to bother about at all.’