Having rolled and pinned her hair, Ruby critically assessed herself in her bedroom mirror. She’d lightly applied some powder and a soft pink rouge to her cheeks. Small paste diamond earrings, given to her by her grandmother before she died, glittered at her ears and her hands were a little smoother from a sparse application of some cream.
She stood a little taller. She could almost pass for attractive, if it wasn’t for the permanent frown lines between her brows. Even when she purposefully forced a smile, she only looked pained. Her shoulders slumped. Victoria’s lemon dress showed off Ruby’s black hair, but it did nothing to alleviate the nervousness in her eyes.
How was she to prevent Victoria from sensing her lack of self-confidence? If she failed to convey a self-assured woman who knew her own mind and feelings, her dreams of having a relationship with Victoria would never come true… not that there was even the smallest chance of that happening, of course.
A bang and smash of china downstairs jolted Ruby from her contemplation and she quickly yanked opening her bedroom door and made for the stairs. Every nerve in her body stretched tight as she hurried towards her mother’s screaming and cursing in the kitchen.
If she’s laid as much as a finger on Tommy, I’ll wring her bloody neck.
Ruby shoved open the kitchen door. ‘What’s going on?’ Her eyes darted to Tommy who stood in the corner of the room, part of a broken bowl in his bleeding hand. ‘Oh, Tommy, are you all right?’
Hurrying to the sink, Ruby snatched up a cloth and ran it under the tap.
‘Oh, that’s right,’ her mother snapped. ‘Look after him, why don’t you? Who cares less about me or the bowl that won’t get replaced?’
Ruby bent down in front of her brother and carefully took the broken china from his hand and pressed the cloth to the cut on his palm, her back turned to her mother. ‘It’s donkey’s years old, Ma. Don’t fuss.’
‘Fuss? Who the bloody hell are you to tell me not to fuss… and what in God’s name are you wearing?’
Heat immediately warmed Ruby’s cheeks and she briefly closed her eyes before focusing on Tommy. ‘A dress.’
‘That’s not a dress I’ve seen in this house. Who gave it to you? Got yourself a fancy man, have you? Well, we don’t need dresses from him, we need cash. Lots of cash if you want to keep living in this house.’
‘A friend lent it to me. I haven’t got a fancy man and have no need of one.’
‘Is that right?’ Her mother gripped Ruby’s shoulder and roughly pulled her to her feet. ‘Take it off. You’re going nowhere dressed in some else’s castoffs.’
Ruby’s blood pulsed in her ears as she shrugged out of her mother’s grasp and led Tommy gently across the room. ‘Let’s put a bandage on that and in the morning, you’ll be as right as rain.’
‘I’m talking to you, my girl. Don’t you dare turn your back on me.’
Ruby fought to hold her temper as she took some bandage from the sideboard and wrapped Tommy’s hand. ‘I’m going out with some friends from work. I won’t be home late, and I’ll bring you back a bottle.’ She stood and pressed a kiss to Tommy’s cheek. ‘There you go. Now up to bed and get your pyjamas on. There’s a good boy.’
Tommy threw a hasty, fearful look at their mother before hurrying from the room as quickly as his eight-year-old legs would carry him.
Ruby took a deep breath and faced her mother.
Her mother’s eyes burned with malice. ‘You’re going nowhere.’
‘You can’t stop me.’ Ruby battled to keep her voice level even though she knew what was coming. What always came. ‘I’m old enough and ugly enough to do as I please, aren’t I?’
‘Oh, you’re ugly enough all right, but until you’re out of this house and taking that good-for-nothing half-brother with you, you ain’t old enough. Now, take off that dress and get upstairs out of my sight.’
‘No.’
Her mother was across the room before Ruby had drawn her next breath. Talons gripped Ruby’s hair and pulled, her scalp burning. She grabbed her mother’s meaty wrists and fought back with everything she had, already knowing her plans for the evening were over. Her mother stepped back and slapped Ruby hard across the face, sending her reeling across the room.
She slammed into the dresser and instinctively picked up the knife laying there. Trembling, her face and head stinging, she thrust it towards her mother. ‘Take a step back, Ma. Right now. I mean it, or so help me God…’
‘Don’t you dare raise a knife, your fist, or anything else to me, my girl. You are my daughter and—’
‘Your daughter?’ Ruby smiled wryly. ‘You aren’t a mother to me or Tommy. What mother stands by and continues to yell at her son while he’s bleeding? What mother grabs her daughter’s hair, slaps and punches her?’
Her mother’s cheeks darkened as she stepped closer, her eyes blazing with fury. ‘Get yourself up those stairs, take off that dress and the whore muck on your face before I wallop you into next week. Go. Go on!’
Ruby tightened her grip on the knife, her body trembling. Hatred burned through her like poison, overtaking the happiness provoked by the anticipation of spending the evening with Victoria. What the hell am I doing? Mooning over a widowed woman who prefers men? Why am I even considering leaving Tommy with our cow of a mother tonight so I can nurse a pipedream?
Defeated, Ruby lowered the knife and purposefully laid it on the dresser. Her mother had already destroyed Ruby’s minimal self-esteem, convinced her that her life would never get better. She would not make her a murderer, too. Taking a deep breath, she brushed past her mother who whipped out her hand like the jaws of a snake and clamped Ruby’s wrist.
Leaning in, her mother’s breath whispered over Ruby’s lashes. ‘Your only reason for living is to do my bidding, girl. Get that into that stupid head of yours. You cook, clean, go to work and bring home your wages. That’s it. Going out, putting on clothes that look ridiculous on you and pretending you have a life outside of these four walls is never going to happen. Do you understand? Never.’
She shoved Ruby towards the door, and she stumbled backwards. ‘I wouldn’t leave our Tommy with you tonight for anything, but know this, if you ever lay a hand on him while I’m alive, I’ll kill you.’
Her mother laughed. ‘I’d like to see you try.’
‘It’s a promise, Ma. I mean it.’
Ruby walked from the kitchen and mounted the creaky staircase before she gently knocked on her brother’s bedroom door. Walking into the darkened room, a spear of moonlight spilled across Tommy’s still form as he lay in bed. His dried tears shone silver on his thin cheeks, his overly long hair like rats’ tails on the grey-white pillowcase.
‘I love you, Tommy.’
‘I love you, too.’
Ruby folded her arms, too afraid to hold him, lest she fall apart. ‘Our lives won’t always be like this. I’ll find a way to get us out of here.’
‘I know you will.’
‘Do you?’
‘Yes.’
Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Ruby’s eyes burned as she sat on the bed and brushed the hair from Tommy’s brow. She pressed a kiss to his temple. ‘Ma didn’t believe I’d get the job at Pennington’s and she didn’t believe I’d pay rent on this place for the last five months, but I’ve done both. I will see us all right, Tommy. It’s just going to take some time. Maybe a lot of time, but we’ll get there in the end.’
He nodded and snuggled deeper under the blankets, his eyes softly closing.
Ruby watched him until the flickering beneath his eyelids stilled and his breathing softened. Once she was sure he was asleep, she left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
She stared down the narrow stairwell towards the open parlour door where she could see her mother’s roughened hands on the arms of her threadbare chair. She hummed a tune, the clink of her beer bottle keeping time as she tapped it against the glinting steel of the knife Ruby had left in the kitchen.