Chapter Four

 

The following morning, her father was in the bathroom shaving with the door open when Aileen walked through to the kitchen. ‘You’re up early, Da. Are you going somewhere?’

He moved the razor away from his face and glanced round. ‘I’m going to the wholesaler’s, love.’

Aileen smiled. ‘Oh, great, Da, but I’ve got a few bits to add.’

In the kitchen, Lizzy was stirring a pan of thick porridge. Her father never ate porridge; well, not in the middle of summer. He usually settled for a boiled egg with toast, or cereal. But since her aunt arrived, she had cooked his breakfast, so Aileen said nothing.

She could feel Lizzy’s eyes boring into the back of her head as she made herself some toast and a mug of coffee. Her father came in, sat dow, and began to drink his tea, which was already poured for him.

‘Are you sure you’ll be all right, Da? I’ll come with you.’

‘No, I’ll be grand.’

Aileen, who had always gone with him whenever she could, felt the blow of his refusal like a stab of pain. Unaware she was still in her dressing gown, she went downstairs to the shop and found the part-time woman searching through the needle drawer. ‘We’re completely out of size nine and ten knitting pins,’ she sighed.

Aileen jotted it down, adding nylon stockings and knitting wool. ‘Anything else?’

The woman closed the drawer. ‘You’ve seen my list. I guess it’s almost everything in the shop. When are you going?’

‘This morning.’

‘Well, you had better get dressed then.’

The day was going from bad to worse. When she handed her da the list, he raised his eyebrows. ‘What’s wrong, Da?’

He shook his head. ‘Nothing.’

‘I’ll get dressed. I’m coming with you.’

‘Haven’t I told you? I’ll be fine.’

Aileen swallowed her annoyance. She longed to be alone with him to chat, but it was plain he didn’t want her with him. She made herself a fresh coffee and took it to her room and got dressed. A mumbling of voices rose from the kitchen, and shortly afterwards she heard the shop door slam.

She held back the net curtain just in time to see her aunt get into the passenger side of her father’s red van. Was he taking her to the wholesaler with him? Aileen’s heart raced.

She hurried down to the kitchen. Her aunt’s enormous brown case, which had dominated the corner of the kitchen for weeks, was no longer there. ‘Thank God,’ Aileen murmured, sinking into her da’s armchair. The woman had begun to dominate their lives.

Washing up, she threw away the remains of her aunt’s thick porridge then she made herself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoyed a bowl of cornflakes. She looked around at her mother’s knick-knacks, familiar to her all her life; the home which her mother had made comfortable for the three of them. Without her, everything had changed. But she was grateful that her father had, at last, seen sense and asked her aunt to leave. It would make all that had happened bearable.

The heat of the sun had gone, and she was glad of the cooler weather. The shop was quiet most of the morning, and at one point the part-time woman turned to Aileen, a worried expression on her face.

‘Sure, we’re losing customers every day. At this rate, Mr Maguire won’t be able to afford to keep me on.’

‘Don’t be silly. Things will pick up once we get stocked up again.’

The woman shrugged then tried to look busy moving stock around. If she was honest, working in the drapery shop wasn’t what Aileen had envisaged for herself as a career. Yet, if it meant choosing between her career and her da, she knew where her loyalties lay.

Her father usually had his lunch out when he went to the wholesalers and returned just after one o’clock. Aileen had the door propped ope, waiting to help him carry in the boxes. Tentatively, she glanced into the passenger seat. There was no Aunt Lizzy, and she couldn’t help smiling.

‘Have you taken Aunt Lizzy to the bus, Da?’

‘Yes.’

‘I can’t say I’m sorry she’s gone. We’ll be all right, so we will.’

He passed her a small box of buttons and picked up the other one himself.

‘Is that it?’ She glanced back into the van. ‘Where’s the rest of the stuff, Da?’

‘There’s enough here to be going on with.’

‘You’ve got to be codding me, Da?’ She gave a little chuckle. ‘These will be gone in a few days. What about the corsets, measuring tapes, wool, and nylon stockings? All the other stuff on the list, didn’t you take it with you?’

‘I didn’t need to, Aileen.’

‘But, why?’

‘For the love o’ God! Will you leave me be?’ He turned to the woman who was polishing the counter. ‘I’m sorry, but I have to let you go. Take what you’re owed.’

Aileen glared after him as he marched upstairs. ‘Da!’

She turned to face the woman. ‘Look, Eunice. He’s not himself.’

‘Ah, don’t worry about it. I was half expecting it. It’s not the same here without Mrs Maguire. She’d never treat an employee like that.’ The woman opened the till and took out some money and showed it to Aileen. ‘You might want to make a note.’ Then she grabbed her coat and left.

Bewildered, Aileen sat down. Were things that bad? Her stomach tight from worry, she began to put the cards of buttons into the empty boxes on the shelf. She opened the other one with zips, fasteners, and safety pins, and put them away. She stayed in the shop for an hour, and not one person stepped through the door. Furious, she walked across, pulled down the shutter and locked the door.

Upstairs, her father glanced at his watch.

‘What’s the point, Da? All our customers have gone elsewhere. And can you blame them? What’s going on? I thought you were getting back into things.’

‘Yes, well, I’m doing my best.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Sit down, Aileen. I want to talk to you.’

She perched on a kitchen chair, trying to hide her frustration. He wanted to talk. He took off his tie and loosened his collar then removed his jacket and hung it over a chair.

‘Is there something you want to tell me, Da?’ Aileen had an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she leant her elbows on the kitchen table.

‘It’s about your Aunt Lizzy.’

‘What about her? She’s gone now.’

‘Well, that’s not quite true, because I’ve asked her to come and live here.’

‘You’ve done what?’ Aileen was on her feet. ‘You can’t be serious, Da!’

‘Will yea sit down and listen!’

She sat down and placed her head in her hands.

Her father leaned forward in his chair. ‘We had a long talk last night while you were out. We want you to go back to your secretarial course. It’s what your mother wanted. Lizzy can help me in the shop.’

Aileen looked up. ‘What shop? We haven’t got one anymore. And what do you mean, we talked it over? She knows nothing about me, or what I want.’ Furious with her da for letting the woman manipulate him again, she said, ‘She’ll take you for every penny, Da.’ She shook her head. ‘And me ma only weeks gone.’

Jonny Maguire stood up. ‘It’s not like that. I loved your mother.’

Distraught, Aileen linked and unlinked her fingers. ‘How could you, Da?’

‘You wouldn’t understand.’ He ran his hands over his face. ‘How long will it be before you and that butcher lad, Dermot, go off? You won’t think about me then.’ He pushed up his shirtsleeves, revealing bony elbows.

Aileen sighed. ‘Dermot and I are just friends. I’m not thinking of getting married for a long time yet.’ She pushed the chair in under the table and folded her arms. ‘I would have looked after you.’

‘Aye! That’s as might be, but I’m still a young man.’

‘But Ma’s sister, Da. It’s not right.’

‘What are you talking about? We’re not doing anything wrong. Lizzy is family! And I’ll thank you to show her some courtesy. While you’re under my roof, I make the rules. She’s coming back on Monday.’

‘On Monday!’ Aileen gasped. ‘Why are you doing this, Da? Why?’

He sighed. ‘She’s lonely, and so am I. She’ll take the spare room for now.’ He placed his hand on Aileen’s shoulder. ‘Give her a chance, eh?’

Speechless, Aileen shrugged him off. Her father was never one to make big decisions on his own. He had always consulted her mother about everything. It was as if her aunt had completely turned his head.

‘Well, if she’s coming back, Da, I can’t stay.’

‘Aileen!’ He reached out to her, but she turned her back and walked away.

He had always been a doting father. Now he appeared distant, uncaring of her feelings. And to betray her beloved mother so soon after her death was unforgivable. The admiration Aileen had always felt towards him dwindled.