The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn

Author:Anthony Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448105588
Publisher: Random House

Wednesday, 17th January, 1866

Today I visited Frank in his present ‘crib’. The walk from Hope-pl. to Greenland-st. measures but a half-mile, yet between these addresses lies a chasm. Liverpool has hitherto seemed to me a city of which one might be proud to be a citizen – its temples of commerce, its vast docks, its gracious thoroughfares, its fashionable shops. To declare oneself a Liverpolitan I believed comparable to Cicero’s defiant proclamation, ‘Civis Romanus sum’. Intimations of a quite different city had disturbed me before – the squalid district Rawlins & I walked that evening of the prizefight – but I continued indifferent by the simple expedient of ignoring them. Whenever a hansom happened to carry me through these wretched streets I chose not to let my gaze linger, & thus could live untroubled.

But today, on foot, in broad daylight, I passed men & women in the direst grip of poverty, & barefoot waifs carrying pitchers of ale, their faces pinched by the cold & emptied of the light of childhood; I saw crowds spill out of taverns, & people wandering drunk, but drunk despairingly, joylessly, as if to drown the misery of this netherworld they inhabited. I felt many pairs of eyes upon me as I walked, & none of them friendly. Frank’s lodgings were on the upper floor of a grim-fronted doss-house, & I was admitted, as before, by his young factotum Jem. The smell of grog & fried fish hung thick in the air. I found Frank & Jess sitting together mutely – Jess’s hand was heavily bandaged, & it took no wild surmise to discover that something was gravely amiss. ‘Gone & broken his damned flapper,’ muttered Frank, gesturing at the boxer’s hand. ‘And such a tuppenny-ha’penny fight it was. He’d already knocked him down twice, this feller looked ready to tumble again – so Jess roundhoused him & next thing his fist goes crack.’ Jess merely stared, impassive as a Buddha. Grievous as this news was, of more concern to me were the abysmal surroundings in which we held our colloquy. ‘What is this place?’ I asked him, failing to conceal the note of dismay in my voice. ‘Home,’ he shrugged. I could scarcely believe my ears. It was piteous enough that drunks & paupers were obliged to call this neighbourhood home, but to see my own brother settled in amongst them was insupportable. Right there I asked him – implored him – to give up this pathetic accommodation & come back to Hope-pl. with me, we would put old troubles behind us & begin anew. Frank looked at me sadly & said, ‘And where should Jess live?’ That silenced me. I had no inkling that their companionship extended to such … He perceived my confusion. ‘Don’t worry, we get along here very well, & Jem here’s our trusty mascot!’ At which the young shaver smiled & gave an absurd salute.

Useless to argue. My spirits utterly depressed, I bade them farewell & left the house. As I turned on to the street Frank followed after & called me back.

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