Convenient Women Collection by Delphine Woods

Author:Delphine Woods [Woods, Delphine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pepper Pot Publishing
Published: 2020-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

The factory floor was pounding as usual, though the thought of Sunday tomorrow made the workers lazier, dreaming of a day of rest and a roasted dinner if they were lucky enough. Cat did not run to collect the linen circles, but walked with haste, all the while flicking her eyes between the dark windows and the dark mark on her mother’s face. As she scooped up the circles, she felt the penetrative stares of the women as they cut their metal, their prying eyes searching for a clue as to why her mother had yet another bruise on her face, and if there was any sign of harm on Cat. It would be another topic to gossip about; now the husband’s started on the children and all.

Cat did not meet their gaze. She set her mouth straight and tight and kept her cheek turned on them until the day was over.

Outside, a thin mist of rain clung to the air. Mother fixed Cat’s cap and shawl, took her hand, and guided her home. They were soaked through by the time they got inside. Cat hung their cloaks before the fire and watched as the steam began to rise and swirl in the room.

There was no bacon tonight. The bread was cut as thin as possible. Again, they waited. Helen’s stomach growled. Lottie sighed. Michael picked his fingernails.

‘Eat,’ Mother said, picking up her bread reluctantly.

‘We should wait for Father,’ Michael said.

The bread hovered before Mother’s mouth.

‘You can if you want.’ Cat bit into her food.

Lottie and Helen copied her with a grin. Mother nibbled on the hard crust. Michael folded his arms and watched them from under his stitched eyebrows until hunger got the better of him. He snatched up his bread and bit into it as if he was biting into Cat herself.

It was over sooner than everybody would have liked, and still, Father had not returned.

‘Go to bed.’ Mother heaved herself onto her feet and gathered the plates to wash.

Cat herded Helen and Lottie upstairs and into their nightclothes, rolling old stockings over their feet as the girls giggled from her cold hands. She tucked them into bed and kissed their foreheads as they yawned. Michael dived under the covers and rolled away from them.

‘Aren’t you coming in?’ Helen said to Cat, rubbing her chubby fist into her eye socket.

‘Soon.’ Cat took the bible from the bed stand and crept downstairs.

Mother sat at the table, staring at Father’s plate and the two slices of bread upon it. She didn’t notice Cat, and Cat thought she might have been sleeping with her eyes open.

‘Ma?’

Mother inhaled and smiled. It seemed to take all her energy. ‘You should get to sleep, Cat.’

‘I wanted to keep you company.’

Cat sat next to her mother. They listened to the noises around them: the family in the house behind them, lively with chatter and laughter; Mrs Smith next door with her son and his family, banging about, all bundled in there unhappily; the patter of feet outside and the whispers of fleeting conversations.

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