own personal stuff and nothing my son paid for. Well, hurry up and get ’em then! Oh, and make sure yer leave yer key on yer way out.’
Aidy felt a strong desire to point out to her mother-in-law that it wasn’t all down to Arch how nice this house was. If Aidy felt she wanted to take anything with her, then she was perfectly entitled to do so, but her need to get away from this odious woman was stronger. ‘Come on, Gran,’ she urged Bertha, heading off towards the door that led to the stairs.
Aidy might be under the impression that Bertha was following her, but she wasn’t. She was incensed to see how disrespectfully Pat Nelson was treating her granddaughter and wasn’t going to stand by and let her get away with it. Giving Aidy long enough to be well on her way to the bedroom, Bertha wagged a finger in Pat’s direction. ‘Now I don’t know how you wangled yer way in here … and I’m pretty sure your poor son’s already regretting it, but …’
Bertha got to say no more. Pat was upon her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her towards the front door, yelling, ‘I ain’t listening to your foul gob inside me own four walls.’ She had manhandled Bertha to the door by now. Wrenching it open, she pushed the old lady out, still yelling at her. ‘Ever come back here uninvited and you’ll get the reception yer getting now.’ She slammed the door shut then, seemingly unbothered that a last hard shove had caused Bertha to lose her balance and land heavily on the hard cobbles outside.
Hearing the loud commotion, Aidy came running down to find Pat just arriving back in the back room. Seeing her grandmother nowhere in sight, she demanded, ‘Where’s my gran?’
Pat smirked at her. ‘Well, the mouthy old bag ain’t in here, that’s fer sure. Now I want you out too, whether yer’ve got yer stuff or not.’
And Aidy wanted to get out much more than Pat wanted her out. Her mother-in-law was dressed in her lavatory attendant’s work dress so she must be going out today. Aidy decided she would return later, when Pat wasn’t here, and collect her belongings and whatever else she was of a mind to take, without any interference. Spinning on her heel, she headed towards the front door.
‘Oi, yer key!’ Pat boomed out.
Aidy stopped short, spinning back round to find her holding out one meaty hand in readiness to accept the house key. Eyes narrowing, she said stonily, ‘I’ll give my keys over when I’m good and ready to, Mrs Nelson, and it will be to Arch, not you, as it’s his name on the rent book.’ With that she hurried on her way.
Opening the door, she froze in shock at the sight that greeted her. Sprawled on the cobbles, her old face creased in agony, lay her grandmother. A woman was bending over her.
Aidy crouched beside Bertha, crying out, ‘Gran, what happened to you?’
The woman who was with Bertha answered for her. ‘I seen it all, me duck. I was just passing, on me way to catch the bus into town, and I got the shock of me life when that big woman in there …’ she nodded her head in the direction of Aidy’s front door ‘… pushed this old lady out. Yelling at the poor old dear summat cruel she was. She don’t look a nice woman, I have ter say. She can’t be nice with a foul mouth like she’s got. Anyway, before I could stop her, the old lady had toppled over and come a right cropper on the cobbles. I heard a crack. I’m awful feared she’s broke summat.’
‘I wish yer’d stop talking about me like I’m not here,’ Bertha moaned.
Aidy’s attention turned to her. ‘Gran, can you tell me where you’re hurt?’
‘It’s … it’s me leg and arm,’ she managed to mutter through waves of excruciating pain.
Just who had been the cause of her grandmother’s fall and the resulting injuries flew from Aidy’s mind as the need to summon urgent medical attention took over. She did not at all like the thought of leaving Bertha on her own while she fetched the doctor and asked the woman, ‘I’m sorry to impose on you, but would you please stay with my gran while I fetch the Doc?’
Much to Aidy’s relief, she agreed. After assuring Bertha she’d be back as quickly as she could with the