there’s cheese pie ready in the oven. Dish it up and put George’s and mine back in the oven to keep hot. George, you’re coming with me. We won’t be long,’ she told them all.
Bertha didn’t need to ask where she was going.
They arrived at Gibbons’ scrap yard just as the owner himself was about to shut and padlock the heavy iron entrance gates for the night.
Alf Gibbons was a sixty-year-old, thick-set man with a matted greying beard and grizzled hair that resembled a bird’s nest. His shabby clothes were stained with oil and dirt, a foul stench coming from them, and they obviously hadn’t seen soap and water since the day he had bought them. Aidy felt there was enough dirt under his fingernails to sow potatoes in. He lived in a shambles of a shack at the back of the yard, using rainwater for drinking and washing, if indeed he ever did any of that, judging by the grime ingrained in every crease of his face.
Spotting his visitors and completely ignoring the fact one was a young boy he’d had grafting hard for him all week, he growled, ‘Come back termorra. I’m shuttin’ up for the night.’
Dragging George along with her, Aidy had slipped through the gate and into the yard before Gibbons could stop her. Her face set stonily, she snapped at him, ‘I’ll not come back tomorrow, you’ll deal with me tonight! I’ve come to inform you that George won’t be working for you any longer, and to collect the money you owe him.’
Gibbons didn’t even bother to look at George. With a sly grin on his face, he responded, ‘He’s just a kid. I don’t employ kids.’
She shot back at him, ‘You employed this kid. You’ve had him slaving like a navvy for you for four days with hardly a break. Now, you’ll pay him what he’s due.’
Gibbons leaned towards her, a menacing glint in his eyes, a smirk on his face. ‘I ain’t paying him n’ote. It’s my word against his. Now scarper, lady, afore I make yer sorry you came.’
A furious George bunched one fist. Shaking it at Alf, he yelled, ‘Oi, don’t you speak to my sister like that or you’ll regret it!’
Alf Gibbons issued a nasty laugh ‘Oh, I’m real scared, sonny.’ He gave Aidy a shove on her shoulder. ‘Now get off my land before I bodily remove yer both.’
Aidy had anticipated this reaction and was prepared for it. ‘All right, I’ll go, Mr Gibbons. But just to warn you, you’d better be prepared for another visit very shortly.’
‘From the police?’ he scoffed. ‘You’ve no proof whatsoever that lad was working for me, so yer wasting yer time fetching them.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t dream of wasting police time, Mr Gibbons. Living around these parts, I trust you know Pat Nelson?’
It amused Aidy to catch the flash of fear in his eyes at the mention of that name, just as she’d anticipated. He eyed her suspiciously. ‘Yeah, I know of Pat Nelson. I’ve had a few dealings with her. Mostly with her old man, though, buying scrap metal off him. What’s she got to do with this?’
‘If you’ve had dealings with her then I trust you know what kind of woman she is, Mr Gibbons. It’s just you might be interested to learn that George is her grandson,’ she lied with no compunction. ‘He’s her favourite, and she isn’t going to like the fact that you’re trying to swindle him out of his pay.’
Gibbons stared frozen faced at Aidy for a moment before a beam split his face, revealing cigarette-stained, crooked teeth. Slapping George on the back, he said jocularly, ‘Why didn’t you let on you was Pat’s grandkid? Just a misunderstanding, all this.’ He thrust one dirty hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out a handful of change, hurriedly counting out silver and copper amounting to seven shillings and sixpence which he then held out to George. ‘No point in calling by hoping for any more work, son. Things are real bad at the moment, what with this recession.’
It was Aidy who took the money from him and quickly assessed the amount. ‘Oh, I think you’ve made a mistake, Mr Gibbons. Obviously mistook the tanners for shillings and the shillings for half-crowns.’
‘What d’yer mean?’ he snapped at her.
‘Seven and six in exchange for four days’ hard graft? Pat ain’t going to think that’s fair when I tell her.’
He nearly choked. ‘Well, just how much was you expecting? He is a