Eloquent Silence Read Online Free PDF Page B

not intervene and drag the girl inside from sitting out in the Hillman Minx with Phillip, leaving the young whippersnapper to freeze to death on his own while he waited for his father. Utterly devoid of sleep during those long nights waiting for Old Jerry to come and collect his son, Sally’s mother knew that nothing good was going to come of this social experiment.
    Sally’s mother was worried sick for months about the outcome of all the hours the two youngsters spent alone but she could only warn Sally to try to keep Phillip under control. The wrath of Old Jerry was likely to descend upon her head if she disturbed his long and fruitful hours spent with Emma in the flat behind the Dry Cleaners. Heaven forbid she should ask him to come and collect his son at a reasonable hour.
    As we now know, Sally’s mother was a single woman, her finance having been killed during the Second World War, leaving the pregnant woman, Brenda, to fend for herself. To do this, Brenda had worked hard to support herself and her child, taking in boarders or lodgers, if you will.
    Tootsie did not approve of either Sally or Brenda, when the whole sorry mess was boiled down to the bone. On being introduced to Brenda, she had called her Miss Peterson in a very pronounced way, pausing before speaking as though her mouth was full of cotton wool soaked in vinegar. ‘ Miss ’ Peterson, a form of address she would keep up from Alpha unto Omega. Brenda Peterson was a harmless individual whom life had already battered down fairly completely, and it only took the likes of Tootsie von Hildebrand to finish off.
    ‘It’s a disgrace that Sally Peterson’s marrying into our family,’ Tootsie told Phillip who was listening all agog to what his important sister had to say. Fount of all knowledge, Tootsie made it her business to instill into her brothers and sisters the rights and wrongs of life and how one should conduct one’s self when out in the world.
    But she had not succeeded with Phillip who knew it was his God-given right to get Sally up the duff. Tootsie, who considered herself to be the cornerstone of the family, the giver of wisdom and the guidance officer of the von Hildebrand clutch of humans existing out on the Perishing Plains South Road, was ashamed of him. Also, not to mention disappointed in him that he should allow himself to be led astray by a little bit of crumpet, as she had described her intended sister-in-law in her absence. Phillip knew he should be horribly mortified for failing to live up to Tootsie’s standards but at the same time he was totally excited about striking out on his own and getting out from under Tootsie’s hostile glare.
    ‘Her mother’s single, has been since the war,’ pronounced Tootsie, waspish and abrupt.  ‘Well, has always been single, for that matter. People Like Us do not have illegitimate children. Nor do we get ourselves into trouble. It’s simply not done by People Like Us. I’m appalled that you’ve allowed yourself to become involved in this shocking and disgraceful business, Phillip, allowing this girl to become pregnant when she is already the product of an illicit union herself. I must say it is a very bad error of judgment on your behalf.’
    However, having said all this, the story is not Sally’s or Brenda’s either, as we know, but is simply meant to demonstrate how strongly Tootsie felt about People Like Us and People Not Like Us. Tootsie had well-marked, although decidedly narrow boundaries, and one stepped beyond them at one’s own peril. Fear of rejection kept most of the von Hildebrand offspring in line. Rejection by the formidable Tootsie.
    This was simply one of Tootsie’s less endearing traits, of which there were a certain amount. The younger von Hildebrand siblings took note and if they dared to have sexual relations with their intendeds before marriage they were careful not to leave a trail that Tootsie could smell out and follow to find them in a state of embarrassment or