Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

the marks when Adele was on her own, she might have been able to tell the truth, but she couldn’t with all the other girls listening. Lots of them lived in Charlton Street too, and Adele didn’t want them all rushing home and telling their mothers that Rose Talbot was going crazy.
    Adele knew that was no exaggeration because her father had said it dozens of times recently. Rose hadn’t only hit her, she’d hit Jim too when she was drinking. And she was drinking all the time now, and everything was falling apart. She didn’t cook meals, buy food, clean the flat or do the washing. She was never there when Adele went home for dinner, and when she got home from school in the afternoon she was usually sleeping off the drink.
    Adele did the cleaning, and her father usually sent her for fish and chips when he got in from work. If he complained about there being no dinner, her mother would either start crying or get nasty, and quite often she’d run on out again down to the pub and Jim would have to go after her to bring her home.
    It was all so horrible. Adele had grown up with her mother’s black, silent moods – they were as much a part of her life as going to school or taking the washing to the laundry room at the public baths. But Rose was no longer silent, she screamed, shouted and swore, often threw things too, and Jim was getting just as bad.
    He had always been such a quiet man, in fact her mother’s favourite insult had been to call him feeble. But now Rose kept goading him, saying he was stupid and common, and he’d become almost as vicious as her. Just a couple of nights ago he’d lashed out at her with a flat iron.
    Adele knew very well that her father was a bit slow, he could only read the simplest of words, and he had to have things explained very carefully before he understood. But he could add up well enough, and he was getting really angry at the amount of money Rose was spending on drink. Adele had heard him telling her mother that he’d had a cut in pay because his boss hadn’t got enough building work coming in. He kept saying too that he might be thrown out of work completely, but even that threat didn’t make any difference.
    As Adele got in the front door Mrs Patterson opened her door and it was clear by the way she scowled and put her hands on her hips that she was angry.
    ‘Your mum’s been at it again,’ she blurted out. ‘I can’t stand much more of this, however sorry I am about your sister.’
    Mrs Patterson was a nice woman. She had three children of her own but she’d always made a fuss of both Adele and Pamela, and in the past she’d often had them in for tea if their mother had to go somewhere. She was a tiny, wiry woman with jet-back hair plaited round her head like a crown. Adele and Pamela used to wonder how long her hair was when she let it loose. Pamela was sure it went right down to her feet.
    ‘Been at what?’ Adele asked.
    ‘Screaming down the stairs at Ida Manning,’ Mrs Patterson rolled her eyes towards the flat upstairs. ‘Accused her of stealing a bag of groceries she left in the hall. Your mum’s never been near a grocery shop, the only shop she goes to is the off licence.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Adele said weakly. She knew Mrs Patterson must be at the end of her tether to complain to her. She was always so kind normally. But Adele didn’t dare linger talking about it as her mother would skin her alive if she caught her discussing her with the neighbours.
    ‘Sorry’s not good enough any more. That’s all I get from your dad too,’ Mrs Patterson said, wiggling a finger at Adele. ‘This house is full of kids. We don’t want no drunks shouting the odds. We’ve all tried to help her since Pamela went, but all we get is the brush-off.’
    ‘I can’t do anything,’ Adele said, and began to cry. She felt she couldn’t stand any of it any longer. She dreaded coming home.
    ‘There now, don’t cry,’ Mrs Patterson said, the previous harshness of her tone