The Girl From Barefoot House Read Online Free PDF

little girl who looked no more than two were sitting on the steps outside.
    ‘I promise I won’t be long, luv,’ Mam said as she wentthrough the swing doors – the glass in the doors and all the windows had been painted over for the blackout. A thick curtain hung over the entrance for when it grew dark, so that not even the slightest chink of light would show when people went in and out.
    The boy on the steps was chirpy, with a monkey-like face and a shaven head full of sores. His left arm was withered. He introduced himself as Tommy. The little girl was his sister, and he was looking after her, otherwise he would be playing with his mates, which he would have much preferred. His sister’s name was Nora. She couldn’t talk yet, and was a pain in the bloody arse.
    ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got a ciggie on you?’ he asked casually.
    ‘’Course not. I’m only six.’
    She was amazed to learn that Tommy was ten. ‘I’ll be eleven at Chrimbo,’ he boasted. ‘I’ve been smoking for years.’
    ‘Does your mam and dad know?’
    ‘Well, no,’ he conceded. ‘Me dad’d batter me soft if he did.’
    ‘It would be no more than you deserved,’ Josie said primly. ‘By the way, your sister wants her nose wiping.’
    ‘Wipe your effin’ nose, our Nora,’ Tommy commanded, and Nora drew her arm across her face, spreading the offending green stuff over her cheek.
    They played together amiably on the stone steps. Tommy was impressed when Josie jumped down from the fourth. ‘Not bad for a girl,’ he grudgingly conceded. Naturally, he could jump all five, landing lightly on his tiny feet, much smaller than hers.
    Then Nora had a go, and screamed blue murder when she fell on all fours and grazed her hands and knees.Tommy opened the pub door and yelled, ‘Mam, our Nora’s hurt herself.’
    In view of the racket going on inside the Prince Albert – the blasts of laughter, the occasional sing-song, the thud of glasses on the tables – Josie wasn’t surprised when no one came. She comforted Nora as best she could when it seemed that Tommy couldn’t care less. Then her own mam appeared with a glass of lemonade and a packet of crisps, which she felt obliged to share with her new friends. Nora stopped crying, but started again as soon as the crisps had gone. Josie stamped her foot and ordered her to stop. To her surprise, Nora did.
    A woman arrived carrying a baby, a scantily clad little girl trailing wearily behind holding her skirt. She plonked the baby in the girl’s arms, warning, ‘Drop her, and you’ll be in dead trouble.’
    ‘Hello, Shirl,’ said Tommy. Shirl nodded, sat on the step with the baby and promptly fell asleep.
    ‘She mustn’t half be tired,’ Josie whispered.
    ‘Yeah.’ Tommy seemed oblivious to everything except exhibiting his own athletic prowess. Despite his withered arm, he swiftly shinned up a lamp-post and swung from the top. ‘Look at me, Jose,’ he called.
    ‘You’re nothing but a show-off,’ Josie sniffed.
    Tommy dropped to the ground. He seemed determined to impress her. ‘Would you like to see me cock?’ he offered.
    ‘Your what?’
    ‘Me cock, me tool, me thingummyjig. Have you never seen one before?’
    ‘No.’
    The boy undid the tweed trousers that ended just above his crab-apple knees, and proudly produced awormlike piece of flesh. ‘I’ll give you a baby, if you like. I’ve had it off with girls before.’
    Josie regarded the worm scornfully. ‘Put it away. I don’t want a baby, thanks all the same.’ She didn’t know where babies came from, only that Tommy was talking through the back of his neck.
    ‘You’re a proper ould bossy boots, Jose,’ Tommy said as he fastened his trousers.
    ‘Can I go again tomorrow?’ Josie asked when they were on their way back to Huskisson Street.
    Mam, flushed and bleary-eyed, was linking her arm with that of a sailor in a dead funny uniform. ‘Of course, luv. Did you enjoy yourself?’
    ‘Oh, yes, Mam. It was the gear.