‘I know, Ma! But the man doesn’t care. The weight of them is only worth one an six.’
We all went quiet, an I watched me ma chewin on her lip an flutterin her eyelids an givin short coughs, tryin te decide wha te do. She slowly said, ‘We’ll take the money.’ An I watched him hand over the shillin an two thrupenny bits. An I felt bad, cos I told me ma te sell them, an we had been robbed!
13
We were walkin through the church at Church Street one night, on our way back te the hostel. Me ma said hello te a man walkin wit a bicycle. ‘There ye are again!’ she said te him.
‘Ah, hello there!’ he said, an they stopped te talk.
‘I was only up visitin someone in the Mornin Star,’ he said. ‘I’m on me way home. I have a place now of me own, an it’s grand te get outa tha kip.’
‘Have ye?’ me ma said. ‘Tha’s lovely! Wha have ye got?’
‘Ah, it’s only one room,’ he said, ‘but it’ll do me. It’s grand te be able te go in an shut yer door an have nobody botherin ye. So how are you? Are ye still in the Regina Ceoli?’
‘Ah, indeed I am,’ she said.
I stopped listenin an jumped on the man’s bike. I was hoppin up an down, tryin te get it te move. ‘Hey, Mister! Will ye give us a lift, will ye, Mister?’ But they weren’t listenin. Me ma was happy an talkin away, an the man was laughin an talkin away te me ma. An they were at it fer hours. I was dyin te go te the tilet, but me ma showed no sign of movin. An I was so busy jumpin up an down on the bike an hopin the man might give me a lift, tha in all the excitement I pissed all over his saddle. It poured down te the ground, an they never noticed!
Me ma was very excited when she finally left him. They had arranged te meet on the Wednesday, after she collected her money from the relievin officer. An as soon as she collected her pound, we went off te meet Jackser.
‘I hope he’ll be there! Suppose he doesn’t turn up, Martha ... Jaysus, tha’d be terrible,’ she said. ‘I hope he’s not makin a fool a me!’
We met him outside the bird shop on Parnell Street. ‘Ah, there he is,’ she said te me, an she started laughin wit excitement. ‘Come on, hurry over te him.’ I was lookin at his bike an wonderin if I’d get a lift. But now they were gone a bit quiet an just kept smilin at each other.
‘So ... will we go, then?’ he said te me ma.
We walked on, up Summerhill, an me ma said, ‘Wait here a minute!’ an she dashed inta a shop. I waited outside wit the man, keepin me eyes on the bike. When me ma came out, she had bread, an tea, an sugar, an even a quarter-pound a good butter! An Jackser said, ‘Ah, ye shouldn’t a done tha, there was no need te bother. I have plenty up in the room.’
‘Ah, sure ye’ll need it,’ me ma said.
We turned left onta Rutland Street, an we passed old houses wit steps up te them. They had two storeys an a basement. We went inta the hall, an there were rooms there wit families livin in them. An then we went up the stairs onta a little landin wit a big sink an a tap fer water. Then we went up more stairs an came onta the landin wit two doors. We went in the first door, an there was a winda facin out onta the back yard. The other room faced onta the street, an a family lived there. I looked at the big bed beside the winda, an there was a chest a drawers an a wardrobe, an a table wit two chairs. An there was a fireplace fer doin the cookin on, an a big paraffin lamp fer givin the light at night time. Me ma put the babby on the bed.
‘Are we stayin here, Jackser?’ I asked.
‘Yeah! But ye don’t have te call me Jackser. Yeah, ye can call me Daddy!’
‘But ye’re not me daddy, Jackser! I don’t have a daddy.’
‘No, but ye will now. I’ll be yer daddy.’
I didn’t think much of this. I looked at him, an I felt very uneasy. I looked at the bed, an I was wonderin wha will I do when he finds out I wet the bed?
* * *
Me ma was upset, cos Jackser said he was goin up te the Mornin Star te see someone. She wanted me te go wit him. When we got there, he parked his bike at the end of the road, outside the shop opposite the Richmond Hospital. He told me te mind his bike, an if I didn’t move away from the bike, he would buy me a Halloween mask in the shop winda when he got back. I stood lookin in the shop winda, tryin te decide which mask I would buy, all the time lookin te keep an eye on his bike parked at the kerb.
He was an awful long time comin, an the shop was beginnin te close. Then the shop closed, an it was very dark now, but there was still no sign of him. I wanted te go up te the corner, te see if he was comin, but I was afraid te leave the bike. There wasn’t a soul on the streets, an I was freezin cold. I wondered if he would ever come back.