Chapter 12
12
MINNIE
Minnie groaned as she turned over in bed, and she must have hit a sore spot in her hip because her leg involuntarily flinched. It was just one of many parts of her that were aching, but she wasn’t going to complain. Could have been so much worse.
That tumble in the main street had fair taken her breath away though. Thankfully, she’d somehow managed to stick her shopping bag out in front of her, so her shortbread got the worst of it and had been crunched into crumbs. Her bag, thick scarf and padded coat had cushioned the fall, but she had an aching hip, two skint knees, two bruised palms and a whole lot of embarrassment at the fuss she’d created.
As she’d lain there, stunned for a few seconds, she’d mentally checked that everything was still working. She could still feel her arms and her legs, and she hadn’t banged her head, so she wasn’t worried about concussion. It was more just the racing heart from the shock of the fall. Reassured that she was still in one piece, she’d begun to think about getting up when she’d suddenly heard Gladys, who’d got to her side in seconds, screeching, ‘Call an ambulance’ at the top of her lungs.
Minnie had been mortified. Mortified! And she’d been like an upside-down turtle for a moment as she’d tried to right herself to assure the gathering crowd that she was fine. ‘No, please don’t,’ Minnie had objected, as she managed to push herself up on her knees, then turn around so she was sitting on her bottom. By that time, quite a crowd had gathered, including the young man from the jewellers who’d dashed out and was on the other side of her now.
‘Why don’t we take you inside and get you a seat?’ he’d offered.
‘No, she shouldn’t be moved!’ Gladys had tried to take charge. ‘I’ve seen that on Casualty. They always say the victims shouldn’t be moved without one of those collar thingies on their necks.’
Minnie had put her hand on Gladys’s arm and squeezed it, realising that the other woman meant well. ‘I think a seat inside the shop would be lovely while I get my breath back,’ she’d told her.
The gent from the shop, and another burly bloke who’d stopped to see if he could help, took one of her arms each. ‘Now you’re sure you’re ready to get up? Your friend might have a point.’
Minnie had shaken her head, trying not to wince as it sent a pain shooting down her shoulder. If ever she needed her granddaughter Emmy’s nursing skills, it was right then. ‘I promise you, everything feels fine,’ she’d fudged the truth slightly. ‘The worst part is sitting on this cold ground.’
That had seemed to convince them, because, much to Gladys’s disapproval, the next thing, they were very slowly and gently lifting Minnie to her feet. Another person in the crowd picked up her bags, and handed them to Gladys, who seemed to have declared herself in charge of the whole affair. Not that Minnie was ungrateful for the assistance or the kindness.
As soon as she’d been settled in a chair in a little room just off the main sales area of the jewellers, the young man who worked there had disappeared and returned with a glass of water.
Gladys had jumped right on that. ‘Oh, son, I could do with one of those maself,’ she’d said, and Minnie had flushed with even more embarrassment as the kind lad had gone off to get it. She really hated to create a scene.
She’d thanked the other gent who’d helped her profusely, and he’d given her the loveliest smile. All the terrible news in the world could make someone think otherwise, but people really could be so very nice.
‘Now are you sure you don’t want us to call an ambulance?’ he checked.
‘I think we should,’ Gladys had interjected. ‘I mean, anything could be broken in there. My husband fractured his kneecap just climbing a ladder.’
Minnie, while feeling very sorry for Mr Gladys’s pain, had wanted a hole to open up and swallow her. ‘I’m quite sure. I really do feel fine now that I’m getting my breath back.’ Still not strictly true, but she really couldn’t be going off to hospital. She had so many other plans for today.
The assistant had returned with Gladys’s water. ‘Is there someone I can call for you, Mrs Ryan? Or would you like me to phone a taxi to take you home?’ He must have remembered her name from the order she’d collected.
She’d thought about that for a second. She really hadn’t the strength to be walking all the way home with a sore hip and stinging knees, so a warm taxi had sounded just perfect. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’
Minnie had resolved to bake a delicious big cake and on the first day the shop was open after the New Year, and bring it with a bottle of wine for this chap who’d been so helpful.
‘I’ll just wait and get the taxi with you,’ Gladys had announced. ‘You know, just to get you home safe, Minnie.’
And that’s what she’d done – shared the taxi home and then hadn’t batted an eye as Minnie had paid for it. Not that she’d minded in the least. She’d been grateful for Gladys’s assistance, no matter how loud it was.
As Gladys had set off for her own house, Minnie had walked slowly up the path and breathed a sigh of relief when she managed to get herself and her bags through the door. It certainly hadn’t gone as planned, but she’d accomplished her tasks one way or another, and she had the gift, her shopping, and herself back in one piece. If you didn’t count the crushed shortbread.
After setting her bags down, she’d gone into the kitchen and told Henry all about what had happened. She’d put it down to her broken sleep last night, and he’d agreed with her that a nap would make her feel right as rain. However, now, as she rolled over onto another bruise, she wasn’t sure that had been completely accurate because her bones were still aching. There would be no giving in to this though. Minnie Ryan had not lived to seventy-eight years of age without learning a thing or two about the necessity to brush obstacles out of the way and just get on with things.
As she mulled that over, she realised she’d forgotten to show Henry the flask she’d bought for Gino, but she was too exhausted to get up and do it right now, and besides, it was all wrapped up. He’d see it later, she told herself, as she pulled her blanket up around her shoulders and closed her eyes, ready to let sleep take her for a little while. As often happened, that was when her memories were at their most vivid, and like the opening scenes of a movie, she saw another night come to life in her mind.
It was a few years after their first visit to Gino’s and they’d already moved out to the South Side of the city. They still went to Gino’s every Hogmanay, but money still didn’t stretch to eating out any more than that. It was tight, what with four boys between ten and thirteen, but they were managing, mainly thanks to the promotion Henry had got when he’d finished his latest round of night school qualifications and his last stretch of training. He was a fully-fledged planning officer for the city council now, and she was proud as punch of him. She had her own job too, working as an auxiliary in the school that the boys went to, taking care of the children when they were sick and supporting the teachers in whatever way they needed. She loved that job, especially as it allowed her to be on the same schedule as the boys.
The downside, though, was that when one of the kids picked up a bug, it went round the school like wildfire, and one year they’d found that out to their cost.
Eric had been the first one to go down with the flu at Christmas, and then Roger, Robert and Charlie had succumbed to it, one a day over the next week. Minnie was next to take to her bed, in a shudder of sweats and coughs and limbs that ached even under the lightest touch, but still getting up every hour or so to check on her boys and pat their foreheads with cloths that had been dampened by cold water from the tap.
Henry had wanted to help, but she’d shooed him off. He was the main breadwinner, and they couldn’t have him going on the sick and losing half his wages, so she didn’t want him anywhere near them.
On the 31 st , their fevers were peaking, and Minnie had spoken to Henry from the top step of the stairs, the enforced invisible barrier between their two worlds this week. He’d been sleeping on the couch since Boxing Day and she knew it killed him not to be able to share her bed and take care of her. That’s who Henry Ryan had always been – the man who took care of his family.
‘I’m so sorry, love, but there’s no way any of us sickly ones can go out tonight. We’re weak as kittens and I couldn’t live with myself if I passed it on to anyone else.’ She didn’t say what else she was thinking. She remembered well the flu epidemic in 1968 and the lives that were taken. This time around, she’d been worried sick for her boys, and was overcome with relief that they seemed to be on the other side of it now.
They both were. ‘All that matters is that you and the boys see this damned infection off, Minnie. Don’t you worry about a thing, my love. There will be plenty more nights for dancing. Now, go back to your bed and I’ll go over and see the Morettis tomorrow – I’ll take that bottle of whisky you bought me for Christmas and share a dram with Gino.’
A few hours later, Minnie had listened as the church bells rang outside and the streets filled with people cheering the new year. She got up to shout Happy New Year down to Henry, then went to say the same to her boys. Eric was already feeling so much better, and he sang along to the music that rang out from open windows, and listened as strangers chatted as they went on their way to ‘first foot’ their loved ones, an old tradition that claimed if a tall, dark man bearing gifts – usually coal or cake in the old days – was the first person over the threshold after the bells, it would bring good luck to the household for the year to come.
It was about an hour later, when Minnie had heard a banging at the door and rose herself from the bed, then crouched at the top of the stairs as Henry had answered it.
She had recognised the voice of the visitor immediately.
‘My friend!’ the voice with the melodic accent had boomed. ‘We were worried when you didn’t join us tonight, so here I am. Our party is fading now, and Alicia insisted I come and check on you. Tell me everything is okay with you?’
The happiness in Henry’s voice had made her heart soar, as he welcomed Gino in and explained that the boys and Minnie were sick, and that he’d planned to go over to visit the Morettis the next day. He’d poured those drams, and she’d heard Henry open the front door again, so they could share in the revelry and the celebrations outside.
‘You know, Gino, it’s fair moved me that you came all the way here to check on us,’ her husband had told his friend.
Minnie had just been thinking the very same thing.
‘And you would do the same for me,’ Gino had responded. ‘Because we both know that friendships last long after midnight.’
Now, years later, even as she once again lay in bed with aching bones, she knew that was true. They’d never missed another New Year’s Eve in all the decades since that night. And Minnie was determined that tonight wasn’t going to be any different.