Free Lights Out Liverpool by Maureen Lee

second part. It somehow seemed appropriate that morning, waking up after the first refreshing night’s sleep in years, to nip downstairs, make a cup of tea and bring it back to bed along with the packet of ciggies and yesterday’s special edition of the Liverpool
Echo
. The paper, never normally published on a Sunday, contained the news that all theatres and cinemas had been closed and sporting fixtures cancelled. Her dad nearly had a fit when he learned there’d be no football match on Saturday. Everton were due to play Manchester United and he was really looking forward to it, along with nearly every other man in Liverpool. Hitler’s ears must have really burnt last night, the curses that were heaped upon his head.
    Eileen took a long puff of her cigarette, blew the smoke slowly out and watched it disperse lazily upwards in wavy layers. It didn’t seem right, being so happy. On the other hand, there was a feeling of relief that the uncertainty, the awful waiting, was over and the country knew where it stood. But Eileen knew that wasn’t the real reason for her happiness. Francis had gone. She was alone in the bed.
    She giggled, feeling slightly hysterical, and wondered if she was the only woman in the country who was glad to see the back of her husband. Now he’d gone, she’d get herself a job. He’d refused to let her work before, something she’d wanted to do since Tony started school last Easter. ‘I’m not having folks think I don’t earn enough to keep me family on me own,’ he said. But it wasn’t the money Eileen was thinking of – one good thing about Francis, in fact the
only
good thing, was he never kept her short of cash. He liked her and the house to look nice when people came to see him on Corporation business. He’d hand over a few quid, unasked, for her to buy a new frock or a pair of shoes, though he insisted on coming with her and picking out what
he
liked, rather than let her choose for herself. And she was even better off now than when Francis was home. The Mersey Docks & Harbour Board would continue to pay his wages, and she got an allowance from the Army. But Eileen wanted to work for different reasons, reasons she couldn’t quite explain, even to herself; she just felt there should be more to a woman’s life than cooking and cleaning. Annie felt the same. Even when her boys started work and there was no more need to go out scrubbing and cleaning, she’d got herself a part-time job in Woolworths and it wasn’t just for the money. Now that Terry and Joe were away, Annie was considering looking for a full-time job.
    The door opened and Tony came in, his gun tucked in the waist of his pyjamas and his gas mask over his shoulder.
    Eileen smiled. ‘You’re well prepared. God help Hitler if he invades Number Sixteen Pearl Street.’
    ‘I’ll kill him if he does,’ Tony said stoutly.
    ‘I know you will, son. Come on, get in bed for a minute while I finish this ciggie.’
    His face lit up as he climbed in beside her. ‘Me dad would have a fit if he knew.’
    ‘Well, what the eye don’t see …’ She put an arm around his shoulders. ‘What shall we do today?’
    He looked up at her, puzzled. ‘What d’you mean, Mam?’
    ‘Well, you’ll be back at school next week. Let’s do something exciting, like go into town.’
    ‘Honest, Mam? Honest?’ She could feel his body tense with excitement. ‘Can we go on the tram?’
    Eileen groaned. ‘It’s much quicker on the train, luv.’
    ‘I know, but the tram’s more … more …’ He searched for the right word.
    ‘More noisy, uncomfortable and takes ten times longer?’ she suggested.
    ‘More
interesting
.’
    ‘Oh, I suppose so,’ she said with pretend impatience. ‘Now, let’s see. After breakfast, I’ll go over to Auntie Sheila’s and say tara to Cal and then nip round to the Co-op and buy some blackout material. Mr Singerman’s promised to run me curtains up on his machine. When all that’s done, we’ll catch the