Neema Shaw
My mum is pregnant and we get kicked out of the house probably due to my mum not looking after it and possible not paying the rent………i Remember being out the front and saying goodbye .And …crying Cause w e were leaving mutely out the back …we Moved in with my grandma and my uncle tom ..better Known as shaky as his hands always shook because he was an alcoholic ..he Didn’t cope to well at all after his divorce, he always spoke about his two kids but I don’t ever remember seeing them at all ..my Grandpa had died 12 years before I was born .He use to beat my grandma up and was drunk all the time..That’s the story we here anyway ..
My grandmas house had a tiny frontage very small with a veranda as you opened the front door to the house all you saw was miles and miles of dark hall way. The floor was lino clean as a whistle not a bit of dirt on it ..not even a crumb or dust .To the left was my uncle’s room as he was either at work or home drunk sleeping and was always being shushes to be quiet .So we didn’t really go in there …then Half way up the hall way there was our room . Mum my little sister holly and me shared ..all I remember is one double bed a cupboard ..and The window had bars on it .Big thick black iron bars .There was ..nothing To look at thou but the next doors fence… That was poppa jims house he was the nice old man who spoke kindly to me and sometimes gave me a sweet ……
….mum Gave up my older sister to my aunt . ….. There just wants enough room .And mum was having troubles with her so gave her to my aunt to have ..then My grandmas room ..oh It was gorgeous it glowed in the sun the linen was clean crisp and there was a white bed cover on her bed.she had a white dresser where she had her jeweler case …
And her ceramic lady cologne .omgggggg these things mesmerised me as a child ….its Was like a porcelain lady dresses in glamorous long flowing dresses there hair was immaculate wearing a bonnet hat with lace ..you Pulled the top half of her body off and the skirt was actually full of cologne..I didn’t care about the smell or the cologne ..it Was how glamorous and beautiful this lady looked ….grandma Had about 5 different women ..all Dress in elegant clothes and flowing skirts passably from the 50;s fashions ….i Was sometimes allowed to play with the empty bottles for a short time ….i Would gently take her from my grandma ;s hand then walk slowly to the end of the hall where I would sit on the floor and .Gaze at this beautiful lady her .I held in my hand looking at her hat and skirt.dreaming about her stunning face ..she Was the image of perfection to me of a women ..she Was what a real lady looked like what a woman should be ….her Face her eyes her lips her cheeks were all painted so delicately and perfectly……
.Not like my mum or grandma who herself was a hard women ..short Fat dumpy mean grouchy grey-headed women with a high-pitched voice always yelling at us to be quiet or stop running up the hall way and even she showed no affection .To us ..her Daughters or her sons all the time we lived with her I don’t ever remember even sitting next to her or getting a hug
…the Hall ended at the sitting room it was a pretty big room a long couch at the back wall a single chair to the side again a house with not many pieces of furniture or trinkets those were all kept in grandmas room there was a small cabinet with glass wear in it ….that Was very boring cause we Werner allowed to touch it ….then You took a step up to the kitchen straight to the left was an old gas oven then the sink and onto cupboards …it Was a very narrow room but long so it seemed to a 6 yr old ..there Was a kitchen table that IM sure ran the length of the kitchen .Well my grandma did have 9 kids after all …..at The back right corner was a wood oven …it Just sat there unused ,,just sat in the corner ….
Then there was another door with a little very small lobby that took you to out the back yard but in this special room …was The most amazing sewing machine ….it Was black with shiny silver bits around it ..black Iron lace pattern down both sides both joined each side by another lace bar across the bottom ..and It moved up n down ..it Was the sewing machine pedal .This foot petal made the needle go up n done ..so As my grandma sewed her foot constantly moved this petal up n down ..up N down ..i Spent many hours sitting at her feet just watching ..she Would sometimes make conversation with me as we spoke about what she was sewing and how she was doing it ..she Told me how it all worked ..
..once Outside there was another square brick.room ..it Housed the big old rusty bath tub and an old toilet with the pull chain ….the Room while clean was dark musky …the Toilet always broke so you had to use a bucket of water to flush it ……the Baths were gorgeous to have and we were bathed often now at my grandmas house they you had to run into the house with towel around you to go get dressed ..not Very nice in winter at allele …..
The back yard again was nothing special there was a few plants but mostly it was just grass …the Best part of going out side was to look over the old ladies house next door ..we Called her nana roe ..her Whole back yard was like a fairy garden …bricks Paved the garden beds ..it Seemed like hundreds of them flowers n color was everywhere
She had a out back toilet by her back door and her back step of the house was also used as a knife sharpened tool …that Bloody amazed me ..it Had grooves in it where kitchen knives were sharpened over the years .And for some reason I remember her having a collection of very old newspapers ..lots And lots of then stored away some where in a corner …..grnama And mum would bring us over there often as the ladies all sat and had tea me n holly would play in the garden or watch TV in the lounge ..she Was a gorgeous lady again some who actually spoke to me like I was really there in the room and I felt important to her
As it was grandmas house there was many visitor from the family my aunt would come over regularly with my cousin and my older sister daisy there was many family dinners people everywhere . Whole pig heads on the kitchen sink ..my Uncle making jokes about eating the eyes …which I think he did one day to tease us ..he Was one of those uncles …but We loved him ..he Made stupid duffy duck noises he gave us cuddles of love ..he Would act stupid just to get a laugh out of us ..the Joker of the family ..whom The kids loved but the adults shunned at and ignored …he Was the bad egg of the family ….the Hustle n bustle of noise laughter and food ..the Adult went out the front to chat and have there smokes ….i Sometimes went out there with them my uncle tom threw his cigarette butt on the ground one time and I stepped right on screaming in pain as it burn a big hole at the bottom of my foot …once Again I got many cuddles from him and apologies
As night came things quiented down everyone went into the sitting room ..and We were giving pencils and coloring books to sit n be quiet ..that Would entertain us for a while then the excitement would build and ..oh How could you not take your shoes off and as fast as you could run ..you Ran down the massively long hall way in just your slippery socks and slide down the hall way ….it Was the most fun I had was when there was other kids doing it too ..doing It alone was OK that entertained me but when there was about 4 or 5 of us ….the Hall was that long it catered for us LOL..We;d run n slideeeeeee..Run and slide giggling so hard you almost pee;d your pants ..and Hearing the grown ups yelling sometime for us to settle down ……..so We sat in the hall for no longer than 4 seconds before getting up and doing it again ……
.
On one of my aunt’s visits I was playing with my cousin in sitting room coloring in I think we were doing …on The TV came the shattering news ..that George the 30 yrd old silver backed gorilla at the zoo had died ……it Was only a few moths back that we had actually gone to the zoo with family and he was one of the best attractions there and we spent some time watching him …..so I felt this amazing sense of sadness me and my cousin went into my mums bed and we both cried we hugged each other and just cried tears of utter sadness that this big ape had died ……..i Felt very overwhelmed by his loss …..we Went back out to the sitting room not being able to hold back our tears …my Mum gave me a big big hug .. While over her shoulder I looked out the window with bars and swore I saw him ..standing There looking at me
Breakfast each morning was porridge ..oh It was bloody awful uncle tom would tease my grandma and say ewe this is really bad ..pas Me the sugar and he would sprinkle it on his and a bit more for me too ..sugar Was a scarcely used item had to watch it …
..i Was 6 year old now and was going to school since my grandmas house was only a few minutes away from the old house we lived in ..i Still went to the same school . And again mum walked me there a few times but after that I was on my own I hated it ..walking Alone all the time I had to cross over a large bridge every day on my way home .. Many times I was yelled at and told to stop by other adults walking on the bridge too, .The site of this tiny child about to run across a very busy road would of been just tragic .I was always petite and so tiny as a child caring my big bag on my back ready to run …i Was helped by many people many times crossing the road …after I had crossed the road I would stop and look under the bridge to see if any trains were coming ..i Would of crossed that train line a 100 times alone ….oh And back in those days we had steam trains to…. Go by ..there Was a small thin bridge at one end of the main street …the Trains horn would blow and if you were near the bridge would run up there as fast as you could to see it go past …..it Would thunder just under my feet on the bridge the sound was explosive and the smoke coming form the top was just a thrill to sees …..i Didn’t go up there often …but It was magic seeing this monstrous site of a train they were huge
Now my mum had a big belly on her the baby will be coming soon so I get told ..she Has this gentleman visit at my grandmas from time to time ..he Is so tall and I don’t like him much ..but Now my brother is born and that big man les was still hanging around he visited my mum in hospital then when she brought the baby home he still came over
