"HULLO VERA, HULLO GLAD, HULLO DAD and MUM"?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 268, 11 August 1944, Page 26

"HULLO VERA, HULLO GLAD,

HULLO DAD and MUM"?

A SHORT STORY Written for "The Listener’

by

ISOBEL

ANDREWS

‘LAD came into the kitchen with her new little jersey and skirt on, and a clean white pinny over them both. "Now, Glad, you keep your fingers off that toaster," said her grandmother. Glad looked up from under a’ brown fringe of hair. "Wasn't touching the toaster." "I know ‘you wasn’t. But you was going to." "I was not. Oooooh, I never! Mum Gran says I was touching the toaster, and I never: did." From Bert’s. old bedroom . came Vera’s voice. "Aw, Mum, leave the kid alone for once, can’t .you?" "Oh, all right. If you want her to burn herself, I suppose it’s got nothing to do with me. Next time I'll let her touch the toaster when it’s boiling hot, and then you can look after her ladyship yourself." "Glad!" called Vera. "Yes, Mum." "You leave that toaster alone." ‘But I never... ." ‘ "And no backchat."

"It’s not fair." Glad muttered to herself, her thin little red lower lip shoving itself out. "It’s not fair. I never touched the toaster." "Never mind," said her grandmother. "Here’s a bit of bacon, You eat up that little bit of bacon and then your porridge will be ready and we’ll all have our breakfast." ,"Don’t want any porridge." "Don’t want any porridge! My goodness me! A big girl like you not wanting porridge! If you don’t eat your porridge every morning your bones won't grow and you'll get ill." "Don’t want my bones to grow." "Don’t want your bones to grow! You don’t want to: be like poor little Sally Thomas, that has’to be wheeled round

in a chair all the time and has @ twisted back so bad she’ll never walk, do you?" "Yes I do. I do, so there!" "Glad!" Vera called again. "Yes, Mum?" "You come in here, you naughty girl. Cheeking your Grandma like that. When she’s making you all that nice porridge." "She’s making it for you, too." "You come in here this minute, miss. You come in ‘here this minute or you'll be sorry." * * me ; LAD might have been sorry if she hadn’t gone, but she was sorry when she did, because Vera gave her a smack for speaking cheeky, and then Glad cried, and the pair of them made enough noise to waken the dead. Bob came out in his old dressinggown and slippers. "F’r Gossake," he said, "F’r Gossake, what’s all -the din about?" A man (continued on next page)

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wants a bita peace on a Sunday morning." "Well, it’s not my fault if you don’t get it. Here, carry the porridge in or it’ll get cold. Vera! Vera! Come on, the porridge is out." Vera and Glad came out of the bedroom. Vera had that tight look round her mouth that she had so often these days, and Glad was in the sulks. It was a shame Glad wasn’t a nice little girl with fair hair and curls like Phyllis Saunders. Phyllis was a nicelooking little kid, and had nice manners,

too. Funny how kids were so different. Glad, now-a bit like Vera-never knew where you were with her. But then, with Bert away for so long, you couldn’t really blame her. Kids need a father round the house. Mothers are all very well, but the truth is they have all the work and worry, but it’s the father that the little devils listen to most when there’s any sort of argument. Mrs. Wesley knocked on the back door, opened it and popped her head round the corner. "OO , . ooooh!" she called "OO. . ooh! Anybody home?" "Come in," said Bob, which was just like him to call a woman like Mrs. Wesley into the dining room when there wasn’t a butter knife on the table and the marmalade was in the pot instead of a jam dish. "Come in," called Bob," and make your miserable life happy." Mrs, Wesley came in. Trust her. She never needed a second bidding. "IT won’t stop," she said, "but I thought I'd better tell you in case you didn’t listen in last night. Your Bert’s speaking on the wireless this morning." "Bert? On the wireless?" "Yes. You know. With the Boys Overseas. You could’ve knocked me down with a feather. We was just listening in to the broadcast when the man said Bert Bridges, plain as a pikestaff. ‘Bert Bridges’ I said to Stan. ‘Bert Bridges! Did you hear that?’ I wanted to run over and tell you straight away, but Stan said the morning’d do, as you all might’ve gone to bed early. So I thought I’d better run over now just in case you didn’t have the wireless on." Bob was the one who remembered his manners first. "That’s kind of you, Mrs. Wesley," he said. "Matter of fact, we didn’t listen in last night. Went to the pictures." ;

"Mum," said Glad, "Mum, is Bert Bridges dad?" "Course he is," said Vera, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Mrs. Wesley since she came in. When Glad spoke, Vera suddenly seemed to come to life. "Quick, Dad," she called out, "Quick, and put the wireless on." "But if Grandpa’s dad, how can Bert Bridges be Dad, too?" "Never you mind. Go on Dad, switch the wireless on." "No hurry," said Bob, "Messages from the Boys Overseas don’t come on till 9. Six minutes to go."

"Well, I’d better be going," said Mrs. Wesley. "Just thought I'd pop over and tell you in case... .). "Thanks very much. We'd a been wild if we’d missed it." * * Bs VERA and Gran, as though urged by the same _ invisible command, started feverishly to clear away the dishes. "What's the hurry?" asked Bob. "Plenty of time." "I want to be able to listen in in peace," said Gran. "A few dishes on the table won't stop you listening," said Bob. "That’s all you know about it," said Vera. "Mum and I couldn’t concentrate (continued on next page)

SHORT STORY

(continued from previous page) if all these dirty dishes was on the table, could we Mum?" All of a sudden Vera had lost her thin, tight look, and had some colour in her cheeks, and she was smiling, "Course we couldn’t, Come on. Let’s get them washed up and then we'll be set." "Just fancy! Bert speaking over the wireless! Wonder what he’ll sound like." "If Bert’s Dad, how can Grandpa be dad, too?" "Just listen to that kid! Just listen to her! Once she gets an idea into her head, nothing’ll change it. Bert’s your Dad, and Grandpa’s Bert’s Dad. Now do you see?" "But if he’s Dad’s Dad, how can he be your's, too?" "He’s not." "But you call him Dad, just the same." "Oh stop asking questions. You'll drive me mad one of these days. Now listen here. When we put the wireless on in a minute you're not to say one word. Not one word, do you hear?" "Aw, let the kid be, Vera. She’s only a kid. Kids don’t understand, You'll be . quiet for Grandpa when the broadcast’s on, won’t you, Glad? You'll be quiet and listen and you'll hear Daddy speaking. Speaking from half-way across the world he’ll be. That’s pretty wonderful, isn’t it? Your daddy speaking from half way across the world, and us sitting and listening to him." "You'll spoil that kid, Dad, that’s what yéu’ll do." "Aw, letter alone Vera. She’s all right." "Tt’s all right for you to talk." That was the worst of Vera. Never knew when to let*well alone. Always kept nagging on at a thing. Anyway, there was the dishes all done and everything tidy. "Switch on the! wireless now, Dad. Your watch might be wrong. Never do if we missed it." "My watch isn’t wrong, Never is. Checked it with Mr. Bell’s at the works the other day and his was wrong. Ten minutes fast his was, but mine was right "to the second." "Never mind. Switch it on just the same." * % % UM sat down on the easy chair and took up her knitting. She was knitting a pair of socks for Bert. Vera sat down by the table and looked out of the window. Made you feel restless just to look at her. If only she’d do something instead of mooning round like that she’d feel better. If only she’d knit. But that time she tried to meke a sweater for Bert she was hopeless. Didn’t seem to know the difference between purl and plain, and as for that cable stitch pattern! Hopeless And when you tried to tell her she flung down the sweater and said, "You do it. You seem to know everything round here." . Dad took Glad on his knee and sat on the little stool beside the wireless. Seemed as though he felt that by being nearer the wireless he could be nearer Bert when he started to speak. Bing Crosby sang "Silent Night," and then the announcer spoke. "You will now hear a re-broadcast of the message from the Boys Overseas. The men you will hear this morning (continued on next page) |

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will be" -and then he told them the names of the boys who would be speaking. There were two men from Auckland, and one from Opononi, and two from Levin and one from Nelson, and about four from Napier, and then he came to the Wellington ones, And Bert was the last of the Wellington men. % % * \JHEN the announcer finished, there was a tiny spot of quiet before the Boys from Overseas began. When they came they spoke one after the other, and their voices sounded all the same. They were low and slow, and no matter where you might ‘be you’d always know that they had come from New Zealand. They just spoke that way. They seemed to all be saying pretty much the same things, but what really mattered was that they were saying them to different people, It seemed as though they knew ,that it didn’t really count what they said, as long as. the people that were listening could hear them. Vera stopped looking out of the window. Mum put her knitting down. Dad held Glad in a gentle, firm grasp. Glad sat still, She didn’t know why she sat still, but she just didn’t say a word, Then the announcer said "And now we have Bert Bridges from Wellington." And they heard Bert’s voice. Bert sounded a bit as though he had been running, but they could hear him as plain as anything. Hullo Vera, hullo Glad, Hullo Dad and Mum. Hope you are keeping fitanwell. I am in the pink. How are you, Vera? I hope you are keeping well, dear, I miss you very much, but hope to be with you soon. Hullo, Glad, I hope you are looking after Mummy for me, How’s the garden, old timer? Don’t overdo it these winter days. Thanks for the last parcel, Mum, the cake arrived all O.K., and the biscuits were first-rate. That's all I have time for now, so I'll bid you all good-bye, Hope to see you soon. Keep smiling." ok ok K \WHEN Bert had finished, Dad turned off the wireless, but nobody spoke, Everybody seemed to be shut in with their own thoughts. Mum’s hands for once lay quiet in her lap.-He was such a little boy. I remember when I put him into his first real pair of pants. He was so thrilled with himself. Thought he ‘was real grown-up. When he ran he seemed to fling his feet sideways, not straight in front like grown-ups do. Dad’s hand strayed over Glad’s smooth waveless hair-I remember when he made that try first time he played in a rep. match. We were all frozen stiff on the bank and there was five minutes to go. And he made it. Andiwe all stood up and yelled. And we didft feel the cold any more. Vera’s fingers plucked at her dress.Bert, I wish I hadn’t listened in. Its made it all worse instead of better. Mum got up and went over to Vera and patted her hand. Vera looked up and gave her a queer kind of smile. Dad made a noise in his throat like he had a bad cold. "That was my daddy, wasn’t it, Mum?’ That was my Daddy speaking over the wireless, wasn’t it, Mum?" "Yes, dear, that was Dad." "But Dad’s Grandpa, isn’t he? Daddy’s my Daddy and Dad's Grandpa?" "Don’t worry your Mum just now, Glad." "Come on, Glad, lets you and me go outside and look at the garden."

"Don’t want to look at the garden." "Little girls mustn’t be rude." "Aw Mum," said Vera, "Aw Mum, leave the kid alone." "Oh, all right, I’m sure, I was only trying to help." "Help?" cried Vera, "Help?" She got up and went towards the bedroom door, "Help? Fat lot you can do. Help? Nobody can help." She slammed the door, and they could hear the bed creak as she flung herself down.