THE PIE SHOP. Chapter Six. Benny's Love Story

Benny Fingal was absolutely useless at any form of sport or physical exercise. For some reason or other he just couldn't grasp any of the basic rules or execute the simplest moves with any degree of co-ordination. I'd known him since school days and he had been just the same then. He couldn't run very far without becoming breathless; if he kicked a football, the ball travelled only a couple of feet; admittedly the ball was very much heavier in those days but still…. He nearly broke his hand once trying to catch a cricket ball and in the swimming pool, he couldn't swim of course, he became so cold a minute or so after he got into the pool that someone had to fish him out a bit sharpish or heaven only knows what would have happened. The mere thought of boxing or gymnastics made him go pale with worry.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take part, or through a lack of effort or enthusiasm, he tried hard enough, but he just couldn't do it. He became so embarrassed about the whole thing that he invented a dozen and one reasons for not taking part in any form of physical activity, and though all the teachers knew he was skyving, they understood his problem and never forced him to take part…as they were supposed to. In my schooldays, the early to mid nineteen forties, physical activity was compulsory. Curiously though, despite his inactivity he never put on weight; he was always as skinny as a rake. However, as he pointed out later, his God hadn't overlooked him when handing out talents. He discovered that he had an astonishing aptitude for mathematics and music. Both were to stand him in good stead in adult life.

He rarely came to the Pie Shop with us, and whenever he did, he never ate the pie and mash; he would eat only the Jellied Eels. As a rule Saturdays were special to him, but very occasionally he broke the rule and did come to the dance at the Town Hall to try to see the love of his life Sadie Carpenter. She and her family were not so strict about their Sabbath and it was the only way he could spend any real time with her.

If she didn't turn up that week he would morosely attach himself to our group and come on to the Pie Shop afterwards. On these rare occasions, more to cheer himself up than to please us, I think, he would suddenly launch into what he called a "Musical caricature" of a famous singer of the day. Frank Sinatra and Johnnie Ray, both much the same build as himself were his favourites…and ours. The impressions were brilliant and set The Pie Shop rocking with laughter in no time. Even Sam and, amazingly, Lil too had been known to break into a faint smile at his performance! For a brief while it was difficult to determine whether you were in The Pie Shop on a Saturday night or The Hackney Empire Music Hall on a Friday night. Benny revelled in the opportunity to "Show off" his talents. When Sadie did come to the dance their joy at seeing each other was so obvious that it made us all feel happier. Then, they danced together all evening, disappeared early and we missed his presence in The Pie Shop.

His romance with Sadie started when they were in the first year of secondary school. It was love at first sight for both of them, or as near as you can get to it; but there was a touch of the Romeo and Juliet situation about it. Her mother had delusions of grandeur and was determined her daughter was going to marry someone of substance, not some skinny kid from the back streets of the East End. Her opposition to the match began when they met and never changed one bit. Well not until Benny realised his ambition to become a millionaire anyway. That was after they were married and…well, hang on a minute, we'll get to that.

Benny's family were immigrants from Poland. Most of the family had got out just before the Nazis moved in. Those that were left behind perished in a concentration camp; they never did trace them. Their name then had been Finkelstein. Joseph, his father had changed their name to Fingal in an effort to avoid the attentions of Moseley's Black Shirts who, just before the outbreak of WWII, were causing so much trouble for the Jewish Race in East London and elsewhere. In those days, particularly at weekends, Black Shirt meetings that turned into street fighting and mob violence often made Ridley Road in Dalston a no go area for those who wanted a quiet life.

He was the youngest of three brothers, hence his name Benjamin. The older two both had similarly impressive musical talents to his, Joseph Jnr played violin and Solly the trumpet. They both finished up playing in one of the major London orchestras, the LSO I think it was. Benny's father decided that his youngest son should study the horn. He, Benny decided he would study piano and so, in no time at all, was able to entertain all and sundry with either instrument. Mozart's Horn Concerto one minute then Errol Garner or Fats Waller's piano style the next.

His versatility in the field of entertainment made him an indispensable to any party. He could, somehow, within minutes of his arrival, turn a dead party into a rave up. He seemed to know the words of every old-fashioned music hall song and could sing them so well that he could probably have made a living doing so. He danced like a professional and could tell jokes, especially Jewish ones, and bring tears of laughter to everyones' eyes. To put it bluntly he was, from schooldays onwards, literally the life and soul of any and every party he ever went to. The only person he couldn't charm or make any impression upon was Sadie's mother!

Sadie's family had also changed their name. Not for the same reasons though, Sadie's grandmother had simply not liked the family name, declaring it to be 'socially unacceptable'. It had been Karpinsky, she thought Carpenter sounded much better so Carpenter they became! Solomon Carpenter, Sadie's father was something of an enigma. Benny only met him a couple of times and he never passed an opinion on anything, so what he thought of Benny is anyone's guess. He 'worked in the City', according to her mother; at what or for whom no one knew. Whatever he did and for whomsoever he did it, he must have been very good at it. He went to work every morning in his immaculately clean, powder blue Vauxhall Cresta, a big car, all curves and chrome. He was the only person in the area to own a car at all let alone one like the Cresta.

Visitors to the Carpenter house were rare. Those that were invited, usually by Sadie's mum would be people like Sadie's teacher, the Rabbi, anyone she thought could enhance her social status. Sadie was allowed only to invite girls such as the Head Girl of the school, the Games Captain and some of the better dressed girl prefects. All would be welcomed by Sadie's mother and shown into her 'front room'. There they would immediately note the obligatory 'three piece suite', in white leather of course, a radiogram and in the far corner opposite the doorway so that it couldn't possibly be missed …a television set! In addition to all this were a considerable number of paintings, books and a sufficient assortment of bric-a-brac to stock an antiques shop. Sadie's mother liked people to know that her family had class, culture…and money. She was in short a dreadful snob.

In contrast Benny's family showed no such outward signs of wealth or culture. Joseph was a tailor, he had a small shop in the market next to the bike shop, the family lived above it. Those of us that were earning well went there to have our suits made. It was a step up from The Fifty-Bob-Tailors and Burtons in Mare Street, his skill and the quality of the cloth he used, turned us from looking ordinary into being a seen as sharp dressers. Joseph knew us all and what suited us best; he could also remember the measurements of each and every one of us.

When he was working he sat, cross-legged on a corner of the long highly polished workbench that ran almost the length of the shop and was usually inundated with samples of cloth and paper patterns. Whenever we called for Benny he would look at us over the top of the glasses he wore on the end of his prominent nose and tell us about the new piece of cloth he had managed to obtain. "Just right for a new suit for you, wouldn't suit Tommy or whoever but for you…" he would spread his hands wide and smile, push his face towards you and say, "perfect…for you. Yes…" Then he looked down at his work and did not mention it again. Mostly we returned when alone to have a closer look. He heard of the Teddy Boy suit before any of us and was ready with his version of it as soon as it became a widespread fashion. We all liked going to that shop, there were pictures of famous people around the walls, all dressed in the latest styles, a smell of new cloth and tailor's chalk that made you think of achieving of great things.

His wife Lila, a skilled needlewoman and fantastic cook was still an attractive woman. Short, lightly built with dark wavy hair, slightly oval brown eyes and a creamy skin. She always gave the impression of just having climbed out of a bath. No one ever saw her less than immaculately dressed and she welcomed all into her home with genuine warmth. We all thought she was lovely and often told her so. She would wave away our compliments…but smile as she did so. No one ever went to that house and left without being offered something to eat and drink. "I worry about you young people," she would scold us, "you don't eat properly. To succeed you need energy, to get energy you must eat." We generally ate.

Every penny they made went into their sons' education. No car or television in their home. They did have a gramophone though on which they played classical music. Strangely, despite their sons' obvious talent for music neither Lila nor Joseph could play a note on any instrument. They were both aware of Benny's love for Sadie and shook their heads sadly, pointing out the futility of the association. "Her mother will never accept you Benny," his mother would tell him gently. "Her mind is closed. She can't see what you will be…like I can." Benny heard his mother and smiled, even she didn't realise that underneath that gentle and entertaining exterior there was a will of iron. He would marry his Sadie, he was determined on it. Fortunately for both of them so was she.

Benny like everyone else went into the army to do his National Service. His father tailored his uniform on his first leave making him immediately the best-dressed soldier in the unit. It brought him to the attention of his officers and after that it didn't take the army long to discover his talent for mathematics and they put him into the Royal Army Service Corps. In no time he was co-opted onto a number of work study groups and that led to secondment to a management committee studying organisation and methods; the way forward for Britain's Modern Army it was said by the powers that decide such things. He took to the new thinking like a duck to water. To help implement the new procedures and practices he became based in Whitehall.

By the time he left the army he had met and made friends with people from the worlds of politics, finance, and the military. They were the sort of people that make the difference between success in business, and failure. Throughout those two years he maintained contact with Sadie and saw her whenever he could, much to the dismay of her mother who still entertained thoughts of her "marrying well". For her part Sadie repeatedly and, as she grew older more forcefully, made it clear that for her, it was Benny or no one! Take it or leave it!

About a year after Benny left the army came the cataclysmic events that changed all their lives. He had launched a small accountancy business and it had taken off like a rocket. Small businesses in the East End, owned, run or staffed by people who had known Benny for years immediately gave him their business. For his part he gave everyone the impression that they were the only ones that mattered to him and that he could, would and did save them loads of money.

He set up his business in Mare Street Hackney so that he could offer his clients what he called an "on the spot service". Really he did it so that he was nearer to his beloved Sadie. Eventually he plucked up the courage to ask her to marry him despite her mother's opposition. Sadie with great delight, immediately accepted his proposal, as far as she was concerned her dream had finally come true! Benny, wishing to "'do things properly', tried to meet her father to ask his permission for his daughter's hand in marriage and to seek his blessing on the union, but Solly said he was too busy. That much turned out to be true.

There were a number of really heavy mobs operating in London at the time and Scotland Yard's Flying Squad (The Sweeny), had made it clear that they intended to crack down on them. Every day new arrests were being made and the action was getting closer to the East End. Finally in a blaze of publicity several big local firms were tackled and closed down, all by the same team of detectives. Many arrests were made of big-time 'faces' and the papers were full of reports from the courts on who had done what in which firm. On one of the lists was a name we all recognised. Solly Carpenter!!! Sadie's dad!!! No!!! Rebecca's husband? Yess!!! He was named as the quartermaster of one of the gangs in South West London. What a disaster! All Rebecca's social manoeuvring destroyed in an instant.

Sadie was shattered, the neighbours fascinated. Hadn't they always said there was something odd about Solly Carpenter? Hadn't they always wondered about that Vauxhall Cresta? Always said it was a bit queer that he never came to the Flying Horse for a drink. And another thing, did you know that Solly never allowed his wife or daughter to answer the telephone when it rang in the evenings? Well now we know why. "He'll get ten years at least," was the general opinion.

Benny moved swiftly, he wasn't going to allow his darling Sadie to be shamed. She had agreed to marry him and he told her mother that with or without her permission that's exactly what they intended to do. His parents took control of the arrangements and his friends all declared their intention to attend the ceremony. After the wedding, at the Local Register Office and a blessing from the Rabbi we all gathered together in Joseph's shop to celebrate.

You wouldn't have known it was a tailor's shop. Bolts of cloth and all the bits and pieces usually seen in the shop were put on racks behind long sheets of coloured materials. The long table was covered with a snow-white cloth, every serviette had the name of a guest embroidered on it. (I've still got mine), The table positively groaned under the weight of food placed upon it by Benny's Mum. Wine flowed like water. "Could there be," Joseph asked "So much joy in the world?" He proposed a toast to everyone he ever knew as far as I could make out. His toast to his youngest son and his newly acquired daughter made eyes go very damp and drew approving nods from the Rabbi. Benny and his brothers produced their instruments and played a traditional Polish wedding folk song that brought tears of joy to his parents' eyes. Then the whole place burst into music and dance and went on late into the night. It ranks as one of the best weddings I ever went to, certainly the most joyous…apart from my own of course. There were a few sore heads about on the Tuesday morning.

Benny, now encouraged and urged on, supported in every way possible by Sadie, went on to use his talents to create for them and those around them a great life. His talents led him into the world of high finance and eventually into very big business. His interest in music and his talent for money management guided him into a takeover bid for one of the largest entertainment and media companies and he made a fortune. No one said he didn't deserve every penny he made. He did eventually, become accepted by Sadie's mother, even she couldn't resist the excitement of being presented with grandchildren. She lived quietly in the small house Benny bought for her in Chigwell…It had to be Chigwell she said, a number of her friends whose husbands were "away for a while" also lived there. "My daughter married very well," she told them. "I always said she would!"