Scrap 51

SCRAP 51
Frank arrives at the docks 5am Monday morning, his left eye surrounded by a swollen mass of bruising. ‘I take it you went to Norah’s wedding then,’ observes Scotty as he joins him at the canteen counter. Frank puts a hand up to his face, ‘oh this? It wasn’t what you think. Get us a cuppa and I’ll tell you all about it.’
Once they are seated and waiting for their breakfast to be cooked Scotty leans towards his friend, eager for the gossip. ‘So how did you come by that spectacular black eye then Frank?’
Frank takes a gulp of scalding hot tea and lights a cigarette. ‘The wedding went off without a hitch,’ he begins, ‘it was after we got back to Ma’s that the problems started. Norah was sitting with her new husband when she suddenly let out an almighty howl of pain. We rushed in to the room expecting to see them tearing each other’s hair out but it turned out she had been in labour since early morning and waited until after the ceremony to make sure she was married before giving birth.’
Scotty sits back in his seat to allow Bettina to set down their breakfast plates and Frank waits for her to retreat before continuing. He takes up a mouthful of sausage and goes on: ‘No, she insisted on me taking her to the hospital because Dave had drunk so much he could barely stand. So she gets in the back of the 4litre R, Ma gets in the back with the other two girls and I drive off like the wind with Norah moaning and groaning and telling me to drive faster.’
‘Where was Dave in all this?’ asks Scotty. ‘We left him on the couch. He wouldn’t have been much use the state he was in. Anyway, we got to the hospital and piled in and somehow they took me for the baby’s father and shoved me in the delivery room with Norah.’ Frank takes a break from the story to shovel more food down his gullet. ‘I tried to explain but Norah grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go. Said she wasn’t doing it on her own and the nurses just thought that was highly amusing and sat me down next to the bed and told Norah to squeeze my hand to relieve the pain.’
Scotty has almost finished his food without actually tasting it, so caught up in the story. ‘Blimey mate, I wouldn’t have sat with my Dawn for all the tea in China. The way she screamed and swore when she was having our lot it was all I could do to stay in the same building.’
Frank finishes his food and drains his tea mug. ‘If I’d had the choice I wouldn’t have been in the same County,’ he says, ‘Norah was lashing out with her fists one minute and grabbing my arm in a vice the next. Bloody painful it was, I can tell you. Anyhow, that’s how I got the shiner. And the nurses didn’t even stop to attend to me. I had to wait and let Ma sort it out when we got home, where, if you please, the proud father was snoring his head off in a drunken stupor on the couch.’
‘So what did she have then, Uncle Frank?’ Frank had forgotten to mention that Norah produced an 8lb baby boy. ‘Did they name him after you, in the circumstances?’ asks Scotty. Frank frowns, ‘no, poor sod, they called him David after his father.’
Scotty is next in the queue after Gasper Gerry. He looks out the window and sees that it has started to rain heavily. ‘We’re gonna get soaked in this lot,’ he grumbles, ‘and I didn’t bring a jacket.’ Neither did Frank, having only his greasy boiler suit. ‘Maybe the rain will run off the grease,’ he observes. ‘Bloody cheek,’ says Scotty, ‘this was clean on this morning. Anyway, I meant to ask you something. Your sisters are Norma, Norah and Noreen, right?’ Frank nods in agreement, ‘named after Ma, yes.’ Scotty looks thoughtful, ‘so why didn’t you get named Norman?’ Frank looks at his friend and smiles, ‘I was named after my father.’