A Cautionary Towel
Sally pushed open the big wooden door at the entrance to the “Walthamstow Municipal Swimming Pool and Slipper Baths” and made her way over to the kiosk where a skinny man with a pock marked face was peering out from behind a grill.
“One first class slipper and soap and pine crystals please” said Sally.
The man took her money and pushed a clean crisp towel together with the required soap and crystals through the gap at the bottom of the grille.
“Thanks” said Sally as she climbed the stairs to the first floor where the slipper baths were situated. This was Sally’s weekly treat , they had no bathroom in the flat where she lived so her Dad gave her the money to go to the baths every Saturday “Whether she needed it or not” he would joke. She loved the smell of the steam mixed with the pungent aroma of soap and Bath salts, but most of all she loved to hear the conversations of the young women ,that took place between the cubicles. She always tried to get there at 2 o clock on Saturday because that was when Franny and Dorothy would be there.
She gave her ticket to the attendant who led her to her allotted bath. The attendant was a large bulging woman with stumpy “beer bottle” legs that marched the rest of her body up and down the passageway between the bath cubicles dispensing hot water as it was requested by the bathers. Calls for “More hot water in No 6 please” echoed through the building as the water got colder.
Sally undressed and sprinkled the shiny bath salts into the hot water which turned a lurid green and smelled like it would strip paint let alone a weeks grime As she lowered herself into the enormous bath she hoped that “the girls” as she called Franny and Dorothy would be there. They were more entertaining than any of the books she read or plays she listened to on the radio ,this was real life . She had never met them – well -she had seen the back of Franny once as she disappeared into No 16 . She was a tall skinny girl with enormous hands and feet but Dorothy was an unknown quantity Sally imagined she was a younger version of Diana Dors but she could have been any of the girls that frequented the High Street on a Saturday afternoon- hair in curlers , scouring the stalls for a cheap blouse to wear to the weekend dance at the Assembly Hall. Sally was too young for all that but she loved to hear about their exploits and conquests drifting over the cubicle walls By all accounts Dorothy was a bit of a looker and Franny hung on her every word as she regaled her with her adventures with the local boys. Ron was her latest boyfriend (or My Ron) as she soon began to call him, Sally had followed her story from their meeting at the Black and White Milk Bar to dances and parties that they had attended where he plied her with Babycham. He told her that she was “his girl” and if she ever thought about talking to another boy he would give her “WHAT FOR”
Sally didn’t have a boyfriend so this was all new to her but she did wonder why Dorothy was so delighted to tell Franny that “My Ron” would give her a thump or worse if she spoke to someone else. He told Dorothy he was a diamond polisher and she thought that sounded very exciting but it turned out he was a window cleaner but that didn’t dampen her ardour.
Sally was in luck as the girls arrived just after her and were in the cubicles either side of her, so she had no problems hearing the weeks episode. More hot water was asked for by Sally when Dorothy told Franny that ”My Ron” had taken her to the pictures and asked if he could put her hand down her blouse. She told him she was not that kind of girl but he did it anyway. Franny asked excitedly what it was like and Dorothy informed her that it was a bit boring but “My Ron” liked it so she let him do it as long as he got her an ice cream in the interval – but he had to stop because the old boy next to him told him to stop fidgeting. Franny asked the most intimate questions and Dorothy gladly answered seemingly unaware that half the other bathers were also avidly listening .
The two friends didn’t come for a few weeks and the next time Sally heard them their conversations were more subdued and Dorothy whispered so Sally couldn’t hear all what was said but she could make out “Doctor” and “Blood Tests” and “vitamins “ being talked about .Dorothy seemed to have lost her sparkle and when she talked about “My Ron” she mostly called him “HIM” Then months went by and the two girls seemed to have disappeared . Sally thought they must have fallen out or moved but one Saturday Sally was just drying herself when she heard Franny’s voice She quickly got back into the bath and called for more hot water.
“Just this once, you’ve already had one lot” said “stumpy legs” as she turned on the tap, sending the hot water cascading into the bath. Sally laid back and waited for news of their social lives . But Dorothy wasn’t there, Franny had a new friend, Pat , who was asking the questions that Sally had in her mind.
”How’s Dorothy” she asked “has she had it yet?”
No its over due. She went to Thorpe Combe maternity and they said if she hadn’t had it by Tuesday they would induce her”
“Is she still at the mother and baby unit in Chigwell?
Yes her mum won’t have her home and says she has to give it up as soon as its’ born – horrible isn’t it”
“Yes my mum would be the same, she would go mad” said Pat
(Sally wondered what her Dad would do if she was “in trouble” but being as she didn’t have a boyfriend it wasn’t a problem she had to worry about)
“What about “her Ron” asked Pat?”
“Oh he’s long gone apparently joined the merchant navy – Who knew they needed window cleaners on a boat ! She went to see his Mum and Dad but they didn’t want to know anything about it and said she should have known better. They couldn’t help it if their boy had “needs” and they had no idea where Ron was - but Dorothy thought they did”.
Sally looked at her feet, they had gone pale and wrinkly so she thought she had better get out. She sat of the bench . dried herself and got dressed.
“Poor Dorothy” she thought, “ life wasn’t fair”. She wondered if she would ever meet her - she would like to and tell her that she felt sorry for her. She picked up her bag and made her way out of the cubicle. As she walked home through the crowded market she hoped that Dorothy and her baby would be OK but she felt that life was going to be tough for her If there was any justice in this world “My Ron” would be sea sick all the way to Hong Kong and back!
Marion 2023