Liverpool Annie by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online Page A

the girl and ;ered, 'So, you're a bloody Eyetie!' rhe girl's lovely dark blue eyes grew puzzled. She ew back her head. 'I am Italian, yes,' she said with ;nity.
    Me Uncle Bill was killed by your lot during the war.' rhis was a lie. Uncle Bill's ship had been sunk by a rman U-boat, but it was more than Annie's life was >rth to point this out.
    The girl replied with the same quiet dignity, 'I'm rry about your uncle. But my father is a communist lo hated Hitler and spent the war fighting the ;rmans in Yugoslavia.'
    Annie gasped. Although Russia had been an ally of itain during the war, for some reason she couldn't ite understand it was now her greatest enemy, ready
    atom bomb the country any minute. Russia was ide up entirely of communists. Fortunately, Ruby ;med ignorant of this fact and appeared momentarily nfused. She swiftly recovered her composure, 'What 2 hell are you doing in our country, anyroad?' she manded.
    'My father has bought a hotel in Waterloo. My mother is English, she was born in Formby. We have decided to make England our home.' The girl tossed her long blonde hair defiantly and Annie admired her spirit. Although clearly shaken, her manner was proud, almost queenly.
    'You got any brothers or sisters?' one of the girls asked curiously.
    'No. I am a lone child.'
    The gang tittered, and Ruby said threateningly, 'We don't like foreigners in this country, particularly Eyeties, so keep out of our way in future. Understand?'
    Sylvia Delgado nodded stiffly. 'I understand.' Her dark eyes swept slowly over the group, as if she were memorising them. Annie dropped her own eyes and wished she could crawl under a stone.
    To emphasise that her threat was real. Ruby gave the girl a vicious shove, grabbed her leather satchel and flung it across the concrete yard where it slithered to a halt in a cloud of dust.
    As if taking their cue from Ruby, not one of the girls spoke to Sylvia Delgado, apart from Ruby's own frequent verbal, and sometimes physical, assaults. Wherever Sylvia was, she would be tracked down and given the sharp edge of Ruby's tongue, along with a blow if her tormentor happened to be in a particularly foul mood. Sylvia became the sole topic of conversation, and Annie was shocked by the sheer spite of the comments.
    'Me dad said columnists are a load of shit. He reckons Sylvia's dad should be shot.'
    'He's a communist, not a columnist,' Annie said hotly. 'When I told me Auntie Dot, she said he was a hero.' But no-one was willing to listen to a word in Sylvia Delgado's favour.
    'Have you seen where she Hves? It's that big hotel opposite the Odeon. S'not fair, a foreigner living in a dead posh place like that.'
    'What gets me is she don't half fancy herself. She walks around as if she owns the place. You'd think she was Marilyn Monroe or something.'
    'Not Marilyn Monroe, she's nice. I wouldn't mind being her meself. No, Grace Kelly. She always looks as if there's a bad smell under her nose, and she's living in a palace with that French prince, isn't she?'
    'It's that cruddy gymslip that gets me,' complained Sally Baker. 'If any of us wore one like that, Mr Parrish'd have a fit.'
    'We should rip it off her back and tear it to pieces,' Ruby said balefully. 'Tell her to get one the same as ours.'
    The girls glanced at each other nervously. 'Perhaps that's going a bit far. Ruby.'
    'Y'reckon!' Ruby sneered. 'Well, something's got to be done to take the bitch down a peg or two.'
    'But she hasn't done anything,' Annie protested. She felt angry. Although Sylvia Delgado still walked with her head held high, she looked slightly desperate, as if she were gradually being worn down. Annie wished she were brave enough to ignore Ruby, because she liked Sylvia Delgado more than ever and longed to be her friend. She didn't care if she came from Italy or Timbuctoo.
    Ruby turned on her and began to list all the terrible, imaginary things Sylvia had done to justify her treatment. Intimidated, Annie didn't say another word.
    As the