Riches of the Heart by June Tate

woman.’
    ‘Poor old woman? Ha! Your mother could make ten of you. Look at you – you’re disgusting. Your suit is filthy and you stink. Don’t you ever wash? You think any woman would want you? You turn my stomach.’ She walked outside the shop to calm down. Muttering, ‘I’ll swing for that bastard one day if he’s around here too often.’
    Abraham appeared in the doorway of his shop and, seeing Lily stomping up and down, asked, ‘Vat’s the matter? You look upset, my dear.’
    ‘Bloody Manny Cohen’s what’s wrong. I can’t bear to be in the same room as him. Trying to paw me all the time!’
    Scratching his whiskers, he agreed. ‘Vat a disgrace. That poor woman deserves better. My life! If he vas mine, he’d be vorking to earn his keep. Not taking his mama’s money. He’s a meshuggener !’
    Manny appeared at the door.
    Abraham pointed a scrawny finger at him. ‘You leave this girl alone or I’ll tell your mama the disgrace you are. Your father if he vas alive would be disgusted with you.’
    ‘Get back to your pawn tickets, old man, and mind your own business.’
    ‘Nobody’s talked to me like that since I came here from Poland, thirty years ago. You got no respect for your elders.’ Abraham’s angry voice brought other shop-owners to the street.
    Harry, who owned the fruit and veg stall, strolled over. Shaking a fist at Manny he said, ‘You watch your mouth, talking to the old boy like that. You want to take someone on, you try me.’
    Manny stepped back, his face pale. An old man was one thing but Harry was another. ‘It’s nobody else’s business. Get back to your shop.’
    Harry grabbed him by his coat front. ‘Don’t give me any of your lip, you little runt.’ He pushed him away. ‘You all right, Abraham?’
    ‘Sure. That little rat ain’t vorth vorrying about.’
    Lily had been watching the altercation with enjoyment. She saw the worried look in Manny’s eyes, and knew now that he was a coward as well as a slob. ‘Thanks, Harry,’ she said, ‘but it’s all right.’
    ‘Any more trouble from him,’ he pointed in Manny’s direction, ‘you let me know, Lily.’
    When the small gathering had dispersed, Manny said, ‘I’ll pay you back, you little shiksa bitch, you see if I don’t.’
    Seeing Mrs Cohen approaching, Lily didn’t answer.
    Rachel was immediately aware of the tense atmosphere in the shop. She saw the boxes tipped over and the bruise appearing on her son’s face. She was furious. ‘Get those boxes put straight,’ she told him.
    ‘I was just off for a pint,’ he whined.
    ‘Stuff your bloody pint. You do as you’re told. It’s time you earned some of the money I give you.’ She went outside where Lily was folding some clothes. ‘Everything all right girl?’
    Seeing the worried look in her eyes, Lily nodded. ‘Fine, Rachel. Just fine.’
    Walking back into the shop, Rachel grabbed the collar of Manny’s jacket. ‘Been up to your old tricks have you, you little putz ?’
    He looked worried. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You know what I mean. My life – you’re just like your father! You carry your bloody brains in your trouser pockets. Can’t keep your hands off a bit of skirt.’
    ‘I never touched her.’
    Rachel put her face up against her son’s. ‘Don’t you bloody lie to me. What’s this bruise on your face, then? Give you one, did she?’ She slapped him hard across the other cheek. ‘Now I’ve done the same.’
    Manny looked at her in shocked surprise.
    ‘That girl has had enough to put up with in her young life without you to deal with.’ She let go of him.
    Manny looked at his mother, his mouth tight with jealousy. ‘You think more of her than you do of me.’
    ‘What did I ever do to deserve a son like you? Tomorrow you go to your uncle in Golders Green. This time you work in his tailor’s shop. You don’t buy for me no more – now you earn your keep.’
    ‘Mama, you can’t do that! I’m your son!’
    ‘When you marry a