Page 9 of Mine before Dawn
Asha tried not to look at him, but it was hard.
Mavis’s gaze flicked briefly in his direction, then back again.
“How old are you girl?”
“Twenty-three, mam.”
“This your lad?” she asked, nodding toward the child.
Asha nodded quickly. “Yes.”
“And his father?”
The answer came after a hesitant moment.
“He died four years ago.”
The word seemed to float between them, desperate to be believed.
The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You lying, girl?”
Asha's head jerked up. “No,” she said, a small sob slipping through the cracks before she could stop it. “No… I’m sorry… he died in India, before I came here.”
She pressed her lips together hard, as if ashamed of the sound.
Behind her, a chair scraped.
“We don’t like the likes of them here,” the pub owner was growling at his wife, his voice low but carrying easily. “She should go back where she came from. Back to London. Or India.”
There was an atmosphere—like the occupants of the room were pretending to carry on while eavesdropping on the drama.
The girl’s shoulders sagged.
For a moment she stood very still.
Then she came around the counter and before anyone could quite register what she was doing, she sank down onto her knees.
“Please,” she said.
Her voice was raw now, stripped of everything but need.
“Please… any job. I will do anything. You don’t have to pay me. Just… look at my son… Please.”
The boy clutched at her shoulder, startled and scared to see his mother like this, his eyes wide.
A ripple went through the room as everyone listened in. This was more excitement than the town had seen since the Mayor's daughter ran off with that bus driver from Newport.
A few men shifted where they stood. Someone muttered under their breath. Another took a long drink and watched with eager eyes.
The woman behind the bar let out a long-suffering breath.
“For God's sake, get up, girl,” she said sternly, not making eye contact. “Don't you go embarrassing me like that.”
Then she wiped her hands on her apron.
“Get up,” she said, not unkindly this time when Asha didn't obey immediately. The truth was, she was feeling dizzy from hunger and terror of what the future would bring.
Finally, the girl hesitated, then rose unsteadily to her feet. The boy clung to her leg, burying his little face in the folds of her coat.
