Still shaken up a little by hearing the school bullies taunt me in the town, myself, Nanny Mitchel and cousin Karen made our way to Clark’s shoe shop.
The fact I was being bought a brand new pair of shoes cheered me up somewhat.
However, my anxiety had got the better of me.
Although I had only had to endure a little name-calling, the name-calling could lead to other things.
This would be especially true on the following Monday when I got back to school.
Undoubtedly, the news that I had been seen in the town wearing a mint green dress, along with two geriatric women (as they would call them) would be spread around the school like strawberry jam.
Cousin Karen sensed my anxiety and was also sympathetic to my plight.
“Do not worry,” reassured cousin Karen. “If those bullies dare show their face again they will have me to deal with.”
I looked back at Karen with a face of gratitude and uttered the words, “thank you” to my cousin.
However, the two bullies were a lot bigger than Karen, so I felt there was little she could do.
Nanny Mitchel was also still angry that I had been taunted.
She was coming out with remarks along the lines of how she would tell their parents or tan their backsides for them.
“It’s a very cruel world out there Patricia,” stated Nanny Mitchel in a tone to match the sentence she had just come out with.
“You need to be a little more stoic my girl,” she continued.
“You may not understand why I am doing what I am doing to you, and you may think I am being over harsh, but I am doing all this for a good reason. I do not want you to end up feral and troublesome like so many others!”
Although in a confused state of mind, what Nanny Mitchel had just said did make sense.
At times, in order to fit in with these toughies, I had tried to act like them.
It goes without saying that however much I tried to act like them and pretend I was tough, I failed dismally.
I had even tried my hand at boxing in order to toughen myself up.
However suffice to say, I had had to give that up, as every time I went against another opponent I got beaten badly.
At one time this had resulted in me getting a bloody nose.
Naturally, the fact a wuss like me had taken up boxing in order to toughen up had made its way around the school playground.
With that came the bullys, who would challenge me to a scrap.
If I refuted their challenges, it was more often than not that I would get duffed up anyway.
I can tell you now, getting duffed up by some of these toughies was a lot worse than getting a few good smacks from Nanny Mitchel.
Eventually, we arrived at the shoe shop.
For a time we looked through the window at the shoes on display.
It was as if old habits die hard, as immediately I was looking at the male selection of the shoes on display.
These shoes were horrendously bland and boring beyond belief.
I noticed a pair that many of the pupils appeared to wear at school.
These shoes were called commandos and they were awful.
They were like shoes like your grandad would wear yet for smaller people.
I suppose calling them commandos was an advertising ploy to make whoever was unfortunate to own a pair feel tough.
I particularly hated these shoes with vengeance.
Then there were Jesus creepers.
The less said about those the better.
However, it appeared the new man in my mother’s life wore a pair.
Bearing that in mind they were definitely suspect footwear.
Nanny Mitchel gave me a little affectionate smack on the rear of my dress.
It was not a hard smack, more of one to get my attention.
“Patricia you are looking at the wrong window display dear girl.”
Once again with some affection Nanny, Mitchel guided me to the window that was displaying the girls shoes.
Instantly my eyes lit up.
It was as if something magical was about to happen.
For I was about the get my first pair of girls’ shoes.
Unlike the bland boys shoes that were either brown or black, the girls shoes came in all kinds of vibrant colours.
There were pumps in shades of green, Pinks, reds, blues and yellows.
There were dainty sandals for the summer also in a variety of pretty colors.
There were more formal shoes for school, much like the ones I had been lent by my cousin Karen.
Although these shoes may of been considered what was known as sensible footwear, they were still far far better than the male equivalents.
There were also ruby slippers, like in “The Wizzard of Ozz”
Then of course, there were T-bar shoes, which like all the other shoes were of vibrant colors.
Although I can not explain why I especially had a liking for T-bar shoes, and I so wanted a pair.
However I knew deep down inside that Nanny Mitchel was of the generation that would say,
“You will have what you are given and like it.”
Bearing this in mind I may have little choice in what footwear was purchased for me.
However, I did not care.
As I say, I was getting my first pair of girls’ shoes, so I was happy.
It was truly as if my life was becoming much more colorful.
Into the shop, we went to be greeted by a rather large, formally dressed middle-aged lady.
“Good morning,” greeted the rather large formally dressed middle-aged lady.
“Good morning,” replied Nanny Mitchel.
Nanny Mitchel then prodded both myself and cousin Karen.
“Remember your manners you two, say good morning to the lady,” ordered Nanny Mitchel.
In unison, both myself and cousin Karen greeted the rather large formally dressed middle-aged lady with a Good Morning.
It turned out that this lady was the shop manageress.
At first, she appeared to be kind and friendly.
However, like many women of her age group she also appeared to have a no-nonsense attitude which had underlinings of severity.
This especially came over when she was talking to her staff.
” Can I be of any assistance to you,” asked the shop manageress directing the question at Nanny Mitchel whilst seemingly ignoring both myself and cousin Karen.
“We are just looking at the moment, thank you.” politely replied Nanny Mitchel, in a posh accent that appeared not to be in line with her working-class roots.
This would be quite a common occurrence.
At times Nanny Mitchel could yell like a banshee as and when needed.
However, in polite company, she would make the effort to put on airs and graces.
This would-be especially true when in the company of Aunty Shirley.
I was not sure but I think it had something to do with class structure.
Cousin Karen and I followed Nanny Mitchel around the shop as she viewed all the shoes.
Occasionally picking the shoes up, she carefully checked them for practicability and durability.
I think sensible footwear was going to be the order of the day.
Nanny Mitchel also viewed the slipper section, picked a few of them up, and smacked them in hand as if to send a message to both me and Cousin Karen to behave.
The Shop Manageress gave Nanny Mitchel an approving glance as she did this and made an of the cuff remark about how well behaved myself and cousin Karen was compared to others.
“They have their moments,” Nanny Mitchel replied.
“Yes well I can see that you are in complete charge of them both,” Commented the Shop Manageress. “I only wish that others were the same.”
Nanny Mitchel and the shop manageress started chatting in general for a few minutes.
It appeared that the shop manageress had taken a liking to Nanny Mitchel whilst paying very little attention to myself and cousin Karen.
After all the, as the saying goes, the young should be seen and not heard, which was also the order of the day.
Eventually, the shop manageress guided us all to the bargain bin section.
This delighted Nanny Mitchel.
As has been said before Nanny Mitchel liked a Bargain.
Something else that also delighted Nanny Mitchel was when she saw a sign saying,
“Two Pairs for the price of one.”
This would also be delightful for cousin Karen as well
Not only would I be getting a new pair of shoes she would as well.
Nanny Mitchel proceeded to carefully inspect the shoes in the bargain bin
This was all done without paying much attention to her myself and cousin Karen, as Nanny Mitchel was busying herself rampaging around.
However, as always we knew how to behave when out with Nanny Mitchel, as well as the consequences for not doing so.
I had seen the shoes that I wanted, they were a red pair of T bar Shoes with blue and yellow flowers on the tops.
It did however become quite obvious that I was going to have little choice in what shoes were purchased for me.
It was with some form of relief when Nanny Mitchel pulled out a pair of black shoes that were not quite the same, but similar to the ones I had so wanted.
The shoes Nanny Mitchel pulled out could be described as T bar shoes, but a little more formal and a little more sensible than the red ones with blue and yellow flowers on them.
As you may of gathered by now Nanny Mitchel was not one to fluff around.
“These will do,” said Nanny Mitchel to the shop Manageress in a matter-of-fact way.
“What a wonderful choice you have made,” came the shop manageress’s reply. “What Size do you require?
Nanny Mitchel had no idea what size myself and cousin Karen took in footwear,
Bearing this in mind finally we were both paid some attention.
“Tell the Lady what size you both are,” said Nanny Mitchel in a barking like tone, as if to show the lady she had authority over us.
Both myself and cousin Karen shrugged our shoulders as if to say we do not know.
This response did not go down well with Nanny Mitchel.
Once again Nanny Mitchel’s thoughts were if the young were asked a question they jolly well answered.
“Do not shrug your shoulders when asked a question you two. Answer the lady, this instant,” Said Nanny Mitchel once again in a barking tone but this time with a little bit more force.
Neither myself nor cousin Karen knew our shoe sizes.
In unison, as if we were twins, both of us said
“Sorry Miss, we do not know our shoe size.
Nanny Mitchel was a little embarrassed about this current situation.
She scolded both myself and cousin Karen, telling us that we should both know our shoe size.
Nanny Mitchel then apologized to the shop manageress.
“Its quite alright, There is no need to apologize,” responded the shop manageress. “We have a machine that measures people’s feet.”
The shop Manageress now turned her full attention to both myself and cousin Karen.
It appeared that this rather large middle-aged lady had taken a liking to both us two, as we had been so well behaved.
“Would you two like to come with me, so you can go on the magical measuring machine?” asked the shop Manageress in a fairly gentle but condescending tone.
Both myself and Karen nodded our heads.
Once again Nanny Mitchel interjected in a threatening scolding tone.
“Unless you two learn to answer questions when asked, you will feel the back of my hand.”
At this time the shop Manageress interjected as if to correct Nanny Mitchel.
“It is quite alright Madam, after all, they are probably a little shy.”
Nanny Mitchel did not exactly take well to this interference, however, at least for now, she swallowed it.
The shop manageress took both myself and cousin Karen to a room where the foot measuring machine was.
I was not exactly sure what to make of this foot-measuring contraption.
It was all a little odd.
On reflection, it looked like something between a kind of apparatus that would be seen in a doctor’s surgery and a running machine.
Yet instead of running on it, apparently, you had to put one of your feet into an oblong hole whilst the machine did its work.
A thought did enter my head that if I stuck my foot in this machine it would chop it off.
Apparently, this thought also entered cousin Karen’s head at the same time.
When the question was asked, as to who is going first neither of us wanted to.
The shop manageress was used to this, as she had seen many fear this machine before.
“I know what”, said the shop manageress in a kind manner.” We will toss a coin to see who goes first.”
Out of her pocket, the shop manageress produced a ten-pence piece and turned her attention to cousin Karen.
“Heads or Tails, ” she said in a kind jolly playful voice.
“Tails,” responded cousin Karen, hoping that she would not have to go first.
With this, the shop manageress threw the coin right up in the air and caught it with her right hand.
She proceeded to open her palm to view the coin.
“Tails it is, you go first,” said the shop manageress directing her attention to me.
“And what is your name,” asked the shop manageress.
“Peter,” I responded forgetting my current situation.
“Peter?” responded the shop Manageress. “You cannot be called Peter that’s a boy’s name.”
With this cousin, Karen gently nudged me as if to correct my mistake.
“Patricia,” I said correcting myself “My name is Patricia.”
The shop manageress was somewhat baffled by all of this.
She had thought to herself that we were both twins as we were wearing the same mint green dresses with ruffles, the same shoes and we both had similar hairstyles.
On first reflection, the only thing that did tell us apart was, I wore National health spectacles whereas cousin Karen’s eyesight was perfect.
However, after a period of time with us both, the shop manageress did start to notice other differences.
Having said this, she knew jolly well it was not her place to question this, after all, she had a job to do, and do it she must.
“Please remove your shoes,” asked the shop manageress in a kindly manner.
Both myself and cousin Karen removed our shoes.
“Now Patricia I want you to put your right foot in that little hole.”
Having been a little slow at school, I had not quite learned the difference between left and right.
The shop manageress noticed this and kindly helped me put my foot into the hole.
Suddenly the machine started to make a loud buzzing noise that was a little scary.
This noise appeared to be so loud that it must have reverberated around the shop.
On reflection, it felt like I was in some form of execution chamber.
Something started to tickle my foot as the workings of the machine proceeded to do the measuring.
This sensation was not too unpleasant, on the contrary, it felt quite nice.
In fact it felt so nice that I was kind of disappointed when the shop manageress told me to remove my foot.
“What a big girl you are, ” remarked the shop manageress.” You are a size three and a half, dee fitting.
The shop manageress now turned her full attention to cousin Karen.
“And what is your name young lady,” asked the shop manageress, hoping that Karen would not respond with a boy’s name.
“Karen,” replied my cousin.
Cousin Karen was now not as fearful of the machine as we had both been earlier, as she had seen how much I had enjoyed it.
She was taken through the same procedure as I had been and the results were,
Size two and a half, see fitting.
The shop manageress called to one of her assistants to collect the shoes from the store room.
Once this was all done we went back out to rejoin Nanny Mitchel.
Whilst we had been in the shoe fitting room, Nanny Mitchel had particularly noticed two other people in the shop.
She had paid particular attention to how uncouth and badly behaved they were.
She had also heard a few naughty words come from their mouths.
Were these the two bullies who had taunted me earlier?
Were they?