‘I am telling you now, boy, you get rid of that Lucy and you get rid of her soon. How I have stood the shame and degradation of the neighbours knowing she’s living here, I don’t know!’Mickey Watson was caught between a rock and a hard place. As much as he loved Lucy, his mother was such a strong personality he was terrified of upsetting her. Since he was a boy she had dictated his every act: what he wore, what he did, who he played with and where he worked. It was hard to break the habit of a lifetime.Also he was afraid that Lucy was like his mother. She was very domineering at times, even though she wasn’t brave enough to front up Mary Watson. Since her dad had shot one of the Blacks Mickey’s mother had been almost demented from the gossip that had been going around. People were glad to see her get some of what she doled out so often. She was now the subject of the gossip by her association with Lucy and that was not what she wanted at all. Mary was the gossip queen of East London and had prided herself on the fact that she was whiter than white, which gave her the right to slaughter everyone else as and when it pleased her.
