Cousin Alicia

Here is a little piece of history I was sent a few years ago by an elderly friend of a cousin.

Like so many others, I was evacuated during the war for fear of the same fate befalling London as Rotterdam, Warsaw and everything else that stood before the Nazi Reich. Although everyone assured us children that it was just a precaution, that probably nothing would happen, ‘just to be on the safe side, love’!

But I was not herded with all the others into King’s Cross with a small brown trunk and a ticket with by name attached to my person. I was one of the lucky few; I was ferried by car instead. Father drove me down to Somerset where I was to stay with my Uncle Richard and Aunt Georgina. I hadn’t really met them before and when I did they seemed rather distant and I soon learnt that I would not be seeing much of them anyway since both were busy involving themselves in the war effort, Aunt Georgina through the rotary club and Uncle Richard leading the local unit of the home guard.

They had a daughter who was older than me, my cousin Alicia. She was 17; a tall, proud-looking girl who audibly snorted when she first clapped eyes on me; I was a mere chit of an 11-year old at the time. My father and Uncle Richard told me that she would take care of me at school since I was now to attend the same school as her and probably during the evenings we would be quite often alone together and that I was given express instructions to listen to my cousin as she was older than me.

School started the very next day and I hardly had time to get used to wearing the funny straw hat with the ribbon around it and the sash around my pinafore dress. Cousin Alicia led the way, she walked quickly and silently, whilst I desperately tried to keep up with her, all but running from behind. Eventually, she stopped to let me catch up and scolded me.

“Oh do stop dawdling, child!” she said in her characteristically haughty fashion. “If you get me into trouble for being late, I really shall not be very happy with you, do you understand?”

I nodded my head, but said nothing. I was rather in awe of her to be quite honest and, judging from how my cousin was, I had already gained the distinct impression that life would be much more bearable if I did as I was told.

Mountfield Academy was a good school, but rather more strict than what I was used to and I found that blending in was a matter of survival. A small group of girls kept looking at me and giggling, but not in a kind way and I could see that they would be trouble very soon.

I saw Cousin Alicia once during the lunch hour. She was walking down the corridor with a couple of friends. All three of them wore smart burgundy coloured blazers with senior prefect badges on their lapels. She stopped me and rested her hand on my shoulder as she showed me off to her friends.

“And this is her!” she said. “Once I’ve trained her up she should fit in very well!”

Alicia and her two friends laughed at the joke. I stood and tried to offer a half smile, but to no avail as I was obviously seen as too young to join in on a joke with senior girls so I stood still and listened as they spoke about me. Cousin Alicia then stopped laughing and took out a school tie.

“Here you go, littl’un,” she said not unkindly. “It was the last one in stock.”

Alicia didn’t hand the tie to me. She quietly raised my collar, wrapped it around and then did it up for me, making sure that the knot was very neat and tidy. She then fixed a few other details about my clothing and finished by tightening my hair band.

“There!” she finally said. “And don’t even think about looking scruffy or you’ll have me to reckon with as well as your teachers!”

Cousin Alicia smiled as she spoke, but she seemed serious too. I nodded my head and the three older girls walked on.

Homesickness had a curious effect on me. It made me dreadfully tetchy and irritable at everything and everyone, including Cousin Alicia. I became fed up with her constant bossiness and resented that anyone else save my parents could think themselves in a position to be like this with me.

One evening, not long after dinner, both my cousin and I were alone in the house as usual. She was sat reading a book on a sofa and I was meandering, bored and with nothing in particular to do, but think of home and how I wished I could at least be bored in my own room there.

“Go to the kitchen and get me a lemonade, will you littl’un?”

Normally, up to then, I would have done as I was told just to keep the peace. But Alicia had caught me at completely the wrong moment.

“Don’t forget to pour one for yourself!” she added without looking up once from her book.

“You’ve got legs, haven’t you!” I shouted out from the bottom of the stairs as I made to start climbing them in order to get to my room, “So go and pour yourself a bloody lemonade, then!” I added as I started to climb them.

I felt good at what I had just said. I continued to climb another few steps when, suddenly I heard movement from within the living room. I admit that I panicked inside and started to climb the stairs more quickly. I didn’t look back, but I could hear Alicia’s feet now stomping against the first few stairs. I rushed and then ran. Her footsteps clomped more loudly, came closer, then closer and, the next thing I knew, they were right on top of mine.

“Come here!” her voice called virtually right into my ear.

Alicia caught my hand and put it behind my back and frogmarched me to her room. In one swoop, she placed herself on her bed and sent me flying towards her lap where I found myself helpless and unable to escape, my arm still tightly secured by her firm grasp.

“I’ll teach you to never swear at me again!” she said from above me as I felt my skirt being abruptly lifted and placed across my back.

Cousin Alicia gave what I can only describe as an old fashioned hiding. She didn’t utter a word as, again and again, she swatted my backside with the palm of her hand. After three or four very hard smacks, my bottom was stinging horribly and I felt I couldn’t take a lot more. I cried out for her to stop, tried to assure her that I was truly sorry and the last smack came only when she was sure in her mind that I was ready to comply with her will and recognise that, as far as I was concerned, she was the one in charge.

When she had finished with me, she let me get up and she then silently produced a handkerchief and gently dabbed it around my eyes and cheeks in order to wipe away my tears . Eventually, she spoke and her voice sounded serious; just as she very obviously intended it to be.

“Consider yourself lucky that it was only my hand this time,” she said.

She then looked over to a chair, my eyes followed hers and we ended up looking at the same thing; an old and well worn gym shoe sat on the seat of an upright chair. I said nothing, but understood clearly that Alicia was not joking and that the both would be used if I chose to challenge her position ever again.

“So!” Alicia said suddenly, slapping both hands against her knees and smiling at me. “Where’s that lemonade, littl’un?”

I immediately darted down to the kitchen, poured two glasses and returned straight away. I handed one of the glasses to Alicia and smiled tentatively at her, she showed her pleasure at me and thanked me. After that, we sat side by side drinking our glasses of cool, refreshing lemonade.