Bloody Sisters

 
Its  around 1952.…ish and a Saturday night. Mam and Dad are at The Picture Palace in Treharris and would not arrive home until 10-50pm on the last bus back to the depot in Merthyr.
Saturday Nights Theatre was coming on the wireless starting at 9-15pm and I had asked them before they left if I could stay up to listen to it.
It always finished at 10-45pm just before they were due to arrive home which was past my normal bedtime. They said it would be fine as long as I went up to bed without a fuss as soon as they got home. 10-00pm was my normal bedtime but I would miss the second half if I had to got to bed at ten. I was an avid listener even at that age, never missing any episodes the likes of Journey Into Space, Up The Creek, The Goon Show, Life with the lions, The Navy Lark, Ted Ray and Kitty Bluet in Ray’s A Laugh. (Or was it Raise a Laugh.) I used to rush home from school on a dinnertime not to miss Carroll Levis Discoveries Or Workers Playtime. Even Episodes Mrs. Dale’s Diaries were never missed. (Did She ever find out whatever’s happened to Jim) which she seemed to say at the end most episodes. So as you can see, as I said, I was an avid listener to the wireless.
My three elder sisters were in charge and responsible for getting us into bed before Mam and Dad arrived home. When they would not believe me when I told them Mam had given me permission to stay up for the second half of the theatre, there was ructions when I refused to go to bed. Myra, the second eldest sister took it upon herself to make sure I was in bed before they came home and made a grab for my arm dragging me towards the passageway that led to the stairs. In the scuffle that followed, my nose got punched and started bleeding and the other two sisters told her to leave me alone as I was sitting there quiet before she took it on herself to make a fuss.
I sat back near the wireless, prodding, poking and rubbing my nose in the hope of keeping it bleeding for the twenty minutes until Mam and Dad got home….. and succeeded. Boy was she going to be in trouble.