"Hope" and "Hopeless"

Chapter 1

June 2nd, 1953

Beverly Bum Cheeks minced her way past the rock and pumpkin pub on the banks of the Sirhowy River, resplendent in her short patent leather skirt, fish net stockings, knee length pirate boots, and bomber pilots leather jacket. At nearly 6-foot-tall with jet black hair, parted with a peroxide blonde center streak, ashen face and doe eyed she had always been a little different……

Harry’s coach had left its depot at the top of the valley; it was a spectacular morning in June 1953. The bus had a storied history having survived the blitz in London before heading for retirement in the valleys of South Wales. The Bedford London T class trundled down the only road that runs north south in the valley, it left behind it a trail of blue/grey smoke as it went. Harry Williams was at the wheel, he was the sole proprietor, driver, bookkeeper and mechanic of the company.

He was a broad-shouldered jolly man with a greying beard and handlebar mustache, he had learned to drive in the forces and when he was demobilized he had worked for the Cardiff bus company, his dearly departed great auntie had left him some money and he had used it to put a deposit down for this, his first and only bus. As he drove along he puffed on a pipe and then blew the smoke out of his open window. He was dressed in a blazer and greys with his regiment tie proudly displayed ‘the South Wales Borderers’.

Today was a special day, June the 2nd, the day that Princess Elizabeth would be crowned as Queen, the valleys were filled with excitement and hope that a woman at the helm would make the difference and would pull Britain out of the post war malaise it had been suffering. Harry was booked to take the residents of George Street on a day trip today after their coronation Street party to the seaside town of Barry.

George Street lies in the mining town of Hope situated in the valleys that run due north from Cardiff; the town was still recovering from the war; the inhabitants would describe themselves as poor but clean for the most parts. The cenotaph standing at the top of Charlton’s hill recorded that many men and women had given their lives in the wars from Boer, to great and second world wars.

Rationing was still in place and the promise of the new labour government, elected after the Second World War, had fizzled out under the harsh realities of war debt and the continuing pop up problems in the Sudan and Egypt and other far flung corners of the commonwealth and crumbling British Empire.

Everything in those days seemed to be black and white, or shades of grey with occasional patches of tweed, mottled green and brown. Everything, that is apart from the characters and the life in this town.

The High Street had strings of bunting hung overhead and these swayed gently in the breeze, they were tied with string to the top of lampposts and shops and x-crossed the streets. Harry turned left down Hall Street and parked at the top of George Street.

He looked down the Street and saw that there was bunting and tables laid out. George Street is about a half a mile long, terraced houses line either side of the road and behind one side there is a railway. The locals joke that you catch a train to anywhere in the world from the station that sits at the top of the town - well anywhere as long as you head for Newport or Cardiff and change for all stations after that.

The railway lines run parallel with the high street and after that the ground rises sharply to the top of the valley.

Behind the other side of George Street, the ground falls away to the recreation grounds and down to the rusty brown bubbling River. On the other side of the river the ground again sharply rises to the other side of the valley.

The people are sandwiched in and they are very comfortable in their valley, apart from wars and the educated, people rarely leave Hope and they are born and die within the bounds of the Parish.

Jobs are provided in the coalmines that surround the town, Ham to the North, Oak to the West, Britt to the east and Bridge to the south and there are steelworks at the top and bottom of the valley. The sons and daughters of the educated, leave to get their diplomas and degrees and return to become teachers, lawyers, doctors and government workers.

Winifred Atwell’s Coronation rag was blasting out over the PA speakers and everyone was having their fill of spam and corned beef sandwiches, sausage rolls, jelly, custard and trifle.

Manny Organ stepped up to the microphone and said that the coach was ready and it was time for the grownups to get on board. The teenagers on hearing this, rushed to claim the back seats and the elders took the front seats near the driver so that they could see the road to avoid being sick and the rest crammed in to the middle section. Harry counted 57 souls, two dogs and off they went.

The bus was certainly not built for speed and it rocked and pitched as they followed the road down to Cardiff and beyond to Barry, they covered the 25-mile journey in about 2 hours. Nobody cared, they were lucky, they were heading for the seaside and they would soon be paddling in the salty waters and having fun on the sandy beach. Best of all there was an amusement park that offered a chance of winning gold fish, coconuts, cuddly toys and to eat toffee apples, candy floss and chips with malt vinegar and lashings of salt.

Harry had put on the radio for a while and some of the people whistled and sang along to the Windsor waltz, walking behind you and Johnnie Ray singing somebody stole my girl.

At the back of the bus the war babies were flirting and fighting. Delores Phelps was the centre of attention, she had had her hair cut and tinted so that she looked like Marylyn Monroe. She was the oldest of the gang at 13 1/2 and had already been seriously courting Mario Organ, who was just 13, for a year.

Mario was a specimen, tall and dark with brill creamed black hair with sun kissed olive coloured body, a boy in a man’s body. He had already been drunk on his gran’s homemade wine, and had hit puberty at 11, he was a character.

The coach arrived at the seaside and Harry opened the doors of the bus, the teenagers ran as fast as they could towards the sea and dropped their shoes on the wall by the stores at the edge of the beach ‘Last one in as a dirty rascal’ called Cyril Griffiths.

The parents brought the picnic hampers and blankets from the bus and set up near the store walls at the edge of the beach. For a beautiful day, the beach was nearly empty, most people were still celebrating the coronation in the comfort of their own homes, listening to their radios or if they were lucky watching on small monochrome television sets.

The kids splashed each other and the elders took to strolling at the sea’s edge and dipped their toes into the Bristol Channel Sea. The kids changed into swimming costumes behind beach towel curtains. Dickey Thomas was worried in case the towel screen would drop and someone would see his ‘Willie’. His mother teased him that the birds would come down and peck it off if he wasn’t quick. He was quick but unfortunately in his haste he put two legs into one leg hole of the swimsuit and fell over landing outside the curtains, ‘button mushroom’ teased Delores.

Mario had no such inhibitions; he turned his back to the wall and dropped his trousers revealing his bare backside to all who were watching. Some of the mothers teased that he needed a good spanking.

Delores liked what she saw but kept her modesty by virtue of wearing her poker dot two-piece swimsuit under her clothes. She removed her top layer and was ready.

The sand was white and the water murky but the kids loved it, they dived and played and none came out of the water for a pee ‘every little helps’ they laughed as the water around them warmed.

The men had broken out bottles of Indian pale ale and were discreetly passing them around, they discussed the day, the weather, rugby, soccer, cricket, politics and their work.

The ladies kept a careful eye on the children and prepared cheese spread sandwiches they nattered about life, their hopes and their dreams. Everyone agreed that cheese spread sandwiches were the best when they had some seaside sand on them.

The parents and grandparents sat in one circle, the children lay face down and looking in towards each other in another.

‘Have you been to see the House of Wax yet?’ Idris Llewellyn asked and continued it’s so scary that the Capital Theatre has had to put a nurse on the front door to deal with the number of people who have fainted. ‘Rubbish’ said Mario ‘I didn’t think it was scary’.

‘Well you wouldn’t’ said Idris ‘I saw you and Delores snogging for most of the way through it’ - the kids all laughed apart from pooh, ‘snogging’ was the funniest word they knew.

Delores said, ‘we were not snogging, just kissing a bit’. ‘Well what’s snogging then?’ said Idris, ‘snogging’ said Delores in a matter of fact way ‘is when he sticks his tongue in and you stick your tongue in - really serious like’. ‘We were just kissing’.

‘From where I was sitting up in the circle’ it looked like snogging, and another thing Delores it looked like you had stuffed some rolled up socks down your bra, your boobs looked huge’.

‘Did not’ said Delores embarrassed that her little secret had been spotted. ‘From where I was sitting’ said Mario it was perfect and so soft, Delores slapped him and the kids laughed.

‘Shane’s on next week’ said Mavis Thomas in machine gun fast words, ‘cowboy film, so should be good, anyone going?’ She so hoped that Idris would ask her but he was posh, although he lived in George Street his mam and dad had high hopes for him, one day she thought, one day he will notice me.

Rigger watched as his father got up and walked away towards the gift shops. He looked at Mavis and said, ‘come with me Mavis, I like a good cowboy film’

Mavis smiled and blushed, ‘got a better offer?’ said ‘Rigger. ‘No’ said Mavis ‘but I had hoped I could sit in the circle this time, let me think about it’.

Rigger’s dad, Meredith had set a trap; he suspected that his wife Beryl was fooling around. Meredith was a poacher and provided the village with much needed protein during the post war food rationing years. His work meant that he was out most nights and slept through the day. Some of the town knew from the start that his marriage to Beryl was unusual; Meredith was rough, very rough and coarse, Beryl was petite and pretty and as quiet as a church mouse.

Meredith watched as Beryl walked towards the shore line, she was wearing a pretty floral dress that sat just below the knee; she was joined there by Carlos Griffiths.

Idris took the hint ‘I’ll take you Mavis’ as long as you promise to snog me and not to eat too many of my liquorish strings’

Mavis blushed and said ‘alright but no tongues’.

Cyril Griffiths and his good lady wife had separated from the party and had headed to the sand dunes to the far side of the beach, Cyril and Beryl had already had 5 kids in 6 years of marriage. They took advantage of the other parents watching over their kids and were doing what comes naturally in the sand dunes. Some local boys were watching from their hiding places and they giggled as they watched Cyril’s plump red bottom going up and down, and in an out, whilst Beryl watched the seagulls swooping.

Gwyneth Jones sat on her own and wondered why God could create such beautiful things and then give the world the likes of Meredith.

As dusk began to fall the fairground began to get louder and the party was drawn in.

The last to board the coach home was Dickey Davies he had fallen asleep face down on the beach and he was clutching an empty bottle of pale ale. The kids had candy floss and songs were sung as the bus headed back to the valleys.

The kids returned to school in early September and their parents breathed a sigh of relief and things began to settle down.

Idris had let Mavis down and had not asked her to see Shane, in truth he had an excuse - his parents had made him study very hard for his scholarship exams for Pengam Boys School. He was promised a special treat if he passed. He told Mavis this and she said, ‘Scholarship hey, well I am going to get one too and then you can take me to the circle’.

Idris took his letter acknowledging his acceptance to the school and the ten bob note his parents had given him for passing to Mavis’s house. He knocked the door and she came out. He showed her the letter ‘I am going to make something of my life Mavis, ‘I am going to become a lawyer who helps the poor and fights the rich’. Mavis was impressed, she too had won a scholarship and indeed had a higher IQ than Idris but she did not tell him that, after all she thought ‘men do all the crowing but the hen delivers the goods’.

From here to eternity was playing at the cinema and Idris picked her up at 2:30 sharp for the matinee performance. He wore a starched white shirt and a green tank top and his best knee length gray shorts, long white socks and black polished brogues. He had borrowed some of his father’s hair cream and his hair was slicked straight back, he still wore his round black framed glasses but he was impressive enough for Mavis. Mavis wore her best Sunday school cotton dress, it was light blue and fell to her shins and had a floral pattern, and she wore a black thin belt around her waist and a black hairband to keep her shoulder length auburn hair in place. Idris gave her the fox glove flowers he had picked on the way to her house and they headed up George Street towards the cinema. Idris saw Delores and Mario waiting in line ahead of them and moved back in the queue with Mavis so that they would not have to talk to them.

It cost 6 pence to get in the stalls and a bob (12 pence) to get in the circle. The circle was nearly always empty due to the cost difference and Idris began to relax when he saw that he and Mavis and a young couple were the only people there. From here to eternity was powerful and Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr were fantastic. It was a great film and they both felt a little scared by its intensity, Idris had forgotten about the kiss, he was gripped, Mavis after the first reel held out her hand and he took it and lightly squeezed it.

Below them Mario and Delores did not see much of the movie, Mario’s wandering hands explored Delores eager body and they kissed for most of the film. Mario, who by now was nearly 14 asked Delores to marry him when they were old enough - Delores kissed him even harder and said ‘Yes’.

When the film had finished Idris and Mavis sat there and waited for the hall to clear, she smiled at him and leant over and gave him a kiss on the cheek ‘as promised’ she said, ‘no snogging just a kiss’, Idris closed his eyes and his head moved towards Mavis - he planted a single kiss on the bridge of her nose’.

Meredith and Rigger lived by the side of the capital theatre in a cottage, as the movie goers came out of the cinema Meredith was putting the finishing touches to some work in his garden. Rigger was inside and was listening to the radio. Meredith came in and cut a couple of slices of the roundhouse farmer’s loaf and put some cheese into his hankie. ‘I am off to work now son, your mother’s gone, just you and me now, c’mon get dressed you are a man now’.

Mario left school when he was 14, he started mixing cement for a builder, and then he progressed to carrying for the bricklayers and roofers. He had a quick eye and was naturally strong and was treated as if he was much older than he was. Friday afternoons were spent in pub bars with his fellow builders, he had a talent for the grog and by the time he was 16 he could outdrink and outfight most of the crew. Nothing was too big and nothing too hot for him to handle.

Delores continued to be glamorous, she completed school and her real talent was manipulation. She had taken delegation to the highest level and spent most of her time grooming, scheming and dreaming. Mario was besotted with her; he was making a good living and had bought a fixer up house on George Street. He did most of the works himself, and just after his 18th birthday he was ready - he asked Delores to marry him (again) and Delores agreed (again).

They got married in Jerusalem chapel near the tram road and river at the bottom of the town. Delores wore a satin white dress and looked beautiful, it was a beautiful hot summer’s day, lots of happiness, singing, dancing and fun. Mario and Delores were happy. They spent a week in a caravan at Barry for their honeymoon and it was during this week that Delores became pregnant.

When Mario found out he redoubled his efforts to make a business of contracting.

Delores, however, had a difficult pregnancy, she was often tired and her blood pressure would be too high or too low, the mid-wife paid regular visits and at 8 months and 2 weeks she went into labor, it was a baby boy, 11lbs and 9oz. Mario and Delores were very happy; the baby was very healthy.

Mario, however, gradually began to hate the baby; Delores gave it all her attention. He started to stay out later and began to drink too much, he was unhappy. Delores, on the other hand was a great mother, she dotted on young Morgan who grew up quickly. At 5 he was already 4-foot-tall and he was a loving son.

When Morgan went to the infant’s school at 4, she was lonely in the mornings. Mario had shown no interest in Delores for quite a while, she looked at herself naked in her bathroom mirror, she was very sexy and she decided to have some fun.

Mario did not think the second son was his; Warren was a sickly premature kid, weighing in at just 3lb, 5oz and six weeks early. He lived for the first 3 months of his life under the close supervision of nurses and Doctors, Morgan helped his mam to change and bathe him.

The row between Delores and Morgan became more frequent and more violent. Mario would disappear for days on end after some rows.

Sargent Jones was the one to inform Delores of Mario’s sad passing. ‘We found him by the Parson’s bridge’ said Jones ‘looks like he was climbing up on the bridge and fell, he must have bumped his head and landed in the water unconscious. A couple walking they’re dog this morning found him, I am sorry Mrs.’ Organ. I have arranged for him to be taken to Hawkins undertakers they will be in contact’.

Delores was sad but she was a survivor and did not dwell on the death, she, after all, had sons to raise, boys to make into good and kind men.

Idris and Mavis after school had finished had both won places at Swansea University and both would read law. They had been going out steady since they were young teenagers; they both went to University as virgins. Their parents packed them off with suitcases and words of wisdom. For the first term, they lived in separate halls of residence, but the next term they found a 2-bedroom house on Sketty road that was ideal, it was cheap, near the coop store for food and on the bus route for the University. By pooling their grants, they lived a comfortable existence and they were good students.

There were 2 bedrooms in the flat and they each slept in their own rooms until Easter of the 2nd year. This is when Mavis asked Idris to marry her, Idris did not hesitate, as he had always wanted to marry Mavis but had not yet plucked up the courage to ask. They lived as man and wife in everything but name for the final year of their degree. They both graduated with first class honors and Mavis took the University of Wales award for best results.

They moved to Cardiff for a year after that and did their masters degrees and got some practical experience of working for City Lawyers on Roath Road. They got married soon after and moved back to Hope and started their own legal firm Llewellyn and Llewellyn.

The practice was building when Mavis became pregnant, she worked right up to the last minute and even held on for the birth until a weekend. They had been told it was twins and they were relieved that their little Sean and Sian were delivered and that they were healthy.

They had enough money after five years of steady income to move out of George Street and financed their own home on a large plot of land in Woodfield side.

Rigger was progressing under his father’s eye, he knew the seasons, and he knew where the animals fed and slept and mated. He knew in which season it was OK to take a bird or a fish and when to leave them alone when they were breeding. He had an earthy look about him and most people gave him a wide berth.

He was not in school often, and when the school bobby came around when Rigger was 14, Meredith told him he was self-educating the boy. The ‘bobby’ asked to see Rigger and Meredith took him out the back of the cottage. Rigger was breaking up dead sheep’s heads to feed to his hunting dogs. The school cop gave it up as a bad case and never visited again ‘you can’t educate pork just cure it’ he reported to his boss.

Dickey Davies was getting more of a reputation, the kids teased his son beefy ‘your dad’s in Cardiff jail’. This was true Dickey was a liar and a thief and he spent time inside for theft, robbery and fraud. He was a full-time villain and a dead-beat father. Beefy followed in his footsteps, he was a horrible kid.

Gwyneth Chechezcywych (ne Jones) had what her husband Boris had called ‘an immaculate conception’ he remembered consummating the marriage on their wedding night but not since. When Gwyneth gave birth to Martina a good year later, he was suspicious, he convinced himself that the priest, who was always visiting, was behind this and so he walked out and was never seen again (his mother later told Martina that he died in a mining accident). Gwyneth was a carbolic mother; the baby was bathed and cleaned six times a day, perhaps she was trying to wash away the original sin? The priest was moved to another diocese where he continued his good work.

Chapter 2

The Swinging Sixties?

The valley runs due north from Cardiff, the summers are hot and humid, and the warm, wet winds bring plenty of rain to the valley. And when the North wind blows in the winter the sides of the valley are covered in a blanket of snow that remains until the daffodils poke their heads from under the white blanket in March. The people are bawdy and funny and at the same time deadly serious, they talk Wenglish in a quick and lilting voice. They like to sing and make up rhymes, to love to love and life is short.

Helen Beuchamp had done well in the 60’s, her hair salon had adapted well to the fashions of the day, and she catered for the ‘waif’ look, beehives and her specialty ‘Beatles cuts’. Even though the Beatles no longer had their basin cuts, the valley boys still lined up for that look or in a few cases the mod look.

‘Your next’ said Helen, her granddaughter Beverly watched as Morgan made his way to the barber’s seat. He was physically imposing and towered over her, Delores and his brother Warren watched form the seats. Morgan had been primed by Delores and when Helen asked, ‘what do you want love?’, Morgan said in already deep voice ‘George Harrison, please’.

Helen draped a white sheet around him and wet his hair a little with sprayed water from a bottle. She thought how nice the shape of his head was, not like some customers with difficult double crowns and weird heads that were not in proportion with their bodies. As she looked in the mirror and played with his hair she looked at her next customer Warren and sighed, his head was irregular and too large for his body, he had a sloping forehead and well she thought ‘that will be a challenge’.

Helen worked away and danced around Morgan on light dancer’s feet, Beverly was very watchful, she noted how Helen held the scissors, how she measured the length of hair by using her hand against his scalp. How she worked in small layered cutting strokes, how she continually teased his hair. How she gently moved his head and how carefully she cut around his neck. It was a master class. She finished by using a big soft shaving brush to get rid of the excess hair that had been cut and then she showed Morgan the finished product by holding a mirror behind him.

Warren was next and he shuffled to the chair, ‘Ringo’ he mumbled and Helen thought good choice. Helen worked much faster and with much less touching than she had with Morgan and before much longer she had finished. Warren didn’t like to look in the mirror, so Delores was the one to say ‘smashing’ when Helen had finished. Delores paid Helen and hugged her boys, ‘you look lovely’ she said, ‘just like the real thing’. They left and Beverly picked up a sweeping brush and swept up the hair.

Helen looked at her as she swept and smiled, she will be a looker one day she thought, tall and well-built and in proportion. Her head was round and her forehead large; large enough, thought her gran, to contain a massive brain.

Bev’s mother Gladys had showed little interest in Bev since she started to walk and Helen was left to bring her up alone. This suited all of them and Helen loved Bev and Bev loved her Gran.

Morgan was now in the big school and his favorite subjects were sport, woodwork, masonry and metal work. He struggled with reading and Delores had taken him on a teacher’s recommendation to get this investigated. The teacher said he is obviously bright, his language is great, anything that is said he gets, he just can’t write it down well or for that matter read very well. The Doctor took his blood pressure, cupped his scrotum and made him cough, checked his hearing and declared that he was ok.

He was an early developer and by 13 he held the senior upper 6th school records for the 100-yard dash, shot put, javelin and discuss. He did not enter any other events as he did not want to be seen to be big headed. His teachers pushed him forward to compete at the county games where he beat boys of 16 - he was a fine specimen.

He did, however, have one weakness, his sense of justice. He was always defending the weak against bullies. For example, one lunchtime he was queuing up, there were two lines formed, one for the kids who could afford to pay and the other line where the government paid. These poor kids were given a different colour tickets and made to queue separately, the school bully was Tommy Jennings, his father was a boxer and Jennings fancied himself. He was the one who thought it was great to pick on the youngsters and take money from them and put their heads down toilets and punch their arms. Delores had told Morgan not to get involved but today was the day that his slow fuse exploded.

Jennings and his halfwit sidekick Neil Francis were teasing the poor kids, they were saying mean things like ‘father dead or a scrounger?’. Morgan heard himself say ‘shut up Jennings, leave them alone’. Jennings ran over and stood face to face with Morgan. He was 3 years older than Morgan but Morgan was already taller, ‘or what?’ Jennings said. ‘Or what?’ echoed Francis who had positioned himself behind Morgan. ‘Just leave them alone’ said Morgan, ‘it is not their fault, they are good kids’. ‘Or what?’ said Jennings. Morgan launched his attack and flattened Jennings with a left jab; he turned and flattened Francis with a right cross. Jennings got up and reached for a garbage bin lid and run again at Morgan, Morgan pushed him and then pulled him and shook him like a rag doll before hitting him in the ribs. Jennings fell to the floor and groaned; Francis was crying and had not moved since he was hit.

Delores sat with Morgan outside the headmaster’s office; she was giving him the silent treatment. The door opened and Dr. Powell invited them in. Delores got the first words in ‘he’s so sorry, he won’t do it again, and he’s a good boy’. Dr. Powell spoke in a calm and deep voice ‘Morgan you could have really hurt those boys, you have to realize how strong you are, you have to control yourself. Your punishment will be that for the next 2 weeks you will come to my office and write lines during lunch time ‘I must not hit the school bully, 100 times’.

Dr. Powell’s family were from Newport, his father was a Docker, his parents had found out at an early age that he was very bright and this was confirmed when he went Newport Boys High School and onto Christ’s college Brecon and then to Kings College Cambridge. He was a tough but fair man and he sensed that Morgan was not a trouble maker, which is just, as well as he dealt severely with troublemakers - Jennings and Francis were expelled from school for 4 weeks.

Morgan arrived for his first punishment and Dr. Powell told him to write on the blackboard in his office. Morgan wrote:

‘I mus nut he bully’

Dr. Powell corrected him and Morgan again tried:

‘I tums ton the he bulls’

The good Dr. was now interested, teaching was not for the gifted after all and he had considered his career wasted, after all what good was a classics degree if you don’t use it?

‘What is 12 x 6?’ he asked ‘72’ said Morgan

‘6x4 + (39x14)? ’13,104’ said Morgan

‘Capital of Australia?’, ‘Canberra’,

‘What Year was the battle of Hastings? ‘1066’

Powell read Morgan’s file, he saw that a teacher had already raised the problem of reading and that a medical doctor had pronounced him in good health, ‘dear, dear’ he said.

The Dr. wrote a letter and gave it to Morgan, ‘I know a Doctor who will be able to help you, take this to your mother’ said Dr. Powell.

Delores took Morgan for testing and was relieved when they pronounced that he was dyslexic - she knew he wasn’t thick.

Georgie Juke Box was sat on his mother’s lap, Dotty liked to the listen to the radio and they were listening to the chart count down. Georgie was a precocious talent and he named the tunes being played before the opening bar was complete.

‘Sugar Sugar (the Archie’s)’ - he chimed and then he sang along with Dot, his dad whose head was buried behind the Western Mail grappling with the cryptic crossword would occasionally join in with his velvet bass voice ‘Da Da Dah Dah Da Da’.

Next up was Credence Clearwater Revival ‘Bad Moon Arising’ they all howled along and times were happy.

At 7pm prompt Georgie was sent upstairs for a bath and he would return in his night clothes and robe and fluffy slippers. His mother would then sit with him at the piano as he worked his way through Moonlight Sonata, the entertainer, basin street blues and The Emperor’s concerto. And then Georgie’s favorite bit of the day, his Dad The great Myconmbo the last great amateur magician would show him the trick he was working on. Tonight, it was a mathematical mystery. He asked Georgie ‘what is 5+5?’, Georgie said ‘10’, ‘no’ said the Great Myconmbo and on his left hand he counted down from his thumb and fingers ‘10, 9, 8, 7, 6’ and then pointed to his right ‘+5 = 11’.

Georgie lay in bed and tried to figure out the trick but soon gave up, he buried his head under the duvet and sought out his guilty pleasure - his cat’s whiskers radio. He tuned it to radio Luxemburg and listened to the pirate radio station Caroline - he fell asleep happy.

It was also bed time in the Griffiths house, the house had 3 bedrooms, Beryl and Cyril had the small room at the top of the stairs, next door the 4 girls shared a double bed and slept head to toe and in the next bedroom Yanto and his elder brother James were settling down. Things had got better for the boys in that their two elder brothers had left home at 16 to become boy soldiers; their bed was nearly empty.

Yanto’s room had a double bed that was covered in a large home knitted quilt. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling and illumination was helped form the incandescent orange street lighting outside. Yanto and James were not close and James was counting down the days until he too could leave home.

Yanto’s mother called him a pickle, he was never far away from trouble, he was clever beyond his years and this led to his complete and utter boredom at school. He was smallish and talkative; his favorite pastimes were winding up his brothers, sisters and teachers.

He lay awake and just couldn’t sleep; he looked across the road and into the bedroom of Beverly Beauchamp’s. Yanto had always called her ‘bum cheeks’ he thought this was hilarious. He watched as Beverly’s light came on and watched as Beverly brushed her long hair in front of her dressing table. He counted the brushes, 98, 99, 100, the same every night. Beverly would then look through her window up and down the street. Yanto swore that she would always then look across at him, but he did not know for sure, then she would close her curtains and ten or so minutes later her light would go off.

Yanto liked Bev, but like a lot of teenagers he didn’t understand why, he knew he didn’t like