First stirrings...

  When things changed he was unaware of the impact it would have on his life; he was about to find other interests than sport and theft! These were, in no particular order, well to be honest it is a particular order; girls, booze, parties and life! Girls were about to take over, or at least equal sport, booze had been around but now became more available and parties were the link that led to a new life, one that was suddenly thrust upon him and which he enthusiastically embraced.

He was at school in Liverpool, a place that was fast becoming the music capital of the world, but it also had great football, he supported Liverpool, great pubs, clubs and unlimited opportunities for a young lad eager to learn.  School was never his raison d’être but more a means to an end; friends, fun and freedom!  He had made good friends, some of whom had stood up for him and saved his bacon with Authority like A; others who gave him confidence to be himself like C and others who showed him what was available and possible. He stayed with A most weekends rather than go home and his parents didn’t seem to mind. Now as we have learned A had a special family, different, almost Bohemian and he revelled in it. He could smoke, drink and was almost encouraged to mix with the opposite sex!  A’s sister was great she shared girl information and although he pretended to know, he was in fact innocent of such matters, so he listened and learned!  The weekends were great; he was away from home, with friends and happy as there seemed to be a party of some sorts most weekends too.  This was a time for him to put his dreams into practice.  The confidence he had accrued enabled him to try things he maybe shouldn’t or wouldn’t have otherwise!

Postman’s knock was big back then and he loved it; what did it matter if you didn’t always strike luck with the prettiest girl, they were all ok and you could practise your technique, which let’s be honest wasn’t up to much, so it most likely was lucky he wasn’t with the one he had hoped to be with as she would have been disappointed!  But he persevered and got better, once he learned French kissing and the art of using his tongue he really started to enjoy these brief encounters in a cupboard, behind a door or in a corner. He was always thought of as a sport because he would go with any girl whilst in reality he was glad of the opportunity to learn and quickly discovered that the best looking girls were not necessarily the best kissers and others had much more enthusiasm and technique; a lesson that he never forgot!  A’s sister was a good example: she took a shine to him and was happy to share her considerable experience with him in a intimate manner, despite being several years older and engaged.

A typical Saturday night would involve getting ready together, leaving the house, having a smoke and discussing what lay ahead.  Once you arrived it was a matter of getting a drink, usually beer, saying hello to those people you knew and hanging around until the action started often accompanied with giggling and awkwardness! When you were chosen you went off together and either had a quick peck if she didn’t fancy you or a long wet entwining of tongues, sometimes accompanied by sucking noises and more giggles before you went back into the room to either nods and admiring looks or silence and sympathy! If you were lucky you might persuade the girl to stay with you and after a while the others realised what had happened and continued the game without you.

At the end of the evening you usually went back home with your mates, all bragging about your success or making excuses for your failure but just happy to be together in the moment, young, happy and carefree.

This was the life he enjoyed out of school and he loved it but love of course doesn’t always run smoothly….

Big School!

   Moving up to Senior School held no fears for him, it was just more of the same in a different place!  He was still in the bottom set; still good at sport, still fairly popular and still couldn’t give a stuff for school rules. He had a new blazer badge, was in a new set of buildings, just up the road from the other part of the school, had new teachers, although you would never have known it and was in the attic!

It seemed strange that those who needed most support by the fact they were in the lowest set, were given the worst surroundings and were packed away in a classroom at the top of this old house, all we had was a window out onto the roof; you had to approach it via a long winding wooden staircase, so at least you could hear people approaching, which came in handy at times!

He was now twelve, nearly thirteen, and had built up a reputation, not only amongst his pals as a good “sport”, someone to have a go and laugh with, but also amongst the Staff as being, as one teacher put it, “Thick but decent!” Now that’s quite important as although he wasn’t thick, he hadn’t yet caught the fire of learning, that would come later; but to be thought of as decent seemed to him good as most, but not all, teachers saw him as OK and he could settle for that.

In the Junior school he had had a foray into the Scouts, it seemed like a good idea but lasted less than a term as he found it boring, especially as most of his mates were not in it but mainly because he had to wear a uniform, more of that later, and it was on a Saturday afternoon and that was not on! His Saturday afternoons would be filled with Matches, Rugby, Hockey and Cricket, from now on, a much better proposition.

Life in the upper echelons began slowly; he would have assembly, and wondered what the point was? Go to lessons, then Break, and a sneak to the bushes for a fag, more lessons, lunch, maybe another ciggie and a run around, usually football using a tennis ball, more lessons and finally home. The journey home on the bus took well over an hour and initially IG was with him and wouldn’t let him take his cap off until they crossed the border, which was the river. This was either negotiated via the Ferry, if he was alone as it took longer and he enjoyed the fresh air and the sights or, more commonly, via the Underground Train. Then it was another bus journey of about fifty minutes before a walk from the Bus Stop home. Quite a marathon and plenty of time to get into mischief!

The problem was that IG was in the higher stream, was good at exams and never got into trouble; whilst he was in the bottom stream, hated exams and, well you get the picture! He had gone to this, a fee paying school, because his Uncle had gone there and his brother before him, so people expected him to be clever too! If he had counted the times he was told,” Why aren’t you like your brother?” he would have wasted a great deal of time! But he wasn’t he was what he was and quite happy with that but people, especially Teachers want to compartmentalise you. Anyway, that’s why he had to keep his cap on until they were out of sight!  So day followed day and most of the time he kept his nose clean or at least wasn’t caught!
But in some ways, this was the lull before the storm and, as he found his feet, both in and out of school, things were about to change….